Title: When the Past Comes Alive

Authors: Alex (skettipikachu@aol.com) and Sarah (silivin@aol.com)

Rating: PG-13

Category: Action/adventure

Spoilers: TMR

Status: Work in progress (part 2)

Disclaimer: See part 1

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Rick pulled up outside the British Museum and shut off the engine to the car. He turned to Ardeth in the passenger seat. "Ready?" he asked. At the Med-jai's nod, he got out of the car and they both walked up the stairs to the Egyptian wing. Rick shuddered at the mess that was still there. "Look at this place," he murmured.

"It has a certain charm," Ardeth said looking off towards the office areas. His friend snorted, withholding his laughter. Ardeth glanced at him. "Oh, you mean the damage. Oh yes, very bad."

Rick smiled and walked over to some of the displays that were still intact. It was early and the Egyptian wing had been closed so there weren't that many people around. He wandered over to one of the glass cases where Evie had showed him contained some of the old scrolls or the Egyptian book of the Dead. He wasn't really sure what he was looking for, but he glanced down at the parchment and was surprised when he could actually make out some of the lettering. He looked more closely at it and he realized that the symbols actually made sense. Hymn to Osiris. Feeling somewhat disturbed by that, Rick turned quickly and looked away.

Ardeth meanwhile had stayed on a steady coarse towards the offices. He was lost deep in thought, remembering the last time he had been here when he collided with a smaller person, knocking them to the ground. He dropped to his knee immediately. "I am sorry! Let me help you!" It was a girl; she had been carrying a stack of papers and was gathering them quickly now. "Here," he said handing a stack of papers to her. So far he still hadn't seen her face, or heard her voice.

"Oh, uh, thank you," she said. She took the stack of papers from him and held them to her chest. She glanced up at his face and gasped at the sight of him. He was a striking-looking man, tall, dark-haired and obviously of the desert. She briefly wondered what he would be doing here in London, but pushed that thought away. "Um, I haven't seen you here before. We're actually closed right now for repairs, but do you need any help at all?"

"Oh I don't need-" He suddenly gasped. It was as if she was just sitting there then he saw her in a palace, seated before a throne. Her long black hair braided and beaded with gold. Her dark, nearly black eyes outlined with coal. The most stunning thing was the clinging gold dress, which hid nothing of her from his sight. He blinked and then there she was sitting on the floor, with papers scattered about her.

She looked up from gathering the rest of her papers and frowned at him in concern. "Are you alright sir?" she asked gently. "You look a little ill. Would you like me to get you a glass of water?" She got her stuff in order and stood up to face him.

He remained on one knee, looking up at her. "No, I am fine. I just ...it's nothing." He stood up, and was amazed at how small she was. She could only have stood about 5'2 or 3 at most. He towered over her but almost a foot. He was about to say something, what he wasn't sure, when Alex came barreling into the office.

"Hi Sari! Hey Ardeth! Ardeth, where's my dad?" He said all this in about two seconds flat.

"He's over there," Ardeth replied, barely taking his eyes off of the lovely young girl named Sari.

Sari briefly removed her gaze from the man she had just discovered was named Ardeth and glanced over at Alex. "Oh, hello Alex, I haven't seen your mother around here lately." She liked Alex. He was a little too hyperactive for her tastes but he was a cute kid and he was keen on Egyptology. She suddenly caught sight of Mr. O'Connell making his way towards them and she smiled as Alex charged up to him for a hug. She turned back to Ardeth. "So, you know the O'Connell's?"

"Yes, You could say that." He smiled and bent down to pick up a piece of paper she had forgotten. "Here you go. Once again, I am sorry." He was rewarded with a coloring of her cheeks, which made him smile even more.

She blushed, averting her gaze, wondering why he was making her feel this awkward when she had only just met the man. "Thank you," she said softly, quickly looking up at him. "So, I'll leave you to your business then," she said, feeling somewhat reluctant to leave him for some reason.

"Oh, you don't have to go...Um...do you know where Evelyn is?" He groped for something that would keep her there for another minute or so.

"Mrs. O'Connell isn't here right now I'm afraid," she told him, smiling. "But if there's anything you want to know, just ask Alex. He knows more about this place than I do. But you know, if you are visiting the O'Connell's, maybe I will see you around sometime?"

"Oh yes, you probably will. I was sent here by the Cairo Museum to assist with the cleanup." 'Very smooth, Ardeth," he thought to himself. 'You get all tongue-tied around women, where's the Med-Jai leader now? Think of something interesting to say!' "So yes, you will undoubtedly see me around...here." He heard Rick snicker behind him and had the urge to smack him up side the head.

"Oh," said Sari, smiling. She saw Mr. O'Connell and his son walk up to them and she decided she had better leave. "Well it was nice meeting you Ardeth, but I had better go and finish my work now. Maybe I'll see you soon." She smiled again and turned to walk out of the room.

Rick grinned at his friend as he watched the young assistant go. "You really have a way with the ladies, Ardeth," he teased.

"Shut up." He watched her retreating form, and he decided she had a very nice figure at that.

Rick raised an eyebrow at him. He hadn't seen this side of Ardeth before and it surprised him. But then he should know how it felt to be around a pretty girl and not have a clue what to say to her. Giving that tool kit to Evie back at Hamunaptra came to mind. "Sari is still pretty new here," he said, trying to make peace. "She's been one of Evie's assistants for the past couple of months. She's a nice girl."

"How old is she?" was the next thing that popped into his head. He himself had just turned thirty-three. He could hardly believe he had only been twenty-three when Imhotep had gone on his first rampage.

"Evie told me that she just graduated from Oxford last year so I guess that makes her about twenty two, twenty three years old?" Rick shrugged. "I don't know for sure, you'd have to ask."

"Oh." He blinked and shook his head slightly. He couldn't believe a girl had done this to him. That dress she had been wearing in the vision he had seen wasn't helping. He felt as if he had a pair of rolled up socks in his pants.

"Well after that little interlude, shall we go look around?" Rick asked. He stared at his friend. "Are you okay?" he asked. His attentions suddenly turned to his son. "Alex, don't touch that. It's in a display case for a reason!"

"Aww, dad!" came the irritated reply. Rick smiled and looked back at Ardeth.

"I'm fine. I saw...I saw something. I think it was a vision." The Med-jai turned to look at Rick.

"You had a vision?" he asked, shuddering as he remembered being able to decipher the ancient Egyptian scrolls earlier. "What did you see?"

"Sari. She was sitting at the foot of a throne. She was dressed like an Egyptian princess, or a lady of high stature. She had on the most amazing dress..." Ardeth stopped. He had never used the word amazing before in his life.

Rick would have been amused by the Med-jai's speech had his mind not been so preoccupied. "You saw Sari?" he asked, a little confused. "You're sure it was her?" He could understand visions of him and his family, but Sari? A girl they hardly knew? Now that was weird.

"Of course I'm sure. I have eyes." Ardeth snapped.

"Eyeballs make a better point!" Alex's voice sailed from across the room.

"Eyeballs." Ardeth repeated.

Rick held his hands up in front of him in a gesture of peace. "Alright, take it easy," he said. "I just wanted to make sure as it did seem a little strange. If it helps, something weird happened to me too here, but it wasn't a vision."

"What?" his friend asked, making a conscious effort to take the edge out of his voice.

Rick shook his head. "Please give me a reason as to why I can suddenly read and speak ancient Egyptian, Ardeth," he said, still feeling a little unnerved about the whole thing.

"You hit your head?" asked Ardeth. It was the first thing that came to him. 'I'm going a lot on first notions today.' He though wryly.

Rick grinned humorlessly. "Thanks for the help buddy," he replied, sighing. "Sorry, I know I'm not dealing well with these...dreams, visions, whatever the hell they are, I'm still kinda freaked out by it."

"I am, uh...'freaked' as well," Ardeth said smiling back at him.

"Are you giving Ardeth a lesson in American slang, Rick?" Evie asked. She emerged from a door just behind them.

"Hey sweetheart," he greeted, walking up to kiss her gently. He wrapped his arms around her, wanting a little reassurance right now. "Evie, I'm not going crazy am I?" he asked, nuzzling her hair. "I just still can't believe this is happening to me. You're the one who deals with visions, not me."

"No darling you aren't crazy yet." She studied Ardeth. "You look... strange. Are you all right?"

Ardeth shook his head. "Ask him, he should be able to tell you." He nodded towards Rick.

He sighed, looking down at his wife. "While we were here earlier, Ardeth had some sort of a vision. He says he saw your assistant Sari, but she was dressed like she was some sort of princess."

"What?" Evie asked. "Sari? I never would have thought Sari..." She trailed off. Ever since she had met the girl, she had felt as if she knew her in some way or another. Perhaps this was how.

Ardeth shrugged. "Everyone has had a past life, maybe she was in mine."

Rick frowned. "Maybe. But if she was, who is she really?" He disentangled himself from his wife's embrace to walk up to the window, looking out of it pensively. He stared down at the early morning London traffic as though it would offer up some answers that he so desperately needed right now.

Evie narrowed her eyes. Ever since she had seen her past, she had remembered more and more of whom and what had been around her. The clearest image she had was of a young girl walking away from her with a small bundle in her arms. This dream had been with her for a few weeks now, but she hadn't said anything about it. Now that she thought about the girl, Evie realized how much she resembled Sari

Evie turned to Rick. "I'll be back in a moment." He nodded and she turned and left. As she walked, she tried to remember everything about that dream. She rounded a corner and saw Sari seated looking at a book. Suddenly, there was a flash of light and she no longer saw the museum. Instead, she was standing in a garden. Sari was seated a ways in frount of her. She wore a long white dress and her hair was plaited down her back. She glanced up at Evie and smiled. "Nefertiti! You are back from the ceremony!"

Evie found herself nodding. "Yes, I am glad to be home. Tell me Basset how is Djedi?"

"He is better now, it was only a small case of Nile fever." She smiled again and then Evie found herself looking at the real Sari.

"Hello Mrs. O'Connell," said Sari, smiling up at her. "Did you know that your husband and son are already here at the museum?"

"Oh, yes! Yes I did." Evie sat down beside of Sari. "How is the cataloging coming?"

"It's a little slow right now," she admitted, picking up a listing of all the books she had sorted through so far and handing it over to her. "I thought I would start with the books seeing as they were the least damaged before going to something else. You know, there was the strangest thing? None of the items belonging to the museum were actually stolen or lost except for one mummy that was brought back from Egypt just before the break in. I wonder what could have happened to it?"

"It was burned," Evie said a little too quickly. This wasn't what had happened to Imhotep per se, but it was close enough. "It's totally gone now. A shame really." Evie would never forget the look he had given her before simply letting go of the ledge.

"Well, at least now I know what to put down on the report," said Sari, searching around on the desk for a pen. "Will you be staying around much longer today or are you just here on a quick visit with Alex?"

"I don't know. Ardeth might want to look around for a bit. Have you met him?" Evie just had to see what her reaction would be.

Sari blushed a little in remembrance of the man. "Yes, I have. He mentioned that he was a friend of you and your husbands."

Evie nodded, noting the blush. Then she blurted out, "Would you like to come to dinner tonight?"

"Oh no, that's alright. I wouldn't mean to impose or anything," she replied, hastily.

"No, no, no! You wouldn't be imposing! I want you to come. After all, I need another girl with four men around. I've been meaning to ask you anyway." Which was true. Evie was rather fond of Sari.

"Well, if you are sure," she said slowly. She really wanted to get to know this man Ardeth a little better, but was a little scared at the same time. She smiled. "Then what time should I arrive?"

"Um..." Evie searched for a time. "Six. I think I can have it ready by then." She smiled. "I'd better got see if my son has stayed away from everything breakable. See you at six!"

"I'll see you then," she replied. "Thank you for inviting me. I'll let you get back to your family now." And she turned back to her cataloguing.

Evie hurried off to tell Ardeth and Rick. She found them in a deep discussion about bullets. "Hello!" She caught their attention after a minute or so. After giving them a rundown of her vision and the fact that Sari was coming for dinner, she stopped to see what they thought.

"So Sari was in your vision too?" asked Rick. "But you said she was called what, Basset?" He frowned. "Isn't that some kind of a cat god or something?"

"It's a derivative of Bast, who was the guardian of the dead and the goddess and protector of cats." Evie paused. "If you remember Imhotep was terrified of my cat when he saw her."

Rick nodded at that. "Well maybe tonight we can get to find out a little more about her. So now that we know a little bit more as to what's going on, what do you suggest we do now?"

Evie thought for a moment. "Well, I'm not needed here today. We should just go home. I need to cook I suppose."

"Sounds good," said Rick, leaning down to kiss her briefly. "Come on Alex, we're heading off back home now."

"But Dad, can't I stay here a little while longer? Please?"

"No, you can't. Besides, it'll be dinner time soon and I can always bring you back tomorrow."

Sulking at the home part, but appeased by the sound of food, Alex made his way back to his parents.

"I'll make baked potatoes, your favorite," Evie said smoothing his hair. On their way out, Evie caught another glimpse of Sari. She was still seated with her book, but she glanced up briefly and waved. Evie smiled to herself. She had a good feeling about tonight.