The 26th part is up! THANK YOU for keeping reading this story! :) :) :) I was not satisfied with the chapter at first, but eventually managed to improve it! ;) Sorry for the waiting.


Chapter 26: Fragments of the Past

To arrest me?... Again?!

Lara tried to overcome the initial shock. The surge of memories of the unhappy, stressful and dark time spent in custody and adjacent investigative rooms sent shivers down her spine.

No, not again. I'm not coming back.

One of the first thoughts that had come on her mind after hearing the words was to run and hide, naturally. She knew that an escape would be quite easy, especially with Kurtis around, helping and covering her back. Concerning her faithful butler, Lara knew he would deny her presence without any hesitation if she had asked him to. So would Zip. But instead of the withdrawal, she decided to find out what was happening head on. Lara had no doubt that the visit of the police was connected to Karel, in one way or another. And it was important for her to have all the information. She put on a determined expression, even though it was partly a false one. "I can handle this, Winston. Don't worry."

"But—"

"I've committed nothing the police can arrest me for. You know that. Therefore they can't have any evidence against me. Okay?" Lara claimed, even though she well knew that there had been a few stains from the past on her otherwise clear account. "It's fine. I'll find out what's going on. It will be okay." She had almost even persuaded herself. Almost.

Winston grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly. "I'm always here for you."

She gave him a sincere smile. Winston's supportive words had always made her feel better. "I know." With that, Lara went to meet her new visitor.

Back in the main hall, the adventurer was immediately taken aback. Oh, no. Not him! Him of all policemen in the world... Lara whined inwardly.

There he was standing, Inspector Olivier Bonnet. The Frenchman was a middle-aged, tall, dark-haired man with grayish strands all over his head. However, thanks to his figure, wits and smart look, the detective had always appeared to be younger. He was dressed in casual wear composed of jeans and jacket. The Inspector set out towards her. An investigator connected to many Lara's bad memories. And now his eyes fell on her, piercing and analyzing her - again. "Ahh, Miss Croft! Our infamous lady," he started with false enthusiasm.

"Inspector Bonnet," she started coldly, ignoring his ironical approach - which she had already got to know too well -, "what can I do for you?"

"Still not ready to confess?" he asked her with a false pitiful expression, as if trying to make a little child to apologize. "How disappointing."

"To confess about what exactly, Inspector?" she crossed her hands. Some things didn't change. No, she definitely didn't like him. Not at all.

Bonnet grimaced. "You've always been an exceptional liar, I give you that, Miss. One of the best." He stressed each word in the last sentence.

"Are you here to arrest me?"

"Your servant, who you surely find inferior to your aristocratic level, asked me what I would like. So basically I just gave him the sincere answer. I would love to see all criminals to spend the rest of their lives behind the bars, naturally. At least those who deserve it."

"He's my butler. And a long family friend. Not any inferior servant."

"Sure," he announced with obvious disdain.

"So?"

"You are aware that I can get you into the custody for twenty-four hours, even without a proper reason, right?"

"I don't understand the reason of your visit, Mr. Bonnet. I've been discharged completely, as you very well know. And I haven't committed any crime in the meantime."

"Hmm. I've dug a little bit into it. Your monstrous case I mean. And about you being freed so quickly... So smoothly... There's definitely something stinky about the way it all happened."

"Is that all you have?"

"No," he shook his head with a devilish smile. "Not at all... Have you heard about the latest murder, Miss Croft?"

Lara looked at him in puzzlement. "What murder are you talking about?"

"Of course you are confused. Too many on the list, right?... Bonnet said with a sneer. His last remark made Lara clench her teeth.

"The atrocity happened yesterday."

"But why—"

"All typical signs of the Parisian Monstrum..." He was trying to read the slightest nuances of the expression in her face. "As you very well know already, right?"

"No, I don't," she said with a firm gaze. "I had some other matters to attend to during the last days. I wasn't even—"

"Here in Surrey?" Bonnet interrupted her, obviously satisfied with his knowledge. "That's evident. Did you enjoy your last travel?"

"What does it have to do with anything?" Lara asked, getting frustrated. Even though, at this point she was starting to have sinking feeling about where the dialogue had been likely heading.

"The Monstrum did visit Germany yesterday... Surprised?"

Damn.

"Finally out of words I see."

"It's just a coincidence," she blurted out almost automatically.

Now the false smile faded and Bonnet's face turned into a very serious expression. "Miss Croft," he started in a threatening tone, "you may think that you can evade justice forever, but you're wrong. Especially those too sure of themselves make mistakes easily. And I will be there when you make one. It will happen. It's just a matter of time. Even your prosperous connections and fortune won't help you then."

"You are barking up the wrong tree, Inspector.

"We'll see about that," Bonnet said and made a turn towards the direction of the steps drawing nearer.

"Sorry, just passin' by," Kurtis interrupted their exchange after he had gone down the stairs, seizing the other man warily for a moment. "Lara, I'm gonna check up on the bike we've talked about earlier." The American was about to continue in his way but paused. He could see that Lara wasn't feeling pleasant in the new person's presence. That fact intrigued him. "I didn't know you have a... visitor."

Bonnet focused back on Lara, his false friendliness back. "Shall we get introduced, Lady Croft?"

Lara didn't react, not sure what to do at first. She didn't want to give away Kurtis' data in case he wouldn't agree with it. Lara decided to let it up completely to the American. She turned to Kurtis. "Apparently a murder happened in Germany yesterday. And from what I've gathered so far, Inspector Bonnet here," she gestured towards the older man, "is assigned to investigate the act. He was in charge of the Monstrum killings."

"I still am, actually. And where are your manners, Lady?" The Inspector set out towards Kurtis. "And you are? Mr...?"

"Kurtis Trent," he answered, glancing in Lara's way. She definitely wasn't looking happy. Plus the American also didn't like the man with a French accent.

"And your purpose here, Mr. Trent? If I may be so bold to ask?"

Now Kurtis turned his attention fully towards the Frenchman. "Nothing much, really. I'm just a new gardener. I specialize in annoying insect. And since I had a really bad experience with it just recently, now I know how to cut bugs out right from the very start. Before the things get ugly."

No, this is not good... Lara closed her eyes tightly.

Bonnet had obviously got the American's hint. His facade faded completely. "Actually, according to my sources, Mr. New Gardener, you are strikingly similar to the man Croft was traveling with. Another coincidence?" he shortly glanced in Lara's way. "I don't think so."

Kurtis sniggered. "So? Traveling is a forbidden activity now? Now that's the news. But wait a minute," he put up a confused expression, "how did you get in here? A teleportation? Magic?"

Inspector puffed in irritation. "Are trying to be funny?"

"I've thought you are. Sounds like it."

"I will remember you," he said cryptically at last, his eyes narrowed. "And I will make you change your attitude in the close future. I will be the last one laughing."

Kurtis waved his hand in dismissal and pretended boredom."Yeah, well, I will probably forget about you in the following five minutes. Sorry 'bout that, Frenchie."

Lara gulped. Great, make him even more angry, she had thought at first, even though Kurtis' remark made her lips twitch in a badly suppressed smile a few seconds later.

"I'm really looking forward to get that arrogance out of you." The older man grimaced and turned back to Lara. "I will come for some other answers soon. Don't leave the country, Miss."

The last part finally made Lara to come into a full counter-attack. "You have no proof for any of your accusations."

"You can't stop with it, can you?" he hissed. "Does it feel good to have that power of death? Do you enjoy the feeling of your bloody hands, Miss Monstrum?"

"Hey, easy!" Kurtis tried to interrupt.

Lara stopped him by a gesture of her hand. "Inspector, unless you have some irrefutable proof about my guilt, you have absolutely no right to—"

"Don't dare to lecture me about rights!" he growled.

Lara didn't let herself to get scared. "I don't know anything about the murder in Germany you are talking about. I've been—"

"You've been traveling. I know." He took another step closer to her.

Lara held his gaze without backing away. In the corner of her eyes, Lara noticed that Kurtis had changed his posture, as if being ready to jump at Bonnet and strangle him right there with bare hands. She had the same urge. However Kurtis didn't seem to be intending to interrupt their speech without Lara's approval. She definitely appreciated his prudence in this case. Lara was very grateful for the American's overall support. And especially for the space he had been giving her.

"I'll be seeing you soon..." He dedicated the duo an important glance at last. "Both of you. The bars are waiting. And it won't be pleasant for either of you. I'll make sure of it." With that he turned towards the door and left.

"Can't wait!" Trent couldn't resist, calling after him.

Lara went over to the main door and locked it with a sigh. "Great, now not only Karel and the rest of the Cabal with mercenaries will be behind our backs, but Bonnet as well. She turned to her partner, leaning the back against the door. I just hope that he won't get caught into the crossfire."

"Would it be that bad, though?" Kurtis said with a wondering frown.

"For my newly discharged self definitely." She threw him a strict glance. "All and all, he's just doing his job, Kurtis."

"I'm just thinking aloud. Got a feeling that you don't like him very much. I definitely don't."

Lara sighed. "The truth is that he was extremely unpleasant when he was interrogating me. He was using several various tactics, such as feelings of blame, promises, threats... And he kept... showing me the photos of the victims. That was probably the worst part. Werner's the most often, how else. I can still... See it all in front of my eyes."

Of course Kurtis Trent knew these. Lifeless bodies, blood splattered everywhere around, mutilated body parts... Often unrecognizable faces with empty stares. Now he really had a compulsion to improve Bonnet's face with his fist. "Bastard," Kurtis muttered.

"However," Lara interrupted his rush of anger, "as you very well know, everything was against me. I'm not surprised he hasn't changed his stance. I guess I would have done the same. Especially now since Karel apparently goes and kills people everywhere I go again. On top of it all, for Bonnet I'm a spoiled aristocrat. He made it obvious both now and back in Prague."

"A spoiled aristocrat aka killer, you mean."

She shook her head. "Never mind. We have different things to deal with now. His intervention doesn't change anything for us."

"The guy told you not to go abroad..."

She shrugged with a half-mischievous and half-resignated smile. "I've been a half-criminal for some time already. To be held for another twenty-four hours or even a few days in custody is nothing. And we wouldn't want to disappoint our dear inspector Bonnet, would we?"

Kurtis mouth twisted into his typical half-smile. "Not an option."


The duo of adventurers had packed their things, leaving only a few hours after Bonnet's departure. Now, sitting comfortably in a plane on their way to Utah, Lara tried to push all of her worries aside and concentrate purely on the task ahead of them. However, it was a little bit difficult with Kurtis only a few inches from her. The majority of thoughts in her head were circling just around the man sited right beside her. When she unwittingly glanced his way, she could see that he was looking at her.

"What?"

"Just wondering what you might be thinkin' about."

Lara smiled and leaned into her seat. "Many things at once, actually."

"According to the serious expression, I'd say way too many of them."

"Maybe..." Lara admitted. "I think its understandable that I'm unable to focus purely on a single issue in our current situation."

"Wanna share some of your trail of thoughts? You know what they say: 'Misery loves company'. No pressure, though. I know that similar sayings are usually not very helpful. Diplomatically said."

"Telling you can't hurt. On the contrary, it could help us in this case." She turned to him fully and took a deep breath. "Right now, I was thinking about Zip's words. He told me that we were acting taken aback somehow. Around each other I mean. And I think he's right."

He nodded in thought. "What can I say?" Kurtis said after a longer pause. "I've been always good at wasting opportunities, you know."

"It kind of bothers me because we've been a great and effective team so far. And we will surely need such an advantage. Especially now."

"We still are an efficient team. There's just the fact that now Karel obviously knows that we care about each other. And that makes everything... Even more complicated."

"We are not lucky, are we?" she said quietly with a sigh at last, leaning her head on his shoulder.

Kurtis was slightly taken aback by her affection at first. Then he just smiled to himself. It was a pleasant feeling. "I've been used to drawing short straws for quite a long time by now." He rubbed his face. "But the truth is that I don't fell that way lately. At least not in everything." He gave her a sincere smile which almost immediately turned into a grimace. "Still, dealing with Karel is a goddamn short straw."

"Do you think... Can we even defeat him? Do we have real chance to win this? What is the opinion of the last warrior of light? she asked quietly, leaving her head leaning on his shoulder.

Kurtis sighed. "Either way, I'm not used to surrender without a struggle." He cast his eyes down at her.

As if she had sensed his gaze, she lifted her head and returned his deep look.

"At least not anymore."

Lara supposed he was referring to his departure from the order. Or could have he possibly meant their hypothetical romantic relationship at some point in the future as well?

"We'll see what the future holds," he said, not making it clear if he was talking about the fight ahead... or themselves.

"Yes," she agreed in both cases. "Let's see what the future days hold for us."

XXX

The couple had decided to stay in a hotel in a town nearby the stronghold. This move of theirs had several reasons. The stop was supposed to give them at least a slim chance to find - and possibly even confuse - their possible enemies in case they were being followed. Also, a proper rest and beforehand planning was another useful part of the plan.

The suite was offering enough of comfort, as well as privacy for the each of them. The neat space was looking odd with the majority of their weapons and other equipment placed on one of the beds. Lara was almost sure that this room had likely never had visitors similar to them. Now she was sitting behind one of the smaller tables, going through Von Croy's journal. Kurtis was currently outside, trying to find and deal a proper and suitable vehicle for their upcoming trip and - of course - checking out the closest surroundings for anything suspicious.

Lara was about to turn another page when she noticed that her telephone placed between the guns on the bed had started buzzing. Zip. She went over the room to accept the call. "Hello, Zip. Have you found anything new already?" She sat down on the bed.

"Hi, boss!" he exclaimed purposefully in an over-exaggerated fashion to stress the irony and pretended hurt in his voice. "Nice to hear ya too!"

"Awww," she said with a fake emotion. Their bickering exchanges were the part of their friendly - siblings' like - relationship. "Don't be unpleasant more than usual."

"I'll work on it," he played along. "Still a long time to go, though."

"Sweet. So what's up?"

"Nothing new. Kinda. Just... Is your Knight there with ya?"

"No, not now," she answered automatically and then just frowned in wonder. "Why?"

"Girl, we ain't even had any time to talk 'bout your guy. And... I've thought..."

Lara was taken aback by the secrecy in her friend's voice. "Go on."

"I ain't wanna to dig into your personal agenda, but I..." He took a deep breath. "I'm on a digital trail of your roomie, and something—"

"Excuse me? You are trying to spy on Kurtis? I would have not approved this, Zip."

"Just tryin' to protect ya, sis," he defended himself.

"Zip-"

"His name doesn't correspond," he spilled. "And the Agency's peeps have him in their data. I dunno why exactly, it's confusin'—"

"Of course they know about him. He has been the Cabal's target for years."

"But Lara, can ya really rely on him? On top of it, it ain't can hurt to be well-informed, y'know?

"No. I don't want you to keep doing that. I can just ask him about his past. He's trustworthy."

"Are ya sure? 'Cause I can just—"

"No, Zip. You'd better not to dig into his personal history. I know everything I need for now. He saved me. More than once. He can be trusted."

"Okay. As ya wish. Got it."

"I appreciate your concern, though," she tried to smoothen her earlier harsh tone. She wasn't even sure why she was acting that protective.

"You're welcome. Winston says hi, by the way."

"Take care, both of you, okay? And no worries."

"I'll ring ya later, girl."

"Great. Thank you again. Bye for now."

"Bye, Lara."

Lara ended the call, her friend's words resonating in her head. Could there be something important Kurtis was not telling her? Lara knew he had been hiding from the Cabal, so the change of the name was a logical move. Yes. She was sure that her decision had been the right one... Or not? The seed of doubt was still staying in the corner of her mind. The Tomb Raider's attention turned to the other end of the room as the click of the door had been heard.

As if called, Kurtis entered, going through his hair wet from rain with his fingers. "Not the kind of refreshment I was hopin' for." As he noticed the telephone in Lara's hand, he turned the attention to her fully. "Any news?"

"No, Zip keeps searching for some new info, but nothing new yet. He just wanted to say hi and wish us luck, mostly. How about you?"

"A nice jeep will be ready for us tomorrow. For a good price."

"No threatening of the staff involved I hope."

Kurtis grinned. "Not this time."

"Well done, then." A thunder sounded and Lara turned her gaze out of the window, her expression dark all of a sudden. The raining got thicker.

"Afraid of storms?" Kurtis teased her. "I'd guess you'd be used to such weather thanks to your residence... England, y'know?" But seeing her looking back at him with a sad smile, his half-entertained expression died immediately. "What's up?"

"The last time it was storming like this was when... Von Croy died. And all these memories are rushing back to me know. Silly, I know. It's just the rain..." she said, looking at her empty hands, as if the feeling of the blood was there again. She clenched her fists.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. You don't control the weather." She looked at him with a tired smile. "Unless it's another thing your Lux Veritatis powers enable you to do."

"Nah. You overestimate me," he answered, deadpan.

"Only the Lux Veritatis order's interest in the weather, obviously." The slight hint of the joking expression in her face disappeared almost immediately. She lovered her head. "I can still see the fear in his eyes." She rubbed her arms, now with goose skin. "And I didn't help. I was unvilling even to listen to him."

Kurtis could almost sense her feelings. The regrets, sadness. Lara's words had also brought the familiar sting of blame as they reminded him of his own ignorance concerning the Order, as well as his own father's words and urgence. "It'll pass by time. At least the worst of it."

She sighed. "I wish."

"In fact, this place brings me many memories of the past as well," he started after a short while of silence. "The rain, just breathing the air here... We used to... change our living places, moving very often. Our cursed family I mean. We had no real home. Nothing like that. But here it was one of the current places."

Lara concluded that it was not usual for him to talk about himself. She quietly listened, not wanting to miss the opportunity to get to know more about his life. To let him share something from his past with her. Because he felt like it. Not trying to find out information behind his back. He deserved that at least. Kurtis Trent had given her no reason to doubt her trust towards him.

"I was also born here. In fact, the stronghold itself is my exact birthplace."

"Really?" she smiled.

"Yeah. But I don't feel the connection much. The training..." He grimaced bitterly. "It was mostly far from happy times."

"What was the training precisely about?" Lara decided to use the chance to get to know more about him as much as she can.

"Both physical and psychological resilience. Actually, these strongholds also served as training places. Not all of them, but this one did. As well as Kriegler. There it was mainly about the Lux Veritatis abilities. Reaching the high places, making your jumps higher... and using farsee, for example." He paused in thought. "By the way, I've wanted to ask you, how did you get inside in Kriegler? You weren't following me back there, were you?"

Lara remembered getting the stone symbol from the high place by shooting down the rope. "No. I was just cheating." She put on a mischievous grin. "Using my guns and wits."

He returned her smile. "I wanted to do that back then as well. It was forbidden, though."

"Well, you abilities wouldn't be so polished, would they?"

"Likely," he said with a tilt of his head.

"What about the other part?"

"The psychological one?" He sneered ironically. "Yeah, it was here. Your worst nightmares, fears, being alone in the dark. Pure torture."

"What was the point?"

"To endure, and not to say or even give the smallest hint of anything to an enemy," he said with a shrug. "I was just a teen... Sweet old days," he added, his words full of the cruel irony.

"There is another thing..." Lara decided to use his current sharing mood. "Your fighting style doesn't look ancient at all."

"Nah. You've right. I used to serve in Foreign Legion. I told you that I left the order. At the time, it was my only ticket available from all of this. A way to a different surname and life. At least I thought so back then."

She almost laughed out. So this was behind his changed name! She had been right. There was no reason not to trust him. Zip was afraid for nothing.

"How old were you when you left?"

He briefly put on a bitter smile. "Nineteen."

Thinking about Kurtis' words, for several moments Lara wondered what it had been like in the Legion. Without family, friends and in unknown surroundings. Bringing the body to the extent of exhaustion. To its limits in every way.

"Of course," he continued, "the Lux Veritatis had very good fighters, up to date. But being in an army, it's different. Shows you more points of views, more styles." He looked at her. "Bored already?" Here it was back again. His smirk, his pretended carefree attitude.

"Not even a little bit". Lara smiled back at him. "And other than that? There must be at last a few happy memories from here."

Kurtis' mind shortly wandered to the past. In his scarce free time, he had used to run, jump, search for hideouts and climb among the rocks and deep canyons, as well as vegetation all around. Naturally, his mother had been scared for his well being all the time. Even though the nature was her second home and she loved it by every bit, she had been realizing that its dangerous side was always present as well. On the other hand, his father had preferred him to train and toughen the character. And of course, to learn about the Order. "Mostly climbing and hiding in the rocks, driving my mother crazy. Once she thought I got lost. You should've heard that lecturing tornado. I got chewed out badly. But could keep going out anyway. It was my main entertainment."

She smiled. "Sounds like fun. I can fully relate to that."

"I bet. It suits your style... Or have you changed since being a child? To be honest, I can't really imagine you doing what you've been told to."

She shrugged. "I would have been one of those boring ladies then. Nothing for me. You wouldn't believe how false and toxic such surroundings can get," Lara added with a disgusted grimace. "The truth is that I used to be more submissive. I didn't get to see the life work in any other way then the given one. It changed eventually."

"Looks like we all have our own battles to fight."

"Probably." She looked at him. "I would never dare to compare, though."

"Well, I guess our financial situation would have been easily comparable back then, as well as now," he noted on a lighter note.

The playful tone didn't get to Lara, though. "It definitely needed a courage to change your life. And basically start from the scratch. In your nineteens," she added, still in disbelief. "But it must have been even tougher to return. It's definitely admirable. Even kind of heroic."

"No, the admirable and heroic thing is that you could have basically all you've wanted, yet now you are sitting here with a guy like me. Involved in this hellish mess."

"That's not that bad." She raised her sight. "It would be far worse without you."

"Kurtis returned her the deep look. "I can say the same..." Then he glanced aside and shook his head. "Well, this part of the story should do for now. We should get at least some sleep."

"True." Lara smiled and turned to leave. She didn't want to dive into their most inner feelings now. No, this was definitely not the right time for revealing emotions, together with the unveiling of the strong, ever-present attractiveness all around. Kurtis seemed to share her considerations. Lara did her best to hide these thoughts. "Thanks for telling me that part from your past. I appreciate your sincerity."

"Yeah..."

"See you in a bit."

"'Kay." Kurtis had faced the now partly closed retractable door for a few moments before bending his head with tightly closed eyes. "Honesty, Trent. You'd better work on that one." Later, with that still on his mind, he lied down and tried to fall asleep as soon as possible to escape his intrusive thoughts.