Tomb Raider - Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel

3 ~ Deals and Forgery

Museum of Great Britain - London

"So, it's authentic?"

"As authentic as it gets, Mate."

"Wow - fascinating..." Randy breathed, already large eyes even wider behind his glasses as he examined the artifact, the hilt of a Crusader sword, broken off from the blade.

"Yeah," Nora droned with a roll of her eyes. The way he gushed over it was more painful than annoying as it reminded her of her parents.

Randy was a new intern at the museum she most frequently visited to display pieces from her parents' collection.

"And they found this? Your parents?"

"Uh huh."

"Wow, that's, that's awesome!" He beamed. "Your parents are big names here."

"Uh huh. Tell me about it..."

"And what about this?" He carefully set the sword hilt aside and gestured to the other item she had brought along as well.

"I was hoping you might be able to help me with that, actually. I don't know what it is, and I can't find any record of it in my parents' notes, and they kept detailed notes of everything."

"Hmm..." he examined it closer. The item was a long, thin cylinder, both ends cracked, making it look like a short wooden spike, and was about the length and width of a paper towel roll. The surface was rough.

"Huh, it almost looks like it was broken off of something," Randy observed.

"Yeah, on both sides," Nora noted.

"Yeah. And it almost appears to have some sort of writing or markings carved into it, see?" She nodded. "But I'm not sure what it is, I've never come across anything like this in my studies."

"Vampire spike?" she joked.

He chuckled. "Maybe."

"Well you can keep examining it, if you like. As well as the sword hilt."

His eyes widened like a child in a candy shop. "Really?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, keep them. I have no use for them."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, they'll only sit collecting dust at home."

His expression gave off the impression that he had just won a million pounds. "Okay, thank you! That's brilliant!"

"Don't mention it, Mate. I'll see you later."

"Bye, Nora! Thanks again!"

"Yeah-" She gathered her bag and was just leaving the room when someone came through the door from the other side and they almost crashed.

"Oh, Nora, hi!" Lizzie beamed at her once they had skidded to a stop.

"Oh, hey Lizzie." Lizzie was in charge of the internship program and often tried to recruit Nora. Nora would, in return, remind her of her lack of university degree, and Lizzie would reply by saying that they could work around that. However, Nora didn't like the idea of them making exceptions for her.

"Bringing in more artifacts?" Lizzie asked, going over to the table to join Randy.

"Yeah! One of which is the hilt of a Crusader sword!" gushed Randy.

"Yeah, just some, just some stuff," Nora replied, cursing herself for her embarrassing stuttering. She would be lying if she said she hadn't developed a slight crush on Lizzie and admittedly, maybe, maybe, sometimes brought items in just so she could impress her with her knowledge. She loved the way the young woman's eyes lit up when examining an artifact, like Randy, who Nora was sure also had a crush on the other woman.

"This is amazing!" Lizzie cried, her obvious excitement making Nora smile. "These items are so rare, so unique! Your parents were so lucky to find them."

"And, she's letting us keep them!" Randy told her.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Really?" Now she looked to Nora who shrugged.

"They're just sitting around the house collecting dust. They'll do the same here, but at least they'll have more of a purpose."

"Oh Nora, thank you so much!" Lizzie came over and threw her arms around her. "What can we do to repay you?"

"Oh, don't be silly, it's nothing, really." Nora hugged her back.

"Well it's not nothing to us. Can we at least buy you a drink and dinner, or something?" Lizzie pressed. "You really have no idea how much this stuff means to us."

No, you're right, I don't... "Yeah, but I know what it's like, with my parents. How excited they got about all this stuff. It's fine, really. Thank you, though, for the offer." Though that actually sounds really nice...

"Well, thank you, so much. And I know I mention it every time, but it's part of the job: we do have an internship program..."

Nora chuckled. "I knew you'd ask again."

"It's really great," put in Randy.

Nora nodded. "I'll think about it."

"Well, that's a step further than we got last time, so I say that's successful." Lizzie smiled. "Thanks again, Nora."

"Yeah, anytime. Thanks." With that, she left.

Out in the hall, she paused. Having long ago built a wall between her and her parents' profession, which had strengthened over the years, she sometimes wondered if she was throwing away big chances and opportunities because she so stubbornly kept that wall up, and if in doing so she was holding herself back.

She didn't let herself ponder it for long.

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Forgery was tedious work, and extremely time-consuming, but Nora would be lying if she didn't feel a little bit of an excited buzz and a little swell of pride when she completed a project.

She examined sixteenth century coins, very likely pirates' gold, a few of which she had made herself, and the others which where authentic. She could only tell the difference because she had made them and knew that they weren't the real thing. Not bad, Bane.

Her parents and Mary would be appalled if they knew what she was doing, and she guessed that if Lizzie found out that internship offer would be gone. Lizzie's line about all these artifacts being 'rare and unique' flooded her thoughts.

But people would pay good money for stuff like this, as she had discovered, and it wasn't even the real thing! Sure, it was a bit of a sketchy way to earn money, but...

Her phone buzzed. An unknown number sending a short text message, with a location and time. That was it.

With the forged coins all finished, she gathered them, packing them up and left the house. She had a rendezvous and an exchange to make.

(Wow, thank you all so much for the 200+ reads already! :D that's amazing, I just started this story!

Obviously, Nora's forging efforts are going to backfire... But that won't be until a little later.

One month until 'Endgame'! Can't wait to see Carol in action again! ;)

As always, thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :))