Alister stood at the edge of the precipice, shivering. Part of the shivering was caused by being in the Highlands in the middle of winter but most of it was the thought that he was about to abseil down the sheer rock face. He watched Lara descend gracefully, amazed at how confident she was about doing this. This was her job though, he thought to himself as he saw her land at the bottom. She gestured at him.

"Come on Alister, it's your turn now!" She said. He took a deep breath.

"Remind me why I am doing this again!" He screamed back, taking hold of the ropes. He saw her sigh at the bottom as this was the thirtieth time he had asked this as they had got to this point on the mountain.

"You need this for your PhD and you need to stop being such a scardy cat! I thought you might worry less about me if you went with me yourself," she said, taking the ropes at her end to guide him.

Ah, his PhD, he thought amusedly. After guiding Lara on her last adventure for Excalibur through researching he had become fascinated about that time and what they were searching for fit in perfectly. He sighed and looked down, vertigo engulfing him. He squeezed his eyes shut and called back.

"I can't Lara, I'm going to fall, and I know it!" He panicked. He felt his feet slip against the rocks, causing an increase in his panic but he stabilised. His breathing became rapid and his heart hammered in his chest. He was going to die today, he knew that.

"Alister, I've got you, just take it slow and you'll be all right," she called, her voice taking on a soothing tone. He nodded to himself; the point of this trip was to be less useless and scared. He could do this. He put his back to the edge and slowly walked towards the edge, taking a deep breath as he felt his heels go over the edge. He pushed back and placed his feet solidly against the rock face and leaned back into his harness. He had done some abseiling in his university days, over a decade ago now, but had done nothing like this. It was mainly on the indoor walls the university had, nothing like this rock face he was currently hanging off. He started to walk down the rock face, his steps becoming more sure the lower he got. Before he knew it he had hit the ground and Lara was helping him detach himself from the harness.

"Well done, Alister," she said, patting him on the back. "You're more of a man than Zip." They smirked to each other.

"Hey, I resent that!" Zip cried on the radio. "You know I'd do it better than you any day!" Lara laughed.

"Then why aren't you here instead of Alister? I'm glad to see you're still awake." She said, looking over at Alister.

"You know that you need my tech support, without me you would never have found this," Zip said, defensively. Both Lara and Alister could imagine the indigent look on his face.

"Oh, I think Winston could manage," she said. That was very true, he may look like the epitome of the genteel butler but there was a lot more behind the old man than meets the eye. Zip grunted and said nothing.

"So Lara, the artefact is in the cave just below us?" Alister said, looking down the slight incline which led to a very dark cave, a prospect which he was not looking forward to. Lara nodded.

"Yes, the cave contains the crown of Áedán mac Gabráin," she said, taking the PDA and reading over the information that she had collated with the help of Alister. Zip was going to be updating the information with the help of Winston as they found more information about the Celtic king and where his crown is likely to be hidden in the cave. "I hope I won't be disappointed." He heard the hard edge to her voice. Ever since she had seen her mother in Avalon, she had been desperate to see her again. She was going to do anything to get to her and after this they would be heading to Wales to another point where according to legend it was possible to get to Avalon. Another problem they were encountering was Amanda. Ever since Lara had stopped her, Amanda had been more determined to make her own way to Avalon by any means possible. Even during their journey they had encountered some of Amanda's men but had managed to evade them. Lara checked her equipment once more before going to the edge of the incline before gesturing to Alister to go next to her. He nervously approached, looking at the loose rocks with a worried expression.

"Take my hand," Lara said, taking his hand. "Hold on tight and you will be fine." Alister sighed and adjusted his rucksack before standing next to her. "Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be," he said and Lara pulled on his hand and then they were sliding down to the cave. He stumbled as they hit the ground, catching himself before he could fall face first into the dirt. Lara was grinning as he dusted himself off.

"That was exhilarating wasn't it?" She sounded breathless and looked beautiful with her flushed skin and bright eyes. Alister said nothing and rechecked his backpack before taking out his torch.

"I suppose we're going to have to go in aren't we?" Alister said, shining his torch into the cave, which looked daunting.

"Oh yes, Alister," Lara was grinning broadly. She was obviously excited about the prospect of going into the darkness of the cave. "Come on, we've not got all day!" She walked forward, turning on her light. "Zip have you got the location of the crown?"

"Yeah, it's right in the centre of the cave. There's a ravine to traverse and lake nearby," Zip said. Alister groaned. "Cheer up Alister! It could be worse!"

"How could it be worse?" Alister said, the scepticism filling his voice.

"There are no traps," Zip said. "You've just got to go straight ahead until you reach the edge of the ravine before scaling that and you're right by the lake. There should be some kind of symbols where the crown is hidden, a curse if the reading me and Winston had done is right." Alister's face drained of blood.

"Lara, I'm not sure if I want to do this," Alister said, shuffling away from the cave entrance. Lara grabbed him.

"I need you," she said. "You have studied runes more than I have; this is your area of expertise." Wow, he thought, she needs me."Besides, you wouldn't want Zip to be crowing about this, would you?"

"You're right," he said, sighing softly as she let go of his arm. They both walked into the cave, both of their hearts racing. Lara was tense and watching around her for anything unusual with Alister walking close behind her, wary of his surroundings.

They got to the ravine with no problems but Lara suddenly tensed and pushed him behind a rock, covering him with her body. Alister was very aware of her breasts against his chest and her lips being so close to his, their breaths were mingling. If it wasn't for the fear and the seriousness of the situation, he would have kissed her. Lara's actions were proved correct when gun fire came from where they had just jumped from. Lara jumped up and shot from behind the rock and managed to get one of the men before going back behind the rock to reload.

"Damn," Lara said. "Amanda's men have found the cave." She jumped back out and fired some more shots. Soon it went silent. Alister panicked because he thought that Lara...he couldn't even finish that thought.

"Lara?" He called and peered around the rock, frightened at what he might find. He found Lara standing over the bodies of the two men who had attacked them.

"Alister, I'm fine but I can't say the same for them however," she said, putting the guns in her holsters.

"Lara, Alister, you've got to get moving. More of Amanda's men are coming," Zip said in their earpieces. "You just need to get down the ravine and it should be to the left once you're down there." Lara nodded and got her climbing equipment out.

"Thanks Zip," Lara said before assisting Alister in getting his sorted. Once the pair of them were kitted up, they approached the edge of the ravine and attached their ropes to the rocks, making sure they were solid. Lara went to the edge first and took a deep breath before beginning her journey down. The ravine was about a hundred foot down, not too bad considering the heights she dealt with but for the inexperienced Alister, it was frightening despite his earlier attempt. Lara got down quickly and called up to Alister for him to start. Alister began to slowly descend but footsteps came from above him, followed by gun fire.

"Quickly, Alister!" Lara yelled, her voice echoing around the cave. Alister tried to increase his pace but kept slipping against the rocks, as his panic set in. Unfortunately, one the bullets managed to catch his shoulder, causing a great deal of pain. He let go of the rope with his injured hand and began to slide down quickly. Lara grabbed his ropes and made a move to catch him. Once he was down and out of the gun fire, she began to shoot at the men who were beginning their own descent. She managed to get one of the men whose body hung from the rope. The other managed to evade her fire and make it to the ground. This just made her job easier as she managed to kick his gun out of his gun before smacking around the head, knocking him out cold. She considered putting a bullet through his head but decided against it, she hated to kill when it was unnecessary despite her anger at hurting one of her best friends. She went over to Alister who was clutching at his shoulder, where she saw the blood staining through his coat, he was bleeding pretty badly. She began to worry; she would not be able to forgive herself if anything had happened to him. She got out a first aid kit and got him topless and tended to his wounds. Her eyes flicked to his torso and she unconsciously licked her lips. For such a geeky bloke he was surprisingly well toned despite his paleness. He hissed as she touched the wound to clean and cover it.

"Sorry, you've got to only put up with this for a little longer," she said as she covered it. She smiled as she helped him with his clothes. "Zip, Alister's been hit. Can you make sure the helicopter can get over to us? Amanda's going to regret this."

"Is he okay?" Zip asked, concern for his friend whom he cared for despite their sparring.

"I'm fine, it just hurts," Alister said, grimacing slightly. Lara helped him get up and they went over to the indent in the cave where the crown was supposed to be. Alister read the runes over and told Lara what it meant. "The runes say that any person who takes the crown will cause a curse to be put upon them, more or less." He scoffed but Lara raised an eyebrow.

"It's a risk we're going to have to take that risk aren't we?" She said whilst taking the key that they had stolen from a museum in Yorkshire, the museum had no idea what it was. The key was turned and she pulled the stone from the rest of the cliff face, revealing an alcove with an unremarkable gold crown with a smattering of precious stones within it. Alister looked decidedly unimpressed.

"Is this it?" He asked, looking the crown over and taking it with his uninjured hand. Lara looked at him disapprovingly.

"Alister, I'm surprised at you. I thought you would have realised by now that looks can be deceiving," She said, taking the crown back from him and putting it in her backpack. "We better get out of here, you need proper medical care and more of Amanda's men are most likely on their way here." Alister and Lara walked back together and she helped him with his kit before making sure she had everything. "Look, can you hold the rock okay?"

"I think I'll be okay," he said and tried to grab onto the rock but winced as he put his weight upon it.

"Alister, you're not okay," Lara said and got her own equipment on and attached it to Alister. "Hold on to me and put your feet on the rock. He complied and they made slow progress up the ravine. Once they had made it up the ravine, they quickly detached themselves before getting out of the cave as fast as possible. She threw a hooked rope to the top of the slope and make sure it was taught before tying Alister to it and attaching herself to it. She led them up the slippery slope and eventually got them away from the cave. At the top, they encountered some more of Amanda's men, who Lara dispatched quickly, venting her anger into the action. She couldn't believe that she had put him into such danger, but then she had underestimated Amanda's desperation in her quest for Avalon. She watched as Alister collapsed from the effort and the blood loss he had suffered. Lara felt scared for him; she really didn't want to lose him.

"Zip, can you give me an idea of how long the helicopter is going to be? Alister has passed out and he needs to get to a hospital soon," she said, the worry evident in her voice.

"It's going to be a couple of minutes according tracker I've got," he said. Lara sighed and sat down next to Alister and held him to her, one of her hands on one of her pistols.

Over the couple of years that they had known each other, she had developed some inexplicable feelings for him. When they first met they had both been in a library in Oxford, where she was studying for a job she had been asked to do by an American museum and he had been studying the same subject for his PhD. They had been getting the same book and got into a little argument about it. In the end his chivalry won out but his wit and intelligence had intrigued her so she left him her number and made an offer to be her personal researcher. He did not seem keen until he realised who she was and who her father was. After that he had practically lived in her house and helped with her research. Despite his annoying worrying and smart arse-ness, he had endeared himself to her with her genuine care for her wellbeing and their interesting discussions. The closest thing had to any sort of non-platonic feeling with a guy was Kurtis Trent and that didn't end well exactly. She sighed as she stroked his hair gently, noticing how young he looked with his eyes closed. He wasn't going to let him die, she had lost far too many people in her life and finally having some friends after many years alone was a relief and a joy. It was something that she didn't want to lose.

Lara gently laid Alister down as she heard the approaching helicopter and got up, waving her arms to alert the helicopter to their position. A rope with a clip to attach to her belt was lowered and she clipped Alister to it before grabbing it, using her body to support him as they were lifted into the helicopter. The pilot radioed the nearest hospital in Inverness to tell them that they were coming whilst Lara laid Alister down and watched him closely, praying silently that he would be okay.

Alister woke up a few hours later, slightly disoriented. He seemed to have dreamt that he had just gone an adventure with Lara and been shot. When he fully awoke and took in his surroundings and the condition of his shoulder he realised that it had not been a dream. He glanced to his right and saw Lara asleep in the chair next to his bed. She had waited for him, which surprised him a little bit because he thought she'd be off trying to get to Avalon or simply chasing Amanda and her men. He sat up a little bit, struggling against all the drips that had been put in his arm and his movement made Lara stir.

"Alister, I see you're awake. Are you okay?" Lara asked. Alister smiled and nodded. "Good, I was worried that we had lost you there." Lara laughed and Alister could not help but join in but soon stopped as it aggravated his shoulder injury.

"Why are you here, Lara?" Alister asked once the laughter died down. It was really unlike her wait like this, least of all for him. Although he had never been shot before, the point still stood.

"I just needed to make sure you were alright," she said, earnestly. Alister smiled, his face colouring a little bit.

"Thank you," he said. She kissed him on the cheek, allowing her lips to linger upon his cheek, surprising both of them.

"I couldn't just leave you," she said. "I thought you could have died and I really could not have lived with myself if that had happened." She took his hand and held it for hours until the nurse told her to go home. When she was about to go she kissed him on the lips, lingeringly, promising so much when they got back.

"I love you, Lara," Alister said, as she turned her back to him to leave.

"I know," she replied, brushing it off with a shrug, attributing it to his drugged state.

Alister was released the next day and was picked up by Winston in the helicopter, leaving him disappointed. The ride was silent and gave him a lot of time to think about things. What did all this mean? She kissed him but yet did not return. He sighed, his head fuzzy from all the drugs that had been pumped into him during his brief stay in hospital. He knew that as soon as he recovered that things would be back to normal and their kiss and the unspoken promise would be forgotten. He closed his eyes and leaned against the seat, the noise of the helicopter blocking his thoughts out, a relief for his overactive mind.

Arriving at Croft Manor, Alister was greeted by a visibly relieved Zip. That did not stop him from slapping Alister's injured shoulder, causing Alister's smile to turn to a grimace.

"Hey, glad to have you back, buddy," Zip said before leading Alister back inside to the chairs near the fire and going back to the computers. "I'd chat more but I'm guiding Lara to the Avalon access point in Wales." Both men nodded, knowing how important this was to Lara. Alister had lost his parents years ago and could understand Lara's desire to see her mother and bring her back. They were concerned for their employer and friend because they did not know what she would do if it went wrong. Zip kept guiding her whilst Alister sat in his chair, lightly snoozing. After a couple of hours, Alister got up and went to the library to see if there was anything he could do to help and he simply wanted to get away from the commentary of events which was causing him a great deal of worry towards the woman he cared so much for.

He poured through books although he knew it would not help her for hours to simply take his mind off what Lara was going through. He absorbed himself in the tales of the Scottish kings and Welsh druids, just anything that might give him a clue to getting to Avalon and how Lara might rescue her mother. It was in vain as the books he had were almost useless on the subject and just gave him more information for his PhD rather than anything useful.

He became so focused on his reading that he almost missed the door opening and the entrance of a battered and bruised Lara. Alister got up and saw the lost expression on her face.

"Lara, are you alright?" He asked, watching her carefully. Her face crumbled and tears fell from her eyes as her body began to collapse. Alister quickly caught her and brought her into his arms, ignoring the pain in his shoulder. He sat down in one of the chairs and cradled her. He stroked her face as she cried her heart out and waited for her to begin speaking. Soon her sobs began to subside and she began to speak.

"I-I-I've been so s-s-selfish," she said, her voice on the verge of breaking. "My mother was happy in Avalon and I was going to take that away from her." He soothed her by stroking her cheek and gently kissing her forehead.

"No one could blame you for wanting her back," he said, resting his cheek on her forehead. "I would do anything to get my parents back but I know that I can't." Lara looked up at him; her eyes wide with tears making her look so young.

"I put you in danger through for my own selfishness," she sobbed. "I didn't even stay to make sure you got home all right." Alister shook his head and tightened his hold on her.

"You had to do this or you would never have found out that your mother was okay," he said, wiping some of the stray tears from her cheeks. "And I would not have missed yesterday for the world, as terrifying as it was."

"Thank you," she whispered and leant up, pressing her lips to his. He closed his eyes briefly but pulled back.

"Lara, you're not in your right mind," he said as he felt the tears she had left on his cheeks. "Don't do this because I won't be able to stop myself once I start. I love you Lara so much it hurts." Her face fell slightly.

"I didn't know," she said, an expression of remorse on her face. She rested her face against his chest, her mind going over the events of the day. It was a traumatic day for her and her mind was reeling trying to comprehend what had happened. She felt comforted by Alister's arms around her and the smell of his aftershave.

"Let's get you cleaned up," Alister said, noticing that she was relaxing and how dirty she was. She looked up and nodded. This was extremely unlike her but the day had been a shock to her so it was all she could do and he relished the chance to look after her instead of it being the other way around. He helped her up and they walked to her bedroom with its en suite shower. She helped her undress before turning on the shower and making sure it was hot enough before leading her towards it and helping her in. "Are you okay to do this on her own?" He asked, trying not to look at her wet, naked body. She nodded so he left her to wash whilst he went to found her some clothes. He found some silk pyjamas and matching underwear in her drawers and then went to see if there was a first aid kit anywhere so he could treat some of the cuts and bruises she had sustained in her quest for Avalon.

Once he had gotten everything together he went back into the bathroom and picked up a fluffy warm towel and bathrobe to help her dry. He was distressed to see her sitting the corner of the shower, her shoulders shaking as she cried her heart out once more. He mentally kicked himself; he should not have left her when she was in such a fragile state. He took his top off, wincing slightly as he moved his shoulder out of the sleeve and went over to her, getting soaked in the shower, his glasses steaming up. He took those off and put them to the side before helping the sobbing woman up.

"Shh, it will get better, I promise," he said as he wrapped her in a towel and led her out of the shower room and to her bed. He sat her down and began to dry her off.

"You didn't need to do this," she said, her eyes puffy and her voice weak. He smiled slightly and looked her in the eyes.

"I want to," he said before resuming his careful drying of her before putting the underwear onto her. He then got out the first aid kit and treated her wounds with such a gentle touch; it made her want to cry. He was treating her like she was made of porcelain; no one ever did that because of her adventuring and general self sufficiency. She sighed as his hands gently tended to the wounds on her legs; his tending to her was making her feel better inside and out. She could feel how much he cared through this. When he had finished he kissed her forehead and helped her into her pyjamas.

"You sleep now," Alister said, reluctantly getting ready to leave her to get some needed rest. "You'll feel a little better in the morning." He wasn't going to lie to her because he could sense the extreme amount of pain she was in emotionally. Those wounds would not be so easy to treat.

"Please stay," Lara said in a small voice. He couldn't leave her now she had asked him to stay so he nodded and helped her into bed before kicking off his shoes and getting in himself. She snuggled into him and he put his arms around her. She fell asleep quickly and he stayed awake watching her until sleep engulfed him as well, dreams haunted by her.

Alister was woken up by knock on the door and was immediately aware of the woman still asleep next to him and his surroundings. He gently detached himself from her before answering the door. It was Winston with a tray of breakfast things and he looked the tiniest bit surprised to find Alister there.

"Some breakfast for Lady Croft," Winston said and handed him the tray. Alister nodded.

"Thank you, Winston," he said. "She is still asleep so would it possible for you to bring something up for her a little bit later?" Winston nodded.

"Yes, Mister Fletcher," he said and made his elegant retreat back towards the main part of the house. Alister went back to the bed where Lara was still asleep, looking beautiful because she seemed so relaxed. He sipped the tea that was on the tray and munched on the toast that was there as he watched her, careful not to get crumbs anywhere. She began to stir so Alister put down the tray and waited for her to wake up.

"Alister?" Lara asked as she opened her eyes, being aware of the lack of a person next to her.

"Good morning," he said. "Can I get you anything?" Lara shook her head. Her eyes went to the wound on his shoulder and noticed his wince when he tried to move it.

"Thank you, Alister," she said. "For the last couple of days you've been amazing. I really needed you." Alister smiled and reddened a little. He shrugged.

"It was nothing," he said. Lara raised an eyebrow.

"I wouldn't say taking a bullet was nothing," she said, grinning. Alister grinned back, relieved that her sense of humour hadn't been damaged by the events of the last couple of days. She patted the bed to encourage him to sit with her. "I realised that I have feelings for you over the last couple of days. Actually it's been longer but I've just been confronted with them." Alister's mouth hung open. "Before you say I'm not in my right mind, I do know what I'm saying. It's going to take time for me to fully recover from it and I'm going to need your support but I would like to take things slowly." Alister nodded.

"I didn't know how you felt about me and I'm pleased and would not expect you rush into anything, especially what has happened to you," Alister said and took her hand. "Of course I'm going to support you; I'd hate myself if I didn't." He gently kissed her cheek. "Is there anything I can get you?" She nodded meekly.

"I'm famished," she said. Alister nodded and got up.

"I'll just get Winston to bring something up," he said before opening the door and exiting.

"Don't be too long!" Lara called, causing Alister to smile.

A few weeks after the events related to Avalon, Lara slowly recovered from her guilt with help from Alister. They were sitting in the grounds on a glorious spring day, taking the time to enjoy the brief respite from the research they were doing for her next quest. They were sipping tea on a blanket, Lara leaning against Alister's chest, discussing their research.

"According to the findings the sword of Babylon was buried somewhere in Israel," Alister said. Lara shifted against him.

"So I'm going to Israel then?" She said smiling, she loved to travel. He nodded.

"Do be careful," he said, constantly worried about her, more so now. She grinned and kissed him.

"You worry about me too much," she said. He shrugged.

"I can't help it with the life you lead," he said. Lara rolled her eyes.

"If you came with me then you would worry less," she said, resting her head on his shoulder. Alister laughed.

"The last time I went I got shot," he said. "I think that travelling with you is too dangerous, as thrilling as it is." Lara looked up and pouted.

"Come on, you know you loved it," she said. Alister sighed, he couldn't resist her. He nodded.

"Fine, as long as I get something out of it," he said suggestively. Lara raised a mischievous eyebrow.

"Like what?" She said and was kissed thoroughly by Alister.

"Oh I can think of a few things," he said before leading her back to the house to show her.