Slouching Toward Bethlehem
A continuation of Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness.

Disclaimer:
I do not own any recognisable characters that appear in this piece of fiction. Lara Croft, Kurtis Trent and others are property of Eidos and Crystal Dynamics. The only thing I own is some OCs and the plot. This story was written for pleasure only. I am making no profit from this story.

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»Chapter Thirteen: Bliss In Ignorance »

Outside of the motel the night air was bitterly cold. Undeterred, Lara ventured out of the back entrance, finding herself in a narrow alley opposite the Laundromat. She sat down on a low flat seat against the alley wall, hugging her arms to her chest and battling back the tears which threatened to fall.

It felt so long since she had been free. She missed the thrill of exploring unknown tombs; the adrenaline of racing from danger; the risk of taking a running leap and just reaching the edge… It was so long ago since she had simply been Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Without any responsibility. Without doubts or fear for the safety of others. Everything had changed since Egypt. Before that tomb had collapsed around her Lara sometimes felt as though she were invincible. Then reality had come crashing down, burying her in a darkness so deep and profound she had never really been able to escape from it.

She sighed, putting her head in her hands and dropping her shoulders.

Since Egypt the shadow of death had followed her wherever she went. It may have haunted her, but it seemed to take the lives of those she surrounded herself with, leaving her behind to experience the misery.

Werner had been killed right in front of her. True, she'd been unconscious at the time, but when she awoke it was to find Werner's lifeless body and for her hands to be covered in his blood. The police had believed she was responsible for Werner's death, and in a lot of ways she did feel responsible. If only she had been faster, better, smarter…

She ran her hands over her face, wiping at the tears which had collected there. She knew there was probably nothing she could have done to save Werner. She was no match for Karel regardless of her state of consciousness. She simply wished they had not parted on such bad terms…

The thought made her mind stray back to Kurtis, and she angrily continued to wipe at her tear-strained face. Sure, Werner had made a lot of bad choices, but in the end he really was a decent human being…

Lara scowled at herself, pulling her mind away from such thoughts. Was she really vouching for Von Croy? Was she seriously justifying Werner leaving her in that godforsaken tomb, to be buried alive?

God, she thought, dropping her arms to her sides and gripping the edge of her seat, I'm going soft. If I can't forgive Werner then why do I want to forgive Kurtis?

She had suspected foul play ever since she had noticed his abilities back at the Archives. He seemed to know exactly what he was doing, and the way he had disposed of the guards so efficiently suggested past experience in work that was anything but legal. At first she had dismissed these suspicions as ungrounded and preposterous, but now she had been proved right.

She got up from her seat in frustration, beginning to pace back and forth along the snow-covered ground. She had long forgotten about the biting cold of the night air. Her thoughts were entirely taken over by a certain American.

"God dammit, Kurtis," she muttered angrily, kicking the alley wall with a booted foot, "Why do you have to go and make everything so damn complicated?!"

Just when she was beginning to completely trust him. Just when they were both beginning to open up…

Thinking hard, Lara knew that Kurtis had been right. Neither could pull this off without the other. She owed it to the world to stop the Nephilim. It was her duty to stop Karel and his insane ritual, since it was she who had inadvertently given him everything he needed to give birth to the Nephilim race anew.

She was firmly decided that she had to help stop Karel, but what about working with Kurtis? He was the only Lux Veritatis left on the face of the earth, and she could not let centuries of tradition and sacrifice just disappear. True, Kurtis had done some bad things in the past but so had she. It was she who had awoken Set and almost brought Armageddon on Earth. It was she who had failed to kill Karel and led to the deaths of all those people at the hospital.

Maybe she should give him the benefit of the doubt in the situation. He'd mentioned going through his Lux Veritatis training from an extremely young age. Anyone who had ever been pushed like that and controlled since childhood would yearn for freedom…

Suddenly Lara realised everything about Kurtis was so similar to herself. They had both left behind their respective upbringings to lead their own lives. He; his controlling father. She; her aristocratic family. They had each become the prodigal son or daughter, going against their family's wishes. They were both alone in the world.

With this last revelation Lara was already heading towards the back entrance. Her earlier rage forgotten, she quickly found her way back to their room, thankful for the pitiful warmth that the motel's heating offered.

Expecting to find Kurtis up, she stopped still in the doorway when she found him asleep. On the floor.

She smiled in silent thanks, closing the door quietly behind her and tiptoeing across the room. Kurtis did not stir.

I'll talk to him in the morning, she decided, kicking her boots off before climbing into bed. She no longer cared about Karel and his men finding them. She felt both mentally and physically exhausted. She laid down and slept more deeply and peacefully then she had done in weeks.

Sunlight, still managing to find a way in through the tiny barred window, streamed over the bed where Lara lay, slowly coaxing her out of unconsciousness. For a few moments she could not remember where she was or why she was there, and then the memories of last night washed over her.

She groaned, screwing up her eyes and forcing herself into a sitting position under the bedcovers. She really did not want to face Kurtis after what had happened last night.

"Morning," said a voice, only a few feet away.

Lara practically dived for the bedside table, grabbing her Vector-R35 and hastily pointing it in the direction of the voice. In her sights was Kurtis, standing near the end of the bed. He raised his hands to his sides in mock surrender.

"Someone's not a morning person."

"Shut up Kurtis," she muttered, still not lowering her gun, "As you can tell I've decided to stay. It doesn't mean I've completely forgiven you though, I've just decided I need to get my priorities right."

"Fine enough," he replied, "But I'd rather you didn't point that thing at me."

Lara lowered her gun, slowly and still with hesitation.

"This doesn't mean I trust you though," she told him, throwing back the bed covers and swinging her legs over the side of the bed, "Just consider yourself lucky. Most men who cross me end up with a bullet in their brain."

"Duly noted," Kurtis answered, lowering his arms.

"What time is it?" Lara asked, her tone suddenly business-like.

"About eleven."

"Eleven?! You do realize there is a Nephilim after us don't you?!"

"You needed the sleep Lara," was his reply, "I didn't think it would do you any harm. Besides, we both need to be 100 percent if we're gonna pull this off."

Lara sighed, rubbing at her eyes with the back of her hand. Once again Kurtis was right, and yet she hated to admit it. Rather than say anything she simply grabbed some clothes and headed towards the bathroom for a much-appreciated shower.

Four days later Lara and Kurtis arrived at the city of Istanbul. Although no longer the capital of Turkey, Istanbul was still significant in terms of culture and export. With a bustling population of 15 million, neither Lara nor Kurtis were greatly worried by their pursuers. They had journeyed all through the day, taking turns driving the motorbike, stopping to rest when it was absolutely necessary and only then for a few short hours. There had been no sign of Karel or his men for the past four days, which was both a good and a bad thing. Good in the aspect that they might reach Cappadocia first, but bad because they had no clue where Karel was.

Neither had spoken much, and when they did it was strictly to do with business. They had reached a mutual understanding, in which neither mentioned the events of four nights ago. Mostly Lara was balancing everything out and trying to collect her thoughts on the matter, whilst Kurtis was simply waiting for her decision.

Accommodation was not a big problem, since Istanbul seemed to be filled with hotels of varying quality. Lara and Kurtis soon checked into a small hotel overlooking the Marmara Sea. It was set in a quiet and out-of-the-way place, right next to the dock.

From the outside it was pretty obvious the hotel was of considerable quality compared to the pathetic motels they had been staying in. They were going to have a full nights rest whilst they could; they were only a couple of days away from their final destination.

Lara had shelled out for a room with a double bed this time around, since both were getting sick of sleeping on the hard floor every other night. They couldn't afford separate rooms; Lara had only the cash she had managed to pick up in Paris and Prague and Kurtis had even less than that. Lara had lost her credit cards along with her backpack when she had been running from the Parisian police. It was also in common sense to share a room, so that their pursuers could not catch one of them unawares.

"OK, so this is the plan," Lara spread out a detailed map of Turkey upon the wooden desk in their room.

"Where'd you get that?" Kurtis asked.

"I bought it whilst you were getting petrol," she offered, "OK, so all this area of Turkey is Cappadocia," Lara gestured towards the centre of the map, indicating the huge region of desert, bizarre rock formations, caves and underground cities, "Meaning our task isn't exactly going to be easy."

"So perceptive," Kurtis muttered.

"But like our good pal Rouzic told us," Lara continued, ignoring Kurtis' comment, "Karel has already got a team excavating the site. Hopefully we can narrow it down if we can get a list of all the sites currently under excavation…"

"OK, so we know how to find the place. What did you have in mind in order to total it?"

"I have a contact here in Istanbul," Lara replied, "We can go see him tomorrow. He can hook us up with explosives, weaponry, you name it."

"Are you sure this contact can be trusted?" Kurtis asked.

"Not in the slightest," Lara replied, folding up the map again, "But he's the best there is for supplies. The first and last time I saw him was about five years ago."

"Five years ago?" Kurtis said, "Is he even going to remember you?"

"Oh, he'll remember me," Lara told him, a smirk pulling at her lips, "It's a bit hard to forget the girl who punched you out when you came onto her."

Kurtis smiled amusedly at the imagery, and then silently reminded himself to be very careful when flirting with this woman.

Lara simply gave him a lingering look which seemed to say, "Just try me."

The sky outside the window was steadily getting darker, and Lara began to light some candles to provide better light. Kurtis sat on the edge of the bed, facing away from Lara.

"Don't," Lara told him, still in the process of lighting the candles.

"Don't what?" Kurtis asked, turning his head to the side slightly.

"Don't smoke that thing in here," she said, blowing out her used match and turning to face him, "You may want to kill yourself slowly but don't poison my oxygen supply."

Kurtis rolled his eyes, continuing to light up his cigarette. He walked past Lara and stepped out onto the balcony, giving her a look as if to say, "Happy?" She distinctly heard the word 'women' muttered under the Lux Veritatis' breath and sighed.

"Men," she answered, in a much more obvious tone.

TBC…

Wow, this chapter is the longest yet! The majority of this chapter was written with a pad and a pen by candlelight. I was without power from Saturday morning until Sunday night. Because of severe flooding my power was cut off and I had to live on chocolate and other things until it was restored. No hot meals. No television. And most importantly: no internet! I have no idea how I survived! :s I did get a lot of writing done though... The good news is I am off until Thursday since my school has no heating. Woohoo! If you're interested, the title of this chapter comes from the song "One Step Closer" by Linkin Park, possibly the greatest band in the world :)

nickless - Thank you for reviewing and for adding my story to your favourites :)

Jordana Trent - Wow! You certainly crammed a lot in your reviews lol I am happy that this story is making people laugh, I always wonder if I am funny :s You have not seen the last of Karel oh no... Of course you can request more of him! :) Not to give anything away but: soon, soon... The title of this story I actually got from an episode of Angel. I assumed it had something to do with religion because of the Bethlehem part. I thought it was kind of like 'looking for salvation', but taking a long time getting there. Interesting that I did get it in the right context...

Lady Lara Croft - hehe Would I ever intentionally harm either of them? :D I'm glad to see I scared you a bit there. A bit of my twisted sense of humour :)

lara-n-kurtis - Sure, I'll definitely check out your story. Thank you, that ID scene was extremely hard to write. Once again, you'll just have to wait (but not too long :D)