Chapter 7

Lara was not sure where she was when she opened her eyes. The room was quite shabby, the paint peeling off the wall, the windows so dirty that she could not see through them. The whole place was almost empty, only the simple metal bed stood in the middle, on which they were lying. On the floor old papers were lying scattered around everywhere. She really could not make out what they were. Maybe different yellowed documents, old newspapers? Lara massaged her neck, which still ached where she had been hit. But she began to get used to it. However, when she wanted to move her other hand, she only heard some metallic clatter. Lara glanced at the hand above her head and sighed.

"That's just bloody fantastic." – she muttered softly, seeing the handcuffs around her wrist, which were tied to the railing of the bed. After trying once more, she gave up. There was no point. This part of bed held steadily. Only the metallic rattling echoed in the empty room, when she shook her arm. "Nate!" – she spoke softly, but the man next to her did not stir. "Nate!" – she tried a little bit stronger now, nudging him in the ribs with her elbow, so he groaned out in pain.

"What the hell ...?" - he tried to move, but had to realise he could not.

"I think you're a little bit worse off." - Lara stated, after looking at his arms. The chain of the handcuffs ran under the rack of the bed, holding both of his arms together above his head. Nate nervously tugged at the cuffs, but he did not achieve anything with it.

"What can I say ..." - he said jokingly. "Double bed, shackles, you ... even if not exactly how I had imagined it, but a dream come true." - he grinned at her cockily.

"Oh get lost!" - Lara retorted frowning, wondering how they could get away from the place. "We shouldn't wait until, whoever's caught us, gets here. Somehow I have a feeling that it wouldn't be a pleasant conversation."

"Any ideas? I'm fairly stuck at the moment." - Nate joked.

"Not yet, but rather help me figure out something! We must get rid of these." - Lara shook her hand again. The ring holding her wrist slid along the metal pole, as she turned to examine their surroundings a bit more.

"Why is it that I always end up in handcuffs when I'm with you?" - Nate grinned, watching Lara from the corner of his eyes.

"You ask me? Interestingly enough, this never happens when I'm not with you. "- Lara retorted. Turning back towards Nate, she stopped for a moment of contemplation, looking at him. "Otherwise, you're okay?" - she asked, cleaning a bit of dried blood from his forehead.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry." - Nate replied absently, and slid a bit closer to her.

"I like this line-up." - she smiled. "The great Nathan Drake, at my mercy."

"Just don't get too used to it, my time will come too." - Nate grinned, but then something on the other side of the bed caught Lara's eyes.

"What's that?" - she asked curiously, trying to rise a bit from the lying position.

"Where?" - Nate asked back, following her gaze.

"There on the floor. Can you get there somehow? "- Lara became more and more excited.

"I see it ... a paper clip on a document." - Nate realised, yanking his hands along the bed-frame, so he could take a better look himself. Sliding to the side of the bed, he stretched his legs towards the paper, but could not really reach it.

"Let me go there and see if I succeed." - Lara said assertively.

"Wait a minute!" - Nate tried to inch back towards the middle of the bed again to give Lara enough space. Since she only had one hand tied to the bed, she could stretch a bit further.

"This is not good" – Lara's handcuffs hit Nate's and they could not slide any further on the pole. "We must move together, otherwise I can't get through to the other side."

"Careful!" - Nate whispered, when the bed began to loudly creak under their weight as they moved. "We don't want the guards to get a bad idea of us." - he grinned naughtily, making Lara elbow him into the stomach. Nate playfully hunched.

"Slip out completely to the edge." - Lara commanded him, and she followed. "Okay, this will work." – there were only a few inches of space on the mattress next to Nate's body, just enough for Lara to climb over him. With a careful move she threw one leg over Nate, supporting her free hand on his chest, drawing the other in the handcuffs along with her.

"I think no one could ask for more than this." - Nate grinned when Lara moved over him, straddling him, and paused for a moment at the statement.

"Don't make me do what's on my mind now." – she said with mock annoyance, deliberately pushing her knees into his thigh.

"But you could surely do what's on my mind." - Nate teased her further, but Lara was no longer listening. Moving her weight onto her other leg, she then turned around and stepped on the floor beside the bed.

"Just a little bit further" - she whispered to herself while trying to stretch so as far as possible. Holding her breath, she pulled the piece of paper with the clip on it closer with her boots. She became more and more confident when she was able to reach what she wanted. Finally, she bent down, removed the clip with one move, and threw the paper back onto the floor. She smoothed the thin wire with lightning speed, and stuck it into lock of the handcuffs. It took less than ten seconds, and the bracelet opened up on her wrist. "Finally" – she let out a delighted sigh, massaging her wrist.

"Khmm .." – Nate cleared his throat, as he was still tied to the bed. "You might free me too?" – he looked at her pleading.

"If you ask me nicely, I might consider it." - Lara smiled, but then opened the lock quickly. There was no time to waste.

"Now what?" - Nate whispered, seeing two shadows strolling up and down the corridor through the gap under the door. He rose to his elbows to assess the situation.

"Somehow we should make them come in. No way to tell how many of them are out there." - Lara suggested, because no matter how she tried, nothing was to be found in the room they could have used as a weapon. They tried not to move too much to draw the attention of the guards on them.

"I think I have an idea." - Nate said, and sat on the bed. "I'm going over to the door, and you make some noise. If they come in, I'll knock them out. What do you think?" - he looked pleased at her.

"What if rather I'd go to the door?" - Lara did not like the idea of playing the bait.

"Oh, I think you will solve it very well. You can distract the attention of men much better than I do." - Nate teased her with pleasure, and before Lara could speak, he started to move rhythmically on the bed. The old mattress and springs began to steadily creak under them.

"Stop it!" - Lara murmured angrily when she realised what he meant, but it was too late.

"Come on, lie down!" - Nate commanded her with a grin when he heard that the guards stopped at the door. "Go on!" - he said with delight in his voice, while he jumped off the bed and crept behind the door.

"For this I will ..." - Lara hissed as she began to move on the bed, but the rest of the sentence could not be heard. Nate was not even sure if he wanted to know what she had said. It had been a long time he had so much fun. He knew that Lara would be very angry at him, but it was worth it. He heard the guards looking for their keys, then the door opened and the two men entered, training their guns on the bed. When they glimpsed Lara, they hesitated for a moment, leering at her shapely body against their will.

"Wo ist der Kerl?" – one asked stunned, but had no time to look back. Nate stepped out from behind the door, and with a well-directed blow he sent one of the guards to the floor. When the other turned towards the bed surprised, Lara's heavy boots faced him and knocked him out with a strong kick. Nate quickly closed the door again before anyone would have noticed anything.

"That's about it." - Nate grinned and knelt beside the two men to search their pockets. Lara joined him, and with one swift movement she picked up the gun from the ground. After having ascertained that the magazine was full, she pushed it behind the waistband of her trousers with satisfaction. They found a set of keys, although they did not know what it would be good for, they took it. Quickly dragging the two men beside the bed, they clicked the handcuffs to their wrists. "At least the two will cause no trouble."

"So, let's get out of here as quickly as possible" - Lara said, and sneaked to the door.

"What about the map?" - Nate wondered.

"There is no need for it, Bryce has a copy of it anyway."

"But there could still be something on the original we didn't notice." - Nate wondered, as he crouched behind the door.

"I don't think so, but just in case, if we have the opportunity, we'll get it back. But I say we shouldn't risk anything for it." - Lara whispered, then opened the door a crack, after verifying she did not hear any noise from outside.

"What the hell is this place?" – Nate drew up an eyebrow. Doors opened along the corridor, the floor was cracked and covered with chessboard tiles, the walls had not been repainted for decades probably. Everything was a dirty, dusty and deserted.

"It's probably a building to be torn down." - Lara replied softly, but did not look back. She tried to decide where they could get out. Sneaking forward quietly in the hallway, they stayed close to the wall. Nate suddenly pushed her against the wall, when voices were heard. Cautiously he looked out the doorway, where they stopped. Three men sat around a clattered table, one resting his feet on it, quietly playing cards. The room was filled with cigarette smoke, and at times they cried out in German, if one was to win. Nate pushed his index finger to his mouth, and after exchanging a brief glance, with a lightning-fast move he jumped to the other side of the door. Lara waited a few seconds to be sure no one noticed them, and then followed him.

In the deserted staircase they quietly descended a level. They almost arrived to the bottom, when something caught Lara's eyes in one of the corridors. She stopped, and moved over to the next doorway. Not far away from them, a man came out of one room, and then with far too much care he closed the door behind him, which attracted her curiosity. When he disappeared again, Lara went to the room. Her boots left clearly visible traces behind on the dusty floor.

"Something must be in there, if they take so much care of it." - she whispered softly to Nate, then pulled out the set of keys they previously acquired from the two guards. "Watch out while I open it." - the keys began to ring softly in her hands. Picking the lock would have been easier, but she had nothing with her to try it with. Probably, it would have taken less time as well. Finally, Lara opened the door, but they discovered nothing interesting at first sight when they entered. On the old shelves books were lined up, papers were lying on the floor, in the middle a massive, but shabby-looking desk was standing.

"Well, I don't see any treasure here." – Nate stated cheerfully. He stepped up to the shelf and removed a book, but it fell apart in his hands. Lara looked up to the noise.

"Don't try to be nosey now, if you can." - she said quickly. "Rather look around!" - Lara began to search through the drawers of the desk, but the first two did not contain anything. When she pulled out the bottom one, a satisfied smile appeared on her face. "Now I like that." - Lara pulled her backpack out of the drawer, and then impatiently rummaged through it. "Of course, the map is no longer in it." – she said, a little down. "But at least everything else is."

"I think it would be time to leave." - Nate suggested, and Lara immediately agreed with him. Since nothing was found, they sneaked back the same way. Lara hardly stepped out of the door when the man they had seen before appeared the end of the corridor, and immediately noticed them. "Damn it .." - Nate cursed and they ran back toward the stairs, not caring about the man, who began to shout. They knew that within minutes everyone would be after them.

As angry shouting filtered in from the staircase, they did not even attempt to flee that way. Nate kicked in a door and they ran to the window. Lara opened the two wings in one stroke, and looked out.

"Come on, don't think twice!" - Nate grabbed Lara's hand and they jumped out the window. "Bike or car?" - Nate asked panting, after glancing around in the yard.

"Bike!" – Lara answered, and they ran towards the vehicle. Nate was thinking for a moment if he should strike back for the earlier teasing and pick the car anyway, but now was not the appropriate occasion to waste time. He jumped on the bike. Lara looked at him sharply, but he did not care.

"Don't argue, I'm driving now!" – he grinned at her, and the bullets whizzed near their heads from the window they jumped from before. Lara finally hopped up behind him, one hand clinging to his waist, shooting back with the other. The guard's body had not even touched the ground, when Nate sped out to the street through the gate.

They had no idea where they were, Nate just raced ahead, avoiding the few cars that were already on the roads in the early hours. They flickered rapidly forward when Lara saw the two black BMWs behind them. There was no need to guess, who were sitting in them. She began to shoot, ignoring the startled faces, who looked at them from the other vehicle, but the bullets glanced off the bodies of the cars. "Shit" – she cursed under her breath.

Nate took a strong turn right, to an upturned overpass, not far behind the cars followed them. "Goddammit!" - Nate yelled so loud that even Lara heard it through the noise of the engine. On the opposite side of the bridge two of the same BMWs approached, completely blocking the road. "Now what?"

Without thinking about it, Lara grabbed Nate's hand, pulling the bike to the side, and with the same motion, she yanked on the brake. The bike trembled beneath them, fell to the side, and began to slide, after they jumped off it. The asphalt grazed their skin, as they slipped a few meters, the bike crashed into the two oncoming cars with tremendous power. A huge explosion followed. They still felt the heat that blew towards them when they hid their faces with their arms.

The two cars stopped behind them, and three armed men jumped out of them, menacingly approaching them.

"Think of something! Fast!" - Lara said, struggling to her feet. Nate looked around nervously, and then realised what would save them.

"Do you trust me?" – he squeezed her hand strongly.

"I don't like the way you ask that." - Lara whispered, watching the approaching men. She liked it less and less when Nate pulled her towards the railing.

"Trust me!" - Nate swung over the railing, pulling Lara with him into the depths.