Disclaimer: Tomb Raider and its characters are the property of Simon West, Paramount Pictures and Eidos Interactive. This story was written for my own personal pleasure. Any similarities between this story's plot and any others is purely coincidental. No plagiarism is intended.

Chapter Seven: IBEX.

The digital clock on the dashboard told Alex that he was seventeen minutes early as he began the ascent up Croft Manor's long driveway. Pleased when he saw that his was the only car not belonging to Lara, he snatched his briefcase off the passenger seat, hoping its contents would be somewhat useful to whatever it was Lara intended He snapped the car door shut behind him and locked it, before turning around to gaze up at the observatory, somehow knowing that that was where Lara currently resided.

Knocking smartly on the great oak doors, Alex couldn't help but glance at his watch as Hilary took his time answering the door. Must know it's me, he thought wryly as at last a door was opened to permit him entry.

Hilary greeted Mr. West in an overly polite manner that did not belie his annoyance at the man who currently stood on the threshold of Croft Manor. Stepping aside, the overly protective butler informed the man that Lara was, indeed, up in the observatory. A noisy crash and string of profanity from a room adjoining the hall prevented Hilary from accompanying Mr. West up the stairs as he hastened to check on what devilry Bryce was up to now.

Pleased with being left to his own devices, Alex made his way to the observatory.

The door was open when at last he reached the highest landing. Lara sat under the telescope in a black swivel chair, legs propped over one side in a characteristic manner. Rather than reading a book or looking through the over sized telescope, being bright outside, she simply sat there staring at the door, waiting for his arrival.

It was slightly disconcerting, and the lack of any other chairs was not lost on Alex.

"You're early."

"I thought that was a virtue?" The sarcasm of the comment was lost as he couldn't bring himself to put any force behind his words. The soft quality of the night before was still present in his voice, and it was oddly disturbing to Lara.

"Let's get down to business shall we?" Rising from her chair, Lara walked past Alex and beckoned him to follow with a sharp jerk of the hand.

"Lets," turning sharply on his heels, Alex gave a mock salute and proceeded to walk in a clipped rhythm behind Lara, raising his knees unnecessarily high. That's a little more like it, she thought as she pretended to be annoyed at his childish antics.

Taking the time to thoroughly reacquaint himself with the various pieces of artwork offered by Croft Manor, Alex ceased his march soon after they had traversed the first landing.

"Don't dawdle, Alex. If you have to stop and examine every painting I may have to forcefully drag you to the library." Looking at her from where he had stopped to examine a painting by some mildly famous French artist he was unfamiliar with, Alex raised his eyebrows in a daring gesture before jogging slightly to catch up with her. There were things of far more interest to him in the library, anyway.

Having never seen the inside of Lara's bedroom, the library was his favourite room of her home. Who couldn't like a room whose walls consisted of shelves of books? Then there were aisles of books, several antique divans positioned close to an old fire place that was already stacked and ready, but currently unlit. Then the subdued lighting, perfect. Glancing up at the high ceiling, Alex noticed that the painting that had been there had been painted over since he was last here. A cream whose name held no relevance to the colour itself.

He had noticed a number of changes to the house since he had last visited on even less amiable terms. He assumed it was from the attack by Powell, and he certainly wasn't going to bring that up. She was difficult enough to deal with in strange environments- her own ground would be beyond stupid.

Taking a seat in the couch opposite Lara's, Alex waited for her as she picked up a folder on the table that was neatly stacked with books and papers, all pertaining to whatever trip Lara intended. She had prepared ahead, as per usual. Locating a page, she handed the folder across to Alex and allowed him to peruse at his leisure.

Lara took the time to carefully take in Alex's appearance. He had definitely lost weight, and his inherent colour was gone, leaving him looking pallid and wan. The circles under his eyes were even more pronounced due to the added lighting of the room. At least he was clean shaven.

Lara frowned as Alex paled perceptibly further. He had been flicking through a number of the photos she had included in the file, and was now focused on one. His gaze became introverted, and his hand shook slightly.

"Are you alright?" When she earned no response, Lara got up and walked behind Alex, peering over his shoulder to see what it was that had affected him so.

It was a photo of a Codex, one Lara had never heard of before. Her research had brought up nothing further on it, and she had been hoping Alex could shed some light on the topic.

Placing her hand on Alex's shoulder. She squeezed slightly, drawing him back down to earth.

Alex flinched as he became aware of where he was, of the unaccustomed warmth on his shoulder. Blinking like he had just been dazzled by a bright light, Alex worked on controlling his breathing before attempting to answer Lara's questioning stare. Her nearness was not helping.

Shifting so that their bodies weren't touching quite so much, Alex cleared his throat.

"Sorry about that."

"What was 'that' exactly?" She removed her hand from his shoulder, and resumed her seat, crossing her legs. All the better to appraise you with, my dear.

"Where did you get this?" Ignoring her question, Alex rifled through the rest of the folder, but found nothing else on the Codex.

"A contact of mine. It is why I enlisted your help." Alex glanced up at her in the middle of his search. Picking up another folder, Lara resumed: "This Codex was only rumoured to be in existence before recent archaeological evidence proved otherwise. This Codex supposedly holds the key to the Mayan hieroglyphics. Now, I know similar items have been searched for before, and all turned out to be fruitless. This, however, seems to have more evidence than usual backing it up, and I am inclined to believe it is indeed the real thing."

As it would to anyone with his passion for the Maya, Alex was left breathless and distinctly light-headed. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, but the picture itself was more than troubling.

"Unfortunately, the area it is supposed to be in will shortly be torn down for industry and agriculture. We have something less than a fortnight to locate and retrieve this artefact, which by no means is guaranteed to be easily located."

As the initial shock started to wear off, a sliver of Alex's audacity began to resurface.

"Where would the fun be if it was hidden in plain sight?"

Author's Note: I wonder if anyone gets the significance of the title? Think astronomy, think…. Thanks, again, for reading.

Kai.