Sorry for the delay, guys! I've been busy for a change!!! =P



Emily awakened later that evening, shivering. She hadn't expected France to be so cold. Sure, it was cold in London, but somewhere inside, she'd hoped it would be warmer. She pulled the blankets tight over her shoulders, turning her head over to stare at the ornate designs on the curtains, illuminated by the moonlight. It was just after two a.m., and the house was quiet.

She sighed, thinking over the current predicament with her parents. Why did they have to fight? Why now? This was the first time they'd seen each other in twelve years, and the first time Emily had ever even met her father. Why couldn't they just act like civilized beings?

Emily wasn't sure why Kurtis had never come around for twelve years, but she figured it had something to do with that Karel guy. Kurtis didn't seem like the type of man who would have a child and leave her behind because of his own insecurities. Then again, she didn't know anything about him. Lara had never spoken of him, except to tell her that he was American, tall and dark, with beautiful blue eyes. For twelve years, that was all she'd known.

Emily groaned, exhausted and freezing. She pulled the covers over, rising from the bed to retrieve her sweatshirt with the words "University of Oxford" painted across it. She pulled the hood over her head, her messy brown hair spilling out from under it. She approached the window, pulling the shades back to peer into the night sky. From where her window was, she could see the river Somme in the distance, where the water glistened under the moonlight. There were some small boats bobbing about in the water, tied to stakes along the brick wall. Amiens really was a nice little city. Maybe we can go to Paris, she thought hopefully, although she knew they weren't here for a vacation – they were here on business.

Emily smiled softly at the sight. It was quaint and relaxing – at least until she saw a faint green glow down below. Her smile faded, and she narrowed her eyes at the silhouette of a man standing in the garden below. She blinked several times – was she seeing things? Then, it hit her. That man that had been in her room the other night had some weird type of glowing green energy in his hands. Could this be one of those Cabal guys too?

Emily quickly pulled the shades shut and grabbed her lighter from the dresser. She leaned against the closed door to see if she could hear anyone, just to make sure nobody would be in the hallway waiting to grab her. Then, she opened the door and quickly headed down the hall to the first room she could reach. She opened the door and headed towards the bed, shaking the person awake. "Emily, what are you doing?" Lara asked in a hoarse voice.

"There's someone outside," she said quickly. "He has green glowing hands, like the guy from last night!"

Lara quickly rose from her bed and carefully pulled back the shades, peering outside. She sighed in frustration, then headed towards her dresser, opening a drawer to remove her Glock 22 and a clip. She quickly inserted the magazine, then turned towards the door, opening it with stealth, and letting the weapon lead the way. She'd never seen her mother so…assertive and serious.

There was movement down the hall, and Emily hugged the wall of the bedroom to stay hidden. She relaxed a bit when Lara said Kurtis's name. Emily peered around the corner to see him holding his own weapon. "They're coming from the front and the back," Kurtis said quickly. "A few Cabal members, and a lot of merks."

"Merk?" Emily asked.

"Guys with guns," Kurtis said quickly.

Emily glanced down at the lighter in her hand, knowing it wouldn't be enough against these gun-wielding bastards. She drew in a deep breath, trying to remain brave as she looked up at her parents. A door opened down the hall, and Zip quickly came out, rushing down the stairs. "I'm on it," he said quickly, heading towards his temporary tech room to hook up the second-level security.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang downstairs, and the entire house began to shake. The enemies were already entering the house. Beams of light from the flashlights began to dance around downstairs, and Lara and Kurtis simultaneously hugged the wall. Lara gripped Emily by the shoulder, pulling her back with them. Kurtis pointed down the opposite hallway, and Lara immediately headed in its direction, pulling Emily along quickly. Then, they heard gunfire. Emily covered her head, ducking away, while Kurtis wheeled around on his heel, opening fire in the opposite direction. How had the merks gotten to the second story so quickly?

Lara opened the door at the end of the hallway that led down to the south end of the first floor. She ushered Emily down as quickly as she could move, keeping the gun aimed just over her, should an enemy come before them. "What about Dad?" Emily asked quickly, facing Lara.

Lara lowered the gun, more stunned by Emily calling Kurtis "Dad" than by anything else at the moment. Then, gunfire flew past them, narrowly missing Lara. She shoved Emily into the corner, ducking under a table. She quickly sat up, opening fire on one of the merks from the other side. Then, she ducked back down, facing Emily. "I'm going to lead you to the back door," she said quickly, "then, I want you to run to the café down the street and stay there until either I or Kurtis come for you. Do you understand?"

Emily wanted to protest. Don't leave me! But she knew she needed to follow orders, and do so quickly. She swallowed her fear and nodded quickly. Lara pulled her by her wrist, quickly sending her across the next hallway. Lara covered her path, opening fire on the approaching enemies. Up ahead, she saw the back door. They were close. As soon as she stepped forward, though, she was knocked flat on her back by a surge of green energy. She looked up in time to see Emily quickly ducking out of the way, and Lara aimed at the approaching Cabal member, firing at him. Then, she rose to her feet, pointing at the back door. "Go!" she shouted to Emily. Emily nodded, then rushed towards the door, forcing it open.

She wanted to stop and look back, but she knew that in the movies when that happened, everything went terribly wrong. She ran as fast as she could in the direction of the café. Wait…what café? Lara had said 'the café down the street', but how would Emily know where that was? She very well couldn't speak or read French, so where was she supposed to go?

She knew that overall, she couldn't remain in the open. She leaned against one of the brick walls to catch her breath, glancing about to make sure no one was around. What should I do, what should I do…? she thought quickly. Then, she felt a hand grip her shoulder from behind and pull her backwards violently. She tried to scream, but another hand covered her mouth, and the person began to drag her away. She flung her arms around and tried to kick, but to her avail, nothing happened. She did the last thing she could think to do, and fell dead weight under his hands, crumpling to the ground. The tactic actually proved to be effective, because she heard him curse in some foreign language, and felt her arm slip from his grip.

She rose as fast as she could an attempted to run, but felt him grab her by her arm, jerking her back around to face him. In her peripheral, she saw him removing a gun – this must've been one of those Cabal members. She would've reached for her lighter, but she wasn't exactly in a position to so. She reached her arm out, covering his face with her palm, her hands reaching out in every direction. Then, the man unexpectedly let her go, screaming and writhing in pain. He stumbled backwards, covering his face, continuing to shout in pain. Emily was too shocked to run, and she remained where she stood, watching the man's strange reaction. Then, he pulled his hand away from his face, revealing a bright red, calloused texture across the left side of his face, like he had been burned badly.

The man looked up at her angrily, then reached out, the gun in his hand. Emily heard a gunshot, and she startled, expecting to feel blood seeping from her being. She quickly glanced in the opposite direction to see Lara standing in place, her gun aimed at the body of the man. She slowly approached Emily, keeping her weapon trained on the enemy. Then, her face knit into confusion as she bent down next to the man, examining his face. She looked up to Emily, her face ashen with fear. "What happened to him?" Lara asked quickly.

Emily felt tears coming to her eyes. "I-I don't know," she said, her voice cracking. "He grabbed me, and I tried to get away, and…and…" She choked on a deep breath, and felt a small panic attack coming along.

Lara stood up and faced her, grabbing her hand and examining her palm. "Where's your lighter?" she asked. With shaking hands, Emily removed it from her pocket, holding it up for her to see. "You didn't use it?" she asked.

She shook her head negatively. "I couldn't reach it," she admitted.

Lara glanced back down at the man's face, then back at Emily. She held her gun up, then turned towards the house. "Come on," she said.

"A-Are they all dead?" she asked quickly.

"Everything is fine," she assured her. "Let's move out."

Emily stood close to Lara's side, moving as quickly as she could to keep up with her as they returned to the house. Despite what Lara had said, she kept her gun up in case an enemy should emerge unexpectedly. Then, she approached Kurtis and Garin. Kurtis held his Boran X low to his side, while Garin stood with an assault rifle leaned over his shoulder. Emily's eyes grew wide as she saw the bleeding wound in her father's shoulder. "What happened?" she asked quickly.

Kurtis glanced down at the wound, then back at Emily. "Nothing to worry about," he assured her.

"The Cabal and the mercenaries are taken care of," Garin spoke up, "but we're obviously not going to be safe if we stay here."

"So where do you suggest we go now?" Lara asked.

"I have another home in Le Havre, just an hour and a half west of here," he said.

"We'll leave tomorrow morning," Kurtis spoke up. "If we leave tonight, there's a good chance they'll follow us."

"But won't they find us here if we stay?" Emily asked nervously.

"Karel's not going to dispatch two legions in one night," Kurtis reasoned. "Not when we've already finished off one with ease."

"Then we'll leave first thing tomorrow," Garin finished. "I'm not worried about the mess here. This house is just a façade anyway."

"As long as the security system is up," Lara spoke up, "we should be fine. Where are Zip and Alister?"

"Library," Garin pointed out.

Lara turned away, heading towards the library, stepping over broken glass and destroyed pottery. Zip was pounding away at the keyboard furiously, while Alister remained hidden behind one of the bookshelves. Lara sighed. "Alister, they're all gone," she called. "You can come out."

Alister peeked his head out, then stepped into plain view, dusting his clothes off as he cleared his throat. "Very well," he said calmly. "H-How is everything going, then?"

"We're relocating to Le Havre tomorrow," she said. "Zip, I want you to make sure the security system is operating at full capacity."

"There's a problem with that…" Zip said irritably. "Somehow, those damn Cabal guys managed to bypass the security without even coming in contact with it."

"Telepathic nerve waves?" Alister speculated.

"Could be," Lara muttered with annoyance. "Is there any way to fix it?"

"Yeah," Zip scoffed. "If I take apart the hard drive and reroute the output capacitor. Basically, I'd have to rebuild the entire goddamn machine."

"And I'm assuming that'd take more than several minutes…?" Lara asked.

"Try several hours," Zip muttered.

Lara sighed slowly. "Any backup plans?"

"A cheap excuse for a motion sensor…" Zip said slowly. "It'd take five minutes to wire up. It's just not very effective…"

"It's better than nothing," Lara admitted bitterly. "It's unlikely that they'll return before we leave for Le Havre, but we shan't take any chances."

"I'll get on it then…" Zip sighed, heading upstairs to retrieve his gadgets.

Lara turned away, glancing at Alister, who was still quite shaken, then exited the library, returning to the group. Kurtis, however, was not in the picture. Lara pretended to pay it no mind, turning her attention to Garin. "It will take a while for Zip to reconfigure the security system," she said, "but you can go to bed if you'd like. I'll keep a watch out."

"It'll be fine," Garin assured her. "You need your rest more than I do."

Lara eyed him for a moment, making sure he was certain, then nodded in gratitude. She turned towards Emily, who was not only fighting off shock, but fatigue as well. "Let's get you to bed," Lara said quietly. She ushered the child up the stairs and towards her room. "Will you be alright by yourself?" Lara asked.

Emily nodded slowly, pulling back the blankets of her bed. "I'll be fine," she said quietly.

"If not, you can sleep in the next room with me…"

"Really, it's okay," she assured her. "I…I have my lighter. I should be fine."

Lara sighed. "Alright, then. If you need anything though, don't hesitate to come get me, or even Kurtis."

"I'll be fine, Mom, really," she said flatly.

Emily faced away from Lara, pulling the blankets over her shoulders. Lara stared down at the shape of her daughter, trying to decide if she was just trying to be tough, or if she was really okay. It was likely the former, though. Lara turned away quietly, pulling the door halfway shut. She switched the safety on onto her firearm, then headed down the hall towards her room. She stopped, though, at the sound of rustling in Kurtis's room. Then, she remembered he'd been injured. She sighed quietly, setting the gun on the table, and knocked softly. He ushered her in, and she slowly entered, pushing the door shut behind her. Kurtis was shirtless – his trademark appearance – but this time, she could see a bloody, white bandage wrap on his shoulder, and a large scar on his abdomen. She swallowed back her slight bit of fear on his behalf, then looked up to his eyes. "Are you alright?" she asked softly.

Kurtis ran his fingers through his hair, seating himself on the edge of the bed. "I've had worse. Obviously…"

Lara suppressed a small giggle. "You didn't wrap it correctly," she said. "You need a bandage patch, not a wrap."

"Sorry," he said. "I didn't go through army medical training."

She couldn't recognize if he was being sarcastic or making a dry joke. Lara disregarded it, turning into the bathroom to retrieve the medical kit. Then, she returned, removing some of the kit's contents, pulling up the nearby chair to seat herself before Kurtis. He sighed. "I'll be fine, Lara," he said dully.

"Just let me take care of it," she persisted.

He sighed again, but said nothing. Lara slowly unwrapped the loose bandage, setting it on the floor as she examined the damage. It was actually a lot deeper than she'd seen before, and he'd obviously not given it any type of antibiotic to move along the healing process. It was silent as Lara removed a large cotton pad and rubbing alcohol, dousing it in the ointment. Then, she slowly raised it to his wound. He winced, turning away from Lara so she wouldn't see his pain. She dabbed at the bloody patch thoroughly. "This obviously wasn't a bullet wound," she said.

He turned his gaze back to her. "One of those green fireballs," he said.

"Ah," she said. "Be thankful it wasn't Karel, though."

"Which is strange," Kurtis said. "Does that mean that these 'followers' are really just followers or are they something more…? Like Nephilim?"

Lara sighed quietly, keeping her focus on tending to his wound. "Karel does like to play the wild cards," she said. "Apparently, though, these followers aren't as threatening as he is."

Lara set the bloody cotton pad down atop the old bandage wrap, then reached into the kit for a yellowish rubbing ointment. She squirted some of it onto the cotton patch, rubbed it in, then held it up, pressing it atop Kurtis' wound on his shoulder. He cringed, startling a bit at the pain. Lara taped the patch against his shoulder, then pressed gently so the ointment would reach the wound. "There," she said softly.

Lara moved to pull away, but Kurtis reached up, taking her softly by the wrist. She searched his eyes, both craving and fearing his touch. After how he'd reacted earlier, she wasn't sure what to think. Kurtis sighed – a deep sigh of confusion, guilt, and atonement. He kissed her fingertips, but then let her hand go, leaning forward into his own hands. Lara was just as puzzled as she was sorry for him. She remained where she was in a respectful silence, waiting for him to speak what was on his mind. Finally, he looked up at her. "I never should've…" He paused, drawing in a deep breath. "I never should've…reacted the way I did."

Lara gazed into his eyes. "No, you shouldn't have," she said. "And neither should I have."

"You don't know what it was like there," he said, "in Lemuria."

"I can only imagine," she said.

He slowly looked up into her eyes. "I'm sorry," he said softly.

Lara drew in a deep breath, staring into his eyes, offering a weak smile of solace. Then, she leaned forward, kissing Kurtis slowly on the lips. She pulled away, looking into his eyes, then stood to her feet. "We should get to sleep," she said softly. She turned away, but felt his light grip on her wrist. She turned to look at him as he stared up at her, need and desire filling his eyes. "Stay with me," he said.

"But…Emily –"

"What about her?" he asked. "We're her parents. There's no harm."

Then, Lara realized he was right. Lara's primary concern was protecting her daughter, but what harm could come from her seeing that her parents were actually getting along? Lara leaned forward, crawling across the bed as Kurtis laid back against the pillows. Lara tucked her legs under the blankets, then leaned her body into the warmth of Kurtis's body. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him. Lara let her fingers slowly run across his skin, stopping at the scar along his abdomen. She looked up at him, but he didn't move – he didn't meet her eyes. "You never told me what happened," she said softly.

His chest heaved as he drew in a deep breath. "Karel," he said. "He pulled a fast one on me."

Lara didn't want to prod any further. She dropped a soft kiss on his clean shoulder, then leaned her head into the space between his shoulder and his neck, letting the mesmerizing warmth of his touch move her to sleep.



Well, there ya have it! Some more action. I'll catch you kids next Friday. I'm going to space things out from now on so I stop missing my own deadlines! =P