6 Months After the Death of Kukulkan

England

Rain poured down outside Croft Manor. Lara sped her bike up and pulled into the garage. She shucked off her helmet and jacket. Water dripped down onto the concrete floor. Fantastic, just what she wanted to do today: get soaking wet. At least she was home now.

All she wanted was to change, rest by the fireplace, and read one of her old books. It was days like these that she loved to read to story of the white queen. It always made her feel closer to her parents. And days like this, she really needed that.

Lara wasn't afraid of much. But sometimes, she didn't like being in the manor alone. It was just so dark and empty. It wasn't like her old apartment, or the dorm room she had once shared with Sam. The manor was so void of life, except for Winston. As much as she appreciated everything the butler did for her, she'd give anything to have Jonah come visit.

She opened the door to the Manor, and it was as empty as she had expected. Truthfully, she didn't know who she was hoping to see each time she came home. It wouldn't be Jonah or Roth or Sam or Jacob or Unaratu. They were all gone or dead. It was just her now.

That was okay, though. Because Lara focused on her pursuits. That was the only thing that mattered. She still traveled but the real 'adventures' and searching through tombs was put on hold for the time being. Most of her days were spent writing travel books and selling them. Not that she needed the money, but it was something to do.

She had written three so far. One for each of her adventures. There weren't any lies in her books; it just wasn't the whole truth. There was no way to prove the Stormguard, Deathless, or Yaaxil were even real. Let alone Himiko, or the Divine Source, or the apocalypse, god forbid. So, she might as well just stick to what she could prove. The books were mostly a collection of the documents she'd found, as well as pictures of the artifacts she'd recovered. A lot of the things she'd collected she donated to museums. So, that other people could appreciate the history. But all of the Paititi findings stayed with her. No one else needed to know that there was life to be found there.

And surprisingly, out of her books the Yamati one was the most popular. It had been Lara's least favorite to write just because of what had happened there. It reminded her too much of Sam. But it had been important to write, at least that's what Lara's therapist had said. It had taken a lot of convincing on Winston's part to get her to see a therapist again. This woman was at least better than her last one, but she still didn't enjoy the sessions.

Lara wandered through the halls and just realized that Winston hadn't greeted her at the door. She had been too wrapped up in her thoughts. That was strange she hadn't seen him yet. He always got worried when she was gone for long periods of time. Maybe he was just sleeping through the thunderstorm.

She shook her head and went up to her bedroom. She stripped off the rest of her clothes. They fell onto the ground in a wet pile. She didn't feel like dealing with it right now. She threw on a grey sports bra and sweatpants. She also took her hair out of her ponytail. It needed to be let down to breathe every once in awhile.

Even with the fireplace on her mind, there was something she needed to do first. She roamed barefoot around the manor towards the office. There was still no sign of Winston. And the rain continued to pour outside.

When she got closer, she realized something was wrong. The door to her office was slightly cracked open. When she left, it had been closed. It's possible that it was Winston, but he usually didn't go in unless she was there.

Lara went on full alert mode. She snatched up a letter opener off a table. There could be anyone in her office. Her mind rattled off the possibilities. It could be someone else sent to kill her, a thief, or even another Stormguard trying to rip her apart again. While the later was very unlikely, she wasn't too eager to find out.

She placed her hand on the doorknob. She took a deep breath and threw open the door. There was a man in the far corner, inspecting her bookshelves. Lara gripped her makeshift weapon tighter and got ready to pounce.

"Who the hell are you?" She asked.

The man didn't turn to her. His eyes were fixated on the box of Ix Chel. He ran his hands over the surface. "I remember when you and I once tried to kill each other over this box. Look at it now, just an overpriced paperweight."

Once again, Lara knew immediately who that voice belonged to. Rourke stepped towards her. He looked a lot different than he did in Paititi. Gone was the bulletproof vest and in its place was a leather jacket and jeans. His hair also looked longer too. It was strange to see him this way. He looked almost like a normal human being.

"Hey Lara." He said.

Her jaw clenched. "Rourke. What the hell are you doing here? I told what would happen if you ever showed your face again."

Rourke threw his hands up in submission. "I'm not looking to cause trouble. I just wanted to talk to you."

Lara's hand stayed gripped around the letter opener. She should just kill him right now. That's what she had said in Paititi. But Lara quickly decided against it. Killing mercilessly out in the jungle, she could get away with. But not here. Especially when she owned a bunch of firearms that were illegal to begin with. She didn't need the law showing up at her door.

"Where's Winston? Did you kill him?" She asked.

He shook his head. "The butler? God no. Why would I?"

"I don't know Rourke, maybe because it's in your nature! If you didn't kill him, then how did you get in here?" She still wasn't convinced that Winston wasn't tied up hostage somewhere. Or, maybe even trapped in the freezer. That was the only place with no windows.

"Pretty easy. I just talked to him. I told him I was one of your college boyfriends and that I was here to reconcile with you." Rourke shrugged. He took a step closer to her. She could see him a little more clearly. His beard was a lot thicker and there were black circles under his eyes. Rourke looked like shit, but he didn't act like a threat.

Lara relaxed and put away the letter opener. Damn it, Winston. She loved that old man dearly, but he was clueless sometimes. God bless him.

"So I guess he thought you were Kurtis, huh?"

Kurtis had been the only boy she had dated during her time at UCL. The only boy she had ever dated and most likely her last. He had been part of her 'exploring' phase. By exploring, she meant her goth phase. She had been obsessed with dark lipstick. Thankfully, Sam had set her straight. That style was just not for her anymore.

"I guess so. He seemed really happy when I told him. He said that you haven't had any visitors here in the past six months." Rourke sat down on the edge of her desk.

Lara walked over to the desk and motioned him off. To which he obliged. He paced around the center of the room. Lara turned on a lamp so she could fully see her intruder. His stance didn't indicate that he was here to fight. Maybe she needed to relax a little.

"Well, Rourke. There's a reason for that. I don't like visitors. Especially, unexpected ones. Now, why are you here?"

"I needed to show you something."

She scoffed. Like that wasn't obvious. Rourke was such a pain in the ass. He didn't seem to be the brightest sometimes. She couldn't help but wonder if he had gotten into positions in his life just off his looks and silver tongue, not merit. While he wasn't her type, she could imagine her old friend Steph giggling over Rourke's stature. He wasn't terribly unattractive. Rourke stood a little over six feet tall and was well fit. But Steph had thought Whitman (may he burn in hell) was attractive so… her judgement had always been worthless.

"And you couldn't have found my phone number first? Or maybe sent a letter?"

Rourke took a step closer to her. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a sheet of paper. "It was urgent, and I needed to show you this. Someone is trying to hire me."

He handed her the paper. It was a letter addressed to a D. Rourke, and at the top it read: Natla Technologies. From what she could tell, this company dealt in archaeology. They were looking to hire Rourke as a mercenary to protect a woman called, Jacqueline Natla. She gave the paper back to him.

"So, what does that have to do with me? You're free to take whatever job you want. I don't do that kind of thing anymore." She said.

A puzzled look crossed his face. "You clearly do, Lara. I've read all your books. Even though they don't seem accurate, you still have a knack for this sort of thing."

Her hands curled into fists. "Of course, they're accurate! Bastard… But I can only write about what I can prove. There's no way to tell the world about what happened in the Serpent City. Nor, should they know…" She hissed.

Rourke ran a hand through his hair. He seemed more frustrated than he had ever before. Even that night in San Juan when she was handcuffed, he had been calm and collected. Lara definitely didn't forget about that shitty thing he did, but she could set it aside for now. Rourke had come to her for help, knowing the risk she might blow his head off. She should hear him out for a moment. It might be important.

"Well somebody knows! They know about Trinity and they know that you and I were both there."

Lara took a second to think. Trinity knew that she had been there, and they had known that Rourke was. No one probably knew that they had worked together. She hadn't even told Jonah about their little team up.

"But how would they? All of Trinity fled or died. Unless…"

He took a step towards her. His eyes had turned fearful like they did in the City of the Serpent. "Unless this Natla woman had implants inside Trinity."

"… And now she's hiring up all the ex-Trinity operatives she can find. Shit." Lara said.

Lara had just gotten rid of Trinity too. It had been a peaceful six months. Now, this woman was trying to create her own 'Trinity'. But that wasn't her problem. The organization that killed her father was gone. She had also killed the man that ordered his execution. It wasn't her fight anymore.

"What are we going to do?" Rourke asked.

"We? There's no we Rourke. You and I fought together one time. That doesn't make us partners or friends. If you want to work for this Natla woman, then by all means go ahead. It doesn't concern me."

Lara turned back to her desk and he grabbed her arm. Anger flared up in her eyes and she gritted her teeth. "Grab my arm one more time, and see what happens."

He immediately let go, stumbling away from her. She wiped her arm off in disgust. It seemed Rourke was truly terrified of her after all. She had sensed it when he had been 'called back to base' at the Porvenir Oil Fields. That was a good thing. She could use it against him.

"Look, Lara I'm sorry. But it should concern you. Imagine what this woman could do with all Trinity's secrets!"

"Secrets that you would give her as well! You were Trinity's second in command. What else had Trinity been looking into that this woman might want?"

Rourke sighed. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Thor's hammer…"

Her eyes grew wide. "Thor's hammer! Bloody hell…"

Lara didn't know why she was surprised. There had been crazier things that had been real. Hell, the God Kukuklan was real. It wasn't too far-fetched that the legend of Thor was real as well. It was just strange to think about, considering that Winston had bought her tickets to the cinema a while ago and Thor was in that. It seemed that life was going to imitate art.

"This woman cannot know how close we were to finding it." He said.

She shook her head. "If you're the only one who knows, then just don't work for her. She'll never find out. It's not like she can make you."

"No, you don't understand! You…" Rourke sat down in the chair in the far corner. He buried his face in his hands. Lara stood there, paralyzed. What was happening? She didn't know what to do.

The man who was once her mortal enemy, was now having a breakdown in her home. This hadn't been what she was expecting today. He stayed like that for a moment more before propping his elbows on his knees. Something in his eyes changed. It went from fear to desperation.

"How do you stop, Lara? How do you live here and not go insane? Because every day for the past six months, all I could think about is how I much I missed it. That I'd rather be up to my waist in mud hunting creatures and shooting everything in sight, rather than be back in the normal world."

He looked up at her, pleading for answers. Lara didn't even know how to help him. Nor would she, truth be told. He hadn't exactly been a saint all this time. But still, it made her uneasy to see him like this.

"I know everything I've done is shitty, but without Trinity… I don't know what to do with my life. I recently made a promise to someone that I wasn't going to hurt anyone else. I know if I don't stop, I'll take the job from Natla. And I'll probably have the same role as I did in Trinity and I'd hurt more people… Do you miss it?" He asked.

Who did he make a promise to? Maybe a family member or a woman he loved. Not that it really mattered. Lara took a moment to think about his last question. Did she miss being waist deep in mud hunting creatures? Not really. The Deathless and the Stormguard, definitely not. No, she didn't miss that. For her it wasn't about the killing.

She did miss the adventure. She missed solving riddles and finding artifacts. The climbing too. Her axes had sat on the shelf for half a year. They were itching to be used. It was those little things that bugged her. Sometimes she felt as if she didn't belong in the manor.

Lara took a deep breath. "Yeah, Rourke. I do miss it. That's why I write my books, to keep myself sane. Even a little bit. I understand how you feel."

She could not believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. They tasted disgusting. This was the man she had once threatened to skin alive over the radio. Now, they were sharing their horrors with one another.

"I guess you do. We put you through the goddamn ringer back in the day."

Lara came in front of the desk and sat down. She crossed her arms across her chest. Where had Rourke's change of heart come from? Six months ago, he'd been find with slaughtering anyone her came in contact with. There had to be a reason and it wasn't because she had saved his life.

"Who was this person you made a promise to? Was it a woman?"

Rourke looked up at her with shame. Another thing she'd never thought she'd see from him. It was a stark contrast to the murder that had once been in his gaze.

"Yeah… It was a woman. After I got back, I thought we could reconcile things. She'd always said I was never honest with her. So, I was this time I told her everything. Now, she wants nothing to do with me. She thinks I'm a monster… I guess that's what I really am."

Lara understood what that felt like too. She never knew what her feelings for her best friend had truly been. If it had been just friendship or something more. But it didn't matter now. She had sealed her heart away. It seemed that she and Rourke weren't so different after all.

She sighed. "I'm sure Trinity already knew, but I don't talk to my best friend Sam anymore. After Yamati, she was scarred. I mean we all were. But Sam was different. She'd literally had a goddess's spirit living inside her. No one can really come back from that…"

Tears threatened to form in her eyes. No, she couldn't cry over this. Let alone in front of Rourke.

"I saved her life so many times, but yet she still blames me. And I'm not angry at that. She can blame me all she wants. But her doctors… they won't let me see her. She's in a psych ward. I go there once a month to see if she wants to talk, but she never has. It's been years since I've seen her face…"

Lara quickly wiped her face. That was not going to happen.

"I'm sorry…" Rourke whispered.

"No. I don't want your pity! I'm going to ask you again, why the hell did you come to me?"

He stood up from the chair. "I want you to hire me. I can be your partner. You and I can figure out what Natla is searching for, and find it first."

She took a moment to consider his offer. While she had enjoyed the calm of the last six months, her heart longed for adventure. To be outside in a hostile environment and to be neck deep up in shit. She could almost smell the ash from the explosions that usually followed. Her heart beat a little faster just thinking about it. But she couldn't. That life was behind her. Her therapist had told her that books were her adventures. She couldn't do what she had done before. She couldn't kill anyone else.

"I'm sorry, Rourke. I can't do that. That's not a part of me anymore."

"Lara… please reconsider…"

She sighed. "No. You can go work for this woman if you want. I don't care what she does. Just please don't drag me into it…"

A look of disappointment crossed over his face. His eyes moved to the ground. Once again, he looked like a wounded puppy. How was this possible? He had once called her cockroach that wouldn't die. Now it seemed that Rourke was the cockroach that wouldn't leave her alone.

"I understand… I promise I won't work for Natla. I'm sorry that I came here. Goodbye, Lara."

Rourke gave her one last look and opened the door to the office. Something in Lara's stomach churned. Oh no. What was she about to do? She wished she could be heartless more often.

"Rourke, wait…" Goddamn her. She was inwardly cursing herself for what she was about to do. "I suppose I could find something for you to do. You were ex-special forces. I'm sure you could find someone to supply me with firearms? Under the radar of course."

He stepped back inside and nodded. "Yeah I could find someone for that. Wouldn't be an issue at all."

Lara smiled. "Good. Oh, and what do you know about dual wielding?"

His head perked up. He gave her a strange look. "Dual wielding? I know a thing or two."

Lara had started practicing with Roth's pistols last month. While she loved the bow, it didn't always travel well. Her shotguns and rifles were also too heavy sometimes. She figured adding a second pistol was a logical next step. The more bullets she got off at once, the better.

Her technique was still a little sloppy and she could probably figure it out herself. But Lara was smart enough to take outside advice when possible. Maybe Rourke knew something that Roth hadn't taught her.

"Excellent. I start my training at 8am tomorrow. I expect you to be here by then." She said.

Rourke nodded. "See you then."

He was halfway out the door before she stopped him again. "Oh, and Rourke? One last thing… You ran away at Porvenir didn't you?"

That question had been burning in her mind for a while. If they were going to be partners, she might as well get some answers.

Rourke gave her one last smile. "Damn right I did."

He turned and disappeared through the door. She felt herself holding her breath until she heard his footsteps fade down the stairs.

'What have you done Lara?' She thought.

Lara felt her head spinning. She let her eyes roam across all her collections in this room. She saw them every day, but these were still the items that were most important to her. Her bows hung above the safe. She hung her recurve bow from Yamati and her black and orange compound bow from Siberia. She'd used that one a lot. During her time there she'd nicknamed it 'Death's Breath' to herself.

The Atlas and Box of Ix Chel sat on her bookcase. Rourke had been right about those things. She had once killed for the Atlas and the Silver Box. And now they just sat in her office, without a purpose in the world.

On her desk, she'd put away the picture of her parents. It was too painful to look at sometimes. As much as she would always treasure them, she had to let it go. In its place sat a picture of her, Jonah, and Abby at their wedding. They had gotten married in Kuwaq Yaku about three months ago. Lara had been the best man. It ended up being a short, but sweet ceremony. Afterwards, there was a party in Paititi thrown by Etzli. That boy had grown so much. He was much stronger than she had ever been at that age.

Her mind kept wandering back to why she had hired Rourke. He seems like he's changed, but did that truly matter? He was a terrible person… but then again so was Lara. She had brutally murdered hundreds of people without a second thought. She didn't really have room to judge anyone.

Rourke could be useful, even though he was a risk. And if there was ever a time for her to take a risk, it was now. Lara had no one else, so if it bit her in the ass, the only one to suffer would be her. Deep down though, she liked it when things bit her in the ass. That meant she got to fight her way out of it…

Lara shook her head and took another deep breath. She sat down at her desk. What did she come in here to do originally?

'Oh right. I was ordering a case of Jafa cakes.' She thought. A big smile spread across her face. It was the little things that made her smile now. Overall, she was just trying to do more of it. That's the only way she could make everything right.

Lara didn't know what her next adventure would hold. It could be filled with fighting tigers or just remodeling her kitchen. But whatever was on the horizon, she was ready to face it.