"ɪ'ᴠᴇ ɢᴏᴛ ᴀɴ ᴇɴᴅɪɴɢ.”

Leon.

She hid in the shadows of the hallway, watching two of Trinity's soldiers exchange pleasantries, her grip on the compound bow tightened. She held her breath - you could have all the training in the world, but it won't mean shite if you can't focus - Roth's been gone so long, but his training remains. She pulls back on the string, raising her bow and letting the fletch brush against her cheek.

Breathe, steady - she then let the arrow fly, right in between the eyes of the soldier who hadn't quite made her out - she gets his comrade before he even goes to look her direction.

There was a certain level of lethality that Lara held. Sure, she would always be seen as just some girl, but to think that these bastards broke into her home, took him from her - they were sorely mistaken. You think they would've learned back in Siberia, the way she set fire to the Earth for Jonah - why would they think here would be any different?

For Leon? Heaven and Hell better be prepared for the influx of new residents.

She moves silently through the hallway, her headset buzzes with Zip's voice, "You okay, L.C.?"

"Tell me where to move from here," she says, straight to the point.

Zip's worked with her for only a couple of months and learned to just roll with it, "Left, takes you down another corridor. Listening to the feed, they're holding him in a solitary cell."

"How come?" She asks as she moves across the foyer, swinging a left at the corridor.

"Because when he came to, he killed two of the guards transporting him." Zip says, "Quite the man you got yourself."

The corner of her mouth quirked into a half smile, "Well, he is rather familiar with situations like this, Zip."

"TMI, Lara." Zip tsks as she readies her bow, "You have some hostiles when you round the corner again, so please, and I feel like I have to say it - be careful."

When she rounds the corner, bullets are quick to zip past her - she takes cover quickly, "I'm always careful, Zip," she opts for Matilda on her hip - a gun that Leon recently gifted her, she waits for a moment's pause before turning and shooting back - she aims for a fire extinguisher and takes advantage of the smoke.

She moves quickly and brutally. There was some part of Lara that enjoyed the adrenaline that came with a fight - she blocked an oncoming stab with her climbing axe, which she's carried since Yamatai. She swung the axe into the neck of the soldier, dragging it across - blood spraying back on her.

Zip watched from Croft Manor in morbid fascination - to see the Croft Heiress move with such violence - it was a bit of a surprise, Jonah had explained the last few years - everything with Yamatai, Sam, and continuing the search for immortality - there was more to Lara than met the eye.

Leon Kennedy was the American federal agent who had managed to bring Lara back to reality. It impressed Jonah, who had watched Lara grow increasingly isolated, so the fact that one person had brought her back made him a fan of Leon's. Leon made her laugh and crack a smile here and there, and the long distance was not even a problem.

Love was terrifying for Lara, but she felt it with Leon in an all-consuming way - she wondered if her parents felt this way about each other the more time she spent around Leon. It was the kind of love that made you crazy, that would push you to the limits of what a person could do for another.

Lara would kill for Leon, and he would do about the same.

While Lara was mowing down Trinity forces, Leon was biding his time in the makeshift solitary confinement, toying with the guards standing watch outside.

"You know, this is almost like a vacation for me," Leon says, staring through the bars in the door, "I'll say it'll be over in what, ten, twenty minutes? Gotta give my girl a minute to breathe."

One of the guys, some ex-SEALS guy named Eric, turns back, "Will you shut the fuck up?"

"Come in here and make me." Leon baited, "I can kick your ass even cuffed, got in good practice of it."

Eric huffed and looked to his comrade, Jerryd, "We should've dosed him up more."

"We can't kill him." Jerryd reminds him, "We eliminate Croft and then pretty boy in there."

"Aww, you think I'm pretty?" Leon says loudly, "Cute, if I could see past the balaclava, I'm pretty sure you're decent looking."

Eric turned and glanced at Leon through the bars, "I'll fucking shoot you if you don't shut up."

"Not before my girl gets to you, assuming she's probably down the hall." Leon says, "Notice how quiet it is? Now, I could just be saying that cause this used to be a solitary cell, or maybe you should go check on your friends."

Something about it ran chills down Jerryd's spine, "I'll go check on Gomez and Rodgers, keep an eye on him."

Eric nods, "Sure."

Hell hath no fury like Lara Croft.

The little power in the old prison went out. Jerryd held onto the assault rifle tightly, but it did nothing against the arrow that went straight into his eye.

Lara moved further before getting to the cell. She hid in the shadows - she toyed with Eric - shot an arrow into the wall closest to him. He goes to check out the noise, and then another arrow goes into the back of his skull. She takes out her flashlight and fishes the corpse for keys, and once she finds them, she goes to unlock the cell. She turns off her headset.

Her breathing heavily, covered in blood, and Leon thought she had to have been the most gorgeous creature she'd ever seen.

"Hello, love," She says, sighing, "So much for a surprise, eh?"

She goes behind him to undo the cuffs, he chuckles, "Well, you know me, I'm a romantic. Figured I'd do this whole scavenger hunt deal."

"Yeah?"

He hums before the cuffs come undone; he doesn't even go to rub at his wrists, he pulls her into his lap. She looks down at him as he looks up at her, "My hero, Lady Croft."

"We should get out of here." She says softly, her breath mingling with his - her lips brushing against his.

He sighs, "You're right."

Neither of them made no sense of urgency to move. His lips capture hers. She was eager, her body pressed against his. His hands move up her back, despite the gear she carried - he held her close - he was obsessed with her, and she was just the same, his teeth caught her lower lip - she pulls back, "Not here."

"Right," He huffs, swallowing thickly, "Right, okay, should get the hell out of here. How'd you get here?"

She climbs off his lap, "Well, figured you'd be glad to know I took the car."

He sighs, "Glad they didn't touch the car."

---

A few hours later, they check into a hotel room. Under a cover, for as far as they were aware, they were Mr. & Mrs. Kennedy, something Lara never really dared dream of being an option, given their careers - she'll always be on the hunt for something else, and him? Sent across the world or across the US, not like they'd be able to spend much of their time together.

They were given the honeymoon suite. The kind elderly woman wished Lara luck on the wedding night, to which Lara awkwardly said, "Thank you?"

Leon chuckled.

Bone-weary, sore, Lara peeled out of her clothes - tossing them to one side of the bathroom. New bruises blossom across her skin. Leon huffs behind her, "You alright?"

"As fine as I'll ever be." She says, stripped down to her underwear, "Join me?"

If there was ever a day that Leon had said no to that question, assume he was dying.

She waits for the water to get warm, and from the corner of her eye, she watches him undress. She could never get over just how perfect he was. She notes the fresh bruises on him, too - it seems like they were quite the pair, trouble always finding them.

The water was warm as it cascaded over her, relaxing her. Once he was undressed, he stepped into the shower behind her. His hands sought her, his head dropping to her shoulder.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

He inhales sharply, "Thank you for saving me."

She wrapped her hands around his across her stomach, "I love you, Leon."

She never dared to say it aloud, but tonight shook her enough that if they were to die tomorrow, it had to be said tonight.

He held her tighter, "I know, feelings' mutual, baby."

She turned in his arms, looking up at him - he, looking down at her like she was the most precious thing in the entire world, and to him, she absolutely was. Out of all the women in the world, no one was quite like Lara Croft, and he thanked whatever was looking out for him for the fact that their paths even crossed.

His lips on hers, he devoured her without a single thought - pressing her against the shower wall - the grime, the blood all going down the drain - Leon had never wanted someone so much. Her hands shot to his shoulders, her nails digging in as the two made out.

"I need you," He mumbles against her lips before kissing her once more.

"You have me." Her lips move from his to his jaw, his neck - he lifts her up, her legs instinctively wrap around his waist, "Always."

Lara and relationships were a mystery in themselves. She lowered one leg as Leon lined himself up with her entrance - teasing her. Lara hardly showed interest in anyone; it drove her friend Sam nuts. Before Yamatai, Lara went to clubs, and surely men found her attractive, but it seemed no one could keep up with her. She gasps as Leon sheaths himself inside her.

Then there was Leon, maybe the only man who really saw her in a way that no one seemed to - as he thrusts, her lips were on his - he could've died tonight, and Lara would've lost a whole half of herself. One of her hands shot to the back of his head, gripping it - forcing his eyes on her.

His hand snaked between their bodies, his fingers focusing on that little bundle of nerves that sent her tightening up around him as his cock hit that spongy spot inside her that had her shaking.

"You could've fucking died," Leon grunts as he fucks her, "I could've fucking lost you."

Things between them were usually of a rougher caliber, marks and hickeys worn to remember when the long distance usually kicks in. She pants against his mouth, holding onto him for dear life -

"I had to risk it," She says, holding back her moans, "Are we really going to argue about this now?"

He pulls out, setting her on her feet - legs wobbly, "Leon-"

"Bed." Was all he said.

Sex was a fight, not aggressive, but a constant tangle for dominance, and that was how she learned she liked and how he grew to enjoy it - Leon was used to being the one on top, but then upon meeting Lara, he liked the struggle for it -

And half the time, she won, and he wasn't going to argue it because the view from under her was so much more breathtaking. Her hand wrapped around his throat as she straddled him on the bed, he was so hard it hurt - throbbing against her cunt.

She inhaled sharply, "Say thank you."

"T-thank you." He mumbles, "But you could've-"

She silences him with a kiss, "I'm alright, I'm right here, and you're alright. That's all that matters."

Lara settled atop of him, she took a moment to adjust to the stretch - no matter how many times they've slept together - he was just big, the distance almost had every single time feeling like the first time.

She moved slowly, her hands finding his - holding them as she rode him, she watched his face -watching the telltale signs, his hands squeezed hers tighter. Her hips moved, she leaned over, her lips capturing his as she pinned his hands on either side of his head.

"I love you," she mutters to him, "I love you - I'd do anything for you."

He whines, "I know, I love you - I love you, Lara - shit - let me, let me-"

"No. Lay there like a good boy and let me take charge."

She lets go of his hands, just for them to shoot to her hips - guiding her, moving her - he goes to move up, his hips trying to meet hers on every time she moved down, her hands cupping his face.

He almost died. She almost died.

Her arms wrapped around his neck, holding him close to her breast -

“I love you,” he mumbles against her skin, his balls drawing up tight as his fingers shot between her legs, “come for me, baby, please -“

They came together, holding each other in the sweaty aftermath.