Hi Everyone I'm back, sorry you had to wait this long!
yamato-al3: Lara and Alex make a lovely couple eh? Don't worry I'm not going to stop writing until the bitter end.
SeventhAngelicSlayer: Well I didn't continue immediately but I hop you didn't mind to wait to long, thnx for the review.
Shauniwritesit: Hey Shauni thnx for the review, if you want to know what will happen to Lara you should start reading immediately! :)
Darlian: Thanks for you're review, pour Bryce huh? And you have all the right to dislike Bauer. He's a bad evil mindless criminal. Now quick start reading to see what happened to Alex
Froline el-Vasper: Thank you for you're review, sorry if you had to wait so long for the next chappie, but here it is!
Chapter two, Have some wine
He heard the door being opened, they have returned and that means Bauer has succeeded his plans so far. Alex was angry with himself, he never should have let Lara's name fall and he should have known that Bauer could not be trusted. It seems this problem occurs more often. He had it with Powell too and now Lara would most certainly be very angry with him because of the email he had send to her. It wasn't his intension to do this on purpose, but Bauer had planned to go to England to get her himself, knowing Bauer he would probably kill Bryce and Hillary. That's how Alex came up with the idea to lure Lara to Germany, that way her two friends won't get killed and she only will be angry with him for betraying her. He prefers that over the responsibility for the death of her two best friends.
Alex tried to move in a more comfortable position, it didn't have much use. They had tied him against a pillar. His hands hanging above his head and his knees resting on the cold wet surface beneath him. The door opened, Alex looked up and saw Bauer and Hans walking inside, behind them were two men dragging Lara's limp body inside. The yank tried to keep the surprise from his face, he refused to look at Bauer and locked his eyes at Lara. The tomb raider was knocked out, the bump on the back of her head proved it. Only to see her like this made him feel guilty about his deeds. Lara fell out of his sight, Hans pulled out a few ropes, he was going to tie Lara to the pillar as well.
"How long has it been since you last saw her, almost a year am I right. Isn't it sad to see her again in a situation like this?"
If looks could kill, Bauer would have been dead. The hatred in his eyes didn't seem to bother the German. Bauer's eyes moved to Lara, she groaned softly which means she was waking up, a little sooner then he had expected but Hans had already tied her to the pillar.
"I have to say Mr West, you're friend is quite a beauty, a fine body, beautiful brown eyes."
"Shut up." Alex said and made clear he didn't appreciate the German's teasing.
He smirked and bypassed the American to have a better look at Lara. Lara had just opened her eyes. Her head throbbed, her vision blurred and refused to get straight. If it could get any worse she saw Bauer emerging in front of her. Her hands were bound above her head and her knees were on the cold floor under her. She stretched her hands, they connected with something. Lara looked back and recognized the person behind her. It was Alex, tied in the same position she is. Her head turned back once Bauer started talking.
"Are you comfortable Liebschen?" his own sarcasm made him laugh.
Lara however was in no mood to laugh, her glare towards the German was ice cold. "I'll be more comfortable if you untie me so that I can kill you." Her lips were forming in the smallest of smiles.
"I'm afraid that's out of option, but don't worry we won't be here for long, just a few days, after that you and Mr West will lead us to the bracelet."
Her eyebrow moved up as the words of the German landed in her ears "I'd rather die." She said.
"Off course and that can be arranged as well, but not before the two of you lead me to the bracelet. And let me explain to you, there are no other options. If one of you refuses to cooperate Hans will help you to change you're mind." Bauer leaned down, his hand moved up and he grabs Lara firmly by her jaw. "And if you are not impressed by Hans yet, ask Mr West about him, he already has quite some experience with the convincing skills Hans possesses."
For what seemed to be for ever his grip remained. The message in his eyes is clear, do not do anything you regret later on. Her reply was a calm confident look. Off course Lara croft gets scared sometimes, right now she is scared as well but if you show you're enemy that you are afraid he will only take advantage of it, a good thing that in this line of business Lara has taught herself to hide her fears at any time she wants to.
Finally Bauer removed his hand from her jaw, she bit away the pain. She looked up, noticing that Hans winked at her. So this Hans guy is Bauer's pawn, Bauer had been correct, Lara was not impressed by this man. Hans and Bauer faded from her view and seconds later she heard the door behind her close. It was just her and Alex now, Lara wasn't really happy about that.
"Lara…I…" Alex already tried to apologize.
"Shut up bloody yank." Lara growled at him.
The American tried to turn around for as much as he could "If you just please allow me to explain." There was a small begging tone in his voice.
"I wish I could say no, but as you can see I can't go anywhere and I can't put my fingers in my ears either, so I guess I'm forced to listen to you're worthless apologies."
Sometimes Lara can be cruel, the last few words she just said felt like being stabbed in the heart. Perhaps she has all the right to be like this, he had hurt her too many times and this probably is her way of paying him back.
"Thank you." He paused shortly before he continued to talk again. "At first I want to admit that I put myself into trouble again, I guess I'm too blind to see if people can be trust."
"Yes, so it seems, on the other hand you seem to be rather good in hurting me, I might start to believe you like to hurt me."
Alex sighed "fine, whatever, just let me finish." Lara didn't reply and Alex took it as a yes. "While we were still working together I told him about you, about how wonderful you are and what you're capabilities are."
For a moment Lara wanted to curse at him for talking that easy but she decided to save it for after he is finished with his apology.
"Not short after that I found out who he really was, I tried to sneak away unnoticed, but unfortunately Hans was able to stop me. I ended up here, it's the fourth day now. After two days Bauer informed me that he needed you're help has well. He had done some research about you and noted that you are a much better tomb raider then me."
Alex took a short pause, he actually expected some comment from Lara but she stayed quiet. It made him wonder if she was even listening to him. He didn't care, the least he could do was explain what happened.
"Bauer had planned an attack on you're house to kidnap you, I was afraid that he might kill Bryce and Hillary because they are not important to him. That's when I suggested to lure you to Germany instead, you should be happy he agreed my offer."
Lara shrugged "I should be happy he agreed you're offer? Alex if it wasn't for you're big mouth I wouldn't have been here at all. I would have been at home together with my friends, true friends that I know I can trust. You might have managed to keep Bryce and Hillary out of this and I'm glad you did, but still you're greed for money blinds you from the important things around you and that Alex, is the exact reason I can't trust you."
Yes he was right, Lara will never forgive him for anything he has done to her. Even in a situation like this, a situation he had taken her into. He lowered his head and closed his eyes. Alex sighed, his life was a complete failure, there was only one woman on this planet he loves more then anyone, that woman was behind him. Only that same woman hates him more then anyone on this planet and he could not ignore that fact it was his own fault.
Next day.
Not even one word, she hadn't even said one word to him since he tried to apologize to her. The only sound that could be heard was the constant sighs of the American. Lara hadn't moved a muscle for the entire night, while Alex kept switching positions. He had been in this position for too long, his legs were sore and the blood in his arms had stopped floating. How could Lara stay this calm, she'd always had been like this, Alex never understand how she was capable of doing such things.
If her hands wouldn't have been tied above her head she might have been able to reach the knife that was tugged behind her belt. This Hans had tied her wrists firmly around the pillar and made it impossible for her to break free. She was getting tired of Alex, he couldn't sit still for even a minute, the yank has no patience at all. He's uncomfortable, she knew that was partly her fault. There was no need to feel guilty about it, he had brought this on himself. When does Alex start thinking before he acts? Sometimes she wishes that he was still the old Alex, the Alex she met when they were working together, looking for the prayer wheels. That is how she wants to remembers him, she hopes that some day Alex can be like that again but she fears it will never happen.
The tomb raider was snapped from her thoughts when Alex once again shifted in another position.
"Alex could you please just sit still."
The yank stopped moving immediately "Oh, and I started to think that the English woman behind me had lost her tongue." He started shifting again. "And no I can't sit still, I've been in this position for five days now and I want to get the hell out of here!" he screamed out the last few words.
Suddenly Lara started laughing "You never were patient were you Alex." A tone of sarcasm was hearable.
"What's that suppose to mean?" he asked.
"Nothing, I just recalled some memories."
Lara suddenly didn't seem to be angry with him anymore "Lara what are you up to? Why are you being so nice to me all the sudden?"
The tomb raider turned a little to see if she could get Alex in the corner of her eye "I can't stay angry with you for ever Alex, if we want to get out of here we have to work together, I can't work with you when I'm mad at you." She paused for a moment and turned back around. "We will sort this out once we're back in England."
He must be surprised by Lara's words, there was a short silence before he spoke again. "How are you planning to get free from the ropes Lara?" he asked her.
"I'm not planning to break free now Alex, I have a knife tugged behind my belt it might be useful on another moment and I think we-"
Lara stopped talking when the door suddenly opened, she couldn't see who entered but she did hear three pair of footsteps. They passed Alex and soon Lara saw the owners of the footsteps. Brown eyes landed on the blue eyes of Hans, with it he wore a wick smile. Behind him were two other men. The blond German removed a knife from his belt, it was used to cut the ropes from Lara's wrists. Then he cut the ropes from her ankles. Hans grabbed Lara by her shirt and hauled her up, she was pushed to the two other men, their hands seized her immediately and pulled her with them, Hans followed them. His eyes glanced back for a moment, they looked for Alex.
"Don't worry Alex, I'll promise I'll treat her ze zame way I treated you."
"Don't do things that you'll regret." Alex said moving up an angry voice.
But Hans was not impressed by the American's words, he shrugged and followed his men outside. They were walking through a hallway, every five meters a dim light lit the hall. The landscape paintings on the wall made Lara guess she was in a house. Could be Bauer's house and if it was he has bad taste. A hand tugged in her back telling her to keep moving. At the end of the hall they turned left, one of the men pushed a door open while the other one dragged Lara inside. They had taken her to a small dining room. The landscape paintings endured in this room. But what surprised her even more was the crystal collection on her right. Wine glasses, jewelry, small statuettes of animals and humans. It must be worth a fortune, something told her Bauer didn't go to a shop and paid for it like a normal person would do, but she had to admit the collection looked beautiful.
A hand tugged in her back again, Hans pushed her forward "Zit down liebschen." He forced Lara to sit on a chair standing opposite of a table. There were two wine glasses on the table, none of them was made of crystal though. A full bottle of French red wine stood in the center of the table, beside the bottle was an opener. On the other side of the table stood another chair, empty, but Lara didn't have to guess who is going to sit there in a few moments.
With these thoughts entering her mind, Bauer walked inside. He had dressed himself in complete different clothes. A black pressed suit, with under it a white blouse and a blue tie. A disgust feeling entered her mind when she remembered what Bryce had told her about him. This man had been accused of crimes many times, one of them was rape. Even though she had the slightest of feelings that raping her was not in his plans, Lara stayed extra careful in case she might need that knife tugged behind her belt.
Hans and the other two men took a few paces back but they all had their eyes on Lara like a hawk. Bauer elegantly seated himself at the empty chair, his hand reached for the wine bottle and then his other hand moved to the opener. With everything he did Lara kept staring at him on a calm confident way. Bauer started to open the bottle.
"Good afternoon liebschen." He said but didn't move his eyes from the bottle he was about to open. Lara was getting really tired of being called liebschen by all these German's. "Have you already seen my marvelous crystal collection Lara?"
"Yes, quite impressive." Lara answered as she knew she could not ignore that the collection really was beautiful.
"Impressive indeed." The wine bottle was open and after he had filled his glass he offered Lara some win. "Wine?"
"No thank you."
He ignored Lara's answer and poured the wine in her glass. Even so Lara doesn't intend to drink the wine. The German placed the bottle back on the table, he leaned back in his seat and reached for his glass.
"Please Lara, I don't like to drink all alone." Kindly he asked Lara to drink her wine.
"And I don't drink on an empty stomach."
Bauer sighed, he placed the glass back at the table and narrowed his eyes at Lara. "I'm afraid that there is no more food for today, well not for you off course. So please drink with me, unless you want Hans to ask you." Lara frowned, aiming her eyes at Hans for a moment. All this trouble for a glass of wine and only because she prefers to keep Hans out of it her hand reached for the glass. It was placed on her lips and she took a small taste of the wine. The soft taste of the liquid surprised her, it tasted good and Lara had to admit that Bauer had chosen a good wine. She took another few sips and then placed the glass back on the table.
"Good girl." Now Bauer took a few sips from his wine as well.. "Mr West has told me interesting stories about you Lara."
"What is it that you find interesting about me Mr Bauer, because the only thing Alex finds interesting about me is my money."
She had made him laugh "Yes, I've noticed Mr West can be convinced easily if you just confront him with money." He took a few more sips from the wine. "But that is not what Mr West has told me. It were more words like, determined, strong, beautiful, stubborn and I have to agree with what he said, especially the beautiful part."
The tip of Lara's eyebrow moved up at his words. What was his intension with this? Was he trying to scare her, or was he showing his charming side to Lara, in either way Lara wasn't impressed.
"I wish I could say the same about you." She answered with sarcasm.
In the corner of her eye she saw Hans moving towards her, the caustic remark was not appreciated by the blonde German. But Bauer moved his hand up and stopped him.
"It's alright Hans, it is already clear how this tomb raider thinks about me, she does not need to tell me that, but please be so kind to show our dear friend the map Mr West helped us find."
An old piece of paper was placed under Lara's nose. "We know the location only there is a small line written below ." Bauer leaned closer and moved a finger towards the line. "Mr West was kind enough to tell me you are capable of translating this line, so if you please."
Before Bauer asks her if she preferred Hans to ask her to translate the line Lara decided to do as she was told. Her eyes rolled over the sentence, it was written in ancient Greek.
Ancient Greek, Alex could have translated this as well, why would he have told Bauer I can only translate it?
Her fingers trailed down the words as she repeated the Greek words inside her head, it didn't take long before she finished the translation.
"In here faith decides you're path." She said out loud.
Bauer frowned "impressive, what does it mean?"
The tomb raider folded her arms and leaned back in her seat "I don't know yet, I can only find out once we're in the temple."
"Good, Hans bring her back and start the preparations to leave to Japan."
The translation had made a change in Bauer's head, all he seem to think of now was leaving to Japan as soon as possible, he didn't even seem to bother about Lara not drinking her wine. She felt Hans grabbing her arm, hauling her from the chair, pushing her forward.
"Come one liebschen back tzo you're boyfriend."
They took her though the same hallway again, the door to her prison room opened. Alex was still at his place, but off course he could not go anywhere. For the first time she noticed how badly Alex had been battered. He had a blue eye and a large bruise on his temple. His arms and stomach had several small cuts and his lower lip was swollen. As she passed the yank they had short eye contact, but as they lost contact Hans abruptly pushed Lara on her knees, one man grabbed her wrists and pulled her arms up while the last man tied the ropes around Lara's wrists. Hans leaned down and tapped his hand on her cheek.
"You've been a good girl Frolein Croft, you zid better zhen Mr West."
He offered her a last wick smile and then left the room, together with the two other men.
"So Alex, are you ready to leave?" she asked the yank.
"Where are we going?"
"To Japan, together with Mr Bauer, he let me translate a line at the map, once I translated it he seemed to be eager to leave."
"In here faith decides you're path."
Lara was startled "He already asked you?"
"Yes but obviously he didn't believe me, guess he decided to ask you as well to be sure I was telling the truth."
"I was already starting to believe you forgot how to read ancient Greek." Lara replied moving up a small smile knowing Alex could not see it.
"Don't worry about that Lara, I can do it better then you."
Lara shrugged "If that's so then it's the only thing you do better then me, now try and get some rest. I know it's not going to be easy but tomorrow we need all our energy on the temple and Bauer."
"As you wish milady."
He moved his head aside until it only just landed on Lara's shoulder. She didn't seem to be bothered by it and for the first time in a few days Alex fell asleep instantly.
Am I still doing alright? If you have tips to help me please let me know. I see if I can hurry with the next chapter.