Rating: PG13 prolly eventually
Author: Angel - http://www.geocities.com/ninthsaturn
Summary: The ending of the Scorpion King changed and expanded upon. The O'Connells meet up with some strange people that look very familiar. Almost too familiar.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Mummy or it's characters. But I would give a whole heck of a bunch to own Imhotep and Ardeth. ;-)
*
The day was wearing on and night would soon fall once again upon the dry desert. There was a slight change in the breeze that promised dusk would soon follow. Evy absently rubbed her hands together and looked out ahead of her as they walked towards where the Med-Jai camped. Her husband had been "stiffed with the freaks" as he had put it, and told firmly - along with the two Imhoteps and Alex - to stay ahead. Alannah was quick to agree that sometimes a woman just needed a break from having her man hovering about her. Besides, Rick seemed to actually be getting along with the elder Egyptian. They walked together and the younger, more aggressive Imhotep walked with Alex.
"It's going to be a lovely night," she commented, throwing her companion a sidelong glance. Not for the first time it occurred to Evy just how weird it actually was to be talking with one's self.
Alannah nodded her head and continued to gaze out. "Yeah," she sighed, returning her eyes to the desert.
Evy sighed as well, knowing at least generally what was going on with the younger woman. "Worried?"
The other woman shook her head and looked to Evy, almost for reassurance. Her blue hair shifted in the soft winds. "Yes. Evy..." she paused then, her hand rubbing gently over her stomach. Without much effort Evy could guess what Alannah was about to say. Suddenly this ordeal they were now experiencing took on a whole new meaning. And what a horrible thing it must be, to be out here fighting for not only her own life and the lives of the men she loved, but for a little one as well.
"Alannah, are you with child?" Evy asked, if only to press the girl into speaking her mind.
There was no hesitation when Alannah nodded. Suddenly tears formed in her dark eyes and she exhaled deeply. "I'm so frightened, Evy. If we fail then my little Danae may not ever exist."
The implications of that chilled Evy as she looked at her own child and imagined it were his life instead. The past week had been like a vacation in hell for her, worry constantly nipping at her heels and the never ending wondering of if he were still alive and whether or not Imhotep was treating him badly. She needed to pull herself from the grief and fear of those few days and concentrate on the here and now. "Danae?" she asked. "What if it's a boy?"
Alannah shook her head at that. "It's not. I'm pretty sure. I'll have to have an ultrasound to be positive, but something inside me just knows."
Ignoring the word 'ultrasound' for the moment, Evy asked, "Do you have any idea which one is the father?"
The younger woman bit her lip and looked ahead, nodding softly. "One week Michael had a psychologist's convention or something to go to. It wasn't very far or for long, so Imhotep and I stayed behind. Naturally I was with Imhotep that week and one night after we'd fallen asleep I had a dream that I was pregnant. I conceived that night, I'm almost sure."
"How does Michael feel about that?" Evy looked ahead and the would be father, wondering what he would be like in such a role. He'd be fiercely protective, she foresaw.
Alannah played with her fingers. "He doesn't know. I didn't tell either of them about the dream and we agreed there would be no paternity test." She looked at Evy. "In the future we can test for that. Anyway, we agreed that no one would know who the real father was so that neither man would feel like they were any less to her than the other." She tucked her hair behind her ears and gazed at her lover ahead. Her voice lowered a bit and took on a grave tone. "There's more to my not wanting Imhotep here than a mere chance that the Scorpion King could cause him final death. That night when I dreamed of giving birth to Danae, Michael was there and held her, but Imhotep wasn't. He'd died by the hands of the Scorpion King, Evy. He didn't even get to see his baby girl. That's why I'm so worried."
The urgency of Alannah's quest took on yet another depth with that. No wonder she'd been so hurt and afraid when she saw that Imhotep was here in the past. Evy could only imagine how she'd feel in this situation, if she knew Rick was in serious trouble and he refused to play it safe. It would break her heart. For the sake of her companion she put on a reassuring face. "We'll protect him."
*
"Stupid. This is just stupid." A voice became more apparent to the slowly waking Med-Jai. A very angry voice. The crashing sound of something being kicked and landing across the room echoed more loudly than Ardeth would have preferred. And just what was that annoying beeping sound? Ardeth unconsciously wiggled his nose and was startled to feel something there. His eyes opened, an action which cause a great deal more stress than was worth the vision it gave.
The room was stark and off-white, from what Ardeth could tell. Immediately he saw a light fixture above and heard a voice from the other room. He tried to make out what that person was saying. Something about the news...something about a king. It sounded like a report. Whatever it was, it didn't sound relevant to his present situation.
But soon another voice, one more real and present, found it's way to Ardeth's ears. A female. "Calm down."
"No!" the other person retorted. Ardeth furrowed his brow. "Those stupid creatures just love causing me more work and now my friend is laying in there with a big hole in his leg. Not to mention the damage done to the other three. King Mathayus is perfectly capable of telling his toadies to lighten up, but he..." there was a pause. King Mathayus? The Scorpion King? "I don't even want to discuss this. I have patients to check."
Ardeth waited and listened as footsteps approached. A shadow passed over the bed and he looked up, his eyes confirming the suspicion his ears had given him. "Rick," he breathed before he could even think. No, it wasn't Rick. The hair was shorter and spiked up and the usually casual, adventuresome attire had been replaced by a white coat and name tag.
Shaking his head, the man before him tapped his tag with a pen. "Ryan. I'm your doctor." He smiled slightly, his expression a trifle uncomfortable, so Ardeth thought. "You're Ardeth Bay, right?"
The Med-Jai nodded, looking at this man before him. He hadn't got to speak directly with Alannah or Imhotep, but his impulse in this situation was to call this man by the name of his friend. Ryan wrote something on a notepad in his hands. "Where? The others?" he breathed, noting that it did seem easier now.
The doctor shoved his pen behind his ear and Ardeth caught sight of his tattoo. The mark of a Med-Jai. "Mike's fine. Those stupid creatures only shot him in the thigh." His blue eyes rolled in aggravation. "That Izzy character suffered a small beating, but is recovering." Then his youthful face grew more serious. That uncomfortable look increased. "It's Jonathan that I'm worried about. He's in a coma. I've repaired what damage I could and now it's up to him to wake up. He stirred a few times."
"You know him?" Ardeth asked, his voice soft and low. He inhaled deeply, wondering exactly what the situation was. Where were they?
Ryan pulled over a chair and sat down. "I don't know much about him. Just what Imhotep told us." Blue eyes swept over the injured Med-Jai. Ardeth sighed at his state, certain that the weariness that covered him showed. Ryan seemed curious as he studied him. "It's amazing. You look exactly like him. Exactly. Even your DNA is...it's all just amazing. How do you feel?"
Heavy. That was one way to put it. Tired. Groggy. All those lovely things. There was a strange sensation in his arm and looking down, Ardeth was a little startled to see a tube connected to him. He furrowed his brow at the strange sight. "I feel fine," he replied without thought, instinctively making light of his situation. The look on Ryan's face told him just how foolish it sounded.
"Fine?" the young doctor echoed, sitting back and eyeing him speculatively. "Not likely. You're just like Michael, I see. You two would say a stab wound was really a bee sting if you were asked, wouldn't you?" He grinned.
Returning that expression, Ardeth shrugged slightly. This man proved to be enough like Rick to make him relax a little, even if he knew those Anubis creatures still lurked about somewhere. "I feel hazy," he confessed, deciding to trust this physician. "Pain."
Ryan nodded slowly at the reply. "Yeah, you got some morphine in you. That should dull some of the pain. You are a very lucky man. If I hadn't gotten to you when I did, you might very well have gone into shock and possibly died. You were in some pretty bad shape."
"Were?" Ardeth breathed, thankful that Ryan's bad tidings hadn't come to pass.
The doctor nodded and rolled closer to the wall. Ardeth frowned at that, wondering why on earth people would need wheels on chairs. Flipping on a bright square shaped lamp, Ryan sifted through an assortment of papers on the small counter below and brought a dark page up. He clipped it to the strange lamp and suddenly an image presented itself. A rib cage. Ardeth blinked, looking at the image in wonder. Truly the future was to marvel at.
Ryan took his pen back down from his ear and pointed. "As you can see here, you suffered from a few fractured ribs. You probably had some trouble breathing, right?" Ardeth nodded. The doctor continued. "When your chest impacted with whatever caused these injuries it broke several of your ribs and in turn, pushed some of the broken edges into your lungs." He flipped the picture off. "When those stupid creatures brought you four in you were all sent to me for repairing. I was up all night and morning in surgery with you, Jonathan and Mike."
Ardeth nodded, taking it all in. It wasn't easy to just accept all that was happening around him. He'd fallen asleep gravely injured and was now on the mend. How long had he been unconscious? His head swam. It was too much for him to take in all at once. Right now all he wanted was to rest. But there were still some nagging questions he wanted an answer to before he let himself sleep again. "Where are we? Are we in danger?" he asked, hoping he wouldn't have to elaborate too much.
The young doctor's eyes darted around as if to be certain there weren't any other ears listening. He looked uneasy and that gave Ardeth cause for concern. His voice was lower as he leaned down. "You're at the palace of the Scorpion King. For now I think you should rest." He didn't answer about the possible danger, Ardeth noticed. Rick's counterpart looked around and his hand grasped a small black device. He held it up and pointed to a small button. "This will change the channels." His finger moved. "This one is volume. I'll let you explore."
The sleepy Med-Jai watched as Ryan pointed it up towards a strange box that was mounted close to the ceiling. With a strange humming sound, the box came alight with pictures and voices. Ardeth widened his eyes considerably and didn't realize he'd grasped the remote until Ryan chuckled. "It's a TV. You might be a little wowed now, but sooner or later you'll learn what everyone else on this planet knows. There's never anything interesting on." He pointed to yet another button and Ardeth looked down. "This'll take you to a movie screen. You can choose something from there, which is probably a better bet." Ryan got up from his chair and headed towards the door. He stopped and turned around a moment with a small grin. "Do me a favor, huh? Get some sleep."
Nodding his head, Ardeth slid his tired eyes from Ryan as he left him alone and back to the TV. Clicking the button that he'd been shown, Ardeth watched in amazement as the picture changed. So they were in the palace of the Scorpion King. Something must have changed the past. Not that Ardeth understood the dynamics of time travel and so on - or even wanted to - but this couldn't be right.
He didn't have time to think too much on his situation. Sleep was haunting the edges of his consciousness and soon attacked it's prey. Ardeth's body gratefully gave over to sleep once more within a matter of minutes.
*
Hey guys...thank goodness ff.net is back!! :D Hehehe...thanks for the reviews!!! DarkestAngel, Echo, Lula and Marcher, you guys are kewl! Echo, thanks for recommending me..that's too nice! :D You guys write weird stories, eh? Sounds awesome to me! I'm always one for something different. :) Is there a website or anything?
Anyhow, thanks everyone who's reviewed and who didn't, but is reading anyway. :) Enjoy! -Angel