Chapter 5

Lara had a strange feeling inside, something that told her Kurtis wasn't to be trusted. She had only known the man for a few short weeks, but he seemed different than before. He was more sincere and less of an asshole.

Lara then thought of the strange tattoo on his chest, and of how Mr. Lynch had warned her about the mark of the Nephilim. Lots of people had tattoos however, and it wasn't really shocking to see one on a man like Kurtis. Lara forced her thoughts aside as she saw the object of them slowly hobbling down the large staircase in front of her.

Lara impatiently watched him. "How do you expect to do anything, much less find some ancient artifact when you can barely move?"

"Let me worry about my health." Kurtis returned with a pained face. "You worry about your job."

"My job?" Lara asked, irritated and slightly surprised. "You think I'm just some bitch you can hire for whatever, whenever you wan-"

"I didn't mean anything by it." Kurtis cut her off. "You're so hostile." he muttered as he walked by her, and out of the home's main door.

Lara felt embarrassed by her extravagant remark, and by his shallow remark about her. She felt slightly ashamed at making such an outburst, but rolled her eyes and quickly followed him outside. Lara helped Kurtis into the small sports car she had parked by the door, and put both their bags in the trunk.

As they started to leave, she was graced again by one of Kurtis's annoying remarks.

"I thought tomb raider's drove more rugged vehicles." he stated, as he eyed the inside of the Jaguar.

"I would be." Lara harshly stated. "But we're only going to the train station, now aren't we?"

The remainder of the drive was spent silently, but both Lara and Kurtis's thoughts were on the upcoming mission, and occasionally on one another. Lara still felt timid around him, unsure of his true purpose in coming back to her, but if what he said was true, her life was still going to be pretty dysfunctional over the next few days.

They reached the Guildford Train Station shortly after leaving Croft Manor. Lara hurriedly purchased the tickets they needed for their route to Villeurbane. She was surprised to find that Kurtis had gone missing, but her eyes soon caught him on the far side of the station, walking toward her.

"What are you doing!" she asked with hidden concern. "You're worried about being killed, and you just go off by yourself?"

"I don't need you to hold my hand and save me from the mean people." Kurtis sarcastically replied. "You're here to help me in Annaba, and that's it. Besides, I had to take care of something."

Lara blew with irritation and quickly pocketed the purchased tickets to Lyon. She didn't know why she was helping this arrogant man.

Once on the train, Lara put their bags in a storage compartment and the two sat alone in a small train car, occasionally chatting about the other's intentions for the journey.

Lara eventually went to the food car and ate a small meal, but Kurtis declined her invitation to come with. She shortly returned, and retook her seat across from him. She tried not to look at him, but found the task difficult.

She felt herself yawn, but she had no intention on falling asleep, especially with the stranger around.

Kurtis could tell that Lara was tired, and wasn't surprised when she quickly fell asleep on a small couch that sat adjacent to him. He smiled to himself, and silently stared out of the window as the remaining daylight faded.

(-)

Kurtis watched her with strange thoughts as he sat in the empty train car. He wondered how and why she had ended up where she was. She didn't seem to come from a background of adventurous people, but he respected her for being different. He stared at the 9mm at her hip, but his eyes quickly waned to other places as he studied the angelic, yet athletic form of her body. He was impressed with the muscle tone of her arms and thighs, and knew that she was the perfect one to help him.

He watched as her mouth slowly opened, rasping in air and ready to awaken. She stretched her arms out above her head, then fluttered her eyes until they lye open.

She stared at the ceiling with a cautious and detested ora, as though fixated in some deep thought or dream.

He had never seen someone wake up with such an angered face. Though cruel, he still admired its beauty, until he realized that the reason her face was lined with anger, was that she knew he was watching her.

"Can I help you Mr. Trent?" Lara spoke in a slightly aggravated voice, wondering why he had been around her while she slept. "I don't take kindly to people watching me when I don't know it."

"Really?" Kurtis returned with a hint of sarcasm. "I was sure that the amazing Lara Croft would be able to see everything, even in her sleep."

Lara stared at him, and returned his unhumored smile. She grabbed her knuckles and pushed until a loud popping noise erupted. She was angry at herself for falling asleep, but she decided not to worry with such things that had already been done.

She slowly went to the window and stood, watching the darkened wilderness, wondering how long she had slept and how much longer their trip would be.

"So," she began, turning back to Kurtis, "are you planning on catching the plane immediately and riding to Annaba the entire night, or did you have a stop in mind?" She sat on the seat adjacent to him.

"There's a little place in Rhone, about an hour away from Lyon." He stated. "It's a Lux Veritatis safehouse so we should be ok to get some rest there." He paused and took the ancient churigai from his belt, spinning it between his fingers. "Then tomorrow we can take one of my bikes to the Villeurbanne Airport."

Lara looked at him, slightly confused at their future transportation. "One of them?"

Kurtis looked at her, surprise filling him at her hate driven words. "Miss Croft," Deep aggravation filled his eyes and anger took his lips, "when I said bikes, I meant two, and one of them is still in a ditch at Croft Manor." He starred at her with inset eyes. "If you find the need, you could just as easily walk to Villeurbanne if it would suit you better." He said the words with a detested fashion, insulted at the way she had reacted when the simple thought of riding a motorcycle with him had occurred.

Lara was slightly taken aback by his words, and was silent for a time, pacing across the car with aggravation until she looked back to him with thought. She smiled. This had to be some set up. She didn't see how he could have everything planned out on what seemed to be a spur of the moment expedition. She looked at his deep, untrustworthy eyes. "You planned this ahead didn't you?"

Kurtis, surprised at her statement, looked up with curiosity and disbelief.

"How else would you have your vehicles in the right place at the right time?" Lara asked harshly.

Kurtis shot up and slung the churigai back onto his belt. He couldn't understand how this woman constantly pushed him away and rejected his trust, especially after he had saved her life on more than one occasion. He was starting to get impatient with her attitude.

He rushed to Lara and instantly grabbed her arms. He shoved her into the wall and stared with anger in his eyes.

Lara was shocked by Kurtis's sudden action. She quickly knocked his hands away and unholstered her pistol. She aimed at his head and watched as he slowly backed away.

Kurtis grinned with sarcasm, which turned to hate. "If you don't want to help me," he stated coldly, "don't."

Lara, still holding the weapon high, watched as he quickly opened the door to the train car and left, slamming it behind him.

Lara lowered her pistol and forcefully kicked the sofa beside her. She stood for several minutes contemplating the man. She didn't trust him. And for some reason he seemed to be acting differently, more quiet and sensitive to her words, as though he were hiding something. She sat and put her head in her hands, slightly regretting what she had said to him

"Stop it." she told herself. There was no reason she should feel bad about what she had stated.

She was confident in her decision, until she realized what she had been so angered at: simply riding with a man on a motorcycle. She had done that many times before, but this time it seemed different, a more difficult task mentally.

Lara suddenly felt strange. There was something about Kurtis that made her stay defensive toward him, like she was afraid to get too close. Lara smiled and shook her head, wiping the sudden thoughts from her mind.

She quickly stood, deciding to explore the train for the next hour, simply to pass the time.

Kurtis entered the bathroom and splashed his face with water. He wanted to scream from the aggravation that the woman had caused. He stopped as a thought suddenly occurred in his mind. He smiled. Maybe the reason Lara Croft was so offended at the thought of being near him, was the fear that she would like him. Kurtis grabbed his shoulders and leaned against the wall behind him. He slightly let out a jubilant laugh and decided to go and annoy the girl some more, just to see her reaction. He quickly left the room with a new confidence, and returned to the car that he had previously occupied.

He was disappointed to see that she wasn't there. He needed to find her, not only to talk to her, but to make sure she didn't run into any unexpected dangers, present on his behalf. He once again left the cabin, worried that she had really decided not to help him.

Lara was bored. She slowly walked through an empty storage car, now shadowed by the night. Her fingers casually slid across the tops of dusted crates as she passed beside them, her mind constantly churning with thoughts and worries of her upcoming venture. She wanted to get off this train and be rid of Kurtis Trent for good. His company was starting to sicken her, and the sooner she got away from him the better.

Lara's thoughts suddenly changed. Although he was aggravating, she admitted that she liked having him around to look at. Even though his mind was unpleasant, his body was more than pleasing.

Lara bit her lower lip at the thought of his masculine form and deep blue eyes. She then realized what she was doing and quickly removed the visions from her mind. She was angry at herself for thinking such things but her distress was quickly stopped as she heard a sudden noise in front of her.

Lara felt the presence of someone watching her and hurriedly grabbed her pistol. She cautiously continued forward and leveled her gun as she saw a figure jump out in front of her.

"You're going to accidently shoot me with that one day." She heard the voice of the man from her previous thoughts speak.

"Good." she told him. "Then I won't have to worry with you anymore." She put her pistol back in its holster and quickly walked past his form, trying to ignore Kurtis before more thoughts of him occurred. She opened the door to the next car and walked in.

Kurtis followed her into another empty storage car. He tried to speak, but she continued forward.

Kurtis was sick of her attitude. "Why are you so defensive toward me?" he asked.

Lara wanted to be nice, but her remembrance of the way she had thought of him made it impossible. "Just Shutup." She hatefully stated, continuing forward. "I don't feel like listening to your shi-"

Lara was cut off as a rogue fist connected with the side of her face. She fell unconsciously to the floor.

A/N: Hehe, I even love how this one is cut off. Just when you think something might spark between them, and LC pulls away, then she gets knocked out. The edit is done, and hopefully you all enjoyed it better. I cleared some plot mistakes aswell.