Alex and Lara stepped through the automatic doors and were immediately embraced with a gust of cold air. Lara removed her black sunglasses and placed them on top of her head, her long brown hair was tied back and she wore form-fitting black leather pants. If Alex were just a passerby, he would have taken more notice, but since he knew her personally, he knew the consequences and didn't care to experience them. Besides, he knew that she was never unarmed.

Both archaeologists made their way toward the check-in counter, unhindered by baggage. Bryce, however, was not so lucky. He had been stuck with all of the belongings and he lagged behind, complaining of course.

"Bryce!" Lara turned to face her tech that was a good distance away from them. "Rent a trolley!" She watched as Bryce's mouth fell open.

How could he have been so stupid? As quickly as he could muster, Bryce scurried toward the trolley rental and dropped every bag onto it, except his bags. Heaven forbid his precious laptop suffered a horrendous jolt!

Casually, Lara slid all three tickets across the counter and the person behind the desk inspected them. The clerk raised his eyes at Lara and then busied himself with the pieces of paper. Alex felt his blood boil; he knew that man was checking Lara out, and Alex did not like it. The clerk began to speak:

"Okay, Ms. Croft, Mr. West, and..." He stopped and looked around, "...is there someone else with you?" Lara smirked and turned around, pointing toward the man behind her.

"Yes, that would be my tech, Bryce. He's here." The clerk nodded, taking a small glimpse of Lara's cleavage. If he was any more discrete, trumpets would be blaring and alarms would sound. Yes, this definitely made Alex angry.

Lara, however, did not seem to notice. She had busied herself with taking note of the airport and the people in it. She didn't even glance at the clerk when he handed the tickets back to her. Lara walked away before he could even give her the gate number. Somewhat disappointed, the man behind the desk resolved in telling a very cross Alex West.

Lara hastily walked through the airport with Alex and Bryce rushing to catch up behind her.

"Lara!" A breathless Bryce yelled. "Lara, you don't even know which gate we're in!" Finally, he rolled the trolley next to Lara and began to complain again. "Now remind me why we're using the public airlines. Weren't you the one who was in the military and has connections? Why don't you ask for a bloody luxury aircraft!"

Lara slowed her pace for a moment and Bryce saw that her eyes danced with merriment; she was enjoying this.

"Bryce, I can't abuse my "connections" as you call it. They don't answer to my every beck and call, you know." Bryce gave her a dubious look.

"Yeah, all right, you win!" He threw up his hands and whisked them back down to the trolley. "You know you're a pain in the bum?" Lara smiled and placed a slender hand on her tech's shoulder.

"As are you, my friend. As are you."

"Gate A23 now boarding. First class is boarding now." An English-accented voice boomed over the intercom as Lara and Alex walked toward the terminal. Bryce was running toward them at the time because he had to check the baggage. He reached his two comrades and clutched a stitch in his side.

"You know," he breathed, directing his statement to Lara, "the things I do for you..." The disheveled tech bent over and positioned both of his hands on his knees. Lara stepped to him and gave him a small hug.

"We know, Bryce. What would we do without you?" And with that, the three boarded the plane.

The flight to South Africa had been fruitless. Nothing interesting went on at all. Lara had sat in her seat the whole time, peering out the window once in a while. Alex had sat in the aisle seat, busying himself with uninteresting magazines and ordering way too much to drink. Bryce sat in the middle and promptly absorbed himself into his laptop while simultaneously thumbing through a computer magazine and listening to headphones. As much as Lara tried, she just couldn't find anything to do. The hours seemed to crawl by, but finally they reached South Africa where they would take a connecting flight to Australia.

People jumped out of the way as the adventurers rapidly sprinted to their next flight. Bryce tripped over many people and baggage, Alex was a little luckier, but Lara gracefully hurdled objects in the way, weaved through the traffic, and reached the terminal just in time. Just in time to see that the flight was delayed, that is. Slightly annoyed, Lara plopped herself down on a chair and waited for her slow comrades to join her. When she saw them, she could not help but release a healthy laugh.

Both of the men looked as if they had just woken up, Alex with wind-blown hair and Bryce... well, he looked the same as always. His hair was never tidy. Lara didn't even stop laughing when she drew the attention of numerous people at the terminal. She didn't know, however, that she had drawn the attention of someone that wanted her dead.

"Have fun boys?" Lara chuckled.

She was met with two accusing glares as they both landed into separate chairs. The flight was only delayed a half an hour, but darkness had already overtaken the sky, and they would not reach Tuvalu until the next day, most likely when the sun was just about to set. This flight was not as boring as the next, for this plane was much larger, and Lara sat in the aisle seat. Next to her, was a very charming man and they had many heated discussions. Lara didn't notice the glares that Alex was giving her new acquaintance, but he was sure dealing them an awful lot.

Lara talked to the man across from her about archaeology, mythological artifacts, and legends, though she never once spoke a word about the Amulet. She learned many things from this man as well. He had wanted to become an archaeologist, but something else was in the way. He didn't tell her, but she got the gist of it.

Most likely family issues, Lara thought. But nothing could be farther from the truth.

Hours from then, the plane landed in Australia and Lara bid adieu to her acquaintance and headed off with Alex and Bryce.

"He seemed nice, Lara," Bryce said, breaking the silence between them all.

Lara nodded. "Yes, we talked about many things. He was nice." Alex never said a word.

"Was he anyone important?" Bryce continued to be nosey. Croft thought for a moment and shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't think so. He's just a hopeful young man that wanted to be an archaeologist." Bryce nodded and asked a final question:

"Does this mystery bloke have a name?"

Laughing, Lara remembered. "Yes, his name was Willem. Willem Parse."