A/N. OK, Ok, so hands up time no i didn't make my month deadline, as i suggested on profile page.(always check there for latest news.)

But it is here finally, you've all been so patient, i can't believe it.

This is the last but one chapter, and i promise I am working on the final installment, as you read.

Ok so with out further ado time for the ever so deserved shout out's for you amazing reviewers.

Camyrn Baynes – here you go, enjoy.

Shaid – a lot like the movies, thats a real complement, thank you.
Ravena Storm- a new fan sequels excitedly for an hour or too wow I'm really pleased you like. If you like the idea of Menka, u might like an idea i have for my next fic. But more about that soon.
LeoPiper-Forever – wow, every chapter. I'm pleased you like.
Adele- the next chappy is here. And well you have to wait and see, what happens, not much more left. Ur fic idea sounds interesting.
Leuska- Im sorry for not being around, i hope ur still writing. I really want to see something from you soon.
Jonnycarnahan – so pleased to hear from you, and im sorry to hear you been sick. Made my day to get a review from you. All though your far too flattering.
DaughterofDeath – as you wish

Lilylynn – Im just sorry for leaving it so long again!.

Mclane – I'll be honest the flash backs are my favourite too.
Toni isis – hee he he, and yes i did have a great time on my holiday, thank you.

Orlando-crazy- I'm glad u approve.

Just quickly I wana ask what people think off my idea for my next 'MuMmy' based fic. Which will be in effect the story of Nefertiri, and Menka. Based obviously in ancient times. It would cover the many adventures I'm sure these two would of experienced. Including there first meeting, and How Menka won his role as Nefertiri's Medjai guard.

Nothings ready for posting anyway, but i just thought I'd run the idea about and see what people think.

Any comments gratefully received.

And now finally,(as you've waited long enough) onwards...

Chapter 15. - What has to be done.

Rick stood on the cliff edge overlooking Hamunaptra, waiting for the city to show itself. The sun was just raising its golden head to send its morning red rays scuttling across the dessert sand, banishing the night from every crevice it could find. The first time Rick had watched the hidden city shimmer into life he had been in awe, the second fearful of what lay ahead of him, now it was just becoming boring.

It had been a long night of riding, with each mile his back becoming more and more painful, so that now it was excruciating. Pushing his arms out in front of him with entwined hands, Rick tried to stretch the pain away. Sparks danced in front of his eyes as his muscles burned tight.

Shaking his head he tried to clear his vision, and was surprised when the sparks failed to clear. Blinking at the hidden city, Rick was amazed to see the sparks were for real; at intermediate points along the winding path, bright flaming torches lit the way to the entrance. Also along the remaining walls flames licked unnaturally bright towards the sun.

So entranced by the dancing fire, Rick did not notice Ardeth arrive at his side.

"Are you all right, my friend?"

Jumping at the voice, Rick turned to face the Medjai.

"I'm ok," he nodded, "just wondering about them," he said, pointing behind him.

Ardeth frowned as he scanned the horizon. The only thing unusual that he could see, Rick really shouldn't have been able to.

"They're here to support us," he answered, speaking softly. "They have their orders."

Now Rick frowned as he turned to look at the city again. The torches were gone, and every single spark of flame extinguished. "What?" he asked confused, shaking his head. "I…"

"The Medjai won't act unless you ask for them," Ardeth tried to reassure Rick; he knew the man was suspicious of outside help.

"The Medjai are here?" Evelyn's light voice broke into the men's conversation.

Ardeth turned quickly to face her.

"They are," he admitted, "there is always a presence in this place."

Evelyn nodded and looked around. Although she couldn't see anything for miles, she didn't doubt the man's words.

"So what now?" she asked her husband's back, for he had failed to turn to acknowledge her.

"Now?" Rick's jaw was set tight; things were happening to him, and he didn't know what or why, or moreover how to control them. Angrily he turned from the view of Hamunaptra and brushed past his companions as he stepped purposefully towards the horses. "Whatever we have to."

XXX

Jonathan sat silently in his cell, his back against the door, listening to all the commotion outside. The guards had been rushing about for, as best as he could guess, the last hour, and there was no sign of his Times.

As the fuss seemed to slow, and the time between the barked Arabic voices passing his door lengthened, Jonathan began to consider his escape. Something was obviously happening, and as he well knew distraction was always the key to great escapes.

Standing, he slowly stretched his aching muscles and turned towards the door. With one hand on the handle and the other clutching the keys, he jumped back a step as someone knocked on the other side.

Shaking his head as if it was a dream, he reached again for the door handle, and jumped as once again the knocking came

"O'Connell?" Osahar's voice reverberated through the door. "O'Connell? You are there?"

Jonathan rolled his eyes.

"No!" he answered loudly as he allowed his eyes to shut. "I'm not."

The door creaked open, and Osahar's smiling face beamed into the gap. "O'Connell, you are here."

Jonathan opened his eyes and looked around in mock surprise.

"Now would you look at that? So I am."

Osahar just stared at him, confused. "It is time to pack," he answered eventually. "We are leaving soon."

Jonathan's head snapped up with interest.

"Leaving?" he asked.

Osahar smiled. "Yes, yes. Soon Imhotep comes. Everyone else has left, we must go too soon."

"Every one else has left?" now Jonathan smiled; that was the kind of news he liked.

"Yes, but not me, I'm allowed to stay and pack up."

Jonathan raised his eyebrows. The little man had an interesting view on what was a good thing.

"So I came to tell you to pack," Osahar continued, oblivious of Jonathan's reaction.

"Pack?" Jonathan asked, as he looked around the empty room.

"I be back soon," Osahar added as he stepped back out of the door, allowing it to slam behind him as he rushed off to find more things to pack.

XXX

Rick felt every step of his horse thunder through his body as they raced towards the city. Having decided there was no point in trying to sneak into the city, seeing as they had probably already been spotted miles ago, Rick led the way straight to the front door.

As she moved in his lap, Evelyn drew his attention. Looking at her, Rick was so surprised by what he saw, he almost pulled the animal beneath him to a stop.

Evelyn's wavy hair was pulled straight and slipped across her bare shoulders, which were a golden colour that spoke of years living in the hot desert sun. The dress that covered her slender frame was simple and long, but dyed as black as a Night without moon or stars. Her arm boasted only one armband, her neck only one pendant, yet still she was stunning; a woman who, even if dressed in rags, would still look like a queen.

In his arms, Rick held Nefertiri.

Not knowing what else to do, Rick continued along the path. Pulling the horse to stop only as its front leg crossed through the large archway that Rick could see but knew not to be there.

Sliding from the back of their horse, Rick moved quickly across the sand to the side to help his princess. His strong hands on her hips helped her feet to the floor.

With her back against the sweating muscular hind of the black horse, Evelyn's body was pressed tight against her husband, who hadn't moved.

"Do you really believe," Rick whispered suddenly, his breath on her neck, "that I am a re-incarnated Medjai?"

Evelyn suppressed a shiver of delight at the closeness of her husband's body, his hands lingering on her hips, his thigh pressed against her groin.

"As much as I believe I'm Nefertiri," she whispered breathlessly, and placed her palms flat against his chest.

Rick looked at her again; with what he saw, he couldn't argue.

Overcome with her need for him, Evelyn pushed herself up onto her toes, wrapped her arms around his neck and attempted to close the gap between his lips and hers.

Rick almost groaned with desire for the woman in his arms, as her movement caused his hands to slide from her hips to her back, and he felt her body push into his.

Using every ounce of self-control he possessed, Rick turned his head at the last second, and Nefertiri's lips grazed his neck. As much as he wanted the woman he could see, she wasn't his wife.

Evelyn snapped her head up, and studied Rick's face. The pain she saw there worried her.

"What's the matter?" she asked desperately as she let go of him, her back slamming back into the immovable wall of muscle that was the horse behind her. Unconsciously her hand moved to her chest.

Stepping back to gain space, Rick shook his head and forcefully banished Nefertiri's image just as she began to finger the necklace that he had witnessed himself giving her a few days ago. As the image of the princess faded back into his wife, Rick realised Evelyn's fingers were also playing at her neck, except on her, something was missing.

Realisation hit Rick with the strength of forty horses. Urgently he dug deep into his pocket and retrieved the item he had secreted there in Nefertiri's tomb.

"Do you know wha…?" he began, but stopped as Evelyn gasped and reached forward.

"My necklace!"

Rick froze. "Your…?"

Evie's eyes were wide; her reaction had been purely that, and now she was confused.

"My… necklace… not my…" she shook her head. "Necklace. Where did you find that?" she questioned, staring deep into her husband's eyes. "It is mine, isn't it?"

"I did find it in Nefertiri's tomb," Rick admitted somewhat reluctantly as he turned away.

"Rick!" Evelyn pulled on her husband's shoulder. "What is going on?"

Rick turned slowly, the sparks from the non-existent fires he could see once again dancing in his eyes.

"Christ Evie, I don't know," he answered honestly, and for once Evie knew better than to reprove his use of blasphemy. "I have no idea what the hell's going on here- the dreams, the visions, the pai-"

"Rick" Evelyn interrupted a second too soon, stopping the confession of Rick's secret injury before she could hear it. Until now she hadn't fully realised how much of a toll this was taking on him, but suddenly she could see a tiredness in his eyes. Stepping away from the horse she reached for him, wanting to help.

Rick moved away from her touch, not wanting to feel her pity. "What do you know about this?" he asked coldly, holding the necklace out to her.

Evelyn took the sun pendant in her hand, her fingers automatically moving around the razor sharp points to hold it safely.

"I know it's mine," she answered convinced. But meeting his eyes, she could tell that wasn't enough. Concentrating on the feel of the pendant in her hand she slowly allowed her eyes to drift shut, and within seconds she could hear music and voices around her that didn't belong to the desert. Her senses were filled with a heady smell of rich oils and perfumes, mixed with wine. An undercurrent of cooking meat and fresh fruit spoke of a banquet in her mind, as she swayed slightly in a memory and heard Rick's voice speaking in Egyptian.

"I will always watch over you, and keep you safe- as will this." She could feel fingers brushing across her shoulders, lovingly, and hesitant.

"I shall never take it off!" Evelyn whispered, and her eyes snapped open, only to be met by Rick's intent gaze. He was watching her closely.

"You… you gave me this," she accused him, "at… at a party or a festival… or…"

"Your birthday," Rick answered with a sigh. Finally he had the proof that he couldn't deny. There was no way Evelyn could know that he gave her the necklace without them both having been there. Everything he had seen, and everything he could still see, was real.

Reluctantly Evelyn held the pendant out to her husband, who just shook his head.

"Wear it?" Rick asked.

Evelyn smiled; there was nothing she wanted more. Holding the ancient pendant to her neck, she turned around.

"Will you put it on for me?" she asked softly.

XXX

Letting go of his own dismounted horse, Ardeth crossed to the O'Connell's. He has seen Rick pull Evelyn from their horse and knew the man must have had a reason- one which didn't require himself, so he was content with giving them their time. That was until from where he stood on the very edge of the city, he had noticed an approaching Onuris guard.

"O'Connell!" he called as he rounded the animals and scanned the area for the adventurer. He failed to be surprised as he saw the husband and wife pull away from what looked to be an intense kiss. "We have company," he continued, nodding towards the guards when Rick shot him a questioning look.

Reaching up behind the blushing Evelyn, Rick pulled the golden sword that he had retrieved from its important home above Nefertirri's coffin from his pack on the horse.

"So we do," he answered, and headed towards the red and black robed man, flanked by the others. "So we do!"

XXX

Djeser-si sat on a golden throne in the almost empty treasure chamber. His hands gripped the armrests so tightly his knuckles burned white. He was in pain, and a lot of it. His new body was beginning to reject his mind, and he didn't know how long he had left to complete the ritual; he needed to claim this body as his. The fact that he had to kill, the only person he had ever loved to do so, caused him almost as much pain as his body. But as Shu-nah entered the cleared chamber, Djeser-si looked up and smiled. There was no way he was going to alert a pathetic Onuris to his vulnerable state.

"Where are the men?" Djeser-si demanded, before Shu-nah had a chance to get off his knees from bowing.

Although concerned about his leader's recent behaviour, Shu-nah had done as he was told.

"They have all been moved out of the city, master- except two to guard the entrance, and one to tidy the belongings."

Djeser-si smiled again. This was good. He couldn't run the risk of someone killing Nefertiri before he had the chance to. He was not going to let an Onuris spoil his plans again.

"Are they in sight?" Djeser-si asked.

"You could say that!" Rick's voice echoed loudly around the room.

Shu-nah spun around to glare daggers at the guards who strode in behind the adventurer and his wife, but had failed to announce themselves.

Slowly Djeser-si got to his feet and stepped forward. He placed his hand on the eager Shu-nah's shoulder.

"Greetings," he replied in Egyptian, "Brother."

A/N. So that's another chapter done and dusted. What did you think? Did you like? Comments? Questions? As ever review review review.

Next chapter the last one!

What will happen? Will Jon get free? Will Rick defeat his brother? Will Evie find out Ricks secret pain?

Lot's of questions, all answers with next posting. Time frame for that? Err well that be answered then too. Lol ;op

T.C.U everybody, Love PP xxx