Chapter 2: Two Weeks Ago

To answer a question, yep! Kat's Valkyrie side is really gonna come out in this one. Alone with some other buried stuff.

I don't own anything. Resident Evil belongs to Capcom and Tomb Raider belongs to Core Design, Crystal Dynamics, and I think Square Enix. The only thing I own is the changes made to the stories of the Tomb Raider games/comics and Resident Evil games/comics/CG movies, the Government branch S.P.E.L.L., the person that has taken over Kathrine Warren's life, and Rose Warren. This story also will be bloody, violent, and have cursing. It's rated T for Teen.

Country: United Kingdom, State: England, City: London, Place: Lara's Flat, Area: Street Outside, Month: November, Day: Friday 10th, Year: 2000, Time: 23:16 BST…

Lara sighed shaking her head. The rain pounded down on the streets and thus on her as she walked along the narrow street. Thank goodness she had remembered to wear her hoodie and leather coat. She wasn't soaked, but she wasn't great either. In looking for evidence for Trinity, a lot happened. She did end up talking to a therapist. The man said she should write a letter to someone she cared about, be they alive or dead to work through what she'd experienced with a poisoning that made her hallucinate. She did that. She put everything into that letter. From Yamatai to now. She had addressed it to her father. It made her feel better, and she had discussed coming forward about her trauma. She had only been speculating. Now she was wondering if she could bring Trinity, and any organization they were linked to into the light, that they'd have a harder time functioning in the corporate world.

When she woke up this morning, she discovered the therapist had broken the one rule they all should abide by. He leaked her letter to the press. Before she had left her flat, her picture was all over the papers. "Another Crazy Croft" they said. Her picture of her getting surprised by paparazzi, then a picture of her father. It was a tabloid. But it was everywhere. Once one newspaper had it, they all did. Bam. Lara was now seen as a loon and people were also starting to question the other survivors of the Yamatai expedition.

Sam, thankfully, was in Japan then. Learning meditation and channeling techniques for the Himiko powers she still retained. Where she was doing this study, was secluded enough, that no one paid the tabloids any mind. Jonah was okay last Lara heard. Visiting family in New Zealand for a mini reunion. Reyes hadn't said a word about being part of the team and had distanced herself quite a bit. Lara would guess she would now deny it even more.

That left Kat. Lara didn't fully know what was going on with the Valkyrie agent. She wasn't on probation anymore. But she hadn't called Lara about anything timeline related. She understood. She had her two girls to worry about. Lara also hadn't called her as she was so absorbed in her research for the tomb of the Prophet.

Lara was pulled from her thoughts when she noticed something was out of place. From her spot on the street outside her flat, she could see it. The light was on. She always turned it off before leaving, to save on power. But as she squinted, she realized it wasn't her flat's light on, it was a torch's light, moving around. She sped up her walking, pulling her key out.

Country: United Kingdom, State: England, City: London, Place: Lara's Flat number 212, Area: Living Room, Month: November, Day: Friday 10th, Year: 2000, Time: 23:17 BST…

"It is the greatest cruelty of life…" Lord Richard Croft's voice echoed in the room from the small tape player. "…that we are all too swiftly taken from it."

The mysterious person walked around the small flat. Shining their light around. Taking in the files, tapes, maps, everything. Lara's flat looked like Jill's from Raccoon City but more obsessed and detailed. There were red, black, and blue pens scattered on tables ready for labeling. Binders of digs, artifacts, myths, legends, even folk lore, and nursery rhymes, taken from many cultures around the world. The floor and shelves were piled with boxes. Some were fully packed, other's half empty, and others empty as their contents were scattered around the room or pinned to a wall.

"We age, we decay, we die…" Lord Croft's voice continued. "…but what do we leave behind?"

Files labeled "Dad's Research" and "Reincarnation research" lay open on a table. The person turned away from the table and to the wall where it looked like both a conspiracy wall and Investigation Murder Board. Sticky note labels read different things about Trinity, Black Umbrella, the places Lara's father had gone to. There were newspaper clippings too. "Mysterious Suicide on the Tube", "University Shooting Leaves 8 Dead, 10 Wounded", and "Wrecks Found Off the Cost of Yamatai" were the three newer ones.

"Bones? Dust?" His voice continued. "What of the soul? Dose it endure beyond our earthly existence?"

The figure looked at the images of the Holy Grail depieced in a painting and some man standing by a waterfall. Another appeared to be Jeanne De Arc. They spotted the word "Druids" and "Valkyries" on a paper with some hand drawn symbols. Maps on the wall also pointed to specific locations. Namely Syria.

"I believe it does." Lord Croft breathed. "A truth lies at the heart of many myths and stories—A truth not of science, but something more profound, the key to unlocking everlasting life."

They moved to another section of the wall. Memorizing every detail. This wall was everything Lara Croft had learned and discovered of the past two years. It would help their group greatly.

"I may have found the next piece to the puzzle." Richard's voice said as the individual looked over the image of a tomb, an approximation of how it looked anyway. "But…I'm not alone in this research. They're following me, watching my every step." He said as the figure studied two things.

One was a medieval image of a knight from Rome, on his shield was a black bird encircled in red. The word "Trinity?" written next to it. Next to it was a pink sticky note that read "Oldest record from the Vikings. Trinity's very old."

"I know them by name now—Trinity." Richard said darkly. "An ancient violent sect with designs on controlling the future of humanity. I must proceed carefully, for the sake of my family."

By then the person paused to look at some pictures by a heavy laptop. One was the image of Lara, Sam, and Kat smiling as they wore their graduation robes and hats, holding their diplomas. Another showed the crew of the Endurance all together on the dock before the Yamatai Incident. Everyone in the image smiled brightly with naive wonder. A third showed Lara at a friendly get together in America. But the one that the person picked up to study, was the image of Lara as a child in a blue dress standing with her father and a blonde woman. Under it was an old tabloid talking about the only survivors of the Endurance crew, images of Reyes, Lara, Sam, Jonah, and Kat showed how injured and exhausted they all were after their rescue.

"If anything were to ever happen to Lara…or Ana, I could never forgive myself." Richard's pained voice said as the person just got closer to the silver famed image of the Croft Family and Ana.

The tape ended just as the sound of the door unlocking startled the figure. It wasn't their place after all, and its owner had arrived earlier than expected. They looked to the door a moment then turned away, hurrying deeper into the flat.

Lara entered her flat and looked around with a frown on her face. She knew she had seen a torch shining around. She closed her front door and walked slowly into the room of the flat. Seeing no one was there, she walked to the open window where the fire escape was. The sound of the rain pinging on the metal filling the room. They must have left that way. Her locks were too loud and alerted whoever it was. She sighed then pushed her hood off her head as she stared out the now closed window at the cloudy dark streets.

Now with the window shut, she could hear it. Her dad's old tape player was playing. It was at the end of the tape so all she heard was it smacking around and buzzing. She walked over and looked at the cassette. She hit the rewind button, once it was it was at the beginning, she hit stop, turning it off.

Lara jolted at the sound of her door knob turning. She ran to some boxes in a low crouch run. She plucked up her trusty climbing axe and then rushed to her door. She pressed her back to the wall to the left of the door, her axe raised to strike home should the person be an enemy. With a creaking sound the door slowly opened.

Lara moved to swing as the person started to enter. But she stopped as she and the woman yelped. Lara lowered her axe as the blonde woman gripped the paper she held to her chest. The blonde woman wore a simple raincoat and boots.

"Lara!" She called out. "It's me!" She said shaking her head.

Lara gasped with relief. "Ana!" She breathed. "Oh, god…I'm so sorry." She apologized, hating that her paranoia had nearly killed the woman who'd been like a second mother to her. "What are you doing here?"

Ana lifted the paper and handed it to Lara. "I saw the gutter press was attacking you again." She said, showing off her American accent.

Lara took the paper and glared at the title, "Another Crazy Croft, A Daughter Just Like Her Father?!" was just as bad as ever.

"I thought you could use some company." Ana said kindly.

Lara growled at it and lowered her arm and folding the front page away. "More lies." She then peered into the hallway outside the flat as Ana entered. "Where you followed?" She asked.

"Followed?" Ana asked turning back around to look at Lara. "Of course not. What's going on?"

Lara closed her door and turned on her flat's lights. She then turned to face Ana. "I think I've found the tomb." She informed and walked over to her research space.

Ana frowned as she looked around the boxes in Lara's apartment. From the clutter, it was clear that Lara needed a larger flat. But then she remembered what Lara had just said.

"Oh, you can't be serious…" She said slowly.

Lara turned to her, clear excitement on her face. "The myth of the prophet is real." She assured. "Dad was right." She informed walking backward before picking up a paper from her coffee table.

Ana walked over to the wall and shook her head slowly. "Lara, your father was…" She paused, trying to think of how to put it delicately. "Unwell." She settled as she looked away from the laptop and wall of evidence.

Lara shook her head sharply. "No, he was close to a great discovery. Tangible evidence of the immortal soul." She said pausing her search to gesture with her hands for a moment.

Ana paused, looking down at the floor. Then she stepped closer to Lara. "I loved Richard. I would've married him if he'd asked." She began making Lara pause. "But he was a broken man." She said and grabbed Lara's shoulders in a comforting way. "I don't want to see you end up like him." She paused. "Especially with that American friend of yours. An agent who was on probation for five months?"

Lara turned around to Ana, shrugging her hands off her shoulders. "But Ana, Dad was right." She said through her teeth. "It was everyone else who was wrong. And Kat was on probation for protecting her daughters. If I had my oldest kidnapped, I'd do the exact same thing." Lara voiced, putting an end to that. "Look, the tomb's in Syria." She said and walked away and toward her wall.

"Syria?!" Ana gasped spinning with Lara. "Oh god, Lara. No. This is madness!" She panted and blinked her eyes rapidly, feeling some weakness, but hid it well. "Get your life started. Go home to the Manor."

Lara sighed annoyed. She couldn't go back. Not yet. "You know I can't go back there." She reminded the woman.

"But this obsession ruined your father." Ana remained as well.

Lara closed her eyes lowering her head. "I saw something…" She confided as she had kept Ana in the dark for two years. "…something I…I can't explain" She spun around to face Ana. "Now I understand what dad was going through." She implored, hoping Ana would see what she did, what Jonah, Sam, Kat, Leon, Claire, Chris, Jill and all the others did.

Ana shook her head. "It's all fairytales." She said making Lara lean back on her small desk. "Nonsense. Don't go down this road." She stressed. "You know where it leads."

Lara shook her head. "It's the only thing that makes sense to me now." She explained, feeling a lump in her throat that Ana wasn't believing or supporting her. "I'm going to the prophet's tomb, Ana…" Lara turned her back on Ana to look at the map on her wall.