Proof I'll Return Chapter 12: Crossed Wires, a tomb raider fanfic

Kurtis awoke the next morning to a warm but empty bed. The sound of running water from behind the closed bathroom door informed him Lara was in the shower.

Lara let the water pour down her, washing away the desert from her skin and the aches from her limbs. Reaching for a towel, she caught sight of the mirror.

I see you, the words written in steam informed her. There was a wicked smiley face just below the telekinetically written words. Grinning widely, she stepped bare-skinned from the shower and walked back into the bedroom, very pointedly using the towel only on her hair.

Smiling politely at Kurtis as if she were fully clothed as he tied his boots innocently on the bed, he returned it with an equally innocent grin, giving her a chaste peck on the cheek as he left.

Taking the steps towards the foyer energetically and with his jacket slung over one shoulder, he greeted the woman behind the counter unusually cheerfully for this time of the morning.

Snapping out of her sleepy reverie, she sat up fully.

"Can I help you?"

"You sure can," he smiled, "can I have two breakfasts sent up to room 117?"

"Of course, I will have room service up right away," the woman smiled prettily back at him, hand going to her wavy dark hair nervously.

"Thank you very much…" his eyes flicked imperceptibly towards the little gold badge on her chest, "…Amanda. That's a beautiful name," he finished with a smile before heading back to his room.

"Thank you- Mr.…" she trailed off, as he looked back, "I'm sorry but I don't have the advantage of a name badge…"

"…Mr. DeVille," he grinned, starting to walk away again, "at least that's what it was the last time I checked!"

"So where to now?" Lara asked, legs crossed on the bed, toast pausing on the way to her mouth.

"I have no idea," Kurtis replied, taking a bite from the toast in her hand and chewing thoughtfully as he leaned back, "anywhere away from here would be a safe bet. Even staying last night was a risk," he looked over at her grimly from his reclining position on the bed.

"I still don't get why Karel fled when you broke through into the river…"

"I dunno if you know this," he tilted his head slightly in its perusal of the ceiling, "but ever heard that demons can't cross a running stream?"

Lara instantly remembered an incident on an island off the coast of Ireland, once when she was young… a demon on a horse had captured Father Dunstan and forced her to find a way to stop the river so it could escape its 'prison'.

"Yes… I've heard it."

Kurtis sensed there was more behind those words but didn't push it. "Yeah, well if normal running water keeps demons in their place, just imagine what the river does to 'em."

"That's why he didn't come into it after you-"

"Yeah, and why he didn't stick around to see me break the river into that cavern. It must be the real reason why he didn't come after me to the Amazon... I was worried that'd happen, that's why I took the route that you obviously would've taken…"

"And at my house… he set those mercenaries on us rather then deal with us himself... why does he seem so reluctant to stand against you?"

"Like I said, it's not me he's worried about, it's the river. He knows I can control it. It's the border between all universes and they found the way to break through, use a conscious living vessel. As a person dies, they're connected with the river just as their soul enters it… like he used my father. It's a stronger connection with a Lux."

Lara's eyes traced his left hand as his fingers drummed against the duvet idly. Still deep in thought, he rolled off the bed and headed to the bathroom, light switch and shower invisibly turning on before the door had even opened.

Despite herself and her troubled thoughts, she smiled.

The woman at the reception desk was quite busy at this stage, but when a "Mrs. DeVille" left a message for the mysterious man from earlier, she sighed disappointedly.

Oh well, she thought, watching the dark haired woman bump into a short balding man and apologize, before she headed towards the library across the street.

Amanda DeVille sounded silly anyway.

Turning back to the middle-eastern man politely waiting on room registration, she immediately brightened up. As she bent her head to write his name into the logbook, she didn't see the dark haired woman return a short while later, moving quickly towards the stairs.

When Lara entered the room, Kurtis was pulling on a pair of khaki combats and a white t-shirt. Surprising he had much clothes left really, what he didn't wreck himself, she tore off him.

He slid his arms around her waist as she rifled through a black bag on the bed. She turned in his embrace to face him.

"Where'd you go? Where'd you get the black bag?" he questioned interestedly.

"Went to the library to do some research."

"Find anything?" his polite question hung in the air as he went to the bedside cabinet.

"Not much- I wasn't expecting anything really. Just something to take my mind off it all, you know-" she halted as he pointed a gun in her face.

Holding her hands up, her russet eyes widened in fear. "Kurtis! What are you-"

"Sit on the bed, hands over your head."

"If this is your idea of foreplay you've got another thing comi-"

"I said, SIT."

She was mentally shoved backwards onto the bed.

"You know," he reverted back to calm tones, "for a 'disgusting mortal', you've made yourself look kind of passable," his American drawl became clipped, tense. Moving closer, he pressed the silencer barrel to her forehead. She began to shake.

"You're Karel, aren't you?" she exclaimed, voice becoming high pitched with fear, "I knew it! How could I have ever trusted you?!"

"Save it, you worthless piece of shit."

He fired, straight into her skull.