Work Text:
Before the Illuminati, before the triangle, they hadn't seen each other in years. Lara would have been happy with that. Never seeing Alex West again as long as she lived. The man had stolen her prayer wheels. Infuriated her every time they met. And yet, when they'd met again, part of her had been glad to see him again.
The Alex West effect.
It was like he had his own gravitational pull. Aggravating and charming and almost as smart as she was.
Having him around certainly made things interesting. Hillary and Bryce said she had things plenty interesting enough, but she begged to differ. Life was boring without something to spice it up. Alex could always be relied upon.
That being said, Lara was beginning to think they were running into each other a little too often.
In fact, they hardly seemed to stop meeting.
When she arrived in Mexico, Alex was there. Went to dinner in London, Alex was there. In a temple in Nepal, Alex. A crowded market in India, Alex.
Even here, on a dig in Egypt (one of the last places he knew she would choose but desperate times), there Alex was. By all accounts arrived before her, but that didn't matter at all.
She was there for a rare artifact, and had no doubt Alex and his mercenary archaeology was there for the same reason. So there was no way she could possibly avoid him even here. Surely her hotel would be Alex free. He liked his comforts, but Alex would undoubtedly choose to stay on site, in case Lara snuck past and liberated the artifact before him.
No.
No sooner had she left her room than she ran into the aggravating American. Literally. Collided with him in the corridor.
“What are you doing here?” Lara sighed, ignoring the sparkle of his blue eyes this close to him.
Alex chuckled, his hands still warm on her hips where he'd grabbed her when they collided. “The same thing you are, Lara. Working.”
Infuriating man. “Must you work everywhere I am?”
Alex tilted his head and laughed again. “From my perspective, Lara, it's you who seems to be following me.” He winked, still not moving his hands. “If I didn't know better, sweetheart, I'd say you liked me.”
Lara felt many things towards Alex West, many of them negative, but liking was not one of them. She'd have saved anyone from that knife in the Orrery - it didn't mean she felt anything for him at all.
Tossing her braid over her shoulder, Lara fixed Alex with her best haughty expression. He was wasting her time, she had things to do. Sooner she found the artifact, sooner she could leave and spend a few days peace in her manor without him.
“My, you have spent a lot of time in the sun, haven't you, Alex,” she asked, mockingly concerned. “Do you want me to lie and say I love you?”
Alex stilled, just for a moment, affection bursting through his eyes.
“No, Lara,” Alex replied, his voice as tender as a caress. “I want you to stop lying to yourself and admit you do.”
Alex stepped back, the loss of his hands immediately making her feel colder.
“Remember, Lady Croft, I told you in India I'd be in Egypt soon. And here you are following me.” He grinned, boyish and cheeky. “Admit it, sweetheart, you can't live without me.”
Lara glared, refusing to give him the satisfaction of thinking back to their conversation in India. Her motives for coming here were clean, get the artifact. Nothing to do with Alex.
Right?
Hillary had been surprised when she'd announced she was coming here, but that was just because she often complained when all he brought her were files on Egypt. He hadn't called her on it, but that might have been because Bryce was playing video games loudly in the next room and Hillary took that as Bryce's flirting.
But no. She hadn't come here for Alex.
She was almost certain.
Alex smiled, brushing a gentle kiss to her cheek. “Think about it, Lara. You know where to find me.”
He walked to the elevator, a spring in his step. Leaving Lara with a new mystery to solve.