The desert hates you.

It hates your lungs, your skin, the way the sun presses down like it’s trying to grind you into the sand.

Lara, of course, looks perfectly at home.

“Come on,” she calls over her shoulder, goggles pushed up, confidence sharp as ever. “The tomb should be just beyond the ridge.”

“Just beyond the ridge,” you repeat dryly, stumbling through the dunes. “You said that an hour ago.”

She smirks. “And yet—you’re still alive.”

Barely.

By the time you reach the half-buried stone entrance, the heat is brutal and the air feels wrong. Ancient. Still.

“This place hasn’t been touched in centuries,” Lara murmurs, brushing sand from the carvings. Her excitement is quiet but electric.

You hesitate. “Lara… this doesn’t feel safe.”

She pauses, then turns to you—really turns this time. “I wouldn’t bring you if I didn’t trust you.”

That shuts you up.

Inside, the tomb is cool but claustrophobic. Every step echoes. Every shadow feels like it’s watching.

A pressure plate clicks.

“Don’t move,” Lara says instantly.

Too late.

The floor drops.

You barely have time to gasp before you’re sliding toward a pit of spikes. Lara lunges, grabbing your wrist, her boots skidding on stone.

“Hold on!” she snaps.

Your grip slips.

For one terrifying second, you think she won’t make it.

Then she anchors herself, muscles straining, jaw clenched as she hauls you back up inch by inch.

When you finally collapse beside her, your hands are shaking.

She’s breathing just as hard.

“That was—” you start.

“Don’t,” she cuts in, softer than usual. “I should’ve seen it.”

You look at her, surprised. Lara Croft doesn’t usually admit mistakes.

The deeper you go, the more the tomb tests you—collapsing corridors, ancient traps, narrow escapes. Each time, you move closer together. Each time, the space between you shrinks.

At one point, you’re pinned between her and the wall as arrows slam into stone inches from your head.

You can feel her breath.

Her heartbeat.

“Still okay?” she whispers.

You nod. “As long as you don’t let go.”

Her hand tightens around yours. “I won’t.”

By the time you reach the central chamber and secure the artifact, the tension between you is heavier than the heat outside.

When you finally emerge into the desert night, stars blazing overhead, Lara exhales slowly.

“You trusted me,” she says, almost to herself.