Their reunion with Alex was interrupted when the eery sound of rustling and squealing told them that they were no longer alone in the forest.

"Time to go!" Rick ushered the group on, not batting an eye as he ran for the opposite direction.

"I thought you said they were nothing!" Jonathan protested, staring from the bushes to Rick in confusion before Irene grabbed his arm and pulled on him.

"Come on, Jonathan!" she said, still dragging him on after her. As they ran, Irene made the mistake of looking back, and gasped when she saw the tiny mummies swinging towards them on vines. And the worst thing about them was that they holding small, sharp daggers in their hands.

In her hesitation, the two of them accidentally ran down a different path from Rick and Evie, but with the mummies chasing them, it was too late for the two to turn back.

"Oh, great! Now we're lost!" she complained. Irene knew they had no chance to defeat the mummies alone, and at the moment she didn't think she would be able to hold her gun without reminding herself of what she had just done. Her hands still shook and her heart still thudded painfully whenever she thought back to how she had taken the life of a man without hesitation.

She suddenly felt a pang in her chest, and with an air of sadness she realized that she missed Ardeth more than ever. She wanted to see him, to hear his reassuring voice, to have him tell her that everything would be alright. He would understand the conflicting turmoil bubbling inside her.

Her footsteps slowed.

"Keep going!" Jonathan yelled, jolting her out of her reverie and smacking right into the body of one of red-scarved men as they turned a corner. When they were running from a common enemy, though, their rivalry had been long forgotten.

Their earlier battle had turned into a race for their lives. Never had Irene forced herself to run this fast, but she knew that if she slowed even a little bit, she would be done for. No matter how much her legs begged to rest, she had to keep running for the sake of seeing Ardeth again. She couldn't give up, not now, not when they were so close...

He must be fighting, too. Irene couldn't let him down. Not now.

Irene sent a prayer of thanks to the gods of Egypt when Jonathan noticed a small clearing to one side and pointed triumphantly to it. "Look! There's a burial ground. We're safe, we're safe! See those sacred stones? They'll never cross those!"

"You are sure?" the dark-skinned man asked doubtfully.

Jonathan glared back, silently daring the other man to challenge him. "Yes, of course I'm sure!"

"He doesn't lie!" Irene agreed. Well...most of the time.

They peered at the mummies together, and sure enough, they ran on ahead. Suddenly, one of them turned back and stared right at the three escapees, and too late, it swung towards them.

Jonathan and Irene both screamed and ducked in time. This, unfortunately, left the third man completely open, and received the mummy's stab to his chest. Their screams caught the mummy's attention, but it simply screamed back at them before climbing up the wooden platform and disappearing into the darkness.

"Sorry! My mistake!" Jonathan apologized quickly to their companion, who now had a knife protruding from his wound and was looking back in shock. He then beckoned to Irene, and the two of them ran on, out of the clearing.

"Should we have left him behind?" Irene fussed, some of her old personality coming back to her as she saw the injured man. "We could still have saved him if we brought him along..."

Jonathan groaned. "At a time like this, it's every man for himself, Rena!"

He did have a point - and his advice was something that only Jonathan would know - but Irene still felt guilty as they finally stumbled upon the path that Rick and Evie had gone.

"Wait for us!" Jonathan gasped, tripping on the tree trunk as he ran across with Irene close behind him. She didn't have time to dwell on the fact that she was standing on a single tree branch, miles above a gorge.

"Hurry up, you two!" Evie called back, as Rick lit a stick of dynamite next to her.

"What's that for?" Jonathan asked.

"Ah, it's nothing. Just a little something prepared in case of an emergency," Rick said cheerfully, and proceeded to fling it across the tree bridge. One of the mummies skillfully caught it and fought off another mummy that tried to claim the dynamite, having no idea what it really was. He ran ahead, brandishing it like a torch, until the stick exploded and the tree branch snapped in half.

At last, the mummies were gone, and Irene breathed out a sigh of relief. They were safe.

"Rick," Evie warned, telling them that things still weren't looking good. And she was right - the sun was rising, and if what Alex said was true, then today was the day...

Rick instantly turned to run on ahead with Alex, leaving the other three with no choice but to follow. By the time they finally arrived at the pyramid after Rick, the sun was already up.

Let them be okay, Irene begged, tiny beads of sweat rolling down her forehead like glistening drops raindrops. She had never ran so much in her life.

"They made it!" Evie cried happily.

Irene leaned against the statue's base with exhaustion. "Thank goodness. When this is over, I'm going to sit and have a long, satisfying drink..."

They were so focused on Rick and Alex that none of them noticed Imhotep and Anck-su-Namun approach the group. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as the Egyptian woman approached Evie and thrust a knife into her stomach.

"Ev - " Irene opened her mouth to cry out her name, but the air was suddenly knocked out of her lungs as she felt herself flying into the air, then thrown against the ground. She let out a squeak as she tried to ease the impact with her arms, wincing as she scraped them in the process. Whatever force had just did that to her was no doubt extremely powerful...

Jonathan abruptly landed in the sand next to her, puffing in surprise. Irene looked up with him in time to see Imhotep give her a wry smile. She knew the man hated her after she tried to defy him during their first journey to Hamunaptra, and she shuddered as she met his cold stare. The message he gave her clearly told her that this wasn't over.

Not yet.

But now, all that was on her mind was Evie. Tthere was no way she could die because Rick still needed her, and the role she played was one that Irene would never be able to fulfill -

"Alex!" she looked over at her nephew, who was gazing worriedly at his mother. Rick was trying to send him away, his broad shoulders shaking with sobs. This was nothing like the brother she knew, always so calm and composed. When it came to Evie, Irene knew he would do anything for her.

She and Jonathan hurried over and gently took Alex to one side to leave the couple alone.

"Oh, Alex," Irene murmured sympathetically, hugging him to her. She felt her heart squeeze as Rick reassured Evie that she would be fine, but Irene knew he was trying to convince himself more than anyone...

And then Rick was crying out her name with pain, and Irene knew with a sickening feeling that it was too late.

Jonathan hugged both her and Alex as tears began trailing endlessly down her cheeks. Evie was like the sister she never had, always watching out for her and spending time talking about men problems late into the night. She was the one who saved Rick's life, sparing him from a hanging that most certainly would have resulted in his death. Evie, like Irene, was able to see good in Rick and accept him for who he is, no matter what kind of person he had been in the past. She was meant for him, and she wasn't supposed to leave him.

Yet why was everything going wrong?

The turmoil she was going through made her long for Ardeth. She didn't think she would be able to take it if anything happened to him, not when Evie was already gone. Part of her was grateful that she had been able to save his life, and knowing that he was fighting for her gave her the condolence that she desperately needed. But it was his warmth that she missed the most.

Alex had barely made it to the pyramid, and now Evie... It was as if the gods were trying to take everyone precious away from her.

Ardeth...I can't lose you, too.

A/n: So close to 100 reviews! Thank you all for your continued support~

sorry for the shorter chapter, but I think it was fitting to stop it there. And Irene's feeling conflicted right now, so she deserves a break XD /slapped/

The story will end in probably one or two more chapters. But I'm still not done with this fandom yet, don't worry! I was thinking of either writing a sequel where Irene settles into the Medjai camp (because we all know she'll go with her man ;) ), or an Ancient Egypt AU featuring Irene as a hairdresser/servant to Nefertiri. (This wouldn't be reincarnation, just an alternate timeline. It's inspired by the story that Irene and Ardeth comes up with on the dirigible in the earlier chapters.) They would also have different names, but I think it's still really cute.

I might end up doing both stories anyway (if there are a lot of reviews, /wink), but if there's one you'd prefer to read first, let me know with a review!