A/N: Just small chapter this time, I didn't want the fight scene in the last chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Tomb Raider.
Chapter 11: Test
Buffy saw as Lara came hurtling towards her, fists clenched. The woman tried to knock her feet and unbalance her, but as soon as her fists came towards her she jumped off the gravestone and over Lara's head to land behind her. Lara spun around and instantly started her attack. Her left arm went towards her face as her right went to her shoulder. Buffy managed to block these, but she hadn't expected the archaeologist to be so fast. After jumping over a sweeping kick the blonde found an opening and threw a punch at her side, only to find that it had been blocked.
Lara flinched at the sheer strength of the girl before her. She had tried to block the punch with her arm and as soon as she hit her arm instantly bruised. That wasn't supposed to hurt like that. Buffy turned to press an advantage by cornering Lara against a gravestone, but was surprised as Lara managed to back flip onto the top of the stone. She balanced for a few seconds, before Buffy began to seek revenge and tried to knock her feet off the stone. She dodged the punches with ease, shifting her feet away from the blonde's fists. After Buffy threw her last punch, Lara dud a handstand on the narrow stone, flicking her feet in Buffy's direction. She tried to kick her in the face. After the blonde narrowly dodged, Lara landed on the ground and the two women carried on with their combat. They barely managed to get a hit on one another and both of their movements were fast. Dawn had trouble trying to keep up with their movements.
Lara really liked the girl's fighting style. Although she couldn't pinpoint a single style, she admired how she managed to adapt many styles into her own technique. Her strength was truly incredible.
Buffy didn't remember when she had a fight that was on such equal grounds. Not even most vampires and demons showed as much skill as the brunette in front of her. She made up for her lack of strength with sheer skill. Buffy shivered at the idea what she would be like if those guns were involved.
After ten more minutes sparring the two women stopped, both deciding that they had seen enough.
"That was the most fun I've had in ages," panted Buffy. Lara smiled,
"You are a very skilled fighter, where did you learn such unusual techniques?"
"I mostly just improvise to be honest," replied Buffy. "Now that we have tested each other… why are you here?"
"I was looking for you," Lara answered. "Can we talk somewhere more comfortable?"
"Sure, Giles is kind of expecting you to appear soon anyways," Buffy smiled. "You sure scared that vampire last night."
"That's what he gets for assuming that I'm a helpless woman. I get that all the time and it's annoying," exclaimed Lara. Buffy laughed.
"I know, they are so stupid aren't they? I actually prefer that they think I am helpless, i find it easier to kill them when they aren't expecting it."
"Indeed." they started to make their way out of the graveyard, as Dawn came running towards them.
"Oh my God," she exclaimed. "That was so cool. I haven't seen anyone take on Buffy so easily in like forever. Where did you learn to fight like that? Can you teach me?"
"No," said Buffy. "You can learn to fight when I say your ready."
"But,"
"No, buts," she turned to face Lara. "This is my sister Dawn."
"Nice to meet you Dawn," said Lara. "I never properly got to introduce myself. I'm Lara Croft, nice to meet you both." Dawn smiled and shook her hand before carrying on.
"Why did you start fighting back there?" She asked.
"I wanted to have a little fun, I knew your sister was good, I wanted to test that. you know that I don't get to fight that many normal people in tombs."
"If you think I'm normal then I think you may have got the wrong girl," Buffy smirked. "Although I wanted to test your strength too." Dawn carried on bombarding her with questions.
"Giles said that your house was attacked by strange men. where they vampires?"
"Yes," replied Lara.
"What where they after," she questioned.
"I'll tell you when we meet up with this Giles person. Who is he anyway?"
"He's my watcher," Buffy replied.
"Oh, the archives said nothing about him."
"What?" Buffy questioned.
"My guys did a little research, we err kind of hacked into the watchers databases." Lara replied. Buffy burst out laughing.
"Those bastards actually started to use technology," she paused. "Does it feel any colder to you?" Dawn started laughing as well, just another day at the hell mouth.
"I assume that you don't like the council then?"
"Nope," replied Buffy. They made their way down the high street. Lara saw a small shop in the corner, it had a large sign with "THE MAGIC BOX" written on it.
"We're here," said Buffy, stopping at the entrance of the shop, opening the door.
