Okay, back after a LONG time, I know. Just that this was a long one, and then I again typed this on my new computer (I bought it finally) and then came the earthquake. Yes, I and my family and friends are quite alright, but many others are not. I request you people to do what you can to help them.
In 'Death may not just be the end', I mentioned that I would be going somewhere, and guess what! Because of some delegation, my seat (returning flight) was cancelled! I had specially had it confirmed three months early! I am trying my best to have it done, the agent is. Hopefully, I would be able to catch up the flight to Karachi, and then I'll come back home.
My round of thank you's, of course. I got a lot of feedback last time. Please make this time as good as the previous, call it a 'come-back-gift.'
Synestra- Oh god, I almost blushed. Thank you so much, and yeah, they are meant to be a good team. Thanks once more.
lara-n-kurtis- Really? Oh well, I discover stuff quite late sometimes. Thank you for the wonderful review.
ChainOfMemories- Yeah, I wrote all this by 'keeping' the sad tune in my mind. I'm happy that it fitted in. Thanks a bunch.
Naoki07- I'm not that accomplished to make this a real book! But I'm very happy and encouraged by your review. Thanks!
AKKON- Give some time to your story too, my friend and PLEASE STOP clapping! This was not that good that this made your hands sore. I hope they get alright soon, I'm waiting! Thanks, really, you made my day.
Mog-everything- Point 1: Female specimen, I am not a dude! And I hope this is soon enough, no? Thanks.
The Odd Little Turtle- You can come out in the light now, there are no restrictions. Please review this as well.
untammed- Keep on lovin' the story, and please review too.
Without any further due:-
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Ending
Chapter 8: Breather
Exhausted, the two adventurers walked out toward the huge metal gates of the Strahov, where television reporters, journalists, photographers and the most dreading people to Lara; police was standing. The cameras started clicking on furiously, as the flashes silhouetted against their faces, a beautiful but with a dark expression belonging to Lara, and a worried yet handsome face for Kurtis.
Unlike many other complexes, Strahov was something that was truly big. Even after the big explosion that eradicated the evil from the world, half of it remained undisturbed. Three police cars and an ambulance with a loud siren were parked along side of the left gate.
The police broke off the gates' lock, and a team of about seven men rushed inside the complex, paying no heed whatsoever to the partners. Behind them, an inspector dressed in a civilian disguise, or so they thought rushed in, ordering into the walkie-talkie he held in his right hand. A pistol for safety in a holster that matched Kurtis' completely.
"I won't run away now," the female adventurer breathed in Kurtis' ear.
Upon seeing them, the inspector whispered 'Over' into the device through which he was communicating, and turned towards them, as he hastily introduced.
"John Elliot, Lara Croft. As you can see, I was personally assigned for your case and the Monstrum killings' investigations. We suspected you, but now with this 'Strahov' being half blown, I guess I'll have to leave you, for now."
The inspector had large gray eyes, chestnut hair and a sharp chin. He owned a slightly brawny body, with broad shoulders. He was rather of short height; Lara stood one inch taller than he did. His expression was confused, but it was very clear that he was trying to remain calm in this situation.
"Please, go on," Lara insisted.
He complied by obeying. "I have ordered a warrant, so that you and your, uhh…, friend, can stay in a suitable place for the night, and not avoid us again. You can come along tomorrow to answer a few questions. It will be with you shortly. Excuse me," he quickly ended, then ran past them, barking orders to the gunmen in Czech.
The two adventurers simply shrugged and continued on their path. They exited through the open gates, relieved that they were leaving this hell of a place, forever.
"Lady Croft is it true that you were taken in by the North African tribes after-" a journalist inquired, but Lara sharply cut in:
"No comments."
"Lady Croft, did Werner Von Croy leave you to-" another began.
"No comments."
Kurtis was utterly shocked at what they were asking, and became even more surprised at Lara's response. What did von Croy do to her? Moreover, why do they think that North African tribes took her? Why would anyone want to take her in? She was a sensible woman, knowing what is good for her and what is bad; a fighter that could fight any type of force. In addition, most importantly, did these two questions have a connection of some sort? Kurtis was determined to have his answers, but later.
"Lady Croft, are you responsible for his death?" a feeble looking male journalist asked. Lara stopped dead in her tracks, letting the question sink deep into her. She turned with slow footsteps towards him, and Kurtis automatically knew that this meant trouble. He turned to find Lara walking towards him, with fists ready to strike. Being the hero in the situation, he grabbed Lara from her waist, pulling her towards himself so that the employee could live longer. "LET GO OFF ME!" she yelled in his arms, as he slightly lifted her up. Lara kicked and screamed fruitlessly, trying to break away from his incredibly strong grip.
A groan of excitement rose from the crowd, and the proportion of the camera flashes increased immensely.
After she had calmed down, Kurtis let go off her. The weak journalist who was about to die by the hands of Lara, fainted. Lara turned, then bumped into a government official, who recognized her, and spoke with a bearable accent, "Lady Croft, I have the warrant Inspector Elliot told me to have printed out. Here it is," he said and gave a paper with Czech written all over it to Lara.
"Thank you," she answered as he went to look for Elliot himself. More journalists walked towards them.
"Lady Croft, another colleague, after von Croy?"
"Ye-es," Lara answered slowly in the microphone he held.
"Mister, uhh-" a female journalist began, drawing attention towards Kurtis.
"Kurtis Trent," he answered quietly.
"Yes, Ms. Croft is your-"
"A colleague; a friend."
Kurtis moved close to Lara and whispered in her ear, "Follow me."
Without any questions, Lara obeyed as he turned into a corner of a concrete wall. "Run!" he urgently whispered, as Lara sprinted on full speed, and escaped her life's most humiliating moments. She turned another corner and saw Kurtis bike, covered in a white blanket of snow, parked in the alley.
She decided to wait, knowing that he will not take long. A strong gust of wind blew hard, and cut through on Lara's bare arms and legs like sharp knives. Lara rubbed her gloved hands on her arms, then bent down and unfolded her shorts, so that they became pants once more. She had rolled them up because the temperature in the greenhouse was far too high to wear baggy army pants.
Running silently, Kurtis turned a corner as he lost the journalists and saw Lara unfolding her pants. Winds blew on, and Lara just shivered with her back facing Kurtis and as a plain sign of concern, he took off his blue T-shirt, and then followed by his white long-sleeved one. He could hardly bear the cold himself, but he was quite used to these things, in the Foreign Legion he had been in for five years.
He put on his blue shirt, and walked up behind Lara, whispering in her ear, "Here wear this. At least you'll be warm." Lara was taken off guard at this moment, and she whirled around to meet Kurtis. She gratefully accepted what he offered, with an audible "Thank you," and put on his shirt, being surprised on the whole how big it was in size, as it hung to her thighs.
He mounted his bike and Lara sat on the back without any hesitation, as he revved up his engine to life and drove away. Lara leaned on against him, but he did not mind at all, after all she too had to go through all that he had before. He concentrated on the road before him and continued.
"Lara, wake up. We're there," Kurtis said to Lara behind his shoulder. She stirred, then muttered, "Wha-"
"We're there," Kurtis repeated.
"A-right," she whispered back, as she began to realize her surroundings; perched on the back of Kurtis' freeway chopper. She sniffed his scent, deeply enough. 'Calvin Klein! Why did I not smell it before?' she mentally asked herself, followed by a slap that shook her out of the flirtatious mood she might have gotten in.
"What's the time?" she asked him.
"Its 3AM," he answered.
"Oh," she answered back. She was completely exhausted, and felt a bit faint too, but her brown eyes popped open when she saw how quickly they were nearing a huge five-star hotel. "Kurtis, do you think it would be right to stay there?" she asked him, anxiously.
"I'm not wanted for anything, and you have the warrant, then what's the problem?" he answered with a question.
"No, but I don't know why, I don't like it," she replied honestly, "and besides, I haven't got any money with me! Not to stay over there at least."
"Leave it to me. And trust me, nothing's gonna happen," he skit their source of transportation to the side, and got off and walked towards the hotel, confident. The guard standing outside recognized Lara immediately, and wavered his pistol on her, until she showed him the warrant. He nodded critically, but gave in and phoned the receptionist with an announcement, of her warrant.
Kurtis showed his weapons license to him, and made him believe the wrong truth that Lara had his guns. Again, he seemed quite critical about it but stuffed himself without saying anything.
As they entered, all the other people there turned their heads to see Lara and Kurtis, and began whispering to themselves or some other person in a number of languages. Lara ignored it, but then again she felt soft warmness in her cheeks. They walked toward the receptionist, and she raised her head to see the two of them nearing. "I just announced your arrival, and the, ahem, warrant?" she asked when her pale blue eyes met Lara's figure. She showed it to her, and after studying it about four times, returned it. "I suppose, what would you like?" she asked Kurtis, ignoring Lara completely. The receptionist had blonde hair, tied in a tight bun and somewhat smart body, with a pretty face. "We'd like two individual rooms, please," Kurtis began, ignoring her amorous stares. She checked her register, and then confirmed:
"Because of the extreme cold weather, we have only one room left, sir. Double bedded."
"We'll have that," he said. Whilst he filled out a form and received the card, Lara walked and hovered near the fire. "C'mon," he said to her and climbed on the lift, with peace at last. 'Room no. 919' Kurtis mentally informed himself, as he got a bit surprised that there was no attendant in the lift. He thanked God for it, and loudly sighed when the lift's doors closed. Lara's vision hazed incredibly, and due to that, she could not see even when she squinted her eyes. Her head throbbed badly, and she felt even bone of her body being squished under her flesh.
When they reached the ninth floor, Lara felt her world turning round, and soon she passed out and thumped to the floor, just with one soft 'oh'. Kurtis almost groaned, as he gathered Lara's lithe body in his arms and carried her to their room.
When he reached their room, 919, he swiped the card and entered, putting it on a stand so that the lights were on. He entered into a cream-colored room, with three stairs down, two beds with white sheets and maroon blankets lay looking irresistible to a completely exhausted person, like only Kurtis. A fire cackled merrily, and an armchair lay in front of it. Kurtis put Lara's body on the bed nearest to him, and opened a wardrobe to find two white bathrobes and ahh...
He pulled out warm fuzzy white pajamas from a corner. There was also its companion there, in a light blue color. 'Perfect' he thought. He then, mentally decided that he would stitch up Lara's wound, put her in these pajamas, and then treat himself with a nice hot bath. He will later order room service.
He moved the armchair to a side, put some soft cushions for his friend and carried her fragile-looking body near the fire. He took out a medi-kit he had saved, then turning her body sideways, he began working with sprit and the small set of surgical instruments. In the Legion, he had been taught how to take care of wounds such as this.
After a period, he put Lara in the pajamas, without even taking off her tank top and army pants. He carried her to her bed, and laid her down once more on soft sheets. After stirring slightly, the tomb raider dozed off.
Kurtis sat in nice, hot water for some time. After wearing his clothes, he felt just too tired to order food despite the fact how hungry he was. He just took out a Snickers bar from the small refrigerator near the wardrobe, after eating it fell into a breather he, and Lara as well, strongly needed.
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