Right, seen as L and K have been on a dry spell for a while, I thought I'd give them some....*ahem* alone time
Until The Day I Die by Story Of The Year
"Lara? Lara?!" Gunderson smiled smugly as Lara fell to her knees, her breathing irregular. "Oh my God, Lara! Kurtis, get Lara, quick!" Alister screamed through the headset. He didn't hear anything through Kurtis' end, only low, shallow breathing, but everyone in the van focused themselves on Lara's survival. "Lara?" they all heard Kurtis' low voice over the headset, his breathing getting quicker by the second. Gunderson smirked as he took a hold of Lara's falling body taking her headset from her ear, pulling it up to his mouth, "Time's out, Trent. Time out for you, Morgan and your little girlfriend here." he threw it down on the ground, standing on it. Kurtis could still hear Lara's faint groans of agony. He stood stock still, hoping to God that this wasn't real.
Lara fell to the ground, now on all fours, using all of her strength she had in her to stay both upright and alive. She moved her head up, peering at Gunderson through her eyes that narrowed upon seeing his face. She screamed as she felt a great burst of pain on her stomach and looked to see a foot moving away from her burning abdomen. She glared up at her attacker, before returning her cold gaze to Gunderson, who was still standing in a fighting stance, smirking down on her. This was just his job. Nothing he did was ever for pleasure, but the reaction he gave when Lara fell flat to the floor, rolling on her back, clutching her abdomen for dear life, erased all that from her beliefs. She screamed again, this time burning the eardrums of everyone in the room. She was dying; only a few minuets, if not seconds to live; and Gunderson was laughing about it.
She removed her hand from her top, looking at it, covered in blood. She was now lying in a pool of the red liquid, her clothes, her hair, everything around her soaking into it. Stray strands of chestnut hair fell onto her face, shooting up with her heavy breathing. She watched as Gunderson lifted his gun up again, disposing of the empty cartridge before loading a new magazine into it. He aimed it at Lara again, and she quickly reached out for her pistol, trying to defend herself with what she could. A deafening scream escaped her lips again, and she let her hand drop the floor, her whole body laying still.
Kurtis halted as he heard a gunshot over the headset. Almost naturally, he reached towards his holster, grabbing the butt of his gun. "Oh my God, Lara! Kurtis, get Lara, quick!" he heard Alister scream over the headset. He stood stock still. His breathing came out in low, husky breaths as he waited for a response over the headset. "Lara?" he asked, fearing the worst. "Time's out, Trent. Time out for you, Morgan, and your little girlfriend here." he heard Gunderson sneer over the headset. He heard a low crunching noise over the other end, and after that, nothing but a buzzing noise. Quickly, he turned around on his heel, his breathing getting faster and louder by the second as he raced to get to Lara.
He quickly sprinted down the corridor, running as fast as he could to reach the spot where he had left Lara. He felt hot, stinging tears find their way into his eyes, and before long, one fell; followed by another. He glanced down at the floor, tiles that were once clean covered in lime scale, mud; the works. He watched as the droplets of hurt and fear that cast themselves from his eyes fell onto the floor, mixing with the rain water that had fallen from the leak in the ceiling. He quickly snapped his head up, roughly wiping the water away from his cheeks and eyes as he picked his pace up, the muscles in his legs burning from the amount of pressure he was putting on them to go faster.
He could feel his leather jacket flowing behind him, and the heat that was building up around him made him quickly discard of it. Throwing it behind him, he looked back as it dropped on a wet patch of the floor, but he quickly snapped his head up as he advanced closer towards his goal.
The pair had only parted about five minuets earlier, and Kurtis had only covered as much land as he did because he was running. He was so close to getting to Morgan, only what seemed a corridor – if not a few doors – away from her, but he had to make the decision. The decision to either carry on saving Morgan, or save Lara from an unexpected death. And; even though this entire time he had his mind set fully on rescuing Morgan, he couldn't just let Lara die. He wasn't ready for something like that to happen just yet – hell, he doubted if he ever would be ready to watch Lara slip away from him. He hadn't even thought of it. He just had to make sure he saved Lara. This is when he really did regret leaving all those months ago. If he hadn't have been so stupid and just accepted how much he needed Lara, then they wouldn't be in this mess. If he got her out of this, he wasn't even letting her go again. He was going to tell her how much he loved her, take her in his arms and love her like it was the last time he could get the chance to. But that was the thing. If he got her out of this.
He still wasn't going to let her die. Not unless he was going to die trying to save her. He mentally kicked himself once again; he really had been an idiot. Four months ago, when he was telling Lara that he was leaving the next morning, he also told himself that he would be fine without her. That he would be able to forget her, get over her, live without the taste of her lips, live without her touch, resist the temptation to admit how much he loved her. It was harder than it sounded. But he had covered up his feelings regardless. Well, that was in the past. He was going to put his actions straight. Even if he died doing it. Even if he died trying to save the woman he loved.
He skidded to a halt as he reached the corridor where he had left Lara. He instantly reached towards the familiar Boran X at his side. He pulled it out and wrapped both of his hands around it, the ring on his finger clinking against the metal. Tightening his grip, he headed up the corridor. Don't you dare die on me, Lara, he thought as he stealthed up to the door, standing directly in front of it.
Taking in a silent, deep breath, he quickly moved forward, shouldering the door open. His eyes widened and he quickly dropped to his knees, after making his way over to a pale Lara lying on the floor. He threw his gun down on the floor, moving around so he could see her face clearly from above. Her eyes were closed, and her face was deathly pale, the only light a red patch on the corner of one of her cheeks. Kurtis looked around, just realising what he was kneeling in. He was surrounded by a pool of blood, originating at Lara's chest. He wiped his hands as he leaned in close to her ghostly white face, listening for some sort of breathing. Nothing.
He stifled a sob as he placed two fingers to her neck. Something was there, but it was very faint. He sighed with relief, but he had to get her breathing again. Moving his gun closer to him in case he needed to use it again, he wiped away the hair that had fallen over her eyes. Startling, he turned around as he heard a scuffle behind him. A mercenary stood there, lifting their hand in the air. The guard smacked Kurtis over the head with the butt of his gun. Everything went dark.
Kurtis' eyes opened slightly, his vision blurry and hazy. Groaning, he brought his hand to his head, removing it to see dry blood on his fingertips. He sat up, once again groaning as his eyes fully opened, taking in the room he was in. Stone walls surrounded him, a locked wooden door stopped anyone from entering or exiting and he was sitting on plain concrete floor. He scanned over the rest of the room, becoming more alert as he saw Lara lying on the floor. He quickly stood up, rushing over to her, kneeling down beside her. Someone had moved them to that spot, but if they thought Lara was dead, then why hadn't they just dumped her body somewhere? Unless they wanted to experiment on her, there was no need.
He took her hand in his, placing two fingers at her wrist, searching for a pulse that wasn't there. He wouldn't have hesitated with what he did next. It wasn't something that any one else could do – it was something he had gotten from his father. A skill that is one of the most "boastable" things a child can brag about. A talent that you can never be ashamed of, but a talent that you would most likely only use once. A gift that only occurred "once in a blue moon." or in other words; it wasn't normal. But Kurtis wasn't normal. He was far from it, in fact. It was a gift to bring the dead back to life. A talent to transfer energy from his own body into another being's, making him temporarily weak, but it would save someone else. But it all depended on how long Lara had actually been....dead. The word; it made him sick to his stomach. The thought that Lara was lying there in front of him, dead, made him feel a surge of nausea wash over him, and it took all he had to keep it in.
Stealing his mind away from his stray thoughts, he reached his hands out over Lara, hovering them in the air over her chest, almost directly above her heart. He closed his eyes, letting the energy slip through him and into Lara's still being. His eyes opened again, revealing the whites of his eyes as the energy moved from within him to within Lara. He drew his hands back when his body couldn't take any more, falling down on to the ground and breathing heavily. He opened his eyes again, getting back up to check if his efforts had worked. He smiled weakly and let out a sigh of relief as he felt both Lara's breath and pulse.
He shook her lightly, trying to get her awake again, moving her up into his secure arms. He stroked the hair away from her face gently, and watched as she began to cough blood up, her eyes shooting open. Lara shot up from her lying position in Kurtis' arms, coughing violently as she crawled out of his way, the blood that she was coughing up splattering over the floor. She wiped her mouth, turning her head up to Kurtis as he knelt on the ground, slowly ready to move to her if she needed any help. "Wh-....what happened?" she asked him, her breathing becoming more stable. "I'm not sure, but I think you were.....I think you died." he bowed his head slightly, the words that were coming out giving him physical pain just to speak them. "Then how...how am I still here?" she asked. She could see the hurt in his eyes, and she hadn't thought it through. She wasn't trying to hurt him, she was the one that died, so she did have the right to ask how she was still on Earth.. "It's a little hard to explain, but how are you feeling?" he moved closer to her as she crawled closer, moving her hand across her chest where the bullet had punctured her toned skin. "As good as you can get when you've just been shot......listen, Kurtis, I'm sorry." she sighed, bowing her head. "You're sorry? For what?" he searched her eyes, as if they could explain what she was feeling. They did. All he saw in them was pain, sorrow and a lust for love.
"I shouldn't have been so determined and focused my mind on something else. We came here to get Morgan and I shouldn't have let my mind stray away from that. You saved me, and I should be thankful. I'm sorry." she looked down at the ground, but brought her head up again when she felt Kurtis' soft skin against her cheek and she closed her eyes into the sensation of his touch. "You don't have to be sorry. I'm never letting you go." he smiled. Emotion swamped both Lara's mind and her eyes and she couldn't hold it in any more. She had lived without him long enough, and when he showed that he still cared for her, she pushed him away, just like she always did when she felt vulnerable. She quickly pulled his mouth to hers, kissing him deeply before she pulled away – hours before she wanted to. She watched as Kurtis smiled, and she returned the gesture, moving her hand away from her chest to the large bruise on her abdomen, where the mercenary had kicked her on her deathbed. So what did this mean? Where they going to stay together? Was Kurtis going to apologise for leaving? Was she going to admit that she needed him to feel the need to live? She wasn't sure, but all she knew is that she was never letting him leave again. Lara looked up to Kurtis from her abdomen, removing her hand upon doing so. Her eyes rolled shut, her body overcoming a great amount of pain and soon, she collapsed to the floor, her whole world becoming black.
"Lara!" Kurtis rushed over to her side, leaning over her. She was just unconscious, her breathing nor her heart had stopped, but how long she would stay just unconscious, he didn't know. "Lara, you can't do this." he lightly hit her cheek, trying to shock her into waking up. "Lara!" he groaned, shaking her by the soldiers, "Don't you DARE do this to me." he slapped her face again, watching as her eyes opened slightly. She breathed out heavily, closing her eyes again. Kurtis sighed in frustration, shaking her again. He had to make sure she was awake. He didn't know what he could do, though, there wasn't anything he could do to wake her up. He snapped his head up as he heard a door opening and closing through the bars and he automatically reached for the gun at his side, only looking down when he felt his hand grip thin air, "Shit." he cursed through gritted teeth, moving Lara over to a wall, leaning her body against it. He held his breath as he heard footsteps coming closer to the cell, but he let out a sigh of relief.
"Mason." he sighed, standing up and moving over to his Lux brother. He ran a hand through his hair as Mason pulled a key out, unlocking the barred door before pushing it open. "It's about bloody time." Kurtis groaned, accepting his Boran X that Mason handed him. "We've not got a lot of time, Karel is probably onto me." he scanned over the room, his eyes setting on Lara, "I'll take Lara out to safety and you get Morgan." Mason moved over towards Lara, lifting her unconscious body up. He walked back over towards Kurtis, standing next to him. "Be quick, we don't have much time." he looked down at Lara in his arms before looking back at Kurtis, easily seeing that tears had built up in his eyes, "I'll make sure she's safe. Don't worry. I know you've lost her once already, and I won't let it happen again."
Kurtis looked down at Lara, gently stroking her soft cheek before he looked up at Mason. "Take care of her." he said. He turned away and exited the room after Mason gave him his word. He was going to make up for leaving her; but other things were more important at the moment. He began to speed up, coming out of the corridor near to where they had entered the building. Oh, great, he rolled his eyes, jogging down the path him and Lara had originally went, the route almost memorized in his head, going back and forth, again.
Several minuets later, he came to a set of stairs, leading down to one door. Suddenly, he felt anger growing up in side of him, and fuelled by the emotion, he thrust his hand outwards, the door caving in. He walked down, not caring about stealth any more, and he was met by a group of mercenaries, all standing around Morgan, who was bound to a chair, and he scanned over the room, finding Karel seated in a chair in the corner, his legs crossed at the ankles on top of a table. All of the guards turned around to face him, lifting their guns, getting ready to aim at him, but he quickly forced them into a wall with a surge of mental energy. He stalked towards Karel, holding a hand up to force him against a wall while he balled his second hand into a fist, wanting to let his anger strike out onto Karel and nothing else. "You let her go." he raised his fist towards him, waiting for him to answer. "There's nothing you can do that can harm me. Your fists may hurt some unsuspecting soul, Kurtis, but not me." Karel scoffed, throwing Kurtis against the opposite wall with the same amount of force Kurtis had used. "Is this how you get your kicks, Karel? Watching – no, making – young girls suffer?" Kurtis asked, standing up.
He watched as Karel glanced out of the corner of his eye, seeing Morgan who was staring up at them both, not willing to say any words. Her mind was still buzzing from the minuets before, still trying to get her head around what Karel had been saying about Kurtis. He could have easily been lying, he could have just been trying to get a reaction out of her so that she would give him the information he wanted. She worked at the ropes bind at her hands, hissing through gritted teeth as the ropes burnt her skin. "If she wasn't so futile, there would be no need to make her feel pain." he said, pushing Kurtis further up the wall. "Tell me, how is Lara? Comfy, no doubt, in her proper home. Hell." he sneered.
Kurtis forced himself free of Karel's grip, and then something happened. Something that he couldn't control. He had lost control of his physic abilities. His mind was lost; and he didn't know how to get it back. Karel had forced his family apart all those years ago, caused the death of his father, kidnapped his sister and now he was saying that Lara belongs in hell? He wanted this bastard dead.
Everything went into chaos. A forcefield seemed to evolve itself around both Kurtis and Morgan, but everything else in the room was forced into the thunderstorm of Kurtis' mind. The furniture in the room was thrown all over the place, the windows shattered in an instant, and when Morgan looked up to Kurtis, she had never been more scared in her life. This was a different side to him; something she didn't ever want to see again. She looked up as someone else burst into the room, and screamed out when she saw Mason entering, staring at the sight in front of him as if it were madness. "Mason! What's he doing?!" she screamed at her cousin, watching as he continued to stay still, staring wide eyed at Kurtis.
"Kurtis!" Mason shouted at him, trying to snap his attention away from Karel and back to what was going on around him. "Kurtis! Leave him!" he screamed, making his way over to the boundary of the forcefield. He watched as Kurtis snapped back into his body, turning to look at Mason before he glared back at Karel. The chaos was still going on around them, but it had calmed down a touch, with Kurtis having control over himself again. "He's going to pay." were the words that found themselves out of his mouth. "Stop!" Morgan screamed, finally getting her hands free. "You're going to kill us!" she walked over to him in the forcefield, taking a hold of his arm. "I've lost my parents – I can't lose you!" she tried to get him out of his trance. "She's right, Kurtis. You're not helping." Mason said, stealthing closer to the pair.
He watched on as everything that had been flying fell to floor, and Kurtis stumbled back a few steps, his eyes staying locked on Karel the whole time. "We've got her back," Mason reminded him, "We need to get going before those mercs wake up."
"They're not the problem. This bastard is." Kurtis said through gritted teeth, looking on at Karel who was just chuckling. "Why aren't you stopping us?" he questioned Karel, narrowing his eyes. "Your pity attempts to stop me isn't worth watching – no matter how amusing it is." he smirked. Kurtis turned back towards Mason, who was watching from the door, letting Morgan pass him. With a silent agreement, Kurtis smirked, turning back towards Karel. "You're the one that's going to rot in hell, Karel; not Lara." he quickly landed a punch on his cheek, hearing the impact of Kurtis' knuckles to Karel's skin, and a graze formed on the beaten flesh, blood soon oozing out of it. Kurtis turned around, a disgusted look on his face, and he exited the room with Mason, following after Morgan.
Kurtis sighed in his mind as Morgan walked up to them, looking at Kurtis, like she was trying to tell him what she was going to say through her eyes that were locked onto his. "Did he hurt you?" Kurtis asked as she came closer, scanning over her for any visual signs of physical torment. "What's it to you? Starting to care all of a sudden?" she replied dryly, dragging her eyes away from his. "Excuse me?" he asked, taken aback. "Karel told me." she said coolly, turning away from her brother and cousin. She stalked up the halls, not caring to look to see who might jump out at her, not caring where she was going – feeling betrayed by her only living family. It was always the same. She was never good enough. For anybody.
Mason sighed as he turned to Kurtis as they followed after Morgan, "So, what now?" Mason asked. "Now? I need to tell Lara something." he sighed, running a hand through his hair.
Green lights flashed behind her, everything else that existed was black. She ran, she ran until her lungs could no longer produce air to keep her going at the speed she was going. But she kept running. She kept running, sprinting, gasping for breath, and she carried on as her limbs burned, not knowing where this path was going to take her. The green orbs swam in the air around her, and no matter how fast she ran, she couldn't escape them. One hit her in the back, and it burned, stung, peeled at her skin, forcing her to fly down onto the ground.
She shrunk at that moment, and she watched as the much bigger, much more terrifying bastard that she knew the face of all-to well now stalked towards her. His foot covered over her as he laughed, just before she grew back to scale. She forced herself from her lying position on the ground, sitting up, but she was instantly covered in blood. She screamed in great agony as she continued, sprinting forward. Then, she was in a place she didn't want to see ever again. Boaz's arena.
She gasped as she looked around, trying not to give this version of her hair-whitening nightmare the advantage of petrifying her to her soul, like the first one. A laugh filled the room, echoing off the walls, bouncing back to torture her ears that had no defence against it's deafening scream. She turned around again and again, trying to spot the owner of the crooked sound. Once she spotted the dark figure, with lightening speed, it moved to another spot, and soon she was standing stock still, her eyes darting about the place, paranoid from this sole man. Soon, he stood in front of her, glaring through his green eyes before he moved with lightening speed to the platform above her.
Then, he raised his hands. "You're pushing me too far," he said. Then, he shot the energy in her direction to kill her.
Lara sat straight up, gasping for air. She was surrounded by darkness, except for the small light that crept through from the moon shining in the window to the right of her. Where was she? She felt soreness overtake both her abdomen and her chest, looking down at the loosely tied bandage just below her shoulder, just above the left side of her chest, but she could still see a vertical line of crimson red blood seeping it's way through. Someone had attended to her wounds, but who?
Lara had no idea where she was. She was lying atop a king-sized bed. The bedspread was an elegant bohemian fabric, and the curtains along the window matched it. The temperature of the huge room was cool, but not a cool that you shivered to, a cool that you would prefer to sleep in. Lara felt her body relax. She looked over and out of the window, gazing at the countryside that surrounded them. They weren't in Croft Manor..... She sensed, somehow, that she wasn't in danger, and she felt herself closing her eyes, sighing blissfully at this rare moment; a moment of peace. But she still couldn't move. Even sitting up was an effort.
The door to the room opened, and a dim light from the hallway entered in. "You awake?" a voice asked. Lara felt her heart soar. Kurtis, she thought. She never knew she could be so happy to hear his voice. "Unfortunately," she said in a hoarse tone.
Kurtis closed the door behind him, then approached the bed, pulling up a chair that was nearby and taking a seat. "Bad dreams?" he asked.
"Karel can do that to you." she chuckled softly.
Kurtis glanced about the room uneasily, before landing his gaze on Lara. "I wrapped that for you," he nodded towards the bandage she was wearing. "It had pretty much healed all the way, but there was some bits that were left open. Mason thought it would be best to give the wound some air, so that's why...em." he rubbed the back of his neck, looking away uneasily. Lara looked down, just realising then that the only thing on her upper body was her bra and the great amount of bandages that covered her wounds from her shoulder to her abdomen. Lara blushed slightly, "It was probably the best idea." Lara smiled, offering a weak, subtle smile as gratitude. Of course, she was glad to be with Kurtis, but now, the awkwardness was erupting. Lara didn't know what to say or do, so she stuck to what she knew best – business. "The others?" she asked.
"They're in their rooms." he explained. "Mason brought us up to Edinburgh, just for a safe place to rest while we wait to go to Spain. He said he tried to explain that to you once you regained consciousness, but then you dozed back off."
"I vaguely remember that..." she admitted.
"What else do you remember?" Kurtis asked.
"Well....I left you, and I went into that room. I saw these papers with "Nephili Veritatis" marked on it, so I went to check them out. Gunderson came into the room behind me, and when I tried to stop him, he shot me. Another man kicked me in the abdomen as I blacked out. They wanted something. I briefly woke up as they were leaving, and I remember one mercenary trying to get some information out of me, but I blocked him out." she sighed, picking up a thread on the bed that began to unravel as she toyed with it.
"Yeah, you're good at that." he said, chuckling a bit. Then, he realised his mistake. It was meant to be a joke, but the look in Lara's eyes were of guilt, and not humour. He immediately felt sorry for saying that. He sighed silently as he got up, "I better get to bed. You should be getting your rest." He quietly made his way to the door, but Lara stopped him.
"Kurtis...." she breathed quietly. He turned around to face her. Lara got up, walking over to him, but her legs turned to jelly and she soon found herself being supported in Kurtis' arms. He looked down at her as she supported herself, and she gazed up into his eyes, surrendering to their beauty. She needed to tell him. And she knew he still felt the same way – she hoped he did, anyway. "There's so much I need to tell you." she sighed, looking down at the ground uncomfortably. "Lara, you're exhausted" Kurtis said. Strike two. He didn't mean to imply that Lara was acting like this because she was tired – she must've thought it, but she pushed it away.
Lara looked back up at him. Those blue eyes had a strange effect on her. There was something about them; something that hypnotised her. It was something that made Kurtis addictive to her. If she wasn't close to him for a certain period of time, she would feel empty. Kurtis locked onto Lara's gaze, staring into her own set of beautiful eyes. He could see the want filtering in them, and he tried his hardest not to snap.
But the closeness between them, it was driving them both insane. They could feel each other's breath, feel the other's body heat, could hear their heartbeats getting faster by the second, the shortness of space driving both of them mad. Words failed both of them.
And they both snapped.
Kurtis leant down, catching Lara's lips with his own. Lara reached her arms up around his neck, kissing him passionately. She forced her tongue into his mouth, kissing him with ferocity, as if she weren't even controlling her won body. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him. She responded equally, wrapping her arms around his muscular biceps hidden underneath his top, feeling the pulsating warmth beneath it. They were exploring erupting feelings; feelings that had been eating away at them for months, and, for once in her life, Lara felt emotions taking over.
She leaned into him, shoving him back up against the wall, afraid that if these feelings that had been left for so long weren't resurrected soon, it would eat her alive. She smiled against Kurtis' lips as she reconciled in the sensation of being near him again – being able to feel his lips against hers. They broke apart for air, before quickly crushing their mouths against one another's. Kurtis lifted Lara up and walked towards the bed, toppling over her, suspending himself with the strength of his arms. They broke apart again, and Lara's gaze locked onto his. "What's wrong?" he whispered.
Lara laughed in return, bringing his lips down to meet hers again. Of course there was nothing wrong! She thought that months ago, in Paris, when he left, she would never see him again, let alone be in this place with him again. But she had to tell him. She had said it many times before, but now, she really knew what the words meant. "I love you." she smiled.
Kurtis gazed down at her, before he grinned back, catching her lips once again. These feelings had been left unnoticed for too long, and now, both Lara and Kurtis were exploding to show each other how they felt. These emotions couldn't be left alone any more. She had said it, and she truly meant it. She had said it from time and time again, but this time was the only time she felt she truly meant it, like it was the first time she realized how much she loved Kurtis. She had somebody by her side, someone as strong as her, both physically and mentally. She kissed him once again, replaying the three words over and over again in her head.
FINALLY! L and K are together again! XD
Oh, and this chapter is dedicated to the lovely Alice (trjunepearl). You've been an wonderful friend over the past few months, and we like OBSESS over Tomb Raider and Lara/Kurtis, this is for you :-D
(With the walk button down, I won't fall off; even if you try to make me.....go on, try it XD)