*author note at end of chappy so not to disclose plot details…however, that being said, would anyone like to volunteer to explain to my UP us history teacher tomorrow morning as to why I was writing mummy fanficiton instead of doing homework for her class? …

no, sigh, okay, I guess I better get started on my study guide whilst you all get to read…

Chapter Three

A month later

I thought I was just marring Evelyn, but apparently, I got her brother with the package. I liked John alright, when he wasn't drunk and all that. But sometimes, he was just a pain in the ass. Like right now.

I had spent the better part of the late morning and early afternoon at the damn train station, waiting for his damn train to arrive, which was a couple of hours late. And now that the thing was here, John was nowhere to be found. He had probably passed out in the kitchen car, and I wasn't about to go look for him. He could end up in Zimbabwe for all I cared. It was his own damn fault for getting hammered on the train.

Trying to appear calm as possible, I sat down in one of the uncomfortable chairs and opened up a newspaper that was lying around. Thankfully, it was written in English so I could pass the time easily. People bustled around me speaking in rushed Arabic; I couldn't understand a word of it other then the occasion cuss. I wished Evy were here. I could talk her. And she would go after her brother and we could be out of here. But I wasn't her and wasn't about to go chasing after my John.

Evy was working- again. That's all she did was work and I was getting tired of being home alone. I had tried a few times to get a job, but nothing suited me. I just didn't want to be stuck behind some desk trying to translate some rambling Arabic with a little book. Besides that, most people in town knew my… reputation…and wouldn't hire me simply on the basis that I had been in the Legion and had a trivial prison record. That made any somewhat okay jobs unattainable. Maybe in England there would be something else. But for right now, I was stuck.

It was another half hour before I finally spotted the man of the day. He came stumbling toward me, a big suitcase in one hand, a bottle of bourbon and that stupid gold stick in another. I was going to take that damn stick and lock it up if he didn't stop carrying it around. It made him look like even more of an idiot.

"O'Connell," he acknowledged me, grinning.

I stood up and flashed him a tiny smile. "Hey John," I replied back, taking the bag. "Trip okay?"

"More or less. You know they sell alcohol on the train from Alexandria now?"

"You don't say?" I asked dryly, narrowing my eyes at the bottle he was still holding.

"Yes I do," he replied, which confirmed my suspicion that he was probably drunk. What kind of response was that? I sighed and nodded toward the far doors.

"Car's out there."

Jonathan nodded and followed behind me as we made our way through the thinning crowd. I didn't say anything; I wasn't really sure if there was anything to say. I hadn't seen this man in a few months, and we both knew we weren't each other's favorite person. I was the man who stole his baby sister away from him and he was the man that had known her since the day she was born, which made me slightly jealous. Course, now I probably knew her better then anyone. Without realizing it, a sly grin had formed across my face. John noticed it.

"What's so bloody funny?" he asked.

"Nothing," I replied, pushing the image of just how well I knew Evelyn out of my mind.

Jonathan made an irritated sound and then finally asked, "Where's my baby sister O'Connell?"

We had reached the car by now and as I threw open the trunk I replied that she was at work. Jonathan didn't look too surprised at this; shrugging, he climbed into the passenger seat.

"Nice wheels," he remarked.

I climbed in and started the engine up. The "wheels" was nothing more then a little town car Evy and I had decided to splurge and buy. Actually, we'd sort of rented it from a guy Evy knew until we moved. But who was really keeping tabs. We would have just borrowed Jonathan's car, but it had disappeared in the whole being chased by the mummy business.

"Yeah, it gets us places," I replied as we started off. I didn't mention, however, that some of these places were in no way related to driving. More then a few times, during our Sunday drives she liked, Evy and I had ended up in the backseat. I felt sorry for the guy's family we borrowed it from; if only they knew.

It had been pre-arranged that Jonathan would be staying with us. He was going to be here for only a couple months, Evy pointed out, and then we would all be going back to London. I protested as much as I could, claiming that John was a grown man and could take care of himself. But no cigar. Things were definitely going to have to change at the O'Connell household now. Which sucked big time.

By the time we had gotten home, Jonathan was already blabbing about how nice it was to get back in Cairo after "that god awful London November weather." I had to shrug off that one; I was so sick of sun I could have gone for a good week of rain. But John and Evy, apparently, were in love with ninety-degree days and dry heat. Thankfully, today had been colder then usual and I had heard some talk of a storm.

I shoved his bag into the extra bedroom. Evy had had a fit about having to move all her stuff to one side, but when I had pointed out it was her fault Jonathan was staying with us, she shut up. We had just set up an extra bed; it wasn't anything to homey. But if Jonathan was going to be bumming a place to sleep off of us for the next two months, he was going to have to deal with it.

Then I was off to pick up Evy from work. It was getting darker earlier now and it was already after four. I didn't want her walking home by herself and I wasn't about to walk there, it took to much time. Plus, picking her up gave me a chance to escape the boredom of being at home all day. I asked Jonathan if he wanted to come, but he mumbled that he ought to get cleaned up before his sister saw him. Cleaned up as in not looking so drunk. I rolled my eyes and left, slamming the door behind me.

It took only ten minutes to get to Evy's office and since I was a little early, I parked the car and walked inside. After getting lost, I finally found the right hallway and rattled on her door.

"Come in!"

I pushed the door open and was not at all surprised at what I saw. Evy was leaning over- what else- a book, her reading glasses pushed up as far as they would go. I never really understood those glasses; she didn't seem to need them to read tiny little Egyptian script or other books. The first pair had disappeared when the Sudan caught on fire, but as soon as we had returned, she got new ones. Sometimes I thought she wore them just to look smarter. Chuckling to myself, I closed the door, and walked over to where she was.

"Hey Baby," I greeted her, taking the liberty to sit on the edge of her desk.

Evelyn looked up at me and grinned. "You're early," she observed.

"Uh huh. I picked up John for ya."

She reached over and gave me hand a little squeeze. "Thank you darling. And don't look so sour- it's only for a bit."

"He's going to be there all the time," I pointed out.

Evy rolled her eyes and then put a little marker in her book before closing it up. Then she just sat looking at me with raised eyebrows as if to ask "and your point is…"

"He'll be sharing a bathroom with us."

Nothing. Her expression never changed.

"He'll be eating our food."

Still nada. Geez.

"You'll have to keep it down with you and I-"

"Richard!"

At least she was talking. I started chuckling again, which made her lower her eyes at me and give me that irritated glance she has.

"Can't you ever think of anything else?" she demanded, rolling her eyes disapprovingly and pulling her glasses away from her face.

"Not with you around," I answered truthfully, watching as she sighed, stood up from her chair and then started gathering her things, shoving them into an oversized purse bag thing. This took her some time, and after she finally threw the last thing in- that book she had been reading- she moved to where I was and paused in front of me. I gave her a suggesting smile.

"Honestly Rick," she said her eyes angry, but her voice giving away the fact that she was a little amused. Leaning over, she meant to give me a quick kiss, but I changed that.

I clamped my hand on the back of her head and held her lips against mine. She resisted for a minute and then finally gave in, dropping the purse onto the floor with a thud, and throwing her arms around my neck and responding like I wanted her to. If anyone ever tried to tell me that our libidos were unhealthy, I would have laughed their head off.

Before her office got added to the list of places that people would be sorry if they knew, I broke away, leaving us both breathing heavily and slightly flushed.

"I missed you," I offered, trying to make light of the moment.

Evy grinned. "I've been gone for only a few hours."

"Too long." I wrinkled my nose at her, imitating the cute was she always did it to me.

"Ooohhh."

Evelyn made her trademark little response, but instead of being just irritated, it was sort of a happy-irritated. I kissed her quickly again and then pushed her away so I could jump off of the desk. My feet hit the floor with a loud thud and Evy sighed.

"You're not a subtle man, are you?" she asked, her hands on her hips and that bag swung over her shoulder.

I just shrugged and pushed past her toward the door. She followed me out of the room, closing the door with a click, and then we were out of there before anyone could stop us. Or rather, before Evy could stop someone else. I'd noticed she had a habit of talking to anyone, whether they were listing or not. And quite often, these people were innocent tourists.

Clouds had formed over the skies while we were occupied in her office and as we stepped outside, I glanced gratefully at the black overhead. If I was lucky, we would get some rain- finally. If it hadn't been for all the people around, or the fact that my wife was standing right there, I might have done a happy little jig. Might is the key word. For now I sufficed with a simple little grin.

Evy didn't say much the whole way home, which meant she was preoccupied by something. I didn't ask what; content with the unusual silence. Even when we got home and she greeted her brother, she wasn't the characteristic blabbermouth. There was talk of their house and a few other trivial things, but mostly Evy just sat there and let Jonathan blab, which he was more then capable of doing.

Even stranger, she went to bed early, claiming a headache. I rolled my eyes at that one- she probably wanted to read that damn book she had been reading earlier. But I didn't say anything, just kissed her and let her be as Jonathan and I finished off the remainder of the bourbon.

When I finally did join my wife I was not at all surprised to find her sitting up in bed, glasses and nightgown on, peering anxiously at the pages of her book. When I shut the door (loudly too), she didn't even look up, just kept on reading. I shut off the light, only to find she had the bedside lamp on.

Quelling a groan, I undressed down to my boxers and climbed into the warm bed. Evelyn didn't even acknowledge me until I grabbed her hand.

"Oh, hello," she responded, finally turning to look at me.

"Good book?" I asked, trying not to sound too annoyed. I should have known better; Evy's eyes lit up and she got this excited look on her face.

"Look at this," she said, shoving the book into my face without so much as an explanation. I took it from her and studied the black and white picture- or rather- sketch on the warn pages. It looked familiar, but I couldn't figure out where I had seen it. Curiously, I folded the book over to look at the title. I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was.

"Egyptian Myths and Legends! Evelyn, what in the hell?" Evy, myths, and legends didn't mix. Not even a little bit.

Evy sighed and grabbed the book back from me. "Look," she said, opening it back up to the page with the sketch, "it's the same two people on my ring. The same headdresses and everything. They were found on a pillar at Karnack. And in the paragraphs talking about it, it's said to be Seti the first and his first wife, Tuya."

I stared at her. I knew what she was getting at. I knew it before she knew it. I already knew the story. Any treasure hunter would, just as they would Hamunaptra. And then, in one quick rambling minute, Evy shot what I already knew out of that mouth of hers.

"According to legend, Tuya and Seti's youngest daughter, Nefertiri, was the her mother's favorite child. The Queen knew Rameses and Moses would over shadow her daughter because, unlike Nefertiri, they were destined for great things. So she hid an extravagant amount of wealth away for her daughter to have when she reached proper age. Only Tuya knew the location of the secret chamber and had it engraved on two pieces of jewelry- no one knows exactly what they were- and wore them. But, when Seti died, well, was killed, Nefertiri ran away, some say with Moses, because he disappeared around the same time, but nonetheless, never to be found again. Tuya was so heartbroken at the loss of her husband and daughter, well and a son if you count Moses, that she cast the jewelry away. After that, she retreated to bed, where she became mysteriously ill. She finally confessed about the treasure, but was never able to tell anyone where the jewelry was and was to weak to give the directions herself, only muttering 'never ending circle.' In Egyptian, of course."

"Evy."

"Now, I've been thinking-"

"Evelyn!"

"What?" she turned up to look at me a confused expression plastered across her face.

"You're going on a lot of fate here," I pointed out. I knew she was thinking her ring had something to do with Tania or Tutuia or whatever her name was. That maybe the queen had hidden the jewelry at Hamunaptra. "No one has proved the story of Moses." It was a weak argument; Moses hardly had a thing to do with it. But I wasn't exactly thinking clearly at the moment.

Evy cocked her head to one side. "The ten plagues arose with Imhotep," she shot back. "That has to be conclusive proof."

Good point. "But Evy, the pictures could be a coincidence. I mean, it could be any random man and woman."

She didn't say anything and turned her gaze away from me. I knew she was totally ignoring my comment because she wanted the man and the woman to be Seti and his queen. She wanted this to be real. She wanted to be the one to prove the myth a truth. Tentatively, I leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Goodnight," I whispered, lying down. I pulled the blankets up to my chin and settled down against the cool pillows. Closing my eyes, I immediately felt very tired. The booze and long day was finally catching up with me. I vaguely wondered if I had pissed my wife off with my final comment and lay there worrying about it until I hazily heard Evy sigh, felt the rusting of blankets, and then the room was trust into darkness. I didn't move, just waited there, wanting her to come to me.

She did. In one quick motion, she had slid up to me and draped her legs across mine, one hand lying on my chest and the other above my head as she played idly with my hair. All was forgiven. I gave her another quick kiss on the top of her head as it settled against my shoulder.

Falling into a content slumber, I tried not to think of Evy's myth. But I knew, sooner or later, my dismissing the subject would come back and bite me in the ass.

*Alrighty, trying to tie the whole TMR thing into it and trying my best at that. Took some research, and as best as I can tell, Tuya outlived Seti because it says she lived to see Rameses become pharaoh. As for Moses, who knows. Makes a good story right? And since we don't know what happened to Miss Nefertiri from Seti's death until about 1926, maybe this will satisfy some of your curious minds. LOL.

Thank you so much for the great reviews. I hope you all liked the chapter. Let me know what you think!