A/N: Hi all… I have arrived to put you out of your misery… :grin: Hope you like. More Karel, more evil, and more explanations… plus, Lara acting like an upper-class brat!

Revised 01/10/05

Dawn stole over the horizon, and Kurtis abandoned any pretence that he would be able to get some real sleep. All night, he had tossed and turned, expecting Lara to appear at any second, waiting for the click of the door that never came. Now that morning had arrived, his anxiety shrugged past his anger and planted itself firmly at the front of his subconscious. He told himself it was because she possessed the one object Karel needed to get his hands on, but deep down knew he needed to know she was safe.

Half an hour later saw him showered, dressed and pacing the room. Whether she trusted him or not, he needed her here, icy stare and all. Even a cool, reserved Lara was better than no Lara at all. Fidgety, Kurtis picked up the notepad she had been scribbling in whilst he had worked on his translation the previous evening and began to flick through it.

It was a mess of arrows, flow diagrams and all sorts of phrases. Kurtis followed Lara's train of thought as she had set it down on the page. 'Box of Rosha + Box of Rahil ?' sat at the top of the page. Kurtis couldn't help her out on that one; the texts were somewhat ambiguous. All he knew was that in Lux Veritatis hands it was fatal to the Nephilim race, and in the hands of an angel-human hybrid… the world was pretty much doomed to Nephilim domination.

'Cappadocia – Nephilia Veritas' was underlined and linked by an arrow to the equation. Lara had placed a tentative question mark beside it, but Kurtis could clear that one up a little. Whatever ritual that needed to be performed would be performed there; although he had never heard of the temple before Lara came across it, he had no doubt about this.

'Location of Rahil – vital. If no clue in Rahil's temple, where has Karel taken it?' Linked to that was the notation about Cappadocia, with more question marks.

The brief back-story Kurtis had given her was jotted underneath this. 'Angel + human Nephilim. Rosha + Rahil the two Lux Veritatis warriors who banished the last angel from the corporeal plane, though they both died in the process. L.V. gathered life essences + shut them in the boxes to be kept with the bodies for all time. Bodies in close proximity keep essences alive, meaning once taken regular human life expectancy begins. Only together can Rosha and Rahil bring back… what?' Once more, she had hit the same brick wall.

The last notation on the page, barely decipherable amidst a plethora of obscure doodles, made him smile. 'Do Nephilim die of old age?' If only it was that easy, he thought, sighing.

The door swung open. Kurtis whirled, and instantly readied his Chirugai for battle. Of course, she's not safe, idiot. She has the box, and she's out there alone. His heart sank to the pit of his turning stomach as Joachim Karel closed the door behind him and sat on the bed with the attitude of a trusted friend. "Where is she?" Kurtis growled, not bothering to launch a futile attack.

"She didn't put up much of a struggle, I regret to say," Karel sighed, mocking smile showing through the disappointed façade. He reached into his pocket, and withdrew a tiny box. "But at least I have what I came for."

Nausea hit Kurtis at full speed, and he strove to quell the loss that writhed through his veins. Keeping his face hard and expressionless, he asked again, "Where is she?"

"Oh, you're no fun," Karel complained, tossing the Box of Rosha into the air and catching it again before depositing it back into the depths of his coat. "Ah, well. I suppose it wouldn't be sporting to kill you without seeing your lover one last time."

He stood up, and his face began the shift of metamorphosis. Kurtis could only watch in quiet revulsion as features reshaped themselves until Lara stood in front of him. But this was not the Lara he was accustomed to.

The bruises she had borne from her battle in Istanbul had faded – she healed quickly – but this face bore a vicious gash to the forehead, a bloodied lip and nose, and multiple scratches and bruises that marred her beauty. The hair was tangled, bloodied and full of dust or sand. The posture was all wrong. Shoulders slumped, and she – it? – favoured one leg in taking a step forward. The eyes were defeated and lacklustre, and the figure breathed with wheezing gasps, obviously in pain.

Rage flared through Kurtis' every cell, powered by fear, and he leapt at the figure, knowing that Karel resided inside it. The Chirugai flashed out, still held in his hand, and cut a clean slash through the thing's neck, half-decapitating it. He couldn't have made a worse mistake at that moment. Instead of shifting back to himself to retaliate, Karel retained his wounded-Lara guise, falling against the bed and scrabbling backwards, desperate fear in the usually confident eyes. Those eyes accused him, and despite the absurdity of it, guilt swept over Kurtis. He took a step back… into the waiting arms of the flunkies he had neglected to notice enter the room.

Caught by each arm, the Lux Veritatis warrior struggled against his captors, his Chirugai flying through the air again. Abruptly, it dropped to the floor, as stunned as Kurtis himself, as one of the thugs hit him around the head – hard. The last thing he heard as he faded into unconsciousness was Lara's voice coming from the thing that was Karel. "No easy death for you, my lad. I'll see you in the torture chambers."

Lara winced as she came around, screwing tender eyes up against the light and groaning. The sound barely travelled past her exhausted larynx, emerging a half whimper, half sigh. Her throat was a little better from her period of rest but she had a feeling she'd be whispering for a few hours yet. Steeling herself against the pain, she set her palms against the cold stone of the floor and pushed up into a sitting position.

"Here. Drink this." The voice made her jump, and she reached in vain for a pistol that was long confiscated. Looking up, she saw a man branded with Karel's tattoo sat in a chair a few feet away, holding out a small cup of something. Gathering her thoughts, she tried to ask, 'what is it?' but got no further than the first syllable before she had to break off. The full agony of her injuries – throbbing head, swollen ankle and all – returned in full force.

"Fuck," she croaked. "What is it?"

"Magical restorative," he answered briskly. He was blonde, grey-eyed and suspiciously nondescript. Probably Nephilim, she decided.

His answer made her laugh, and she quelled it as the smile stretched her healing lip and cracked the wound back open. "Why would you take all this trouble to do this–" she gestured to her battered appearance "– and then heal me?"

He leaned forwards. She saw something human in his eyes, and withdrew her earlier assumption that he was Nephilim. "Let's just say, I'm a double agent."

"Of course you are." Lara took the cup full of clear liquid from him and examined it suspiciously. It was viscous, gluey, but as she inhaled its scent, her headache receded a little. Raising an eyebrow – and wincing at the pain – she raised it to her lips. And if it's sedative, I don't care, she decided wearily. I can't escape in this condition, and I could use the sleep. She drained it, and gasped as coolness flooded through her. In disbelief, she watched the skin on either side of a scratch on her arm knit together. The wound disappeared. "What…?" she asked, and raised a hand to her throat. Her voice was clear and normal, and she felt no pain. Exploring her face with her hands, she found no trace of injury anywhere, and smiled. "Thank you."

He shrugged, stood up and made to leave. "Wait," Lara asked him. "What do you care if I'm healed?"

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me," he replied. "I have to go. There's another to be tended." Lara was left in contemplation of his words and the cell she sat in. Another? Kurtis? Or another potential ally? Whoever it was, she wouldn't find them by sitting here. Physically revitalised, she got to her feet, refusing to consider the possibility that Kurtis was dead. She reached around to her back and removed her tiny, flat knife from her bra strap. Amazing how many idiots would conduct a full body search and think that the bulge at your back was part of your bra fastening. Shaking her head in relieved amusement, she pocketed the weapon for plan B and began to inspect the walls, floor and ceiling of her cell for loose stones and mortar.

Mr. Double Agent sat quietly outside the cell while a newly healed Kurtis bombarded him with questions. After a couple of minutes of this frustrating silence, he turned on the guy. "For a spy, you're not very helpful. Can't you tell me anything, or let me out? Cause, if not, will you go away? You're starting to really bug me."

"Your ally is just down the hall." Without another word, he left, leaving Kurtis standing motionless in the middle of his cell. Relief swept over him. Despite Karel's visual implication that Lara was still alive, it hadn't quite sunk in until now. Thank god…

Snapping himself out of it, Kurtis realised he was now alone. Perfect. Time to go to work. Calling on his Farsee ability, he moved outside the cell, leaving his body behind. First, check on Lara. 'Just down the hall' in which direction? He chose left first, and examined each cell in turn, finding no occupants. Reaching the end of the corridor, he retraced his steps and returned to his body to gather his strength. After a moment, he ventured out again, keeping a wary eye out for guards who might find him stood trance-like in his prison. Four cells down, finding no trace of Lara, he was beginning to lose faith in his informant. If she's not in this one… he thought, moving towards the last cell.

Success! Lara, looking as healthy and unblemished as he had ever seen her, examined the walls with both hands, eyes narrowed to slits in determination. Unable to resist, Kurtis moved his mind closer, to brush his ethereal hands over her arms. She paused mid-push, rubbing at her arms as if she were suddenly cold. Then, with a glance around the cell, she seemed to dismiss it, and returned to her search.

Good. She's okay. His mind at rest for the moment, Kurtis re-entered his body and sat on the hard, lumpy mattress in the corner of the room. Phase two: find my damn Chirugai. He concentrated, felt the weapon on the perimeter of his senses. He was just about to begin the arduous task of calling it to him when he heard two things: footsteps, and yelling. The voice, he recognised instantly, and grinned.

"Hey! Yes, I'm talking to you! Don't you dare ignore me! Do you know who I am?" She was clearly playing the spoilt aristocrat, but to what end, Kurtis had no idea. He propelled himself out into the corridor again, and watched the guard halt in indecision, not sure whether to respond or feign deafness. Finally, after a tumult of insults to his manhood, his sanity, and his mother, he stomped over.

"What?"

"There's a spider in this cell! I hate spiders. Can't you move me to a new cell, pretty please?" Instantly, she had reverted to the stereotypical woman, quavering and weak, yet coquettish. Kurtis almost lost his grip on the Farsee power in his amusement.

With a long-suffering sigh, the hapless guard issued his instructions. "Step up to the far wall and place both palms against it, miss." Kurtis couldn't believe this was working, but also couldn't see how it would help her. Without a weapon, the guard would be able to overpower her easily. He carried a K2 Impactor and was twice her weight, to boot. He moved into the cell, interested to see how it would play out.

"Okay, where the fuck's this spider?" He moved to Lara's side, held the electrically charged gun to her head and scowled. Lara inclined her head into the corner, appearing for all the world meek and mild. The guard turned his head to look… and Lara shot one hand out with lightning speed. What…? Kurtis drifted closer, unsure what had happened, as the guard gasped and choked, raising both hands to his heavily bleeding throat and letting the Impactor drop to the floor.

"What spider?" Lara asked, wiping the tiny knife she held on her jeans and pocketing it in favour of the guard's weapon. Quickly, she searched him as he weakened and died. "A-ha." A ring of keys disappeared into her jacket pocket, and then she was in the hallway. Kurtis jolted back to himself and waited for her to find him, as useless as he felt.

"Where the hell did you get a knife?" he called through the door as her footsteps approached.

"Incompetence of the masses," she replied, unlocking the door. It opened, and they merely stood for a second, checking each other for injury and thanking whatever gods were out there that they were still alive. The argument of two days before still remained unresolved, but there was business to take care of first. "Come on. He has Rosha, and I want to get it back before he uses it."

"It has to be a full moon… that's tonight. We're safe for now, but we need to find out where we are, where he is, and how to find the box." Kurtis led the way down the hall, following the mental pull of his Chirugai. In silence, Lara followed him, Impactor in hand.

With the help of the guard's keys, they soon left the dungeon-like prisoner block far behind. Wherever they were, the place was huge, and as twisted as a rabbit warren. Only the link to his weapon kept Kurtis from becoming hopelessly lost. Minutes passed spent ducking into doorways to avoid groups of cult members, and the swift dispatching of lone men. Finally, they reached a flight of stairs, and the maze of corridors seemed to end on the level they left behind.

"You were right, you know," Kurtis said, voice barely audible. She knew without asking that he referred to their spat in the hotel room, but was unsure of the implication of the admission. Did he agree they should cool it off, or just that she couldn't afford to trust anyone? A guard yelled an alarm to his colleague, and they both charged towards the duo. Lara kicked herself for not having spotted them sooner, and tossed Kurtis the Impactor, getting out the Magnum she'd confiscated from an unwary enemy on the way up the stairs. Together, they attacked.

"I hardly think this is the time, Kurtis," she replied, aiming and firing off a shot.

"Yeah? When's the time, then? When one of us is bleeding to death on the floor because we're not communicating effectively enough?" Simultaneously, both targets dropped, one writhing with an electrical impulse, the other with a bullet cleanly through his skull.

Lara had to admit he had a point. The atmosphere was more than a little strained. "Right about which part? Your argument with me not being just a business issue?" she asked nonchalantly, ducking to search the pockets of the slain guards and examining a security pass.

"Amongst other things." Kurtis leaned against the wall, refusing to go any further until this was sorted out. Frustrated by his evasiveness, Lara scowled at him.

"Go ahead, then. Spell it out for me. An hour ago I had a concussion, so forgive me if I'm a little slow on the uptake."

Succinctly, Kurtis explained what had gone on in the moments before his capture, ending with, "I'd have a hard time attacking something that looked like you a second time." He pushed off the wall and took a step down the corridor. "That's your cue to say, 'I told you so', by the way."

Lara bit her tongue to resist the urge to do just that. It had probably cost him some pride to admit he was in the wrong. "You had your points, too," she conceded, following him down the hallway. At his raised eyebrow, she shrugged. "I'll tell you what happened to me, if we ever make it out of here. I refuse to accept that I'm a cowardly, heartless bitch, however," she added pointedly.

"Yeah, sorry about that." He at least had the decency to look embarrassed.

Lara shrugged again. "It's okay. I realise you Yanks don't possess the greatest capacity for insightfulness." Her eyes sparkled with amusement.

"Watch it, or I'll do something I'll probably regret."

"Such as?" she goaded lightly. Kurtis just smiled, and moved off ahead, leaving her with her imagination. Watch it, Croft. Weren't you supposed to be cooling this off?

Nothing like a good capture to heal the rift… :) The next update will probably be shorter, but I have two L/K songfics up if you haven't found them, and I'll probably be writing another soon… I'm in music mode. :) Now, review! Clicky clicky!