Hey, Lady Lara Croft, great to have you back! Here, have a marshmallow. ;-) Thankyou for your lovely review!
Linzi, thankyou sooooo much! Today we have, in my opinion, the funniest part of the Bryce and Hillary storyline yet. I just hope it works as well for the reader as it does in my head. Hee Hee.
I know that specifying songs heard by characters in fanfic doesn't usually work, but I've done it in this chapter just because, if this were a film, that would be the song I'd insist on using to finish that scene off. It's perfect. Give it a listen whilst reading, if you can.
In Too Deep
Still sitting with Lara in his arms on the kitchen floor, Kurtis stared thoughtlessly around the kitchen, just enjoying the moment. At last he blinked, pulling himself back to order, and said, as he pushed Lara gently away, "We should get moving."
"Yes, of course." Lara brushed herself off as she stood, returning to her professional demeanour of before and glancing around for the clock. "How long have you been gone?"
"I left The Company about two thirty."
"Well, it's seven now. Maybe you should check in with them or something."
"Yeah, yeah." Kurtis sighed as he spoke, giving the impression that he was still trying to wake himself up. Obviously, he wasn't thinking too clearly. Lara could hardly blame him, he'd had an exhausting time and hadn't slept. She'd only managed a couple of hours, but at least it was something.
Taking charge, she marched into the living room and began gathering items together – the drinks, food, clothes and other bits and pieces she'd left lying around. Making a start in tidying up, she called back to the kitchen, "We need a new plan to stop Cheney and get the Tip. Tell The Company that you've found me and will be bringing me in, in a few hours. We'll go back to the manor, sort out the details on the way, get a few things, and then head back to The Company with me as your prisoner."
Coming back into the kitchen to rinse out the cups, she asked, "Ok?"
Kurtis, still bleary eyed with his exhaustion intensified by his short rest on the floor, blinked as he tried to remember what she'd just said. "Yeah. Sure." He scrubbed a hand through his hair and yawned as he took out his cell phone and dialled, pacing back and forth a few steps as it rang.
"I have sight on the merchandise."
Lara stopped and watched him as he spoke into the phone.
"An apartment...she left it about ten minutes ago but I'm in and from the looks of things she plans on coming back ...I don't anticipate any problems...once I get her it'll be a two hour trip back to base...I couldn't really say when we'll be back exactly, depends on when she returns...yes, sir..."
He hung up and turned back to her. "Look, I really need to get some sleep, I can't think straight. Is that ok?"
"No, that's fine. I'm not sure it's safe for us to rest here, though. If you found me then so can they, and I don't trust them to trust you. We'd best tidy up here and then sleep in your car, somewhere crowded. I'm assuming you came in a car?" Lara turned back to the washing up as Kurtis nodded and then hurried into the living room to help with the clear up. "You sounded very professional," she shouted over her shoulder, conversationally.
"Oh y'know," he called back, "image is everything in the job market these days."
She laughed to herself at that, thinking with no small amount of irony that it had taken a twisted plot to just to get them to indulge in small talk between rooms.
Working quickly and efficiently, they cleared all trace of their presence in the flat, gathered together some food and drink, which Lara stowed in the Jeep whilst Kurtis haphazardly fixed the door to the flat so that it least looked like it shut properly, and then drove off towards the high street.
"We'll stop here," said Lara, turning into a car park surrounded by shops. She manoeuvred the car into a spot, and Kurtis started fiddling with the heating controls to create a comfortable sleeping environment as Lara jumped out and headed for the ticket machine. Returning a couple of minutes later, she slammed her door and pasted the ticket onto the windshield. "I've paid for three hours. We can sleep 'til then. I'll set the alarm on my watch to wake us."
"Ok." Kurtis finished adjusting the controls and reclined his seat as far as it would go. Shifting around, trying to get comfortable, his gaze fell on Lara and he realised that she was already fast asleep. Suddenly aware of the rustling of his clothes as he moved around, he carefully removed his leather jacket and gently laid it over her as a blanket before laying down himself and watching her as she slept soundly.
"I'm sorry, Lara." He reached out and moved a strand of hair that had fallen over her eyes. "I am so, so sorry."
Having continually glanced at the dash clock of Bryce's StreetKa all the way down from Liverpool, Bryce and Hillary had managed to work themselves into quite a fuss by the time they'd reached the Newcastle under Lyme branch of Brownsword's Antiques. Yanking the wheel left and pulling an almost emergency-stop manoeuvre, Hillary screeched the car to a halt in a spectacular show of precision parking as Bryce flung open his door, dodged an innocent bystander and threw himself through the door of the dealer's.
"I hear you have the Dagger of Xian," he panted, bracing his arms against the counter as he almost ran straight into it.
"Erm..." said the dealer, looking taken aback, "Not in so many words, no."
"Not in so many words?" Bryce repeated the words slowly as if they hadn't sunk in. They hadn't, actually.
"It's in the back – "
"Great! Sold. How much?" Bryce slapped Lara's expense account credit card down on the counter.
"Actually, it's already sold."
"Come again?"
"To an online buyer, about ten minutes ago."
Bryce blinked.
"It's being delivered this afternoon."
Bryce swallowed. "Oh dear god."
Hillary, waiting in the car outside, readied the vehicle for immediate start as he saw the door to the antiques store open and Bryce come flying out, throwing himself back into the passenger seat with a box in his arms.
"Step on it!" he shouted, too caught up in their lack of time to enjoy the full benefit of finally having an excuse to holler the coveted cliché.
"Got it?" Hillary cried excitedly over the revving of the engine and the ambient city noise, swarming around the open topped car.
"No!" Bryce was frustrated and clearly very worried. Hillary shot him a couple of quick glances from the road, his features drawn in equal worry.
"It was sold," explained Bryce. "An online buyer. I can probably hack into the records from home and find their address, then we can go and beg them to sell it to us, but for now I bought a replica. We'll just have to put it in the treasure room, hope Lara doesn't notice and switch it for the real one when we manage to get it back."
"Don't forget you've got to change the financial records so she doesn't find out about any of this."
"Yeah." Bryce chewed on his finger, regarding the road ahead with a calculating stare. "I think we might just pull it off. If we're really, really careful."
"We'll be alright. We'll get it back without Lara even noticing. And if she does, she'll probably understand."
"Yeah, but I still don't want her to find out. I feel really guilty about this."
"It'll be ok." Hillary was trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince Bryce.
"Yeah, yeah it will." Bryce – likewise.
Kurtis opened his eyes, waking comfortably to a lovely warm Jeep, jostling him gently back to the living as it sped along the motorway. Sighing lightly and rubbing his eyes, he sat up straighter and stretched.
"Good morning," Lara said warmly, smiling with an equal amiability.
"Umph..." was all that was replied as he flexed his shoulders and arched his back. "Was I sleeping long?"
"About four hours or so. You needed it."
"Sorry." Kurtis turned and looked out the window at the rapidly passing scenery, green and wild banks with calm, still trees and bushes that sat in lonely, windswept forms watching the humans of the world rush by in their cars, always in a hurry but rarely glad to get to their destination. They beckoned him, almost. A dark, quiet man like Kurtis thrived on wandering through the peace and loneliness of large expanses of uncharted, unconquered wilderness, be it the empty back alleys of a city or the sprawling animal-ruled countryside between the settlements. Ever since he was young he had wanted to explore what was over those banks that fenced in the highways, unreachable and out of sight. It was so rare to find freedom these days, but there was no-one to watch you when you were out walking where others daren't or didn't care to; no-one but the stray dogs and the rabbits, and they didn't judge you. "Where are we?"
"The middle of nowhere. We'll get to the manor soon enough."
"Ok." Kurtis went back to staring out the window, turning away from Lara slightly and folding his arms across his chest.
"If you're still planning on stealing the Tip, we need a new plan."
"What? Oh, yeah." Kurtis broke himself out of his reverie to turn back to Lara and look to her as she stared out down the road, driving the crowded motorway easily and calmly. "I, er, I'm sorry about selling you out in the Complex."
"It's ok." Her tranquillity worried him. Surely she hadn't totally forgiven him already? And why hadn't she asked about – never mind. Things were complicated enough as it was, he should be just be grateful that she was making things easier.
"Do you have any idea how to go about stealing the Shard from inside The Company?" Lara asked, her eyes still on the road.
"No. Not really. I don't know where it is, how it's guarded, anything. I think we need to get in there, do some recon, and then sort out the details."
Lara was silent for a moment then. It scared him. Holding his breath and staring at her with a look akin to fear, he was worried that she was about to point out the unavoidable hole in his story, but when she opened her mouth it was only to say, "Alright. We'll go back to the manor, pick up some supplies and weapons, return to The Company with me as your prisoner, and take things from there."
"Yeah." Kurtis nodded, inwardly sighing in relief. "Ok."
Desperate to quell the possibility of any more dangerous conversation, Kurtis leant back in his seat, flicked on the radio and braced his feet against the dashboard, settling back and returning to staring out the window at the quiet, uncomplicated, unreachable freedom of the grassy slopes at the side of the motorway.
"I like this song," said Lara, her voice floating over his shoulder, and he closed his eyes and let his head drop back as she turned up the radio, Duran Duran's 'Ordinary World' surrounding him with its appropriate emotional soundtrack.
"Right, come on!" Bryce leapt out of the car as Hillary slammed on the brakes, bringing it to a jerking halt outside the front doors of Croft Manor. He fumbled with his keys at the front door until Hillary appeared beside him, keys at the ready, and opened the way for him.
Suddenly quiet and cautious, they crept slowly into the entrance hall.
"Lara?" Hillary called, and they stopped and listened for any noise that might come in reply. None did.
"Thank god, she's not back early, come on." Hillary spun Bryce round, directing him towards the treasure room and giving him a shove, but they both stopped dead when the familiar sound of an engine approached up the driveway.
"Stay here," Lara instructed Kurtis as she turned off the engine and opened her door. "Bryce is obviously here, that's his car. Believe me, after the hacking incident, you do not want him to know that you're here. I'll make sure the coast is clear and distract him if necessary, you make for my bedroom."
"Right." Kurtis nodded, quietly exiting the vehicle and tiptoeing behind Lara at a good distance.
"Oh My God!!!" A short scene of melee followed as Bryce tried to push the boxed dagger into Hillary's hands as Hillary tried to push Bryce towards the display cases. "Go, go, go!" Hillary whispered fiercely, but Bryce succeeded in palming the box off on him and the next thing he knew, he was being pushed away.
Making it half way across the hall, he stopped and spun towards the doors as they opened, hiding the box behind his back.
"Lara!" yelled Bryce, in what he hoped she perceived to be a joyful tone of voice but was actually quite panicked. "Good to see you!" He engulfed her in a hug, skilfully spinning her around at the same time so that she faced away from Hillary, who stealthily began to make for the treasure room.
"Bryce!" returned Lara in an equally panicked tone, hugging him back tightly whilst desperately gesturing to Kurtis with her eyes to go, go, go! Trent, peeking round the doorway behind Bryce, looked vaguely alarmed but then began creeping towards the stairs.
Breaking apart but keeping their hands firmly planted on each other's shoulders in a bid to stop them from turning and seeing something they really didn't need to, the two fixed each other's gazes with equally intense, falsely happy stares.
"Come and see my new computer!" said Bryce, pushing Lara towards the stairs. Kurtis' eyes widened in fear and he ducked behind the balustrade.
"NO! I, I mean, let's go and see that wonderful new treasure room security system!" Lara shouted, pushing Bryce towards the display room. Hillary gasped in terror and stood back to attention, shoving the box behind him again.
"I know!" said Bryce, "You must be hungry, why don't we go and get you a sandwich first, eh?"
"Yes!" Lara cried, a little too enthusiastically, "Great idea!"
Kurtis let out a sigh of relief and crawled off towards Lara's bedroom. Hillary relaxed visibly and looked thankfully towards heaven, walking as fast as he could back towards the treasure room.
Hmmmmm, what's going on with Kurtis, then? Well, actually, I already know because I'm the author, but unless you're extremely cunning and have been committing every word of this story to memory, you won't. Don't worry, you're not supposed to know yet.