(Takes place after Vacation Destination. I couldn't keep this to a shorter one shot, so I decided to try out giving this one more room to breathe. Now, while some characters are cribbed from the Legends timeline, the plot is not the same as in any game except perhaps the loosest of framework)

"You know, if I was aware you got to travel in such style I might have bugged you a lot more about going on digs."

Lara rolled her eyes at Nero's statement, her son staring up at a yacht taken to almost cruise-ship levels. Dock workers and ship hands milled aroud the port, and two had taken their luggage on board already. "Not every expedition was funded by a rich man with money to burn. If this were under normal circumstances, we'd be flying a charter plane to the site."

Nero crossed his arms. His red zipped hoodie had long sleeves to cover his arm, and his right hand kept hidden by a glove. He'd gotten another hair-cut recently, a bit short and clipped but the ends swept back. The fringe was short, but hung a bit at an angle almost over left eye. No one said anything, but if Lara were honest, she'd admit the bangs were kept in a similar way to how Dante's were styled nowadays. Nero would probably argue about that, because Dante's bangs hung on the right side of his face.

"It's still a site on a tropical island." Nero replied. "And this isn't exactly normal circumstances. It's a learning experience." he smirked.

"Which you wouldn't even have been allowed to come on if I didn't check it over with Mr. Rutland first." Lara retorted.

"And I am so infinitely grateful and did I tell you lately you're like the best mom ever?" Nero's tone was almost simpering, but he couldn't keep the smile off his face.

Lara returned it slightly. "You did, this morning before we got here, and after the arrangements were finalized." she said, and crossed her arms. "Though don't think this is a chance for you to slack off and think you're on another vacation. You will behave as though this were a job; you wanted the experience before you sent out your college and university applications after all." she explained, having checked his luggage before they left to make sure he didn't try sneaking his weapons on board for another test run like before.

Nero ducked his head. "I remember." he muttered, but nodded. He said he wanted to be going with her because it would look good on an application, but it seemed he finally reached the age where apparently saying you wanted to spend time with your mother was out of the question.

Lara sighed quietly. She had blinked, and it was like her son had grown from seven to seventeen without her looking. This was likely going to be the last thing they did together before he went off to pursue higher education. And Sam reminding her of that fact was what made Lara finally concede and ask Rutland about bringing her son with her.

Which reminded her... "We need to go meet Mr. Rutland for the debriefing." Lara said, and gestured to the plank connecting the dock to the yacht.

"Like, on the phone or laptop?" Nero asked.

Lara shook her head. "No, he decided to oversee the expedition."

"What, does he think we're looking for a hidden gold mine and we'll steal something?" Nero asked in disbelief.

"He's the one paying for all this." Lara replied. "It's the sort of thing you might want to learn now; the one who's paying is the one who sets the rules."

Nero grimaced, and he stuffed his hands into his jean pockets. "Great." he muttered. "Will they all be like this?"

Lara wasn't quite if he meant contracts or people, but she decided to answer both. "Not all; many jobs will just be working on dating artifacts in a museum, and most sponsors aren't really interested in being on site."

"So we have an exception." Nero said.

"Pretty much." Lara replied. She paused when she spotted the head of dark hair and equally dark sunglasses peering over the ledge of the upper deck. The man pulled away and disappeared, with Lara gently elbowing Nero in the ribs. "Try not to insult him though, he can be a bit...abrasive."

Nero narrowed his eyes, but nodded. "I make no promises, but I'll try." he finally said.

They both walked onto the deck, and around them people rushed from one end of the ship to the next, ready to set sail. They both avoided and were in turn avoided by the crew members running around.

"He's just one guy, and he needs a boat the size of a cruise ship? What, is he like a billionaire?" Nero muttered.

"He's the youngest son of a Senator in the states. Mr. James Rutland Jr., I believe, is spoiled." Lara said primly.

Nero puffed his chest out. "I don't act like I have something to prove."

"You are spoiled though," Lare retorted, and Nero looked at her with exaggerated hurt, "you're just antisocial so you don't really feel the need to show off for anyone."

"That was harsh, Mom." Nero snorted, before grumbling out, "And I'm not antisocial, Nico's my friend-I think."

"No need to feel embarrassed, I wasn't exactly a social butterfly. In fact, it wasn't until my university days that I met Sam and..." Lara trailed off, her lips thinning. "Well, I didn't have a lot of friends either, but the ones I do have I wouldn't trade for anything in the world."

Nero appeared thoughtful, his brows furrowed. "That does sound nice, and I guess Nico isn't so bad." he grimaced. "I just wish she stopped smoking so much around me, it really irritates my nose."

Lara patted him on the shoulder, before they reached the upper deck. Rutland had taken to lounging on a beach chair, one hand behind his head and the other holding a glass. "Mr. Rutland, how are you?"

"Who? My name's James." The man drawled, before tilting his head over at them, his eyes still obscured by sunglasses. He grinned widely. "That was a joke." He snorted when neither Lara nor Nero laughed. "You Brits and your stiff upper lip."

Lara noticed Nero narrowing his eyes, jaw tightening. She decided to speak up before he did. "Mr-ah, James, thank you for allowing my son to join me on this expedition. It was very kind of you to accommodate us."

"No problem." Rutland said dismissively. "It's cute Junior here is following in Mommy's footsteps." he paused, noticing Nero's gloved hand. "What happened to your arm there, sport?"

"Accident," Nero said in a clipped tone, "don't really like anyone seeing it."

"So it's messed up, huh? Long as it's not some kind of infection." Rutland replied.

Nero's eye twitched. "It's not. You don't have to worry about that."

"Good." Rutland paused. "Hey, I thought you were English like your mommy, kid? Why no posh accent? You sound like you're an American like me."

Lara found herself clasping a hand on Nero's shoulder when his body tensed up. "It's just something he picked up."

"Oh, right, must have had an American nanny. Funny, I had an English one, a real old Mary Poppins." Rutland drawled.

Lara's smile felt fixed, stiff as she tried to maintain her composure. "I think we should discuss the details of the expedition."

Rutland took a long swig of his drink. "Right, right. You get a week to search the caves, find anything like jewels or gold, you bring it to me. Any old-timey relics like coins or whatever, you can do your archeology thing."

Lara breathed out slowly. "Yes, of course. Thank you for clarifying it. We'll be in our cabin."

"And enjoy your ride there. Try the buffet, I think the special is that Earl Grey tea you Brits like." Rutland called as Lara and Nero made for the exit.

Once out of earshot, Nero growled, "I don't think I've ever wanted to punch someone so badly in my life."

Lara sighed softly. "Yes, there's always a chance you'll have to work with people like that too, not just be bossed around by them." She patted his back when they reached the lower deck. "Why don't you go try the food? Bring me something back?"

Nero's tension slowly drained, and he nodded. "Alright, might as well not waste a free meal."

Lara chuckled, and walked to the rail of the boat. The vessel rocked gently by the waves, blue as far as the eye could see. She closed her eyes, tilting her head back as the sun warmed her face, the breeze ruffling the strands of her ponytail. There were footsteps and such in the background, but otherwise it was peaceful. 'For once.' she thought, before shaking her head. No, she couldn't jinx herself.

Stepping back, Lara found herself almost bumping into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry." she said. The deck hand kept walking though, the bleach blonde hair spilling out under the cap to the shoulders. Lara's brows furrowed, but all thoughts screeched to a halt when the deck hand glanced back at her.

A feminine face, dainty features and a fringe framing it in such a way Lara thought she was seeing a ghost from almost twenty years ago, on an expedition in South America. It-it couldn't be though, not after what happened there. Being in Peru almost made the memories surface, left her reeling but it was nothing compared to now.

"M-miss-" Lara stopped, because in the blink of an eye, the woman was gone. Like she wasn't there. Lara rubbed her brow. "Get it together, Lara, you can't go spacing out." she scolded herself.

"Mom, is something wrong?"

Lara stiffened in surprise, before glancing over her shoulder where Nero was standing. He held two cups of tea in his hands, and a concerned expression on his face. "Oh, yes, I'm fine." Lara said, and accepted one of the glasses. "Just tea? I thought you were going to eat?"

"I am, but it's kinda depressing to think there's all that food and no one else is in there." Nero replied. "Why do I get the feeling Rutland makes the crew eat below deck?"

"He likely does." Lara said. "You didn't happen to see anyone on your way out, did you?"

Nero's brows furrowed. "No," he said slowly, "I didn't. Are you okay?"

Lara nodded, smiling though the edges were strained. "Quite fine, perhaps just a bit hungry though." she linked her arm with his, leading him back to the dining hall. "Now you won't need to eat alone and have the empty room judging you."

Nero snorted. "It's not judging me, it's just mad Rutland spends too much on a ship just for one person."

The trip was long, which was no surprise given that Lara knew it could take a few some time to get to the tropics by boat. She spent what time they had on board going over safety regulations with Nero, or rubbing his back when seasickness got to him as he threw up ("I'm part-demon, why the hell do I always get seasick?") or checking in with Sam about how the manor was holding up ("It's good, but I spent all of yesterday having to explain why Nero hasn't been picking up any of his friend's calls. Tell him Nico said she's going to give him an earful when he's back-well, she said it a lot more colorfully but still.")

By the time they reached the island, it was nearing sunset and Nero finally stopped looking green, figuratively speaking. Lara didn't know what medical condition to cite in order to explain actual greeness. Nero sucked in a deep breath, and gazed out at the scenery. Lara also admired the view, a sandy beach and palm trees scattered along the shore line. The port ran a little out from the coast, but even from the distance, Lara spotted three beach houses nestled by the jungle.

Rutland walked down from the plank towards them, raising his arms out in a flourish. "What do you think? Pretty impressive, ain't it? This whole island is mine, got it for graduating West Point." he lowered his sunglasses to peer over at Nero. "Has your mommy bought you anything like that yet, kid?"

"No." Nero said bluntly, his jaw clenched.

Rutland apparently took it another way, shaking his head. "Sorry to hear that," he sounded anything but as he pushed his glasses back up, "it must suck to be you then. I guess that's why you're going to dig into boring history than living it up. Only child, you really got it made and you suck at taking advantage of it."

Lara once more grabbed Nero's tense shoulder, and turned him back to the shore, departing with him while over her shoulder she said to Rutland, "Again, thank you for the opportunity to explore the ruins here" while lowering her voice she told Nero, "You find anything gold and shiny, let me deal with the magpie."

Nero's mouth curled into a grin, before he slapped a hand over it to stifle his laugh. "Let's hope he's just agreed to oversee as an excuse to lay about on the beach and not bug us."

Lara laughed softly and swiped at his hair. "Come on, I'll race you. Winner gets the big bedroom."

Nero took off like a rocket, and Lara smiled as she hurried after him.

Perhaps it was his imagination, but Nero wondered if he only won the race because his mother let him win, having 'stumbled' at the last moment. He trained more to put extra force behind his sword strikes like Trish advised, not at building his speed. Given that this was a fancy beach house, the second bedroom appeared furnished just as nicely as the bigger one he tossed his suitcase into.

A four poster, king-sized bed with a mosquito guard, and three large windows to let Nero take in the view outside of the beach and jungle. A private bathroom was set to the side, with a crystalline shine so bright it made Nero's eyes hurt to look at it. He'd just need to leave the door open and boom, instant night light.

Nero peered outside the room. "Hey, Mom, how's your room?"

"It's fine." Lara called back. "Though I do think the giant bathroom is a bit much."

"Yeah, starting to think the only difference is that this room has a bit more space." Nero replied, and ducked back inside. He walked to one of the windows, with the beach view. Glancing around, Nero furrowed his brow. Rutland was still on the dock, talking on a phone. I thought Mom said there was no cell reception here?'

It must have been the tail-end of the conversation, as Rutland snapped his phone shut and waved off the ship. The yacht started to depart, and the man headed for one of the other beach houses. He stopped, and Nero caught the man's covered stare. Rutland smiled widely, giving a lazy wave before continuing on his way.

Nero raised a brow, before shaking his head and dismissed it. 'This place better have some food.' He didn't want to start in on the energy bars his mother packed for them to eat. "Gonna check out the kitchen, want anything, Mom?"

"No, I'll make something later." Lara called, her voice echoing, giving away she was checking out the bathroom. "Don't eat everything up though!"

Nero snorted, and rolled his shoulders as the rest of the beach house was just a very small living room and little more than an alcove in the wall across it for a kitchen. A stove, fridge, and sink all clustered into a tight space. Well, now Nero knew where most of the spectacle for this house went.

The fridge was filled with beer and soda, or he thought it was soda anyway. The freezer was stuffed full of frozen dinners. Nero shrugged and grabbed one of the dinners, tossing it into the oven to heat up as he searched for utensils. Nero paused, his gaze going down as his arm began glowing through the sleeve.

His stomach dropped, and he only had time to look up before the window in the living room shattered. A high-pitch shriek nearly sent Nero reeling as he covered his ears. The thing which just broke into the house was something he'd never seen before. If this was a demon, it was one of the most disgusting creatures to exist.

A replica of a human body, flat and formless but it was so wrong. No eyes, but black sockets stared lifelessly out, releasing another shriek. It was as though someone turned a person inside out, the creature dripping blood along the floor - from the cuts or if it was bleeding already too disturbing a question to answer.

Nero reached for his back, but found air. "Shit!" The one time he actually leaves his weapons at home.

The demon screamed, like nails on a chalkboard before it lunged at him. Nero rolled out of the way, hearing it crash into the fridge behind him. He reached for the open drawer, pulling it out and digging through until the silverware clinked against something hard. His demonic hand.

'Wait, that's right!' He had been so caught up in sulking over leaving Red Queen and Blue Rose behind both he and his mother forgot about the other weapon. Nero focused, and in his hand materialized the familiar grip of the Yamato.

Just as quick, the blade was knocked from his grasp as the creature tackled him. "Damn it!" Nero avoided the claws which tried scratching for his face, and grabbed the bloody arms to push it back. The creature was strong, hissing and shrieking as it tried snapping at Nero's face. The blood it oozed spilled onto his cheek, his hoodie soaking in places it landed that a wave of disgust and nausea threatened to overwhelm him. It even smelled like a cadaver, antiseptic and death.

A black boot came into his field of vision, in time to kick the creature squarely in the face. A wet crunch followed as it was tossed off. Lara grabbed Nero by the shoulder, half-dragging him back. She grasped the Yamato on the way, and began looking him over.

"Are you hurt?" she asked.

"What? No, it didn't get me-" Nero was interrupted when the creature lunged at Lara, catching her off guard and tackled them over the sofa. "Mom!" he called, and tore his glove off as he raced over. He was going to eviscerate that thing if his mother was hurt.

The creature was still trying to claw at Lara, who was holding it by the wrists not unlike Nero had shortly before. Her eyes flickered to the Yamato by her side, and Nero dove for it. His hand wrapped around the handle and he swung it upwards. The demon screamed as the blade tore into its side. It got thrown off, and Lara staggered to her feet, holding her shoulder.

"Mom-"

"I'm fine, it just scratched me." Lara replied. She noticed Nero's arm glowing. "A demon? How could one this mindless manage to get this far out here?"

Nero didn't get a chance to reply as the creature hissed, jumping to its feet. It's black sockets began filling, white sclera forming around two yellow irises though its pupils remained white. The disgusting inside out human body started growing skin, and globs of blood spat out through the horror show.

The creature's back let out a crack, and it screamed before fleeing back out through the window. Nothing but the cast-off remained scattered on the floor.

Lara breathed heavily, hand tight on her shoulder. "Nero, we need to get Rutland, and get off this island. No expedition is worth being in danger, especially with no knowledge of what that thing is."

Nero nodded, and found a first-aid kit for his mother to tape up the cut along her shoulder. It joined a myriad of scars already there, and Nero's stomach rolled every time he saw the one from the shadow demon. His hand clamped harder around Yamato's handle, and Lara armed herself with a large steak knife before heading outside.

The moon seemed to be mocking them, bright on the sand and grass, lighting up the area but gave them no sign of the where the demon fled too. The blood trail it leaked stopped mid-way in between the houses.

Nero pointed at the house nearest to the beach. "I saw Rutland going in there."

Lara nodded, and they both made for the building as quiet as can be. Even the wildlife was silent, no birds or bugs making a sound in the night. Once they reached the door, Lara knocked. "James? Open up, we need to go." No answer, and Lara sighed in frustration before jiggling the door handle, immediately turning with a click. The fact it was unlocked sent a chill down Nero's spine. "James?"

The house was silent and dark, the only light coming from the porch. Nero glanced to the last house, but it too had no lights on. Then his gaze caught sight of the shiny red liquid on the ground, and his stomach did flips, kicking him harder than the seasickness. The demon's trail disappeared, but he found where it had originated.

"I saw Rutland come to this house," Nero said quietly, and Lara glanced at him, "and I saw him on a phone. He told you in his emails there was no reception, right?" She nodded, and it was dawning in her eyes what he was getting at. "Rutland sent his yacht away, and the blood trail the demon had leads back to that house." he pointed to said house. "An empty place, perfect to store something for later use." Like a mindless beast.

The accusation hung in the air, and his mother finally said, "You think we've been set-up."