Chapter 3

Lara woke as usual with the first light of dawn, the previous night running through her mind. Kurtis's explanation of his survival seemed primitive to her, but she trusted him. She wanted to anyway.

She still needed to question him on some other matters however, like why he had come here and how he had survived for so long with a wound as bad as the one in his stomach. Her interrogation had been delayed however, as Kurtis never seemed to stay awake for more than twenty minutes at a time. Also, how yesterday he was basically out the entire morning, awakening for a short few seconds, and then passing out again for the rest of the evening and throughout the night. Lara now patiently waited in her assault coarse for any sudden news on his condition, the news hopefully being that he was awake.

Lara swiftly grabbed her pistol as a spiral shaped platform, painted with a bulls-eye, suddenly shot out from behind her. She quickly pivoted on her heels, spinning toward the object, rapidly firing three 9mm rounds into it's base, practically blowing the placement to pieces from her close range. A second target instantly appeared from behind a bush before her, thirty feet away. She smiled as she pulled once again on the trigger. The shot blew through the bulls-eye's center with almost perfect accuracy.

Lara's motion then stalled as she stared ahead, anxiously waiting for a movement of any kind to grace the space around her, waiting for another target to appear.

Her eyes became wide as a sudden noise sounded behind her. She dove to the ground, flipping herself over to face the opposite way, to face the newly present target. The barrel of her gun met its forehead.

"Nice shooting." the familiar voice sounded behind the pistol's frame. Kurtis had a look of sarcasm and surprise in his eyes as he slowly backed away from her gun.

Lara stared at him with unsureness as she quickly lowered the pistol. He seemed tired. Dark circles conformed around his eyes, but the bandage around his waist was holding up well. "You should be resting." she told him with a serious tone.

"Two weeks is long enough to rest." he argued as he curiously eyed her property with greed and admiration.

Lara shook her head. "Well technically you've only been resting for one day, since it took you two weeks to get here." She fired another shot at a nearby target before her mind suddenly caught on to something. "Wait." she spoke, confused. She turned back to him questioningly, her mind realizing what he had said. "There's no way you could've survived that long bleeding the way you were."

Kurtis stared at her silently, searching for a way to avoid her, searching for a way to end her assumptions and suspicions about his health. He stared at her gun, a way out. "Let me see that." he told her, holding out his hand, waiting for the 9mm to meet his palm.

Lara cautiously handed it to him, keeping her other hand firmly attached to the remaining pistol at her thighs. She watched as Kurtis quickly leveled the weapon she had given him, and fired a shot at a target over fifty feet away. The round entered directly through its spiral center and shot out of its back in one steady path.

He turned back to her with a smart-elect cock of his head. "I'm fine." he triumphantly spoke as he handed the gun back.

"Alright." she sarcastically started with a smile, though still unconvinced "I believe you. Just don't expect me to come to your rescue again after you pass out."

"I won't." he sternly returned as another shot fired from her 9mm and hit its target. Kurtis looked around him once again, eyeing his surroundings, forcing himself to ask its owner what he wanted to know, what he needed to know. He started."This is a mighty big estate for someone like you."

Lara lowered the gun once again as she heard the words. She looked to Kurtis with inset brows, annoyed.

Kurtis explained his comment. "I mean, being just you and the butler."

"This place isn't just for me," she corrected him, "it's for my toys. I've turned an oversized boring place into something useful. You won't find one room in that house that isn't being used to further my effectiveness."

Kurtis smiled at the words, finding a comment. He leaned his back against the enormous brick wall that lay behind him, a cocked grin upon his face. "The bedroom." He said with curiousness and sarcasm.

Lara raised an eyebrow. "The mattress is stocked with two Ruger shotguns, and an almost endless supply of 9mm ammo. The fireplace has an escape route to the roof, and," she paused as she smiled, delivering suspense, "I get a lot of rest there."

"Impressive." Kurtis returned with a nod of his head. The sarcastic expression changed to one of mischievous inquiries as a smirk covered his face. "You'll have to show it to me sometime."

Lara put on a fake smile before adding a grimace. She leveled her pistol once again with a target. "Then you'd better get your strength back up."

Kurtis smiled again at her comment and started toward her, his movement was interrupted however, as Winston anxiously appeared from the house and called to her.

Lara holstered her weapon as she spotted the elderly help, lungs working harshly as he gasped for breath. He had run from the house to tell her something, an act he shouldn't have done at his age; it must have been important. She quickly ran to him, Kurtis following behind.

"Mr. Lynch called from the museum." Winston quickly told her through his spastic breaths. "He wants to talk to you about that painting in Prague."

Lara let out a sigh of annoyance at the mention of the aggravating museum curator. "He's been bothering me about that damn thing ever since I got home." she informed Kurtis, then turned back to Winston. "Tell him I'll be inside in a moment."

"He's not on the line." the butler put in before Lara could leave. "He said he needs to meet with you in person, immediately. He said he needs to find out if you have been," the man paused with confusion as he swallowed, "infected by the Nephilim."

Lara felt her heart suddenly slow as she strangely stared at Winston.

"He sounded very nervous." the old man added, then slowly backed away.

Lara pondered Winston's words in her mind as she stared at the ground, unsure of Mr Lynch's meaning by them. "Infected by the Nephilim?" her mind questioned, "What does that mean?" Lara wasn't sure about this. Something didn't seem right. How could the Nephilim have infected her with anything?

She sighed as she shook her head. She might as well check it out, not because she was afraid that the words may have been true, but more to end her curiosity of the statement. She would rather be safe than sorry. "Alright," she finally agreed with herself. "I'm going."

Lara reloaded her weapon as she quickly made her way toward the large garage beside her home. As she neared the door she heard Kurtis behind her.

"Can I come?" he asked, with anxiousness in his voice.

"What for?" Lara returned with confusion. She wondered why he would want to accompany her with something so boring, something that wasn't his business.

"Just to see the sights." He simply told her. "Besides, there's nothing else to do here."

After a short disagreement between the two of how Kurtis needed his rest, Lara finally gave in to his wishes and decided that his condition was completely his own responsibility. If he ended up unconscious or dead, it wouldn't be her fault.

Lara quickly helped Kurtis get settled within her BMW as she rushed to get to the museum. The ride was fast, taking only minutes with the use of side roads and back streets, until the stairs of the Lancaster Museum appeared in front of them.

Lara quickly parked her car and left it, starting toward the front door of the immense stone building before her, aiding Kurtis up the lengthy marble stairs. The two crossed through a towering hall of columns before finally entering into the museum through its large glass doors.

As soon as Lara stepped foot within the extravagant main hall of the Lancaster Museum, she spotted the man who had called her there. Mr. Lynch was waiting by the door to his office as if he had expected her to come as soon as he called. The short, balding man, seemed worried and his eyes were large with anxiousness, causing his features to appear even older than they were. He quickly approached Lara immediately as he saw her, but seemed hesitant at the sight of Kurtis. The man was oddly silent as he unapprovingly looked Mr. Trent over, shaking his head once he was through.

Kurtis noticed the man's arrogant action, and immediately stuck his hand out in greeting, making it known. The beady eyed man quickly jumped back as if afraid of Kurtis's gesture and again turned urgently to Lara as she started to question him.

"I'd like to know why our meeting was so urgent that I had to come today." she started with curiosity, and slight impatience.

As the small man began to explain, he again looked to Kurtis, stopping himself. There was something about the Lux Veritatis warrior that made him act extremely strange, like he wasn't himself. Lara had met with this man many times before, and he had always been cheerfully helpful, now he seemed paranoid and twitchy. He shook his head as he sighed, refusing to speak another word until Lara accompanied him into his office.

As Kurtis tried to follow them Mr. Lynch forced him back.

Kurtis became angry at the man's disliking of him and would have hit the small museum curator had Lara not stopped him. She instructed him to wait for her in the lobby, stating that she would only be gone a few moments.

She and the man then left him waiting outside. They entered Mr. Lynch's small private office, closing the door behind them, filling the space with silence as they were cut off from the rest of the world.

Before Lara could speak a word the aggravating man seemed to be yelling at her.

"Miss Croft," he urgently began. "I need to see your back."

Lara stared at the man with a confused grimace as she slightly smiled. "My back?" she returned, thinking that she had heard wrong. "What for?"

"It's a necessary precaution." he shortly stated with arrogance and urgency.

"Precaution for what!" Lara was losing patience with the man's secrecy. She stared at him for several seconds as he remained silent, an action proving that he had no idea what he was talking about. She rolled her eyes with anger as she began for the door.

Mr. Lynch suddenly gasped as he saw her trying to leave. He quickly forced his way in front of her, blocking her path out of the cubicle-like space. He stared at her, hesitant with his words as if trying to think of something to say. He found it.

"The Sleeper!" The man hurriedly called out. "You said you came in contact with it, correct?"

Lara exhaled with frustration. "Correct."

"I'm-just-looking," he began, taking pauses between each word as though he was making everything up off the top of his head. "To-see-if-it left the mark."

Lara clenched her fist together as she stared at the man. She demanded that he stop messing around, she demanded that he tell her what was going on.

"The mark of the Nephilim!" He quickly shouted, as to avoid whatever pain Lara might consider unleashing on him. "You may have been-um-contaminated by it."

"Contaminated?"

"Yes! It is said that those who-come in contact with these dark angels, must never have a child."

"A child!" she exclaimed. The man was beginning to frighten her. She had no idea what he was talking about. "Why?"

"If you were to conceive," he quickly cried out, "the child would be an evil work of god, an unholy relic that would desecrate the world."

"A Nephilim?"

"Yes!" he shouted, as if glad that Lara had finished his sentence.

"Mr Lynch," Lara angrily started, "I assure you that I-"

"Just let me see your back, girl!"

Lara finally gave up on her wits and furiously lifted the back of her shirt, revealing her spine. She could feel the man scanning her skin closely for several minutes, mumbling faint words under his breath as he thought. She finally heard him whisper "nothing." to himself. He seemed relieved and disappointed.

"Satisfied?" Lara asked triumphantly as she lowered her shirt, returning to face him.

"Don't be fooled, my child." he warned her, in an almost threatening tone. "These things can appear late. I want you to promise me that if a mark of any kind appears, that you'll contact me immediately."

Lara annoyingly grinned. "Well I don't think I'll be having a child any time soon, so..."

"Yes," he pretended to agree with her, then stated his own opinion, "but that man you came in with, there's always a chance tha-"

"No." Lara said so sternly that Mr. Lynch stopped his words. She shook her head, not even wanting to consider the images that his statement held. "Kurtis and I aren't like that. Our relationship-" she stopped herself "-that's just it, we don't even have a relationship. It's only been a few weeks since Mr. Trent-"

Lara was shocked as the man let out a near scream at the mention of Kurtis's last name. Perspiration quickly appeared upon his brow as his breathing became spastic.

Lara gritted her teeth, tired with his screwing around.

"What's wrong with you!" she demanded. "I've never seen you act like this before!"

"Just promise me," he began as he regained his breathe and wiped his forehead with a handkerchief "that you and this, Mr. Trent," he spoke the named with contempt, as if it were evil or satanic, "that the two of you will never-"

"Agreed." Lara quickly put in before the words could leave his mouth, and the thought of her and Kurtis together could enter her mind.

The man's emotions suddenly changed, and he now seemed anxious to be rid of her. "Now, if you'll excuse me," he impatiently stated "I have to make a phone call."

Lara had had enough of this twisted man. She angrily eyed his figure before quickly removing herself from his office.

-

Kurtis was happy to see Lara emerge from the small office at the end of the room. He had gotten bored of the museum in the fifteen minutes he had spent there. Throughout the time he had been alone, he had managed to get lost in an Egyptian temple exhibit, nearly knocked over a Persian vase, and attracted the attention of almost ever person in the vicinity; nothing Lara needed to know about.

She seemed confused as she came back to him, slightly muttering questioning words under her breath.

"What was the emergency?" Kurtis curiously asked, smiling.

"I don't know." she answered, staring at the floor as she shook her head with thought. "He was babbling about the Nephilim contaminating people and effecting their children."

Kurtis's smile disappeared. He too looked confused.

"He said that those who come in contact with one," she continued "would have a Nephilim instead of a child."

Kurtis shook his head with arched brows, "In all the ancient scrolls and history I've had to sit through," he told her, "I've never heard anything like that."

Lara didn't understand. Why would Mr. Lynch lie to her? He had always been a reliable colleague before- Lara then realized that Kurtis Trent was also a stranger. Was Mr. Lynch lying to her, or was someone else? She tucked her thoughts away and turned back to Kurtis.

"Better get back." She quickly told him. "You need your rest."

Lara began for the museum's main door, and Kurtis, without complaining, quickly followed. As they neared the exit, Kurtis felt his body suddenly jerk to the side, his balance knocked away by a stranger's passing shoulder. Pain seared though his body and he quickly turned around, searching for the clumsy asshole who was responsible.

Kurtis stopped dead still as he saw the man, his jaw slightly falling out of fear. The figure looked like a normal person to the people surrounding him, but Kurtis knew better, he could sense something different, a shout of warning screaming through his mind.

His assumption was proven correct as the normal man's eyes suddenly flashed red, his teeth shown evilly through a growling expression.

A/N: This Chapter actually had the feeling of friendship between LC and KT, but I wasn't sure if it was too much too soon. I edited the grammar, but does the actually plot need revising? It's also an interesting cliffie which leads to a big twist, even though it's only the 3rd chapter. :P