Disclaimer:- I don't own Tom Sawyer, Mina Hawker, Skinner, Captain Nemo, Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde or anything else used in the fic, except Smith and Mr. Big. This is what I like to think of as the start of the build up to the dramatic end. So that means the cliffhangers may get just a little bit more nasty. Or then again, they might not. Anyway, here are the shout outs;

Clez:- Research? Yeah... you could say that... it's not that I'm obsessed by Egypt or anything. *coughs* Moving on. Glad you're loving this ;)

Angharad:- Yeah, I'm a meany. And your point is? ;)

Silent Bob 546:- I'm going to take a wild guess and say you like donkeys ;) So I put some in this part just for you :)

Niani:- History lesson? I... don't know what you mean. *halo appears*

LotRseer3350:- Shiny??? Where? Shiny??? Ahem - a fight? Have you been looking at my notes?

Freedomfighter82:- Throw Tom down a well? Me? Would I do that? Would I? Glad you enjoyed it. Cuddle and love him? You can do that if you jump down after him... if he was in a well, which he's not.

Roz:- Nice to hear from you again Roz :) A new SW fic?? Yay, have to go and read that. Hope you're be back on-line properly soon.

Woah, that's enough of me blabbering on, so here is the next part of...

The Bodyguard.

~~~

Part Eighteen:- Saqqara

~~~

The League were all standing on the conning tower, each looking west towards Saqqara. They stood in silence, eyes fixed on the pyramids, their tips reaching towards the heavens. From what they could see, the Necropolis known as Saqqara was empty, devoid of any moving life bar the odd crocodile that was sunning itself by the entrance near the river bank. The lack of human movement could be a good thing or a bad thing. For all they knew they were too late and Tom was already dead - Mr. Big and Smith could have gone.

Mina took half a step closer to the railings, staring out at the desert landscape, using her enhanced senses to scan the area. She frowned and leant her head forward, using her right hand to shade her eyes as she tried to make out what the four little black dots she could see where.

"I think I can see some donkeys..." The female Vampire mummered at last. She turned her whole body, placing her back to the sight as she looked at the assembled group.

"So are we thinking Sawyer and the rest are there?" Skinner asked, standing in the shadows. He had no wish to step forward into the blinding sun and stare at the desert, at the endless expansion of sand, rising in still waves for as far as the eye could see.

"I believe so." Mina answered cooly. She walked past the three men and ducked her head as she passed through the door way. "We should get ready." Her voice said, floating back out to the other members of the League. Skinner quickly followed her in, for some reason he didn't like Egypt and wanted to be away from here as soon as he could. Dr. Jekyll gave Nemo a little bow then left the tower as well, no doubt to collect some of his potion. Captain Nemo gave Saqqara one last look, his eyebrow rising slightly then he too left the tower.

~~~

Nemo stood in front of the small team of men he had chosen for this mission. He stood and admired the seven men he had hand picked from his crew - seven of the most loyal sailors he had working for him aboard the mighty Nautilus. They stood there, dressed in royal blue, weapons in their belts ready for what ever this new danger would throw at them.

"Listen to me." Nemo said and instantly seven pairs of eyes shifted, focusing on their leader, on their captain.

"We are going in to defeat Mr. Big and the man called Smith. However this is also a rescue mission. Agent Sawyer is being held by these men and it is our duty to recover him. Even so, you must understand that the boy may not be himself. He will most likely try and resist you, he may even try to attack you. Please be aware that he is not himself - Agent Sawyer is under the control of our enemies and we cannot kill him or wound him fatally. At all costs we must extract him from Saqqara alive." Nemo said. His men all bowed as one and he waved his hand, dismissing them for the moment.

Though it was impossible to be able to guess what the Indian Captain was thinking, it was possible to see the slight shadow of doubt and uncertainty lurking in the center of his fierce black eyes. In truth, even now he was still not one hundred per cent sure that Agent Sawyer was indeed under the control of Mr. Big. There had been something in his face when he had reveled himself to the League for the very first time that refused to leave his mind and thoughts alone though it was too small a detail to be even sure it had been there. What if Madam Mina was wrong about Agent Sawyer, how Saqqara, about everything?

//Agent Sawyer is a most courageous man... I cannot believe he would throw in his lot with our enemies... but he seemed to almost enjoy attacking us...\\ His thoughts ran in circles, chasing their own tails.

Still, soon, one way or the other, Nemo and the rest would know just what was going on with Tom Sawyer.

~~~

The band of seven Indian's selected by Nemo brought up the rear of the small hunting party - for that was what they were, it was just they had a different sort of game in their sights. They hand managed to near the walls of Saqqara without seeing a single living soul - or a dead person for that matter. Mina was in the lead, using her developed sense of smell to make sure they didn't accidentally stumble across anyone without first knowing about it. Skinner and Mr. Hyde came next, Nemo a few paces behind.

The small group reached the four black dots Mina had noticed before. They were indeed donkeys, each tied to a stake that had been driven forcibly into the ground. Mina moved up to the animals, sniffing the air around them. Perhaps it was some animal instinct or maybe just natural shyness of strangers that caused the donkeys to let loose the most dreadful sounds. To the untrained ear it sounded as if the unfortunate animals were slowly having their throats slit. Mrs. Harker moved back from the animals and the unearthly wailing stopped. She turned to look at the men, her eyes glowing.

"I can smell Agent Sawyer all over one of those Donkeys. He rode it and very recently too." She growled.

Hyde let loose a small roar and turned his head towards the Necropolis. He smiled, showing all of his razor shape teeth and causing Skinner to shudder. The monstrous man thrust out a giant fist into the middle of the small group and the other's quietly placed their own fists on top - no doubt remembering that the last time they had done this they had two other members who were now either dead or in grave danger. The League stared silently at each other until Skinner disturbed the quiet.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get our American back. He may just be an annoying, trigger happy kid, but he's our annoying, trigger happy kid, everyone else has to get their own!" Skinner said. Mina nodded in agreement and they all pulled their hands away. Giving them all one last glance Mina turned her face West, to look at Saqqara - which now looked even more imposing close up. She stepped forward in the lead, the other's automatically forming a line behind her. Mina paused and slowly ran a finger down one of the walls, tiny bits of sand coming loose as she did so.

Then she took another step and crossed the boundary, entering Saqqara.

~~~

Deep in the maze that lead to the Well of Souls, Smith froze, his whole body tense, his head slightly on one side as if he was listening to something only he could hear. Mr. Big slowly turned to face him, worry on his face. Between the two stood Tom Sawyer, his face slack.

"What?" Big snapped. Smith didn't answer, a small frown appearing on his face. "What is it?" Mr. Big shouted. Slowly the frown faded and a cruel smile replaced it.

"The League have just crossed into Saqqara, Boss. They must be trying to save him." Smith said, nodding his head towards Tom. If Tom was still inside there at all he gave no indication of hearing the words let alone being happy about them. Mr. Big on the other hand, looked far from happy.

"Why can't those fools take a hint?" He roared. Smith moved up to Tom and quickly took the bag the spy was carrying, digging in it, looking for his two arm gauntlets, the two which had a thin curved blade on each, making them deadly weapons in the right hands.

"Leave it to me Boss, I'll take care of them." Smith promised, strapping the gauntlets to his arms. Mr. Big nodded.

"Very well. But try not to drag it out, we will need you and your Dagger for the last part of the ritual." Big said, turning away from Smith. "Come Sawyer." He added and began to walk again, Tom trotting after him like an obedient dog. Smith turned his face back towards the entrance to the maze and smiled again. This would be fun.

~~~

The League moved rapidly along the Unas causeway, reaching the pyramid within a few minutes. As the last sailor stepped under the shadow the pyramid cast, Smith came out of the entrance to the maze, his face calm.

"Welcome League. Welcome to Saqqara, my home and soon to be eternal resting place of Special Agent Tom Sawyer" He said. Mina growled deep in her throat and stepped away from the rest of the group, pulling out one of her silver daggers in a clear challenge. Smith smiled, raising an eyebrow before bowing at her, accepting the silent challenge. He gestured behind her, stepping forward and forcing her to step back out into the blistering heat. He stepped after her, the sun stripping him of his fake shadow, letting his true form be seen on the sandy ground.

"If you want to enter this maze..." Smith started, emphasizing the word 'you', his attention fixed on Mina. "Then you must get past me." Mina pulled out the twin to the dagger she was already holding, her red eyes focused on Smith.

"The rest of you, go after Mr. Big." She growled. Nemo nodded and set off, the rest behind them. Smith watched the rest of the League walk into the shadows of the entrance under the pyramid, an odd smile on his face. Mina stared at him warily. He should have at least tried to stop them getting past him, from entering the maze which lead to his Boss. He faced Mina, the enigmatic smile still on his face. The two Immortals locked gazes for a single, tense second then charged at each other, weapons at the ready.

~~~

The League hurried towards the entrance, each looking behind them ever now at then at the two fighters, catching odd glimpse of the battle playing out on the sand. Then they passed under the pyramid, Mina and Smith passing from view. The three male members of the League and the seven sailors reached a pair of giant doors, all stopping and staring at the images painted on with wonder.

The giant faces of the jackal headed God, Anubis and the ibis headed God, Thoth looked down at them, towering over the humans. The two larger than life deities stared at a set of scales which ran down the crack showing where the gap between the door slabs that stood as doors was. Thoth was holding a pen and paper, poised to write down something as a heart was weighted against a single feather. Below the scales sat the creature of the netherworld, a hideous beast with the head of a crocodile, the foreparts of a lion and the rear of a hippopotamus. This was the 'devourer of the dead', the dreaded Ammut. Slowly, awed by the sight in front of them, the men looked further up the giant doors, staring at the very top were a few sentences in hieroglyphs could be clearly seen. As they saw them, each man gave a little start of surprise, before staring at them in amazement. Even Hyde, normally more of a 'crush-kill-destroy' person found himself compelled to stand and stare. Skinner swallowed a few times and turned to Nemo, his voice a mere whisper.

"Can anyone else suddenly read Ancient Egyptian?" He softly asked, a slight tremble in his voice.

"We thought only Henry and I could." Hyde rumbled. Nemo carried on looking at the words.

"I too, can understand these lines." He said. Taking a deep breath he slowly read aloud;

"Enter, traveler, if you dare,

The great Lord Anubis's lair,

But if you come for greedy dreams,

You will only find Soulful screams.

So enter, only if your heart be true,

Or the curse of the Well will be laid on you."

There was a long silence as the words spoken by the Indian slowly echoed away, before Nemo boldly stepped forward and pushed on the stone door, making it open with an almightily creak and groan. He looked over his shoulder at the immobile Skinner and Hyde.

"Come my friends. We need have no fear from age old curses and warnings. Such magic could not hurt us after all this time. Plus we are only here to save our friend." Nemo said. Hyde gave a bellow of laughter and moved after him. Skinner looked at the stern faced Egyptian God's one last time then plunged in after them. It was only afterwards that the worrying thought came to him -

- If they had no need to fear age old curses because they would be harmless, their magic's gone, they how come they had all been able to understand the warning in the first place?

~~~

Back outside under the hot sun the two fighters were still locked in combat, which seemed to have no end in sight. Smith pulled away from Mina, and the two circled each other, waiting for a chance to strike. Smith gave Mina a lazy smile and ran one of his fingers along the blade of his arm gauntlet, the steel cutting deep enough in his flesh to draw blood. Casually he flicked his finger forward, a single drop escaping the wound before it healed.

The droplet of blood flew through the air, landing on the sand. As it went the blood changed color and texture, turning from a deep, rich red to the powdery gray dust Mina had examined long ago aboard the Nautilus.

"How do you expect to beat me She-Vamp?" Smith taunted. "You may be free of the groping fingers of age, but you can still die." He gave a throaty chuckle as Mina glared at him, her rage growing when he called her a 'She-Vamp', one of the most insulting titles for female Vampire's.

"You can die as well." She hissed, her daggers glinting in the light.

"You forget. I'm already dead." Smith snapped back at her. The two Immortals ran at each other again, each side stepping at the last moment, blade clashing harmlessly against blade. They circled each other one more time before moving forward, locking their weapons tightly together.

But Mina was not used to the blistering heat like Smith was. Slowly the sun beat down on her slowing her movements, though at the moment, it was impossible to tell.

TBC...

God's mentioned; 1) The Jackal headed Anubis; God of the dead. 2) The Ibis - a sacred bird - headed Thoth; God of writing and knowledge. 3) [Okay, not really a God.] Ammut, who would eat the hearts of Egyptians that were laden with sin.

Please, please, read and review! :) Tell me what you thought of this part!

~Sethoz