AJ swings her legs back and forth through the air, supported by her hands as she leans her head back with her eyes closed. It was nice to sit on something that wasn't hard leather for once and the stone roof beneath her was warmed by the sun. "Do they know somethin' we don't," Lawrence asks, speaking of Evy's group.

"They are led by a woman," the Egyptologist remarks with a sneer, AJ opening her eyes to look at him. "What does a woman know?" Lawrence's eyes go wide as his wife stands up, her hand automatically reaching out and pinching Chamberlain's ear.

"You're in deep shit now, buddy."

"I'll have you know that the woman down there is the smartest person I've ever met," AJ snarls. "I'd even go so far as to bet she's got more intelligence in her little finger than you have in your entire body. That woman also has a name, it's Evelyn, and I expect you to use it from now on or I may just take your beloved fez and shove it somewhere you'd find extremely unpleasant."

"Now for the punishment." Lawrence knew her system well, the berating coming before whatever demeaning punishment she could think of; Lawrence was forced to spend an hour in the garden, Burns was forced to read flowery poetry aloud, Daniels was made to muck out the stables, and her son was forced to stay with his grandma for twenty minutes. This man, however, would rather sell his soul than do menial chores around the camp, so that's exactly what his sentence will be.

"From now until this adventure is over, you'll be cleaning the dishes and helping the diggers with anything else they might need." He opens his mouth, but it snaps shut again when AJ applies more pressure to his ear. "Your punishment starts now, so get down there and offer the diggers some water." The Egyptologist says nothing, AJ's Mom Look enough to have him slumping his shoulders and starting towards the stairs.

"You are one delightfully evil woman, Mrs. Henderson." AJ smiles when she feels her husband's hands on her hips, leaning back so she could rest her head against his chest. She always felt safest like this, wrapped in his arms, like nothing could ever hurt her as long as he was nearby.

"You should do your best to remember that, Mister Henderson." She turns in his arms, resting her hands on his shoulders and laughing as he raises his brows.

"Oh, is that right? And here I thought I was safe, 'cause there doesn't seem to be any gardens around here."

"I'll find something for you to do."

"Mm, is that a promise?" Before she could answer, the diggers call out that they'd unburied the entrance to the city, the Arabic smooth and familiar to her. She'd missed the language and how it felt on her tongue, English feeling more foreign than anything despite the fact that she grew up speaking both.

AJ moves away from her husband, sending him a wink and swaying her hips the way she knew he liked, Lawrence following without her even having to ask. He is such a great husband, always so loving and ready to do anything that was needed; a true gentleman in that sense. It didn't hurt that he still looked at her like the was the most beautiful woman on the earth even though she's gotten chubby from the pregnancy.

He also likes my ass, so he's definitely a keeper.

Climbing over sand-covered stone wasn't easy in sensible clothing, but it was even more difficult in a dress and a pair of kitten heels. She knew she should've donned a flowing skirt and flat-soled shoes to make everything easier, but she was a stubborn woman at the best of times and the beaded, silver dress made her feel pretty dammit.

"Easy, AJ," Daniels cautions when she reaches the ground," those steps are nice and smooth, perfect to make you slip."

"Then I guess it's a good thing I have you gentlemen around to keep me from losing my dignity."

"And here I was thinking you'd lost that when you fell off your horse before you got pregnant." She slaps his arm playfully, laughing along with him as they made their way over to the opening. It was just the perfect height that she didn't have to duck, but all the men around her were hunched over; the stone as weathered as Daniels had said, faded hieroglyphics carved into the walls. She couldn't read them like her uncle could, her own teenage rebellion to blame, but she still smiled when she ran the tips of her fingers over them.

Hieroglyphics tell stories, AJ, they tell us all about how our ancestors lived and died. They're our ties to the past and they must always be respected just as you'd respect our written word today.

Her uncle had been obsessed with them, pouring over any new ones that came into the museum or just rereading the old papyrus scrolls they had stored in their attic. These would have made her uncle leap with joy and a familiar pang in her chest reminded her that he'd never be able to see them.

Sadder than when she started the descent, she makes it to the bottom where the staircase widened for two steps and then merged into a hallway that went straight for five feet before beginning a graceful curve to the left. She was one of the first few down the steps, the diggers ahead of her and the others following afterwards, so she was one of the first to see the old mirrors set against the walls.

The mirrors stand on solid bases that allowed the disks to be adjusted, but not easily moved, covered in spider webs and dulled after centuries of being buried. They would have lit the way for ancient Egyptians, their version of modern lighting, but they were of no use right now since the staircase blocked most of the sunlight.

"What's with the giant circles," Burns asks, joining AJ to wipe some of the webs away.

"It's for light," she answers with a shrug," probably to help the workers before those steps eroded and blocked the sun."

"Well I'll be damned. Those people thought of everything, didn't they?" She laughs and nods, patting Bernard's shoulder. "Is stuff like this what your uncle used to study?"

"Yeah, he'd find these mirrors all the time. I have about six of them in his old house right now if you're in need of one." He snorts, passing her a lit torch before taking up one of his own from a digger. "We'll probably find tons of these spread throughout the city, so you might as well get used to 'em."

"Are they worth anything?"

"Maybe five dollars to a gullible American."

"Hey, lovebirds," Lawrence says loudly," if you're quite finished with the flirting, then we should get movin'."

"If that's your idea of flirting, then it definitely explains why you kept bragging about that necklace on our first date." She and Burns join the rest of their group, AJ handing her torch off to her husband so he could hold it up higher, wrapping her arm around his waist.

"Hey, that was a scarab beetle frozen in amber, it was neat."

"I hate to break it to you, but that was just plastic." The look of offense on Lawrence's face sent AJ into a laughing fit. He prided himself on knowing authentic products, so this would be a massive blow to his ego, which meant he was likely to throttle the merchant that had tricked him all those years ago.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me that before I paid ten bucks for it." He was pouting now, brows furrowed and bottom lip poking out.

"So that's where Tucker gets his pouty face," Daniels laughs. Lawrence goes tense and his eyes narrow, glaring at his best friend as though the other man had personally thrown the family pet down a well.

"Honey," AJ scolds," you can't kill your best friend because he made fun of you. If you make me deal with your mother while you do life in prison, then I'll be in the cell next to you because I'll smother the woman with her own doilies." Her stern tone had Lawrence gazing forlornly down at his boots and giving a nod. "Daniels, tell the man you're sorry."

"I was just—"

"David Antony Daniels, you apologize or you'll be doing dishes alongside the Egyptologist for a week!"

"Sorry, Henderson!"

"There," she smiles brightly," wasn't that easy?" The men grumble and begin to walk again, Daniels staying near the front to avoid Lawrence kicking sand on him. How childish the three of them could be always surprised AJ, but she supposed this wasn't nearly as bad as the time they completely filled the master bathroom with shaving cream.

The further they went down the curving hallway, the darker it seemed to get; the torches grew dimmer and the cobwebs thickened. She hasn't seen any scorpions yet and she was thankful for that much. Those little beasts had haunted her childhood, creeping into her rucksack and into her bed while she was out with her uncle. Even if she was a grown woman, she always seemed to end up in someone's arms when one came too close to her.

The hallway began to widen as the staircase had, then they entered an open space the size of her entire house. It was empty apart from an enormous onyx statue of a man with a sarong around his waist. It was half buried, but AJ knew from the position of it that it was Anubis, the guardian and protector of the dead. The room meant for mummification should be close, then. Anpu was his Egyptian name, but most used the Greek spelling and even her uncle was among the latter.

A strange noise starts up, shuffling like someone was dragging their feet over stone, followed by a faint scratching noise of insects. Lawrence, Daniels, and Burns waste no time in handing off their torches and drawing their pistols, cocking them as they inched forward. AJ was pushed behind them beside the Egyptologist, wielding her torch as a weapon. I knew I should've brought that pistol Lawrence bought me.

The noise grows louder and louder as they approach the statue, tension rising and AJ's shoulders beginning to ache as she held the torch like a bat. Who knew what was beyond the statue? AJ's imagination was acting up at the thought, creating the image of some horrible creature; moldering skin falling off pale bones, glowing red eyes, a skeletal grin that flashed as all of them were torn limb from limb.

They moved on tip toes, collectively holding their breaths, and then they were darting around the corner to face the source of the noise. It took all of AJ's willpower not to scream at what she saw, the torch falling from her hands and extinguishing itself in the sand. It wasn't a monster that rose from its grave to eat intruders and it wasn't a moldering beast intent on turning them all into mush.

We're all morons.

"You scared the bejesus out of us, O'Connell," Lawrence breathes out, relaxing slightly as they all take in the other group of explorers. The guns were never lowered on either side, but AJ let out a breath of relief all the same. She refused to let the Carnahans scare her and she decided that O'Connell wouldn't intimidate her even if she was looking down the barrel of his revolver, though their smelly friend behind them did make her regret eating lunch.

"Likewise," O'Connell returns. Knowing it was safe, AJ shoulders her way to the front, ducking under O'Connell's arm so she could stand near her friend.

"Hey," Burns frowns when his eyes land on a rolled-up leather pouch in Evy's arms," that's my tool kit."

"I don't think so." O'Connell points one of his pistols at Burns, the other man holding up his arms in surrender and taking a step back, having already holstered his pistol.

"Okay, perhaps I was mistaken." AJ rolls her eyes at the display, wondering when the men were going to learn that they had to work together. Honestly, that's the only way they would have equal chances at survival in the dry heat and they were stupid not to realize it. After one look from AJ, her group lowers their guns and O'Connell follows suit.

"Well," Evy says," have a nice day gentlemen. We have a lot of work to get done before the sun goes down and you'll only get in our way."

"Push off," Dr. Chamberlain sneers," this is our dig site." AJ could handle the snotty attitude if it was directed at everyone, but the fact that the Egyptologist seemed to hate women in general made her want to pick up her fallen torch and whack him over the head with it.

"We got here first!" And just like that, the pistols were back up and AJ was beginning to think her baby was better behaved than these Americans. At least Tuck listened the first time she said something.

"This is our statue, friend," Daniels states, always the macho one of the group.

"I don't see your name written on it, pal," O'Connell shoots back.

"Sixteen to four," Beni says," our odds are greater than yours, O'Connell." AJ's attention moves to her friend when she hears the shifting of sand, looking for a snake but finding some rocks instead, Evy toeing them towards a thin crack in the floor, the rocks echoing loudly as they fell through and struck something beneath the earth. Another room maybe? She seemed to share AJ's thought and nods towards the men, giving a little shrug.

"That's quite enough," AJ states loudly, stepping between the two groups and sending her husband a long look when his side refused to lower their guns again. "You had better hope I die when you squeeze that trigger because I'll hit you over the head with your own pistol if I don't." Knowing she was completely serious and more than willing to do it, Lawrence quickly holsters the guns, his friends and Beni doing the same. "Would you look at that? They can be taught."

"AJ is right," Evy nods, stepping up beside her. "There are plenty of places to dig in this city and I'm sure it will be easy for us to find another one." She sends a meaningful look to O'Connell, resting a dainty hand on his arm to make him lower his gun.

"Evy, I meant to ask, is the sah-netjer down that hallway or am I confusing my gods again?"

"Oh yes, and I've set up the mirrors so you only need torchlight to get down the hall."

Time to see where they made the mummies.

Anubis is one of the most iconic gods of ancient Egypt. Anubis is the Greek version of his name, the ancient Egyptians knew him as Anpu (or Inpu). Anubis was an extremely ancient deity whose name appears in the oldest mastabas of the Old Kingdom and the Pyramid Texts as a guardian and protector of the dead. He was originally a god of the underworld, but became associated specifically with the embalming process and funeral rites.