Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Lara and Sam.

Author's Note: Here's chapter 8 :) short but sweet! Well... kind of.

Lara ran upstairs as fast as she could, taking the steps two at a time. She had been to Sam's house numerous times and knew that Sam wasn't in any of the rooms on the second floor. Instead of checking, she ran straight to the cupboard on the landing and flung the door open. Straight away she found what she was looking for- the loft hatch pole. Lara snatched it and rushed over to the loft hatch in the centre of the ceiling. With hands as steady as she could muster, she reached up and hooked the pole in the catch, twisting it and letting the hatch fall open with the pole still attached. To Lara's surprise and horror, the ladder fell straight down out of the hatch, giving Lara barely half a second to jump out of the way. The person to use the hatch before her obviously hadn't put the ladders back properly. Lara managed to hop to the left in time, the foot of the ladder skimming her upper right cheek leaving a graze and a small bruise. She didn't waste a second though; moments later Lara was clambering up the ladder and into the darkness above. She reached for the light string and tugged on it hard. After a yellow flicker or two, the loft filled with light and time seemed to slow as Lara looked around desperately. As her head swung to the right, she was greeted with Sam stood in front of the short wooden chair she had been sat on. At first, she was staring down at the bodies on the floor, but she looked up in shock as the lights came on and Lara ran up through the hatch. Lara made a quick glance to her left to find the cameraman, but was surprised and delighted to find she and Sam were alone.

"Sam," Lara breathed, running towards her.

Tears started to collect in her eyes as she pulled Sam into a tight embrace. Sam's arms clung to Lara's back and waist, feeling Lara as though she had to check she was real. Sam's hands were still jumping up and down Lara's back when Lara pulled back in order to snog Sam like she had never been snogged before.

Sam let her tongue slide under Lara's and wasted no time in reciprocating the gesture. She smiled broadly as she felt Lara's tongue exploring her mouth hungrily. Lara had obviously missed her as much as she had missed Lara.

"Lara," Sam attempted to say through the kiss, but it came out as a barely audible groan.

Sam rolled her eyes and grabbed Lara's shoulders before shoving her hard. Lara's eyes flew open and she breathed out in quick, heavy gasps.

"What was that for?" Lara asked, wiping her mouth with the cuff of her jacket.

"We need to get out of here," Sam said, still smiling.

Lara just smiled back and took hold of both of Sam's hands, running her own hands up Sam's arms. She frowned before turning Sam's arms over to see the underside of them.

"What are those?" Lara asked, staring at some sort of metal strips that were partially embedded into Sam's skin.

"That's what they used for the electric pulses. And so you could control me," Sam murmured, looking down at them.

"Bastards," Lara muttered. "How are they attached?"

"I don't know. They did it while I was unconscious when they kidnapped me. They drugged me."

Lara sighed. "I thought as much. So I don't suppose you remember the person who took you?"

"I never saw whoever it was. They just came up behind me while I was still watching you run down the road," Sam said softly.

"It's okay, you're safe now," Lara smiled, cradling Sam's waist and kissing her forehead.

"Don't lie to your girlfriend, Croft," said a booming voice. It came from a speaker that was situated in the corner behind Sam.

Sam winced and clutched Lara closer.

"Come on, let's go," Lara hissed. She grabbed Sam's hand and tugged her towards the hatch but was stopped short as two large men appeared at the top. They were both of a strong, solid build, towering over the two women with ease. One of them was bald, the other with a limp blond attempt of an afro. They both smiled with dark eyes and started to approach Lara and Sam. Lara pushed Sam behind her, holding an arm out to protect her. If only she could get Sam out of here...

The men didn't speak at all, just continued to shorten the distance between themselves and Lara and Sam. Lara slowly and strategically started to step slightly to her right as she backed away, keeping her arm out so Sam would follow her step. She continued to do this so they were moving around the men and swapping original positions. The men followed this lead and continued to close in on them in slow motion, following their circle round, clearly not realising Lara's intentions to ditch Sam next at the hatch. It seemed to take forever to get there, but they finally reached the hatch. Lara used her left hand to squeeze the top of Sam's thigh. She hoped this would communicate to Sam that she should go down the hatch without Lara. It did. Sam suddenly hopped down the hatch and ran down the ladder, leaving Lara to deal with the thugs stood before her. Neither of them seemed to care about Sam's departure until the speaker crackled and the same booming voice emitted from it.

"Idiots! Get after her!"

The man with the afro suddenly leaped into action, rushing down through the hatch and after Sam. This was enough to distract Lara and she was thrown to the floor by the burly bald man. She tried to wrestle with him, grabbing his shoulders and pushing them away from her as he pinned her to the floor. Lara grunted as he held her throat down with his forearm and fumbled in his pocket with his free hand. She took hold of his wrist and twisted it, trying to free her throat from his grip, but her efforts were fruitless; his forearm was more than twice the thickness of her own.

"Let me go," Lara squeaked, her voice box restricted.

She saw the man draw up a needle and smile maliciously. Then she was unconscious.

Lara woke up to early morning sunlight streaming across her face from the skylight above her. Her vision was blurry and she felt like she was going to throw up. Her ears were ringing and her head felt dizzy, but she could remember the previous night's happenings with ease. And she had to find Sam.

Lara took a few moments to breathe softly in order to prevent her being sick before attempting to sit up. She managed, to heave herself into a sitting position as something light and soft hit her face and covered her eyes before swinging away again. Lara frowned and squinted, trying hard to focus on what had nudged her nose. As the imagery she could see merged into one, it was clear there was a note hanging down on a piece of string. It had red writing on it.

"Brilliant," Lara croaked, rubbing her head and snatching the note. "Fucking brilliant."

Worry not, my dear Lara. Sam is safe in our hands. Though you shouldn't have let her go like that. You should know she's very precious. My henchman left you under the window. I hope you didn't mind. We thought you would appreciate a view of the Sky. American sky is lovely on a morning, though I don't suppose it compares with a lovely British sunrise. Anyway, you should have known that getting Sam back wouldn't be that easy. It's going to take a lot more blood, sweat and tears than that and you'll be up against athletes. Still, your PE and parkour skills seem to be up to scratch. Keep up the good work and you'll do fine.