So here's part 3...it's a bit of a nothingy part, but I promise piles of action in the next bit, honest!
As always, copyright applies to all chapters.Lara sat rigid in her seat as she drove herself and Kurtis Trent out of town. As they got further and further from civilisation she couldn't help but sneak a glance at him out of the corner of her eye.
Well, maybe one or two glances.
Why on earth did I trust him? He has a tattoo, for Goodness sake.
From her discreet glances she had noticed the little sliver of stomach that was exposed where he'd tucked his gun into his waistband, and where his t shirt had caught on the handle at the back, giving her a view of a few inches of toned abs and side.
Curling across the tanned skin was the corner of a tattoo. She couldn't help but wonder what the whole thing looked like, and she had to bite back an urge to put out a hand and find out.
Stop it. Stop! You've held the Excalibur in your very hands, Croft, and yet you can't handle the sight of some skin. Get a grip.
Her hands tightened on the wheel. She couldn't help the images of Karel extending a hand to her disguised as Kurtis from bludgeoning across her mind. He had been trying to frighten her, it couldn't be anything else. She hoped.
But then where had that painting Trent claimed as 'awol' really got to?
In a sudden moment of pure terror, Lara's foot lifted off the gas and hovered over the brake. She turned to look over at him, mistrust glazing over her face.
And then, luckily for him, Trent did something that Lara couldn't deny. He shifted in his seat, and she caught sight of the gold signet ring on his hand. He used the same hand to push his hair roughly back from his face, before looking over at her.
"We haven't got all day. Can't this thing go any faster?" Replacing her foot on the gas, Lara smirked. Karel had been able to be him physically, but he surely couldn't mimic the very things that made him Kurtis. He just couldn't.
Gone soft in your old age, Croft?
"I do believe we're slacking." And she stepped on the gas, trying to leave her doubts behind her with the rubber on the road.
As they neared Lara's estate she felt a curious worry over what Kurtis would think of it. It wasn't exactly your average two bed semi, after all. As she pulled up to the gates Trent started to show signs of waking from the nap he'd been having. Lara raised her eyebrows at the drool threading down his chin.
"Have we stopped for a reason?" He asked, peering out the window at Croft Manor.
"Home, sweet home." Lara returned, leaning out the window of the jeep to put the code into the gate. It scanned her prints and the vehicle, before the ornate gates opened to admit them.
"This…" Kurtis began. She watched with satisfaction as he gawped at her manor, jaw ever so slightly dropped. "Is home."
"Oh, I know it's not much, but I am rather attached to it." She smiled, glancing over at him. "Close your mouth, Trent." They pulled up the drive, and as Lara turned the keys in the ignition and hopped down from the jeep she couldn't help but grin at the awe still plastered over Trent's face.
Still. It didn't change anything. She had a nasty feeling that she was going to have a lot of explaining to do. Taking a deep breath, she surveyed the double doors before her.
Now or never, Croft. You've come this far, and if he is going to kill you, at least it'll be in the comfort of your own home.
Smirking, Ms Croft pushed the double doors open and strode over the threshold.
"I'm home!" She called, and waited for the onslaught.
She didn't have to wait long.
"Lara! You're alive!" She heard Alister cry, before he skidded around the corner of a pillar.
"I told you, she don't die!" Zip bellowed, coming to stand in the doorway of his office. "Even Winston knew that." He grinned widely.
"Did you miss me then, boys?" Lara returned, coming into the hall. Alister tried to look cross, but she knew he was pleased to see her still in one piece.
"Well, after your headset exploded I began to wonder whether your head had gone with it. We tried to wire the system…" Lara tuned out of Alister's detailed description as she noticed a door behind him open quietly and admit Winston into the room. He nodded, a fatherly smile just lifting the corners of his mouth. She allowed herself her first relaxed smile of the day. It was so good to see all that was so familiar, just where it should be. Alister waved a hand in her face to punctuate what he was saying, and Lara tried to listen again.
"…and so the router went offline and my data – " He stopped abruptly, looking past Lara. A quick glance at Zip told her that he also had completely lost interest in Alistair's story.
She turned around, and felt her a grimace rearrange her face.
Oh, yes. Explaining Trent. Where's a diversion when I need one?
Kurtis had wandered into the foyer and was obliviously gazing up at the rafters of the hallway.
"D'you pick something up while you were in London?" Asked Zip, masking his concern. Kurtis turned his attention to the other occupants of the room, frowning slightly.
"This," Lara began, fiercely searching for the right words, "is Kurtis Trent. My American deserter." The bitter inflection in her voice cut through the feigned humour of the name.
Zip, Alister and Winston had been briefly informed of the dark stranger's part in the Strahov episode, but the most potent memory in all their minds was the change in Lara's demeanor after the experience. She had developed a deeper hardness, like an even thicker emotional wall around her feelings, and had fenced their questions about the strange artefact she'd brought back with a ferocious protectiveness. Whatever the case, it just couldn't be good for her to be thrown back in to that world of hostility and death. And after she'd returned from Bolivia with her mother's mystery hanging over her, they'd all worried that she was teetering dangerously on the edge of something indescribable.
Alister folded his arms warily.
"I suppose he has something to do with your somewhat rushed exit, then?" He demanded. Before Lara could answer, Kurtis cut across.
"Yeah…I only helped her escape the inescapable." He offered that one sided smile again, and shrugged. "I'll leave her to it next time." He grinned, and without waiting for an invitation, sauntered over to the sofa and flopped down onto it, ignoring the hostile gazes of the others. Lara raised an eyebrow.
"Do make yourself at home." And she couldn't shake the feeling that the sofa, now with him sprawled across it, looked so much more inviting.
Lara had just dropped onto her four poster when Alister appeared in the doorway. Sensing a presence, and still ever so slightly on edge, Lara had a gun in her hand in a matter of seconds. By the time she'd sat up Alister had adopted a cowering position.
"It's me! It's me! Honestly, Lara!" Lara replaced the gun under her pillow.
"Well you do persist in chastising me for carelessness." Swinging her legs off the bed, she looked up at him, seeing him standing sheepishly upright again. "Did one of you see to Trent?"
"Well…he made himself at home…I left him to it." Alister avoided her frown.
"Alister! He's harmless." Lara implored.
"But is he, Lara? How well do you know him, exactly? How can you be sure he's not going to double cross you? Hm?" Taken aback by Alister's insistence, Lara faltered in her resolve.
"I…"
"You can't." Alister sighed heavily. "I just don't want things to go horribly wrong. They have a nasty tendency of doing just that, Lara. You understand, don't you?" Lara tried hard to understand, she really did, but something rose defensively inside her.
"I understand that it's not any of your business, Alister." She said, her voice clipped. Alister's eyes widened, and he dropped back, his cheeks colouring. He fumbled with his words, retreating hastily. Lara instantly regretted her tired snappishness, but Alister was already at the door.
"Of course, of course, I should – I would – I mean, that is…" And he was out of the door, still stuttering. Lara let out the breath she'd taken to reply in a frustrated sigh. Trent seemed to have an inane capability to mess things up.
Ten minutes later, Lara stepped under the soothing jets of her power shower, enjoying the comforting effect on her tense muscles. Things were already getting complicated, yet she couldn't help letting herself be drawn further and further in. She'd brought him home, for Goodness sake. That really was putting her foot in it.
A creak brought her abruptly back to reality. She froze behind the frosted glass door of the shower – it hadn't occurred to her that she might need a gun in her own shower. Every muscle poised, she waited.
A few long, drawn out seconds later she heard her CD collection clatter to the floor in the adjoining bedroom.
And then a muffled curse followed. Lara straightened.
He wouldn't dare…
"Hello?" Lara heard Trent call. She nearly stamped her foot in frustration.
"I'm in the shower, dammit!" She yelled, exasperated. She heard him pause for a moment.
"Is that an invitation?"
Lara's hand flew to the shower door, but she stopped herself just in time. Although she would like to smack him over the head, it would probably best to do it when dressed.
"Absolutely not!" She bellowed, feeling her temperature rise at the thought of both of them in the shower.
"I'll wait for you in here, then?" He asked, though she swore she heard him sniggering. Her clothes, however, were in the walk in wardrobe. Getting there would entail a naked sojourn across her bedroom apartments, something she was quite used to doing when alone, but had no intention of doing in Trent's presence.
"Go and wait downstairs." She called, curtly.
"Yes Ma'am." She heard him return quietly. Nevertheless, when she came out of the bathroom, she peered around the door first. She only relaxed when she saw her space was empty.
Just as well. You never know what these Americans might get up to.
Like I said...more proper action in next chapter. Puuurrrlease let me know what you think!