#no map

An hour later, they’re both sitting on the floor amid a swath of rusty gauze. Lena carefully threads a needle through her friend’s skin, pinching the wound shut with a final suture.

“Still have the magic touch, I see,” Lara drolls, chasing it down with swig from Lena’s shittiest scotch (“I’m not gonna waste the good stuff when I can barely taste it!”). “Feels just like old times.”

Lena snorts. “Except for the fact that it wasn’t some back alley fight club. You really should get it seen to by an actual medical professional.”

With another swig from the bottle in her good hand, Lara shakes her head with a grimace. “Can’t.” She hisses as Lena ties off the line of stitches, and dabs it clean with more rubbing alcohol. “This one goes deep.”

“And you came here?” Lena doesn’t bother to hide her irritation. “Do you know how often I’m under investigation as it is? One luminol test and they’re going to think I murdered someone!”

“I didn’t have anywhere else to go, Lee. You know I’ve been investigating my dad’s disappearance?”

Lena nods.

“I found him. I-- I almost brought him home, Lena. But I couldn’t save him. Since I got back I’ve been digging, to find out who sent him on that final expedition. I’m so close...”

Lena gently prods the uninjured skin of Lara’s shoulder, reminding her of her injury with a groan. “Too close.”

“It’s too big for me alone. These people have eyes and ears everywhere… fingers in every pie. Even Croft Holdings. My father was sent on a fool’s errand because he was getting close to exposing Trinity, and they made sure he’d never leave that damn island again.”

With a jolt, Lena blinks in surprise as their old late night talks coming flooding back. “Yamatai? The island you said your dad was always talking about? He found it? You found it?”

“Went there too. They were after a pathogen. I made sure no one would ever get their hands on it again, and thought that was it, but… Trinity was only the surface.”

Trinity means nothing to Lena, but she can feel the same thrill of adventure that she did those nights at boarding school, when Lara whispered of impossible digs and mythical prophecy. Only now it comes with a frisson of fear, because amid a pile of bloodied bandages it feels all too real-- and very dangerous.

Lara pulls another swallow from the bottle, pausing before continuing. “Trinity is everywhere, except here.” Her injured shoulder lifts. “I found your dad’s name on some documents, but it looks like he was only a resource, not a member. And they didn’t even touch Lex. Too volatile, apparently. Then when you cleaned house they knew better than to even try.”

She gazes at Lena with heavy eyes. “You are literally the only person I can trust right now.”

“Lara…” Lena swallows. A lead ball of anxiety twists in her insides, battling between the desire to be the safe haven her friend sees her as and reluctance to get involved. “I can’t afford to get tangled up in whatever this is. Every time I come close to rising above my brother’s actions there’s something that threatens to tear us down. If Trinity is the threat you say they are, they’ll barely have to lift a finger to put us under.”

Her only response is the clink of the scotch decanter coming to rest on the tile floor. “You're already involved. They just don't know it yet.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

Lara’s eyebrow lifts, and ohhhhh, Lena doesn't like the familiar glint in her eye. In school it promised adventure-- now it promises nothing but trouble.