Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah, I dont own anything from The Mummy, Grace though, is mine, ask before you use her. Dont sue me!

Grace cleared away a patch of cobwebs that covered a doorway. The torchlight spread eerie shadows on the walls. Jonathon had gone his own way to look for his precious gold room. For a moment she wished he was here but it passed quickly. She entered what looked like a dead end room. She looked around for a sign of a hidden door. She looked on the walls and saw something unusual. In the middle of the left wall was a hand imprint surrounded by hieroglyphics. She translated them and did what the directions said. She placed her right hand the in the indention and turned it halfway right, halfway left, then pushed it in. The wall made a scraping sound and swung open.

Inside was a small room. She stepped inside and gasped as the torchlight fell on one of the most beautiful sights she had ever seen. On the far wall resting on an altar was a gold stick- no two gold sticks. One had a circle with a giant ruby on the end and the other was just a gold stick. She picked up the two and concluded that they were once one stick. er.staff that had been broken apart. Wait she had just disturbed an ancient relic... shouldn't something bad happen? Like the room come crashing down or a bunch a scarabs pop out of the ground? She waited but nothing happened. She shrugged and the two pieces in her backpack.

She was on her way back up when she heard what sounded like footsteps echoing through the ruins she stopped but didn't hear anything. She continued and heard them again, this time behind her. She pulled out her pistol and whipped around only to be met by an empty passageway. She sighed and dropped her hand to her side. She turned around and screamed. Her gun went back up instinctively.

"Ms. Lockhart it is me Ardeth." the familiar deep voice said.

She dropped her hand, "For gods sake Mr. Bay you about gave me a heart attack. It's not right to go lurking around in ancient tombs sneaking up on people like that. I mean what kind of person does that?"

"I am sorry. I only came down to check on you. Jonathon came up some time ago." This was the first time he had seen her in light, though it was dim he could make out her features. She was beautiful. Fiery red hair fell in waves down her back. Dark lashes framed emerald green eyes. Her lips were full and pink. He wondered what it would be like to kiss them. She was not very tall especially compared to him.

"It's okay just don't do it again." She said a bit unsteadily. He hadn't taken his eyes from hers. They were so intense, come to think of it everything about him was. His skin and eyes and hair were all dark. She loved his hair...heck it looked healthier than hers...The dark mass curled around his face. He had a thin beard and strange tattoos covered his cheeks, forehead and hands, but surprisingly it added to his good looks.

"Ms. Lockhart are you alright?" he asked. 'Why does she gaze at me so?'

"Oh, yes, I'm fine," she shook her head to clear it, "Please call me Grace."

"As you wish. So Grace did u find anything?"

"No..." She lied. She didn't know why she did but she did.

"It's for the best I suppose. We should go up and let Evelyn know your ok," He said

She agreed and they made their way to the entrance. They had positioned a ladder there for convenience. H e motioned for her to go ahead of him but she hesitated. "I have a thing about going up ladders with strange men behind me," she said.

He gave her an odd look but went ahead. He climbed out and reached his hand down to help her out. When she placed both feet on the sand the ground started shaking and crumbling away with a loud roar.

"What's happening?!" she yelled above the roar.

"Just run!" Ardeth said grabbing her hand

The ground behind there feet fell away as they ran toward the small camp. "We'll be safe if we make it there!" Ardeth yelled to her.

"Are you sure?" She responded.

He didn't answer but pulled her in to his arms and jumped just as the ground fell away. He landed on his side with her in his arms so he took the force of the landing. She had her eyes tightly closed and was scared to open them. All she was aware of was Ardeth's strong arms around her.

"Grace are you alright?" She slowly opened her eyes to see him looking down on her with a warm smile.

"Are we dead?" She asked softly.

He chuckled, "no we're not dead."

She slowly pushed herself up with his help, "That was by far the scariest thing that has ever happened to me,"

"You lied to me," he said seriously.

"What?" She replied.

"You took something from there didn't you?" he stated.

Her eyes had a look of guilt in them and she nodded, pulling out the gold sticks from her bag.

"The Staff of Set," he said quietly.

"Is that bad?" she asked

"Well not necessarily in this case. This staff gives it's possessor unyielding power, but since you have discovered it I can hide it away somewhere." Ardeth said.

Just then Evy, Rick, and Jonathon came running over to them, "What the hell was that?!" Rick shouted.

Ardeth pointed to the staff pieces," Grace didn't I tell you not to mess with anything like that?" Rick asked.

Grace rolled her eyes, "O'Connell since when have I ever listened to you?"



The group made their way through the desert on camels, except for Ardeth who had his black stallion. Grace made her way over next to Ardeth. The fact that she was actually looking down on him made her smile.

"So Mr. Bay what are you planning to do with the sticks ...er... um... Staff of Set?"

"Please call me Ardeth. Well I have to consult with the Med-Jai council and agree on a place to keep it. Until then the O'Connell's have offered to let us stay in their Cairo home."

"Sounds like a plan," she said. Even though she kind of wished she could keep the staff to prove to Marcus Spencer she had what it takes to be an archaeologist.

The group continued heading for Cairo as the sunset behind them, but what they didn't know was that someone was following them and had different plans for the staff.