3:32 AM THE FOLLOWING MORNING - OSAKA.

"What do you mean dead?" the disheveled thirty year old Englishman barked as he paced the floor of the high-rise office in the downtown business district of Osaka, Japan; his demeanor causing the three other men seated around a glass coffee table behind him to fidget nervously as he glared at the phone in the middle of the table, "I sent in almost thirty men! And you're telling me she killed them all?"

"No, NOT her - HIM. There was a guy: staggeringly handsome, Adonis like physique, near demigod-like reflexes... just awe-inspiring really. I'm not normally into my gender..."

"I'm not laughing." the Brit snarled, "whoever the fuck you are - arse."

"Pity, you should enjoy your life. Honestly, Never can tell when..."

"GET ON WITH IT! " He screamed, "THE GIRL! IS SHE FUCKING DEAD!?"

"I think you need to get out more often... get some air, a dog - laid. Like I said... no girl. That's what we got from the inter-team conversations before it all went dead. There never was a girl. The GPS trace led to this fucking guy. Croft was gone with this Nishimora bird."

He shook his head, "I should have guessed. No way any fucking woman was going to do all that old fuck claimed. I'll check up on this Roth after all, maybe we can find out about this other fucker."

"and the Croft girl?"

"What the fuck do I care?Watch her if you must, he may be her... cousin; but, focus mostly on this fucking guy. I'll inform that twit on Yamatai about his genius evaluation." He shut off the phone and walked over to the window, peering out indifferently at the beautiful skyline. "A girl," he muttered, "hmmm. Dumb fuck."

The phone sprang to life.

"WHAT?!"

"Oh, one last thing. I have a great way you can get rid of all that nasty stress... just lean slowly to the left ." the deep, soothing, British accented man's voice purred from the speaker phone.

"What?" he asked as he did indeed lean to the left.

"Love your suit... black silk Armani; shame you slept in it - Charles."

"How...?"

pop.

A red hole appeared in the center of his forehead as the back of it exploded out. He fell back hard, lifeless to the floor, his body crashing into the table, shattering it; causing the men seated around to fall over one another as they clamoured for any cover.

On a rooftop some two miles away, Evan lowered his gaze from the spotter glasses, and lifted a cell phone, "Thanks," he said before chucking it over the side of the building.

Lara lay next to him, just relaxing from behind a Barrett M82 50 Caliber sniper rifle, gripping and flexing her fingers as Evan picked up the spent shell casing; her beautiful eyes showed no emotion as she looked him in the eyes, "Well?"

He winked at her, "Marry me," he sighed.

She bowed her head and began laughing, "Oh good God. Wheres the ring?"

He held up the bullet casing

"This?," she sighed as she took hold of it, "You are so romantic; really, this is just the dog's... you cheap, romantic bastard."

"CHEAP?! Come on... It just cost that guy his life."

She laughed louder.

"Could you imagine the honeymoon?" he went on.

"Somewhere tropical, exotic...," she sighed, turning on her side to face him, "Taiwan? Captiva?... please."

"Burma."

"I want a divorce; or more shell casings."

He smiled and looked back through his spotters glasses, "Good thing we found that cell phone link to this fellow on that dead communications tech in the van. Handy."

Lara looked at him and smiled, "You are the best teacher. Now explain again why we don't take out the other three?"

He looked at her thoughtfully, "Witnesses; we need them to spread panic and the rumor of... me."

"And this fellow on Yamatai? Do we kill him to?"

Evan smiled, "Oh yes; and very painfully; but only after he tells us everything we need to know."

"How is it we came to be like this?," she asked as she took the gun apart and placed it in its form fitted case.

He looked sadly at her, "Some choices we have no choice in. This path was made for me by men long dead, and birth; yours by a twist of fate. "

"I mean the fact we kill without any moral qualms. I mean, look at us, we're like two... falcons of a feather: ending twenty plus men's lives and then only wondering what the point spread is in the World Cup; or is this a mock-up of a jade dragon amulet... or teasing one another as a man lays with his head half blown apart - I just didn't think I was..." she all but whispered.

He looked into her troubled eyes and rubbed her shoulder gently. "A natural-born killer? I'll tell you what my father told me when I was terrified by my sense of euphoria from killing a guy who almost sold thirteen teenage girls to a prostitution ring, when I was fourteen: 'That's a good thing; giving a damn about that sort of shit, good for you. Get me a beer.'"

She laughed, "NO."

"Oh yes: just like that - honestly. Lara, you have to accept that this is who and what you are. You can choose to be self loathing, and call yourself a cold-blooded killer; or try to see yourself as I'm starting to see you: the undisputed homecoming queen riding high in the paybacks a bitch parade. My grandfather would say you are being guided by your extraordinary warrior's soul; he would also laugh aloud at funerals and call me Dave."

She smiled, and playfully ran her graceful fingers through his black hair, "No... you're more of an Alex"

He smiled sweetly, and lightly caressed her cheek, "There she is - My lovely Lady Lara - the reluctant hero. You let go again. I rest my case," he sighed, "THIS is your true nature; get over the shock however you must; the sooner you accept you are a good person AND a cleaner of the gene pool - the sooner you can slay the hydra; discover the garden of Eden; and far more importantly, shag me rotten again."

"I think I just got lucky on Yamatai."

"Bullshit. No one JUST GETS LUCKY at those odds. You had a baptism Lara; You killed your way, successfully - with only minor flesh wounds - through two hundred armed men, including the - what word did you have for the cannibal samurai zombies?"

She shook her head and laughed, "The Storm Guard."

"That was it, the Storm Guys - by the way, these guys I gotta see; I fucking love Kurosawa..."

"ANYWAY! You were singing my praises - and it's Storm 'Guard'... as if you didn't know."

He smiled and raised an eyebrow at her.

She mirrored the expression perfectly, then burst out laughing.

Evan smiled softly as she relaxed again "...and you did it single-handedly. It is a rare breed who can walk through the bowels of hell and feel at home. You prospered where so many others failed. Now all you need to do is stop judging yourself, and start learning to embrace your true gifts."

"How?"

"Simple, just trust yourself, and learn to hone your instincts; let them lead you to do the great things you are capable of; to live. Lara YOU are already an outstanding human being; a rare one indeed: a decent soul, with a true warriors heart inside the... rather distracting... flesh of a beautiful woman. Don't judge yourself for being who you are. These idiots are trying to kill an innocent woman, just like the SOLARI, only this lot is well dressed and financed, and respectable. You need to make sure you are safe from them. I would prefer killing them all, more fun for me that way. If you want to just get them off your back, fine, but we need to know what it is they are about, and what they do before you accidentally stumble over them again. Agreed?"

She nodded.

"Good girl. NOW on we go to our next stop, a clothing shop for a proper wardrobe for you. My choice: something functional, yet alluring"

She smiled, "No latex."

He smirked, "NO LATEX; then to your cradle - Yamatai."

"Mr, and Mrs Smith go on holiday," she muttered.

He grinned, "Good one. You really are picking up this sarcasm thing beautifully."