Numb Enough Again

"Got everything?"

"Yes, thankyou Bryce." Lara smiled, winked, moved her sunglasses down onto her nose, and raised the clutch, drawing the car slowly and carefully around the fountain outside Croft Manor, and down the gravel driveway to the gates.

"Yell when you get to Manchester!" Bryce called after her, waving goodbye. He shielded his eyes against the sun as he watched her leave until she disappeared around the corner onto the road. He shared a small smile with Hillary, standing primly beside him to see Lara off, both satisfied that she would be safe, before they both turned and headed back into the house, the hallway flooded with warm summer sunlight pooling in through the open double front doors.

Sighing, the man flopped down onto the bed, clad in just a towel after his evening shower and feeling all too keenly the humidity it had created. He rubbed a hand across his forehead, wiping away the sweat that was already beginning to form and silently cursed the window locks that offered little fresh air as he flicked on the television, reluctant to dress for the moment.

His hotel was one of the more upper class ones of the city, chosen specifically for that feature and its location, though it wasn't for his benefit. Screaming that his credit card bill was going on fancy technology rather than air conditioning, the TV screen glowed to life on the hotel information channel, with two words emblazoned above the option list. 'Mr Dupuis.'

The phone rang and he reached out blindly, his eyes fixed on the TV. Fumbling for the receiver, he eventually managed to pick it up, and he pressed it to his ear.

"Hello?"

On the other end a voice mumbled discreetly, uncomfortably, "She's just checked in, Sir."

"Where?"

"Sir, I really shouldn't be – "

"When I paid you, you agreed to tell me the room."

There was a pause. Then the voice said, "The Whitworth suite."

"An extra hundred if you can let me know when she orders room service."

"The kitchen will charge it to her account, but it might take a while to show up."

"No, I need to know as soon as she's ordered."

The voice sighed reluctantly, torn between keeping its job and taking the bribe. "I'll ask the kitchen to ring it through to the front desk. I'll ring you."

"Good. Come by when your shift's over, I'll pay you." Without waiting for a reply, the man hung up the phone and returned his full attention to the TV.

Having received the call confirming that room service had been ordered, Lady Lara Croft was not surprised to hear the knock at the door. Pushing her work to one side, she slid off the bed and trotted over to the door, trustingly pulling it wide open and smiling round.

"Thankyou," she said warmly, and her smile was returned as the waiter pushed the trolley into the room. With a nod, he brought it to a halt by the steps leading into the main room and turned to go. Glancing over his shoulder, he was pleased to see Lara with her back to him, examining her evening meal.

"Don't move, don't speak, don't do anything." He followed his softly spoken order with the warning click of his silenced pistol being cocked.

Lara stiffened, turning her head slightly to view him over her shoulder, taken aback but still calm. The false waiter reached behind him and felt for the door handle, pushing the door open slightly and stepping back into the doorway to keep it open.

"The door's open, the lounge is just three rooms down. You don't want to draw any attention to us, do you?"

Lara slowly turned, raising her chin curtly, to glare at her assailant.

"She's mine." A third voice broke into the conversation, its words spat menacingly. A gun was pressed into the waiter's neck, hard, uncomfortable. Lara's eyelids flared momentarily in shock as she looked over the waiter's shoulder and identified her saviour. He showed no signs of recognition or friendliness to her as he shoved the gun harder into his victim's neck, urging him forward. "In." The waiter complied, walking carefully forward, his own gun snatched from his hand where it had fallen to his side.

"On the floor. Lay down, count to a thousand, don't move until you get there." To Lara, the newcomer flicked the gun towards the open door, motioning her out. "Move."

She wouldn't give him the pleasure of reacting, instead proudly walking out into the corridor, looking resolutely forward and smartly following his directions as he trailed behind her down the corridors of the hotel, the gun still directed at her back.

Another guest approached from ahead, and Lara proudly played along as the man behind her hid the gun in his leather jacket and pretended to be doing nothing more than coincidentally heading the same way as the stranger a few feet ahead of him.

The guest stepped into the lift not far behind them and, alone again, Lara said icily, "First you leave without warning, now you're kidnapping me. I'm getting mixed signals."

"The room on the right. Open it." He waved an electronic key over her shoulder and she snatched it off him, setting her jaw angrily as she shoved the key card into the lock and then yanked it out again, jerking the door handle and throwing the door open forcefully. Stalking into the room, she stopped in the centre, still facing forward, as she heard the door behind her click shut.

"Sit down. Make yourself at home." A rustle and a light thud indicated that her kidnapper had thrown his jacket onto a nearby chair, before he moved into the bathroom and locked the door behind him.

Moodily, Lara fell onto the bed, taking in the room around her and breathing in the all too familiar smoke. The sound of water from the bathroom suggested that he was running the sink taps, perhaps to splash water over his face to compose himself, or maybe he was planning on drowning her.

Sulking at the lack of attention she was being shown, especially for an affair such as a kidnapping, Croft picked up the TV remote and flicked on the set, the screen coming to life just as the bathroom door opened and the occupant returned.

"Mr Dupuis, today, I see," Lara said tartly in reference to the greeting on the screen.

"Shut up, Lara." He moved to the desk and began to make coffee.

"Are you going to tell me why you kidnapped me?"

There was only silence in reply as he continued to keep his back to her, busying himself with the drinks.

"Oh, well," Lara sniped as she pulled herself back onto the bed and sat up against the pillows with her legs stretched out in front of her, flicking through the in house movies to see which one she'd get charged to her host's account, "That's much more like the Kurtis Trent we all know and love, isn't it?"