Chapter 35 - Into the Belly of the Beast
Lara slipped the cables off her harness, suffocating under the pull of the humidity so far below the surface. She peered upward, the entrance to the ruins looking like nothing more than a patch of brilliant blue, dotted with palm fronds and a light scattering of spidery clouds. Bryce landed beside her, his knees, lower back, wrists, and elbows covered in plastic padding. He gave her a slight grin as he unlocked his harness and flexed his arm muscles.
"Well, guess there's no going back now," he offered with a tilt of his head. She only peered up once more, her heart growing strangely heavy with emotion.
"No. No going back."
They walked side by side down a grating slope of loose pebbles. Alex and the rest of the descent team were waiting at the bottom. The gloom enclosed them as the sunlight began to disappear behind them. The gear pile had already been started, and Lara and Bryce added theirs easily enough. Lara slipped a zipper pocket in her pack open when all heads were turned, pulling out her holsters and .45's. She strapped the ensemble into place, the weight of her oh-so-familiar sidekicks a comfort somehow. She saw Alex catch her eye, and he nodded as if in sync with her thoughts. He was with her... if it came to that. She watched as Bradshaw and the other four participating members of the repelling crew lit flares, tossing them to the walkway's sides to light the way. Hansel and Gretel with their breadcrumbs. She smiled slightly at the idea, feeling completely lucid and a little untethered. Like a bit of paper tossed about on the crest of a wave. And yet it all seemed to fit. She knew something was happening. She could feel it. Like an impending birth of sorts. She felt so unlike herself. Lost in all that was happening... all that had happened. It was as if a gate in her unconscious mind had slipped open, allowing a lazy flow of past memories and experiences flood her slowly. Overtaking her in a dizzying, solidifying way. She saw herself - as she once was - drifting in the arms of a lover. Strong, silent, dark was he. They were enclosed in that most complete of embraces, forming a protective womb over their connected and vulnerable spirits. She could feel him breathing, speaking to her in something other than words. They spoke of hiding something very terrible and very beautiful. Something no man should have ever touched or even been aware of. An anomaly of nature. A disfigurement. A plague. An eyesore in the natural course of human evolution. They spoke of what it would mean to put all the rest before their love. It would ultimately mean never looking back. He would get on that ship, and they could both lie to themselves all they wanted to. But he wouldn't come back for her. He couldn't. After all the promises. After the senseless passion that was theirs and theirs alone. After all was said and done... they would still have to take the higher ground. And their lives would be extinguished. Far away from one another -
"Lara!" Alex shouted from the end of the tunnel. Lara shook her head, the thoughts and strange emotions fluttering away like frightened butterflies. Her head ached and she could see tiny dark spots in her field of vision. A moment's focus and they were gone. She looked up, taking in the expectant faces. Bryce was still beside her, waiting for her to make the next move. They all were. She was the great savior now. She was going to have to take the higher road. She felt that unsettling heaviness press down upon her once more, and her gut clenched as she saw Mason move towards her, his sharks' eyes glittering with excitement and anticipation.
"Are you alright Lady Croft?" he asked. His voice was smooth, oily... dark. He took out a flashlight as the sunlight from above dimmed with the coming of evening. He switched it on, using it to motion towards the mouth of the cavernous ruins. The stark light splayed across the rock walls in a hectic pattern, and Lara had a fleeting wonder of what it was like to die. She shook it off once more, her heart thudding in her ears. She put a clammy palm to the butt of her right automatic, letting it's solidity bring her back. She had never weighed her mortality in the balance. And now was not a good time to start. If she checked out early, she could hate herself while sharing a cigarette with St. Peter. Right now it was ass-kicking time.
"I'm fine Mr. Mason. Let's go. I believe I have a contract to fulfill." Mason lifted a brow slightly at her, letting her stride past him in that confident, exhilarated air of hers. She came to Alex's side, gazing at him with a new affection, a new... understanding. He gazed back, his figure changing for an instant. Or was it a trick of the eyes in the failing light? Lara didn't care. She knew what she was looking at, and it didn't change a damn thing. If anything, it made it that much easier to justify what was going to happen. Lara grabbed the flare he held out to her, flicking the head with her thumbnail. It burst into life with a flicker of yellow smoke, and she hurled it into the darkness before them. The sandstone walls came alive with color, and the rest of the team switched on their flashlights. The light from the surface was growing very dim now, and Lara's cat eyes retrained themselves to penetrate the silent darkness looming ahead of them. She felt Alex's firm hand on her shoulder, cool and unafraid.
Suddenly it was gone. Her mind cleared as though nothing had ever lingered there. Her senses were on high alert once more, and she could smell the sweet, dry scent of the stone encompassing them. Her heart was racing with the thrill, and a bead of sweat dropped from her brow into her eye, stinging as it went. She smiled slightly, and motioned for the others to follow her as she descended. Alex's hand slipped away, and all of a sudden it was Lara Croft against the world again. And she wasn't afraid. Not this time. Not any time. She was the best, bar fucking none. And it was time to do a little dancing.