Not very long, but I hope you'll be able to enjoy this oneshot.

Puzzled, the legionnaire ran his fingers through his hair, not able to think straight. He had been wide awake since somewhere around midnight, one arm softly wrapped around the young woman next to him, constantly staring into the distance, just so he wouldn't have to look at her. Even before this night, he had always been sure of the fact that he would never have the strength to resist her, not after being separated for so long – and still, he had followed her invitation, had stepped inside the manor and had enfolded her in his arms, not wanting to ever let her go again.

Ironically, that was exactly what he would have to do now.

Taking a deep breath, the former mercenary averted his gaze, looked at the archaeologist in his arms and carefully stroked her cheek. A subconscious smile appeared on his lips, so pure and full of love, that his throat immediately felt constricted. She should not have warm feelings for him – after all, he was wanted in over twenty countries, even his friends were betting whether or not he would make it out alive in the end; there were already too many dangers in his life. He would have to leave her sooner or later, most certainly before she would wake up, and he would surely feel her hurt and anger in his own heart even weeks after that, until she would finally give up on him. Until she would forget him.

"I've never been a good liar – you should have known it", Trent mumbled more to himself than to her and shook his head bitterly. Throughout the night he had often mentally dived into the tomb raider's dreams, had used his powers to calm her down and give her a few more hours of sleep, to make her trust him. And now he would have to take that trust away from her again, trust he did not deserve in the first place. Very soon she would not feel anything but disappointment for him; and even if he actually wanted her to forget him – for her own good, of course – leaving her would probably break him.

Carefully, Kurtis pushed Lara off of his chest, pulled the soft blanket up again and covered her with it. Then he got up, picked his clothes off the floor and got dressed as quietly as possible without looking at her again, even though she seemed to still be sleeping. He simply could not take the risk of looking in those bright green eyes again and feeling forced to tell her the truth. He would probably not even be able to withstand her confused, scared gaze for twenty seconds without pushing her back into the sheets and kissing her. Whenever Lara was involved, he could be strong and weak at the same time, could defeat demons and in the same moment be so soft and loving that it almost scared him. She was the poison and the relief, his only weak point.

And she would never survive a day in his reality, no matter how strong she was.

A quiet, hurting whimper forced the Lux Veritatis to turn around instantly, ready to execute possible enemies before they could lay a finger on his tomb raider – but nobody else was there. Only her tiny body was lying on the giant mattress, her consciousness barely there. She was waking up. Damn it.

"Hey, hey", he whispered with a soft tone of voice, sat down on the edge of the bed and slowly stroked her pale cheek. "It's okay honey, I'm here. No one's going to hurt you as long as I'm here, with you. Just … sleep a little bit longer, sweetheart."

"…Kurtis?" Her quiet, tearful voice almost broke his heart. "Please, don't leave me. I … I need you, no matter how crazy it may seem." She creased her face, opened her eyes and looked at him in misery. "I love you."

Shaking his heart, Kurtis grabbed her hand and sighed helpless. "I don't want you to get hurt because of me – I can't let you face all this danger. You're so fragile, so … mortal."

"I am", she said, pulling him closer and kissing him feather-lightly. "But as long as you're with me, I'm just as immortal as you are."