The walls began to rumble violently, and sand and small crumbs of rock started falling from above them. The entire room was trembling. Alex wrapped his arm protectively around Femi's side and they both clung together apprehensively...

"Alex... what's happening...?!" Femi gasped nervously.

Alex tightened his arms around her protectively, "Stay close to me."

Alex eased her back against the wall and placed her behind him. She gripped the sides of his shirt and peered up over his shoulder worriedly. Alex looked around attentively and made sure to observe every detail... What was happening?

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Alex and Femi held each other tightly whilst waiting anxiously for the tremor to finish. The flames flickered and the walls continued to rumbled in such soft anger. Femi clutched Alex's shirt with both fists, her eyes darting about past his arm, and Alex stood his ground in front of her ever so protectively.

"Alex..." Femi shivered, as though praying for him to do something; he always did, he always saved the day... but perhaps, not this time?

Alex's eyes narrowed stressfully and he looked around the room in search for an idea of some kind. Anything. Just so long as it would keep them safe. Femi safe. But what could he do? There was nothing to take shelter under, and no escape, so-

"aaaaaaaaAAHHHHHH!!" Two different-pitched voices grew louder and louder.

Femi lifted her chin from Alex's muscly upper arm and looked past him curiously. Alex's eyes flickered here and there. Those voices - he knew them, very well. As did Femi. They were coming closer and closer and echoing all around the room, even over the volume of the aggressive rumbling. In fact... was it just Femi's hope making believe, or was the thundering slowly... gradually... vaguely... softening?

"AAAAAHHHH! HEEELLLPP!!" An ever-so-recognisable voice wailed.

Just as Alex and Femi lifted their alarmed eyes to the air above them, two distresses figures came whizzing down the slanting wall on the other side of the room to them and came crashing into the floor and tumbled and rolled over and over until coming to twisted stops. The rumbling faltered. No more rocks fell. The vibration was dying.

"Uggghhh..." One of the men groaned wearily.

Femi gasped, and Alex straightened himself out, still holding an arm round Femi. Rick O'Connell and Jonathan Carnarvon. Both twisted across each other, weary, dazed and covered in sand.

"Dad?" Alex called out.

"Goodness!" Femi gasped and ran towards them with Alex right beside her.

Alex and Femi knelt down before them and, Femi taking Jonathan and Alex taking his dad, they helped them turn over and sit upright. Femi pouted sympathetically at poor Jonathan a she noticed the cuts across his nose, cheek and lip, and the bruise forming around his left eye. She gently stroked her finger tips through his fringe.

"Jonathan... what did they do?" She whimpered.

Jonathan just lay there in the hush of his own, guilty thoughts. Rick, on the other hand, used Alex for support and stood all the way up to his full height. The only sign of injury he possessed was the blood down his shirt - and it probably wasn't even his.

"Meela." Rick growled aloud, glaring at the ceiling.

"Dad, what happened up there?" Alex inquired anxiously, steadying his dad, even though he was more than capable of standing by himself.

"We got rid of Meela's men, and she was alone. We though we'd got her for good, but that witch's always got another trick up her sleeve..." Rick explained angrily, "Before we knew it, there were at least ten more. Horses and guns, the works. We couldn't win, but we had to try."

"... We couldn't take 'em," Jonathan added guiltily, "They took Evie, and Brian, and my old buddy Carter..."

"No..." Femi whispered, shocked.

"Ardeth isn't as weak as he's letting them think, though. They're all up there now, lookin' for a way to get through that door. They never saw how to do it, but I've got a feeling that it won't take long for them to find out." Rick sighed impatiently, glancing up above them all.

Alex pushed his dad away from him quite bitterly, "So what the hell are you doin' down here, huh?? Why'd you leave them up there like that? They need our help!"

"Alex," Rick grunted, "It was the only way. If we'd stayed up there then we'd all have been taken, and then who would be left to save anyone?"

"We would've saved you." Alex snapped.

There was an awkward pause between the father and son. Jonathan and Femi glanced uncomfortable at each other and pretended to be awfully interested in the sand beneath their bodies. Rick stared at his son, and Alex glared right back at him. Alex felt like his dad didn't trust him and was underestimating his strength...

"I could've saved you, dad." Alex repeated, a lot more sentimentally, this time.

Rick finally understood and, smiling tenderly, he clapped his son proudly on the shoulder and nodded. Alex allowed him to do so.

"I know, son," He agreed genuinely, "But you're my kid... it's me who should be saving you."

It was more than obvious that Rick's fatherly words had gotten to Alex, but Alex would never admit. And so, clearing his throat, he nodded as casually as he could to his dad and nodded indifferently, as though he was just accepting, no emotion necessary.

"So now what? We're stuck down here." Alex sniggered, glancing at the flames upon the walls.

To answer his question, Rick simply turned his head and looked down at Femi upon the ground, who was still kneeling beside Jonathan and loyally holding him upright. Alex followed his father's strong, mysterious stare and his eyes also landed upon Femi's delicate form upon the ground. Her eyes were still drifting upon the ground, but Jonathan had noticed very clearly how they were now watching her. He blinked, unsure, and nudged Femi, who looked up at him very slowly.

"Um... I think it's back to you again, love." He whispered gently.

Femi blinked and turned her head to look over at the two handsome O'Connell's. The expression in Rick's eyes made her nervous, and fairly curious, but she knew that those eyes were expecting something from her. Femi looked to Alex, pleadingly, asking him not to pressurise her, and his eyes softened in sympathy.

"Meela wants you for your memory, doesn't she." Rick rhetorically asked.

Nonetheless, Femi answered, and with a stiff nod. She was still trying to avoid where this was leading...

"You were the Guardian in your past life. It's no secret anymore, kiddo. You came to this door knowing it would lead somewhere." Rick continued confidently.

Femi tore her eyes away from his, "I... I didn't..."

"We're not trapped here. You know we're not, and I know it. Because you knew where that door would lead you... and this isn't it. There's more to go." Rick nodded.

Femi shook her confused, throbbing head at the floor, "I don't know why I-... I can't just see it... it's... it's hard to explain..."

"Kid, I know it's not easy, but we're relying on you know. You've gotta' help us out of here, you see?" Rick softly supported her.

Alex looked up at his dad uncertainly; he was being bold, as usual, and rather brash. Maybe it was a better idea for Alex to take control? Yeah. Alex patted his dad on the chest and nudged his head towards Jonathan and Femi.

"Let me handle this. Just... watch uncle for a bit, ok?" Alex advised.

His dad mused to himself for a moment, but soon nodded, and removed his hand from Alex's shoulder. Alex wandered over to where Femi was sitting and bent down behind her, a little to the side, whilst Rick pulled Jonathan up and led him over to the wall where he could balance on his own. Femi was still staring intensely at the ground without having noticed anything around her. She was suddenly afraid, once more, of her gift.

"Femi." Alex tenderly cleared his throat.

Femi's eyes flickered away from the ground and she turned to look at Alex, still on her knees. He nodded encouragingly to her and parted his lips to speak- but paused. Her lips were nearly trembling again. Her eyes, cold, and just like those of a vulnerable child. Dammit, every time she looked like this, his confidence and ambitions melted away. He couldn't be like his dad.

"Why are you scared?" He asked her.

Femi kept quiet for a moment. Why was she scared? A question she wasn't sure if she could answer logically.

"I... I don't know..." Femi whispered, "I don't think I can do this. Up until this journey began, I never really thought about my visions. They were just... daydreams. But now, people are relying upon me to use them? I... I don't know if I can..." Her eyes locked upon Alex's once more, "Alex, what if I go wrong?"

Femi stared helplessly at Alex and waited for his answer. Alex felt such strong responsibility over this angel, he almost worried that he, also, would go wrong. If he would say or do the wrong thing. He just wanted her to be ok.

Alex slipped his warm, firm hand over Femi's and squeezed it, "Lady... you can't go wrong."

Femi smiled sadly, "Why do you have such faith in me?'

Alex smirked lightly, "Do you really need to ask that?... Ain't it obvious?"

Femi's eyes shimmered gratefully, perhaps with the glossiness of emotional tears, and Alex stroked Femi's hand with the tip of his dry thumb. Femi felt a lot more confident with Alex backing her up. And then, she began to think, it wasn't just Alex who needed her now. It was everyone. Evie, Rick, Carter, Brian, Ardeth, The Chief and his village... heck, all of Egypt, and the world. She needed to start acting like the Guardian sooner or later, and just do it. Do it, and don't resist. Femi wasn't just a librarian anymore.

"Alright," Femi whispered, catching Alex's excited attention, "I'll try... but don't be angry if I fail."

Alex shook his head and made to stand up with her, "You won't fail."

Femi stood up with Alex's help and swallowed nervously. She clung to Alex's hand; her stomach flipped, and a nervous shiver slithered up her spine.

"This is what you've been waiting for, right? This is what our whole journey's been for. Don't doubt yourself, kiddo." Alex sweetly told her.

Femi leant up onto her tiptoes and planted a slow, precious kiss upon his dirty cheek. Alex felt his insides warm up. She made him feel invincible. From the corner of the room, Rick was watching out of the corner of his eye, and wore a proud little smirk across his lips. His son had really grown up.

Femi leant back from Alex and, sighing enthusiastically, nodded, "Right. I can do this."

"Hell yeah." Alex playfully agreed.

Femi smiled at Alex one last time before turning away and curiously observing the rocky, glowing chamber. Rick turned around properly to watch her, deeply interested, and even Jonathan stopped fussing over his wounds to watch. Alex slipped his hands into his trouser pockets and wandered backwards until he came to lean against a wall, out of the way. Femi needed the space.

Femi's hands floated by her sides as she concentrated upon the patterns of the walls. Her fingers wiggled gracefully, her Egyptian clothes swished with her gentle movement, and her mind ticked... danced... searched.

I can do this... nothing ever stopped me before - Femi told herself.

She took a deep breath in and closed her eyes tightly.

Think. Think. Everyone's watching and depending upon you. Don't fail, you can't fail - Femi kept snapping at herself.

The only thing Femi could feel was her heart racing and the butterflies in her stomach. Seconds turned into minutes, and nothing was happening. A sudden, disruptive sneeze from Jonathan broke Femi's struggle of pursuit and she snapped her eyes open with a disappointed, frustrated sigh. Her hands went straight to her blushing face and she shook her head shamefully.

"I can't do it..." She wept, "I'm sorry...!"

Rick and his son glanced warily at each other and Rick nodded meaningfully. Alex knew. He was one step ahead of his dear old wise dad. Femi pressed her hands against her hot face as hard as she could as though it would make the guilt disappear, but it only made her head throb even harder. She heard soft, crispy footsteps come towards her from behind and sensed a warm presence against her back. Two compassionate, familiar hands slipped onto her stiff shoulders and massaged them ever so subtly, but just enough to begin to comfort Femi. Alex leant forwards and lowered his head to hold his lips at her ear.

"The only thing stopping you is your pride," Alex whispered, "Let it go, Femi. Right now, you don't have to be strong anymore. Just do what you feel... forget about the eyes watching you. Stop worrying about judgement... it's just me..."

His breath stroked her skin, and his milky, deep voice dominated the butterflies in her stomach, setting them at peace. Alex slid his hands up her neck, and onto her hands at her face, and tenderly peeled them away to free her hot, teary face. He linked his fingers with hers and brought them down by her waist, with his arms wrapped around her.

"Help me, Alex." Femi dreamily whispered under her breath.

At this point, Rick was busy observing the room by himself, just in case he could help by pointing out an odd hook or marking. The exit could have been anything. Alex, by resting his chin on her shoulder, pressed his cheek to hers and nuzzled it softly.

"Close your eyes... just relax with me, kiddo," He whispered, "Forget the crap that's happened - uh, I mean... relaaaax..."

Femi couldn't help but laugh a little, "Alex... that's not helping..."

Alex smiled somewhat. At least she was laughing, rather than crying.

"Remember when you told me, in Erk's barn... that you were scared of people findin' out about your visions?" Alex asked, and Femi nodded subtly, "Well, we all know, don't we? The people who care about ya'... the ones who're important, right?"

Rick was now ear-wigging their conversation and felt a proud bubble inflate in his chest. He and Alex had been away from each other for a while, and he didn't know exactly how he had turned out. But now, seeing this, and hearing him, he couldn't have been prouder.

"We ain't pushing you away," Alex continued, "We want you for who you are, visions and all. You don't need to be scared, cuz' we have faith in you. And you're stronger than most girls we've met... so... so, listen, Femi... if you're ever scared, just think of this. This moment, right?"

Femi found herself slipping into a reverie under Alex's spell. His words. Voice. Touch. Just being beside him. What he was saying didn't really make sense, but it completely did at the same time. She knew... it was all inside of her... she had to trust herself...

"Just let go, kiddo." Alex whispered slowly.

Silence. The "fwaffing" of the flames echoed around the chamber. Jonathan's panting. The oil burning. Everything was so still...

"... Femi?" Alex whispered after a number of minutes had passed.

And then, awakening to his call, Femi's eyes snapped open and she slipped her hands away from Alex. Jonathan and Rick both stood upright in amazement as they noticed the difference in Femi, and as she turned to pass Alex, silent and monotonous, he too spotted it. Her eyes were glazed over with a milky screen. Her hazel irises were no longer so bold in colour, but faded... distant. She was hypnotised.

"Bloody Nora...!" Jonathan heaved in astonishment.

Alex's brow creased in concentration whilst he carefully watched Femi. He wasn't going to let anything bad happen to her. Femi wandered her and there, her hands fiddling about as though pressing buttons and pulling levers, but nothing was there. Was she confused? Was she trapped within her inner, lost conscience?

Alex clenched his anxious fists and went to walk over to Femi, but his dad called out and he stopped in his tracks. Looking over at his father, Rick shook his head seriously. How could Alex just stand there and watch this?

"Bloody hell - look at that!" Jonathan gasped.

Alex and Rick forgot about their challenge and looked over at Femi right away. She was kneeling down at the wall and had pulled out a block of stone. Now, with a hole in the wall, she was reaching inside and fiddling around for something.

"She's doing it." Rick announced, amazed.

Alex was impressed, but still quite wary. Anything could go wrong. Femi stood back up and turned around whilst observing an odd, black ball in her hand. She lifted her hand out, hovered it above the moat of oil, and allowed it to drop into the water. After just a few seconds there was a sizzling sound, and the flames began to transform into a bluish tone. The ball must have been made form some sort of reactive element. Directly on the other side of the room to the slanted hill, down which Femi and the other's slid, was a solid crease in the circular wall. Just a few inches wide, but straight, and uncurled. Why hadn't the other's taken notice to it before? It was just a shape of wall, after all.

Femi placed her hands against the wall and pushed. The last flame that turned to blue was sitting in the moat at the side of the straight piece of wall. It burst into excitement and suddenly set off up and around the flat wall against which Femi was pushing. Alex jumped and went to run towards her, but at seeing her safe, he relaxed and forced himself to stop. She knew what she was doing, obviously.

And then, as Femi gave one, last push, the outline of the door, where the blue fire was burning furiously, started sizzling and melting away. The flame was acidic. But Femi wasn't strong enough to push the door back out of the frame. She needed help. And it didn't take long for Alex and Rick to rush to her side and join her in pushing.

"Ready?" Rick prepared them both.

Alex nodded and, at the same time, glanced at Femi. She looked like a completely different person with her white, blank eyes and expressionless, ghostly face. If he dared admit it, it frightened him, as though he had lost the girl who he had been kissing earlier...

"Push!" Rick shouted.

Alex tore his eyes away from Femi's bewitching face and pushed upon the door with his father. The wall made a groaning, cracking sound and gooey bits of black sludge dripped down to the ground by their feet. The door skidded back, slowly, stubbornly, and the O'Connell boys put all their effort into it. On their last, determined shove, another set of bruised hands pressed against the wall belonging to Jonathan. He winked at Alex.

"Heave!" He shouted.

The three men growled with each other, tilting their heads back, and deliver as much force against the weakening door as they could. It worked! With a painful grumble of defeat, the stone door fell away from them all and crashed down into the ground on the other side and a thick mist of sand puffed up into the air, blocking their immediate view.

It was done.

Alex laughed out loud and relief and excitement and turned to face Femi. Rick brushed his successful hands together, smiling with his brother-in-law, and turned also to look upon the young lady who saved them all. Just as Alex wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her into a tight, affectionate hug.

"You did it, kiddo." He scoffed under his breath.

After a few seconds, he noticed that Femi still was moving. No hugging back, no arm movement... nothing. Alex leant away from her to check upon her face, but what he saw wasn't exactly what he had expected.

"Jesus, Femi!" He exclaimed.

Femi's eyes were closed, her lips agape, and a small ounce of blood was beginning to run from her left nostril. Alex's expression filled with worry and he nervously lowered her to the floor in his arms.

"Dad!" Alex immediately shouted.

Rick scurried round to his side and knelt down to check Femi's pulse at her neck. Nodding coherently, he patted Alex's shoulder supportively.

"She's alright, Alex, she's just unconscious. That probably took a lot of energy out of her. She just needs to rest..." Rick composedly explained.

"How d'you know that, huh? She could be dying!" Alex snapped.

Rick suddenly realised just how much his boy cared for this young lady. It was strong, and pure, and probably his first ever mature experience. Alex really had changed from when he had last spoke with him. Maybe this girl was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

"Trust me, Alex," Rick whispered, "She'll be fine..."

Alex and Rick stared sternly at each other in a precious silence. Jonathan was the only one uninvolved in the situation, but instead, gaping at the doorway which they had all just pushed through...

"Um... sorry to ruin the moment," He swallowed, "But... please tell me those aren't what I think they are..."

Rick and Alex finally looked up, curious, and narrowed their eyes into focus at the long, dark tunnel on the other side of the doorway. They could just about perceive the blue, shiny figures of the deadly Scarab beetles that were stuck into the walls from the glowing of the nearest flame in the chamber. They were captured securely within their shells, but their presences still weren't going to help the group travel down that tunnel any easier. Alex and Rick both wrinkled their noses in pure distaste and announced their feelings in unison, with three, typical words:

"I hate bugs."

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Author's Notes: Wow, chapter 50?! I never imagined it would last this long, but I'm loving every part of it. I do realise that I'll have to draw it to an end sometime, so I wonder how my imagination will conjure up the finale? Anyhoodles, I know I haven't updated in a while, but obviously there was a good reason for it an all. Sometimes life just accelerates without warning, you know? Keh. Well, I do hope you enjoyed this episode, I feel so attached to these characters and I have to say that I'm so proud of Femi for finally accepting who she is! Do I sound psychotic? Meh, perhaps. Thank you for reading! 3