"Hey, Alex!" I punch the doorbell three more times, cupping my hands over my mouth as I shout. "You home? Come on!" I knock my knuckles against the stained wood and glance over my shoulder at Lara, who's standing by the sleek black Ferrari on the street and looking very dark eyed and unimpressed at this whole situation. I give her my best dorky smile and she sighs with a small grin, uncrossing her arms and propping them on her hips.

I ring the doorbell four more times as rapidly and obnoxiously as I can, and back away from the door as I hear grumbling and loud footsteps approaching from inside.

"Who's out there?" comes an angry, drowsy voice. Something beeps through the crack between the edge of the door and the jam and there's a short pause where I think he's peeking out through the peep hole. He makes a series of indignant sounds and 'just a minute!'s as he makes himself presentable and throws the door open, adjusting his glasses.

"Sam!" he shouts, giving me an awkwardly tight hug, "Christ, I'm so glad you're alright!"

"Why wouldn't I be, dummy?" I reply, hugging him back briefly and separating us.

"Did you get it?" he asks expectantly. "Tell me you managed to convince her to do it."

I shrug and sigh, rubbing the back of my head. "Nope, no dice. Guess Miss Croft is just too good for the History Channel."

He clears his throat and puffs his chest out, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose once again. "The nerve of some of these wealthy jackoffs, huh? I mean, she could have made your career with just a few words if her head wasn't jammed up so far in her own—"

Lara, whose still by the curb, cuts right through his bold statement with a loud, solid "A-HEM" and his face falls instantly. I can't help but laugh, slapping my hands against his shoulder and wheezing jaw slacked.

"Miss Croft!" he blubbers out, "I, er, didn't realize you were…" He looked at me with his eyebrows in his hairline. "I didn't think you would be…"

"Out amongst the common folk? Well, I thought I should have some fresh air whilst my head isn't in my own arse."

Her sharp quip almost sends me into another fit, but I manage to contain it to a giggling snort. "She's cool, man," I force out between inhales. "You wouldn't believe what we've been through in the last few days.

"Well, if it was anything like the night I spent there I'd say it was terrifying and dangerous." He gives her a better look up and down (which I don't appreciate in the least), as she approaches with broad steps from behind me. He takes in a sharp inhale and steps just an inch back. In the heeled cargo boots, she's actually made herself his height, which is kind of fantastic. And just like all the rest of the people we've encountered, he seems to shrink under her gaze.

"Hey, um," he starts unsurely, once against fixing the lens mounted on his face. "You don't look so good."

Lara quirks her brow at him and re-crosses her arms. Christ, this kid really knows how to strike out.

"That's quite a rude thing to say to someone you barely know." Her tone is in the dull, low range that I still couldn't identify as serious or sarcastic. Obviously Alex can't either, because he's waving his hands submissively in front of his face and stumbling over eight different kinds of apologies with his cheeks all red.

She does still have dark circles under her eyes, and her hair is a little messier than she'd usually allow. A little paler, that's all. From under the rim of her silk blouse I can make out the long arms of the bruise on her chest.

"Oh, well, I obviously didn't mean to sound mean, or, you know…You're obviously still hot and, well, by 'hot' I mean—"

Lara stares right through him the entire time he's tripping all over himself, and when he finally recalls enough sense to shut himself up, she just looks at him and looks at me with 'can we please get out of here' written all over her face. It's charmingly strange how strong she is in life or death situations but when it comes to social stuff, she's lost. If I left them alone together I think Alex would be an intimidated pile of jello in two minutes flat.

"A lot has happened in the last few days, Alex," I say gently, my eyes still wavering against hers. "I didn't want to just disappear without saying anything."

He gives me a forelorn look and furrows his brow tightly. "Disappear? What do you mean?"

"I…" Even as I begin, I'm sure I don't know what to say. And so I sigh and look back to Lara, who exhales and senses my distress. Carefully, she paces up to the door and takes my hand in her own, parting her rose lips and continuing for me.

"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Sam," she states simply, cocking her head and looking down at me with a little smirk. "She saved both of our lives."

I chuckle as my face heats up at the praise. "Well, Lara saved us lots of times before that."

I feel her fingers intertwine in mine, and I'm reminded how strange and wonderful all of this was.

"I want her to join me on my exploits, as a second hand and a documentarian."

My gaze snaps to her instantly. Alex clears his throat and leans back as if he'd just been hit in the gut. "Seriously? Holy shit, Sam." He plants his hands on my shoulders firmly. "For real?"

Her grip tightens for just a moment in reassurance, and she gives me a look like perhaps the statement was actually a question. I feel my lips pull up and my chest swell. "For real, dude," I say, and it's the first time in a long time that I've been sure about anything.

"We'll be off to the Kunlun Mountains soon. I'm not sure how long we'll be out there, so we figured it proper to say her goodbyes." Nepal. China. Tibet. Adventures. Shangri-La. Lara. I have to hold onto a squeal of excitement.

"Kunlun! Wow, that's so cool. I mean, wow." His eyes sort of sparkle at me in an endearing way. "Sam, this is amazing! Screw History, this is it!" I'm taken aback by how enthusiastic he seems for me, though I can't say I'm totally surprised. I think maybe he'd looked at me like a messy little sister all these years, tripping sometimes and falling sometimes but always, always getting back up and pushing on.

We don't linger long, and I leave Alex's flat with my stomach tingling.

"Did you really mean that, back there?" I ask as I slide into the cabin of easily the most luxurious car in England. She pushes her red lensed shades into her hairline and hums thoughtfully to herself.

"Of course."

"You want me to come with you? On your…expeditions and stuff?"

She taps the wheel and leans back into leather seat. "Could I stop you?"

The words sound like an ill-timed joke, but her tone is low and serious. I bite my lips together and look at my knees.

"I'm sorry," she whispers, "I phrased that wrong. I know you aren't super human, and I could damn well tie you down to the Manor foundation if I wanted you to stay. But I…I don't want you to stay." She studies the button on the end of her sleeve intensely. "We've not been together long, but I would say you've gotten under my skin, Miss Nishimura. Thinking back on the emptiness before, I don't wish to return to that. And it's selfish, because I've become your sickness, too. I ache at the mere thought of getting you hurt, Sam, and it's an inevitability if you're here, with me. But…"

"But?" I urge her to continue. She shifts around uncomfortably, twists her fingers in knots, and exhales with some force.

"You'll have to listen to me," she diverts. "And I'll have to teach you to protect yourself, just in case…"

"Lara," I scold. "Finish your last thought." She grinds her teeth tightly and turns pink.

"But I, ehm, I like you. A lot. I fancy you." She rubs the back of her neck and turns her gaze away from me. My eyebrows twist up and I suppress a laugh that tickles the back of my throat.

"And?"

"And I…"

"You…"

"I, ehm…"

"You love me?" I lean far over into her half of the cabin, perching my hands against the compartment between us.

"I…I do. Yes." Her face goes a shade of red I don't think I've seen on her before.

"Say it." I crawl a little closer.

"What?"

"Say it for real."

"You want me to say that I…"

I hang my eyelids lower and brush over her shoulder with my lips. I'm not just trying to tease her. I want to hear it. I want to think back on that first day when she threatened me with a knife and walked me through her gardens and floated powerfully through the Manor's overwhelming cellar and think, that was the first time I met this extraordinary, confusing, irresistible woman, who loves me beyond the odds, who will protect me and will allow herself to be protected by me. "Please?" I mutter. She faces me again and comes closer, maybe so the rest of the world doesn't hear her confession, so she can keep me from anyone with nasty intentions, so she can continue to exist in this moment for a little longer without worry.

Our noses are touching when she finally says it.

"I love you, Sam."

It's like a breath of sweet air when she finally utters it. And I kiss her this time, just a butterfly's touch to her lips to which she responds slowly but surely and sweetly. She is a creature of force, as I've come to learn, but she holds me and touches me like I'm the only one in the world that she would fight for. I touch the bruise as she cradles the back of my neck.

She's been searching for so long. Even now she looks tired under all of that confidence and luster. I kiss her eyes and she chuckles warmly. I've been searching, too.

"Onward to the next adventure then, Croft?"

She smiles. I kiss her again.

Onward.

What a funny, perfect thing.

The End

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has supported and reviewed this little project of mine. Finally, I can call something complete. Keep a lookout for my next fic, "Ghosts," in which Lara and Sam meet on Yamatai. Until then,

-T