Sexy Bitch, haha funny name. Thank you for the review. I am glad you find my story kewl, enjoy the next chappie.

Godavari, Hello there. Thank you for ur review. I hope you like this chappie, I have to admit I wrote it a little too hasty, but please forgive me as I will make it up to you in the next chapter!

Chain of memories, Oh dear, you had to wait long for the next chapter didn't you. I am so sorry for that, I'll do my best to hurry with the next chappie. Thanks for the review.

Darlian, Thank you for ur review once again Darlian, it seems you are a die hard reviewer to my stories. This is a younger Lara's so I can't promise you she will notice something about Damien, but as we all know, Lara learns from her mistakes.

AN: You all seem to be kind enough to review my stories, while I seem to be too lazy to do that. But I'll promise that I will find a way to review ur stories cause that's the least I could do for all of you! Now enjoy the story!

Chapter 4, the first time he betrayed her.

The next day Lara and Alex had continued their journey in the early hours of the morning. Packed into warm clothing they were walking up the mountain. The sun that had been shining brightly in the morning was slowly fading behind the upcoming clouds. Lara could tell there was a storm coming and they had to find a place to hide soon.

"Alex, we have to find a place to hide, there's a storm coming."

Lara was right, because about fifteen minutes later the force of the wind increased and it started snowing. Their walking speed slowed down and they could hardly see a thing. Because they couldn't find a hiding place they were forced to keep walking through the storm for half an hour, then Alex saw a small cave that must be just big enough for the both of them to fit in.

He tapped Lara on her shoulder to get her attention and pointed at the cave. Lara nodded back at him and turned left towards the cave. It was a tricky path, lots of rocks. If you're not careful enough you can slide down and it would be a nasty fall.

Lara risked a short peek upwards, it had to be a few more meters before she would reach the cave. She turned to see how Alex was doing and was shocked when she saw him hanging above the valley behind them. He was holding on to a rock with one hand and by the looks of it he couldn't hold on much longer. The tomb raider acted on it immediately. She pulled out a rope and wrapped it around her body. The other end was tied around a rock on her right and she tried to slide down to her companion as quickly as possible.

"Alex hold on!" she yelled." And she knew that if he was in a position to say something back he would have told her to hurry.

She kneeled down on one knee and placed her foot against a rock for support. Lara reached down with her hand.

"Grab my hand Alex!"

Alex didn't need to think twice about that. With his free hand he grabbed Lara and hoped she could carry his weight. It seemed no problem for her, she had lifted him back on the mountain within seconds. The roped she had around her waist was now around Alex his body and she told him to pull himself up into the cave.

"What about you?" he objected cause he knew that if Lara would fall there will be no rope for her to support on.

"I'll be fine, now start walking I am right behind you."

The yank nodded at her and slowly pulled himself up the mountain. One time Lara almost slipped but she regained her balance and not a minute later she and Alex were sitting inside the cave.

"Are you hurt?" Lara asked.

Alex shakes his head. "Only a little pain in my shoulder, nothing serious." He replied. "Thank you for coming back for me."

"You're welcome yank, but I am sure you would have done the same for me." Lara replied.

"Off course." Alex said.

Lara peered outside to see if there was going to be a change in the weather soon.

"I'm afraid we'll be stuck here for a while." She said. "It doesn't seem like the storm is fading any time soon."

"That's just great, it's freezing in here and there is not enough space to make a fire."

"Well then, let's warm each other up."

Lara slides towards Alex. She lifted her arm and wraps it around his body. She pulled him closer and confused the American.

"Eh…Lara, what are you doing?"

"I am making sure we don't get cold Alex, nothing more."

His face turned red from shame.

"Yes off course."

Lara suddenly felt something sticky and wet coming from his shoulder. She pulled back and saw Alex his coat was covered with blood.

"Alex, you're bleeding." She said as she unzipped his coat.

"Don't bother Lara, it's nothing." He said

But Lara ignored him. She pulled out his coat and his sweater and saw his white t-shirt had been soaked with blood.

"This is not nothing Alex." She took off his shirt as well. "I'm sorry but it needs to be stitched, I'll get you a blanket once I'm finished."

Lara reached for her backpack and pulled out her first aid kit. She took a needle and dread and started stitching the wound. Alex could see she had done this before. In a matter of seconds she had stitched the wound and wrapped him in a blanket. He was ice cold, but it was important that the wound would be stitched. Lara started to put out her coat as well and her sweater and her tank top. All she had left on was her sports bra. Alex was too far gone to notice this.

The tomb raider used the warmth of her body to warm Alex. He had to stay awake.

"Alex look at me." She said and used her hand to move his head up.

"L…Lara you look beautiful." He said as their eyes finally met.

She couldn't help but laugh at his words, but when she felt his lips connect with hers it startled her and she pulled him back.

"Shit…I'm so sorry Lara…it won't happen again."

But the smile on her face stayed and suddenly she kissed him back. It was a passionate kiss until Alex stopped and his head dropped on her shoulder. Lara lifted his head and saw he had fallen asleep. She laughed, he would probably forget what happened when he wakes up next morning, so she shouldn't be too worried about it yet. With both of her arms wrapped around him Lara did her best to keep him warm, until she too dozed into a deep sleep.

When Alex woke up he found himself lying on the floor of a cave, covered with a blanket. He had been stripped of his clothes except for his pants. But where was Lara. He jolted up and immediately regretted it when pain shot through his shoulder. As he let out a yelp from the pain, Lara's head appeared through the opening of the cave.

"Good morning Alex, how are you feeling?"

"Like my shoulder has been hit over by a train."

The tomb raider crawled inside. "Let me see." She said and observed the wound on his shoulder.

"You did a good job, something tells me you've done this before."

Lara smiled at him as a reply, then she tossed him his clothes.

"Get dressed yank, I can see the entrance of the tomb from here."

"Really how far is it?"

"About an hour tops, now get dressed."

Lara walked back outside and started packing their bags. She looked up at the temple again. How she was looking forward to see the prayer wheels. Such little purpose the artifact has, but the story behind them makes it so valuable. Suddenly Lara had this funny feeling running down her back. She turned around as if she expected someone behind her but there was nothing but snow and rocks behind her. Even so there was something bothering her, but it didn't hit her yet.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked as he emerged from the cave.

"Nothing…" Lara replied. "Ready?" she asked.

"Absolutely, let's go."

And so the two tomb raiders continued their journey. An hour and a half later they reached the tomb. Lara's calculations had been a bit off. Alex was still a little weak from the blood loss so their pace had not been as fast as yesterday.

The temple had not much beauty from the outside. Two soldiers made of rock were guarding the entrance. Because of the snow there was not much to look at but they could just see that the one on the left was holding a sword and a shield and the one on the right was holding something that looked like a box. The rest of the entrance had been faded by time or by snow.

"Well, looks like we made it." Alex said as he looked for some support from the left statue.

Lara looked concerned "Are you still holding on Alex, we could rest for a few minutes."

"No I'm fine, let's go inside."

The female tomb raider nodded at him, she pulled out two light sticks from her bag and handed one to Alex. Together they walked inside, moving the light sticks from left to right.

"Fascinating." Lara said.

"What?" Alex asked curious.

"Look at these wall paintings, they show the exact reason behind the prayer wheels, why they made them."

Alex looked at the paintings, but he couldn't make much of it.

"Really? How much do you know about the prayer wheels?"

"An ancient Chinese society known as the spirit people made the prayer wheels to ware of evil spirits. The emperor was to carry them with him every day or else the evil spirits would strike and their people would be cursed."

Lara paused for a second but continued walking.

"Then why did they burry the wheels in a tomb?"

"That Alex, is something I hope to find out in here."

The American smirked at her words.

"And I almost started to believe you know everything."

"No Alex, I might have a library at the manor but I am certainly not a library myself."

They laughed and at the same moment their path was stopped by a wooden door.

"Well this looks like the way in." Alex said.

Lara already studied the door to find their way in. She felt a pole at the side of the door and pulled it down. Compared with all kinds of noises the wooden door opened. A breeze of warm air came towards them. The warmth seems to came from a large flame that was burning in the centre of the temple.

"Wow, did you feel that?"

"Yes Alex I did." She walked inside and placed the light stick in her bag.

The flame gave enough light for them. Even so there was not much to be seen. The flame was surrounded by for statues, two men and two women. When Lara came closer she saw that each of them was carrying the symbol of an element. The woman on her left was carrying a flame, the one she stood next to was holding water. The man behind her was holding earth and the other man was holding nothing, which heads the logical explanation of air.

The statues were about two meter high and made of pure rock. Lara could tell the builders did not spend too many time on making the statues. But except for the statues and the flame there was nothing to be seen, not even a sign of the prayer wheels, which means they have to put together a puzzle to find them.

"Something tells me the statues are are the key to the prayer wheels."

Lara turned to the yank and smiled.

"Yes Alex, your feeling is right." She said.

"You have any idea's?" he asked.

"Not yet." Lara replied as she made constant turns to come up with one.

And while Lara couldn't find anything for the last five minutes it was Alex who discovered the first piece of the puzzle. He was standing behind one of the statues and saw a Chinese mark on its back.

"Eh Lara, I think I found something."

Lara walked behind the statue and looked at the symbol Alex pointed at. She moved her hand over it, Alex could see she recognized it.

"What does it say?" he asked.

"Three." Lara replied short

"Huh?"

"It says three." Lara said again and hurried over to another statue.

This was the woman holding the fire, Lara saw another symbol.

"One…" She walked to the other female statue "two…" then to the male statue holding nothing. "And this is number four."

"So there's an sequence, but what are we supposed to do with it?" Alex asked.

"We push Alex." Lara replied and walked back to the statue holding the fire.

Her hands roamed over the statue looking for something like a handle. Suddenly the statue started moving when her hand landed on the statue's hands. The hands drew open and pointed to the fire with the palms up.

"Alex you do number two, I'll walk to three."

Alex walked to the female statue that was holding the water and pushed on the hands. The same thing happened, hands pointed to the fire with the palms up. Lara pushed at the statue holding the earth and then Alex pushed the hands of the last statue down. They both turned to the fire waiting for something to happen. And something did happen, in one flash the fire faded and was replaced by four prayer wheels. Blue, green, white and red were their colors.

"Fascinating." Lara said and kept staring at the wheels.

"Absolutely."

Together they walked to the wheels, first to take a closer look and then Alex put them in his bag.

"Alex can I ask you something?" Lara asked as they were on their way out.

"Yes sure…"

"Would you mind if I'd take them to my manor first, to see if I can find out more about their history?"

For a moment Alex wanted to protest, but then he thought about what happened yesterday and decided it was the least he could do, he owed her one.

"If it is possible for me to spend a night at the manor, yes then you can study them."

Much to his surprise, Lara placed a small kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you Alex."

"Well...eh, you're welcome Lara."

He saw Lara smiling at him and then she turned and walked out of the tomb. Alex followed her closely.

"You know, I didn't forget what happened last night Lara." He said.

Lara could tell he tried to figure out how Lara thought of their little accident.

"Me neither Alex…"

She moved her eyes from the fascinating wall paintings and locked them at Alex, the smile she wore with it gave Alex the answer he wanted.

"There's the exit, I'd better call Jack and tell him we are on our way back."

"I don't think that will be necessary."

A male voice suddenly said. Lara immediately acted on it and drew her guns. But not short after that at least a dozen men emerged from behind the two statues, all aiming their rifles at the two tomb raiders. Still Lara kept her guns pointed in the direction the voice came from. A man stepped forward, he could not be much taller then Lara and he has blond hair. He had an arrogant look on his face and his blue eyes searched for Lara's.

From behind this man another man appeared, an Asian man. Not very tall, with black hair and a few blond strains. Now Lara knows why she had that funny feeling when they were at the cave, someone had been following them.

"I would drop those if I were you Lady Croft, the odds are against you."

She stayed calm but did as she was told. Then Alex said something, something Lara had never expected.

"Damien, what are you doing here?"

Immediately Lara turned her eyes to the yank.

"You know this man?" she asked Alex, but Damien replied.

"Yes off course he does. Alex works for me."

"What?" Lara said confused.

Damien kneeled down and reached for Lara's guns.

"Did he never tell you?" he said as his eyes scanned the guns. "Nice, guns." He said.

Lara ignored him, she was confused, what was going on. It almost seemed to her that Alex had betrayed her.

"Alex was looking for the prayer wheels because I told him. I pay him some money he does what I tell him to do. It's quite simple and that way I earn a lot of money."

He handed the guns to the Chinese man and walked to Alex.

"Give me your bag Alex."

"Damien, what are you doing, I would have given them to you anyway and you know that."

Even though he protested Alex decided to give Damien his bag.

"Yes I know you would have Alex, but I'm afraid you forced me to change plans because you had to get Lady Croft involved."

Damien handed the bag to one of the men and told him to look for the wheels.

"Chau, would you be so kind to search dear Lady Croft for any more weapons."

The Asian man walked towards Lara and unzipped her coat. He tore it of and then let his hands roam all over her body. He found the knife in her boot and the one behind her gun belt.

"Fascinating to see a Lady with all those weapons." Damien said as he paced in front of Lara again. "Chau, tie her up against one of the statues."

Chau grabbed Lara by the bicep and took her to a statue. Another man appeared with some chains. Lara was forced on her knees and her hands were pulled up. First her hands were tied, a chain was tied around her torso and one around her legs. Lara didn't have to think of breaking free. The chains were cutting in her skin and it was unable to break free.

"Damien what are you doing, you can't do this, she'll freeze to death." Alex protested and walked to Damien.

"Exactly Alex…you aren't as stupid as you look."

"You can't do this Damien, please…"

Damien grabbed Alex by the collar of his coat and pulled him closer.

"Do want to join her and die as well?" he said threatening

Alex lowered his head. "No…" he said softly.

Damien pulled him back "Good, then shut up." He said and turned to Lara. "Are you cold yet?" he asked sarcastic.

"All this for some money." Lara said ignoring his question.

"Hmm, you seem to be much smarter then West, maybe I should kill him and let you work for me instead of Alex."

"I only agree with the first part." Lara replied coldly.

She made Damien laugh. "Let's move out." He said.

Lara saw Alex tried to apologize to her. But it was too late for that. He had betrayed her, even though he did not mean this to happen. She turned her head away from him, she did not know who to hate more, him or Damien.

"Oh, one more thing…" Damien turned to Lara again and pulled out his gun.

She thought he would should her in the head or maybe in her heart but after the gun fired she felt a horrible pain in her shoulder.

"Damn it…Damien…" Alex started but immediately shut his mouth when the gun was aimed at him.

Lara bit away the pain in her shoulder. She was getting cold and in big trouble. She saw Damien waving at her and then they left her behind in front of the entrance of the temple. Lara looked down at the small chip on her belt. On some way she had to try and reach it and activate it so that Shugrave would find her.

If she would survive this, her revenge against Alex will be served as cold as it can get. But her odds on surviving are small. She's tied to a statue in the Himalayan's, where it is freezing cold and a snow storm is forming, without being able to activate the chip she will not survive.


Sorry for the long waiting, that's why I wrote a long chappie. I hope I wasn't too hasty to write it. Please review and tell me what you think of the story so far!