Disclaimer: None of the characters in this story belong to me. More will be appearing later for whom I will take credit, but as of yet I cannot make any claim to these wonderful characters created by Stephen Sommers and artistically displayed by Universal. The title comes from the song used at the end, performed by Live.

Author's note: Many people that have read this story have thought is was very sappy! I truly hope the majority here does not... I love Evelyn's and Rick's characters so that is why I wrote about them. You will not only get some of Evelyn and Rick, but you will also get many different views of Jonathan, Izzy and Alex. This story takes place right after The Scorpion King has been defeated! WOOHOO! An Asterisk '*' followed by Italics indicates a dream...

Please Read and Review. As only the first four chapters are posted I would love some ideas!

Forever May Not Be Long Enough

First draft written October 9, 2001. (that's when I first got the great idea for a Mummy fic!)

CHAPTER 1: Mine, For We Are All Together.

Rick O'Connell smoothed back his sleeping son's hair as they flew in the dirigible across the desert's hot sands. His hands moved shakily back up to his own face, brushing against the hair he had not been able to shave off for some time. The sun blazed down on them, and the balloon above did little to shade its scorching heat. Sweat beaded on his son's forehead and he was concerned for Alex's health. It seemed as though everyone was asleep except for him. As he lay nestled in-between Alex and Evelyn he acted out the days' events in his mind, willing his conscience to skip over the part where Evelyn had almost been killed. His thoughts were still reeling. Had any of this really happened? He kept thinking that sooner or later he would wake up sweating in bed, and none of this would have occurred. He couldn't come to terms with his own mind! It was wreaking havoc on his body, and was driving him slowly insane. He needed someone to talk to...

"Evie...hey, Evelyn, wakeup. I need to talk to you." he murmured softly, poking her gently in her side.

"Wha...?" Silence. "Oh, Rick. It's you. What do you want Hon?" Her voice was groggy but a smile played across her lips, masking her feelings about what had happened earlier that day.

"Evelyn, darling. I need to talk to you about today. Please. It's driving me crazy." His voice cracked with emotion, his feelings just under the surface. Upon hearing his voice waver, she sat upright and turned to face him. She took his hands within hers, clasping them tightly between. He put his head to her shoulder and began to cry. Never before had he cried with such gusto. He cried for Alex. He cried for his wife, and, amazingly, he cried for Imhotep and Anck-su-namun. Their love was what had made them think they could rule the world and conquer the Universe all in one! He felt that much for Evelyn and Alex every moment of each day that passed, and it got stronger the longer he lived. They were the only things that mattered to him in his life, and he had come so close to losing them both.

He kept on like this for awhile. His wife's gentle hands massaged his scalp while he made a salty wet mess out of the front of her blouse. He felt like a little boy must feel, after losing his soul in a petty game of love. Well, to tell the truth he had almost lost his soul to hell this afternoon and he wasn't going to let it happen again.

"Rick, dear, talk to me, tell me what's wrong." Her eyes pleaded with his spirit, forcing his heart to swell and letting his thoughts free in one big rush. He looked up and stared at her for a very long time.

"Oh Evelyn...If anything ever happens to you or Alex, I don't know if I will be able to go on living. I will slowly whither to my death. I will never eat, I will never sleep, and I will never live. It's just, I don't know. I don't know what to think anymore." He sighed a long and painful sigh. "But," his voice turned serious, " we are not going to look for anymore bracelets, read out of any books, or search for any treasure that have curses in ancient Egyptian on them." It was now his turn to beg.

"Oh Rick, love, dear Rick." The tears began to flow from her dark brown eyes. "I'm not going anywhere, and neither is Alex, at least not while I have a say in my life." She admitted with defiance. "I love both of you too much for that to happen. And, even if I do, you would have to stay behind and live for Alex, and remember me through Alex. I know it might be painful at first. But, if that ever were to happen, you have to promise me Rick. Promise you'll do that." He brushed away her tears with his thumbs and held her close.

"I promise Evie, I promise," he choked.

"Besides, you wouldn't want Alex to have to live with Jonathan, would you now?" He looked over at his brother in law, sound asleep, the diamond shaped treasure he had taken from the top of the pyramid cradled in his right arm. Her voice was muffled by his shirt and he couldn't contain his laughter. It bubbled up from within him, and he felt instantaneously wonderful. Laughing, he had always been told, calms the soul when in a state of upheaval. They remained embraced, chuckling together, their vibrations soothing to their exhausted bodies. When Rick thought Evelyn was asleep, he dared to say, "I just thought I had lost you, that's all. I just thought you were gone, for good." His fingers traced her eyebrows lazily, noting how soft they were to the touch.

"I know you did, I know. It must have been horrible." She sighed and yawned. "Well, Mr. O'Connell, if you don't mind, I need to go to sleep, and so do you. We have had a hard and busy day, and we both need our rest."

"I couldn't have put it better if I had said it myself." They leaned in for a goodnight kiss, before Evelyn settled into his arms for the midday nap.

~*~

Well, everything had certainly turned out very nicely for Izzy. He was immensely pleased with himself for getting the O'Connells out of their tricky business. But, one thing he was sure of was that he would never step one foot into their lives ever again. I mean, for goodness sake man! I almost got shot a second time, and swallowed alive by a jungle in the midst of mayhem! Well, at least I didn't get shot in the ass. My mourning has now changed from my ass to my brain.

Looking over at the sleeping family, he almost felt sorry for them. Almost, he reminded himself. They really had gotten themselves into this whole mess, and...he had gotten them out of it all! That treasure really was half his and he would make sure it got into his hands before the journey was over. Right now, though, Jonathan had it clutched too tightly, and it was just out of Izzy's grasp. The man really was a lazy chap. Funny, but no doubt a slacker. Izzy had learned to tell the good from the bad in his life. (even if he was a classified 'bad') But what did that matter to a dashing fellow such as himself?

He slowly turned the steering wheel of the dirigible to the left, altering course slightly to bring them back to the launch site. Boy would he be happy to finally be home and on the ground once again. That is if they didn't run into any more trouble before then. He had just enough power for the dirigible to function as a hot air balloon to get them back and then some, but he didn't want to make any unnecessary stops.

~*~

* "Evie, what should I do?" His voice rang out, awkward in the jungles sudden silence.

"Rick, take care of Alex." His mother's weak voice echoed in his dreams. "I, I love you."

"No, sweet heart, Evie!"

The image of her cradled in his father's arms clutching her stomach where the blood flowed freely almost knocked him out. A silent tear slipped down her left cheek and with one last breath she was gone.

"Come back Evie, come back. Evie come back!" His father cried.

"Mum!" He screamed out an all too familiar name. "Mum, no, come back!" He ran to his father, tears welling in his eyes, questioning his dad. Is it true Dad? Is she gone? The sadness that embodied Rick's blue eyes confirmed his mother's fate and Alex stood awestruck until his Uncle swept him up into his arms, comforting him while they cried together. His father looked over his wife's stricken body and collapsed upon her lifeless form, his fingers tearing at her face, her hair, anything he could touch. Willing her to breathe, to be alive, to have not died. She wasn't coming back, and he knew it, but yet he looked up to the sky and raised his arms as if to open his soul to the heavens, pleading with the sun to bring his beloved back from the dead. It was useless he knew...*

The dream was always the same. It never changed. The inevitable could not be prevented.

"Mum!" Alex awoke sweating and crying for his mother. He needed her soft, comforting touch. He needed to be hugged, and cuddled, and loved. "Mum!" he cried out once again, desperately he reached over his father, and pried his arms from his mother. "Mum, Mum, come back!"

"Oh Alex, I am here sweet heart," she said wiping his hot, heart-broken tears away, "I am not going anywhere, don't you worry." He just cried, his heart feeling as though it would burst. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his slight frame and her face was buried deep in his sandy blond hair. He never wanted the moment to end. If he didn't let go of her, then maybe, just maybe she would never leave.

~*~

The ride in the dirigible took approximately as long as it had taken going the other way; maybe it was slightly shorter because they did not make as many stops as they had going down, but it was a pleasant ride nonetheless. Everyone was content just to be in each other's company again. Alex spent most of the time around his mother as a shadow that never left, even when the sun went down. Finally she had had enough of it.

"Alex, you can not follow me around like some sort of dog all day long. If you live in fear, then it controls you. You must not let it take over. Do you understand me?" Her look was stern, and he knew not to mess with her when she was like she was now.

"Yes Mum." He said, rolling his eyes slightly.

"Alex, I saw that."

"Mum! You didn't see nothing!"

"Alex, I don't want any more nonsense from you today." With the conversation terminated, he sought out his Uncle for comfort. His father usually agreed with his mother, so he knew consulting him would just result in disaster.

Life was hard, and in the past few days he had experienced its worst, but he figured he would benefit from it later in life, unless of course it brought about his downfall. He loved his parents very much, he really did, but sometimes they didn't seem to understand why he was the way he was, which actually, as he knew, wasn't in fact completely true. They were probably the only ones on this earth able to understand him. His love for them was indescribable. He only had to look at his mother and father to know that. The two of them together, now that's about as far as his feelings went. He thought that what they did was disgusting. His dad was always kissing her hand and foot, and, to think she enjoyed it!? Oh well, these were the mysteries of life Alex soon hoped to discover.

The more quickly they got off this awful contraption the better. It scared him a little the way it creaked at night, and the whole idea of flying through the air with just a balloon above you was enough to even give Alex an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Izzy. Alex had decided he had a serious problem. He was a flighty chap who skittered around here and there, tidying up tidbits of material as he went along. He stuck to his own business, but was rather absentminded. He never seemed to know what was up, or what was down- completely screwed up in Alex's mind. The good thing though, was that his father seemed to trust him, and he could be somewhat amusing at times. He knew his father and if his father liked Izzy then he would as well.

It was now night so they all went to sleep. Izzy had told them that it was only a matter of hours before they would reach the landing so they should all relax and enjoy the last night of solitude in the air before encountering civilization, yet again. The wind was gently blowing and the sky was slightly clouded over but it was pleasant outside so Alex ignored the slight breeze and dark horizon- a mistake he would long regret.