"Frank!" Alex cried, when they all saw his very pale face. His eyes were closed tight and he was breathing too fast.

Ardeth was kneeling next to him, feeling the pulse on his wrist.

Safti and Shamara came back in, and Shamara quickly knelt beside him. "What happened?" she asked.

Safti looked like he wasn't sure how to explain, for some reason. "He is in pain," he simply said.

Seeing the anxious looks on the team's faces, Ardeth stood and motioned for them to follow him outside the tent.

With worried looks at Frank, the team hesitated, until Ardeth said, "Come, I will tell you what you desire to know."

Remembering that Ardeth wasn't going to tell them in front of Shamara, they followed him.

"What happened to Frank?" Jake asked, when they were outside.

Ardeth sighed. "We figured out something…shocking. It was apparently too much for him, in his condition."

"What was it?" Monica asked, nervously, knowing that there weren't many things that could shake up their boss.

Ardeth proceeded to tell them what he, Safti, and Frank had discussed in the tent, including their relation and the fact that Ardeth has no children at the present time. "If I am killed, then I will die childless, and Frank will not be born," he told them.

They all stared, speechless, for a long time.

"No wonder," said Cody. "No wonder he almost lost it! The poor guy's been shot, zapped back in time, told he has to somehow prevent the death of someone who looks like his twin brother and then finds out you're his grandfather, and then told in different words that if you die, he'll die!"

Ardeth sighed. "I am sorry I can not do anything about this."

Everyone shook their heads, not knowing what to say. Finally they went back into the tent; to see Frank's face more relaxed, but still pale.

"I have given him more medicine," said Shamara. "He is sleeping."

Frank's team sighed in unison, Ardeth wondered if they even realized it.

"Something's gotta be done!" said Cody, in exasperation.

"I am doing all that I can," Shamara told him.

Cody frowned, having spoken regarding the current crisis, not Shamara's care of Frank.

Ardeth knew what he meant, and motioned for Jake to follow him outside again. Jake was surprised to see that it already felt cooler then before they'd entered the tent; the sun was setting, and he knew that it would soon be quite cold. The desert is a bizarre place, he thought.

"What's up? Do you have a plan?" he asked.

"I have told some of my men to go into Cairo tomorrow to see if there are any rumors about, or any strange activities," he said. "They will visit the curator of the Museum of Antiquities to ask if he has heard anything. If anything has been said, he will know."

Jake frowned. "You mean the curator is one of you?"

Ardeth nodded.

Jake smiled. "Convenient. If he had heard something, wouldn't he have told you somehow?"

Ardeth sighed. "Yes, that is the one thing that troubles me."

Jake nodded, seeing his point. "Can I send some of my people with them? Monica is a profiler, she may pick up on something no one else would."

Ardeth frowned. "Profiler?"

Jake saw that he didn't understand the word. "Oh, uh…she can figure things out about people…their personalities and stuff…she can tell if someone is lying and how they'll likely act or react to situations."

Ardeth seemed impressed. "Very well, I will inform my men. Do you wish to send anyone else?"

Jake thought for a second. "I guess Cody can go with her. Alex stays with me in case something happens tomorrow. I'll need her."

Ardeth seemed surprised that he would rather keep the woman to fight with him instead of the man.

Jake saw his surprise. "She's a tough gal."

Ardeth nodded. "I see."

Jake laughed at his expression. "She was trained like Frank and I for physical confrontations. Cody and Monica weren't."

"Ah," Ardeth said, understanding, or appearing to, at least.

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

The next day, Ardeth's warriors left, along with Monica, Cody, and Alex O'Connell, who'd said that he might be able to get places the others couldn't; who would pay attention to an old man?

Jake went to the tent housing Frank, and opened the flap. Stepping in, he stopped, in surprise.

Frank wasn't lying there.

Jake heard a noise and looked toward it, with a gasp at what he saw. Frank was standing—if you could call it that—leaning on a table precariously, with his one good arm.

"Frank?! What are you doing?!"

Frank sighed when Jake ran over and grabbed him. "I was attempting to walk."

"Attempting is right," said Jake, sarcastically, trying to pull him back to where he'd been laying.

"No, Jake."

"What do you mean, no?" said Jake. "What are you trying to do?"

"Leave the tent!"

"Are you nuts?" Jake said. "You can't."

"Jake," Frank sighed, trying to pull out of his grasp. "There is a threat on a man's life; a man that we are here to protect. How am I supposed to do that from in here?"

"How are you supposed to do that with three bullet wounds?" Jake countered.

Frank sighed again. "Jake…I simply want to have a look around. Is that too much to ask?"

Jake sighed. How do I let him talk me into these things? Last time I let him, he almost got killed.2

"Wait," he said. "You need to cover your head, it's scorching out there." Leaning Frank against the table again, Jake quickly looked for a piece of cloth, and found one. Trying to remember how the turbans looked on the Med-jai's heads, he tried to make it into one, but failed miserably. Finally, not wanting Frank to grow weaker by standing there, he simply plopped the cloth on Frank's head, with an amused snort. "Better then nothing," he said.

Frank gave him a mock glare.

Jake shook his head, in amazement at how much Frank looked even more like Ardeth now. "Hope I don't regret this," he said, taking Frank's arm again and helping him slowly limp towards the tent opening.

Frank didn't think to shade his eyes, as he was focusing all his concentration on the act of walking. The sun's glare blinded him, and he gave a surprised gasp, automatically trying to bring up his right hand to shade his eyes. The only problem was that Jake had a death grip on his right arm, and Frank couldn't use his left, of course, so had no choice but to simply close his eyes.

Jake realized the problem, and let go of Frank's forearm, holding onto his upper arm instead so that Frank could lift his hand to shade his eyes. With a sigh, Jake shook his head at himself. Frank had been stuck in the tent for two days, where there had been no direct sunlight. He should have thought of that.

Frank finally put his hand back down, his eyes remaining in a squint.

"Ready?" Jake asked him.

Frank nodded, and they started to walk.

Frank tried to ignore his pain, as he looked around in amazement, realizing that this was where his mother had come from. This is how she lived? In a tent in the middle of the desert! He had to keep reminding himself that they had a mystery to solve and someone's life to protect. My grandfather, of all people.

2 'Mystery of the Mind' by Deana: http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=565988