Ta da! 'Nother chapter. My first week at work was great fun, but very tiring. I spent my lunchtimes working on this, I hope its worth it.

Lara-is-my-role-model - thankyou for your kind words! You had to read five chapters in one go? Where have you been?! You've been missing all the fun! ;-)

Lady Lara Croft - You're spoiling me with all your excellent reviews! (Please don't stop!) If you ask me, Tomb Raider totally merits a delay in homework, especially when there's Kurtis-ness involved. Hee Hee.

Quick recap: Lara Croft is one of the few people worthy of yielding an ancient Knights Templar weapon, the Periapt Tip, that requires a good soul for its magic to work, enabling it to kill gods. The Company, holding the Tip in their possession, are forcing Lara to use it to kill a cult leader Gero whom they see as a security risk, but in doing so the Tip will drain her lifeforce and kill her. The cult leader, apparently invincible to normal weapons,has been located hiding in Nevada and Lara and Kurtis are about to be sent to see that he is killed. Kurtis has admitted that, in among the many other double crosses he's been pulling (he's really starting to confuse me), his original plan was to steal the Tip from The Company in order to keep it under his protection as his Lux Veritatis heritage dictates he should. Unfortunately he planned to escape The Company's wrath by framing Lara for the crime, leaving her to almost certain death at the hands of Cheney. Lara is deeply hurt, Kurtis is afraid, worried by the web of deceit he's spun, and guilt ridden at ever thinking he could hurt Lara, and Cheney knows more about Kurtis' deceit than anyone realises.And Bryce and Hillary? Still on the trail of that pesky Dagger of Xian before Lara realises it ever went missing...

Reaching Into Darkness, Failing To Shout

At Cheney's malicious greeting, Lara and Kurtis straightened and pulled apart, only Kurtis' fingers remaining resting on Lara's wrist, a small anchor of comfort in the growing swell of crises.

"You found him?" Kurtis' voice trembled at the outset but quickly found its feet again, maintaining the appearance of control.

"Yes. We attacked one of his bases in Cornwall by way of reconnaissance, but it turned out that he was there. As soon as word reached him that we were preparing to move in on his position, he fled. We tracked him to Nevada, where we believe he's now hiding in a cave complex."

"Last night was a planned recon mission and not a short-notice attack? I wasn't told."

"No. You weren't."

At Cheney's reply, Kurtis' eyes slid shut momentarily as if to scold himself for failing – Cheney knew perfectly well that Kurtis could no longer be trusted and Kurtis now knew it.

"So I'm going to find him?" Lara asked. "You're not bringing him here?"

"No. You're going to Nevada." Cheney turned and began to walk away, but he had only taken a few steps when he shouted out to them as he continued on, "A few of my agents will be going with you. I need assurance that you'll carry out your job, I'm sure you understand."

"I'll do the talking," Hillary said as he and Bryce stepped out of the lift.

"What? You think I can't be trusted?"

"No."

"Marcus!"

Marcus looked up from where he was sitting in the locker room, checking over his gun as he suited up to leave on his mission to Nevada, and saw Cheney standing in the doorway, regarding him stiffly.

"Yes, Mr Cheney, Sir?"

"When you find Gero, make sure Lara kills him. Then make sure that the Tip has done its job and she's dead, then put a bullet in Trent."

Without waiting for an answer, Cheney turned and marched away again.

"We're here to see Mr Takagi," Hillary said, smiling widely at the maid who had opened the door to the penthouse.

"May I ask what for?" she asked in heavily accented English.

"About a recent purchase he made."

As if expecting them, the maid smiled and stepped back, opening the door wider for them to enter. "Wait in there, please," she said, indicating a doorway to the left.

He and Bryce did as they were told, Bryce inspecting the sumptuous chairs seated at a huge oak desk in the lavishly decorated office.

"This bloke's as rich as Lara from the looks of it."

"And it seemed like it wasn't that unusual for Takagi to get visitors about purchases. I wonder what that's about?"

Hillary's question was soon answered when a middle aged man in a handmade suit entered the room, smiling broadly, and said, "Gentlemen! You are here to buy?"

"I'm sorry?" said Hillary.

"You're not in the antiques business?"

"Erm…"

"Yes!" Bryce broke in. "We are. And…we were referred to you as a dealer fit to do business with." It was a guess, but correct. Takagi, specialist antiques dealer, smiled warmly and sat at his desk.

"Whom do you represent?" he asked.

"Turing and Co," said Bryce, gaining a glare from Hillary. "We're interested in buying the Dagger of Xian from you."

"So soon? I only received it this morning, I didn't realise word of its new ownership would be out on the market yet."

"So you're willing to sell?" Hillary asked, praying that the purchase had been one of business and not pleasure.

"Yes, of course. What point in doing business if not for profit? What is your bid?"

"One point five million," Bryce said, taking a stab in the dark at the value and hoping that he wasn't grossly overbidding.

"Two million," said Takagi, starting the haggling.

Bryce let out a sigh of relief that he had apparently undervalued but not suspiciously so. "One point seven," said Hillary.

"One point nine."

"One point seven five."

"One point eight."

"One point seven six. Final offer."

"Done," said Takagi without hesitation. He held out his hand and he and Hillary shook on the deal. "I will fetch the dagger whilst my accountant in the next room sets up a transaction for you."

Bryce waited until he'd left the room and then said, "Bloody hell. He just made almost two million in less than a minute. I'm definitely in the wrong business."

"Mmmm," Hillary agreed grudgingly.

Lara and Kurtis reached the locker room just as the agents going with them finished getting ready and began trooping out, leaving them alone in the dimly lit area. Lara immediately began searching through the clothing racks for combat gear to fit her but Kurtis was not so eager to get going and paused, standing by the benches in the middle of the room.

"We'll figure something out," he said to Lara's turned back.

"I fully intend to," said Lara, pulling out a jacket and dropping it on the floor beside her as she began to search for trousers.

"We have a few hours, it'll be ok."

"Kurtis." Lara stopped then and turned. "Don't worry. I'm not going to let Cheney win." She turned back to her work, leaving Kurtis to sigh worriedly and begin to procure his own gear.

"That was…stupidly easy," Bryce said, he and Hillary stood outside Takagi's door staring at the receipt promising delivery of the dagger in England within the next three days.

"Hey," Kurtis sighed as he sat down next to Lara on the military style jet, benches along the walls. It was not long after take off, only an hour after they had been informed of their mission, and the rest of the team had either bedded down among the equipment and team members for some rest, or were sitting bundled together in small groups around the aircraft talking and playing cards, leaving the two outsiders to sit alone and ostracised. "I just spoke to the pilot, we got about ten hours to kill. We should probably plan – "

"I've had enough of plans," said Lara curtly, turning away and folding her arms.

Kurtis sighed again and let his head drop in response, deciding he deserved short shrift.

He opened his mouth to speak again, but he knew Lara was probably ignoring him. Hesitating, unsure whether or not he could say the words, he eventually whispered, "I'm not gonna let you die," and then stood and walked away.

Lara had heard him, and she wanted to turn around to acknowledge him, thank him for his concern, apologise, assure him, anything. But she couldn't, and so she stayed staring at the wall, biting her lip and wandering when it would all be over.

Bryce and Hillary, strolling along the streets of Tokyo in what was for them evening time, basking in the elation of a mission completed and Lara none the wiser, considered what to do next.

"Back to England, then?" Hillary suggested.

"Seriously, Hillary, what is wrong with you?! This is Tokyo! We only just got here and you want to leave? What's the point? The dagger won't be delivered to the mansion for a few days yet."

"And if Lara gets home? What are we going to tell her when she calls wondering where we are?"

"Easy. Tell her after we went to the cinema we had a drink in the bar, got drunk, and woke up hung over and clueless in the middle of Tokyo."

"Do you honestly think she'll believe that?"

"It's possible. Happened to me after graduation. A first class degree, twelve shots of vodka and the next thing I knew I was waking up in New Guinea with a blonde on one side and a copy of War and Peace on the other. Never did find out what went on there." Hillary surveyed Bryce with a prolonged sideways glance and gave a bemused cough. "Got a call from Lara offering me the job the same day. Lucky, really, I'd bought a single ticket and didn't have enough money to get back home again. She was very generous."

"So what are we going to do then?" the long suffering Hillary asked.

"We're in Tokyo. What aren't we going to do?!"

Lara stretched out on the bench and settled her gaze on Kurtis. He was sleeping, lying on the floor of the aircraft with his borrowed black flak jacket wrapped tightly around him, his arms folded protectively over his chest and his face covered with his cap, his backpack acting as a pillow.

It was odd, seeing him in full combat gear, Lara decided. All the time she'd known him he'd dressed in a style that was only Kurtis, gone out fighting in Prague wearing civilian combats and a T-shirt, and now here he was wearing traditional military gear with all the gadgets and gizmos of a modern soldier that he'd shown no need for before. It just wasn't right, somehow, though it was obvious from his easy handling of the gear and comfort in the clothes that it had been his standard garb in the Legion. Maybe he'd just got bored of it.

His sleep didn't appear to be easy. He was shifting slightly and making small noises of discontent. A nightmare? She considered going over and waking him, but something stopped her from moving, and so she turned over to face the wall, got comfortable and closed her eyes, searching for sleep but finding only replays of her conversations with Kurtis for the past few days.

"Lady Croft!" Lara was jolted awake, the unashamed barking of her name yanking her from what she realised had been sleep. She didn't know when she'd finally drifted off, but it must have been out of exhaustion more than anything, because the last thing she remembered was far from a sense of relaxation and peace.

Groaning slightly, she pulled herself up and grimaced at her protesting muscles, cramped from sleeping on the narrow, hard bench. The soldier that had woken her was standing over her, his team mates crowded a few steps behind, Kurtis standing to the side of them looking at her with a blank expression, more a sense of waiting indifferently than the air one what would expect from a friend.

Except, he wasn't a friend, was he? She wasn't sure what he was. He wasn't her enemy. He was more than an acquaintance. And yet, he had done things – terrible things – that meant that Lara didn't think they would ever be able to get back onto their original footing. A questioning glance from the soldier made her realise that she was hesitating with her thoughts, and so she quickly pushed them out of her mind, grabbed her equipment, and followed the Company team off the plane.