Thanks to...Natters, Marcher, Star (merci so much:), PhantomSarah, Allibabab, Craklyn, Seletha, MBooker, and Angel Ruse...
Looooong chapter, yay! And ooh! A "Cost of a Glance" allusion is buried waaaay in there. What fun:) Also I think I came up with a better Imhotep/Anck ending than the original, which I know almost everyone has issues with. I don't even like those two, and I hated it. That's what's so great about fanfic. :) ~Buff
all dreams have died along the way i coughed up a price i bought a cage i've had a hell of a time since i went away don't know when i died or where to lay down gone gone away so they say with time we slowly heal i caught a flash of your smile through the fog of a dream i'll have a hell of a time i clearly see i can't be by your side i'll see you when i sleep now you're gone gone away
--"gone" jerry cantrell
I can't get my head straight. I hate this feeling of not being in control of myself. I hate myself, I hate myself for what I've allowed to happen. It has to be my fault. Rick wouldn't be here if it weren't for me, he wouldn't have come to London to save me. Now more than ever, the thought that none of this would have happened if I hadn't been so stupid eight years ago, if I hadn't let the love of my life go without so much as a fight, if only I'd seen the truth, Rick wouldn't be dead.
It hits me for the first time that I'm sitting next to a dead body. Rick is dead. Rick is dead, and there's nothing I can do.
I feel Jonathan's hand on my shoulder, and he pulls me away from Rick. I feel him wiping tears away from my face, but I can't bear to look at him, I can't open my eyes, for the world that I would see through them terrifies me. "Come on, Evy, breathe. Just breathe, okay?"
I obey his instructions with little protest, and as I draw in a breath I realize my lungs ache for air. Jonathan continues to hold me as I concentrate on just living. Living. My eyes open and wander to Alex, who stands nearby as if he's not sure what he should be doing. I reach for him and he falls into my arms.
"It's not fair," he says. "It's not fair."
"Think of it this way, Alex," says Jonathan, who hovers on the other side of his nephew as if we could shield him simply by our presence. "He's gone to a better place. Like it says in the Good Book, he who--"
"The book..." I interrupt, and my stomach does a somersault all the way up to my throat. Of course. The book. So appropriate that it should begin and end with the book. I let go of my son and stand. "Jonathan, stay here with Alex."
"Where are you going?"
I look him in the eye, and it hits him a half-second before I say it. "I'm going to get the book."
"Evy, no." My brother grabs my shoulders, but I push him away. He nods his head toward Alex in what I think is supposed to be an obscure, urgent way. "It's not worth the risk."
I look at my son and the sight of him doesn't have the effect I think Jonathan would have intended. I'm not going to let him grow up without a father. There is no way I'm letting this go, not now. I take Alex in my arms for one last hug before turning to Jonathan again. "I'll be right back."
"And what do you expect us to do?"
His tone is not critical, only desperate. "Whatever you can," I say, and I mean it. My mind may not be working through this entirely logically, but something tells me that I need Jonathan's help. We all have our part to play, though our fates may not be clear until they are shoved in our faces. Even then I am not sure what the hell is happening here. In the back of my mind I'm still screaming that this can't be real, this can't have happened, this just doesn't happen, it just can't. But it's not over. It's not over by a long shot.
"I'm not letting you go alone," Jonathan says. "We're coming with you."
"Jonathan, don't--"
"No. I'm not letting you go alone," he repeats. "Let's go."
Despite my protest, deep down I am glad I will not be alone. Jonathan's right. I have to just live, for my brother, for my son. For Rick. I'm going to get him back. I don't allow myself to look at the body as I pass. Seeing him lying there would just make it more real.
The three of us walk deeper and deeper into the pyramid, clutching each other's hands. "Shouldn't we have some sort of plan?" Jonathan asks. "I mean, we can't just walk up and say, 'Give us the book.'"
I rack my brain for something that doesn't seem like suicide. We need the book. And somewhere in there I have a feeling Imhotep's going to show up again. Two problems. Two birds with one stone.
"I've got it," I announce. The boys look startled, as if they did not expect such decisive action. I draw two blades from a statue's hands as we pass it, and hand one to Jonathan. "We're going to sneak up on her."
"That's your plan? 'Sneak up on her?'"
"You haven't heard it all yet. We're going to take Anck-su-namun hostage. She's Imhotep's Achilles' heel. He won't risk hurting her."
"And what are we going to do after that?"
"Kill Imhotep. Kill the Scorpion King. Simple."
Jonathan rolls his eyes, then picks Alex up and sets him behind a stone pillar. "You stay here. We'll be right back."
For once Alex has no smart remark to toss back at his uncle, and I realize suddenly that my little boy has grown up in my week-long absence. He is no longer so little, and he looks so much like Rick my heart breaks all over again.
I shake off these thoughts and move farther down the hallway, Jonathan right behind me. I can see Anck-su-namun in the adjoining room. She's not paying much attention, and I take the opportunity to wrap my arm around her neck. Just like that the blade hovers over her slender collarbone, and before she can move I twist her arms behind her back.
"Nefertiri. Come to take your revenge?" she hisses in ancient Egyptian.
"Where's the book?"
"I don't have it." I press the knife closer to her skin and she whimpers slightly despite her defiant words. "It's on the bench, over there."
Jonathan quickly spots the stone slab and rushes to the book. "Now what?" he asks, and Anck-su-namun has the audacity to laugh.
"You two are so pitiful," she says. "This was your plan?"
"I think you've forgotten whose holding the knife."
"Would you kill me, Nefertiri?" she asks, struggling against my arms. "Could you? The sweet little princess, a cold-blooded murderer? That I'd like to see. I thought your precious Medjai was the killer."
For some reason I know she's talking about Rick, though I'm not sure why. I can feel a trickle of blood run from my fingers down to my wrist, and Anck-su-namun seems to get the message. "Jonathan," I say, "take the book and go back to--"
"Evy, I can't..." Jonathan looks ashamed, and for once in my life I cannot blame him for his shortcomings. What he's done for me has already exceeded duty. "I mean, I'm a bit rusty. I don't think I can read the ancient Egyptian."
My plan has been shattered again. I can't send Jonathan on to face Imhotep; I know it has to be me. I can't leave Rick behind, I can't just...
"Mum?" says my son, stepping out from his hiding place. "I'll do it. Let me have the book."
No. "Alex, no, I--"
"Mum, let me have the book," he repeats, holding out his hands.
Something is shining in his eyes, something so full of faith that I know it will never be crushed. I have to trust him. No, I know I can trust him. My son, Rick's son. If there's anyone who can do this, it's Alex.
"Don't worry, mum," he says, taking the book from Jonathan. "It's going to be okay."
He's halfway down the hallway before I can find my voice. "I love you, Alex," I call, but he does not look back at me.
"How touching," says Anck-su-namun, and I shove her forward as we begin to walk toward the main temple. Jonathan, my brave, darling brother Jonathan, is in front, one hand wielding a blade, and in the other, the Scepter of Osiris.
Second chances only come for people who are willing to make them happen. I'm not giving up. I will never give up.
An incredible warmth fills my lungs, though the fog that swirls about my absent limbs chills my skin. Vague shapes float around me, though none are the ones I am looking for. Somehow I feel frustrated, as though something is not as it should be. As the moments pass, I can feel the questions slowly slipping away, and it only makes me scramble more for the answers.
Then I feel pressure on my wrist, pulling me slightly in an opposite direction. A faint whispering accompanies the tugging, a language I pull out from the memory of some life and begin to translate in my head as I follow it through the indigo fog.
The pseudo-air that fills my lungs burns horribly, but the pain chokes halfway up my throat and everything is thrown off balance. Maybe I black out for minute, I don't know, but suddenly the need to breathe becomes my main concern as I gulp in beautiful cool air. Slowly I become aware of the scratchy feel of the sand beneath me, and as my eyes focus I make out the sun in the sky above me. It burns my eyes and I raise a hand to cover my face. I hear a gasp, and move the hand to reveal Alex, who sits back on his heels, eyes wide. "Dad?" he says, and his voice is so faint that I'm not sure I heard him right.
I sit up, feeling strangely full of energy for someone who has just received a fatal stab wound, and take in my surroundings. We are out in the bright sunlight again, but in my mind's eye I can't help but see it fading to black, dimming in the background while Evelyn's face remained as bright as day through my vanishing sight.
"Where are they?" I say to Alex, though I really don't need to ask. There's only one place Evelyn and Jonathan could be.
"Come on, I'll lead you there."
I get up from the sand, trying not notice the red stains that now mar its pristine surface. As we make our way into the temple, I discreetly confirm that I am no longer bleeding to death, though through my ragged shirt I can feel an angry scar. A reminder, I suppose, of what I lost. I won't lose it again. "Alex?"
"Yeah?"
Without thinking, I reach over and ruffle his hair. "Thank you."
He doesn't protest the gesture of familiarity, only smiles. "They went through that door, up there. They took Anck-su-namun prisoner."
"How brave."
When he looks at me this time, his face is so young. "My mum is very brave."
I chose a large ax from a nearby display. "Stay behind me, okay?"
Someone screams from the opposite room, and I don't wait for Alex's answer. I run headlong through the indicated doorway, and the first thing that hits me is the heat. Fire everywhere, burning in great tubs and spewing from cracks in the floor. I don't see the priest anywhere, but there sure as hell is a giant bug chasing the love of my life across a fiery obstacle course.
I've found that in the more intense moments of my life, I have a tendency not to think before I act. Thinking the situation out is not going to do me any good this time, because the only sensible thing to do seems to be to fly at the bug with my ax and hope to God he doesn't see me until the last second. Right?
This doesn't work out exactly as it should have, but close enough, for the bug's momentary distraction from his target allows me to get a good shot in.
"Rick!" I hear Evelyn cry, before darting behind a nearby ruin, her eyes wide with the sight her un-dead lover come to rescue her. My attention is on her escape for a moment too long, and suddenly I find myself flung across the room by the bug, who seems quite pissed that I've interrupted his pursuit of Evelyn.
Luckily, he has tossed me toward Jonathan, and he cushions my fall, though we both end up on the floor. He clutches a long golden spear, but it flies out of his hands and into the air, seeming to hang there for an agonizing moment before clattering to the ground. As it comes to rest I spot Imhotep near the opposite wall. He sees the spear, too.
We both lunge for it, though I'm not quite sure why it's so important. The priest has a hold of it first but I manage to grab the other end, which is fortunately the end with the hilt. I roll away and simply pull the lance out of his grip. Before I can get up, however, the Scorpion King is suddenly above me, coming at me with lethal claws that could tear me to shreds in a moment. Without thinking, I stab the spear in the general direction of his heart. It meets flesh, and after a surprised roar, the bug explodes in a violent shower of ash.
When it dissipates somewhat, the ground begins to roll and pitch. I struggle to my feet and through the heat and dust I can see Jonathan and Alex at the entrance, safe from the aftershocks. Evelyn is nowhere to be seen. Where?...
"Rick!" I hear again, and I see her across the room, locked in a swordfight which that bitch Anck-su-namun appears to have no intention of losing. For a brief moment I wonder what happened to Imhotep, but as I tempt the whims of the collapsing chamber, trying to make my way across to my own lover, all other thoughts are banished. Finally I reach the skirmishing pair, but Evelyn doesn't need my help anymore. With one swift right hook Anck-su-namun is down for the count, and now on the ground, her dazed movements don't present a threat. Evelyn looks up, takes a step toward me, but then stops, eyes wide. The ground gives way beneath the two women, and through the rock slices of terror are visible in the underworld below.
I dive forward, and through some combination of love and luck her hand finds mine as she falls. I can feel my grasp on her slipping as the rock gives way, as a swarming mass of tortured souls attempt to pull the both of us down. They have already taken Anck-su-namun; I can see the faint shimmering of what had once been her soul falling down, down, into the pit.
After what seems like an eternity, I somehow find the strength to pull Evelyn up and over the ledge. As we stand I see Imhotep again, but he is not looking at us. He stares at the abyss where Anck-su-namun disappeared, the fiery eternal grave that she has fallen into without a trace. He turns toward us, contemplates us with tears in his eyes. I think Evelyn feels sorry for him. He is left with nothing, again. But I cannot pity him. I got my second chance, and so did he. What we did with it determined our destinies, and he chose his own path. He nods, and with no expression on his face simply steps over the edge of the chasm. Just like that, he is gone.
Evelyn and I run for the exit, where Jonathan and Alex still wait. The four of us race out of the chamber and through the pyramid, only to find that the entire Oasis seems to be disappearing from whence we came. As we climb up, up, up, I run through a million solutions in my head. We reach the top and I know that none of them are going to work. We're trapped.
Then, a different sort of buzzing noise to accompany the ringing in our ears. A plane bursts out of the mass of swirling greenery and rises above us. A step-ladder falls from it and nearly hits me on the head as I grab for it. It pitches back and forth as the plane moves in tight circles above us, but somehow I manage to hang on to it. "Get on!" I yell above the howling of the wind. Evelyn grabs Alex and they wrap their arms around the rungs.
Suddenly they are snatched from us as the ladder flings to the left. After a moment of panic I realize they are still hanging on, though they dangle above us. The plane is heading toward us for one last run, and Jonathan and I leap for it the ladder as it passes. By some dumb luck we both manage to find a hold on it, and I feel my feet lift from the pyramid just as the tip of it disappears into the flurry of sand and palm trees.
It seems to take hours for everyone to inch their way up the step-ladder as it twirls dangerously in the air. First Alex climbs into the cargo door, followed by Evelyn and Jonathan, and finally myself. I manage to close the door against the wind and as I turn I am once again enveloped in a group hug.
"Gave me up for dead, did you O'Connell?" says Izzy from his seat at the front of the plane. "Some thank you!"
"At least you didn't get shot," I say from the midst of the hug, adding, "Thank you, by the way," before Izzy turns his attention back to the controls, rolling his eyes. Jonathan and Alex eventually pull away from everyone and collapse on seats up near the front, but Evelyn remains in my arms. "Don't ever do that again, okay?" I whisper into her hair, and I can feel her laughing softly.
"Speak for yourself," she says, and raises her face so I can see her. "I guess we're even now, right?"
"Not quite. Marry me, would you?"
She grins, but takes a minute to answer, probably just to torture me. "If you insist."
"I do."
Her grin fades and suddenly we're lost in one of those moments again. "So do I," she whispers, and as she kisses me, this one moment makes up for everything in my life that's ever gone wrong.
~*~*~*~
Not the end, only a pause in the action. It'd be just peachy if y'all would review, please:)