Chapter Text
"Hey, Sam, do you--" Nathan abruptly stopped talking--and walking--in front of Sam in the island underbrush, and Sam started catching up from where he was coming down the makeshift trail behind him.
"Nathan? S'matter--" Sam nearly bumped into his brother, who had his hands up. "Whoa whoa whoaaaaa," Nathan was saying quietly. "Take it eaaasy. Back up, Sam, back up--"
"What, is it a ledge--" Sam asked, looking over his brother's shoulder and finishing his own sentence abruptly as he saw what Nathan saw--which would be an arrow, drawn in a bow and only centimeters away from his baby brother's face.
The bushes parted a little further, to reveal the most beautiful--and most petite--woman Sam had ever seen. She was tanned, with brown hair in a disheveled ponytail, and wearing a roughed-up gray--or was it just a dirty green?--tank top and olive, formfitting hiking pants that showed off her muscular (albeit obviously tiny) physique. She had a strikingly flawless face, with the bone structure and elegance of a china doll, and chocolate-brown almond-shaped eyes that were fixed on Nathan.
And right now, those eyes looked scared and ready to kill.
They darted between the two of them, the woman obviously realizing that two against one was worse news for her, but her jaw tightened and her firm, steady grip on her bow kept the arrow taut as she started moving the bow between both of them nervously with quick little movements. Sam and Nathan both recognized the fear in her eyes, and the tension in her body made her look a bit like a baby deer out of its element--but the bow and the muscle were a stark contrast with that comparison, and firm reminders that she was still a threat.
"Hey hey hey, it's okay, we're all friends here," Sam said smoothly, making his voice a higher and lighter one and holding up his own hands. That arrow was still pointed way too close to his brother's face...if only he could get in front of Nathan...
Sam grimly wished that he'd been walking first.
Since Nathan's voice didn't seem to be working anymore--more from the shock than anything else, since he really had NOT been expecting to walk right into a tiny stunning little death-machine--Sam kept talking and turned on his ever-reliable charm like a switch.
"I'm Sam, and this is my brother Nathan," he said brightly, still keeping his voice light and his hands up. Nathan's hands had started to go down a little, his body automatically relaxing as he felt his brother taking charge. "Keep your hands up, Nathan, so she sees you're not a threat." Sam's voice was still casual--and actually a little joking, as he tested the woman's reactions--and he gave Nathan a little bump with his elbow to gently make him comply.
The small woman looked between the two of them, her eyes flickering nervously as Sam's joking, surprisingly relaxed tone threw her off. Sam sensed that his jovial bluff was working--when did it NOT work, he thought to himself smugly for a second--but kept his own hands up all the same, talking in his sardonic Boston voice.
"And we're not with Shoreline, if that's what you're thinkin'," he continued. Her eyes narrowed. "Are you why they're here?" Sam and Nathan both looked sheepish now. "Eh..." Sam waffled "WHY is a strong word. Call it a coincidence." Her gaze didn't let up, so he kept talking with a guilty shrug. "We're just minding our own business on a little treasure hunt, a'right?"
The woman's eyes seemed to shift and get more curious, although she hadn't lowered her arrow one bit (much to Nathan's chagrin). "T-treasure hunt?" Her voice was smoother and more velvety than Sam had expected from a woman her size; it had presence, and power, and even a slight huskiness to it. Not to mention what sounded like an English accent--and Sam was a sucker for anything that had THAT accent, as a side effect of growing up around rougher Boston ones like his own. For him, an English accent was the epitome of prim, proper, and sexy. Particularly this one.
Trying to get her to talk some more--and still wishing he could get in FRONT of his baby brother--Sam responded as cheerily as if they were just chatting on the street. "Yeah. Don't suppose you've seen any random 17th-century pirate utopias around here, have you?"
The woman blinked. "Actually, I have." The arrow lowered an inch, and Nathan released part of the breath he'd been holding while Sam raised an eyebrow--but then Elena caught up to them, from where she'd gone off to scout a little, and the new arrival made the woman panic and re-tighten her position, moving her aim with lightning-speed to point towards Elena. "Whoaaaa," Elena said, putting up her own hands and stopping in her tracks as the woman's arrow fixed on her. Sam and Nathan both noticed the stranger visibly jolt when she saw another woman there, particularly a woman closer to her height, and Sam recognized the reluctant settling in her eyes: she was relaxing. Clearly Elena's presence was some kind of good sign in her mind.
"Hi," Elena said warmly, her down-to-earth nature already coming out. "I'm Elena, and I see you've already met Nathan and Sam. We're not here to cause any trouble."
The woman lowered the bow slowly, grudgingly, and straightened. Nathan practically sagged in relief--he didn't love seeing ELENA threatened, either--and Sam put a bracing arm around his brother's shoulder and the other hand on his own abs, breathing out in a cheery little "whew".
"I'm Lara."
Nathan stood up straighter. "Wait--" Sam perked up, hearing the change in Nathan's voice that meant he was excited "Bow and arrow, brown hair, sho--STRONG," he quickly changed his word, seeing Lara start to raise a challenging eyebrow when he was obviously about to say 'short' "You're...are you Lara Croft? THE Lara Croft?"
Lara looked between the three of them, suddenly looking bashful. "Y-yes?" she said tentatively, looking so unexpectedly adorable that Sam felt himself start to smirk a little.
"Victor Sullivan's told me about you. US about you." Nathan gestured to Elena and himself, and Sam bristled a little at feeling left out. Dammit, he thought, I'm the only one who doesn't know who this girl IS.
"She's one of us; Sully's worked with her," Nate said cheerfully, tapping Sam's arm companionably. "He says people call you the Tomb Raider," he said to Lara now, looking so much like a proud little-boy who'd gotten an answer right that Lara couldn't help a little laugh from coming through her lips. It was a small one, but all three other people visibly relaxed more upon hearing it. And Sam caught himself wondering what it'd be like to see her smile.
"I suppose they do," she admitted sheepishly. "And you must be Nathan Drake." Nate preened at that. She kept speaking, sagging a little. "I'm sorry," she gestured down at her bow awkwardly, and Sam's mouth quirked at hearing the cute English accent again. "It's been a...difficult day," she conceded in a tiny voice, looking genuinely worn out in a way that suggested her sentence had been a HUGE understatement. Sam became aware again of how roughed-up she looked, and felt some guilt come back. They WERE the reason Shoreline was here, after all...
"You're hurt." Elena gestured to a bloody spot on Lara's lower right abdomen. "It only hurts if I think about it," the woman responded, voice breaking just a little. She swallowed hard before wiping some dirt off her forehead. "I-I didn't expect anyone else to BE here." It sounded like such a genuine confession that Sam felt the guilt keep rising.
"Sorry." Nate looked rueful, too. "Guess we kind of ruined your vacation, huh?"
Lara laughed a little at that again, putting her bow over her shoulder deftly. Sam discerned--from that motion and from the easy way she'd maneuvered the bow--that she'd done it many times.
She looked off to the side, examining her surroundings and obviously collecting herself, before straightening again. "Look, I've got to go, but I have seen your utopia. It's just back that way, off to the right through a ravine." Nathan and Sam's faces brightened. "And here," Lara reached into a pocket--gingerly, to avoid moving her torso--and took out some yellowed letters. "I've been finding letters like these on a few bodies; they'll probably be of more use to you." She handed them to Nathan.
"Wait." Sam looked at her curiously. "You're not here for Libertalia?"
"No," Lara said, looking between the three of them, her expression withdrawing into a more neutral one. "I came here for something...else." All three opened their mouths to ask more, but she was already moving off to the left. "I'm stealing a boat from Shoreline to get out of here, since they destroyed mine" she said briskly, pausing for a second. "Would you like me to get one for you as well? There's a cove just over there" she nodded her head back a ways "that I could hide it in for you to take."
Elena smiled. "Nah, we've got a plane to catch."
Lara smiled a tiny smile. "Victor?"
"Who the hell else?" Nathan asked, beaming.
"All right then. Good luck," she said, walking backwards with a reserved, polite little wave before turning around and vanishing into the undergrowth.
"You too," Nathan called after her. "Well, that was fun. To Libertalia we go then," he chirped cheerily as they started walking. Sam walked alongside him in tandem, looking back the way Lara had gone for a second. "She's a cutie," he said, surprisingly affectionately. "I like her." It sounded more like he was musing to himself, and less like his usual flirtatious comments, so Nate glanced at him with a smile.
"Yeah, aside from being a little skittish. But we can't really blame her for that. I mean, it is our FAULT that she's had a lousy trip to King's Bay and all," Nate responded with a laugh, looking down at where his feet were going now as they hiked downhill.
"Wonder what she was looking for," Sam murmured. "Hey, you think there's something on this island more valuable than Libertalia?"
"Or maybe it's something that was IN Libertalia," Nate responded. "Maybe she already has it. I mean, she WAS leaving."
"That was a nice offer about the boat."
"Yeah. Classy move."
"I'm a little surprised that you guys haven't crossed paths before," Elena chimed in behind them. "Especially if you're both working with Sully."
"I know, that's what I told him too. What're the odds?"
"So what d'you know about her?" Sam asked, curious, as they started hopping down some rocks.
"Well, let me think," Nate said with a cheery little huff as he finished a mud slide, turning around to help the other two up. "Like I said, bow and arrow--but good with pistols, too, according to Sully--brunette, SHORT" he lowered his voice with that one, as if she was still there to hear him.
"Yeah, nice save with that one, by the way," Elena smirked teasingly.
Nate laughed. "Other than that, I mean--" they started climbing up a cliff-side "smart, tough, resourceful, beautiful--" Sam gave a little hum of approval at that "--kind of quiet, but easy to work with. And good at what she does, too--I mean, obviously, because she's still ALIVE. I think Sully mentioned her starting in normal, legal archaeology, but something happened to make her go off the beaten path."
"'Easy to work with'?" Sam said, climbing up a little behind Nathan "IIIII don't know, Nathan, I get the feeling she could be pretty feisty. Napoleon complex, you know? Like those cute little dogs that always wanna bite your head off."
"Pretty sure that's NOT something you should ever say to her face," Elena laughed.
"Ha. Can you imagine?" Sam chuckled as he climbed. "Looked like she was good with that bow, too," he added thoughtfully, impressed.
"Yeah," Nate said as they reached the cliff's summit, "She is." Something behind some vines caught his eye, and he beckoned Sam over. "Look. It's Avery's sigil."
Sam grinned so wide, he felt like his face might break. "Libertalia, here we come." And with an optimistic toss of the Scottish coin between his fingers, off they went--with Sam only briefly imagining Miss Lara Croft speeding away on a motorboat.