Chapter 20: Repercussions

OKAY! So, some things. After this book is the time jump and…Well, Rise of the Tomb Raider is a very long game. So, I'm still writing it's part of this story. So, when I get to posting that one, it'll take a long while.

For now, though, enjoy the final of Changing Fate!

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: America, State: Virginia, City: Arlington, Place: STRATCOM HQ, Area: Benford's Office, Month: January, Day: Friday 23rd, Year: 1999, Time: 12:52 EDT…

Scolded. That's how both Kat and Leon felt as they sat in the chairs opposite their bosses. They felt scolded. Kat really did feel as if both Nolan and Benford were either Nick Fury or Batman with their word choices.

"You kept a man tied up in your basement, you both psychologically tortured him, you organized unauthorized teams, one of which lost a sample of Miss Birkin's blood to an unknown element." Benford summarized darkly, looking form young adult to the other.

"I think we said that already, sir…" Leon said as he shifted then hissed at a stab of pain in his ribs.

They both had injuries from their attacks. The bruising was really starting to set in for Leon and just starting up for Kat.

"Sherry is my daughter, sir. As much as I understand that I should have sat back and let the two agencies handle it, I couldn't." Kat stated. "I'm not sorry for what I did. It got my daughter back home. I'm only sorry that one of her blood samples was taken."

"That is the reason why you should have stayed out of it." Nolen informed. "You were blinded by mother instincts. You were far too close to this." He looked to Benford.

"And Agent Kennedy didn't stop you. He helped you." Benford stated making Leon close his eyes.

"I don't regret it either, sir. If I had to do this whole thing over again, I would do the exact same thing." Leon stated.

"That is why the two of you are, as of now, grounded from missions." Nolen informed them.

"You will be paid as you normally would if you were injured and need to recover. Which is true as you are both injured." Benford said before the two could open their mouths in protest.

"It's for the best. Before we send you both to your homes, we will need your weapons as you are both on suspension." Nolen stated.

"All of them?" Kat asked as she thought about all the weapons she had.

She got glares from both agents.

"Yes."

As Kat and Leon very slowly and painfully got to their feet, Nolen opened a folder and seems to be studying it as he spoke up. "Kat, please stay a moment longer. I want to clarify something with you on your previous case."

Kat sat back down looking up at Leon as he gently put a hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. He was telling her that he was close by and he would back her.

Nolen looked up as the door closed and he put the folder down. He folded his hands over the folder and looked at her. The anger at her for her actions was gone from his face. "I know there is a lot that you know of future events and a I know there is a lot more that you have not told us." He held up a hand to stop her protest. "I am not asking for all of your secrets. I understand that knowledge of this kind comes with a price. But it is also putting a strain on you. Your nature is to fight. You have a lust for battle that comes from that nature and it makes your mothering instincts all the stronger. You're not just a mother bear protecting her cubs, it is more like a mother dragon."

Kat sat back and blinked as she thought of that statement. He was right. When she saw them taking Sherry, she really lost some of herself. It was like she was watching through her eyes, but it was another's body. She saw the basement and her standing there and talking to Leon about the means of ways to extract the information and as she was describing the Blood Eagle the room faded as so did Nolen's voice. She was in a stone chamber, a man stretched out over a rock, face down as several stood witness. She passed in front of the man asking him questions in another language and then translating it to Norse for the others in the chamber. Over the screams of agony one of the guards asked her, "Róta. Are you certain that is what he said?" There was a great deal of alarm in his voice. She looked over and gave a curt nod. Then she was back in the Chair in the office and Nolen was looking at her.

"Where did you go just now?"

She lifted a hand and blinked. She was not ready to tell him just yet that she finally heard her name or of the information that she had translated. "I just learned of something, from the past that may impact the future. I can't piece it all together yet. I need some time to think about this."

Nolen sighed. "Kat. Please take this advise I am about to give you. You need to talk to someone. Someone that you can trust. Your anger got the best of you this time, next time it might be worse, and I can't have a lose cannon in the field. I hope you understand that this is coming from a place of respect. I know your stronger than this," He waved a hand in the air as if shooing a fly. "Whatever it is."

Kat nodded and took a deep breath. She needed to talk to someone and the first people she thought of was Lara and Leon.

Country: America, State: Virginia, City: Arlington, Place: Medlow Brook, Area: Living Room, Month: January, Day: Friday 23rd, Year: 1999, Time: 14:09 EDT…

Rose hugged Sherry tightly as she cried. "Promise you won't do that again?" She begged though her tears.

Sherry hugged Rose back with a nod. "I can't fully promise that, but I can promise I'll fight to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Kat hugged both of them as they sat on the couch. "And I just happy you're both safe." She was still very sore and really didn't want to get up when the doorbell rang. But she did tense before she realized that the bad guys would not ring the bell.

She had locked the door so she groaned as the got up slowly. She winced at the look of fear in Rose's eyes. "It's ok sweets, bad guys don't ring the doorbell."

Just as she got to the door, she heard Chris laugh and the sound of protesting from Leon. So, she smiled as she opened the door to the gang all standing on the porch with take out boxes and cases of soda and beer. Chris held up a case of beer out of Leon's reach as he laughed.

Leon looked to Kat and motioned to Chris. "This big ass said I can't have a beer cause I'm on pain meds. After the day we just had, if anyone deserves a cold beer it's you and I. Am I right?"

Lara, Jill, and Claire all said at once, "Language!"

Kat smiled as she looked at her family as they all came in through the door, with the smells of Curry, Chow Mein, and Sweet and Sour Sauce. She waved them toward the table and gave a poke, in just the right spot, where she knew Chris was ticklish as he passed her. As he bent a little to the side to block the tickle, she snagged a beer. "We get to share one. I will get a cold glass, you can have the bottle." She explained as she handed the bottle to Leon.

Sherry and Rose jumped up and ran to get paper plates and chopsticks so there would be no dirty dishes. The laughter, talking and having everyone around that they considered Aunt's and Uncle's, was the best thing for the girls right now. Rose more than anything needed the normal setting of family and some fun.

Lara took a bite of some fried rice and then used her chop sticks to point to Kat as she looked at Rose and Sherry. "So, did Kat ever tell you guys how much she got at auction on senior slave day?"

Kat gasped and in doing so choked on a chili pepper flake which launched into a fit of coughing. Between the coughing she managed to choke out, "Don't. You. Dare."

By now all eyes were on her and a few Ooooo's from Chris and Carlos. But Claire piped up. "Oh, I have to hear this! My college doesn't do slave day. I think they used to, but it got out of hand."

Sherry took a bit of an egg roll and talked with her mouth full. "Whaz ave hay?"

Lara smiled as she got another bite and continued with the story. "The last official day before graduation, all of the graduating class get to offer themselves up for auction. The money goes to the next years campus events, like concerts, guest lectures, and things like that. You don't have to do it, but it is for a good cause. Then the one that wins the bid, the rest of the day, you are their slave and have to do what they say." She explained.

By this time Kat was breathing again but her face was still flushed, from coughing and embarrassment.

Sherry nodded but Rose asked the next question. "So, who is doing the bidding then?"

Lara gestured around the table with her chopsticks. "All of the other students. Not the entire college shows up. They would have to use a stadium. But they hold it in the theater and there is a good turnout. Most of the time its friends or fraternity buddies or sorority sisters." She paused and snagged some Chow Mein. "So, Kat here, decided that she would go up. You didn't have to dress like a slave, but you could if you wanted. One senior went up in these tiny Speedo's." At Jill's wolf whistle Lara fanned her face, universal for he was hot.

Kat tried to slide down in her chair but that made her ribs hurt and after the coughing, she was really in some pain. She sighed and shook her head. "I was not the only one up there, Miss Croft. I recall you strutting across the stage in a really short toga."

Lara nodded with a smile. "Really short. It was a fight, but I went for 188.05 pounds, er, 235 dollars." She pointed at Kat and continued. "You went up with your hair all done up in a tight bun, pencil skirt, heals, and a suit jacket and glasses. You looked like every guys idea of the sexy librarian. When the bidding got to 200, you took down your hair, tossed the glasses and took off the jacket to a very low-cut white shirt. The bidding went crazy. In the end you got 368.09 pounds, 460 dollars."

Leon whistled and smiled at Kat. "Was that a record or something?"

Kat was blushing but smiled softly. "No. A few years before the captain of the Rowing team pulled in over a thousand."

Lara continued. "So, the freshman, that won the bid for Kat, made her stay in the tight clothes and follow him around picking up things. He would point to a leaf and tell her to pick it up and she was not allowed to bend her knees or squat down. She had to bend over." Lara stood up and did a really sexy bend over, flipping her hair back as she stood up. She sat back down sniggering and laughing by the end of it.

Chris was laughing so hard no sound was coming out and Carlos was sitting there with his mouth open, looking at Kat then back to Lara. Sherry was giggling but then howled with laughter when Rose spoke up. "I don't get it." That sent everyone else at the table howling. Jill was laughing so hard tears were in her eyes. Leon had his arms wrapped around his sides as he laughed and said "Ow. Ow."

Rose looked at her mom in question.

She chuckled and shook her head. "In a tight skirt, it made my butt look big." She just left it at that as Rose nodded with a "Ohhhhh."

Claire finally stopped and looked at Lara. "What did you have to do?"

Lara sighed. "The freshman that won me, had me dress up in a ballerina tutu and I had to do cartwheels, back flips, handstands, and the splits when ever she told me to. I was a performing monkey. God my arms were like jelly by the end of the day. I could hardly lift a pen much less a fork to eat."

Kat laughed and nodded. "It took a week for your arms to stop hurting." She tipped her head. "Might be why your so good at tomb raiding now."

Lara shrugged and nodded. She reached for the container of fried rice. "Anyone want more rice?"

It was a while later when Kat pulled both Lara and Leon aside. She had a worried expression.

"You both know I'm not gonna be keeping secrets from you guys. The only reason I'm hiding this from Claire, Chris, Jill, the girls, and Carlos…is because it effects you two and me more than the others." Kat began as they washed utensils since Chris and Claire had trouble with the chopsticks.

"What do you mean? If it's about the timeline, then it involves everyone right?" Lara asked.

"No…this is more my past life and Black Umbrella." Kat told them.

Lara remembered the symbol and the Documents for them on Yamatai. Leon remembered them from the mission in Arizona.

"What?" They both asked worried about what this meant.

"I had a flashback again. In the office. I was participating in the torture of a man. A roman man from a catholic zealot group. Some form of invasion was going to be attempted. But it was what he said and the symbol on his tunic that worried me." Kat looked to them. "He was from Trinity. Trinity is far older than I thought it was. It's older than Umbrella and it's more than likely has deeper ties around the world."