Disclaimer: I don't own any of the UC Undercover characters or characters
for The Mummy I just borrowed them for a bit. All other characters are
mine. I do have permission to use my friend's name. Note:
Translations can be found at the end of each chapter. A special thank you
to Deana, Serena and Shelley. Thank you ladies for all your help.
There was a fierce storm going on in Chicago and the thunder seemed to roar endlessly. The lightning flashes were coming every few seconds lighting up the sky like the 4th of July. Frank and his wife, Elaina, were in their home office going over case reports from the past week. Suddenly there was a very bright flash of lightning and a clap of thunder that shook the house and made the power flicker.
Elaina screamed from the closeness of the lightning. "Damn! Did that hit the house or the stables?"
"I'll go take a look." Frank got up from the desk, with Elaina following closely, to peer out the window. The lightning flashes made it easy to see if there was smoke anywhere outside. "Stables and barn look ok. It might have hit a tree close by."
"As long as it didn't hit the horses or the buildings, I'm grateful." Elaina sat back down on the couch.
"We know it didn't hit the house, the lights are still on and smoke alarms would be deafening us if it had caused a fire."
"That's true. Come over here and sit with me. This storm has given me a weird feeling." Elaina put her arms around him as he sat down next to her.
"You've always loved to watch lightning. Tonight it's the best show we ever had and you're scared." Frank kissed her on the cheek and wrapped his arms around her.
"I'm not scared, I'm just.unsettled." Elaina cuddled as close as she could to him.
"Unsettled?" Frank laughed at the thought. "You seem to be settling pretty well next to me. I will protect you."
"Don't make fun of me." Elaina elbowed him in the ribs. "I loved it when we watched the lightning over the mountains in Montana. We would sit curled up together in the chair, in front of the balcony door and eat popcorn. Our own fantastic light show, complete with soft music on the stereo."
"I loved that too. We should have done that tonight instead of paperwork." Frank nuzzled her neck.
"You seem to have something else on your mind now." Elaina turned to kiss him but was interrupted by a knock at the front door. "Who in their right mind would be out in this mess?" She walked to the front door and opened it. As she did, a woman collapsed in her arms. "FRANK!" Elaina yelled.
Frank came from the office quickly and saw Elaina laying a strange woman on the floor. "Who is it?" "I don't know. I haven't seen her face yet." Elaina removed the hooded cape from the woman and brushed aside the wet hair from her face. "I've never seen her before have you?"
"I've never seen her before either. Maybe she had car trouble." Frank stated.
"Take her in on the couch by the fireplace and I'll go get some blankets for her." Elaina ran to retrieve the blankets for their unexpected guests. While passing Sarah's room, she noticed her daughter lay awake. Elaina went to her and picked her up gently and brought her back downstairs to join the others. "Here you go." She handed Frank the blankets and then set Sarah in the chair. "Stay right here Little One. We have company."
"I guess this is one storm she couldn't sleep through." Frank said looking at his daughter. "When this storm lets up I'll call Daniel so he can check out our guest." They could always count on Daniel. He had become more than a doctor to both he and Elaina.
"Why would anyone brave this storm when they could have stayed in the safety of their car?" Elaina wondered. "I'll go back up and get her some dry clothes. You hold Sarah." She added, noticing how their little girl was fighting sleep to keep up with what was going on in the room.
"Come on princess I'll rock you to sleep." Frank picked her up and walked over to the rocker by the fireplace. "This shouldn't take long." Frank said, noticing that she was already going back to sleep.
When Elaina returned and began helping their guest by removing her wet clothes. Frank decided to take Sarah back up to her room to give them privacy. As the woman regained consciousness, she grew frightened by the unfamiliar surroundings and sight of a stranger stripping her of her clothes.
"Don't be afraid. You're safe here." Elaina tried to calm her. "Nobody will hurt you. I'm just trying to get you in some dry clothes."
The woman held the blankets tight to her to keep Elaina from removing her clothing. "Feyn da gohzee?" The woman asked. "Ismik 'eyh?"
" Well, I see you speak Arabic. I hope I remember it enough to calm you down." Elaina said. "Ismee Elaina Donovan. Ismik 'eyh?"
"Layla Bay. Inta kallim arabee shway-ya?"
"Aywa."
"Bitit kalimee ingileezee?" Elaina hoped she spoke English since her Arabic was rusty to say the least.
"Yes. Some."
"Good, my Arabic is not too good. How did you get here?"
"I do not know. I was in Cairo with my husband and it was storming like it is here." Layla wrung her hands and looked directly at Elaina. "We were going to meet some friends at the museum. As we got to the door there was this very bright light." Layla paused to catch her breath. "Next thing I remember is being here. I don't even know where here is."
"You are in the United States. Chicago, Illinois, to be exact." Elaina told her taking her hand to calm her.
Layla started to cry. "You believe me do you not?" She saw that Elaina was having difficulty in believing her story.
"It does sound a bit strange but I see no reason for you to lie to me." Elaina turned and saw Frank standing by the stairs. "Excuse me. I won't be long." Elaina smiled and walked over to him. "Did you hear her story?"
"Yes I did and I find it very hard to believe that you are falling for it." Frank whispered watching the woman closely.
"You haven't even met her and you have her branded as a liar. Come, I'll introduce you to her." Elaina took him by the arm as they walked over to her. "Layla Bay. This is my husband, Frank."
Layla looked up at Frank and gasped. She muttered something in Arabic that Elaina didn't understand. "Da gohzee?"
"My husband yes." Elaina repeated. "Is there something wrong, Layla?"
"No I'm sorry. I'm just tired." Layla knew that if they didn't believe her story as to how she got there they would never believe that the man standing before her looked like her husband.
"Layla when you first woke up you asked for your husband. Was your husband beside you when this happened to you?" Elaina asked watching the woman's eyes.
"Yes, I was holding his arm because I was so afraid of the storm." Layla explained. "I know this is hard for you to believe. It is the same for me and I am the one that is living it." Layla said, tears forming again in her eyes. "What if he is outside in a different place and is hurt? Or he is back in Cairo still looking for me? How do I find him?" Layla was becoming agitated again.
"Frank, what if he is outside? We should try to look around for him," Elaina suggested.
"Excuse us one moment." Frank said to Layla. Layla was surprised to hear his voice sound similar to her husband's. Frank pulled Elaina over to the hallway. "Please tell me you are not believing this."
"Frank, I have been watching her eyes and her body language. I believe she is telling the truth. You know I'm the best lie detector we have available."
"You are good at reading people. I just hope this isn't the one time someone fools you." Frank said, a little worried.
"I'm not afraid of her Frank. I don't think she was sent here to hurt us. I believe she is from where she said." Elaina told him, watching the woman as she looked around the room.
Layla started muttering in Arabic again and Elaina was having difficulty in translating her as fast as she spoke. Layla pointed to the newspaper she had picked up, specifically to the date. "Is this the correct date?" She finally asked in English.
"Yes it is. Why do you ask?" Frank wondered.
"It is the same day but the year is1934 in Cairo." She saw the surprised and confused looks on their faces.
"I'm sorry. I can't believe a word she is saying. Are we to believe that a storm in 1934 brought her to the year 2003?" Frank scoffed at the idea. He walked away from Layla and Elaina but Elaina followed him.
"Frank, I want to go out and look around for her husband. You can either stay with her or help me look." Elaina was a bit angry at his actions.
"I'm not going to go out in this storm and neither are you. You were scared of it a few minutes ago. Now you are hell bent on going out in it?"
"The storm has let up. I haven't heard that much thunder except in the distance. If her husband is out there he may be hurt and need medical attention." Elaina went to the closet and got her raincoat and hat. "One of us should stay with her and Sarah. Since you don't believe her husband is out there then you can stay in here."
Frank grabbed her arm and got her full attention. "I'm your husband tonight, not your subordinate. Don't give me orders."
"Listen, Frank. I will be very careful. You can watch me from the windows." Elaina removed his hand from her arm and started for the door.
"Wait right here. I'll get the communication radios for us." Frank went to the office and returned with them. He put Elaina's on her head and adjusted it for her. He then turned the security lights on outside. They lit up the yard as if it was daylight.
"Thanks, Love. You and Cody did a good job putting the lights in the right spots." Elaina kissed him before she went out.
"We aim to please." Frank smiled at her. "Be careful out there." He watched her from the door until she left the front yard. Frank walked back into the living room with Layla. "I'm not being a very good host, would you like something to drink?"
"Yes, mayya would be fine." Layla smiled.
Frank went to the kitchen he watched as he saw Elaina making her way to the stables. He also noticed that the rain had let up to a light mist.
"Shukran."
"Afwan," Frank smiled at her.
"You know the language too?"
"My wife and I have traveled a lot in our work. We know enough of most languages to get us through our stays," Frank explained.
"Frank, I've found him. He's in the stables, out cold." Elaina said over the radio.
"I'll come out to help you." Frank said after moving away from Layla.
"He's coming around, I'm going to turn this off for a few minutes, so I can concentrate on him." Elaina knew he would want a play-by-play, but didn't want to frighten or confuse the man with the new technology.
Frank turned back to Layla. "I'm going out to help my wife I will be back in a few minutes. You'll be fine in here." Frank walked over to get his raincoat and started to the kitchen. As he got to the kitchen door he saw Elaina coming with their other guest. Frank helped her sit the man down at the table, then went to get Layla.
Layla hurried to the kitchen with Frank. When she saw her husband she knelt next to him. "Ardeth!" Layla wrapped herself around him, hugging him tight. "Hubee, ana fikr ana dayi inta!"
"Frank, meet your twin in the world." Elaina was staring at the man and then at Frank who was mesmerized by the man looking up at him. "Ardeth Bay, meet Frank Donovan."
Ardeth stared at Frank as if trying to remember him. "Donovan?" Ardeth asked, then passed out.
"Shukran" ... "Thank you." "Afwan" ... "Your Welcome" "Feyn da gozee?" .. "Where's my husband?" "Ismik 'eyh?".. "What is your name?" "Ismee," ... "My name is." "Bitit kalimee arabee masree?" ... "Do you speak Egyptian Arabic?" "Aywa," ... "Yes" "Da gohzee?" ... "Your husband?" "Mayya," ... "Water" "Hubee, ana fikr ana dayi inta!" . "My love, I thought I had lost you!"
There was a fierce storm going on in Chicago and the thunder seemed to roar endlessly. The lightning flashes were coming every few seconds lighting up the sky like the 4th of July. Frank and his wife, Elaina, were in their home office going over case reports from the past week. Suddenly there was a very bright flash of lightning and a clap of thunder that shook the house and made the power flicker.
Elaina screamed from the closeness of the lightning. "Damn! Did that hit the house or the stables?"
"I'll go take a look." Frank got up from the desk, with Elaina following closely, to peer out the window. The lightning flashes made it easy to see if there was smoke anywhere outside. "Stables and barn look ok. It might have hit a tree close by."
"As long as it didn't hit the horses or the buildings, I'm grateful." Elaina sat back down on the couch.
"We know it didn't hit the house, the lights are still on and smoke alarms would be deafening us if it had caused a fire."
"That's true. Come over here and sit with me. This storm has given me a weird feeling." Elaina put her arms around him as he sat down next to her.
"You've always loved to watch lightning. Tonight it's the best show we ever had and you're scared." Frank kissed her on the cheek and wrapped his arms around her.
"I'm not scared, I'm just.unsettled." Elaina cuddled as close as she could to him.
"Unsettled?" Frank laughed at the thought. "You seem to be settling pretty well next to me. I will protect you."
"Don't make fun of me." Elaina elbowed him in the ribs. "I loved it when we watched the lightning over the mountains in Montana. We would sit curled up together in the chair, in front of the balcony door and eat popcorn. Our own fantastic light show, complete with soft music on the stereo."
"I loved that too. We should have done that tonight instead of paperwork." Frank nuzzled her neck.
"You seem to have something else on your mind now." Elaina turned to kiss him but was interrupted by a knock at the front door. "Who in their right mind would be out in this mess?" She walked to the front door and opened it. As she did, a woman collapsed in her arms. "FRANK!" Elaina yelled.
Frank came from the office quickly and saw Elaina laying a strange woman on the floor. "Who is it?" "I don't know. I haven't seen her face yet." Elaina removed the hooded cape from the woman and brushed aside the wet hair from her face. "I've never seen her before have you?"
"I've never seen her before either. Maybe she had car trouble." Frank stated.
"Take her in on the couch by the fireplace and I'll go get some blankets for her." Elaina ran to retrieve the blankets for their unexpected guests. While passing Sarah's room, she noticed her daughter lay awake. Elaina went to her and picked her up gently and brought her back downstairs to join the others. "Here you go." She handed Frank the blankets and then set Sarah in the chair. "Stay right here Little One. We have company."
"I guess this is one storm she couldn't sleep through." Frank said looking at his daughter. "When this storm lets up I'll call Daniel so he can check out our guest." They could always count on Daniel. He had become more than a doctor to both he and Elaina.
"Why would anyone brave this storm when they could have stayed in the safety of their car?" Elaina wondered. "I'll go back up and get her some dry clothes. You hold Sarah." She added, noticing how their little girl was fighting sleep to keep up with what was going on in the room.
"Come on princess I'll rock you to sleep." Frank picked her up and walked over to the rocker by the fireplace. "This shouldn't take long." Frank said, noticing that she was already going back to sleep.
When Elaina returned and began helping their guest by removing her wet clothes. Frank decided to take Sarah back up to her room to give them privacy. As the woman regained consciousness, she grew frightened by the unfamiliar surroundings and sight of a stranger stripping her of her clothes.
"Don't be afraid. You're safe here." Elaina tried to calm her. "Nobody will hurt you. I'm just trying to get you in some dry clothes."
The woman held the blankets tight to her to keep Elaina from removing her clothing. "Feyn da gohzee?" The woman asked. "Ismik 'eyh?"
" Well, I see you speak Arabic. I hope I remember it enough to calm you down." Elaina said. "Ismee Elaina Donovan. Ismik 'eyh?"
"Layla Bay. Inta kallim arabee shway-ya?"
"Aywa."
"Bitit kalimee ingileezee?" Elaina hoped she spoke English since her Arabic was rusty to say the least.
"Yes. Some."
"Good, my Arabic is not too good. How did you get here?"
"I do not know. I was in Cairo with my husband and it was storming like it is here." Layla wrung her hands and looked directly at Elaina. "We were going to meet some friends at the museum. As we got to the door there was this very bright light." Layla paused to catch her breath. "Next thing I remember is being here. I don't even know where here is."
"You are in the United States. Chicago, Illinois, to be exact." Elaina told her taking her hand to calm her.
Layla started to cry. "You believe me do you not?" She saw that Elaina was having difficulty in believing her story.
"It does sound a bit strange but I see no reason for you to lie to me." Elaina turned and saw Frank standing by the stairs. "Excuse me. I won't be long." Elaina smiled and walked over to him. "Did you hear her story?"
"Yes I did and I find it very hard to believe that you are falling for it." Frank whispered watching the woman closely.
"You haven't even met her and you have her branded as a liar. Come, I'll introduce you to her." Elaina took him by the arm as they walked over to her. "Layla Bay. This is my husband, Frank."
Layla looked up at Frank and gasped. She muttered something in Arabic that Elaina didn't understand. "Da gohzee?"
"My husband yes." Elaina repeated. "Is there something wrong, Layla?"
"No I'm sorry. I'm just tired." Layla knew that if they didn't believe her story as to how she got there they would never believe that the man standing before her looked like her husband.
"Layla when you first woke up you asked for your husband. Was your husband beside you when this happened to you?" Elaina asked watching the woman's eyes.
"Yes, I was holding his arm because I was so afraid of the storm." Layla explained. "I know this is hard for you to believe. It is the same for me and I am the one that is living it." Layla said, tears forming again in her eyes. "What if he is outside in a different place and is hurt? Or he is back in Cairo still looking for me? How do I find him?" Layla was becoming agitated again.
"Frank, what if he is outside? We should try to look around for him," Elaina suggested.
"Excuse us one moment." Frank said to Layla. Layla was surprised to hear his voice sound similar to her husband's. Frank pulled Elaina over to the hallway. "Please tell me you are not believing this."
"Frank, I have been watching her eyes and her body language. I believe she is telling the truth. You know I'm the best lie detector we have available."
"You are good at reading people. I just hope this isn't the one time someone fools you." Frank said, a little worried.
"I'm not afraid of her Frank. I don't think she was sent here to hurt us. I believe she is from where she said." Elaina told him, watching the woman as she looked around the room.
Layla started muttering in Arabic again and Elaina was having difficulty in translating her as fast as she spoke. Layla pointed to the newspaper she had picked up, specifically to the date. "Is this the correct date?" She finally asked in English.
"Yes it is. Why do you ask?" Frank wondered.
"It is the same day but the year is1934 in Cairo." She saw the surprised and confused looks on their faces.
"I'm sorry. I can't believe a word she is saying. Are we to believe that a storm in 1934 brought her to the year 2003?" Frank scoffed at the idea. He walked away from Layla and Elaina but Elaina followed him.
"Frank, I want to go out and look around for her husband. You can either stay with her or help me look." Elaina was a bit angry at his actions.
"I'm not going to go out in this storm and neither are you. You were scared of it a few minutes ago. Now you are hell bent on going out in it?"
"The storm has let up. I haven't heard that much thunder except in the distance. If her husband is out there he may be hurt and need medical attention." Elaina went to the closet and got her raincoat and hat. "One of us should stay with her and Sarah. Since you don't believe her husband is out there then you can stay in here."
Frank grabbed her arm and got her full attention. "I'm your husband tonight, not your subordinate. Don't give me orders."
"Listen, Frank. I will be very careful. You can watch me from the windows." Elaina removed his hand from her arm and started for the door.
"Wait right here. I'll get the communication radios for us." Frank went to the office and returned with them. He put Elaina's on her head and adjusted it for her. He then turned the security lights on outside. They lit up the yard as if it was daylight.
"Thanks, Love. You and Cody did a good job putting the lights in the right spots." Elaina kissed him before she went out.
"We aim to please." Frank smiled at her. "Be careful out there." He watched her from the door until she left the front yard. Frank walked back into the living room with Layla. "I'm not being a very good host, would you like something to drink?"
"Yes, mayya would be fine." Layla smiled.
Frank went to the kitchen he watched as he saw Elaina making her way to the stables. He also noticed that the rain had let up to a light mist.
"Shukran."
"Afwan," Frank smiled at her.
"You know the language too?"
"My wife and I have traveled a lot in our work. We know enough of most languages to get us through our stays," Frank explained.
"Frank, I've found him. He's in the stables, out cold." Elaina said over the radio.
"I'll come out to help you." Frank said after moving away from Layla.
"He's coming around, I'm going to turn this off for a few minutes, so I can concentrate on him." Elaina knew he would want a play-by-play, but didn't want to frighten or confuse the man with the new technology.
Frank turned back to Layla. "I'm going out to help my wife I will be back in a few minutes. You'll be fine in here." Frank walked over to get his raincoat and started to the kitchen. As he got to the kitchen door he saw Elaina coming with their other guest. Frank helped her sit the man down at the table, then went to get Layla.
Layla hurried to the kitchen with Frank. When she saw her husband she knelt next to him. "Ardeth!" Layla wrapped herself around him, hugging him tight. "Hubee, ana fikr ana dayi inta!"
"Frank, meet your twin in the world." Elaina was staring at the man and then at Frank who was mesmerized by the man looking up at him. "Ardeth Bay, meet Frank Donovan."
Ardeth stared at Frank as if trying to remember him. "Donovan?" Ardeth asked, then passed out.
"Shukran" ... "Thank you." "Afwan" ... "Your Welcome" "Feyn da gozee?" .. "Where's my husband?" "Ismik 'eyh?".. "What is your name?" "Ismee," ... "My name is." "Bitit kalimee arabee masree?" ... "Do you speak Egyptian Arabic?" "Aywa," ... "Yes" "Da gohzee?" ... "Your husband?" "Mayya," ... "Water" "Hubee, ana fikr ana dayi inta!" . "My love, I thought I had lost you!"