kenny ✮⋆˙

grammar is not the best and it hasn’t been proofread yet, thinking about finishing the story and then releasing a remastered edition of sorts (i’ll probably rename the oc, again, i’m indecisive)

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Reckless Destructive

Chapter I

Lara's heart was pounding in her chest, adrenaline coursing through her as she sprinted towards the small emmits of light from the site entrance. Rapid gunshots pelted at her from the mercenary group that had tracked her down, raining off the walls and leaving pieces of sediment flying. She rounded another corner, involuntarily sliding down the steep drop and just barely landing on her feet as her shaking fingers grasped onto her belt for her walkie.

"Zip, get the helicopter ready. I should be close to a way out!" She shouted over the commotion, eyes focused staright ahead. "We've got a small issue- You have a mercenary team after you, and Petra is guarded by law enforcement. You'll have to sneak out just how you snuck in." Lara snorted, pressing herself up to the sandy wall behind her and lowering the volume on her walkie as a group of men sprinted past. "I'm always careful, it'll be a walk in the park." She snided.

"We're bringing in the explosives, I want to smoke that girl out of here and find that relic before she does!" A booming voice rang out. Lara's eyes widened, and she realized she had two options- get blown up, or get arrested by security, and Lara Croft was not dying today. As she began moving, the ground beneath her and the encapsulating wall shook, eliciting several "Bloody hell"s from the woman. She pulled out her rusted pickaxe, swinging her arms up and slashing away at an outer wall. Her muscles ached as they worked, and grunts fell deep from her throat in a panic until she saw a bit of light peek through the stone. Her body jolted once again when she felt the shudder of explosives going off getting nearer, forcing her to rip through the rock at a rapid pace. "Shit!" She exclaimed, shrugging off one of her packs to squeeze herself through the hole she created, groaning as sharp pieces of stone pierced at her sides and tore through her overshirt.

"Stop where you are, hands up! Drop your weapon!" The sounds of sirens were immediate, and Lara was not met with much hospitality from the local law watching the site. The ancient city of Petra was crumbling behind her, bringing the historic site to its end. "There's men in there, trying to steal the relics!" Lara exclaimed as an officer rough shoved her, pulling her hands behind her back and placing cuffs around her bruised wrists. "We're investigating them, worry about yourself." He responded shortly, clearly not caring as Lara was there for the same reason. Lara's team, which was really just her few loyal best friends, arrived shortly after, their helicopter landing in an open clearing. "Jonah, Zip!" She called out, watching the two men hustle over to the car she was being ushered rather forcefully into. "We're going to hold her for a bit, she'll get a call and if she lucky, can be out on bond while we set up the legalities. I hope you understand how serious of a crime this is," the officer redirected his attention to Lara, who was now in the back of a police car, "You may be put away for a long time, Croft." Jonah spoke up, already reading Lara's mind, "Sam is at the Manor, she's working to help get you out of this right now. See you soon, little bird." With that, the archaeologist was taken away. Her thoughts taunted her, "Fuck Lara, if only you'd been more careful, less... reckless, selfish even, you wouldn't be in this mess.". More importantly though, she was concerned with her mission. Who could those men have been, certainly not Trinity right? No, they'd disbanded ever since Lara stopped the Mayan apocalypse from occuring. What about the artifact she was after, had they stolen it, or was it even in Petra? Her mind raced a mile a minute, stressing herself to exhaustion and paired with her injuries, left her passing out.

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Charlotte brought her index and her thumb to her temple, lightly pinching the skin as an attempt to relieve the headache she'd had all day. It was late, nearly ten o'clock, and she was still sitting in her office sifting through piles of paperwork meant for younger hires and interns to go through. "I'll have... whatever her name is, do these all tomorrow." She mumbled to herself. Charlotte Arceneaux was a busy woman; a Columbia Law graduate with extroadrinarily top marks, Charlotte began running her own international law firm in England just two years after finishing her schooling, and now at 28 runs one of the most sucessful international law firms in the world. She had all the connections, knew just what to say to win her cases, and meant business. She knew her shit, it wasn't wise to challenge her intelligence. Charlotte was also not very thrilled to be taking on Lara's case. This was make or break for her firm, and she didn't like taking chances where she wasn't sure the odds would be in her favor.

Lara Croft, renowned archeologist and the only current living lineage of Richard Croft and the rest of the aristrocratic family, did not have a favorable reputation. She stole artifacts, just as her father did, destroyed ancient cities, did not show much care for preservation or the environment, and killed many. Charlotte wouldn't put it past her to think she may have killed purely in cold blood. The news of Arceneaux international law taking the case would make headlines, and could kill her business and run it into the ground, or bring in the most amount of clients she's ever seen. "How on earth am I going to save this woman's ass." Lady Croft most certainly had the funds, but she destroyed a relic; Petra was arguably one of the most important sites still standing in the current day.

"This woman is going to be a pain in the ass. Everything I built up now put at risk by some shitty billionaire." The woman groaned, finally shutting down the computer monitors and sitting up from her desk. She adjusted the dark blazer she wore, dusting herself off quickly before gathering all her belongings and heading out of the office. It didn't take her very long to get home, though she always hated driving in England, "They do everything backwards" as she liked to say, comparing everything back to living in the states. Her heels were already off before the door had even closed, and blazer hung up on the coat rack immediately after. England never felt like a home to Charlotte. The U.S. wasn't much better, but her family and friends, the home she grewup in, her school, were all there. England never offered much besides being a good area to build her firm, and despite being French and speaking it fluently, she opted to live with the Brits as the connections seemed better.

She had a takeout order on its way to be delivered, her tie loose and the top few buttons of her shirt undone, and a bottle of pinot noir with her name on it. She glanced at herself as she caught her own image passing her mirror. She knew she was unhappy, she was sure others might've caught on to that fact, if they noticed her enough. She was educated, becoming quite wealthy, successful, confident, very attractive. None of this mattered, she was lonely- no one to come home to, no one to wait up for. She only saw people now as either inconveniences, or a boost forward. Charlotte had this image in her mind; She'd come home from a long day of ordering others around, most likely her assistant or some intern, and come home to unwind. She'd have a partner who came home at the same time- they'd have to be just as busy as she was, she admired productivity- and catch each other up. They'd go out, or even make dinner together in the kitchen, having her partner slink their arms around her while she stood stationary at the stove top. Their hands might playfully sink a bit lower before Charlotte scolded them without much real effort, and she'd watch them admire the meal she made while they scarfed it down. They'd sit and talk the rest of the night, doing mundane chores together, reading, finding some other hobby to enjoy together. They'd cozy up in the living room and start a fire in the fire place, kissing slowly and holding one another until the night was no longer young and they go to bed together. It was a silly idea, she was too serious for any of that.

Her first meeting with the woman would be tomorrow, and she had absolutely zero idea of the turn her life was about to take.

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