Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Tomb Raider or anything else in this fic.

After the Storm

OK, so this is my first TR fic, so please be nice, but do review! Hopefully will update pretty quickly. Please note though, that the author is English, so spellings etc, will probably be different to everyone else.

Tiwanaku, Bolivia

It was raining, and heavily at that. The cold water pattered down onto an unconscious Amanda Evert, dropping onto her face. Slowly, she began to open her eyes, taking in the scenery. The now destroyed ruins of the dais lay around her, and as she ran her eyes over them, she remembered that fateful day.

Lara coming towards the dais, telling them all to move. Being thrown back by the might of the sword Excalibur. The death of James. Using her power to try and defeat Lara. And Lara placing the sword into its place, activating it. Amanda had warned her, she should have listened. But she hadn't, and now all was lost … or was it? Amanda was sure that the sword was still there, was still working, when Lara had knocked her out. Surely it could not be that hard to find another dais? After all, this had been her dream, all of her life she had been searching for it, why should she give up now? And Lara, Lara would pay. For the second time, she had ruined everything, first Peru, now Bolivia … but … wait. Amanda looked down to her neck, trying to see the ornate stone she had so … memorably found in Peru all those years ago. It wasn't there … surely she could not have lost it? No, of course not. Lara hadn't wanted to kill her; if she had done, Amanda would not be around now. But nor would she want to have to fight that … thing again. Lara had taken it, maybe destroyed it, Amanda did not know, but she would have to find out.

Slowly she picked herself off the floor, brushing dirt and dust off her body. She looked across to the other side of the dais, and saw a dead James lying on the floor. She wanted to cry; he had meant more to her than any other person had, and had spent so much time trying to find Avalon, like her … but he was dead, and there was nothing else to do but to move forwards and onwards … and the least she could do was to avenge his death. She walked over to him, and kneeled by his side, before covering his body with a plain, brown leather coat. Then she stood up and walked away. There was still a lot of work to be done.

Croft Manor, England

Lara Croft slowly slid out of the large swimming pool, and onto the slippery floor. Grabbing the nearest towel off a deck chair, she casually wrapped it around her, and made her way out along a wide passageway that connected the pool with the rest of the house. She opened the heavy door at the end of this, and made her way into the main hall of the mansion. Zip, Lara's own tech guy, sat at his desk in the server room in the mansion, surrounded by at least half a dozen state of the art laptops and desktops. He grinned as he saw a dripping Lara walk up the stairs opposite him.

"Good job we've got no visitors today, they might think we've got a leak in the ceiling!" Lara turned back to look at the long line of water she had left behind her while walking back from the swimming pool.

"Never mind, I'll clear it up later …"

"You'll clear it up? God, if I had a butler, I'd make him do all the work." Lara smiled. Winston had been the family butler for so long now; she didn't think there had ever been a time that he had not been there. She looked over to the large fireplace.

"Where is Winston by the way?" She asked.

"Actually moved away from that fireplace for once," he replied casually. "Said something to do with helping Alistair tidy up the study." Lara said nothing, but simply smiled, and made her way up the large, branched staircase towards her room. She would have a quick shower, and then would get dressed into the smartest suit she could find. She had a meeting to go to.

British Museum, London

"Lara, my dear, I'm sorry to say this, but I can just not believe this. Your father, he was so upset of your mother's death, he simply tried to convince himself that she was not actually dead, and had just gone to a better place." Professor Eddigton took off his thin glasses, and looked at Lara through tired eyes.

"No, he was right. He knew he was, but his ideas just seemed so … preposterous to everyone else, no one would believe him." Lara's answer came fast and determined; her father's reputation had been destroyed by the fact that he had known the truth, yet no one would ever believe him, and Lara was determined to restore the great respect that he had once had.

"And do you have proof that his theory is correct, Lara?" asked the professor calmly. Lara looked at him. He had once been the best of friends with her father, long ago, before her mother's death. However, after Lady Croft had died, and her father put forward the theory of what had happened to her, even Eddigton had struggled to believe her father. He was a tall man, with very little hair, and the hair of which he did have was in short wisps around his head. His skin was wrinkled, but not excessively so, and he could have been passed off as being younger than he actually was.

Lara paused at his last question. She had known that he would ask this. What had convinced her that what her father had said was real? Now she had a choice to make; to show Eddigton the sword, Excalibur, or possibly show him the dais location in Bolivia, and try to prove her point that way.

"Well, Lara?" asked Eddigton impatiently. Lara looked at him, and took a deep breath; she could see no point in hiding it.

"I found a sword. It was in pieces, and I put them back together. Its Excalibur, I've found it." The professor sighed.

"Lara, I am always inundated with calls from all kinds of individuals saying that they have found the legendary sword, yet none of them are real … King Arthur … it's just a myth, there is no strong proof to say it is real …"

"But it is real!" Lara protested. "I found everything. The tomb … Excalibur … everything. And what is more, the sword, it is exactly the same as the one in found in Nepal all those years ago! There is more than one! It also predates King Arthur easily! And the stories! There are so many stories that are nearly exactly the same to King Arthur's! Can't you see, it MUST be real!" Eddigton, very taken aback by this answer, said quite simply.

"Lara, if you bring me your proof, bringing this … Excalibur, photographs, video, whatever, I am sure that I will believe you, especially with all your field experience. But I do need proof to convince others."

"You mean convince yourself."

"Lara," sighed Eddigton. "It is true that I do not believe you yet, but I am far more willing to accept your story when I see proof. I am afraid that is all that I can help you with today." Lara got up off the thick leather armchair and extended a hand.

"Thank you anyway," she said smiling falsely, before exiting the room. Outside the building, she phoned the mansion, with Zip picking up.

"Hey, how did the meeting go?" asked the chirpy voice on the end of the phone line.

"Lets put it like this," came Lara's flat answer. "We have still got a long way to go." She climbed into the new Aston Martin Vantage, and drove off, back to the mansion, knowing that there was still a lot of work to be done.

Washington D.C., USA

A lone figure walked down a small street, and made its way towards one of the many apartments down the road. Amanda climbed the stairs and opened the door into the flat, casually flicking on the light as she walked in. It barely took her a minute to switch on all the computers and, after grabbing a bottle of fresh spring water from the fridge, settled herself down in front of one of the screens. The computer was searching for something. Amanda knew that it would not take long to find what it was looking for.

T.B.C…

If you got to the end of this fic without being bored stiff, well done! Thanks for reading, and please review!