Back again, everyone. Welcome to chapter ten! Time to check up on Lara and see how she's doing...


Lara could hear her heart beating in her head, and she could feel a pounding in her brain. She was sure her eyes were open, but she couldn't see a damn thing. Where was she? What had happened? She attempted to draw in a breath of air, but found she couldn't – something was covering her head. She reached her hands up, but found, by way of feeling, that they were tied. She tried to pull them apart, but they had been bound tightly. She sighed in her mind, and reached up, pulling the bag away that was covering her face. Better, she thought. At least she could see now.

Lara squinted as light entered her vision. It was coming from a single hanging lamp on the dingy moss-green ceiling. The room reeked of algae and stale paint. Where the hell was she? She attempted to sit up, but found a shooting pain work its way down her back. Her entire body ached, and she groaned in pain as she leaned against the wall. She could imagine she looked a mess – terribly messy brown hair, half-open eyes, a dazed look. She glanced about the room. There was a white door in the corner and a cheap rusty, metal table on the opposite side. The floor panels were different shades of green. It looks almost like the Sanitarium, Lara thought, shuddering at the thought of the mindless zombies that had walked the halls of the forgotten psych ward.

She fought desperately to remember what had happened, closing her eyes for a moment. I found Aiden…there was a car bomb…I found Kyran…That's where she had last been conscious. Kyran had attacked her. He must've kidnapped her and dragged her here. She wasn't quite sure why he'd done it – hadn't he been one-hundred-percent against the Cabal and all of its efforts? Unless he had a different agenda…

Lara sighed, looking down at her bound hands. They were tied together with wire. No problem, Lara thought. Of course, her guns were gone, and her backpack as well, but she always kept a small blade tucked into her boot. She reached down, gripping it, grinning as she began to saw away at the wire. It was a difficult task, especially at such a formidable angle, but she managed to do it, and the wire sawed in half. She pulled her wrists apart, rubbing them as the raw skin began to break and bleed. Lara closed her mind off to the pain and returned her blade to her boot, trying to fight off the dizziness that came to her as soon as she rose to her feet.

Lara heard footsteps coming down the hall. In the next moment, the door opened, and Kyran stepped inside, grinning that sadistic grin. He was accompanied by four armed mercenaries, as Lara would expect.

"Comfy, my dear?" he asked.

"As well as can be expected," she said, her voice hoarse.

He chuckled, outstretching his arms to gesture about the room. "I'm sorry the suite wasn't available. You'll have to stick to the basic room for now."

"So you're not with the Cabal," Lara said, "but you're not with the Lux Veritatis. I'm confused."

Kyran grinned devilishly, taking a step away to pace about the room casually. Lara eyed him suspiciously, clenching her fist at her side. Then, before her eyes, he changed appearances. Her stomach nearly dropped at the sight of his various profiles flashing through in several instances. Then, Karel appeared to her, grinning unusually.

"Ah," Lara said, folding her arms over her chest. "That explains a lot. So where is Kyran, then?"

"That's unimportant," he said.

"Translated as 'dead'?" she asked.

"Perhaps," he said. "I wouldn't know. As I said, it's unimportant. What is important is this." Karel removed a jade dagger from his coat pocket, and Lara's eyes widened. Idiot, she scolded herself. She'd just given Karel the truth in her reaction – that the dagger was of importance. Although she was sure that he already knew it. Karel grinned devilishly. "It really is a beautiful artifact, isn't it?"

"It'd be a lot more beautiful in the hands of the person whom it rightfully belongs to," she said, glaring.

"A matter of opinion," he said, returning it to his coat.

"And what is it that you plan to do with me?" she asked. "Hold me hostage here until I die of old age?"

"Oh, don't worry about that," he said. "You won't be bored at all, but I'm not sure the alternative will be better than suffering boredom."

Lara merely smirked at him as the mercenaries came towards her, taking her by the arms and dragging her out of the room. They followed after Karel, who snaked his way down the halls of the strange basement-like building. Lara passively took note of everything she passed – four blue doors, two hallways, an old cafeteria, a short hallway with light at the end, an elevator shaft, metal air shafts hanging from the ceiling. If she could find a way out of her enemies' clutches, she could possibly get out through either the elevator shaft or the vents.

Karel entered a room much alike the room she had previously been in. They forced her into a cold metal chair, tying her wrists to the armrests. Then, they stepped back, assuming a military-like position alongside the door. Karel approached Lara casually, his hands behind his back.

"So you're going to torture me, then?" Lara asked calmly.

"You can make it as difficult as you want," Karel responded. "Tell me what you know, and your sentence will be lighter."

Lara grinned challengingly at him. "I don't think so."

"You're going to do this the hard way?"

"It's the only way I do things," she said.

"Very well, Miss Croft," he sighed. "Again, I've offered you my benefits, and you've rudely turned them down."

"Forgive me," Lara said sarcastically.

"We'll start simply," he said. He nodded to his guard in the back corner, who approached Lara and hit her across the face with the butt of his rifle. She slowly looked back up at Karel, glaring at him with hatred. Karel merely stared down at her. "It's going to take a lot more to get even a titter out of me," Lara said lowly.

"If that's the way it has to be, so be it," he said.

The guard removed a knife and yanked one of Lara's hands behind her back. He dragged the tip over the bare skin on her forearm, puncturing it just enough to cause blood. Then, he drilled the tip of the blade under her fingernails. Lara gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, summoning all of her strength to block out the pain. When I get free, that bastard is going to get it, she thought. She squeezed her eyes together, feeling blood seep from her fingertips. A small groan escaped her mouth. The last thing she would do would let Karel know how much it hurt.

The guard stopped prodding for a moment. Lara opened her eyes, breathing heavily as she looked up at Karel. "Is that it?" she challenged.

Karel drew in a deep breath, as if it bothered him more than it did her. "Very well," he said. The guard smacked Lara across the face again, causing blood to erupt fro under the skin just below her eye. She felt the guard grip her by her braid and yank her head backwards. She gritted her teeth again as he pulled her hair, threatening to snap her neck off. Lara couldn't keep her eyes open, and she fought with her strength to pull her neck away from the grip of her captor. Wait for it…she thought. She felt and heard the guard lean closer to her, then she jerked her head backwards, butting his head. He staggered backwards, releasing her hair. Lara glared up at Karel again as the angry guard returned, backhanding her, causing her lip to split.

"Enough," Karel said nonchalantly. "This is obviously pointless."

"I was wondering when you'd realize it," Lara said, more than relieved.

"Although we haven't quite reached the guns yet," Karel speculated, "knowing you, it won't make a difference."

"So what to do with me now?" Lara asked sarcastically.

"Oh, I'm not finished yet," he said. Karel approached her as the guards held her shoulders firmly back. Then, Karel placed a hand on either side of her head and closed his eyes. Immediately, Lara began to feel a sharp pain shoot through her head – it was worse than any migraine she'd ever experienced. The intense pain surged through her head and down her spine. If Karel thought this would make her budge, it still wouldn't – but what was he doing?

Then it occurred to Lara – he was trying to read her mind, to break down her mental blocks. She needed to do everything she could to think of anything but the brothers and the daggers. She tried to focus on something random – a flowery pasture, the clouds in the sky, a cow in the field. Anything. She even started doing a math problem in her head. Find all degree solutions of cos4x = ½, she thought, remembering her trigonometry from high school.

Then, to her surprise, Karel staggered backwards, releasing her. She felt completely exhausted, as if she'd run twenty miles in twenty minutes. She wasn't sure how much longer she'd hold up. Karel chuckled. "Now you're just toying with me, Miss Croft."

"Whatever do you mean?" she asked, exasperated.

"You won't be able to hold out much longer, Lara," Karel warned. "It's just not mentally or physically possible."

"Try me," she bellowed.

Karel reached towards her head again, forcing her into the same pain again. Perhaps he's right, she thought. Then, she realized her mistake. She'd given Karel leeway. She returned her mind to something random. Silent night, holy night…she sang in her mind. Karel staggered backwards, and for a brief moment, Lara's vision clouded. She was on the verge of fainting. This time, Karel wasn't laughing. He was glaring evilly, and he was angry. "You're pushing me too far," he said warily.

Lara had no strength to retort. She merely stared up at him with hatred. "Go to hell," was all she could muster to say. Karel glared evilly, then backhanded her, sending her to a slumped-over position in her chair. He rolled his wrists over, letting the green energy surge throughout his arms. "Fine, then," he said. "I suppose all this talk is just slowing me down."

I'm going to die, Lara thought. Karel drew his hand back, preparing to kill her. Then, the wall blew out in an unexpected explosion. The mercenaries and Karel were impaled with sheet-rock from the walls, but Lara was unharmed. Somehow, the debris had managed to avoid her. She slowly opened her drooping eyes to see the figure of a man standing several feet before her. He had several different guns on his person, and a menacing look of duty in his eyes. Lara wasn't sure who he was, but she could barely keep her eyes open. The man walked in her direction and then stopped, standing beside her. He removed a small grenade-like object from his belt and tossed it forward. It emitted a vertical blue light, which then extended in both directions, acting as what Lara assumed to be a force-field. Then, he turned to Lara and began to untie her bounds.

"We don't have much time," he said, removing the second bondage. "The shield should hold Karel off for two minutes maximum. Your friends are here, luckily not too far into the building."

The man slung Lara's arm over his shoulder and helped her to her feet, pulling her out of the room and down the hallway. Whenever a guard approached, he merely shot a surge of energy in his direction, knocking him away. It was apparent that this man was brave, and strong, and wasn't afraid of confrontation. He headed down the hallway to the left, entering into the elevator. They could hear more guards running down the hall. The man casually pressed the button to ascend to the ground floor, and the doors closed just in time. Then, they heard bullets flying on the opposite side. Again, the man remained calm, fearless.

He held onto Lara's arm with one hand and removed an SMG rifle from over his shoulder with the other. When the elevator doors opened, he opened fire on the guards that stood just outside. Not a single bullet touched him or Lara. He casually walked out, Lara's weight limp under her inability to even stand. He rounded a corner, drawing his weapon to aim at the person approaching. Then, he lowered it as the man lowered his. Kurtis stared in shock at the woman slumped under this stranger's arm.

"Is this your friend?" the man asked quickly.

"Yeah," he said.

"Take her out of here," he said, "and get yourself out as well."

"Who are you?" Kurtis asked, confused.

"Willard DeCombel," he replied, handing Lara over to Kurtis. He held his gun close to his side. "Now if you'll excuse me –" He glanced backwards as more guards came down the hall – "I have some other tasks to handle."

"We need you –"

"I'll meet you outside."

"No, you can't just –" But the man had already turned away, preparing to "handle his tasks". Kurtis pulled Lara closer to his body and moved as quickly as he could outside. He'd never seen her in such a dangerous state. What had they done to her? The thought of anyone hurting Lara only further angered him, and he fought to hold control over his psychic abilities yet again.

Kuris and Lara staggered outside into the light, and he moved as quickly as possible to the opposite side of the street where Garin, Kyran, and Aiden waited in the car. Aiden quickly climbed out of the back of the car and opened it for Kurtis to rest Lara across the seat.

"What's wrong with her?" Aiden asked nervously.

"I don't know…" Kurtis muttered. Her eyes flickered shut, and he quickly felt for a pulse. She was unconscious, but she was alright, for the most part. He removed his hands from her body, and stared down at the blood covering his palms. Shit, he thought. Karel was going to pay.

"You can't go back," Garin said. "I know how much you want to put Karel in his place, but it's too dangerous."

"Yeah, I know," Kurtis said irritably. "'The Punisher' is already in there anyway."

"Who?" Kyran asked.

"Willard DeCombel," he replied. "He said he'd be out here in a minute."

Garin looked up just in time to see a man coming their way. "Is this DeCombel?" he asked Kurtis carefully.

Kurtis glanced up. "Yeah, that's him."

The man approached the car, turned around, threw something towards the building, then turned back to the car. "You must be Garin Limoux," he said. As soon as he finished his sentence, the building exploded. All but Willard startled at the echoing boom.

"What the hell are you trying to do?" Kyran asked harshly.

"Take care of things," he said.

"You know that's a huge liability," Kyran said passively.

"Only God will judge me," he responded nonchalantly.

"Yeah, sure," Kyran said.

"I have a place in Frankfurt," he said. "We'll go there. All will be safe."

Kyran eyed him irritably as he approached a nearby car, smashing in the window. "This guy is a kook."

They heard the car starting behind them, and Aiden gasped. "Did he hotwire that car?" he asked, half-shocked and half-amused.

"Looks that way," Kurtis said, hearing the engine rev behind him. "Aiden, Kyran, go with him. I need to stay with Lara."

"Sure, kick us out," Kyran muttered.

Kyran and Aiden slipped out of the car and headed towards the car that Willard had started. Garin turned to Kurtis. "Does he have the daggers?" he asked quickly. Kurtis quickly glanced back, just in time to see Willard hold up two jade daggers, then return them to his coat.

"He's got them," Kurtis breathed.

Garin picked up his phone, dialing a number. He hesitated for a moment as he turned the engine over. "Davis, it's Garin," he said. "You and Zeth need to meet us in Frankfurt. We've found the DeCombel brother." He confirmed more statements over the phone, then hung up. He shifted the car into drive, and quickly pulled onto the street.

Kurtis leaned back in the car, sighing. He was thankful to be getting away from that bastard, Karel. When he looked down at Lara, though, pain seeped through his being, and for some reason, he immediately remembered their fight the few nights ago. He closed his eyes in guilt. I'm so sorry, Lara, he thought. He stared forward, through the windshield, praying that when she awoke in Frankfurt, he would find a way to appropriately apologize to her.

Eh, I'm not really, you know...good at writing 'torture scenes'...but you get the idea. Thank God they got Lara out of there, though, eh? Damn Karel, always being a sadist.

nemesis - ...you know what, I did not bother coming up with a reason as to how Karel survived since Utah...it's Karel. He's seemingly invincible. Forgive me for that XD

OveractiveImaginer - You know what...I have no idea why they didn't just kill Kyran...oh well! Pretend they drugged him or something =P Thanks to my half-hearted, un-thought-through approaches to story-writing haha.

trfanfrombeg - Yeah, I can see where you're coming from about Aiden...idk, perhaps if I decide to make like a seventeenth part to this series, he'll have a big role haha. And that line? Well, it's something I've said before, haha, hence where I came up with it XD I always tell people to be thankful that I don't have a twin. And AGAIN you hit the nail on the head! I keep having this vision of the 'Jean Grey phoenix'...especially when I wrote that part in the Fountain of Youth when Andrea kicked Rutland's ass. Kurtis, however, has a lot better self-control...

Okay guys...hope you enjoyed that. Let's see how Lara and Kurtis 'make up' in the next chapter ;) I'll meet you at Chapter 11 on Thursday!! Toodles!!