Chapter 8: Meeting of Friends

Sam already knew about Lara's family and heritage. But the others, might have varying reactions.

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: Surrey, Place: Croft Manor, Area: Study, Month: November, Day: Tuesday 21st, Year: 2000, Time: 22:18 BST…

Lara sat on the floor of the room. The only lights in there being two lamps and her laptop's screen. She was surrounded by papers, files, books, all something to do with what she was looking for. That short adventure to find her mum or some way to get her uncle off her ass had been a distraction from this. The Prophet and the meaning of that symbol she saw at his tomb in northern Syria, that's what she needed to focus on.

Her fingers moved on her keys at a fast pace. Only stopping to look at one of the many papers around her. The sound of heavy doors opening made her jump and look up at the study's door. She sat back, was this Trinity or someone she knew? She only had her lamp by her as a weapon. She got up from the floor to crouch keeping herself a small target as she picked up her lamp to throw it if needed. Her guns were on her desk behind her. She would have to get up and move around to the other side of the large desk, she didn't have time as she heard the foot falls then a voice that sounding shocked as they stopped outside of the study's door. It opened and three people came into the room.

Thanks to the light of her lamp and laptop, she couldn't see in the shadows behind the screen. Someone flicked the light switch by the door on, now that the Manor's electrical system was on and slowly getting repaired, the lights worked. With this bright light, she sagged with relief. The three were Jonah, Kat, and surprisingly, Leon. All of them dressed comfortable like she was. Leon was still in awe of the building they were in, Jonah and Kat had seen it before and weren't as stunned, but they were also awed.

"Guys!" Lara beamed jumping to her feet and maneuvering around her workspace and over to them.

"Lara!" They all smiled.

They all met in the middle and hugged one at a time.

"I knew you were loaded, Lara, but a mansion?" Leon asked still thinking about how Batman this was turning into.

"There's so much I need to tell you all, I don't—" Lara interrupted herself.

"You found it right?" Kat asked as she looked around the room with that vigilance Lara had now known her to have.

"The Prophet's tomb?" Jonah asked nodding.

Lara nodded. "Yes, but I was followed." She said as she turned to her workspace, picking up some papers.

"What?" Leon asked eyes wide.

"By who?" Jonah asked also concerned as Kat closed her eyes, trying to remember this moment.

"Remember when Kat and I found that Black Umbrella base on Yamatai? Then those people that came after me at the university? Or that man that killed himself in the tube? The group Kat told us about?" Lara asked as she looked back at them. "They call themselves Trinity. They tried to kill me."

"Fucking hell." Leon hissed. "Welcome to the 'They-want-me-dead' club. T-shirts and hats are coming soon." He joked darkly.

Jonah however was taking in everything Lara was looking at. The ordered chaos that was her research process. "What the hell is going on here?" He asked as Kat looked around too, but for a different reason. "You're starting to scare me."

Lara walked over, not finding the paper she was looking for. "The tomb was empty." She informed them as she moved over to a side table. "But I think they were looking for Divine Source."

"The Artifact your dad was after, right?" Kat asked making sure she remembered correctly.

Lara nodded and turned around to face the three. "There's more." She walked over to Jonah handing him the paper drawing of the cross she'd found at the tomb. "I found this symbol in the tomb. I knew I'd seen it before." She said as he took it to look at it, Leon leaning over to see it as well. "It was driving me insane." She said quickly as she walked to one of the bookshelves. "That's when it hit me. I saw it here, in one of dad's books." She said lifting a book and leafing through the pages. "Listen to this." She said smiling as she stopped on the page she was looking for. "The lost city of Kitezh. Said to have disappeared in Siberia sometime in the 12th century." She read out loud as she walked to her desk, the three following her. "Legend says that on the eve of the invasion by the Mongol horde, it sunk beneath a lake." She said and looked at them smiling brightly.

"What does this have to do with the Prophet's artifact?" Jonah asked as he handed Lara the picture back.

Lara took it and put it next to the page her book was on. She let go of the book showing the three the image in the book. It depicted the image of mythical Kitezh. In the blue lake water was the exact same symbol. Leon pushed them closer together frowning at the two.

"They're the same." He nodded.

"Exactly." Lara agreed.

Jonah shook his head and laughed a bit, making the three frown. "Lara…" He sighed.

"If the Divine Source is hidden in the ruins of Kitezh, waiting to be found, then I have to go." Lara stressed to them all.

"To Siberia?" Jonah asked turning back to look at Lara. "Are you kidding me?"

"Jonah—"

"Just think!" Lara interrupted Kat. "If this thing could really unlock the secret of immortality, it could…it would change everything." She said looking from Jonah to Kat then to Leon and back to Jonah. "Sickness, suffering, death…gone!"

Kat looked to Lara unsure. "Lara…Death is part of life. It's part of being human."

Leon looked unsure on this matter. If this thing could end sickness, it could destroy viruses. Sure, he'd be out of a job, but wouldn't that be better than waiting to go on a mission to kill a bunch of zombies?

"Are you listening to yourself?" Jonah asked her with concern in his tone.

"Jonah, Kat…We've been through so much together. You both know there's more out there – This could be real!" Lara said looking from one to the other, hoping Kat at least supported her.

"I don't care if it's real!" Jonah yelled. "I've lost too many friends! I don't want to lose you too. Or anyone in this room for that matter."

"But dad never made the connection to Kitezh. He gave up everything for this!" Lara told them, as Leon and Kat stood to the side feeling uncomfortable.

"Including you!" Jonah reminded her. "Stop blaming yourself for what happened. He made his own bed." He turned away and walked toward the door.

Lara shook her head. "I can't give up on him. Not now." She told him and the others. "It's all I have."

Jonah spun around with anger. "No, it isn't!" He yelled at her, his voice echoing off the walls. "If you stayed still for five minutes, maybe you'd see that!" With that he marched out of the study and slammed the doors behind him.

Lara gritted her teeth and spun around to her desk. She yelled and shoved the books and other things off it in anger.

"Damnit!" She hissed.

Lara struggled to calm down as Leon looked from the door to Lara.

"Stay here. I'll go after him." Leon said, resting a hand on Kat's shoulder.

Kat nodded. "Hurry back."

He nodded and left the room. "Jonah!"

The doors closed on him as Kat walked to Lara's side.

"I can't leave this alone." Lara hissed.

"I know. It's the last thing your dad worked on. Doing this is like working alongside him. Like his ghost is guiding you." Kat said looking around.

Lara nodded and kneeled on the floor. "That's part of it…" She looked at Kat. "Is it there? The Divine Source? Is it in Kitezh?"

Kat nodded joining her. "It is. This is…" She sighed. "Let's just say that it's important to a lot of things."

Lara understood the implication but grew concerned with why Kat didn't say out right 'The timeline' or if it was 'a game' in her memories or not. Lara picked up the book, but Kat paused as a shadow entered the room.

"They're here." Kat whispered to Lara.

Lara's eyes widened. She grabbed the lamp as Kat drew a knife. Lara spun around and jumped to her feet, the momentum of this moment she channeled it into her swing with the lamp. It crashed across the first assailants' hands, turning his gun away and shattering the glass of the lamp. His gun went off from that hit, as the man's finger reflexively pulled the trigger. The echo of the shot drew Leon and Jonah's attentions.

The man gasped in pain and his gun was knocked from its aim at Kat and Lara. Kat flipped her knife into a reverse grip and jumped at the second guy. She grabbed his wrist and pulled him closer to her. His eyes widened as the gun went off and broke the window behind her. She then cracked her forehead into the bridge of his nose with a snarl and stabbed her knife into his right shoulder, hoping the pain would cause him to drop the gun.

Lara used the book as a blunt weapon to try and knock the gun out of her opponent's hand. But as he dropped the gun, he knocked the book from her fingers. Lara heard Kat's opponent yell in pain as his gun clattered to the floor. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Kat twist the blade as she started to push him backward. Lara's opponent took her moment of distraction to grab her by the throat.

Lara gasped for air, but raised her right arm up and, using a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu move, tried an arm trap on the right side of her opponent's neck. She tried to use this move to slam his head onto a tabletop. Kat at that time managed to gain momentum and rammed her opponent into the closest bookcase. He yelled before raising a leg and kicking her away from him with a push kick to her abdomen.

Lara's opponent kicked her away from him making her loose her grip. Lara stumbled and fell to the floor on her back as the man turned and shook his head, holding a hand to his bloody nose. Lara jumped back up, spun around as Kat hit the floor, knife still in her grip. Lara grabbed a stool and spun with it. She raised it as a shield as her opponent threw a punch at her. His fist painfully crashed through the wood, shattering the old thing.

Kat kicked her legs up as her opponent tried an attempt at pinning her, her legs connected with his chin as his head snapped back. She heard his teeth clack together as she stumbled back. She continued the momentum of the kick up to do a half flip to get back up on her feet quickly. She bent into a fighting stance as the man rubbed his chin in a daze. She took advantage of his dazed look to kick out at his knee with a smile, she was ready to end this. He fell with a yelp to the floor clutching his leg.

Lara's opponent's strike forced her to drop the rest of her stool shield. He then threw another punch at her face. It landed and she fell to the floor from the strike. Lara spotted the gun and tried to crawl over to it. Her opponent grabbed her legs and pulled her away from the gun. She rolled onto her back and shot her foot out to push him off her. Because he was bet over at an odd angle, her foot connected with his throat. He wheezed and started choke/coughing as he backed away from her. Lara tried to crawl after the gun again.

Kat was on top of her opponent and aimed to slash his throat. He blocked her slash by rising his arms up. He yelled again from the gashes to his forearms. Kat switched which handheld the knife and tried to stab her opponent's right ribs.

Lara's opponent wouldn't give up and grabbed her legs again as she scrabbled along the floor toward the gun. She reached out and her fingers just grazed the butt of the gun before he managed to pull her back away. She spun back used the momentum to sit up and slam her elbow into the side of his jaw. Because of the angle her elbow didn't have the power she wished and he was able to shake it off and grab her by the throat again.

Kat's stab landed, just not in the spot she wanted, the man screamed as she had stabbed him in his kidney. Lara choked making Kat look over. "Let her go, burr ór einn bikkja!" (Son of a bitch) She yelled at him as she kicked her opponent's new stab wound.

As she yelled this, Lara's opponent slammed Lara's back to the floor like a pro-wrestler. He then straddled her and started trying to strangle Lara. Her head bounced off the floor, making her see black spots that was from both the lack of air and the impact of the floor.

Kat moved to attack him, only for her opponent to grab her legs and yank her to the floor. Kat's forehead slammed into the floor dazing her as her feet were pulled out from under her.

Just then the doors slammed open as Leon and Jonah rushed into the room. Their eyes widening at the man trying to strangle Lara and the man about to disarm Kat's dazed form. Leon pulled his gun and flicked the safety off.

"Freeze! Federal agents!" He ordered, partly hoping they would both stop their attacks.

The man strangling Lara looked at them and stopped strangling Lara with both hands. He reached for the book that had the information on Kitezh. Kat kicked her opponent in the face as hard as she could as Jonah grabbed up a candelabra. Lara grabbed a vase next to her. Leon pointed his gun at the man Kat had injured badly as Lara smacked the vase into her opponent's head while coughing from pain of pulling in air to her bruised throat. He yelled as she rolled from under him and grabbed up the gun.

And just like that, the mostly uninjured attacker had a gun pointed at him, a man with a candelabra, and two US agents in the room, both of whom were standing over his injured and more than likely dead partner. He then tried to run for the window. Leon switched who he had his gun pointed at as Kat knocked the other guy out.

"Stop!" Lara yelled at the man with the book.

He turned back and swallowed at how brutally outnumbered he was. Especially when he looked at the blonde woman. There was blood trickling down her nose from a gash in her forehead. She had a dark grin on her face, like she loved the fight and wanted more of it. The gleeful look sent chills down his spine.

"Drop the book!" Leon ordered.

The thug looked from Jonah who was the biggest of the group. He knew he couldn't fight him or grab him as some form of hostage. He looked to Kat and gulped at the bloody knife and her smile. He really didn't want to mess with her. He looked to Leon, but the stance he had and how he gripped his gun told him he was too experienced of a fighter to even try and disarm him. He looked to Lara and growled; he had been so close but now with so many backing her up. He shook his head.

"You can't stop us!" He yelled and turned around.

He then ran and jumped out the window, shattering it by throwing his back through it. Lara and Leon both squeezed off shots from their weapons before the four charged to the window. But when they all got there, the man was gone. Kat was about to climb through after him but Leon put a hand on her shoulder and that was the trigger to come back to herself.

"Shit, Lara…" Jonah breathed as Kat spun around and marched over to the abandoned man. "What are we gonna do?"

"I lead them too it, Jonah." Lara breathed as she rubbed at her neck. "If the Divine Source is real," She turned to them all as Kat moved over to check the other guy for weapons or a wallet. "We've got to find it first."

Jonah nodded. "Siberia it is, then…"

Leon nodded. "Good thing Kat knew where you'd be going. We've got permission to go too."

"What do we do with this hrafnasueltir?" (Raven starver) Kat asked, Valkyrie voice on full display in her anger that was slowly fading.

Lara snorted at the Norse word as both Leon and Jonah looked confused.

"Not sure…" Lara frowned. "Where did you stab him?"

Kat shrugged a bit. "Kidney, right shoulder, gashes to his arms."

"He should be taken to the hospital." Jonah pointed out.

"Jonah's right he could bleed out." Leon said walked over to Kat. "You're good with that right?"

Kat looked at him then kneeled and wiped her blade on the man's coat. "Yeah. Sure. I know more than he ever could anyway."