Danger Is What You Taste Like | Sam Drake x Lara Croft

11. Flash Flood

Although Lara was navigating, as she was the only one with half a clue as to where they needed to go, Jonah had taken the passenger seat next to Sully, who had vehemently refused to sit anywhere that wasn't behind the wheel. That left the tomb raider and Sam sitting in the back seat, though Sam didn't mind it one bit and Lara seemed content with their arrangement as well.

There was a sturdy metal case tucked beneath Sully's seat, bolted down with plenty of rope to ensure it didn't shift even an inch beneath the seat or worse, go flying out if they hit a bump, of which there had been plenty so far.

Earlier that same morning, Lara and Sam had carefully packed the globus cruciger and the crown into a special storage case to ensure they didn't break during the trip. They couldn't risk leaving them at the inn, not when Sully and Jonah had decided to accompany them in their search for the queen and there was a chance that they might need the artifacts anyways. Plus, if Chase somehow figured out where they were staying in town, they didn't want to leave anything behind that could aid him in his search for the Queen of Thorns.

Lara had marvelled at how delicate Sam could be with artifacts, clearly aware of how fragile they were after centuries of slow decay.

Sam saw treasure where she saw a link to long-forgotten, undocumented moments in history but he clearly cared about preserving the integrity of the artifacts they were hunting, even if it was to ensure he received a fancy paycheck printed with lots of trailing zeros. Their end goals were different but their thought processes were the same and for Lara, that meant the world to her even though she would never admit it aloud.

She knew herself well enough that things would quickly get awkward and the last thing she wanted was to embarrass herself in front of Sam. But still, there was something to be said about having a partner who cared about artifacts as much as she did.

Can you imagine David handling the crown the way Sam did? Lara asked herself, resisting the urge to scoff.

She could see him clumsily dropping the crown on the table or the floor and shattering it into a million pieces before attempting to brush it off as something that "wasn't even worth it, old girl!" and she bristled just thinking about that non-existent, hypothetical situation.

Fortunately, David had packed up and gone home to England, where Lara hoped he would stay. She wouldn't even wish the agony he had inflicted upon her on her worst enemy and hoped that he hadn't started chasing after some other poor girl who would have to struggle to resist his advances just as she had.

The inn owner had off-handedly mentioned his relief regarding the departure of a very annoying patron and right away, Lara knew he had been referring to David and couldn't have been more relieved to hear that one boogeyman was out of her life for good.

Well, she still had Chase Carver to worry about but compared to David, he would be a piece of cake to deal with, for he wasn't quite the poltergeist he thought himself to be.

"You'll want to keep heading towards that spire, Victor," she instructed. They could see the shadow of a tall tower in the distance, getting closer and closer with every passing second, and were sure to stumble upon it sooner or later.

Sam looked over when he spotted a flash of brown and saw it was Lara's hair billowing in the wind, and he couldn't help but remember the feel of her soft hair brushing against his skin when he'd hugged her last night. He wished he could do that again, caress her soft hair and inhale the sweet scent of lavender that seemed to naturally cling to her skin almost like it was a part of her but their hug had been a one-time thing and it was better to leave some things unsaid even if he wanted more.