while thinking about my other harry crossover i kept on coming back to this... i wasn't really even sure i was going to continue this story, but it wouldn't leave me alone. so here you go!

just a warning though- HUGE time jump from the first chapter to this one... seven years in fact!

"Well we can do it my way, or we can all come back in time for the next alignment and you're welcome to try and kill me then, in oh, say, another 5,000 years?" Lara smirked, well aware that if they didn't do it her way, she didn't have to worry about the damned clock anymore. Six of one, half a dozen of another. Though she lost her smirk when Alex's attention diverted from the watch in front of him and locked onto the area behind her knee…

"Hi Alex!"

"Harry?!"

Her nephew was trickier than she'd ever give him credit for. Though it seemed she'd have to start paying closer attention now. Harry had somehow managed to hide away in her jeep, follow her through the temple, and sneak up behind her as she was taunting the villains. She'd have to let him know, it just wasn't done, the heroine couldn't be so shocked. It was... unprofessional.

"You brought your eight year old nephew?" Alex asked, incredulous.

"Of course not," though she blushed before she admitted. "He followed me." Alex laughed, and then looked back at the watch.

"Seventeen, sixteen…"

"That was soooooo COOL!" Harry hadn't stopped babbling for twelve miles. Sitting at one end of the boat he fiddled with the triangle piece and watched the shiny colors change from one end to the other. It was like looking at an oil spot in the sun. He didn't think Aunt Lara could see it though, she didn't think it was all that pretty an artifact. Of course, she had been distracted by the stone guardians, and then the four faced statue. She'd shoved Harry back before jumping onto the spear, and told him that if he wasn't still hugging that wall when she came back, she'd know why.

He never understood that threat, but the growl that accompanied it was crystal clear. Do Not Move. She'd gotten the piece, and started to return for the clock, but was distracted by a guardian who was inching its way toward Harry. Harry, who was standing in the exact spot she told him to stand. She started to run, but was distracted by the bullets heading her way. Then she cursed, because she would have to thank Alex.

Alex had seen the danger heading for Harry, and ran straight for the child, scooping him up and running straight for the exit much to Harry's displeasure.

"She told me to wait there! She'll kick your ass! She's not kicking mine for this! No Way!"

"Who has been teaching you the English language young man? Does Lara swear like that in front of you?" Alex asked as he dodged yet another stone guardian. With hardly a thought he kept running, swinging back with the arm that wasn't holding Harry over his shoulder, and shot back with his Desert Eagle. Another statue bites the dust.

"I think that we should keep this little chat between the two of us, right buddy?" Harry gave Alex his best "I'm an innocent, you should trust me" grin. It didn't work, Alex couldn't see his manipulative grin as Harry was currently talking to his shoulder blade, but the tone of his voice was cloying sweet.

"You're getting better at that," Alex scoffed. "But you're not getting a cookie out of me this time…" He reached the end of the hallway and was about to fling Harry through to the waiting workers and go back for Lara when he realized that everyone who had still been in the temple had followed him out. He was almost bombarded with locals and militia men, then stumbled a bit as Powell barreled full force into his unencumbered shoulder.

"She's got my triangle," he snarled, then noticed the kid. "Well, at least I've got something of hers…"

Harry didn't wait for Alex to protest, he could feel the man gathering under him for a good short arm punch to the chin, he bit Manifred Powell as soon at the man's hand was close enough. He bit hard enough to draw blood, then oomphed a bit as he was unceremoniously sat on the ground.

"Look, Powell, I signed on to bring you out here and get your artifact. No where in my contract does it say I need to help you kidnap a kid."

"Well, then Mr. West, where is my artifact? One or the other," his accent was upper crust clipped, correct, and made Harry want to scrub his entire body with a very harsh loofah.

"Slimy bastard," Harry mumbled, and then grinned as Alex shrugged.

"I'm just saying, I'm not watching the kid, you'll have to get one of your trained monkeys to do that." He indicated one of the marines. Harry could get away from a meat head easily…

And as something in the temple exploded, erupting dust and rocks and pieces of god only knows what, Lara was flung out into their midst. In the confusion she grabbed Harry by the back of his t-shirt and began to book it. She could only run for a short time. Harry was good, he followed her on her training runs at home sometimes, but he still tired quickly. There was a waterfall… she knew she could survive the jump, she looked down at her nephew.

He was smiling so hard his face was apt to crack wide open.

"Enjoying yourself are you?" she asked, amused.

"Oh, yeah! The only thing better than running from bad guys is beating up bad guys and stealing their toys! We're two for three!"

"Two?" she was pretty sure she stole something, kicked ass, AND was running away from the bad guys.

"The guardians weren't bad guys, you technically didn't kick bad guy butt…" he censored himself, knowing she'd probably cuff his ear anyway, but at least she'd give him points for trying. "But I did bite the slimy guy pretty good… he might need stitches."

"Yes, so, three for three… we're a team remember?" she stopped at the edge of the waterfall, knowing that Alex was behind her.

"Are you going to shoot me Alex?"

"Come on Lara! You're making my job harder than it has to be!"

"That's half the fun Alex!" Harry giggled as only a child could. He knew Alex wouldn't hurt them, so did Lara… so did Alex. But they had to play the game.

"Later babydoll," she smirked as his gun dropped, well aware that the rustling in the trees behind him were the marines. She grabbed Harry by the back of his t-shirt and jumped.

"If you EVER sneak aboard my mission again, I… I just don't know what I'll do to you Harry, but it won't be pleasant." She told him as she dialed the mansion. Lord knew what a hissy fit Remus would be in by now.

"Croft residence, The Lady is not in at the moment, may I take a message?" Hilary answered in his usual way, not a feather ruffled, though Lara could hear Remus in the background.

"Is it Harry? Tell him to get his ass home now! Has something happened to Harry? Is he alright? For Merlin's sake Hilary!"

"Harry is fine, he's with me Hilary, tell the overanxious Were that his cub is here with not a scratch on him."

"Of course Lara," and she could hear the muffled explanation on the other end followed by an explosive grunt as Remus obviously shoved Hilary aside in his dive for the phone.

"Harry? Harry? Are you alright? Are you bleeding? Have you been shot? Have you eaten a good breakfast?" Harry tried to wave the phone away as Lara held it down for him.

"He won't stop until you speak with him," Lara pointed out.

"But he's gonna yell at me!"

"You play little boy, you pay."

Harry pouted a bit, but knew it wouldn't get him past this trial, so he accepted the phone with a groan that quickly turned into a cheerful grin when he greeted his uncle.

"Uncle Remus! I'm perfectly fine!" he nodded as he listed to Remus spew forth all his worry and probably twelve million cups of coffee. Remus had come to love coffee, as it was the only thing that would let him keep up with the energetic Harry, it didn't have a half bad taste once you'd gotten used to it.

After an exhausting back and forth, in which Harry swore never to hide in Lara's jeep and follow her half way across the world and Remus admitted that he might be drinking too much coffee, Lara told Bryce to pack for Italy.

"Bring Remus as well, that way we can send Harry home," Lara had a bad feeling about the second part of the mission, and she really didn't think Harry could handle it. Or even if he could handle it, that he should.

"Why can't I come with you?" Harry bugged as Lara hung up and thanked the monk for it's use.

"Because Harry, this is dangerous. I am not joking around," she insisted as he opened his mouth to protest. "This is very big, and I cannot protect you through it. If Alex hadn't saved you…" Lara knelt next to the raven haired boy and flung her arms around him. "You could have been hurt. And I promised your mother I would keep you safe." Harry settled as he felt his aunt shake. She'd been really worried, and she'd shoved that aside to do the job and protect him, he realized. His respect and awe for her only increased as she pulled herself together and took his hand calmly.

"I'll go back to England with Remus," Harry promised.

"Thank you." She shook his hand a little, and then started down the hall. With a deep breath she felt the stillness in the air, the absolute peace, and looked back down at her nephew. "Would you like to try meditating again? I think, maybe, in this place we could solve your fidgeting issues."

He sat, in full lotus, encased in a sphere of white energy. He hovered a bit, the bottom of the sphere barely touching the ground, his hands relaxed, his face still as a statue. She could see his chest move slightly as he breathed, but beyond that and the living sphere of magic there was no indication that Harry was alive. The monks, after finishing their daily meditations, had turned to see Lara sitting, staring at her nephew. Most of them had left, small smiles on their faces, only one elder remained. He gave Lara a tea that healed her arm, and sat back to study Harry's energy manipulation.

"Poke him." The elder told Lara.

"Poke him? He is surrounded by pure energy!' Lara knew that monks could have a sharp sense of humor, in fact he'd already gotten her with the horrible tea, but poke him?

"With you he feels home, safe, warm. You will get through were others could not… So yes, poke him." With the explanation Lara felt more confident. She took her finger and reached through the energy. If felt tingly, like the aftermath of a good electrical shock, and she shivered once in reaction before poking Harry gently in the shoulder. His head twitched on his shoulders, and he opened his mouth for a big yawn, settling down on the ground as he did so. As he opened his eyes his shield blinked out of existence.

"You know, Aunt Lara, I don't think I'll ever get the hang of meditating," he shrugged, sorry. "I think I fell asleep."

"If you cross me, we may not be able to remain friends…" Lara let her gaze drift down, then back up with a smirk. Alex was always ready for her. She was only going to make this harder on him… the pun was intended. She grabbed his face and kissed him, a hiss released from his lips as his hands gripped over her hips, pulling her toward him, mashing her breasts against his naked chest.

"Lara…" he was dizzy, she had that effect on him.

"Thank you," she muttered against his lips and backed away. He struggled for higher brain power as she started for the door.

"For what?" he asked, despite himself.

"Saving Harry, the way you did, though why you did is a discussion best left for when we're on the same side again." She sighed, in regret because he was one fine example of mankind, and then exited the apartment. With a heavy groan Alex looked down at himself.

"Now for a cold shower."

He was working on his gymnastic skills when Lara came home. Lithe as a monkey he jumped from topiary to topiary, and watched as she negligently parked in front of the huge main doors. She rarely used the front entrance to her own house; Harry got the feeling that it was significant somehow that she used it now.

"She's come home," he realized, and then nodded, satisfied that he'd figured it out. Then he did a handstand on the edge of the bush and flipped himself off and down, landing in a neat crouch. He contemplated how he was going to explain the trip he wanted to take to Lara, and tried to figure out reasonable reasons to let him go and all the reasons she would say he couldn't. Remus had already pointed out that he would probably break his own fool neck, but hadn't been able to retort when Harry pointed out that he could fall down the stairs tomorrow and achieve the same thing. Of course his guardian hadn't been at his best, recovering from a moon night drained him. Hilary had pointed out that he was too young to travel to Warsaw on his own, and pointed out the proximity of the demonstration to the next months full moon.

Lara was still away with the clock stuff, Hilary very rarely left the manor for something other than shopping, and Bryce was away with Lara, he'd never get to go unless Lara came home soon and approved. As he mused he flipped over fountains, tumbled around bushes, skid his worn tennis shoes down slick railings and rolled to his feet when he came up to the kitchen doorway.

"Hi Hilary! Lara's home!" he announced, though the butler undoubtedly knew that already. Snagging a warm snicker doodle that Hilary had just plated from the pan in his hand, Harry continued bouncing around the house. He jumped off couches and practiced landing with flexed knees, continuing to follow the movement into a forward roll or just picking himself back up and launching himself toward the next obstacle.

He screeched to a halt as Lara calmly paced down the front staircase in a pretty white dress and sun bonnet.

Hilary almost dropped the tray he was holding.

"Don't say a word," Lara warned as she passed them.

"It's like an extreme obstacle course," Harry was explaining to his aunt. He's watched her earlier battle with SIMON, and had to chuckle as Bryce started crying. He wasn't malicious, but Bryce's tears just made him want to dissolve into mad giggling. The man loved his robots, and took them, and himself, maybe just a little too seriously. Of course, he might cry as well if Lara had ripped his favorite plaything in half.

"That drop looks long," she commented, sweeping her wet braid behind her. She was relaxed, calm, and curious. The shower had settled her mind after her crying bout next to her father's headstone and the fight with SIMON. She felt like herself again, and the playground map Harry was showing her seemed like fun. "I thought Parkour couldn't be a competition, I thought they banned that."

"It's not a competition; they're doing an extreme demonstration. It's an abandoned military obstacle course that some guys have beefed up and started a skate park around. It started gaining in popularity and now they want to hold a free for all to find out the fastest and most creative way through it, anything goes, skating, biking, running... And they're going to be adding stuff before they start. Stuff that nobody gets a chance to practice or see beforehand."

"Sounds dangerous boyo," though in her head she was thinking it sounded like fun…

"So I was thinking that if we go together, 'cause they're letting in pairs, that we'll both get to go and the three man-nannies can't protest 'cause you'll protect me!"

Lara had to smirk; she raised one sweet talker, that was for sure. Bryce looked up to protest the man-nannie comment, but shrugged when he realized it was more or less true.

"Sounds like a plan to me Lara," he put in, knowing that with his support he'd make Harry smile. And there it was, that quick flash-grin that Remus had told him Harry's father had perfected while attending Hogwarts. And he'd earned Lara's patented "amused pursed lips" look. He just shrugged and linked his hands behind his head as he tipped his chair back with a side grin. He couldn't wait to watch the "demonstration".

The island was cold.

No, Lara thought, it's not the island…

Azkaban was cold. The building was frigid, the air inside of it was like breathing ice, even with several protective charms layered over her. Two burly wizards with stern faces and fisted hands followed her through the hallways, and stopped a bit before one of the cells.

2A, they'd said earlier. They refused to go any closer to the man who'd been madly giggling when they'd placed him there almost eight years ago. Though now, to Lara, it sounded more like he was sobbing. She walked forward and knelt next to the food slit, sliding it open carefully, ready for anything.

What she saw was a tall man, curled in on himself until he was so small that Lara couldn't figure out the dimensions.

"Mr. Black?" she asked softly.

"For pity's sake," the voice was cracked, dry, and nothing like the tone she'd imagined from Lily's letters. "Go away and leave my mind to rot. I deserve it."

"So you did betray the Potters?" Lara asked.

"How many times must I repeat myself?" Finally he began to uncurl and stretched carefully as he got to his feet. "I didn't tell Voldemort shit… but it's my fault anyway." His lower lip quivered as he battled with the emotions bubbling up in him. The Dementors would arrow in on anything but vicious self-loathing. But he had plenty of that to keep him relatively sane.

"I want the entire story. I want the truth, and I want it now," Lara didn't often play "lady of the manor", but she had a feeling that the harder she was the easier it would be to get the information she needed. Nothing had added up to her. The letters Lilly sent during her school years were, truthfully, full of nothing but the boys arrogance and attitudes, but she had reluctantly admitted that their loyalty to each other was one of the things that made her think twice about James. The young Sirius in her letters was fiercely protective of his friends, and when Harry had been born it was as if nothing else mattered to his godfather.

So no, nothing in the accusations of Sirius Black made sense.

"I've told the entire story before, you don't want the truth, you merely want gratification. So you can go back to your fancy house and tell the world that you spoke with Sirius Black… and he wasn't quite as insane as you thought he'd be. You know, that's what I get for aligning myself to the dark lord… though LeStrange a few cells down might argue with you, if he stops crying for a few moments." While he spoke Sirius uncurled himself and forced calm over himself. Living with his mother and her demands had taught him at a very young age how to fake any emotion, though his stomach protested bitterly as he stood up.

It was amazing, Lara thought, how long the man was. He approached the door, his head hung down and long dirty, clumped and stringy hair fell in front of his face, obscuring his features. His long, thin fingers curled around the bars in the window and he stepped closer, lifting his head until she could look into one clear blue eye.

"I believe I told you what I want, Black, and if you tell me true, I might be able to fix this mistake." She'd always trusted her gut. And as he tore apart the statement, aligning the meaning to her stubborn tone and stiff smile, she knew that he was innocent. His eyes were shimmering; he wanted to cry, because she sounded like she might actually believe him.

It was all Harry could do to stop fidgeting. Aunt Lara had told him that she had to go on a short side trip before heading toward the demonstration, and that she would only be gone for three days, but it was an hour before they had to leave for the airport and she still wasn't home yet. Worse yet, he hadn't been able to wheedle out where she had gone from anybody. Remus had been unusually tight-lipped, seeing as how he always made a lesson from where in the world Aunt Lara had gone, about cultures and stuff like that. But he'd snapped at Harry when he wouldn't stop poking about and trying to get Remus to tell him.

"For God's sake Harry!" he'd growled, and then pulled himself up stiffly to his full height. "You do not need to know," he cleared his throat then told Harry to do his homework in his room. He'd turned away, and slumped against the wall, looking out the front window as if waiting for Lara to return.

Now Harry was standing by that window, waiting anxiously. He didn't even really care where she had gone; now all he wanted was for her to be back.