The air was almost vibrating by the tension. The chirugai was held high, but Kurtis did not surrender. He did not give up, bowed his head and showed acceptance to his fate. If he had to die, he would take it with pride in his eyes and strength in his mind. He raised his head, holding Karel's gaze stiffly, whose eyes were flickering with superiority. The chirugai was shaking, fighting against the strange power, but Kurtis was too weak to control it.

"See you in hell" – Karel blurted out and his muscles tensed as he was about to strike down. The wind was blowing ever stronger through the shabby building, his long coat was floating behind him, the wicked smile spread on his face. Finally, the time had come, he thought with satisfaction. His very last enemy would be vanished and then his time would come to take over power he was craving so much.

Pigeons flew up somewhere above his head, but he did not care about it. Filled with outrageous self-confidence he only concentrated on his final revenge. No one could stop him anymore, no one could cross his path, no one could hinder the fulfillment.

Green flash appeared, as if energy was gathering from everywhere around him for one final strike. Kurtis could almost see the little particles in the air flowing into the chirugai that was vibrating even stronger. He held his breath accepting fate, embracing death that awaited him. He wished he had said one thing before he died, but there would be no time or chance for it anymore. Lara would have had to know what he felt for her, even if Kurtis himself was not sure what it was. He had never loved anyone in his life, he had no idea how it felt to love. And now, in the last seconds of his life he could only think of one thing… of one person. One woman.

It was time and he did not mind it. Without her he would not enjoy life anymore, nothing made sense. He met Karel's gaze and saw the madness in it. Just two seconds and it would be all over, he thought. Kurtis still saw the chirugai spinning, but suddenly the green light flickered and faint orange appeared around the metal as if the colors were fighting with each other. The weapon was whirling with incredible speed above Karel's head and he did not seem to be able to control it anymore. Kurtis looked at it in amazement, feeling more determined than ever before. For a moment neither of them knew what happened, there was confusion on Karel's face, hope on Kurtis'.

Then he glimpsed them and he could not believe his eyes. Lara and Kaleb were standing on the walkway on the first floor above Karel, and Kurtis could see the concentration on his brother's face.

"Good Lord" – he grunted. It took him two seconds to grasp what was going on, but then he closed his eyes, sending all his power into the chirugai. The orange light got stronger, chasing away the green and suddenly a huge blast threw them all back as the chirugai broke free. Karel cried out, flying meters back, Kurtis covered his face with his arm when he felt the blow that would have ripped him away if he had not been lying on the floor already.

When she saw Kaleb dropping down helplessly to the ground floor, Lara jumped to her feel, running towards the stairs leading down, but the explosion weakened the structure and it crashed down before she could even step on it. She jumped back with horror on her face when the stairs landed with a crash, but she wanted to use the chance while Karel's attention was elsewhere. Grabbing her guns, she made a running jump, landing hard in the debris, wet mud and dust stuck on her clothes and hair. She trained her guns on Karel while running towards him with a desperate cry.

"Nooo" – Kurtis cried out when he saw Lara getting closer to Karel, who only needed a few seconds to get back to his senses. The wicked smile returned to his face when he raised his arms above his head and the green light appeared again, growing stronger and stronger with every fraction of a second. There was no time to react, no time to prevent, no time to do anything against it. With one move of his hands Karel released the power shield and suddenly a flickering green semi-sphere covered him, closing Lara within.

Horrifying laughter filled with ruined factory, echoing from everywhere. There were no more pigeons that would fly away frightened, even the wind seemed to be scared of Karel. Kurtis watched it with horror as Lara realised her mistake, but it was too late. She was trapped within the shield, all alone with Karel, who gazed at Kurtis with an evil look. Even without words he understood what Karel meant. Kurtis already thought to have lost Lara and now it would have been even more painful to see her die. Devastating. And he could do nothing against it. Nothing. Just stand there and watch Karel play with her, watch her die.

"You son of a bitch" – Kurtis cried out in despair. He held out his arm, the chirugai was flying and landed confidently in his hand. The orange glow returned as if never been fading, spinning and whirling it was flying towards the energy field, but it was unable to break through. With a desperate scream, as if hitting metal, the weapon bounced off the green wall and fell on the floor. Karel laughed even stronger, his voice filling everything, creeping under Kurtis' skin, driving him crazy.

Lara looked around, but found no way out. Still holding her guns, she was slowly stepping to the side, moving her legs carefully, keeping her eyes on Karel, who was only standing there as if not even noticing her. Even if she knew it would make no sense, she pulled the trigger. Again and again, emptying two magazines into the man. For a moment Karel stopped laughing and raised his head towards her.

"You ridiculous human being" – he blurted out in a deep, threatening voice, making a few steps towards Lara, who had nowhere to flee. "It will be so much fun to kill you while he is watching."

Lara's eyes widened, she was searching for Kurtis. When she glimpsed his figure through the green light, their eyes met.

"I'm so sorry" – Lara whispered when she saw that deep sorrow in his look. The blue eyes were dark as never before, despair appearing in them. For a moment everything was calm, silent, there was no laughter, no wind blowing, nothing stirred. There were only the two of them, embraced in a sad moment of finality.

The green blow hit her hard in the stomach and Lara flew back till she crashed into the energy shield that seemed to be hard as a wall. She fell to the ground, clenching her hand on her stomach, grasping for air. Her muscles tensed, pain split through her body and she raised her head collecting all her strength. Their eyes met for a last time, then she collapsed the ground again and did not move anymore.

Kurtis was standing there, not able to take his eyes off her. He reached forwards, his hand grabbing empty air and he dropped to his knees.

"Lara" – he whispered as the realisation hit him so hard that he could not breathe. At once the evil laughter filled the room again, shutting out every other sounds and Kurtis was packed with anger. He thought to have lost him mind, when he heard Karel's voice again. The man who killed the only woman he ever loved. Yes, now he knew it was love, but it was too late. In one second he lost everything that was ever dear to him and he wanted revenge. Mindless, brutal revenge.

Karel stepped forward, out of the green shield and Kurtis looked up to him. His eyes were totally changed, almost the same madness appeared in them, the calm blue turned into a disturbed swirl.

"God knows I'm going to kill you for this" – he hissed in rage, in a hardly audible voice that even made Karel stop. His eyes narrowed and he only had a second to react when the chirugai was flying towards him with a menacing power. Green light flashed, meeting the orange glow of the weapon halfway between them.

Kaleb raised his head, and shook it to come round. For a short moment he had no idea where he was, all he could see was colours around him. Green and orange flickering, sparkling, fighting with each other. And in the middle of everything the shiny metal of his brother's strange weapon. He sat up and glimpsed the two figures with unearthly concentration on their faces. No matter how they tried, neither of them was winning. The weapon was swirling, struggling, but could not get closer to Karel.

Kaleb groaned when he got to his feet and he knew what he had to do. Lara told him before and he already managed once. All it took was concentration. Where could Lara be? He looked around, but could not see her anywhere. Kaleb closed his eyes and thought of the chirugai just as Kurtis told him before. He felt the warmth running through him, collecting in his pores and he knew he would manage. It felt so light, as if flying. He was wondering that he did not float.

Karel's eyes widened when he felt the power getting stronger. He could not break the eye contact, but he knew that something happened. Something unexpected, something that would mean his end. Maybe it was a mistake to underestimate them. It was an unknown feeling. Was this pain? For a moment he could not decide, but then agreed with himself that this must be pain. He snatched his hand to his stomach and felt something strange. Hard metal stabbing out of it, red fluid sticking to his fingers. He dropped to his knees with amazement on his face.

"See you in hell" – were the last words leaving his mouth before everything went dark and his body fell lifeless to the floor.

"God, I can't believe we did it" – Kaleb came up to Kurtis, who was panting for air, feeling weak as never before. "I knew you can't do it without me" – Kaleb started his usual jokes.

"Lara" – Kurtis breathed out, starting to crawl in the direction where she was lying. Kaleb only realised in this moment that she was motionless. He ran to her, raised her body to feel her pulse. When his hands touched her, her heart was beating once more, hardly perceptibly. His power was still vivid, his energy still gathered below his skin. "You need to bring her back" – Kurtis was pleading, crawling closer.

"How do I do that?" – Kaleb was wondering.

"Just give her your strength, just want it to happen" – his voice was weak, hardly audible. "Please." – Kurtis looked at her and he seemed so lost.

Kaleb closed his eyes and pushed his hand on her chest. There was something, he could feel it, but it was not strong enough.

"I can't do it alone" – he said desperately. Kurtis collected his last strength and crawled over.

"Keep doing it" – he coughed when he placed his hand next to his brother's. "Just keep doing it" – he whispered, watching her face with fear. He found himself praying.

Lara grasped for air as if coming to the surface after being several minutes under water. When she opened her eyes though, she thought she had lost her mind. She never would have expected Kurtis looking back at her, even twice. Was she dreaming? It must be a crazy dreams, she decided and closed her eyes again.

"Lara, please stay with me" – she heard a voice and she started to think she was not dreaming. Forcing her eyes open again, she was searching for the source of the voice, and the face was still there in front of her. She reached out to touch it. It felt warm and real. No matter that there were two faces with the same look, two pair of deep blue eyes, she knew exactly it was Kurtis whose face she caressed. She needed no scar to be sure of it. There was that warmth in his gaze, that need, that passion, even if he looked so tired and weak.

"Damnit" – Kaleb said happily when he moved away from them. "Why is it always you, who gets the woman at the end? Isn't this unfair considering I had saved the day?" – but there was no resentment in his voice though when neither of them cared about him. "I already got used to it anyway" – he continued jokingly, ambling a bit farther.

But Kurtis did not care, he only wanted one thing: to keep Lara close to him and never let her go again. It took a few minutes that they were just lying there, trying to understand what was happening. When Kurtis felt stronger again, he raised his head smiling.

"Come on, honey. We got a lot to talk about" – he pulled her to her feet, holding her close. Lara eyed him suspiciously, then with a sudden move, she kicked him in the ankle. "Ouch, what was that for?" – he asked with an innocent smile.

"No one calls me honey, not even you" – Lara nudged him, but Kurtis pulled her to him, and kissed her deep, getting lost in her.

"I'll call you what I want" – he nipped on her lower lip.

"We'll see about that" – Lara smiled wickedly.

"Good Lord, get a room." – Kaleb waved a hand on them and walked out to find the car. Finding a brother may not have been such a bad thing after all.

Aother story came to an end. What should I say? It was fun again. Maybe it did not stay on the funny side till the end as I planned it, but I hope that you got your happy-end and everyone is satisfied.

The idea came up to bring Lara and Kaleb together at the end, but probably it would have been very unfair to Kurtis who is so much in love with her but is unable to show his emotions. Life is not easy after all :)

Thanks so much again for all your motivating reviews that kept me going. Special thanks to lara anne, who gave me the inspiration for this story on the first place. Maybe it did not turn out to be as she imagined it, but I hope she is not disappointed with it :)

Thanks to isaalacrymosaa, Najel, LiveLongLoveLife-xDataRulezx and everyone else for the reviews and to all who was reading it. Let's see if I find another idea to bring back cocky Kaleb on the scene :)

Coming up next is the sequel to Crossroads...so prepare if you liked the first part! AND OF COURSE KEEP REVIEWING IF YOU LIKED THIS ONE! :)

See you next time, folks!