This story takes place right after Angel of Darkness and is a Lara/Kurtis fanfic. Also, just pretend that the game ended after Lara killed Eckhardt. That the big ugly Sleeper died as it did in the game, but ignore the "other stuff". Okay so, of course, I own none of the characters (except for a few OC) in this story so relax and enjoy. Oh, and if you don't like this story or Kurtis then please don't review, but if you like the story and see some flaws that could use some fixing then feel free to email me or leave a review! That was confusing…anyways, Thanks!

DISCLAIMER: Allow me to make this very clear…I own none of the characters in this story except some OC that will pop from time to time like Connor, Ira Armstrong, Monsieur Halverson, Inga, etc.

** THIS FANFIC CONTAINS AoD SPOILERS!**

Lara looked down from where she was. It wasn't a big fall down and she probably wouldn't hurt herself even though her entire body was screaming in pain. It was the simple fact that after almost three days of non-stop running, fighting, jumping, and climbing…Lara was feeling a little more then exhausted. And yet, with a heavy sigh, she grabbed the ledge before lowering herself onto the floor. She saw the dead body of Boaz lying on the ground with her head lying close by. Franticly, Lara looked around the room.

"Kurtis!" she let out loudly.

He was leaning against a wall not far from her. With one hand pressed against her throbbing ribs, the worn out brunette made her way over to the wounded Kurtis. He looked at her with a half smile that made her insides stir. For one reason or another, he just had that affect on her. With a smile of her own, she bent down in front of him and looked at his wound. He was bleeding badly from the whole in his stomach. Nervousness and dread set into Lara's stomach as she looked into his eyes.

"I'll be right back."

Kurtis nodded slowly. His fingers had gone numb with coldness. It took all of the strength he had left just to stay awake and keep breathing. It hurt terribly and he was so tired. He wanted nothing more then succumb to the darkness that was pulling at him. And yet, he didn't. He held on and forced himself to focus on Lara's retreating back.

The sharp pain in her side was the least of her troubles. With urgency, Lara headed back to where The Sleeper had once been. Its dead corpse was only a few feet away once she got there. Using one of the shards, she cut off one of the ancient creatures fingers. She remembered reading something about the powerful blood that coursed through its veins. One drop was enough to heal the deadliest of wounds. Hopefully it worked. Hurriedly she went back to Kurtis.

His head was slumped to the side and his breathing had become extremely uneven as he panted for air. With out a moment to spare, Lara let one drop of blood from the severed finger fall onto his lips. She then licked her suddenly dry lips before stepping away from him. Her eyes looked onto his face, waiting for any sign of victory or defeat.

A cough. And then another. Followed by yet another. Kurtis kept coughing violently until his eyes shot open and then the coughing just stopped. He looked with amazed eyes over at Lara. She, however, was no longer looking at his face. Her eyes had locked onto where his wound was located. Or where his wound should have been located because it had disappeared. It was completely healed.

"Now I really owe you one," said Kurtis breaking the silence.

Lara jumped a little at his voice. "It'll be a long walk out of here. Do you think you can handle it?" she asked.

"I dunno about you, but I don't think I can walk for five more minutes without passing out. I've never felt so exhausted before," he replied.

"Then we'll crash here until morning," she said while leaning against the wall beside him.

"Alright with me."

Lara nodded at his response. She slid off her backpack and used it for a pillow. Might as well get some sleep, she thought wearily.

FLASHBACK/DREAM!

She was almost out! After all the hell she went through to get the painting, Lara was finally near the exit of the Louvre. Slightly out of breath, she entered another room in the art gallery. It was one filled with large glass cases entrapping artwork and sculptures. A quick glance at her surroundings made Lara feel at ease. It seemed that no one was in this room. She could relax a bit and catch her breath. Or so she thought. The moment the thought came to her so did a large flying disk. It had sharp blades surrounding the perimeter and had missed her head by mere centimeters. She had been able to move out of the way just in time.

Lara pulled out her gun and held it firmly in her left hand. Slowly she began to back up when she suddenly stopped. Something hard was resting against her head and she knew all to well what it was. A gun. The person holding the weapon was behind her and so she could not see their face, but something told Lara that it was the man she had seen in the Parisian Ghetto. The one on the motorcycle who had been asking Café Metro's owner, Pierre, about Bouchard. She had no idea why she thought it was him, but she did.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a hand on her shoulder. It slid slowly down almost caressing her before it stopped and rested on the back of her palm. Every place the hand had touched began to boil with heat. It felt comforting yet disturbing. No guy had ever been able to make Lara feel so lightheaded so easily (if at all). And now she knew it was definitely a man. She could tell by the feel of his hand, which now moved to the inside of hers and slowly grabbed the gun away. It was then that Lara snapped out of the semi trance she had been in. Her body tensed as she prayed that he didn't notice she had the second gun.

The man tossed the first gun to the floor before brushing his now free hand up Lara's left leg and finally resting it on her hip. The touch sent a small shiver down her back as the hand slid across her flat belly. His fingers teased the waistband of her pants by dipping only a centimeter in and then continuing on their journey. Once there, the hand and its fingers gripped the second gun and dropped it to the floor as well. Finally, the stranger removed his hand from her waist and dug into her backpack. He pulled out her painting and stuffed it into his own bag. Lara tried to turn and face him, but he pushed the gun harder and then slid it under her chin. Slowly, he began to back away.

That simple move was enough to completely knock the sense back into Lara. She had worked far too hard to get that painting (A/N You all remember how hard it was to get that damn thing! All the different switches and traps!) and letting him take it without a fight was not an option. Quick as a cat, Lara spun around hoping to knock the gun from the stranger's hand. Unfortunately, however, he seemed to have suspected such a move because he had already repositioned the gun. It was once again pointed towards her.

Lara's anger slipped away the moment she looked eyes with the man before her. It was indeed the stranger on the motorcycle. His eyes were the deepest shade of blue that she had ever seen. His messy hair and rebel-like attire gave him a sort of bad boy meets laid back kind of look. He was handsome, though he wasn't exactly the sexist man of the year. He was good looking, but it was his eyes and touch (not to mention presence) that made Lara feel dizzy. She swayed for a second and then leaned her head slightly towards his lips. What in the bloody hell am I doing? I don't even know his name! Thought Lara in shock at her own actions. Not that she did kiss him, but the movement of her head had made the message clear that she had thought of it. The man also leaned in a bit as if to kiss her before…

"Hey, Lara? Wake up," said Kurtis while nudging her.

"Wha-? Oh, hey," replied Lara sleepily.

"You ready to go?"

"It's morning already? Okay then, lets get out of here."

Lara and Kurtis walked gloomily out of the room and eventually out of the Stroahv. They were both still exhausted and sore. Lara, however, was extra grumpy. The dream she had of the first time she and Kurtis had been face to face in the Louvre was bothering her. She had indeed leaned in as if to kiss him and he did the same thing before jabbing his gun into her shoulder and running off, but dreaming about it and the way he had touched her…well it was enough to put her in a bad mood. There was no way she was ever going to admit, especially to him, that she found Kurtis attractive and very appealing. She was beginning to really like him, but she couldn't accept that. Lara Croft didn't go all jelly-like over some guy she just met. She hardly went jelly-like PERIOD! It was very disturbing for her to be feeling like this.

In an effort to clear her mind of her feelings for Kurtis (I do not have feelings for the stupid git!), Lara began replaying everything she had gone through in the past seventy-two hours. Minus anything that had Kurtis in it. She still didn't want to think about that, though it was difficult when he was walking right next to her. The thing that kept replaying in her mind the most was Werner. She did not and could not forgive him for what happened in Egypt, but she could have put it behind her. If she hadn't been so stubborn and if she hadn't been dwelling so much on what happened before then maybe she would have been able to help him. Maybe he'd be alive right now. Maybe she could even have moved on and made a truce with him. Funny, it seemed that "maybe" was all she had now. Well, not just "maybe"…she had Kurtis too.

Okay so there is chapter one. I hope it's okay so far. The first couple of chapters may be a little slow. It'll take some time for the plot to reveal its self. Anyways, whatcha think so far? ~LF