I own nahtheeng, I don't have the copyright, I'm just taking the characters out for a quick test drive. Again. Thanks to Gryffindor620 for the reviews & encouragement!

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"Is anyone else worried about how this guy is always a step ahead?" asked Paige plaintively.

Tom snorted. "A step? 550 years would be more accurate!" He looked at Cole. "Sorry, but how sure are you that the befanged one was there?"

Cole tilted his head. "Occasionally Tethos would vanish from the tunnels and go walking in the world above. Whatever Source was in power, they liked to keep an eye on him. Sometimes he'd give his spies the slip and disappear. But I'm sure he was there because I once heard one of the oldest demons in hell talking about things that he'd seen and things that he wished he'd seen. The fall of Byzantium was one that he'd missed, but he added that Tethos had been there."

"Which begs the question," said Molly slowly, "Of what Tethos needs this hammer thing for?"

"Perhaps he wants to kill the Source?" suggested Paige. Cole shook his head.

"He nailed one Source to his own ceiling and has terrified every one since. He could destroy the Source easily now. He could destroy any demon easily now. No, he needs it for something else."

"What could the most powerful demon in hell want with one of the most powerful magical weapons in the world?" asked Phoebe, deeply troubled, but all she got in response was yet another despairing shrug and a flicker of eyebrows from her lover. "He may be a demon..." said Paige, twisting her fingers together, "But he hates other demons. Maybe that's it, maybe he's going to destroy the underworld!"

Cole shuddered. "Not that that's attractive, but if the Hammer of Ra is as powerful as I've heard. Destroying hell would leave a pretty massive scar beneath the earth."

He looked at Paige's blank expression. "I'm not exactly where hell is, physically, but anything over it would head downwards pretty damn fast if hell was reduced to a scorched hole in the ground. And what it might set off in the way of earthquakes, or volcanoes..."

But Paige was unwilling to let go of the idea. "Yeah, but if it's under a desert, or under the sea, what would be okay, wouldn't it?"

This time it was Tom who replied. "Paige, from what I've heard, hell is huge, and I'd rather not gamble with the lives of the people it might be under. And besides, even if it was under the sea, if you drop the seabed even by a couple of metres, the sea would rush in and then bounce around a bit. It would set off tsunami - you know, tidal waves."

He straightened up again and bit back a huge yawn. "I don't think we're doing ourselves any favours here second guessing each other. Leo, did the Elders confirm that there are just three pieces to this thing?" He sighed with relief when the Whitelighter nodded. "Thank god, I'd hate to go haring off after a piece that we didn't know about."

"Each piece has a name," Leo went on. "The main piece is called the Arms of Ra. The square rod is the Fist of Seth and the round one is the Fist of Osiris."

The others took this in. "Dinky names," was Piper's only comment.

"Even if we can get the third piece," wondered Phoebe, "What do we do with it? Guarding it against Tethos would be a bad idea. Bury it in Egypt again? Send it up to the Elders?"

Paige gave Phoebe one of her 'gee, you're dumb' expressions. "We're all witches here. I say we just boogy down to Florida, stick it into a rocket and send it into the sun!"

"Or we could just work out a more practical solution," scowled Piper. "Send it into the sun... Paige, honey, sometimes we can take care of things without blowing other things up. Trust me."

Tom was in the middle of a fantastic grimace, but it was too late and a yawn that was even more massive than the last one broke through. "Um..." he looked at his watch. "When's dusk here?"

"Just after 8pm," replied Cole.

"And it's just after two now. Look, I've had one hour's sleep in 36 hours, and that was in an office in Cairo. I'm going to get my head down for a few hours. If we're going to be up all night, then I really need some shuteye." He turned to Piper. "Can I have a quick sleep in one of the guest bedrooms?"

In an instant Piper was all contrition. "Oh... honey, I forgot that you're still on Europe time. You all must be. Come on downstairs, we've got three bedrooms... It's okay, Prue's bedroom can be used..."

"It's no bother," said Theresa, shyly, and she and Tom held hands quietly. "Two bedrooms."

Piper's right eyebrow shot up and a sly smile lit her face for the first time that day. "Two bedrooms it is..."

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Cunningham was looking into a tall glass cabinet in his display room when there was a soft knock on the door. He turned slightly, unwilling to look away from the gleaming white rod that was sitting on its crystal stand.

"Come on in."

Andrews walked in and this time Cunningham did turn to look at his head of security. He was still in his suit and despite the gleaming white tile floor his shoes were close to being noiseless. Cunningham smiled inwardly. Hiring the former marine had been a stroke of genius. Then he saw the fat folder under his employee's arm and his eyebrows rose almost of their own volition.

"Mah god, that was fast. Ah take it you found something on our visitors?"

The folder came out and Andrews opened it carefully. He held out the first picture for the old millionaire to see properly.

"We've checked out the three British ones. It wasn't easy sir. Kelly is the best hacker on anyone's payroll, period, but he couldn't get all the way into the British Museum's system. Their Room 42 has a security system that stopped him dead in his tracks, it's better than the one the British Security Service uses. The CIA's looks like a school website by comparison. Whatever they're hiding, it's big. But..."

He passed the security camera picture of the four visitors over and then reached for a sheaf of papers.

"We did find mention of them in other systems and also in several papers. They seem to be some sort of artifact retrieval squad. They check out objects held in private collections, other museums, and so on. They also seem to do a lot of foreign travel. I've found references to them being talked of by archaeological societies in France, Canada, Russia, all over the Middle East.

"Durrell has worked there for five years. Impressive academic credentials." He paused as Cunningham let out a loud snort of contempt and muttered something about goddamn paper qualifications, nuthin' like a dose of life to give anyone all the experience anyone needed and that Momma Cunningham's boy never went to no university. Andrews winced inwardly. His employer was clever, calculating and totally ruthless, but he did insist on this whole 'good ol' boy' routine. He wasn't sure how much was an act and how much was real.

When Cunningham finally wound down, he continued: "Atkins joined seven years ago. Similar qualifications, but her father used to work for the Museum before her, in the same department. His name is Joseph Atkins, half Welsh, half Irish, very well respected. Now, Evans is the first joker in the pack. Degree in history but became a journalist. Several local papers, several trade papers, all around London. Welsh parents. No strong ties. He seems, from his work history, to have been something of a wanderer. That changed a year ago, after a visit to San Francisco.

"Something happened - Kelly says that the police record has been erased, pretty permanently too - there was some sort of incident. Apparently someone attacked him at the same time that a gas main exploded. It was odd, anyway. He returned to London, got a job at the British Museum almost at once and seems to have become totally dedicated to his job. Glowing references to him.

"Halliwell is the other joker in the pack. She lives here in San Francisco, used to be a chef, then a restaurant manager, and now she and her sisters are joint owners of a nightclub. But her ID as a deputy to Room 42 is valid - it was okayed in London two days ago, Kelly was able to get that much out of the system. There is more on her, but it's weird. There's a full report in here sir, including mention of the death of her eldest sister Prudence six months ago and the mysterious appearance of a younger half-sister. Oh, and one more thing: Halliwell and Evans are cousins."

"Are they now," said Cunningham, taking the proffered folder. "What about what they said?"

"That part is true sir," answered Andrews grimly. "There's a full report on that too. Whoever broke into the British Museum did it without leaving a trace on the outside of the building, and that alone is enough to worry me."

"And when you worry, Andrews," said Cunningham, looking back down at the artifact, "Other people would be panicking. Do you want authorisation for Team One to patrol tonight?"

"Yes, sir."

"Granted. Tell 'em to blow off the head of a gopher if it so much as peeks into the grounds."

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Piper coughed very loudly and then knocked politely on the door of one of the guest bedrooms. There was no response. She listened carefully and then slowly pushed the door open to peek inside. Tom and Theresa was lying on the bed in each others arms, fully clothed and fast asleep. Piper quirked her lips into a wry smile. They looked impossibly cute together. Then she heard a groan and turned to see Molly come out of the other room, yawning and looking... well, mussed.

Molly looked at her blearily. "Any chance of you pointing me in the direction of a shower?"

Piper pointed and then nodded back at the other room. "I get terribly protective of my cousin. How long have they been together?"

Molly grinned. "Eight months. It took four months of urging to get them dating. I swear to god, the first time they saw each other it was like a bad romantic novel, but neither would make the first move. You don't need to worry, they're very good for each other."

Piper nodded. "Yeah, I get the feeling that they are. I'll get you a towel"

By the time that everyone had reassembled, some still yawning, others still damp, the sun was setting.

"Okay," said Leo. "What's the plan?"

Tom leant forward. "I think we need to divide our forces. Theresa and I can get into Cunningham's place, we were talking about it earlier. But at least two people need to stay here I think. The last thing we need is to return here - whatever happens - and discover that there are demons hunting Tethos anywhere nearby. If the Source is hunting this thing as well, we can't risk any other involvement. Besides, the most I can lift is five people."

"Lift what?" asked Phoebe, and got a grin in response. "You'll see. Besides, I think we need a potion or two up our sleeves in case we get back here in a rush. Molly, do have enough here to make up one of your bombs?" Molly nodded.

"Leo, can you stay here with her?"

The Whitelighter pulled a face, but was reassured by a quiet nod from his wife. "If I need you, I'll call you, honey."

Tom nodded. "Let's go."

Piper was getting a crick in her neck as she started up at the top of the wall surrounding Cunningham's mansion. "Is it me, or is that thing taller?"

Tom looked at her. "Piper, it's night. Everything looks different at night." He looked back along the road. "Okay, this is far enough away from the gates and close enough to those trees."

Looking confused, Paige gestured at the wall, the electric fence and the razor wire. "How are we going to get over that?"

"Trust me," said Tom and then he turned back to the wall. "Cole, shimmer over to Pheebs when you hear us call you..."

Cole looked at him with a raised eyebrow and then crossed his arms. "Okay," he said doubtfully.

The Welshman blew out a long breath and then looked up at the wall. Then he brought his hands together slowly and half-closed his eyes.

The Charmed Ones gave a collective frown as they seemed to feel lighter and then suddenly they all gasped as they slowly left the ground. Once they were all a few feet off the ground Tom and Theresa floated up to join them. "No-one freak out at this," said Tom through half-gritted teeth. "Pheebs, you've lost weight."

"Hey!" protested Phoebe and then she changed her mind. "You think? Whoops!" she protested weakly as they all floated upwards, slowly at first and then faster, until they were all in a line over the wall.

"Anything, Cariad?" Tom asked Theresa, whose own eyes were also half- closed.

"Yes..." she breathed. "I can feel them. Six, no, seven. Another on the far side... he's coming now. That's all of them. You can set us down now, we're safe. They're all young and they'll be easy to control."

They slowly drifted all the way over the wall and then returned to the ground. There was a pause and then Cole shimmered into place next to Phoebe. "That was impressive," he conceded. "You've learnt a lot."

Tom grinned at him before turning as the grass ahead rustled slightly and eight massive dogs appeared in front of them. "Theresa," he said warningly.

She looked at him and them crouched down. When her mouth opened she emitted a low, crooning, almost keening noise, which made the dogs tilt their heads as they looked at her. One by one they sat down onto their haunches, before lying onto their bellies, all the time staring at Theresa. The sound that was issuing from her mouth changed slowly, becoming more soothing and the great canine heads started to droop onto their paws. Once all eight were asleep, Theresa straightened up. "That'll do," she said with some satisfaction, "They'll all sleep until morning. You could let a bomb off and they'll still sleep through that."

They ran to the trees quickly, passing through them until they had a clear view of the rear of the floodlit house. "That just leaves the cameras," said Piper, looking back at Tom, who was looking through the binoculars that he had removed from his pack. He seemed to be looking for something.

"Not a problem," he said, narrowing his eyes and glaring across the 100 yards that separated them from the house. "There's just one camera covering that side door there and..." His glare intensified. "Oh dear, what a shame, the main processor inside just fizzled. Cheap Malaysian circuit boards."

"Then let's go!" said Paige, only to feel Tom's hand on her arm.

"Not just yet," he said, and then handed over the binoculars. Paige frowned as she stared at the house, and then gasped as the door beneath the camera flew open and a squad of men dressed in black and carrying what looked like automatic weapons emerged.

"Andrews is an ex-marine, and..." The squad spread out and started to exchange hand gestures as they covered the area. "He's probably left orders to treat every malfunctioning camera as if it was a possible break-in."

They waited for a while as the armed men checked the area out and then paused while a man in dungarees emerged from the door with a stepladder and a toolbox. He positioned the ladder carefully and then shinned up it to inspect the camera. From the way that the he waved his hands and the fact that the leader of the response team slumped his shoulders, it seemed that this wasn't the first time that a camera had suffered a malfunction. All but one of the squad trooped back into the mansion as the maintenance man poked at the camera and pulled bits out. When he went back down the ladder to get to the toolbox, Tom made an inviting gesture to Piper.

"If you could do the honours?"

Piper grinned and gestured. The two figures at the doorway froze. "Let's go!"

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Andrews had had very little sleep, but it barely showed as he walked back into the display room and looked at Cunningham, who had returned to stare at the artifact again. "Ah wonder what this thing is to make someone tear people into beef jerky?" He turned. "Anything?"

"Another bad circuit board in that camera, sir. Not a problem, but I think that we need to review our supply system. That's the third circuit board in a month."

"Well," drawled the old man thoughtfully, "As long as it keeps the folks on their toes. Like... like...." Andrews looked at his employer, who was staring over his shoulder at something and turning a horrible mottled colour in the face. Then he made a terrible choking cry and started to slump to the ground. Instinctively Andrews reached out to catch his employer at the same time that he half turned...

And looked into the face of the demon Tethos...