Work Text:
“Let’s see if it works then.”
“Don’t you trust me?”
“It depends.”
“Ouch.”
Despite Lara’s doubts, she kept her pistols in her holsters as she and Kurtis neared an old sturdy door made of oak wood. One of the smaller, long abandoned – or seemingly abandoned – Lux Veritatis hideouts, deep in the caves in the middle of nowhere. They might find something interesting, or maybe nothing, but Kurtis grasped at the chance to learn at least a little more of his legacy, and Lara could never say no to the exploration of a decrepit, potentially dangerous place.
No, not potentially, they knew the hideout would be protected. Kurtis was also fairly sure the security systems, whatever it would turn out to be, would disable themselves for him. Lara considered it cheating – if it truly was going to work – but more importantly she didn’t like the uncertainty it left her with. She would rather something tried to kill her for sure, rather than seeing an expertly devised trap without knowing whether it would spring to life.
But still, still, she decided to trust Kurtis for now.
Especially as he decided to walk first.
The door moved with not much more than his touch, creaking open slowly but without any hitches. There was a hallway behind it, not much wider or higher than the natural tunnel they were standing in, but definitely man-made; the walls, the ceiling and the floor had been flattened with tools. Lara could only imagine the efforts would become more polished and intricate as they continued deeper.
Not five metres in, she noticed evenly spaced holes in the wall, at about their knee height.
“Kurtis,” she warned and motioned towards the trap when he glanced at her.
“Yeah, I see it,” Kurtis nodded and walked more slowly, stopping close to the dangerous area, staring at the ground ahead. “Right, well…”
“Right,” Lara repeated. “Will you go forward hoping nothing happens? I am not carrying you out of here if both your legs get stabbed with poison darts or rusty metal spikes.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Kurtis dismissed her very relevant point. How was he to test if traps here reacted to him without exposing himself to the danger?
In just two seconds, his pondering was interrupted.
From the hallway up ahead, with a familiar rattle of bone and metal, two skeletons rushed towards them, swords at the ready.
“Shit!” Kurtis cursed while Lara pulled out her guns. “No, wait, you two, stay back!” He called, while hastily reaching for his own weapon.
The undead Lux Veritatis guards halted immediately.
“Huh,” Kurtis lowered his pistol which he was about to shoot. “I mean,” he said quickly, “See? It works!”
“Impressive,” Lara deadpanned. It wasn’t wholly sarcastic. Stopping them with just a word, none of his fancy powers… Besides, Lara didn’t particularly enjoy fighting undead adversaries, they tended to be difficult to dispatch.
“Alright, guys,” Kurtis said a little nervously, “out of our way.” He waved a hand to the side emphatically.
The skeletons shuffled towards the wall and stood there in attention side by side, offering enough room for Lara and Kurtis to pass them.
“Easy,” Kurtis shrugged and stepped forward.
Then he let out a scream.
Lara walked down a grassy slope, away from a sprawling rocky formation hiding a complex net of cavernous tunnels. They hadn’t explored much, but the high security promised there might be something interesting next time they went.
Of course, that would have to wait.
Lara leaned forward a little, rearranging their centre of gravity. “And what have we learned?” she asked pointedly.
“That you’ll carry me even if you say you won’t?” Kurtis tried joking from her back. Both his lower legs had been stabbed clean through with a very sharp, thick piece of metal and while he could have still stood on his feet in a life-and-death situation, not having to put any strain on them was a thousand times more preferable.
Lara growled something incomprehensible that couldn’t have been flattering.
But she didn’t drop Kurtis on his ass, so he considered it a win.