"You told that guy to piss off."
She glances at me with a glimmer in her eye and she looks away after a moment, grinning at the stairs we're climbing.
"I did."
My heart, still pumping lukewarm adrenaline, skips a beat at her informal response. My legs are still shaking from the chaos, and ever since we left that cursed room I've refused to move more than a few feet from her side. She seemed just a bit slower than before; still lightyears ahead of me physically, but the wounds on her back and the beating she'd taken from the mercs have taken her usual, untouchable mystique and convulted it in a tired way, like rusted steel. Still hard, still unbreakable, but more real, I guess. Up until this point she'd seemed like a myth herself.
"That was so badass," I gleam, squeezing her shoulder lightly. She chuckles between heavy breaths. "Does your back hurt?"
"Not yet," she shrugs, "But it will soon." She stops and squirms a little, pulling her dark blue singlet over her head and examining the torn back. I clear my throat awkwardly and look away; this woman's gotta stop taking off her clothes in front of me before I have a sexuality crisis.
"Yegh." Her fingers curl the wet fabric between them, squeezing out a few droplets of red blood. "Winston's not going to be happy about that." She turns her back to me, gesturing to the three lines. "Tell me how deep they are."
I squint at the injury and hold my breath; I'd never seen a wound like that. It was deep enough that you could see the opposite sides of the flesh and it oozed slowly a clear liquid that diluted the blood and gave it an oily looking texture. My stomach heaves up into my throat and I choke back a nasty mouthful of puke.
"That bad?" Her lips purse together in annoyance, throwing the tattered shirt up onto the ledge we were headed towards. "I'm so tired of stitches, Sam. They itch."
"They itch," I repeat incredulously, rolling my eyes and continuing up the stairs. "That guy was gonna kill you, you know."
"Yes, he would have tried."
I stop abruptly and turn back to her, mounting my hands on my hips; I'm sick of this nonchalant talk about her death like we were planning what's for dinner tonight. It moves me to anger, honestly.
"You had a gun to your head. You were a second away from dying!"
"And you saved my life," she says coolly, taking my arm in her grasp and pressing on ahead of me. My face heats under the weight of her words. I saved her life. I saved Lara Croft's life. Like twenty minutes ago. Holy shit.
"Are you coming?" She's already at the top of the staircase when I come back to my senses.
"Hey!" I call out as I run up to meet her. "I legit save your ass back there!" I'm excited by the idea of it. In the two days I've known her I've done more important shit than I have in my entire life. "That means you owe me a boon, right?" I clap my hands together and stand close.
Lara seems mildly amused by my words. "A boon?"
"What? You seem old fashioned. Come on!"
"Alright," she concedes with a broad smile, unsheathing her knife from her thigh. I flinch back when she tosses it, catching the blade and holding the handle out at me. I give her a quizzical look.
"Boons are traditionally sealed with mutual blood." She reaches behind her back, winces and pulls back, ruby decorating her index digit.
"O-Oh." I glare down at the silver blade and open my palm, spreading my fingers outward. "Seriously? We're doing this? I was just kidding."
Her long, bruised fingers reach out in my direction. "I keep my promises, Sam. You saved me, and now I'm in your debt. And I'm not such a fan of being unmentionably indebted. So let's officiate."
I nod nervously; she has a habit of getting suddenly intense. The tip is so sharp I only need to let the weight of the weapon sit on the center of my palm to break the skin.
I pull it away so quickly I almost drop it on my foot.
"Okay…," my voice quivers. She takes my hand firmly in hers with no fear. The contact sends a shock of electricity through me, rocking through my arm and into my chest, making my heart sputter.
"Thank you," she says quietly.
I didn't know what to say. What was I meant to do? Had I just stood there and watched her get shot in the head, I feel like I would've gone crazy; just the thought of what would have happened if I'd spent one more second staring at that guy's corpse, or trying to figure out how to fire the machine gun…She would have been dead before I got there, and then what?
"I…Do I decide what the boon is now?"
"You can wait, until a situation arises."
"Wait," I reply, rubbing the back of my neck. "I think I know what I want already."
"And?"
I hesitate, gazing at your locked hands between us; why couldn't I have known you before? I'm nervous, but it feels so uncomfortable to be so. Like it's unnatural for us to be so far separated.
"I want," I start, an anxious lump building in my throat. "To come with you. Wherever you're going next, take me with you."
She stares at me, deadpan, for a good five seconds before she speaks, not sounding all that amused or agreeable.
"I cannot do that."
"Lara." Her name rolls off my tongue so easily. "Please."
"No," she refuses sternly. "You don't understand what you're asking for. I can't."
"Lara!" Again, this time clasping my free hand over our bloodied ones.
"Enough, Sam." She sounds strained then, like she's holding something back or struggles against herself. Her fingers untangle from mine, but I manage to keep us connected stubbornly; I'm not giving in, no matter how overwhelming or actually terrifying this woman is, I never want to leave her. The real world to so distant now, I never want to go back. "You'll die if you come with me. They always do. You can't ask me for that." Her hand is shaking inside of mine.
"I won't. I promise, I'll listen to you, I'll stay close, okay? Please." She doesn't falter, at least not in the right direction, and so frightful anger floods me. "You have to. That's the point of a boon, isn't it? You have to!"
She's silent for a long time. Her shaking stops, and the cracks in her composure slowly vanish, and I think for a moment that I've won. But her hand tugs from mine in a swift, fluid motion and she turns her back to me.
"You may stay one more night," she says coldly. "I can't offer you anything else. I will do your interview, and the boon will be fulfilled."
My heart feels like it's being ripped apart, but I don't have the confidence or the willpower to confront her again. The rest of our ascent is spent with at least ten steps between us and she doesn't once turn to see if I'm still behind her.
I spend the rest of the afternoon alone, wandering the manor aimlessly and hoping I'd get so lost no one would ever find me. After we'd surfaced, Lara made some bullshit excuse and left me, heading off towards one of the mansion's dozen libraries no doubt. I cross my arms over my chest and shiver, leaning against the opposite wall. Too much has already happened today, too much.
I itch at the small cut in the center of my palm and sigh sharply. Idiot. I really thought I had a chance. Where was she going next? Maybe she'd try to make the window for Shangri-La still?
My lower lips quivers. The whole plan was to force her to take me, because if she left for Shangri-La she would never come back; she's like a caged tiger here, pacing her prison back and forth, back and forth…she didn't seem happy here at all, even through her stone façade I can sense her restlessness. She said she might find peace in Shangri-La…is that what she's searching for?
"Hey!" Someone calls out for me and I stop to turn. At the end of the hall, Alex waves his hand to get my attention. "I thought you got caught in that weird explosion! Are you okay?"
"Oh, yeah. I'm alright. Lara and I got hit but we're okay."
"Huh, Lara?" He cleared his throat. "Are we allowed to call her that?"
"I am," I snicker half-heartedly. "Guess rescuing the woman from a bunch of mercenaries is worth that much."
His eyebrows rocket up into his hairline. "Mercenaries? What are you talking about?"
"You, uhm," I gesture dismissively. "You should probably get out of here, Alex. This woman has some pretty serious enemies and she doesn't seem particularly interested with talking to us." There's a bitter edge to my tone that he couldn't have missed.
"But the interview, Sam it was so important to you." He touches my shoulder lightly, maybe trying for comfort.
"It's okay," I smile at him deceptively, putting on my best face. "She said she'll help me. But this is…something I have to do on my own, I think."
I send him off about an hour later; we give our goodbyes and I tell him to take the van back with him, that I'll find another way home. He seems skeptical, but he doesn't question me. I keep the Alexa+ with me, just in case; it's lighter and smaller than the DX, and it'll be enough to get what I need.
But that's not what I need anymore.
I shake my head and clutch the bag strap tightly.
Zip finds me in the foyer later after the sun goes down and I've had a good long time to stew in my own angst.
"Hey, you alright?" He comes in behind me with three plates of food stacked along his thick arms. "That was some afternoon, huh?"
"Yeah, no kidding," I say humorlessly. "That happen a lot around here?"
"More than it should." He sets a plate down on the coffee table in front of me; it's some kind of pretty rice and fish recipe, with a mound of pilaf below and baked chunks of salmon on top, decorated with a white sauce and garnished. I smile at the dish tiredly.
"Thank you."
"You seen Lara around? Her food's gonna get cold."
"No, not since earlier." I keep my eyes away from him as I answer. Something clicks in my head. "Wait, she didn't leave? What about Shangri-La? I thought she had to go today."
"Must have had a change in plans. She doesn't like to leave untied ends. She's probably getting ready to go after Vymes." He sits next to me, placing the other two dishes down like a 'clack', and begins eating.
We sit silently for a bit, before I have the urge to talk again; I wanted to know more about her, even if she'd brushed me off so coldly before.
"She's stubborn," I mutter, sweeping my hair out of my face.
"Tell me about it. It's like pulling teeth just getting her to take her rappelling equipment on mountain sides. Her freeclimbing style makes me motion sick."
"How long have you worked for her?"
"Been about eight years now."
"Really?" That's surprising; I guess that's why they seem more like friends than co-workers.
"Yeah, I mean, I started off as an IT guy, you know, handling electrical equipment and rigging her gadgets. She knew my Ma from the Endurance crew, Josilin Reyes, so she gave me the job right off the bat."
"And you're okay working with all this craziness?"
"Hey, I'm in it for the thrill. And after working solo with someone for so long, you bond and all that junk. I've lived in this place for four years now. If we wanted to do our jobs completely separate, it would be easy."
"And has she always been…?"
"Intense? Stubborn? Strong –headed?"
"Yeah."
"Always."
"How do you get through to her?"
"With time. You gotta understand that she's basically lost everyone. It started with Yamatai, but it didn't end there; she made enemies without realizing it, and when she took jobs from shady people and refused to fulfill them, she was put on a lot of powerful people's shit lists. She's lost family, friends, practically everybody who dared get too close. So she doesn't let a lot of people in anymore. To protect them."
So she's trying to protect me?
"She tried firing me a couple years ago, when things went really sour with a woman named Natla, but I refused. Sometimes you just gotta stand your ground, no matter how fucking terrifying she is when she's upset. She thinks she's a curse or something, which is partway true. If you want to stick around you have to understand that just being with her is a risk."
"Stand your ground, huh?" I start working on my food at an eager pace; talking with Zip had been a spirit lifter when I needed one. "I'm willing to take that risk."
"Huh?"
"Thanks Zip," I say quickly, wiping my mouth with the corner of my sleeve and standing, ready to confront Lara. He glances up at me quizzically.
"Uh oh. What are you thinking of?"
"I'm gonna go tame the tiger," I wink, newfound energy and confidence giving me a boost. I make my way across the foyer; I'm sure with a little searching I'll find her around here somewhere.
A/N: Sorry but I've always thought Zip and Reyes looked suspiciously alike.