Lara felt the booklet in her pockets pushing against her thigh, but had no chance to look at it ever since they had left the small room where Simon had been kept. Kowalski did not let them out of his sight and this was becoming more and more suspicious to Lara, but she did not show it. From the corner of her eyes she kept watching Kowalski who was standing at the wheel of the speed boat they were sitting in. Lara felt confused. Even more confused than when she had woken up after the accident.

Kowalski looked tense and nervous, but this could have been because of the shield being hidden by that guy… Simon. Lara could not get him out of her mind. That kiss. Why the hell had she let that happen at all? His hands had been tied, it would not have been very hard to resist him and yet she had let him kiss her. Not just let him, but she had actually kissed back which was inexplicable to her. This Simon really knew how to confuse her and it made Lara angry. Most probably angry with herself, but not willing to admit this, she directed her anger against everyone else. Against him.

She did not want to think about it how wonderful it had felt when he had kissed her. It was annoying, infuriating how he had managed to veil her mind with this witchery and made her return it. To hell with him, she decided irritably. One stupid kiss would not change her mind. Her hand slipped to her pocket, touching the booklet in there. It made her curious, but Lara did not want to risk Kowalski seeing her with it. Or maybe it was just a trick again and this guy had let it drop with intention? To mislead her? Lara turned her head, looking at Simon from the corner of her eyes.

Simon was sitting at the end of the speed boat, his hands still tied behind his back. Keeping his head low, he tried to decide what to do next. His plan was risky, but he had to try it. He had to stay alone with her. Even without looking up, he felt Lara watching him. Her taste still lingered in his mouth and it drove him crazy. Kissing her had been painful. It had brought back so many memories, so many feelings that hurt him immensely and yet he craved for it again. For a short moment he had been able to forget about all the bad in the world and he had felt like before. Happy. With her. Now that he had felt it again, it tortured him even more. How had he ended up like this? Dependent on a woman who meant more to him than his own life. When he raised his head, Lara moved her stare away, watching the waves.

The speed boat slowed down, one of the armed men threw the anchor into the water.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Kowalski went to Simon and he nodded. "How do you know?"

"There was a hint on the shield," he said, carefully choosing his words not to reveal anything important.

"Where is that damn shield?" Kowalski grabbed his shirt, pulling him forcefully up from the seat, but Simon held his angry gaze without a word.

"Kill me if you want, you'll never find it," he said after a while, and Kowalski let go of him.

"Let's get moving," he shouted and the few men they had brought with them started to unload equipment. They packed everything over to a dinghy and paddled to the shore. The waves were tossing the small thing around, but it fought its way through. "There is very little activity on this side of this island, so it shouldn't be a problem," Kowalski said to Lara who was sitting right next to him.

"I don't mind problems," she answered quietly, keeping her eyes on the shore. "I'll take care of them."

They stepped out of the boat, their feet landing in the ankle-deep clear water. A volcanic island with strange black sand. A man pushed Simon forward to Kowalski.

"Where do we need to go?" he asked impatiently. As Lara was standing next to them, he tried to keep his anger down. He hated this guy, more than anyone else in the world. Everything had looked so wonderful before he had appeared. The plan had been perfect, Lara had been on his side, nothing had stood in his way. And now he had to beg this man to tell him where the next piece is? Outrageous.

"The deal is that I'll go with Lara. No one else," Simon insisted. Kowalski's eyes narrowed, Simon could see how anger was rising in him, but he would not give in. Lara and no one else.

Kowalski turned to Lara, whispering something to her that Simon could not hear and she left them alone, walking a bit further down the shore. With his back to her, Kowalski faced Simon again.

"Now listen to me, pal," he hissed menacingly. "I think you're not getting the situation here. You're not the one to set the rules here."

Simon's face did not change a bit, then a faint smile appeared on it. "I think you forget about something. I'm the only one who knows where the shield is and where to get the next piece."

Kowalski's face tensed even more, his voice not more than a growl. "I think you forget about something too. I'm not the one who wants to save Lara Croft." His words hit him and Kowalski knew it, so he kept talking. "I know what she means to you. To me she means nothing. I admit that having her around is a nice addition to my plans, but I absolutely don't care about her well-being."

"You need her to get the pieces. You won't do anything to her till then." Simon tried his luck, hoping to be right.

"That is true," Kowalski said. "At least partly. I would prefer her to find them for me, but if I have to, I'll find someone else."

"If you tell her that the whole thing has been a lie, you'll lose her." Simon felt desperate. He did not count with Kowalski being ready to turn against Lara. Trusting that the fact that he needed her would help him, Simon played his cards, and seemed to have the weaker hand.

"I don't need to tell her anything. I'm very sure it's enough if I tell you that I'll kill her if you don't do what I want from you. She doesn't need to know anything about our little deal. What do you say?" he offered a cold smile.

"You wouldn't," Simon looked at him in disbelief.

"You know I would," he answered, turning away from him again. "So Mr Hanningham. Lead the way," he continued in a cheerful voice, smiling at Lara, who watched them curiously.

...

The cave went deep into the mountain, and the deeper they got, the darker it became. Black rocks surrounded them and Lara went as first. The way inside the cave was unknown to them all, Simon only knew where to look for the entrance. Afterwards, he had no idea anymore. They were all looking around amazed, trying to guess where they were heading.

Simon felt deep worry, watching Lara walk in front of him. Why did she not remember him? It was unbelievable how she could have forgotten about them. They had gone through so much together and it was all vanished? Would she ever be the same again? When he had kissed her, it had felt as before. Her lips had tasted like always. Sweet and mind-blowing. The way she had returned the kiss had been so familiar. When she had pushed him away, it had made him suffer. It was maddening to see her there and yet she was so far away. Simon tried to collect his thoughts a bit. Thinking back at their encounters, there had been something that disturbed him. Every time he had touched her, Lara had seemed to feel something. As if she had been hit by something. Her cold reservedness had been gone and she had looked like having pain.

Could she have felt something? Seen something? About them together? But if this was the case, why would she still turn against him? Simon felt confused.

When Lara stopped, Kowalski grabbed Simon's shoulders, pulling him back. A room opened in front of them, a smaller, round room with something standing in the middle. Lara did not move. A disturbing feeling arouse in her as if she had seen this place already, but it could not be.

A round room, with a platform in the middle, light coming in from above, holes on the wall all around. She winced, dismissing the idea. Angry with herself, she stepped in, not caring about the consequences. Anger made her reckless and she did not mind it.

"Lara, wait," Simon called after her with worry in his voice, but she did not pay attention. Her eyes focused on the sword that was in the middle of the room, stabbed into the platform like a cross. The sword of Achilles. It was beautiful. Simple and yet so powerful. Lara walked to it with awe on her face, her fingers traced over the blade as she went around the platform. It felt so familiar. So much like… like… she could not remember. In that moment though, Simon knew exactly what it looked like. The room worked the same way as the place where they had found the amulet in Scotland. The first time they had worked together. The first time he had fallen in love with her. His eyes widened when he saw her climb on the platform. Her hand moved to the hilt of the sword, her fingers clutched it, preparing to pull it out. "Nooo….," Simon cried out and not caring about anyone else around him, he ran towards her. It may have been just a few seconds, but it felt like eternity to him.

Lara's muscles tensed and she pulled the sword, the metal slowly moving out of the stone. The faint light glinted on the ancient blade, and she straightened up, holding it in her hands. Simon could hear the clicks coming from the walls, he could almost see the darts flying towards her, piercing through her body. Noo, he wanted to shout again, but no sound came out of his mouth. He jumped, not even really knowing what he was doing. Time seemed to stop and Simon knew he was too late. His hands grabbed her, pulling her with him as he was falling back to the ground, his body protectively covering hers. He felt pain, but did not care about it. All he wanted to know was that Lara was safe.

She stayed unmoved and it scared him. Squeezing his eyes together, he did not dare to open them and see her lifeless face. After a few seconds that felt like endless torture to him, Simon felt her wince under him. When he looked up, her brown eyes looked back at him, holding a question. Nothing moved.

Lara felt his body cover hers and suddenly she knew this had happened before. The images were coming again, but this time they did not trouble her. They were smoothing, calming, comforting. She felt protected and safe. She felt as if… belonging to him? A flash… and she saw them together in a gym, another flash… she saw them together in a cave… in a bed. Peaceful, tender, arousing. Blinking, she kept watching his face. His hand moved towards her, gently caressing her face.

"Read the booklet. Please read it," he whispered to her and then suddenly someone grabbed him, pulling him violently off her.

"Enough," they heard Kowalski's rough voice and Lara needed a few seconds to get back to reality. Feeling his body on hers, his touch on her face and seeing that warm feeling in his eyes stirred her. Lara sat up and watched the men drag him out of them room. Drawing in a deep breath, she raised her hand to her face, touching the same spot he had touched. "Are you alright?" Kowalski pulled her up, looking at her asking, but Lara only nodded as if not even seeing him. "Come on, darling. We still have a lot to do," he smiled at her, thinking something was very wrong.