It was weeks before they spoke again. Lara had agonized over it at first, torn herself up inside. Then she did what Lara Croft did best: lost herself in work. She was pouring through an old journal of her father's with a new perspective on his research when the phone rang. She answered it without looking at the screen.

"Hello."

"Hey, Lara." It was Sam. Her voice sounded flat, almost distant.

Her stomach did cartwheels. "Hey, Sam."

Sam was quiet for a long moment. "I'm sorry." She paused again. "Do you want to see me?"

"Of course, Sam." There was a knock at her flat door. "Hang on, someone's at the door." Lara went to pull open the door. Sam gave her half a second to recognize it was her before jumping into a hug. Lara held her tight, breathing in her scent.

"I'm sorry, Lara. I said some shitty things that I shouldn't have. I did some thinking, and… you were right. There's no way we can tell the whole truth about Himiko. No one would believe it, and everything of historical importance that we uncovered would be meaningless."

Lara squeezed her tighter. "I forgive you, Sam." Lara fought against the urge to kiss her.

Sam pulled back from their embrace and smiled at her. She took a seat on the couch, as if there had been no misstep, no missing time between them. "Now we have to decide what we're gonna tell them at the press conference."

Lara swallowed hard as she closed the door. It was hard to focus on anything other than Sam. Sam with her bright eyes and shining smile and that playful puppy nature. 'Stop it, Lara. There's no good down that road.' With a deep breath to steady her mind, she sat on the couch next to Sam.

Sam caught Lara up. "Jonah and Reyes didn't see much of the crazy stuff. The hard questions are going to fall to us. Well, to you mostly. They've already agreed to go along with whatever version you think is easiest to swallow."

"You spoke to them already?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah, you were…I wanted to make sure everything was good before coming to you."

"It's all on me then?" Lara sighed.

"No, Lara. It's on both of us." Sam reassured her she wasn't alone.

She smiled at Sam. "I'm so glad I have you." Lara squeezed her across the shoulders. "I missed you, Sam."

Sam rested her head on Lara's shoulder. "I missed you too. Let's agree to never not talk to each other for that long again."

"Deal."

The press room was abuzz with chatter. Lara and Sam waited backstage. They had all come to a mutual agreement that Reyes and Jonah would stay out of the spotlight. Reyes had her daughter to think about, and a long story about her father and the choices she'd made to tell her. A press junket on top of that would be too much stress on her family. Jonah felt it better to let his little bird fly on her own. He didn't have much to contribute and didn't want to risk a misstep that would contradict Lara's account. Lara paced, breathing deep and heavy breaths. Her inner monologue ran through the planned responses she'd carefully scripted. Sam grabbed her hand. Lara stopped pacing and looked up at her. "Lara, it's gonna be okay." She took a slow breath, her fingers gripped Sam's tightly. "You got this." Sam reassured her.

'Only because you're here with me.' She dare not give voice to that thought, but it was comforting nonetheless. Lara took another breath, her body visibly relaxing as she exhaled.

"Ladies." The press director gestured toward the stage. "You're about to be announced. We've slated an hour and a half for you. Planned for forty-five minutes to give your account, forty-five to take questions. We'll let you know when time is winding down."

"Okay." Lara nodded, more to boost her own confidence than to acknowledge the statement. She uttered under her breath. "You can do this, you can do this. You know what happened. You've got this."

Sam was still holding her hand; she squeezed it tight. "You do, Lara. I have faith in you."

Did that make her feel better or worse? She couldn't tell. There wasn't time to focus on it though, because they were immediately waved onto the stage. Lara sat in the front of the large collection of microphones, Sam beside her. She cleared her throat. "As most of you know, I am Lara Croft. I went in search of what was once believed to be myth: Yamatai. But as with most stories, there was truth underneath the fantastic…."

Lara finished her story, allowing Sam to fill in the narrative where her personal experience was greater.

The director stepped out onto the stage. "We will now be accepting questions for Ms. Croft and Ms. Nishimura." Every hand in the room shot up as they all started to speak at once. The director pointed to a man in the front row.

"Ms. Croft, is this story the fable that led your father to take his own life?"

'Fuck.' "What led my father to take his own life was the disgraceful way the press treated his archaeological theories outside the accepted dogma of history. Theories, as it happened, I proved to be correct."

"Next question." The director prompted the next reporter.

It was going to be a long forty-five minutes.

"Well that went to shit." Lara stormed out the back door of the press room. "I'm getting a fucking drink. Sam, you coming?"

"After that mess, absolutely." Sam followed on her heels.

The two women cut through the streets of London to the nearest pub. "Two pints of Newcastle." Lara announced as she sat at the bar.

The bartender turned to serve up two mugs of draft under the mistaken impression that Lara was ordering for both women. "Cider for me, please." Sam added.

The man looked up from the tap, a question on his face.

"Yes, two pints." Lara confirmed.

"Been a rough day, I take it?" He asked as he placed the first mug in front of her.

"You have no idea." Lara proceeded to down nearly half the pint.

"Well, shite darling. You need some food to settle that?"

"Some chips would be fantastic."

Sam was still on her first cider when Lara was ordering a third pint. "Lara, honey, do you maybe want to slow down?"

Lara shook her head, a bit looser that it should have been. "Absolutely not. I have been utterly slaughtered today by the press. They're going to set me up just like they did my father. But I'm not going to let them get to me the way they did him. No, absolutely not. I am going to show them. I am stronger and far more stubborn than my father ever was. They won't ruin me." The TV above the bar ran a flashy promo advertising the broadcast for their conference. They threw out buzz words and tabloid headlines. Lara shot up a V and drank heartily from her glass.

"At least eat a little more." Sam tried.

Lara nodded like a scolded teenager, but picked at the basket of fries. "I don't want to remember today, Sam. I'm going to drink until I can't."

Let no one ever say that Lara Croft cannot hold her alcohol. Her smallish frame made no damper on her tolerance. She meant what she'd told Sam, she intended to drink until she couldn't accurately recall the previous few hours of her life. It took several pints, but she had indeed become staggeringly drunk.

"Thank god we're not far from your apartment." Sam stated when they left the pub. Lara's arm was around her shoulders and she carried most of Lara's weight as she leaned heavily into her.

"I can get home on my own, Sam. You don't need to come with me." Lara smiled at her.

"Oh no. I am getting you home safe. You didn't risk your life several times on some god-forsaken island in the middle of the Pacific just to die back here in London tripping drunkenly into the street." Sam held her around the waist and started a slow walk toward Lara's place.

Lara nodded. "Fair point." Her arm slid down Sam's back, resting low across her hips. She kept turning back to smile at Sam

It was a strange look. Sam couldn't quite place the feelings behind it; she just chalked it up to Lara being so drunk.

"You're very pretty, you know?" Lara was smiling at her again.

"I like to think so." Sam joked.

Lara nodded. "You are. And your skin's so soft." Lara ran her fingers down the bare skin of Sam's arm. "And warm. How are you so warm all the time?" She stumbled a bit. Sam caught her up before she could fall. Lara rested her head against Sam's shoulder. "Your hair is so silky. It always smells like…" Lara buried her face in Sam's hair to take a deep inhale. "Like flowers. You're like a garden, Sam. Beautiful and bright and you smell so wonderful."

Sam blushed. This was…new. Lara had always been so hard to get out of her shell. She kept her thoughts and emotions close to her chest. This outpouring of affection was strange. Sam stopped. "Come on, Lara, we're here. Just got to get you up these stairs."

"I can scale mountains! Stairs are nothing, Sam." Lara proudly took a step forward, ready to ascend the stairs with gymnastic grace. She slipped on the first step and nearly fell face-first into the banister. Sam grabbed her by the waist and held tight as they walked very carefully up to Lara's door.

Lara fumbled for her keys. Sam waited patiently, knowing it would take longer if she tried to do it for her. Lara finally got the door open. Sam flicked on the lights and closed the door, letting Lara go for the first time since leaving the pub. Lara spun round and enveloped her in a huge hug. "Thank you, Sam, for getting me home safe." She breathed in the smell at the crook of Sam's neck, swearing in her head.

"It's nothing." Sam hugged back. "Are you going to be okay to get yourself to bed?"

"No no no." Lara pushed back from the hug, gripping Sam's shoulders. "Don't leave, Sam. Please, I have to tell you something."

Sam was confused, but intrigued. "What do you have to tell me?"

"Shh." Lara held a finger to her lips. "It's a secret." She started off toward the bedroom. At first Sam didn't move. Lara turned and waved her forward. "Come on."

Sam sighed and followed. "Where the hell could this be going?" She mumbled to herself.

Lara had managed to yank off one of her boots and was pulling the other free when Sam came into the room. She tossed the boot toward the wall and fell back on the bed.

"Lara?"

"Come here." Lara tapped the mattress next to her.

Sam sat on the edge of the bed. "You had something you wanted to tell me?"

"Yes. Down here." Lara indicated for Sam to lie down next to her. Sam indulged her and stretched out beside her friend. Lara touched Sam's face. She stroked the smooth skin, tracing Sam's cheekbone.

Sam spoke softly. "You wanted to tell me a secret, Lara?"

"Yes." Lara whispered. She swallowed and leaned in close to Sam's face. "I love you." She pressed her lips to Sam's, holding the curve of her jaw. Electricity shot through her entire body. A small whimper escaped her throat like a bubble finally popping. It took a second for the shock to set in. Sam accepted Lara's kiss. She kissed back, slow and unsure. Lara's hand strayed down Sam's body, holding onto her side. She pressed closer, kissing Sam deeper.

Then she stopped.

Sam's head spun. She closed her eyes, re-centering her thoughts. She took a long, slow breath before opening her eyes again. Lara was asleep. "Lara?" Sam waited, but there was no response. She asked again, louder. There was still no answer. Sam moved to get up, but Lara pulled her down by the hip. "Lara, I have to go home." Sam tried to get up again, but Lara made a disapproving grumble and held tighter. She was surprisingly strong. Sam relented and settled back down. "Okay, I'll stay."