Author's Note: Hi again, everyone! Sorry about the delay in updating, I had deadlines. And then writer's block. Finally got this done, though. Apologies to Akkon – I know I promised you I'd write shaggage, but this just got so long… Next chapter for sure!

In the weeks since Alessa had taken up residence at Croft Manor, Lara had not been sitting idly by, waiting to be attacked. Despite the urgency of the situation, everyone knew where they needed to be and with what equipment. A scant three minutes after Bryce's warning, he and Winston were blockaded in the wine cellar with guns and portable communications equipment. On the ground floor, Lara and Kurtis glared at each other, fixing earpieces and mics into position.

"You need to get Alessa upstairs, off the front line," Lara argued, checking the ammunition clip of her Glock for the third time. "I can't help her get her powers under control like you can. It has to be you."

"I'm not leaving you to fight him alone again," Kurtis shot back. "You know what he's capable of!"

Alessa stared from one to the other, eyes wide. "Ummm… If you both need to fight him, I'll try not to get in the way–" she started.

"It's a nice thought," Lara replied tersely, her eyes not leaving Kurtis. "But there's no way in hell. I'm the expendable one, remember?"

Kurtis swallowed back his next instinctive words: Not to me. The worst thing was, he knew she had a point. Alessa would die unless he completed her training – from her own lack of control or at the hands of the Nephilim. But this would be the fourth, no, fifth, time he'd left Lara to fend for herself against Karel. On one of those occasions he had killed her.

He became aware of a sharp ache in his jaw, and realised he was gritting his teeth. For precious seconds he hesitated, reluctant to give in to common sense. Only Bryce's reminder that the enemy were drawing nearer forced him to succumb. "Alright, already," he snapped, running a frustrated hand through his hair.

Lara breathed a sigh of relief as he put a hand out to Alessa's shoulder, preparing to move. He fixed her with one last look, then headed for the stairs. Neither of them said a word, but that single connection told them all they needed to know.

Once they had disappeared into a second-floor corridor, Lara turned her attention to the matter at hand. She'd given some thought to the form the attack would take, and had come to the conclusion that Karel wouldn't sneak in through a side entrance. While his lackeys approached the manor from all directions, the Nephilim would stride in through the front door as if he owned the place. "Bryce, how long?" she asked.

His response was tinny in her ear. "'Bout… ten seconds. Three of them through the front."

"Right. Let me know if more come up behind me. Otherwise, keep quiet." Lara disengaged the Glock 17's safety and adopted a classic shooter's stance, counting silently to herself. Three… two… one…

The double doors burst inward off their hinges in a blast of putrid green fire. One hit the wall; the other skidded to a stop a few inches away from Lara's feet. Through the smoky remains of the doorway, three silhouettes emerged.

Pausing only long enough to pinpoint her target, Lara shot the left-most figure in the neck, the one on the right in the chest. As they dropped within a second of each other, she focused her attention on the central assailant.

He strode into the light, his true Nephilic features revealed. For the first time since Cappadocia, Lara took in Joachim Karel's deathly pale visage, marked by blue-green, tattoo-like imprints and a visible network of blood vessels just beneath the skin. His fingers shimmered with the jade energy she had grown to loathe. In spite of his demonic appearance, he was dressed in an Italian designer suit: every crease sharp, cufflinks shining, shoes polished to perfection. It was as if he had just stepped out of a court of law. Perhaps he had – all that was missing was the briefcase.

Lara lowered the gun. As safe as it usually made her feel, by this point she was sick of wasting ammunition on an immortal. This was the thing that had killed her – however briefly – and her courage failed her for a second as she remembered the sensation of his foot driving into her cracked ribs, agitating her internal injuries.

She blinked to clear the memory as he began to speak. "Good evening, Ms. Croft. I trust you are well?"

She sighed, exaggerating her exasperation. "Do we really have to go through all this? Can't we just cut to the chase?"

He chuckled. "You haven't changed."

"Neither have you. Or have you?" she taunted as a tiny ripple across the skin of his forehead twitched and rolled as if alive. Kurtis had described this to her, but she hadn't been able to visualise it until now. "Having trouble keeping up appearances?"

Karel's affable expression was gone in an eyeblink, replaced by the menacing aura she had learned to dread. "A temporary setback. It'll pass – when I get what I came for."

"Why don't you tell me all about it?" Lara asked conversationally. She knew that any attempt she made at subtly fishing for information would be intercepted. She hoped a more direct approach would surprise him into revealing something.

It worked. Karel's features shifted back to amusement. "That's what I like about you, Lara. Straight to the point."

Lara waited, trying to appear bored. In reality, her mind was sifting frantically through all possible plans of action, searching for one to fit the situation. It was all very well to theorise, but in truth she had no idea how she was going to get him off her property without Alessa or the Iris.

Karel began to speak again, but his voice emerged distorted. Appearing irritated, he clenched his fists at his sides as his skin flickered again. Impulsively, Lara raised her weapon and fired a shot into his chest, hoping he would lose the inner battle he seemed to be fighting.

It worked. Karel reeled back from the shot, and his body began to shift. By the time he straightened up again, an altogether different man stood before her. His long, golden hair shimmered in the light, falling between copper-latticed wings. "Lara, hello."

It was too much. For a second she just stared at him, unable to process who stood there. Then she shook her head, smiling. "It's good to see you again, André."

The so-called light-Nephilim nodded to her, shifting his weight nervously. It seemed strange to Lara to see the mannerisms of her friend's nondescript, everyday form mirrored in his true, angelic self, but she realised it would only waste time to draw his attention to it. "Can you tell me what's going on?" she asked instead.

"Do you have the Iris?" he asked, his eyes desperate. "A scaled-down replica of the three layers of the Earth, in constant movement. It's about this big…" He trailed off as Lara withdrew the object from her backpack and held it up. "Ah, good. Under no circumstances let Karel have it."

"Why does he want it?" Lara dropped it back into her backpack, out of sight. "And Alessa?"

André staggered, fighting to stay with her. "The core of the Earth is… iron. Base metal."

The phrasing seemed strange. Lara frowned, wondering where she'd heard it before. Her mind made the connection just as André opened his mouth to continue, and she cut him off. "The practice of turning base metals into gold… Alchemy!"

"Exactly," André wheezed. "But gold is of no use to Karel. Not ordinary gold, at any rate. Has a reference to a Golden Lion cropped up in your studies?"

Immediately, she recalled the scribblings in Werner's field notebook. "'Through the Golden Lion, the Nephilim will enslave the sons of man and inherit the Earth.' My god…" Although she knew time was short, and her life would be in great peril once Karel re-established himself, she couldn't help but be excited. Mysteries like this were her lifeblood: how could she ever have forgotten that?

"I don't have much time," André gasped. "Alessa… Lux Veritatis powers are more concentrated until control of them is achieved. Kurtis' blood isn't strong enough to release the Golden Lion. Alessa's is."

Lara nodded. "Okay. Is there any way to get Karel out of you?"

His eyes, filled with sadness, flicked up to hers. "I am him. He is me… and legion others. Kill this body… I will be free to finally die." Before Lara could ask any more, he fell to his knees, and Lara took a step back as change wracked his body once again. For a second, Lara swore she saw the face of the Sleeper, or something very like it, snarling up at her before Karel resurfaced.

"Insolent subordinate," he muttured, climbing to his feet and brushing dust from his trousers.

"I'd never have pegged you for multiple personality disorder," Lara deadpanned, all her senses back on high alert.

Karel opened his mouth to utter a sarcastic retort, but the sound of running footsteps from above stopped him. "I don't have time to idle my time away in useless conversation, Lara. The girl is upstairs, then?"

Lara's blood ran cold. Although Karel had in the past revealed his personal grudge against her, letting himself be sidetracked from his goals in order to attempt to kill her, this time he would allow himself no such luxury. With his control over his own body in a state of flux, he would move fast to achieve his goals. He would leave his men to seek out the Iris, and go after Alessa himself – and without the Periapt Shards or Black Angel at her disposal, Lara didn't have a hope in hell of stopping him.

"Bryce, warn Kurtis," she snapped into her earpiece, and opened fire on Karel without waiting for a response.

As before, the action was futile. Karel ignored the bullets as if they were raindrops, striding up the main staircase without a backward glance. She cursed and took off after him, not sure what she was doing. Before she had taken two steps, Bryce yelled with alarm. "Lara! Eight! All around!"

"Shit." As quickly as she could, she slid a new clip into her pistol… and froze as eight men, all dressed in camouflage gear and carrying Heckler and Koch MP5s, surrounded her.

Alessa followed Kurtis up the stairs and into the corridor, glancing nervously behind her. She could tell her guardians were a lot more worried than they seemed, and in her opinion, anything that made Lara and Kurtis anxious had to be pretty scary. Hope I don't mess things up…

"C'mon," Kurtis said, leading the way into Lara's bedroom. "We'll stay here for a while." He seemed pissed off. Alessa supposed he really didn't want babysitting duty, and felt a flush of shame at her dependence on him.

Kurtis glanced over at the glass doors separating the bedroom from the balcony. Though he knew he should be keeping Alessa out of the line of fire, he had a hunch that if any of Karel's men were going to enter through the second floor, here would be the place.

"Kurtis." Bryce's voice transmitted to him loud and clear. "Three under Lara's balcony. I think they're going to climb up." Just as he finished speaking, the scrape of metal on stone signified the arrival of three grappling hooks, searching for purchase on the railing.

"I see them." Kurtis took a step forward before remembering Alessa. "Stay down," he told her, in a tone that would brook no argument. She hesitated, then nodded, dropping to the floor.

The first guy climbed into view, more intent on getting to solid ground than scanning for danger. Kurtis' eyes widened as he registered their heavy artillery. His Boran X was good, and more precise than the sub-machine guns, but with what they were carrying, even a novice could hit an intended target.

Without waiting for the enemy to notice him, he opened fire, dropping the first before venturing outside. One of the men had retreated to the ground in search of another route, but the third… As he registered movement below, he jumped back just in time to avoid a burst of fire that would have caught him in the head otherwise. The soldier was hanging just below the balcony, gun at the ready.

Trying not to think about his near-miss, Kurtis sent his Chirugai down in a controlled arc, searching for his assailant's throat. A choked gurgle rewarded him, and when the weapon snapped back into his hand, it dripped with gore.

"Nicely done. Four more coming up the back stairs," Bryce warned.

"Alessa," Kurtis called, stepping over the body of the man who'd managed to get onto the balcony as he re-entered the bedroom.

There was no reply, and Kurtis' blood turned to ice. She was here a moment ago… how could anyone have…? Images of Nabila Khayam, the murdered Lux Veritatis child he'd failed to save, rushed into his brain. If he had failed Alessa the same way…

A muffled sob reached his ears, and suddenly Kurtis could move again. He dropped to his knees and looked under the bed, where Alessa was curled into a tiny ball, white-faced, her eyes screwed up tightly.

Relieved and angry at the same time, he took her arm and dragged her out from under the bed. "Come on, we've gotta go!"

The child staggered to her feet, her eyes glued to the man Kurtis had killed. She knew she had to move, but there was so much blood… Just like Papa. Dead, just like him…

The vase on the coffee table began to shudder, and then to shake violently. Kurtis fought back his exasperation – once, he'd done the same thing. "Bryce, where are they?" he snapped.

"Other side of the house yet, mate. You've got a few minutes."

Thank god for small mercies, Kurtis thought wryly. "Alessa," he said aloud, blocking her line of sight to the dead man. "Listen to me. You're losing it again. You've gotta get a grip – remember how?"

She looked up at him through her tears and nodded. While he reminded her to take deep breaths, she pushed her awareness to the back-left corner of her mind, where there was no power. The shaking slowed to a rattle, and then the vase stilled altogether.

"Okay. Try and keep it together. If I didn't kill them, they'd kill me, and kidnap you – remember that." She was still terrified, but some of the colour had returned to her cheeks. Breathing a sigh of relief, Kurtis asked, "Bryce?"

"They're just outside the music room," he supplied, seeming on edge. Kurtis didn't even want to know what was happening with Lara. If he let himself think about it, he'd end up like Alessa.

"Thanks." He glanced down at the girl. "Stay behind me. Ready?" At her nod, they left the bedroom and made for the music room as stealthily as they could. When Kurtis heard footsteps, he pushed Alessa into an open doorway and ducked inside himself.

The confrontation didn't last long. Just over a minute later, the fourth soldier slumped to the ground, decapitated by the Chirugai. "Are they dead?" Alessa whispered.

About to nod, Kurtis froze in momentary incomprehension as Bryce yelled, "Kurtis, Karel's coming up the front stairs right now!"

Shit. Shit, shit, shit… "The Iris?" he asked, grabbing Alessa's wrist and pulling her out of the room and in the opposite direction. The other, unspoken question hovered in the air: 'Lara?'

"She's still got it," Bryce answered, but his answer was suspiciously short. Trying to focus on the matter at hand, he dragged Alessa onward, searching for a suitable hiding place. "Try the–"

Static deafened Kurtis, and he tore out his earpiece, not bothering to censor his language. Bryce was otherwise engaged, and Karel could be anywhere. The situation was not good.

Alessa stumbled and almost fell, gasping for breath. She didn't think she could keep up with Kurtis for much longer. Her legs burned, and her lungs couldn't get enough oxygen. She fought light-headedness and gritted her teeth, determined to keep going.

They rounded another corner… and he stood there. The one who had killed Mama and Papa. Alessa had never known terror so complete. Her legs gave out from under her, and through the ringing in her ears she heard a shrill noise, repeated over and over. It wasn't until her throat began to sting that she realised she was listening to her own screams.

"Little one," Karel hissed, taking a step forward. His sinister smile was all for her.

Kurtis pushed his Chirugai forward, using his own body to shield Alessa. The weapon cut a deep gash in Karel's throat, but only a trickle of blood emerged. Powerless, the last fully-trained Lux Veritatis warrior emptied an entire clip of ammunition into the Nephilim's forehead, to no avail. Splinters of bone fell to the expensive carpet, but were replaced by new tissue almost instantly.

Desperate, Kurtis shoved Karel back with the strongest telekinetic blow he could muster. The effort brought a fierce ache to his temples, and a trickle of blood ran from one nostril as the pressure in his skull released itself. Dizzy, he blinked stinging sweat from his eyes and searched for Karel, who was steadying himself against the wall. Although he knew he didn't have enough power to attack a second time, he felt a rush of satisfaction all the same.

Karel gave an animal snarl, all his practised patience and courtesy used up. This was taking far longer than it should, and his control over his body was slipping with every second. Losing his temper, he rushed at Kurtis, slamming him headfirst into the wall with superhuman strength. Dazed, the mortal warrior slumped to the floor.

Dimly, through the spots that clouded her vision, Alessa saw Kurtis hit the ground, blood seeping from his nose. Dead, he's dead, and Lara must be dead too, and now Karel's going to take me away and probably kill me… no, no, NO!

Sick with rage and grief, she pulled herself upright, facing off against the creature that had slain everyone she held dear. Her limbs were tingling, and she could no longer feel her fingers or toes, but she was past caring. "You murdering bastard!" she screamed. "Come and get me, then!"

To her shock, Karel's eyes widened, and he stepped back one uncertain pace. At the same time, she realised the air around her was… glowing. A circular, elaborately-drawn pattern of silver light hung in midair, and she was in the centre, screaming defiance, because he was taking her new home away from her, just when she thought she could start to be happy again…

She wanted to make him hurt like she was hurting. She grabbed her power, all of it that she could find, and shoved, as hard as she could.

Shocked, she watched the tall figure in the perfectly-pressed suit fly backwards down the corridor and explode through the window at the end. "Did I do that?" she whispered.

On the ground floor, Lara ground her teeth in utter frustration, her hands balled into fists, as one of her eight attackers confiscated her weapons – with none of the finesse Kurtis had exhibited in the same area. Rough hands snatched her backpack from her, and she could only watch with helpless rage as the thug withdrew the Iris, sneering triumphantly.

Six guns still pointed at her. One man held the artefact, and the eighth drove a fist into her gut so hard it was an effort not to be physically sick. Gasping with pain, Lara hunched protectively over her aching midsection. Apparently Karel's men thought they could have some fun with her whilst their boss finished off upstairs.

The brittle sound of glass breaking startled her out of her pain, and everyone in the main hall stared out of the gaping doorway at the figure that landed with a jarring thud some ten feet from the manor.

Lara's first thought was that it was Kurtis, and a flash of dread numbed the pain in her stomach. A split-second later, her brain identified the fallen man as Karel. She and the men around her stared in disbelief as the Nephilim rose and stared up at the broken window, shock and fear clear on his face.

It was all Lara needed to see. Whilst his followers were still processing the fact that their master was losing the battle, she wrenched the Iris back and dove for her weapon, killing or knocking unconscious five of the enemy before they had time to react.

The remaining mercenaries bolted toward Karel. One fell en route, shot in the back, but the others took cover behind the immortal, who limped forward a step, raising a fist in Lara's direction. "Our business is not finished," he informed her icily.

"What a shame," she deadpanned back, scooping one of the machine guns up off the floor and firing a short burst at him. The bullets did no damage, but she hadn't expected them to. At this moment in time, she just wanted him the hell off her property.

Bryce and Winston rushed up behind her, and they watched, stunned to be alive, as Karel retreated.

Yeah, I know the Golden Lion is supposed to be the Cabal, but I have a plan for that. Anyway. Review and I'll love you!