Author's Note: Thank you to everybody who has read and reviewed so far! Honestly I was a little nervous about posting this fic because I wasn't sure if people would like how I portrayed Lara…but I gave it a shot and I'm glad you guys like it!

Chapter 2- Leopards Can't Change Their Spots

"So what seems to be the problem?" Winston asked from across the small table. Lara took a big bite out of her beans on toast before replying.

"It's just…I've been contemplating giving up tomb raiding." The butler almost choked on his lunch after that statement. He never thought he would live to see the day when Lara Croft would even halfway consider doing something like that.

"Why?" Was the first word that immediately sprang to Winston's lips.

"I lost my nerve. What happened in Egypt has shaken me and as much as I hate to admit it…I don't think I'll be able to overcome it." The butler sat in thought for a while, trying to find the right words to say.

"Lara," Winston started, "Tomb raiding isn't just your profession, it's your way of life. If you gave it up it would have a major impact on your future." Lara nodded in agreement and looked down at the table briefly. "Whatever choice you make, I'm sure it will be the right one." The butler added with a smile as he placed a hand gently on her shoulder.

"Thanks Winston." Lara responded at last, feeling much better than she had been the past few weeks as she walked out the door and into the shed that was located at the side of her house. Besides ancient artifacts, Lara also loved to collect motorcycles and had many of them in her garage. Putting on her brown leather jacket and black helmet, she jumped on her motorcycle. The engine roared and she tore from the garage and into the streets.

The sun was beginning to set when Lara arrived back at her mansion, skidding to a halt and dismounting her motorcycle, staring in disbelief. A rather sizable hole had been blown through the side, leaving the bricks charred black with smoke slowly rising to the sky. Panic struck the woman as she realized that the hole had been blown through the trophy room. Without a second thought, Lara jumped the tall black iron fence and ran to the door, noticing a letter affixed to it by a blood stained dagger.

Lara Croft, the letter began, you don't know who I am? Too bad! My name is Lance and my mission in life is to get my revenge on you. Don't act so surprised, you killed my father Larson and now I seek to repay his vendetta with your life. What you witness before you is nothing compared to what I have in store next so be careful. Whenever you turn your back, I'll be right behind you.

If there had not been a giant hole blown through her house, and had she not had the suspicion that her artifacts had been stolen, she would have found the amateurish stereotypical warning letter to be quite humorous. But since such was not the case she jammed the letter into her pocket and ran to the trophy room, which as of now, was somewhat empty. The golden skulls, the Iris, the Scion, and her favorite, the Dagger of Xian, were all missing. "Winston!" Lara had forgotten about him and hoped that her friend was not hurt. She froze and listened carefully, the mansion was huge and the tomb raider did not know where to start.

Suddenly, she heard a muffled yell and forceful banging against a wall that seemed to be coming from down the hall. Racing into the kitchen area, she heard the thumping coming from inside the meat cooler and fumbled with the switch until it opened. Winston was tied up and gagged, freezing cold, but unharmed. "Oh my God, Winston are you all right?" Lara asked as she removed the cloth from his mouth and untied the bindings from his hands and feet.

"I…I th-think so." The shivering butler replied as Lara helped him up and escorted him to his room that stood across the hall. "Wh-what are you g-going to do?" Winston asked the woman in front of him, whose expression changed immediately. The butler was amazed how quickly that familiar fire returned to her amber eyes as she narrowed them in anger. Lara answered his question with no fear or doubt in her voice, just the rage she felt toward the young man who did this.

"Get Lance."

The next morning, Lara put on her black and white camouflage pants and black top, fastening her holsters to her belt and giving them a reassuring pat. Winston had come down with a minor cold but would not stay in bed and rest like the woman had instructed him to do. "So you figure out your path yet?" Lara knew what her friend meant and she smiled.

"We'll see what happens." The tomb raider said with a shrug as she put on her black ski cap.

Winston chuckled and shook his head sagaciously. "No matter how hard they try, I guess leopards really can't change their spots."

Lara walked out the door and jumped on to her motorcycle, revving the engine a few times before driving through the open gates. Each artifact had a microchip embedded into it and if it were stolen, could be tracked down by a radar system she had built into her bike (AN: Convenient, ne?). Driving down the street, Lara heard the beeping on the radar becoming slightly stronger. Strange, she thought, that kid should be somewhere in this area. "Woah!" The woman exclaimed as she swerved right, narrowly missing a man who was crossing the street. Lara heard him yell obscenities at her and she would have said something back to him had she not been in a hurry.

Beep! Beep! Beep! The noise was becoming quicker and louder until she was right next to a young man on a motor bike, face obscured by a dark green helmet. The boy did a double take, speeding up after seeing Lara next to him and throwing an object in front of her bike. The woman did not see it in time and flew over the handlebars of her motorcycle, hitting the ground hard and was knocked unconscious on impact.

The first thing Lara saw when she came to was the blue walls of an unfamiliar room. Shifting around so she was laying on her back, she noticed sunlight pouring through the pulled back white curtains. "My guns." The tomb raider said as she panicked slightly, then reached a hand down and felt the cool metal of her pistols, breathing a sigh of relief. Too many times in her career had she regained consciousness only to find that her weapons were missing and had to go through Hell to get them back.

Standing up quickly in a failed attempt to leave, the dizziness she felt instantly forced her to sit back down as she held her bandaged head. The door opened a crack and a man with sandy blond hair poked his head through to look at her. "Mind if I come in?" He asked quietly as the woman looked up to meet his dark green eyes.

"By all means." Lara replied calmly, but was preparing to defend herself if the situation happened to arise. She didn't realize, however, that in her condition she probably would not be able to put up much of a fight. The man stepped into the room and Lara's jaw promptly dropped to the ground as a look of comical disbelief crossed her face. "Mark, is that you?"

Chapter 3 Preview: Lara finds herself in the care of her high school friend Mark, but what exactly happened between them all those years ago? And when Lara tries to sneak out in the middle of the night, will Mark let her leave him a second time? Just when Lara gets back on her feet, Lance appears to her again and this time she's pulling out all the stops to get back what is hers.