Disclaimer: I do not own anything in regards to the Tomb Raider franchise. This story is for the utter amusement and entertainment of the fans who appreciate Lara as being one of the best games in the world! The only thing that gets owned around here is 1,072 hours of my life as I try to get the 1000 point acheivements as I play my tomb raider games LOL.

Author Notes: I like getting into the part of the characters that you do not see. What happens 'in between' Lara's excurions? How does she interact with the people in her life when it is not over her headset? Read on and (hopefully enjoy my imagination). Love it or hate it, I'm still Batman!

Chapter One: Rebirth

It was raining heavily in Greece that day. The wind slammed the rain abusively against the outer walls on the surface of Saint Francis' Folly. It was here that a figure of a Lara Croft, barely visible against the evening storm, was entering the strongly secured building ignoring the strong elements. Her soft blue long sleeve button-up shirt darkened with the drench of rain, as well as her fitted grey slacks were tightened to her flesh. Her boots squished with every step. It seemed that the backpack was the only thing that laughed at the element.

"Why would you go to this place in this kind of weather is beyond me!" Zip spoke more to himself than to the microphone that wrapped around the right side of his head. He could hear the lightening that cracked in the background as he heard what he could make out as the usual, breaking and entering. "Lara, you could at least say something quirky like um, I dunno. Marvelous weather we are having today!" waving his right hand in a looping carefree fashion as he sipped an energy drink with his left.

Lara sighed softly, and was thankful that the video feed was what she saw, and not on her, otherwise Zip would find her shaking her head dismissively with a roll of her eyes. That motion would lead her to endure a whole new sloth of questions of 'what did THAT mean' or 'what was THAT for?' It was now that she gave a self confident "hm!" as she managed to break a window without much sound and open it. The double stained glass window creaked open without much effort as she slid in and closed it behind her just as she was fully in. "Marvelous weather we are having today!" she said straining her lengthy loose pony tail of the rain that soaked it and wiped her face with the back of her right hand to better clear her vision. A most beguiling smile played on her lips in the entirety of these movements.

Zip took in a deep breath and released it as patiently as he could. He knew she was mocking him, her infamous timing of retort either left him speechless or belittled. Either way, she won. "Ha---ha. VERY funny Lara. You should really be a comedian!"

"Why 'thank' you Zip!" she responded cheerfully. "Now…." She steadied her mind. It had been years since she was here, the memories of the challenges she had passed flooded her mind. Her muscles pulsed with each memory as she recalled the instances perfectly. It was as if she was doing it all over again. A soft inhale and then she clicked on her personal light which illuminated 4 feet ahead of her and brought things into clarity. "Last I recall, there were a few lioness here upon my initial visit, I really do hope I put them down for good. Otherwise, having the long memories that they do, I will find them in a most intense temperament."

Upon hearing her aloud thoughts Zip sputtered his newly drunken energy from his lips in a most unbecoming spray that halfway drenched his shirt. "What a minute!! What do you mean, 'Last I recall?!' This isn't the first time you've been here?!", wiping his mouth with the back of his left forearm.

Lara's sharp ears had already deduced what her savvy tech had done. "That was disgusting Zip. I do hope you did not lose any of your drink on that new equipment you pleaded I buy. I might just have to deduct that from your next pay." She smirked playfully as this fact escaped her lips.

Zip was already wiping the monitor and keyboard as well as his shirt and pants in a most frantic fashion. A very irritated Winston walked by shaking his head at the fiasco he witnessed. Zip glared and rolled his eyes at Lara's ever loyal watch dog. "It's fine. No harm no foul. Now, anyways, what is this about you being here before?! You never mentioned to me that you came her once before."

Lara was silent for a moment before answering, "There was really no need Zip. This all happened before you became a part of my excursions. You do realize that a lady must keep some things to herself." She spoke with a hint of finalization in her voice. This would also hint that no questions are to be asked because this was a done topic already.

Zip groaned and ran his hands through his dreaded lochs rapidly in a hurried scratching motion. MORE secrets! And MORE personal matters. She was always like this! It was so infuriating at times he wanted to throw blank CDR's like kunai daggers at the nearest thing that moved! Which of course would be Winston now, and seeing a heaping pile of old man in moaning agony would be funny for a moment, before either A) He would get up and pull out some damned crazy weapon from a previous war and use it on Zip, or B) Lara. That reason all by itself did not need an example attached. He shivered at the thought of her eyes beaming upon him because he nicked her watch dog 'on accident'. "Okay, FINE. Well can I at least ask what we are looking for?" he half expected an answer to even that as well.

Lara was walking with her right arm resting under her breasts, right hand cupping her elbow in support of her left arm. The left hand resting across her lips stroking them softly as she thought. "Visualizing.", her eyes were tracking the old pillars in the main courtyard. They had weathered even more since her previous approach. She was now approaching the entry gates that were strangely enough left undisturbed by her last visit. This was where Pierre first announced his presence to her and the gauntlet was thrown down after words of will were spoken about Natla's loyalty. Lara slid her athletic frame through the half open doors and started her decent down the spiral staircase that would lead coliseum.

Zip's eyebrows furrowed, "The hell you visualizing in the middle of a rain storm, in a deserted temple, in the middle of Greece, that is named after a Saint that had some kind of damn 'oops'?"

"Folly" she corrected absently as she peered out the gladiator door that lead into the mighty arena. Lara listened for grunts of gorillas, or the soft growl of the lioness that was once here. She was making her way through the open arena hurriedly and used her grapple to swing herself from the old bronzed loops that still there and holding steady. She navigated herself into the master booth and took the ladder to the lower area of the Folly where she was now standing where the 4 tests entrances was.

As she was 'doing her thing' as Zip would so casually put it to those who asked her whereabouts. He was still going on. "WHAT-ever! It was still a mistake! Same thing! Look, Lara….are you just walking down memory lane? Is this some part of the closure thing?" he said safely enough, considering what she found out about her mother ending up a Thrall. "What the hell….?" He leaned into his monitor "Are…are you in? a coliseum? What in the world is THAT doing there?!" he found himself shaking his head. If it was hidden in the world, SHE would find it.

"Well, as you are quite aware Zip." She started climbing down the maze like structure in the middle, working her way downwards to the floor where she once placed 4 keys. "We are in desperate need of a new home while Croft Manor is being rebuilt brick for brick and stone for stone." She was just now reaching the bottom, doing it once before made doing it now a cinch. Especially now because her body was much more in shape now than it was then, and she had a lot more experiences with climbing and was now very quick at it actually. "So staying in a broken home during construction is not an option for me. After all, Nishimura-San is being quite nice by lending you a penthouse in Japan during this time." She then went off into her own thoughts again with a 'tsk' her and there followed by a "hmmmm" as she walked back and fourth looking up and to the sides.

Zip was just about to reply. Just then, he nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw something behind him that was not there before "What the fu--?!" He held his chest almost as if to keep his heart within his ribs. There stood a lone mop bucket with a handle sticking out of if. Behind this was Winston with his hands clasped in front on him in a most proper fashion who cleared his throat respectfully as he pointed to the floor with his right index finger without saying a word. Zip looked down and saw drying energy drink on the floor, and his eyes slowly followed up from the floor back up to Winton's mocking smile. "Damn it man!" he took the mop and got the energy drink off the floor from his earlier mishap. Winston nodded and when Zip was finished mopping up his mess, Winston quietly left with the used bucket and mop. Whether or not he knew that Zip was burning holes in the back of his skull was something he seemed not to care for. Zip turned his attention back to the half darkened video when Lara suddenly said…

"This will work splendidly!" She said with quite a bit of mirth in her voice, "Zip. I found it!" she rested her hands on both sides of her hips, and tossed the lick of hair from her left eye with a sharp motion of her neck. "Pool in Poseidon…" she nodded to herself. "Free electricity in Hephaestus…should not be too hard to harness the energy with the proper equipment. "Storage in Atlas… and of course Damocles can be a great test to keep the reflexes sharp. The swords are stuck in the floor, but beggars cannot be choosers." She smiled broadly and looked over her shoulder into the darkness where she saw two glowing yellow pupils that seemed to float there apparently leaning against the exit by the red key that was still in the wall. "What do you think?" Lara quirked her eyebrow curiously as she asked.

"Found what?" he tried not to grumble into the mic. He was now drinking the last bit of the energy drink before tossing it into a nearby trash can. "What do I think of what?" he hated her breaking sentences as she thought aloud and left him trying to make sense of things.

"Not what you think Zip. I was asking my dark twin here what she thought of our new temporary base of operations, and perhaps her new home after Croft Manor is completed."

A dark dual voiced echo of Lara spoke softly from the background of Lara's mic. The voice was not too far away. "Looks….ravishing." she nodded once as she gazed about the grand squared area, and took in the complicated structure and steps. The entrances to the testing areas that Lara called out, and of course plenty of room to run and kick off walls. "The arena in the coliseum would be ideal for a track." The dark twin smirked deviously. The entire time Lara was speaking about her last visit here, she was speaking to her Doppelganger who shadowed her in silence.

"Oh HELL no!!! You do NOT have 'Rosemary's baby' in there with you!?!? PLEASE tell me that you are not planning to work with her!!!!" he slammed his fists into his desk. Zip's hands in fists, veins popping from his fore-arms in anxiousness. "Lara…we have to talk."

End of Chapter 1