The dark room suddenly was lit up with morning sunlight as Lara Croft threw back the blinds of the window in her male comrades' room.

"Rise and shine," she said. It wasn't a cheery welcome for joining the living again, it was an order. Reluctantly, Alex opened his eyes and immediately shaded them.

"Holy shit, Lara. I'm gonna go blind!" Lara watched as Alex rolled off of the bed and hit the floor. Disapprovingly, she shook her head and lightly kicked him in the side.

"West, we need to be off. I expect you ready in no more than ten minutes."

Alex groaned. She was such a difficult woman! Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Alex lifted himself up and went to the bathroom. Quickly, he disposed of his clothing and turned on the shower. He almost completely lost himself as the hot water rolled down his body. It enveloped him in a pleasant cocoon of warmth; the steam refreshed him and he was finally awake.

Ten minutes later, West was tying his shoes. Lara had resolved to wake up Bryce.

Yeah right, Alex mumbled in his thoughts, Bryce is impossible to wake up! But Lara seemed determined.

"Bryce, wake up!" The tomb raider shook the sleeping form, which was Bryce, angrily. "Ugh, he is incorrigible!"

She heard West laugh from where he sat, his hands went up to stifle it, but the damage had been done.

"Lara, you're going about it the wrong way. You can't just physically abuse him and expect the guy to wake up. You have to threaten him. Observe..."

Lara eyed Alex as he finished tying his shoe and walked over to Bryce's bed. Slowly, West lowered his head down to where Bryce slept and whispered into the tech's ear. In a split second, Bryce shot out of bed, his eyes wide and sweat starting to form on his brow. He looked panicked.

"Where is she? What did you do to her!" His yelling made Lara furrow her eyebrows in shock.

"Alex, what exactly did you tell him?" West only smirked at her.

His eyes followed Bryce as the tech madly ran across the room; he grabbed a bag and fiercely ripped it open. Frantically, he rummaged inside of the bag and produced his laptop. An evident wave of relief spread over Bryce as he sunk to the floor, hugging his miniature computer in undeniable affection. Croft only rolled her eyes.

"Now that this pathetic display is over, would you mind us getting to work? We've wasted enough time already!" The two males of the party nodded and Bryce picked himself off of the floor and began to hook up his equipment. He spoke to Lara in a professional tone:

"Okay, this is your contact device. Attach it to your ear," he indicated her right ear and continued, "West, you get one as well. I will be able to communicate to you through these. And these," he tossed them both objects that appeared to be black leather watches, "are the means that you will contact me." He only stopped to watch Lara and Alex nod before he continued, "Open your watch and you'll find a small computer. Don't get this wet! It will go out automatically; unless you keep the flap down of course." He demonstrated with an example wristband and explained the rest of his equipment:

"Your computer is mainly a map. This map tells you temperature, elevation, population density, and geographical sites such as mountains, rivers... and yada yada yada. Now, you will also be able to contact each other if you get separated anywhere. Although, the devices don't reach over one hundred feet. However mine can reach you if you're just on the same channel." The tech smiled proudly and then came a stern look.

"So don't get separated!"

Croft and West nodded like two little children before their teacher and adjusted their new gadgets.

"Bryce," Lara turned to him and smiled, "you don't mislead us, all right?"

The mischievous tech just grinned. "No worries there. Now, you be careful. I'm not the one riskin' me arse..."

But before he could finish his sentence, Lara had ruffled his hair again and her and Alex were out the door.

Bryce sunk into his chair as he set up the remainder of his equipment. He ran his fingers through his clump of hair and sighed.

"Bugger," he cursed. "Where's that adaptor?"

Warm sunlight bathed the tomb raiders as they emerged from their hotel. Lara closed her eyes for a brief moment and inhaled the fresh air. No matter what may lie in store for her, Tuvalu was definitely a beautiful place. Quickly she headed down the sidewalk toward her next destination, her guns and ammo carefully stowed in her small backpack behind her.

Alex watched as Lara walked in front of him. She looked rugged yet ravishing in her black shorts and matching tank top. Her braided hair fell down her back, aligning perfectly with her spine. And then West found himself staring more than he ought to. He thought back to the other night when Lara had barged out of the bathroom in only a towel. His mind had gone crazy and he had to control himself from pouncing on her. After all, he was a guy, and it's just not right for any warm-blooded male to ignore such a gorgeous woman when she's practically naked in front of him!

And then he found himself back on the streets of Tuvalu, Lara waving for him to hurry up. Alex complied and ran up to his comrade; she gave him a quick glare, but it was nothing baleful, possibly only a warning for him to keep up. Although, keeping up with Lara was something Alex would not pass up...

"West, do you mind? We need to make it to the shop so we can get our motorcycles. Hillary gave me the address this morning while you were still sleeping." She glared at him and he only gave her a goofy smile. She huffed, "I swear, you're starting to act more like Bryce every day."

West only shrugged, "At least I'm not 'pressing your buttons', eh?" Another ridiculous smile. Lara parted her lips and spoke:

"Mr. West, make a clear note that you will not be pressing anything of mine, especially my buttons." And with that, she accelerated and left Alex behind.

One hour later, the tomb raiders had succeeded in finding their motorcycles and headed toward their next destination. Alex, of course, had no idea where they were going. But then again, Lara never told him anything...

"We're on our way to a specific archaeology site. It's been abandoned for years; maybe we'll find something," Lara spoke into her communication device to Alex as she sped along on her sleek motorcycle. Over the wind rushing past her, she made out Alex's voice through her earpiece.

"Why are we heading there? Aren't we supposed to be looking for the son of a bitch who invaded your house? I thought he was the reason we were here."

Lara rolled her eyes behind the visor of her dark helmet. She didn't like wasting breath, but she had to tell Alex exactly what was going on.

"There's someone following us," she began. "They've been watching us since we arrived in Australia... or that's when I first sensed it. We're going to this archaeology site because it's secluded and out of the way. Whoever is following us, is surely pursuing us even as we speak. They'll be there... don't worry."

Alex suddenly felt diminished by her intelligence. She was clever all right, but a question still nagged his mind.

"Lara," he yelled over the wind, "why is this dig site abandoned? What drove everyone away?" In front of him, Lara smiled darkly and her definitive voice replied to him once more.

"There have been numerous murders committed there. It's said to be haunted."

Behind her, Alex caught his breath inside of himself. Haunted?- Doubtful. But he couldn't help but feel that they were getting themselves into more trouble than was revealed.