Yes, I know, it's been about 10 thousand years since I've updated. I'm still alive, you know, just very, very, very, very, very busy. Anywho, here's the next installment. Enjoy!

Hillary trotted down the front stairs of the Croft manor. He fastened the tie of his hunter green bathrobe and padded to the front door. He breathed deeply and sighed, he loved the early mornings. He was mentally debating whether to cook bacon or ham for breakfast when he pulled open the front door to retrieve the newspaper. Before he could finish his thought he was blinded by the flash of a camera. Hillary bearly had any time to recover when the shouting started.

"Are you Lady Croft's butler?"

"Do you know anything about the Tomb Raiding school scandal?"

"What's your name?"

"Have you ever slept with Lara Croft?"

"What's your opinion of the scandal?"

"Do you think that Tomb Raiding is grave robbing?

"Has Alex West ever slept with Lara Croft?"

"How much does she pay you?"

Acting solely on instinct, Hillary ducked back into the house, slammed the door and bolted it. He shook his head, his eyes still adjusting from the camera flashes. Once his eyes were back to normal, Hillary cautiously straightened up and glanced out the door's peep hole. The reporters were everywhere. At least thirty were around the door, several cars were now parked on Hillary's meticulously managed lawn. He leaned against the door and shook his head. He knew that he had forgotten to lock the front gate the pervious night.

Now the Croft manor had been overtaken by tabloid journalists. Lara was going to strangle him. Brilliant.

Lara stared at the ceiling of her bedroom, feeling miserable and empty. She rolled onto her side and brought the blankets up around her neck and snuggled into her bed, wishing that she could just disappear underneath the seven hundred thread count sheets. She glanced at the clock beside her bed. Only three minutes had past since she had last looked at it.

She rolled onto her back and sighed deeply. After finding out about Preston's tabloid betrayal she had come home in a daze. She felt like a child, unable to comprehend the delicate adult game that she had become trapped in. Questions kept pounding in her head. Why had Preston used her? Why did Alex lie to her? Why was she alone; day after day, night after night? Why couldn't she just find one person that she could trust?

When she arrived home, still reeling from the discovery, she told Hillary what had happened. He had comforted Lara the best that he could and told her not to worry. There were other men out there. There was one that would treat her with the respect that she deserves. But at that point, that was not the comfort that Lara needed and she retreated to her bedroom.

When Preston arrived for the date, Lara shortly informed him that she would not be joining him. Ever. Then added that he knew why. Preston accepted this with a shrug and then left without protest. Thankfully, Kyra had been out at the cinema with Bryce and was so exhausted by the time she got home that she went straight to bed. Lara could bearly understand the situation with Preston herself and couldn't imagine how to explain it to Kyra had the girl asked her about it.

There was a soft knock on the door. Lara sat up in bed, running a hand through her long hair.

"Come in." She murmured.

Hillary opened the door and peered cautiously into Lara's bedroom.

"Um, Lara, we have a slight problem." He stated delicately.

"Dear God!" She exclaimed, resting her forehead against the palm of her hand. "What else could possibly go wrong?!"

"There are about thirty reporters in front of the house." He said, softly. He closed the bedroom door behind him and walked over to Lara's bed. "Friends of Mr. Miller's, no doubt. They ambushed me when I went out for the newspaper." He added. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know." Lara muttered. "Is Kyra awake yet?"

"No, no one else is up. Bryce is asleep on the couch in the living room, in case you're wondering. I think he stayed up late to work on some of his little toys."

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about him." Lara drew her knees to her chest and sighed. Suddenly, her face brightened and she looked up. "I've got an idea." She smiled. "Wake up Bryce and meet me at the back balcony with the stairs leading to the roof. Oh, and you remember that bullhorn that you bought me as a joke last Christmas? Bring that too." Lara added, hopping out of bed and searching through her closet for a fresh outfit.

Hillary raised an eyebrow at her, then gave a short bow and left the room. He wondered what she had in mind.

"Lara, are you sure that this is legal?" Bryce asked, hoisting his gun up to his shoulder.

"Of course it is," Lara responded, adjusting the volume on the bullhorn.

Hillary shook his head. The three were standing outside in the early morning sunshine in the back balcony. Lara shifted the bullhorn to her left hand and picked up her small black gun.

"Alright, everyone ready?" She asked, looking around at her companions.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Hillary stated, adjusting his grip on his gun.

Bryce shrugged. "Let's do it." He said.

Lara lead them up the stairs onto the roof of the manor. She cautiously approached the front of the manor and peered over the edge.

The reporters and camera men milled around her front door for several seconds when a young man sipping a cup of cold coffee glanced upwards.

"There she is, there she is!" He shouted, dropping the coffee and pointing at the roof of the manor.

On cue, the reporters shouted their questions and the flashbulbs of the camera illuminated the dim morning light. For a second Lara felt lost in the flashes of the cameras, she blinked and tried to remember what she had set out to do. Bryce nudging her arm with the barrel of his gun brought Lara back to reality. She tightened her grip on the bullhorn and brought it to her mouth.

"Alright, I'm only going to warn you slags once." Lara said, her voice booming over the shouted questions. "Either clear off my property or suffer the consequences." She brandished her gun for the crowd to see.

Several reporters quieted, weighing up the actuality of Lara Croft opening fire on a crowd of people. The more desperate ones only shouted their questions louder, wanting at least something to take back to their editors. None of the reporters made any move to leave the grounds. Within a few seconds even the hesitant journalists were snapping pictures again.

Lara set down the bullhorn and motioned for Hillary and Bryce to join her on the ledge of the building. "Aim for the chest, if you can." Lara instructed, checking the laser sight on her weapon.

"Are you sure, Lara?" Bryce asked, cautiously.

"Yes. Fire at will, boys." Lara aimed her gun and pulled the trigger. The reporter she hit fell to the ground clutching his chest, screaming.

"I've been shot! I've been shot!" He cried, grappling for a petite woman's ankle in desperation. The woman screamed and backed away from him. The reported lifted his hand to examine the wound and found his shirt to be soaked in purple paint. He looked at the paint on his fingers in confusion.

Bryce's face lightened. "Paint ball?" He asked Lara.

"Of course," Lara said, shooting another man in the forearm. "You didn't think that I would really shoot them, did you?"

Bryce shrugged, sheepishly. "Sometimes you worry me." He admitted.

Hillary laughed. "Me too." He lifted his gun and shot a yellow paint ball at a chubby man with glasses trying to help the first man up.

"What was all that noise this morning?" Kyra asked, rubbing her tired eyes and contemplating taking another raspberry tart from Hillary's artful breakfast arrangement.

"What noise?" Lara asked, flipping through the newspaper that Hillary had collected in a bored fashion.

"All the shouting and everything." Kyra said.

"Well, we had a few unwelcome guests this morning. Bryce, Hillary and I had to take care of them." Lara said, setting the paper down and taking a sip of her herbal tea.

Bryce smirked at her. In a strange way the three had enjoyed their morning adventure. And soon were seeing who could hit the most reporters on their flight from the manor. No one could decide who won and the three spent the rest of the morning playfully arguing about it while Hillary prepared breakfast.

"Oh." Kyra shrugged. The little girl had no idea what Lara was talking about, instead she had more pressing matters on her mind. "We're going to see Uncle Alex today, right?" She asked, hopefully.

"Well, there is an open visitation time set up for today." Lara said slowly. "But if you don't want to see him, then it's not a big deal. I mean, he's not expecting us or anything." She said, hoping that the little girl really didn't want to see Alex. She realized that her motivations were purely selfish since it was actually her who didn't want to see Alex.

"I think that we should go visit him." Kyra said, nodding. "He must be so lonely there. He'll be glad to see some familiar faces."

Lara bit her lower lip. "Alright, we'll go see him then." Hillary raised an eyebrow at her and Lara couldn't met his gaze.

Lara sighed deeply and watched the young mother sitting across from her in the waiting room play with her baby. The women displayed an impressive talent for mimicking the sounds made by barnyard animals that made her baby giggle and smile. Lara tore her gaze away from the pair. She felt numb. She always felt that way around children. While she had no real desire to have a baby she couldn't deny that some part of her wanted to be a mother. Being with Kyra, she had felt more maternal than even, but being that Kyra had only recent come into her life, there was a vast difference between being a mother to her and giving birth to a child of her own.

Lara rubbed her face and leaned back in the uncomfortable black chair. When Lara and Kyra had arrived at the police station where Alex was being held they had been informed that only person may visit at a time. Lara had graciously invited Kyra to be the first. Kyra had been gone nearly and hour now. Lara shifted in her seat, feeling extremely out of her element. It seemed as if the entire station bred a particular kind discomfort for all that passed through the bullet proof glass doors.

The young mother stopped doing her impression of a barn cat and glanced at Lara.

"Your husband?" She asked.

"Pardon?" Lara said, realizing that the young woman was talking to her.

"Are you waiting to see your husband?" She repeated.

"No." Lara said, quickly. "He's not my husband."

"Ex?" She asked. "I saw you with your little girl earlier. She has such a sweet temperament."

"Oh, she does, but she's not my daughter. He's not my ex either. Well, he kind of my ex. But we never official dated. Then we became business partners and well, that didn't turn out well, which is why he's here. And the little girl isn't his either, she's his niece that he got custody of after her parents died earlier this year and. . ." Lara trailed off when she realized what she was saying. She lapsed into thought for a moment, trying to remember how this situation had gotten so complicated, so fast.

The young mother nodded, pretending to understand and then turned her attention back to her baby with a very convincing "Mooo!".

"Lara, Lara!" The tomb raider turned to see Kyra racing down the hall towards her. "Uncle Alex wants to see you. He figured out who did all the bad things that the police think he did and he needs you to help him." She informed Lara breathlessly.

"I don't know if I should. . ." Lara said, hesitantly.

"But you have to, Lara. You've just got to help Uncle Alex! Come on, he's waiting for you." Kyra said, tugging on Lara's arm. "Come on, come on, hurry!" She encouraged.

"Did you want to see him, Miss?" A uniformed officer asked, gently placing his hand on Kyra's shoulder.

"Come on, Lara, you've just got to." Kyra pleaded.

"Alright." Lara sighed. She rose from her chair and followed the officer down the hall towards the rooms usually used for interrogation.

"Here you are," the officer said, stopping at a door, "would it be alright if I showed Kyra around the office while you're visiting, Miss?" He asked.

"Yes, that would be fine. Thank you." Lara said, numbly. The officer unlocked the door for her and Lara stepped inside, not knowing what to expect.

Alex, seated comfortably at the interrogation table, was unshaved, his rough facial hair making him look much older than his thirty-three years. He looked slimmer, an unflattering prison jumpsuit falling loosely around his form. He stood when Lara entered the room, but did not approach her. He searched her eyes.

"I don't look that bad, do I?" He asked, sheepishly. His hand brushing his chin.

Lara laughed, she felt the tensions ease slightly. She approached Alex and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I miss you." She murmured, resting her head against his shoulder.

"Hmmm," Alex smirked at her sudden display of affection. "I should get arrested more often." He stated, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her tightly. "I'm glad that you came to see me." He whispered in her ear.

Lara pulled away from him, his words brought her back to a very cold reality.

"Kyra said that you wanted to see me about something, what was it?" She asked, taking the seat opposite from where Alex had been seated when she had entered.

Alex sat down, placing his hands on the cold table. "I think I know who framed me. I've had a lot of time to think about this and I might know where to get the evidence."

Lara's gaze fell.

"I just need you to get Bryce to look over the bank records for the account I used for the school's sponsor generated money-" Alex paused, noticing Lara's change in expression. "What?"

"I don't know." Lara murmured. "This all sounds like a wild goose chase." She answered, honestly.

"I'm sorry?" Alex asked, his eyes that were filled with a soft acceptance growing hard and angry.

Lara paused, carefully wording her next sentence. "Alex, you have proven yourself untrustworthy to me several times now especially when dealing with money and I can't-"

"Can't what? Believe that I'm innocent?" Alex finished her sentence and Lara wordlessly nodded. "I know that I've been untrustworthy in the past, and yes, I will admit, I have been a total asshole to you, but you've got to believe me, I didn't do it." He took her hand. "Please Lara, I need you to trust me on this. I know that you want to, why else did you hug me?"

Lara shook her head. "For a second I forgot that I was me and that you were you." She said softly. "I always wanted to trust you Alex and believe what you're telling me, but every opportunity you get to prove yourself, you fail. Miserably. I've lost my faith in you." She paused. "I don't think I can deal with the disappointment, Alex. And I don't want to get Kyra's hopes up if the evidence that you think will clear you will actually just incriminate you more."

"Lara, don't do this to me. Please, I need you on my side. I love you and you have to trust me." He gently cupped her chin, bringing her gaze to met his. "Please?" He murmured.

Lara hesitated, the words were caught in her throat. She could feel her eyes filling with tears. "I can't, Alex. I just can't."

Alex released her hand and sat back in the chair, deep in thought. He sighed deeply. "Fine." He muttered. "Look, if you don't want to investigate this to clear me then investigate it to see what happened to the money that you contributed."

There was a long silence between the two.

"I don't have anything else to say to you, Lara." Alex's voice was cold and final. Lara nodded and rose from the chair. She left the room, quietly closing the door behind herself. She leaned back against the door, her hot tears welling in her eyes.