Bryce wiggled under a desk as the robbers approached.

Bugger! He thought. Let's hope they don't have any putty, or I'm a dead man.

Bryce looked around the room frantically in search of something he could use to defend himself in case the thieves did have the dangerous combination of Ammonium Nitrate and Fuel Oil. Bryce hesitated in his thoughts:

Okay, Lara only takes one pair of guns in and out of this room, no help there. Fiber optics are butters, what the devil can I... Bryce's eyes grew excited. Simon! Simon can fight this time; Lara didn't train today, so he shouldn't malfunction!

Bryce smiled, as this was the happiest moment of his life.

He turned his attention back to the robbers. They did indeed have putty. Bryce should have been worried for his life, but a sly smile danced on his lips. Quickly, he jumped out from underneath the desk and into the closest chair. He heard the yelling of the men on the other side of the glass, but he paid no attention. This was Simon's moment of glory! If he couldn't defeat Lara, he could certainly be amused by the trivial attempts of the robbers to bring Simon down. If Simon was a match for Lara, these goons would be toast in a second!

You're in barney, boys. Bryce thought wickedly as he pecked rapidly at the keyboard in front of him.

The smile on Lara's face never left her as she dodged in and out of hallways, confusing her pursuers. She hadn't had this much fun in months! Every once in a while, she would dart around a corner, wait there, and shoot one of the robbers down. They would be extremely shocked in their last moments, and Lara would laugh and run away from the now large group of people that followed her.

Wow Lara, aren't you Miss Popular? You start with three and now there's thirteen!

Lara stopped for a moment; it was extremely quiet. Slowly, she backed into a corner behind a statue and crouched down. Three men ran in front of her shouting things like: "Where the hell did she go?" and "She was right here!"

Smiling to herself, she leaped out of her hiding place and fired a couple rounds into the bewildered goons. Lara stepped out more into the hallway and crouched over the dead bodies.

"Hmmm," she mumbled, checking the corpses for identification. None.

Bugger, she thought. Lara carefully picked through the men's pockets and packs. She found nothing of value in the first two goons' but the third held something of interest.

The chain dangled around her slender fingers as she inspected it. A small symbol on a round charm was the only decoration she could find. Quickly, she stuffed the find into her pocket and made her way back to the main hallway. Lara abruptly stopped as she heard a single voice just around the corner. In a flash, Lara was in the hallway, and her guns were aimed at...

"Alex! What are you doing down here?" Lara looked at the pathetic form of man in front of her. He was hunched a bit and his leg was wrapped with a thick bandage.

"Trying to find you!" Alex exclaimed. "Do you know how many people are in this house? There's about fifty!"

He looked past Lara and around the corner where she had just come from, then behind him.

"Okay, maybe thirty." He watched Lara as she cracked a small smile. "Ah, finally, a smile!" Alex chuckled as he watched it quickly fade.

"This doesn't mean I forgive you," Lara replied shortly.

Alex smiled. "The thought never crossed my mind."

Hillary, with his prized shotgun in hand, snuck down the halls in search of any lost goons. His movements were almost comedic as he darted between the main hallway and any open doors that he spotted. After some time of carrying out this ridiculously vain procedure, Hillary made his way to the banister that overlooked the main room. He looked up at the shattered glass ceiling and let his eyes wander to the floor of the main room.

Debris and panes of broken glass littered the entire area, and blood still trickled from the lifeless bodies, which were suspended in mid-air. Hillary almost felt himself jump in his skin. He loved to clean, and there would be a plethora to scrub, and shovel out when this madness was finished.

Hillary was rather odd.

Taking aim with his shotgun, Hillary fired two shells towards the intruders. Both missed. Hillary was never the best marksman in the land anyway. Quickly, he threw his body behind a column, and waited for the shower of bullets to cease before he took aim again. This time, he only shot once, but he still missed.

Bryce only took his eyes off of the screen for a moment to notice a new type of bullet hitting the glass. The familiar sound of Hillary's shotgun missing a target was something that Bryce had gotten used to. Bryce looked up to the second level and noticed Hillary standing behind a column, almost ready to take aim again.

Stick to cleanin', Hillary, Bryce sighed. You'd kill more of 'em with a squirt bottle of Windex than you would with your shotgun.

Bryce chuckled to himself and began unfolding Simon's programming again. Soon, the intruders would break through the glass, and then the steel grates would come down. But they could still shoot Bryce through the holes; he had to work faster.

Lara let Alex lean on her as they made their way through the long hallway back into the main room. She knew that this wasn't doing anything for his pride, but hers was bruised as well. Wrongly shooting someone was a major 'no-no' on Lara's list. She never liked to bestow pain on anyone that didn't deserve it, even if it was Alex West.

Stepping in time with each other, Lara and Alex now stood opposite the support of the staircase, which contained the secret room where Lara had found the clock. Lara looked across the room and noticed that the robbers were about to use the Ammonium Nitrate on the glass barriers.

"Alex, you've got to stand on your own now, I've got to stop them- Bryce is still in there."

Alex nodded. "Well, it was fun while it lasted."

Lara looked at him with a glint of danger in her eyes. If looks could kill, Alex would be six feet under.

Alex positioned himself behind the banister of the staircase so he was able to see what Lara was doing. If she needed help, he would be her backup. He watched her as she stealthily made her way towards the goons. He tried not to notice too much, however, or it would be his head. Sensing his male nature taking over, Alex decided to give in.

The way she moved was hypnotic. She was still clad in her nightgown, which was now adorned with tiny trickles of crimson blood. Alex tilted his head as he took in the full beauty of her. Her long hair cascaded down her back, not in her normal, tight braid, but in a simple flow, which accented the every curve of her body. Alex shook the thought out of his head.

Give it up, Alex, she hates you.

________________________________________________________

*Barney (Rubble): Trouble

*Butters: Useless