AN: Late update...sorry :-(

**Disclaimer: erm, yeah, not that much to it. I don't own anything in this story apart from the plot, Morgan and Mason. I wish I owned Tomb Raider, but I don't. Sucks, doesn't it?**

Throughout the rest of the day, the heat and glare of the sun hadn't changed as Lara and Kurtis completed their tiresome journey to Spain. If anything, the ball of fire billions of miles above them had only gotten hotter and fiercer, boiling the people below it. Night had now fallen, and the two adventurers were two of a little group of traffic that were travelling on the motorway, trying to get to their destination before they fell asleep on the bikes. It was now the early hours of the morning; and the bike ride was taking longer than Lara had anticipated. She watched as they passed another petrol station, speeding past it, Kurtis in the lane next to her. She quickly rubbed the sleep from her eyes before bringing her hand back down to the handle, gripping it tightly as she pulled over into a different lane. She looked back in her side mirror, getting a glimpse of Kurtis behind her, looking as tired as she was. Looking back at the road again, she traced a lane that separated from the motorway, leading off into a quieter dual carriageway. She looked back at him again before facing the front, pulling over to her farthest right to make the opening.

Seeing what she was doing, Kurtis followed behind her before slowing down, pulling off of the motorway and up the opening, Lara having done the same minuets earlier. Minuets later, Lara spotted a hotel, and she nodded her head in the direction, hoping Kurtis would take the hint. He did, and sped up until he was a few metres in front of her, and he broke off from the road, skidding to a halt in the middle of the hotel's empty car park. Lara followed, parking the bike in a vacant spot – something that wasn't too difficult, seen as their only seemed to be two other cars in the car park.

Kurtis got off his bike, Lara mirroring his actions, and they silently stalked towards the hotels front doors. Once they entered, the sight wasn't a surprise. A young hotel clerk sitting with his legs up on the desk, ankles crossed, reading a paper, didn't make any effort to look alive as they approached the desk. Mainly because the rest of the place was about as lively as a graveyard. Kurtis walked up to the desk as Lara went down and flopped down on one of the couches; expecting them to comfort her, make her relax, but instead, she was met with a stiff seat cushion, and dust rising from the couch at the same time. Regardless, she leaned her head on the back of the back rest, closing her eyes for a brief moment.

She opened them again and stood up, hearing Kurtis walk over to her. "Tired?" he asked, chuckling lightly. "Just a tad." she laughed, picking her backpack up from her feet. Kurtis smiled, sighing at the same time. He gripped the keys in his hand before twirling them over his finger with the loop of metal that connected the key to the number that was printed on a cheap, silver keyring. He kept doing so as they made their way to the end of the hall, stopping as they came upon their room for that night. He made one final swirl before throwing the keys up in the air as they flew off the end of his finger, catching them again and unlocking the door. "Show off." Lara muttered. He just laughed lightly in return.

As soon as she walked into the room, the only thing Lara seemed to notice was the bed up against the wall in the centre of the room. There was surprisingly decent décor in the room, supposing the rest of the place wasn't that well kept. She briefly scanned over the rest of the room, her eyes landing on the neatly furnished desk in the corner of the room, a small lamp on top of it. She looked to her side, where a door was that led to a bathroom, a gleaming shower within it. She turned back to the bed, looking away from it when she spotted a window, it's curtains widely open, revealing a beautiful beach, the stars above it illuminating the water below, casting the moons reflection off it.

She took her bag from her shoulders, dumping it at the foot of the bed. She wandered over to the window, opening the curtains up further and also the window, letting the fresh air flow into the room. She leaned against the window frame, a click of a door in the background suggesting Kurtis had closed the rooms door behind them. Sighing as she closed her eyes again, she felt stray strands of hair that had fallen from her trademark braid flow in the wind. It was relaxing, and for a minuet she forgot about why she was here. The scent of the sea air invaded her nostrils, and she smiled against the cool breeze that floated towards her. She heard another click of a door, and turned around to see that Kurtis had entered the bathroom. She turned back, sighing in bliss at this rare moment. She knew that in the morning, she would be back on one of her adventures, so she decided to make the best of it. She felt her eyes close again, and figured she could just fall asleep there. She heard a shuffle behind her, and glanced out the corner of her eye to see Kurtis come up to her, also leaning against the window.

She watched as a smile tugged at the corner of his lips as his gaze darted about the scenery in front of them. Lara turned back to the view outside before tucking loose strands of hair behind her ears, "It's so calm and peaceful here." Kurtis whispered, his voice barely audible. "And it's a shame it never lasts," Lara finished for him, stepping back from the window. She sighed, screwing her eyes shut. "There's never any peace any more," she said, inhaling deeply before erupting her breath in a sigh, turning away from the window. Kurtis watched her as she moved, Lara sitting herself on the edge of the bed. "If all goes well, there won't be anybody to wreck the peace." he said, watching as Lara slipped her boots off. She yawned, pulling herself under the thick covers. "Maybe, but I need my rest." she said quietly, pulling the covers over her shoulders. Kurtis turned around, pulling the curtains shut, but leaving the window open so that a small breeze could come through to the room.

Lara watched as he walked over to the other side of the bed, also kicking his boots off. In one swift motion, he lifted his top up over his head, and Lara couldn't help but smile at his bare chest. He lifted the covers up, lying under them before pulling them up over his body. He turned on his side, looking at Lara as she turned to face him. He tried to search her eyes, but every time their gaze met, she seemed to move it somewhere else, like she was looking around the room, accidentally locking eyes with Kurtis now and again. He took hold of her forearm, wrapping his gentle grip around it. Lara shivered at his touch. She looked up at him, and he narrowed his eyes at her, "What's wrong?" he asked. She slowly brought her eyes up to his, locking onto his gaze. "Places like these; I've always been so futile to recognise their beauty. I only stay in one place for so long, and I'm always on the move. I've always been so determined to get my job done." she said.

"Who said that was a bad thing?"

"Maybe that's what's wrong. Maybe I shouldn't be doing what I do. Before, I couldn't help but love the things I did, and I never felt insecure when I held my guns in my hands, facing the enemy. But Karel..." she let her sentence trail off. "It's not as if I can kill him with one swift aim of a bullet. He's immortal." she laughed without humour. "How the hell am I supposed to not be afraid when I'm facing someone who can't die?"

"We're all scared," Kurtis sighed, moving his hand along her arm until he gripped Lara's hand in his own. "For once, you're not in this alone. You've got people to help you do this. Karel isn't just your problem, he's gotten all of us involved. We feel the need to kill that bastard as much as you do."

Lara laughed despite herself. "I know you're right...it's just that...he's not another enemy...he's the enemy. The most dangerous one I've came across in my years of raiding. And I can't think of a way to get rid of him."

"The burden isn't on you to think of a way out of us; Alister and Mason are trying the best they can to find out exactly where that underground passage in Cappadocia is, we have the easiest job right now. Don't stress out."

"But I can't do anything." she argued, "I'm disposable. I'm one person who's doing the most work, and I'm not Lux. I can try the best I can, but in the end, I know that it comes down to you three to finish him off. I don't like the thought of not being able to do anything." she looked down at the sheets.

"Will you stop saying that you don't matter in this. I don't see Mason and Morgan running around trying to stop him, do you? You may not be able to do much, but it's not your fight." he opened his arms up, and Lara moved over, leaning her head on his chest as he closed his arms around her, holding her close. "It's not my fight, yet." she said quietly.

"We don't know what's happening once we find everything we need and once we find the location of the portal. For all we know, we might just need to sit in front of it all day, hoping that Karel and his men don't show up. Once we get the sword and shield, we're running blind. We need you just as much as we need everyone else." Kurtis reasoned.

He kissed the top of her head, and Lara closed her eyes, smiling at the sensation of being in Kurtis' arms, feeling his heat radiating off him. She fell asleep within minuets, ready for what lay ahead the next day.

After separate showers and a quick breakfast, Lara and Kurtis were on the road again, Zip having giving them the coordinates of the tomb they were searching for. Soon enough, they parked their bikes next to a bundle of ruins, closer to the beach they had been marvelling the night before. After they parked their bikes as close to the ruins as possible, the only thing that they could seem to hear were the waves, bashing against the cliffs that stopped them from carrying onto the land. The swishes of the waves moving brought peace towards the two adventurers, and they had headed towards the place with a clear mind. "This shouldn't take any longer than it needs to," Lara said, "Zip says that surveillance maps show that in the centre of the ruins, a hole leads down into an underground tunnel. We follow that, and it takes us to what we want. It's a tomb, remember; which means that we most likely won't have an easy job when we're down there." she instructed, entering a half-broken arch that led into the ruined building. "Good thing we have a tomb raider, then." Kurtis said, catching up to her. Lara turned around and offered a small smile before walking backwards a few steps, then turning around to walk into the centre of the ruins.

She scanned the ground, smiling as she spotted the hole that led to the tunnel. She hopped in, grunting as she bent her knees as she landed, the hole being deeper than she had estimated in the first place. She pulled a flare out of her backpack, hitting it off her leg to light it and throwing it forward in one swift movement, lighting most of the passage before her. She heard some rocks crumble behind her, and then Kurtis grunt as he landed in the passage.

She walked forward until the tunnel narrowed, eventually having to get down on all fours and crawl forward, lighting another flare in front of them. Soon enough, she was forced to get down flat on her stomach, combat crawling through the rest of the passage, "Are you sure this is the right place?" Kurtis asked. "Positive." Alister answered over the headset. "It's just a bit...small." he laughed, pulling himself along the narrow passage. Lara stopped for a minuet, groaning as she spotted no further way forward, a group of boulders covering the path. She briefly glanced behind her, seeing Kurtis' head almost at her feet. She turned back forward, "I can't see any other way past." she muttered. "These rocks cover this path. We need to go back." she said, cramming her head to look back at Kurtis. "We can't," he said, pulling closer. "There's no room, we'll end up getting squashed to death." he didn't move any closer, or go back, realising that it would risk the tunnel caving in on them. "If we move back it'll come down on us."

Lara gritted her teeth as she faced their exit, scanning over it, looking for a way to get in. She sighed deeply, moving back a bit and bending her elbow. She thrust it out, trying to crack the boulders into making a path forward. Dust slowly soared from the top rock, and Lara hit them with her elbow again, feeling her skin crack as she did so. She repeated the action again, smiling triumphantly as the boulders began to fall down the opposite side. For one last time, she threw her elbow at the rocks, blood beginning to slither down her arm from her elbow as she smiled to herself. The crimson liquid dripped to the stone ground as she lay on her front again, pulling herself forward.

She easily shoved some more loose rocks out of the way, standing up as she came to a wider opening. She gazed around the room, glancing down at Kurtis as he pulled himself up from the ground, dusting off the dirt that covered his clothing. Lara ignored the stinging that came from the cut in her elbow as she scanned over her surroundings, checking for any sign of danger. Nothing out of the ordinary, she thought. Then again, things in tombs were always placed in a precise location, so that when they suddenly struck out of their hiding place, they would catch you off guard, hopefully making you their prey. She spotted a small stone block up against the back wall in the room, and, wary of the steps she took, Lara advanced towards the pedestal, reaching out for the object placed on it. Thinking things through, she snatched her hand back, turning back to Kurtis. With a silent agreement between the pair, she turned back around, slowly lifting the sword off the block. She held it tightly in her hand, turning back to get out of there as quickly as possible, all too aware that this tomb surely held more than a simple narrow passage.

She stepped down the few steps that were there, stopping at the end, warily glancing about the room. "Something isn't right," she said, "It's too unprotected. Something should have jumped out of somewhere, or something should be guarding the sword...and the Knights Templar surely should know all about that." she looked around, narrowing her eyes on every spot. "The Knights Templar didn't host tombs like other ancients. And if the Templar didn't put out to protect things underground, then the Lux would only do less. Only small bits of heritage was passed on the the Lux Veritatis from the Knights Templar; they barely have anything in common." Kurtis pointed out. "Besides, physics don't usually have tombs like your ones." he smiled faintly.

"But cults usually do." Lara muttered, more to herself for Kurtis.

"You have to remember that Lux are only part of an order that splinted off from the Knights Templar, therefore we don't need to have that much in common." Kurtis carried on, trying to convince her that nothing was wrong. "I don't care about your heritage from the Templar, Kurtis, the fact is that the Lux is related to them, which is what I'm worried about."

"She has a point, Kurtis." Alister said over the headset. "Templar knights were incredibly skilled fighters. So when it came to final resting places, they didn't want proud knights to be disturbed."

Lara didn't like this one bit; nothing had happened in the few minuets that they had been in there. Nothing had collapsed, no traps were triggered and no creatures jumped out of the shadows. It didn't match up. Lara let her worries go, walking towards the exit, Kurtis walking in sync with her. Suddenly, the room began to shake violently, heavy boulders falling from the roof. Lara turned to Kurtis, a look on her face which seemed to say 'told you so'. They both sprinted to reach the tunnel, but two large rocks fell over it, stopping them from exiting. Lara jumped back as she startled when she felt water at her feet, looking around to see the room filling up with bucket loads of water. Frantically, she glanced around the room, searching for an escape route. "Lara!" Kurtis shouted over to her, and she turned around to see him standing next to a hole in the wall. He nodded his head towards it, and she waded towards him, ducking through the hole. Kurtis followed, beginning to swim forward as the water level rose. Soon, the pair were up to their neck in water, already floating up as the water rose. Lara turned to Kurtis, and quickly gazed into his eyes. She nodded her head, and after a big intake of breath, she dove under the water, swimming forward as fast as she could.

She struggled against the current, and with every stroke she took forward, she was pushed back. Her lungs burned as she saw Kurtis catch up with her, along with the muscles in her arms aching already from pulling her along. She saw something move to her left our of the corner of her eye, and she stopped where she was, wading in the water. She reached out and grabbed Kurtis' arm, making him stop from going any further. He turned around to look at her, confused as to why she stopped him. She nodded her head towards it, and the look on her face seemed to say 'trap'. She stayed there for a minuet, pushing Kurtis forward as she watched the mechanism, timing when it would spring up. Kurtis quickly darted past it, and Lara kept her eyes on the unmoving blade. She went to the ceiling of the passage – the tunnel now filled up with water – trying to get as far away from the blade as possible. She banged her hand against the wall, and her grip around the sword slackened, enough to let the sword grasped within it fall out.

Lara's eyes widened as she made it past the spot with the blade, but she stopped for a moment, getting ready to go back and get the sword; which was now lying on the floor, right next to the blade. She slowly swam down, eyeing the blade carefully. Then, she quickly stretched outwards, grabbing the sword. The blade sprang up as she pulled away, cutting at her forearm. She erupted a scream of agony in the water, and gripped her arm before putting the sword in her backpack. Quickly, she turned around, kicking her legs as fast as possible. She quickly caught up with Kurtis, and he soon led the way, hoping to find them a way out of the tomb.

Lara felt like her lungs had evaporated in her chest, and soon she was heaving to breathe air that was nowhere to be found. She quickly looked down a corridor on her left, and was met by the jaws of an alligator opening, Lara speeding up just in time to miss it's grasp. She sprinted forward in the water, her lungs begging for air as she sped up. She tapped Kurtis on the shoulder, her eyes daring a glance back at their predator before she carried onwards, seeing light shine through a hole above her. Kurtis was now at her side, the alligator right on his and Lara's tail. He spotted the hole in the ceiling, and his speed increased, trying to reach the hole before he either ran out of breath or the alligator behind them got too close for their liking. He peered up at it as he reached it, seeing the sunlight shine down into the water. He quickly surfaced, gasping for air before he pulled himself out of the water, reaching in to grab Lara's hand. He caught it as she reached up, gulping in the fresh air. Lara felt her lungs inflate as Kurtis pulled her out of the water, and they lay down on the ground, panting for breath, the hot Spanish sun beaming down on them. She saw a claw reach up out of the water and Lara quickly stood up, firing several shots down at their follower until blood floated the pool of water.

She turned to Kurtis, taking the sword out of her backpack. "Feel better now?" he asked.

"Much." she smiled.

AN: OK, so for starters, the whole thing between the Lux and the Knights Templar is totally true. The Lux Veritatis are descendants of the Templar. They're a group of the cult that went their own way, and you get the rest XD

So, sorry for the late update (again :-P ) but I've already started the next one, so fear not!!! See you Wednesday!