Well, even though you guys claim to have liked Chapter 11, I still thought it sucked, so to make up for it, I decided to post Chapter 12 the very next day! So yay for suckiness!! Haha. And I must agree with Rozzyrox, the story is quite confusing. Sometimes I don't even know what the hell is going on...but hey, I try. Hence why I HAD to address the confusion in my "fanfic angst" as OveractiveImaginer called it haha. So here's chapter 12, somewhat short, but I KNOW WITHOUT A DOUBT you guys will love Chapter 13, and that is all I am going to say :) Read on, my devoted fans!!


What could they have taken Andrea for? Lara thought as she stared into the ocean on the ferry ride back into Honduras. Unless she resisted when they demanded her knowledge, or something of the sort.

Lara glanced over to the side, where Kurtis stood, his back to her, staring out at the ocean as well. In his hand was a cigarette, and his other was clasped into a fist as he leaned over the railing. She could tell he was angry – and why wouldn't he be? That damned Rutland had made off with his Chirugai – again. You'd think he'd understand not to mess with it by this point, Lara thought, but then again, she knew better – Rutland was a spoiled rich boy, accustomed to getting whatever he wanted whenever he wanted it.

And Andrea? Lara just hoped she was okay – and, of course, that she was on their side in this whole thing. She wasn't quite sure whether or not to trust that kid. Just when she thought Andrea was going to help them out, she seemed to turn her back on them. Of course, she couldn't assume that that was what happened. Rutland could've sent his men to get the Chirugai, found Andrea there, and wanted her back. She could've truly found her way to Honduras on her own. After all, all Lara could do was assume that she was being honest, and that she was really trying to help them.

The ferry horn sounded, and a voice came over the intercom, announcing in both Spanish and English that the ferry would be docking in twenty minutes. Lara sighed to herself, leaning back from the railing and approaching Kurtis's side as he flicked the cigarette butt into the ocean below.

"You know, that's why the oceans are so polluted," she said, grinning.

He glanced at her, but didn't take lightly to her joke. He stared back out at the water. "It's a good relief."

"It causes cancer," she reminded him. She was trying to lighten the mood, but apparently Kurtis wasn't up for jokes and fun right now. Lara sighed. "We'll get it back, Kurtis."

"I know we will," he said. "Rutland's going to pay dearly for it."

Lara looked at the water, cautious with her words. "Did it…did it belong to your father?"

Kurtis looked into her eyes, and for the first time since she'd known him, she was afraid of what she saw in him. In the depths of his soul, projected through his eyes, was an intimidating glaze of hatred and revenge. She felt her body tense instinctually, even though she knew Kurtis would never hurt her. "Yes," was all he said in response.

He looked back out to the water. Lara sighed quietly, understanding his pain. She tenderly placed her hand over his, and it was enough to turn his gaze to her eyes. She offered a weak smile, and searched his eyes. "I personally promise that we'll get it back."

He stared back at her for a moment, then glanced down at her hand atop his own. He pulled away awkwardly and walked away. Lara immediately felt embarrassed. Should I not have done that? she thought. Doesn't he want me to get closer? Then again, she realized he may just be frustrated with the Chirugai situation – or maybe with Lara's inconvenient times to offer her feelings to him.

Lara sighed, turning away from the railing to reach the dock as the ferry pulled into Honduras.


"Thank Heaven you two are back," Alister sighed when he opened the door to Lara and Kurtis. They stepped inside the hotel room, glancing about at the overturned mattresses, the opened nightstand drawers, and the scattered papers and wires.

"It looks like they really made a mess of you," Lara commented, slipping her backpack off onto the bed. "They got what they came for."

"No doubt, they did," Alister mumbled. "Took off with the bloody notebook, the Chirugai, and the damned kid."

"The only good news is that we got things up and running again," Zip put in. "Well, for the most part. And we have leads as to where Rutland's gone."

"Where?" Lara demanded.

"About five miles south of here."

"Why?"

"Not sure," Zip replied. "Just happens to be where he's set up camp."

"Let's hope he doesn't understand the map and glyphs," Lara said. Then she sighed. "I'm going to go find him. Alone."

Kurtis turned to her. "What?"

"You heard me," she said. "It doesn't make sense for two of us to go."

"Lara, that guy will kill you as soon as he sees you!" Zip said. "Remember he's immortal? And he has the Chirugai?"

"He wouldn't dare lay a hand on me," Lara said. "Not when he doesn't know where the stone is."

"Who says he even knows the stone exists?" Alister put in.

"He must know something," she reasoned. "Don't you think he'd be the least bit suspicious as to why we weren't here when the place was being burglarized? He must know we found some other sort of lead at least."

"And if he doesn't?" Zip asked.

"I'll play devil's advocate," she shrugged. "It's what I do best."

"This is ridiculous," Kurtis interjected. "You're going to either get yourself killed or get the stone stolen."

"This isn't my first time doing this, Kurtis," Lara retorted, "and it's certainly not my first time handling Rutland."

"Yeah, sure," he muttered.

"Don't be so upset about this," she said. "I can hold my own."

"Rutland's not going to hold back," Kurtis said dryly. "What makes you think you're so special?"

"I'm a persuasive woman," she said. "I know my way with words."

"This is a stupid idea," Kurtis argued, shaking his head with frustration.

"Stop overreacting," Lara snapped. "I'm going. Try to work off the temper tantrum before I get back, if you can." Lara turned towards the door, and vaguely heard Kurtis mumble, "If you come back." She sighed, closing the hotel door behind her.


The coordinates and directions that Zip had given her placed Lara directly five miles south of the hotel they were lodged at. The only thing was that this "camp" Rutland had set up was exactly in the middle of nowhere. Tropical trees and brush surrounded the area, and there was no one around. Lara parked the Ducati near a rather conspicuous tree so she would be able to find it again. She tapped into her headset.

"I'm here," she said.

"Glad you got there safely," Zip responded.

"Kurtis?"

"Still, uh…wandering about…"

"Code for 'still pouting'?"

Zip chuckled. "Yeah. That's it."

"As well as can be expected," she muttered. She sighed, stepping forward into the thick grass, brushing past the hanging vines and shrubbery. "Lara, you're coming up to some campsites," Zip chipped in.

"Any sign of Rutland so far?" she asked.

"If he's here, he'll probably be in one of the trailers, hiding away."

"What do you mean, if?" Lara asked suspiciously.

"Well, we don't know he is here at this moment. Just be careful. There are mercenaries wandering all around."

"Nothing to worry about," she said casually. She pushed back some of the brush to see into the campsite. There were several mobile trailers set up, and a small ammunitions cache in the corner. "They've made themselves at home," Lara commented.

"And they've managed to modernize everything to their liking," Zip added. "They've probably got Tivo and air conditioning in there."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Lara muttered. She gazed ahead, catching sight of a bronze door lodged into the mountainside. "What's that door over there?" she asked, zooming in on it with her binoculars.

"Hm, not sure," Zip said. "It looks like some kind of Mesoamerican hideout."

"And I'd put two hundred pounds on it that that's where Rutland's hiding."

"No harm in checking," Zip said.

Lara thought for a moment about what would be the best way in and through the campsite without being noticed. I need to create a diversion, she thought. But what can I do…? Then it hit her. She removed one of the four grenades latched onto the back of her belt and walked deeper into the jungle, back towards the area she had come from. Then, she pulled the pin from the grenade and launched it forward and to the left. She ducked behind a tree as the explosion went off four seconds later. Then, as she heard shouting, she ran to the right, around the perimeter of the campsite.

"Good idea, Lara," Zip said. "They won't know what hit them."

"Exactly my plan," Lara said, taking her pistols to hand. She knew that not all of the mercenaries would go investigate the explosion. Several of them would still be at the campsite. But at least she had gotten rid of some of them. She snuck onto the campsite, hiding behind the weapons cache. The bronze door was being guarded by four armed mercenaries, on the opposite side of the hanging bridge. Below the bridge was a fast-flowing river.

Lara saw through the small window of one of the trailers a computer with visual feeds. Cameras of the campsite, she thought. She sneaked around to the side of the trailer, then kicked open the door to find two guards inside. She closed the door as not to be seen, then pointed her guns about at the men. "Good day, gentlemen," she said casually. "I need your help with something." The men glanced about at each other fearfully. "I need to know where James Rutland is, and you're going to tell me. Better yet, show me." The men stared at her in disbelief, until she cocked the trigger back on her pistol and trained it on their heads. "Do you think I'm joking?" she asked.

They glanced at each other again, and then turned towards the computer. The computer geek pulled up a visual feed of a dark room with a small amount of sunlight illuminating it. She saw Rutland on the screen, talking to a few other mercenaries.

"Where is that?" she asked.

"I-In the room beyond the bronze door," the man said slowly.

"And how do I get in there?"

He glanced at his buddies again, then back at Lara. "The pressure plate on the opposite side of the bridge."

Perfect, Lara thought. She breathed in, trying to decide what to do with these men. "You're not trained in weapons combat, are you?" she asked. He shook his head negatively, sweat growing at his brows. She turned away for a brief second, then turned back, backhanding the man with the butt of her gun. She kicked the other man in the face, sending them both unconscious. Then, she peered under the desk, pulling out several wires from the computers. "That'll do the trick," she grinned.

"So we know where Rutland is," Zip said. "Let's hope he's got the Chirugai with him."

"Of course he will," she said, still fiddling with the wires. "He treats that thing like it's his damned child…even though he can't manage to hang onto it." She stood up, glancing about the trailer. "What else can I mess with in here?" she said aloud. She saw a switch on the wall with two thick black wires trailing down from it. "What does this button do…?" she thought. She pulled the switch, and a loud alarm began to sound throughout the camp. "That ought to heat things up," she said cheerily.

Lara knew with the alarm going, she would have some coverage as she headed for the bronze door. She peered out the window as the guards stood in various positions. Then, she snuck out the back, heading towards the bridge. She fired at the guards standing on the opposite side, then ran to their position. Just as the mercenaries noticed she had evaded them, she tossed a grenade across the bridge, turned her back, and stood ground against the explosion. See if they can cross that gap, she scoffed in her mind. She stood on the pressure plate and watched the door rise vertically, until it was high enough for her to cross. Then, she casually walked through.

She followed the hallway down to the dimly lit room she'd seen on the cameras. In the center of the room was a small stone platform with Mayan glyphs on it. She approached it, translating it aloud. "And the stone, filled with its elixir of reprisal, and reunited with it base of originality, would deem the possessor with the power of immortality."

"What does it mean?" Zip asked.

Lara looked up, pondering. "I'm not sure," she replied. "Something tells me this platform is symbolic for something, although here in this forgotten temple, or whatever this place is, it is nothing more than a replica of what we should be looking for."

"That's exactly what I thought," Rutland's voice said from the shadows. Lara braced herself and glared at the figure emerging, that annoying smirk across his face. She saw the Chirugai clipped on his belt. "I knew that the minute they told me about the explosion, you were coming here. It didn't surprise me at all." He approached the platform and touched it tenderly, then looked to Lara. "So the Philosopher's Stone…it's to be brought to this platform, rather the real version of this platform. See the hollow base…?"

"Let's pretend I don't know what you're talking about," she said, folding her arms over her chest.

"Come on, Lara," he said casually. "We've been down this road before. It's just the extra little factor that fits into the equation that makes everything work out."

"Meaning…?"

"Oh, you know…take the stone to the temple! To this exact platform in the Lost Temple."

"Ah, of course," she said sarcastically. "It must've slipped my mind."

"I don't suppose you brought it here, did you?" he asked. Lara grinned. "No, of course not! You've hidden it somewhere, and you're here to get the Chirugai back…and the kid, too?"

"What I'm here for is my business," she said.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten about little Andy," he said.

"What did you tell her that evening at my home?" she demanded.

"Now that's something between me and her," he said. "And if she hasn't told you, that just goes to show that she's more loyal to you than me! How's that for irony?"

"Irony will be when I get the Chirugai back, and Andrea, while you're left here twaddling your thumbs," Lara retorted.

"If you've already translated the map, then why do you want the Chirugai so badly?" he asked.

"Don't be silly, Rutland. I need the Chirugai so I can kill you – not to mention I'll have the sound fact of knowing that your only insurance will be in my hands."

"I didn't know you could be so harsh, Lady Croft," he said. "But I have been practicing with it." He removed it from his belt and spun it on his finger, activating the devilish blue glow. "Let me show you some tricks I've learned." Rutland threw the Chirugai in her direction, and she dodged it immediately, already familiar with the routine. She trained her pistols on him and started firing, the bullets doing no harm. She glanced up quickly, seeing the Chirugai humming in a circle in the air, gaining momentum to surge towards her again. Meanwhile, Rutland began to form those terrible blue orbs of psychic energy, shooting them in her direction. She dove quickly to the side, barely evading the shot. Then, immediately after, the Chirugai came towards her. She did a quick somersault out of the way as the Chirugai returned to Rutland's grasp. He didn't catch it with easy and briskness like Kurtis did. He fumbled with it, held it with inexperience and mediocrity. Kurtis would be laughing his gut out, she thought.

Rutland chuckled. "Now, this isn't any fun! Not if you can't even inflict damage on me."

"It's a good workout for me," she said, keeping her guns trained on him. But Lara knew he was right. She was powerless against him. Kurtis had been right, too, saying this was a stupid idea to have gone out here. He and Andy were possibly the only ones that could stand a chance against Rutland, and she had been too proud and stubborn to thoroughly think it through.

In the midst of her thoughts, Lara was knocked backwards by a fierce blue orb of energy. She flew into the stone wall and sunk to the ground, her vision blurring, then quickly coming back. She sat up on her hands, trying to see straight. Rutland stood over her, kicking her fiercely in the side. "I don't need powers to kick your ass," he commented, smirking. "I thought the great Lara Croft could hold her own?"

If I could just get the Chirugai from him, she thought. He removed the Chirugai from his belt again, letting it float in the air in the blue energy. "You could've been a formidable opponent," Rutland sighed, "but now, perhaps, not." He gripped the Chirugai in his hand and drew it back, preparing to kill her.


Dun dun dun...what will happen next?! You will have to wait until Thursday!! Stay tuned!! =D