It was now two hours past midnight. A clap of thunder shook the sky. A flash of lightening seared across the clouds. Throughout it all the rain lashed down with astonishing force.

Upon the edge of a hotel roof, a rusty television aerial rattled worryingly in the wind.

Below in the lobby the television flickered with static. A man behind the desk got up and walked over. He fiddled with the aerial for a moment, then gave up and slammed his fist on the top of the set. The picture returned and settled.

He smiled and returned to his seat, propping his legs upon the desk before him. In this weather business had been slow to say the least, and he had ended up watching CNN for the better part of the evening. Coverage of events around the world did not interest him in the slightest. The newsreader was pretty damn hot.

The current report ended, bringing a smirk to the man's lips. The blonde newsreader reappeared on the screen, her hand to her earpiece.

"Ladies and gentlemen," she said, "This station has just received reports of a disturbance just outside Kayseri, Central Turkey. Several explosions just minutes ago have left buildings ablaze and many people either injured or killed…" She paused a moment, listening to the voice transmitting through her earpiece. "Early reports indicate winged beings were sighted in the air at the time of the attacks…"

The clerk turned down the volume dial on the television as a man and a woman approached the desk. They were both dripping from the storm outside.

"Good evening," he said, swinging his legs off the desk and standing up to meet them, "How can I help you?"

"We'd like a room for the night," the woman supplied, giving him a faint smile. It did not extend to her eyes.

"Sure," He opened up his ledger and picked up a pen. "Name?" he asked.

"Croft," she told him.

He dutifully scrawled the word down in his ledger and then glanced up.

"That'll be 30,000,000 TL for the one night. You'll need to pay in the morning." He walked over to the display of keys behind him and removed a set from its hook.

"Room 12," he said, handing the woman the keys with a polite smile, "Have a good evening."

"Thank you," she replied. She turned to her male companion and without a word they had disappeared down the corridor. To the clerk's eyes they both looked exhausted. The woman was sporting a heavily bruised nose, and her arm bore a nasty-looking cut. He did not get a good look at the man, but it was obvious he was dressed only in a wet and shredded shirt. He shook his head in disapproval; some people were just walking disaster areas.

Simply glad for the business he shrugged, turning up the volume and going back to his television. An on-site report into the attacks was now playing.

Disappointed by the fact the hot newsreader had left the screen he began to absently flick channels.

XXX

Kurtis sank heavily onto the edge of the hotel bed, covering his face with his hands. Exhaustion was slowly beginning to creep up on his tortured body. The adrenaline had long faded from his veins.

Lara shut the door with a sigh. With slow steps she came to stand before Kurtis, her face etched with concern.

Kurtis still had his face in his hands. He didn't utter a word.

Lara set the room keys on the end table and tugged her backpack off her shoulders. She walked over and collapsed on the bed beside Kurtis.

For a long time there was silence.

"How did things get this bad?" she asked.

Kurtis shook his head.

"I don't know," he admitted, "I really don't know."

He lifted his face from beneath his hands, dragging a tired hand down his stubble-covered chin.

"God, I need a cigarette," he said.

Lara stared up at the ceiling.

"How did we manage to lose them?" she asked, "We've been accelerating after them for the better part of four hours."

Kurtis shrugged.

"There's no point going any further tonight. We don't even know which direction they're heading anymore, this storm's not letting up and…"

"You're exhausted," Lara offered. Kurtis gave her a nod. "Don't worry; I'm exhausted too."

Kurtis gave her a grateful smile. She returned the gesture. It turned into a concerned frown when she noticed the angry red of his swollen eye.

She crawled the length of the bed, leaned over and opened the door of the minibar. Light poured out from its chrome interior.

Kurtis watched her, clearly confused.

"Lara," he said pointedly, "This is not the time to be drowning your sorrows." Lara gave a small laugh, breaking the tension. After a bit of clattering around she emerged with the ice bucket in her arms. A search through her medkit found her some clean bandages, and she took a handful of ice cubes and wrapped them inside.

Lara pressed the makeshift icepack against Kurtis' eye. He shook his head and dismissed her hand, determined to hold it up to his face himself.

She shook her head in admiration. Stubborn as always.

"How did your eye get so bad?" she asked timidly.

"Me and Gunderson had a little disagreement," Kurtis said, wincing at the ice-cold contact against the swelling, "He was kinda pissed because I got away so many times, plus there's a lot of resentment left from the old days."

Lara half-smiled, and then asked: "Why did you assume I was going for the alcohol?"

"Hey, we all have our guilty secrets," he replied.

She laughed.

"I am not an alcoholic!" she said.

Kurtis sniggered.

"See. You're clearly in denial."

Lara threw a roll of bandages at him.

Kurtis simply laughed again.

The atmosphere instantly lightened.

"Let me check your stomach," Lara said after a moment.

Kurtis shifted where he sat. She leant forwards and pushed the shreds of his shirt to one side, revealing his hastily-bandaged midsection.

"You really need to take off your shirt. Or what's left of it anyways."

Kurtis dropped his icepack for a moment. He then tugged his ruined shirt over his head and dropped it onto the bedcovers.

After inspecting his wound Lara decided it was healing nicely. Nevertheless she wrapped a new layer of bandages around his stomach. Her medical supplies were running low.

"Where did you get the tea?" Kurtis asked.

Lara sat back on her haunches and looked at him.

"I was in Egypt and I met a Shaman. She taught me how to make some herbal remedies."

"How come you never used this tea before? When Boaz got me?"

Lara knotted a piece of bandage.

"We were in Prague. The ingredients can only be found in an exotic country. Besides, you were in the hospital. You were being taken care of anyways. I didn't realise the urgency of the situation. Neither of us did."

Her hands fumbled over the last corner of bandage.

"Don't worry," Kurtis told her, "I'm still here. A bit battered but still breathing. I intend to stay that way."

Lara gave him a little smile. She tugged the knot on the last roll of bandage.

"Did you use the tea yourself?" he asked her, "I mean, when Karel found us?"

She drew back and nodded.

"Yes."

Kurtis reached forward and gently pushed up the hem of her shirt. There was no scar or even a mark on her skin. He laid his hand against her stomach and closed his eyes. The horrible scene replayed in his mind.

When he looked up at her there was a question in his eyes.

"Someone found me," she murmured, "After you left. They pulled me out of the water and called an ambulance."

His hands strayed at her waist. The contact sent shivers through her being. Slowly she lifted her hands, and they met and clasped.

"I guess there's nothing else we can do," she said after a moment, "I thought it was all over when I walked out of that arena. Everything just seems to be getting piled against us."

"We're in for the long haul alright," he conceded, "For me this business has been going on since Karel murdered my father. At least the bastard's gonna burn for what he did."

Lara gave a grim smile.

"I remember when Karel turned into you. He was trying to convince me to join him. For a moment I actually believed you had never existed…" She sat in thought for a while. "How was Karel able to shape shift anyways?"

"I'm not sure," Kurtis admitted, "We were never taught that the Nephilim could shape shift. It could have been something he picked up through his dealings with Eckhardt. He was a powerful alchemist after all. I do know that Karel needs a sample of someone's blood to morph into their form. Somehow he got hold of a sample of my father's blood. That's probably why he was able to change into me. I share my father's blood after all." Kurtis paused before going on. "He changed into my father when he tortured me."

Lara listened, horrified.

"They poured alcohol on me, then they set me alight. It burnt down pretty quickly, thank God. Gunderson did most of the dirty work, but Karel got a few punches in. They were all pretty pissed off. One guy got in such a bad blow to my head I blacked out. I don't blame him though. I did cut off his hand."

Perhaps that last comment was meant to be humourous. Maybe it wasn't. In any case neither of them laughed.

"I came around a few minutes later. Then Karel changed into my father." Kurtis' voice held a mixture of anger and disgust. "He stood there, looking like my fucking father. God, I wanted to kill him. I knew it wasn't really Konstantin but…"

"It still hurt," Lara finished.

Kurtis nodded meekly.

"Yeah," he said, frowning, "Yeah. It still hurt."

He didn't continue any further. He just sat still, staring past her. Their hands were clutched so tightly they were shaking.

The room was now deathly quiet.

Lara eased her hand out from their grip and touched the side of his face. An ugly cut still ran across his temple. The blood had long washed away in the rain.

She reached out and kissed him. Slowly and gently her hands trailed along his jaw and ran through his hair. Then for a moment they were both still.

Her hands came to rest upon his shoulders. The motion of his chest was quickening.

She slid her arms down his back. Soon she had found his belt. He continued to nuzzle at her neck as she released the catch and unzipped his pants.

Her breathing became hard. Kurtis began to remove her top. Dressed only in his boxers, he eased her pants from around her hips. She kicked them the rest of the way off.

They stretched out upon the bed with their hands locked above their heads. Lara drew down and trailed kisses on his chest. Her hands came upon his waist. Moments later she was removing his boxers.

She worked her way back to his upper body. Whilst kissing his neck she felt him wrap his arms around her back and unclasp her bra. Her thong soon followed.

Then they were both naked, and Kurtis held her in his arms as she kissed every inch of his hot, tortured body. He buried his face against her neck, and for the longest time they simply sat and embraced.

Even when so much had been lost, in each other they found the strength to make it through the night.

XXX

You'd think sex scenes would get easier to write over time, but it's damn hard to get those two to open up… Anyways, thanks for everybody's patience. I hope this was worth the wait. I stole the name of the song 'Home' by 12 Stones for this chapter. And just so you know, I don't own Tomb Raider or any of the characters in this story, just the plot and some OCs.