A/N: Thanks for your feedback, all. Right, I've just had the most productive writing day of my life with this story, so I thought I'd slam you another chapter up… I'm really impatient to see what you think of what I've written today, but that's the prelude to the big Karel showdown in the next chapter, so until then, let's see how this fares…
Revised 01/10/05
Kill me now… Kurtis walked into the room and halted in the doorway, barely able to check his stare. His mind was firmly swept from his chagrin at his own outfit, and fixed on Lara.
She wore a long, black leather skirt with slits in each side almost up to the waistband, so as not to hinder any combat moves she would have to perform. Above the waist, a black velvet and red satin corset accentuated her fantastic figure. A choker that looked as if it were made of black lace adorned her slender throat, and she was leaning into the mirror, showing a long expanse of leg whilst applying a final coat of black lipstick to her dramatic makeup.
In short, she looked stunning. Catching sight of him in the mirror, she froze halfway through blackening her lower lip and made no attempt to disguise her appraisal of him. Finally, she finished and turned around. "I must admit, I'm surprised. I didn't think you'd scrub up this well."
"If this is 'scrubbing up', what's that?" Kurtis gestured to her gothic finery, and she smiled, black-accentuated eyes gleaming.
"Is that your roundabout way of giving me a compliment, Mr. Trent?" she asked coquettishly, stepping up close to him. The temperature in the room seemed to rise by at least ten degrees as she laid her hand on his shoulder. The cloth he was wearing was so pitted with holes that he felt her skin warm against his own.
He was about to answer when Bryce leaned through the door. "Are you two ready?" he asked, before taking in their intimate stance. Muttering an apology, he ducked out again, fast – but the spell had been broken. Shaking her head in amusement, Lara crossed the room and picked up the black, coffin-shaped backpack she was substituting for her usual one for the evening.
"Let's go clubbing," she told him, flicking pony-tailed hair over her shoulder and striding towards the door.
"Reminds me of Le Serpent Rouge," Lara murmured as they neared the club, the name of which was unpronounceable to her.
Kurtis threw her a surprised look. "Did you ever go to that place?"
"As you well know, since you were eavesdropping in the corner of the Café Metro at the time," Lara retorted, drawing a grin from him. She shrugged. "At least the music's better here. The stuff they played there really started to grate on my nerves after a while."
As the guitar-heavy music from within grew louder, Lara caught Kurtis' hand in her own. "Believe me, you'll thank me for this. The more men I have swarming around me, the less I get done." Plus it's an excuse to be close to you, she mentally added, and shook herself irritably. "Bryce?" she asked the empty air. "Are you getting us okay?"
"Loud and clear," he affirmed through the earpieces they both wore. "And thanks for shelling out for these little fellas," he added to Lara, referring to the tiny cameras and microphones they wore on their clothing. "They work like a dream."
"Boys and their toys." Lara rolled her eyes. "We're going in. If you need a break for food or whatever, now's the time. As soon as we're across next door, I want youone hundred per centalert."
"Yes, ma'am," Bryce answered sarcastically. "Oh, by the way, I just did a search for this place on the web – apparently over half of the patrons are English-speaking tourists, so the language barrier shouldn't be too bad."
Kurtis looked across at her. "Ready?"
"Let's go."
Lara's flirtatious smile was key in getting them past the bouncers at the door without being searched – just as well, considering their heavy artillery. Once inside, they took up positions against the back wall, scanning the crowd. Their goal – the door leading backstage – lay up the flight of steps onto the stage, where a local, obscure band tuned up over the recorded music blasting from the speakers. Unfortunately, the steps were manned by a beefy bouncer.
"Any ideas?" Lara called to Kurtis, fighting to be heard over the music.
"As yet, not a one," he yelled back.
Lara grinned. "Go get yourself a drink – not anything alcoholic. I'm going to get closer and see if I come up with anything." Before he could reply, she launched herself into the crowd, threading her way through the seething masses of people toward the stage.
"Bryce?" her voice came thoughtfully through his earpiece. "Do you know any of the local language at all?"
"Just the obscenities, why?"
"They'll do nicely. Do you know how to chat someone up in very vulgar terms?"
Kurtis shook his head in disbelief. "Lara, what're you doing?" He could see her in the distance, moving with the music and the crowds, occasionally extricating herself from bold males to continue her dancing alone.
"See the bouncer up there?" she replied. "He's eyeing me up. If I can get him to let me backstage, I can take care of him and you'll be clear to follow me."
"What do you want to say to him?" Bryce's amusement was clear.
"I'll try universal sign language first. Wish me luck, boys."
As she began to move through the crowd again, an ear-filling burst of static filled Kurtis' ear-piece, and Bryce faintly yelled a surprised curse. Discreetly, Kurtis dropped the ear-piece into his palm to give his ear some relief and glanced over at Lara, who seemed oblivious to the fault. Yet, even as he watched, a figure moved with purpose into her path and grabbed her arm. She reacted with her usual lightning-fast responses, but as she twisted his arm and pulled him back towards her to hide her aggressive actions, his lips moved in babble Kurtis could not decipher from this distance, and recognition hit he and Lara simultaneously.
It was their mysterious aide from Karel's fortress.
Fifty feet away, Lara released him, but kept on her guard. "You."
"Don't turn around, whatever you do," he entreated, casting nervous glances over her shoulder. "One of Karel's men is enjoying a night off, up on the balcony. When we've finished talking, lose yourself in the crowd and let down your hair before you go back to Kurtis. He's stupid enough to be fooled by the dye, but if he's watching me now, he'll watch you after we part."
"Talk," Lara ordered, manoeuvring him into dancing with her so as to appear as inconspicuous as possible. He moved into rhythm with her androgynously, which was a pleasant surprise – usually she had to firmly restrain her dancing partners' roving hands and pressing bodies.
"I know you're going in tonight – don't ask how," he interrupted himself to curb her question. "I thought you might find this useful." He handed her a security swipe card, which she examined critically for bugs or trackers before slipping it into her bag.
"Thank you. Now, answer me a question. Why are you helping us?"
He sighed, moving closer so that she could hear his muted tone. With no other option, she slid her arms around his neck and leaned in close as he began to speak. "Hundreds of years ago, my lover was seduced by Karel into the order. As infatuated as I was, I followed him there–"
Lara pulled back sharply as the word 'hundreds' registered, and stared at her informant with a new outlook. "What are you?" she interrupted harshly. "Nephilim?"
"God, no!" A look of disgust crept over normally bland features. "I'm… you could say there's no shadow without light. I'm the antithesis to a Nephilim – it's a long story, and as I understand it, you were wanting to go after the box tonight."
Relaxing a little, Lara motioned for him to continue. "When his plans were thwarted in Prague, my lover was by his bedside as he recovered his strength. As soon as his rage became stronger than his injuries, he took it out on the nearest living target. Since then, I have taken his place as 'number one devoted lackey' – and now that he trusts me I can move around under his nose structuring his downfall."
With eyes that gleamed with pained anger, he entreated Lara, "Avenge my dear one, Lara Croft. Do away with the Nephilim forever."
"I'll do my best," Lara promised, pity creeping into her mind for this broken being that stood before her. "What's your name?" she asked, feeling as if she ought to know it.
"They call me André, these days." He said it with a trace of irony stemming from something beyond her knowledge. "But that is inconsequential. One other thing you must know – the eclipse comes in four days. You need not wait for another full moon." Before Lara could reply, he faded back into the crowds as if he had never been there.
Digesting the information she had just been given, Lara began to make her way in a roundabout fashion back to where Kurtis stood. Half way through, as she pulled her hair loose, she became aware of both Bryce and Kurtis yelling her name through her earpiece. "What?" she asked.
"We only lost contact with you for the entire time you were with that guy!" Bryce huffed. "What the hell was that?"
"He's not human. He must have done something." Lara weaved her way back to the wall, and Kurtis' side, and he glared at her without speaking. Recalling her forced intimate stance with André, Lara bit back a smile at his wounded pride and feigned ignorance of it, instead leaning up against him and resting her head on his shoulder as she began to speak. If she had queried him on it, he would have said he embraced her in return because it would have looked strange otherwise, but Lara sensed he was pacified somewhat by her gesture. Pushing amusement to the back of her mind, she relayed the conversation to her friends, before shoving off the wall again. "I'm going to try for the bouncer again. As soon as he's out of position, Kurtis, get backstage." Without waiting for a reply, she headed back to the stage area.
A flick of her hair and a suggestive smile was all it took to encourage the bouncer from his post, and into Lara's arms. She gritted her teeth and told herself it was a necessary evil as he reached for her breasts, and complied with his wishes for a fleeting moment before making sure to twist out of reach with the next beat of the music. She threw a smirking Kurtis a disgusted look over the bouncer's shoulder as the Lux Veritatis member crept past and ran up the steps to the backstage door. No one seemed to notice.
As soon as the door shut behind him, Lara stepped backwards to avoid the guy's next advance, and pointed to herself, to him, and to the backstage door – it wasn't difficult to interpret for someone whose mind was as lust-fogged as his, obviously. Taking her hand with a filthy grin, he led Lara backstage… and lay unconscious on the floor a millisecond after they were obscured from the crowd's view.
"Ugh," she said emphatically to the empty air, gathering his dead weight in her arms and hauling him into a closet out of sight. Job done, she looked around for Kurtis, calling his name softly.
"Enjoy yourself?" he teased, stepping out of a room a little way down the corridor. The look he received in return was enough to elicit a chuckle from him.
"Right, now you've had your fun for the night, maybe it's time to do something a bit more challenging?" Bryce cut in over the airwaves.
"Second floor, here we come," Lara muttered, and took the lead up the staircase.
"Oh, Bryce, you have to be kidding." In disbelief, the duo examined the cable that led from the window ledge to their destination. "I doubt this would support my weight, let alone Kurtis'."
"If you have another solution, I'm all ears," the Londoner retorted. With a sigh, Lara took the Box of Rosha from her backpack and handed it to Kurtis.
"In case I fall," she explained, and stepped out onto the window ledge. A glance down warned her to exercise extreme caution – a guard and dog stood almost directly below, thirty feet down. Silently communicating this need to Kurtis, she took hold of the thin cable and tugged experimentally. Here's hoping… Suppressing grunts of effort, she began to traverse the cable hand over hand, feeling ridiculously vulnerable. Behind her, Kurtis waited with weapon drawn, ready to gun down man and dog if they should notice her presence.
Lara's arms ached furiously, and she still had a third of the way to go. Feeling her grip slipping, she did the only thing she could think of – wrap her legs around the cable and release her hold with her arms. Hanging like a bat upside down, she flexed her fingers and tried not to think about the blood rushing to her head or the dizzying drop below. After a few seconds, she righted herself and continued on her way.
When her feet touched solid ground, she exhaled in relief, beckoning to Kurtis to throw Rosha over the gap to her. Catching it easily, she tucked it away and watched with trepidation as he took hold of the cable. "Come on…" she muttered under her breath, casting a critical eye over it.
For what seemed like an eternity, Kurtis hauled himself hand over hand along the barely visible support, his arm and chest muscles flexing with the effort. Lara kept an eye on the enemy far below him, just in case, but the majority of her attention was fixed on Kurtis and the cable. When she noticed the fixture that the cable was connected to was beginning to pull free of the wall, she bit her lip and gestured him on aggressively. If he falls…
With an audible twang, the fixture snapped free. "No!" Lara cried aloud, no longer caring about attracting attention.
"Oh, shit!" Bryce yelled in alarm, watching through the cameras fixed to their clothing.
Kurtis launched himself forwards in a last-ditch attempt to save himself, and caught the edge of the platform Lara stood upon with one desperate hand. Instantly, Lara offered a hand, pulling him onto safe ground and firing two shots to the skulls of the suspicious guard and dog below. When she turned around to check he was unhurt, Kurtis was staring at her. "What?" she asked warily.
"You're ghost-white," he replied, privately amazed that she was so concerned for his safety.
"It's the black make-up. It'd make anyone look pale," Lara replied shortly, willing her pounding heart to calm itself. "Bryce, is the window safe to open?"
And in the next chapter… the boxes have quite a strange effect on Lara, and Karel decides to eliminate her once and for all…