Ardeth took the amulet out of his pocket, and handed it to Safti.

Safti looked at it, and then at Ardeth. "Your amulet," he said, puzzled.

Ardeth shook his head, and drew his 'real one' out of the neck of his robes.

Safti's eyebrows raised, and he took it in his hand. He held the other up to it, comparing them. "They are the same!"

Ardeth nodded. "Yes, in every way." He looked at the old man, waiting for him to speak.

Safti, still staring at the two amulets, said, "I do not understand, only one of these exists…"

Ardeth nodded. "Only one."

Safti understood suddenly, and looked at the old man. "Who are you?" he asked.

Instead of answering, the man looked at Ardeth.

Like a ton of bricks, it hit him. The eyes…he could see it in his eyes. Despite himself, Ardeth's jaw nearly dropped. "Can it be?"

Alex nodded, his eyes suddenly misting. He vividly remembered the day of Ardeth's funeral, remembered his childish mind's denial. He remembered the anguish he felt when he had to finally believe that it was true; Ardeth was indeed dead. Missing him for all these years, and now standing in front of the man—as he remembered him, even—was too much, and the tears spilled over.

"Ardeth," he said, almost a whisper. "I'm Alex!"

And with that, Alex threw his arms around Ardeth, in a fierce hug.

Safti stared, mouth agape.

Ardeth was in shock. The old man—Alex O'Connell, he reminded himself—sobbed openly, and Ardeth wrapped his arms around him, wondering at the intensity of Alex's reaction. He suddenly realized what Alex was repeating over and over.

"You can't die…"

"Die?" he asked.

Finally Alex drew back, wiping his eyes. "Ardeth…in 1934, you died…"

Ardeth felt like he'd been punched in the stomach.

"WHAT?!" Safti roared.

"A-at your funeral, someone gave me your amulet…and told me that when I reunite it with your soul, you would live to fight another day…"

The pieces suddenly fit together. "Donovan has my soul?"

Alex nodded, sniffling. "I gave your amulet to him right before we ended up here."

"Ah," said Safti. "Perhaps that is the reason for your strange attack! When the amulet was placed in Donovan's hand, you felt it." He looked at Alex. "Who gave you his amulet?"

Alex shook his head. "I don't know who it was…I only remember thinking that it was someone I'd never seen before…" He looked at the Med-jai with concern. "Ardeth," he said. "I think we're here to prevent you from dying."

Safti grabbed Ardeth by the arm, hard enough to make his friend wince.

"How? When?"

Alex shook his head, his eyes tearing up again. "I don't know...I was so young, my parents and I were in Cairo when it happened…we came for the funeral. I had a hard time accepting it, I wouldn't accept it…"

Ardeth tried to pull his arm from Safti's grasp—succeeding on the third try—and put a hand on Alex's shoulder. "It is all right," he said, feeling like he was talking to the 9-year-old Alex, of the present. He shook his head. How strange; I died when he was still a child, and yet here I am, alive to see him old.

"No, it is not all right!" said Safti. "How can we prevent it if we do not know how it happens?!"

Ardeth frowned, at the almost hysterical sound to his friend's voice, something he hardly ever heard. "We have faced threats on my life before, sadiqi."

"But you never died before!" Safti blinked, realizing how silly that sounded. "I mean, this time, they succeeded! And they will succeed, unless we find a way to stop it!"

The three men just stood there, not knowing what to say. Finally Ardeth sighed. "At the moment, we can do nothing. Perhaps they will make themselves known to us before…it…happens, and we can then take steps." He tried to give his friends a reassuring smile, even though he was just as afraid as they were. He didn't want to die! "Now that we know, we have an advantage," he said. "Our knowledge beforehand may be what saves my life, Alex," he said, squeezing the old man's shoulder.

********************

"Frank?"

The team surrounded their fallen comrade, studying him intently.

"How is he?" Monica asked the healer that'd remained.

The healer sighed, as she continued to wipe Frank's forehead with cool water. "He is growing feverish." She had tried diligently to prevent fever, and now felt like she had failed.

Alex Cross scooted over and felt Frank's forehead. She knew there were no thermometers in 1934, and she tried to gauge his temperature.

Everyone watched, waiting.

Alex shook her head, with a shrug. "I don't think it's high."

Everyone sighed with relief. Their sighs turned to surprised expressions when Frank moved under her hand.

"He's waking up!" said Cody, unnecessarily. "That was way fast."

The healer nodded. "We gave him medicine to make him wake."

Jake frowned. "Why is that?"

Frank suddenly groaned, and Alex transferred her hand on his forehead to his uninjured arm.

"If he remained unconscious, he would not get much water, and would dehydrate in this heat," the healer explained.

Alex frowned when Frank gasped, squeezing his eyes shut tighter. "Frank?" she said.

He didn't answer, and they grew alarmed to see his breathing rate increase.

"He is in pain," the healer stated, as if it wasn't obvious, while she poured a cup of water.

"If you have medicine that can wake people, don't you have painkillers?" Jake asked, moving next to Alex to help the healer lift Frank so he could drink the water.

"Yes, but we have not given him that, as of yet."

"What?!" said Cody. "You operated on him! You mean to tell us that Frank is suffering this raw?"

The healer blinked at him, not knowing what he meant by 'raw'. "The medicine to dull pain would have prolonged his unconsciousness. We had to wake him to make him drink." She gently held the cup to Frank's lips, whose eyes were still closed.

"There's no IV's here, Cody," said Jake, understanding, even while upset at Frank being in such pain. "No other way to get fluids into him."

Cody nodded, with a sigh.

"Frank," said Alex. "Drink this."

Frank opened his eyes halfway, blinking up at her. She could feel his body shaking; his usually stoic face had pain written all over it. He looked disoriented, not comprehending where he was.

Alex took the cup from the healer's hand and tipped it so that the water touched his lips, hoping that he would automatically drink it when he felt it. It worked, until the groggy-with-pain Frank somehow choked.

Alex flung the cup to the side, and she and Jake frantically pulled Frank up into a sitting position, hoping it would clear his airway, not thinking of the wound in his side.

Jake leaned him against Alex, and was about to pound Frank on the back when he remembered his injuries.

Alex saw Jake's indecision, and shook her head at him, while she held Frank tightly. "I think he's all right. Frank?"

Frank's choking changed into gasps of pain.

Alex and Jake were about to lie him down again, but the healer shook her head, handing Alex another cup. Frank drank it slowly, but without mishap; sitting up helping to prevent further choking.

"Frank, you have to drink it all," Alex said, when Frank stopped.

"Here," said the healer. "Give him the medicine. After he takes it he will want more water."

Cody almost laughed at that statement, until he decided that it wasn't appropriate. A scowl from Monica made him glad he made the right decision.

When Alex tried to give it to him Frank refused it, thinking it was more water, but finally gave in when Alex told him it was medicine. He drank it all, surprising the team, and making them think the healer was wrong. But suddenly Frank made a face at the obviously nasty aftertaste, and gulped down the water the healer had at the ready.

The Med-jai woman smiled, satisfied at the amount Frank had drunk, and she now allowed them to lie him back down.

His pain-filled expression melted away as the medicine knocked him out.

The healer pulled open the robe they'd dressed Frank in just enough to take a look at the wound in his side, fearful that sitting Frank up had done damage. As she expected, it had bled, but to her relief none of the stitches had been torn.

"Has he awoken?" they heard.

Turning, they saw that Ardeth had entered the tent.

The healer looked up, as she wiped away the blood. "Yes, my Chief, but only long enough to drink water and receive medicine. I regret that I was unable to keep him awake."

Ardeth nodded. "That is all right, Shamara," he said, coming closer to the group. "I need to speak to all of you," he said to the team.

They all stood, and followed him out of the tent, sparing glances at their boss as they left.