Emilee - January 8, 2003
Ancient Egypt
"Ow! Buggar all!" Gabrielle yelped as Senbi ran over her toes with the cart. Living so far from the nearest town and working on fixing up the hut, it took a cart to haul all the groceries home from the market. Gabrielle glared from under her mess of dark hair at her brother as she balanced the sack of tangerines clumsily in her hands. "Bloody hell Senbi!"
The scrawny excuse for a man glanced up at her, "If I hear one more English expression from you I'll cut off your hands." he grumbled.
"And if you don't stop running over my feet I'll never go back to England and stay here and bother you forever." She replied matter-of-factly.
That seemed to shut him up and Gabrielle smiled to herself but as she thought more about England and Jonathan, her smiled faded. She'd only been home for a few months, but Gabrielle was already realizing that Egypt, in her own time, with her brother and her friends, just wasn't home anymore. Jonathan was home.
Gabrielle frowned, that sounded odd. It was true, but just sounded odd. Everything about her life of late had been odd to her. She wasn't used to Jonathan, being in love with him and him loving her, but she also wasn't used to being away from him, missing him.
She sighed and looked determinedly at Senbi's quickly approaching oasis. There is work to do, she told herself, there is need for me here.
Nefret was only a few months along in the pregnancy. She spent most of her time thinking about Ardeth, but Gabrielle completely understood. She herself hardly ever stopped thinking about Jonathan, though she wouldn't admit it, and when she did she liked to think that her longing for 'her man' wasn't as obvious.
Gabrielle, Senbi and Nefret were all staying in Senbi's hut. It was quiet, safe and easy for any one of their group to find. But since Gabrielle had returned the hut was looking better by the day. Gabrielle was forcing Senbi to fix it up (though she was doing most of the work) while Nefret was there.
Yes, Gabrielle felt a swell of pride as the hut came into view. It wasn't small enough to even call a hut anymore. It was more like a-
"OW!"
"What are you doing down there?"
"You tripped me you git!"
"I did no such thing."
Gabrielle sat in the sand, the tangerines sitting all around her and the sack blowing off into the dunes. She glared up at her brother and reached out for him. "Be a gentleman." She commanded, and Senbi sighed and helped her up with one hand. But he was of course off in a flash heading down the dune to the hut, leaving Gabrielle to pick up the tangerines and trudge after him.
By the time Gabrielle reached the hut Senbi was already unpacking the car. She swatted him on the back of the head she passed him and entered the kitchen door.
"Nefret! We're back, love." She called, dumping the tangerines on the kitchen table.
Nefret called back a faint greeting from somewhere in the house and Gabrielle smiled, picking up a huge bowl, filling it with the tangerines and heading out the door to the pond.
She didn't notice her brother watching her as she dumped out the tangerines, filled the basin and sat on her feet, washing the fruit. Her left hand caught her eye and she took a sharp intake of breath before closing her eyes and closing her hand in a fist, then touched her fist to her pursed lips.
It had been the day she left that she took the ring from him. As usual, Jonathan and Gabrielle were being their flirty silly selves, goofing off and not really realizing that she was leaving for so long. She'd tugged off the silver pinkie ring Jonathan always wore and slipped it on her ring finger, then kissed him good-bye and that was it.
It hadn't meant much at the time, but when she'd gotten back to Egypt wearing his ring she felt so close to him, even when they were ages apart.
And then she'd lost it. She had been sitting right there next to the pond washing her feet after Senbi had dropped a hammer on her toes.
This image made her frown. Not to mention made her toes hurt.
She opened her eyes and looked at the pond. It would be impossible to find it now, so she shook her head and tried to stop thinking about it.
Finishing the washing, Gabrielle stood up and then bent back down when she ran strait into Senbi who was standing behind her. "Cripes!" she yelled, tumbling over and spilling the fruit all in the mud.
She sighed and glared at her brother, "What the hell are you doing?" She snapped grumpily.
He might have been apologizing when he grumbled something inaudible, but Gabrielle couldn't hear it. What she did hear was his muttered, "Here." as he thrust his hand to her and looked at her a bit peeved.
He opened his fist and revealed Jonathan's ring. Gabrielle's jaw dropped and she glanced up at her brothers face before taking the ring from his palm.
"Wh...how...where...?" Gabrielle whispered, holding the ring in her palm and looking at it with her brown eyes wide. Then her eyes darted up to him, "How did you get this Sen?"
Senbi looked at her and shrugged, "Just picked it up."
A smile crossed her face. She knew that it would have taken him forever to scour the pond for the tiny ring.
"Alright so it took me about...oh eight hours to find that thing." Senbi explained with a shrug. "It was noth-" He was interrupted when his sister threw her arms around him.
"Thank you!" She hugged him, then stepped back, ruffling his hair, "You are absolutely brilliant." She told him with a huge grin and her voice sounding far too much like Jonathan's.
Rolling his eyes, Senbi shook his head and put his hand in his pockets, "Maybe now you won't mope around like your puppy died." he said turning and starting back up to the hut.
Gabrielle laughed and stuck her tongue out at him, or more at his retreating back as he slipped back in the house.
She looked down at the ring in her hand and slipped it on, smiling softly and wondering if Jonathan was thinking about her too, and hoping that he was smiling.
Penny - January 9, 2003
Back on the ship…
Four pair of eyes frantically scoured the surface of the water, for the teenager. "THERE!" Jonathan pointed. "HE'S THERE!"
Kit fought the waves, bobbing more than swimming. The water seemed relatively calm, there was no real wind to speak of, but for some reason the water looked choppy all around him. Something was wrong...terribly wrong. Rick watched intently as the boy continued to bob in the water. Kit jerked, went under and surfaced again, barely crying out.
As Ardeth quickly brought the WaSi about, Rick and Jonathan saw the movement at the same time. The water was alive with dark shapes, swimming just under the surface, circling the boy. Kit's body jerked violently and the water turned crimson! SHARKS! JESUS SHARKS! Again Kit's body jerked and disappeared below the surface.
Confused, frightened eyes shot open as Rick sat straight up in the bunk, his heart thumping painfully in his chest. Strong arms gently pushed him back down. "No ahi. Lay back until I finish." Still disoriented, he stared up into the face of the warrior. "Lay back now," he repeated softly.
"Where's the kid?" he cried raggedly.
Ardeth dabbed at the bruise on the left side of Rick's temple. When Ardeth didn't answer as fast as Rick thought he should, Rick grabbed a fist full of black cloth and jerked Ardeth forward. "WHERE THE HELL IS THE HE?"
Ardeth suddenly looked old and tired to Rick. It was true then he thought. The kid was gone. Rick slumped back into the bunk, his emotions going in a thousand different directions all at once. He had known the kid had been lying. It didn't take an Oxford grad to figure that out, especially when Rick had asked Kit on four different occasions, during their talk what Kit's sister's name was and had gotten four different answers. He wondered if Kit even had a sister. He doubted it seriously. He did manage to get out that his mother and father had been killed by the same man. Who he didn't say, except that he was going to kill the bastard when he found him. Then there was that bullshit about them needing HIS help and that they were too EMOTIONAL for his taste! Damn kid had more balls than a major league!
Then his curiosity got the better of him and he'd asked Kit about his mother. What was her maiden name? Where was she born? Did she have any brothers or sisters? Where were her parents? What he got he hadn't counted on and it only went to prove, you didn't need the BOOK OF THE DEAD to raise a ghost from the past.
"What?" Kit sneered. "Just cause I got Richard O'Connell in my name, you think you're related to me? Better think again, you slob. My uncle's dead. His whole damn garrison was wiped out by Tuareg warriors! Mom said he was a hero and YOU SURE THE HELL AIN'T NO HERO! I wouldn't have your dumb ass as my uncle, if they paid me all the gold in China! BIG DUM FU..." THUMP! THUMP!
Kit had come up out of the chair so fast, Rick had to side step him. "You touch me one more time and I'm gonna introduce my knee to your nuts!"
Rick in a move that was just as fast, reached out, jerking Kit half off his feet and slammed him back into the chair. "Yeah and if shit was music, you'd be an orchestra, O'Malley! Now sit there! Now you're gonna answer my questions! Remember? My boat, my questions! Now, where was she born?"
"Who?"
"Your mother?"
Kit tilted his head and the hair slid sideways into his face, causing Rick to feel the hairs on his neck stand at attention. It was almost like looking in a mirror, when he was a kid. Kit sneered up at him. "She was born in a hospital, cause she wanted to be close to her mother, Stupid."
Rick glared and thumped him again. "If the crap in here was any deeper, I'd need waders and a shovel, Smart Ass! Now where was she born?"
"Is that your real face or were you hit by a double decker bus?"
Rick popped his knuckles and took a step closer. "Do it," Kit dared. "I'll cream ya like corn!"
"WHERE, O'MALLEY?"
"CHICAGO, O'CONNELL!"
"Her parents names? What were they?"
"What are ya doin', writin' a goddamn book?" When Rick advanced closer, Kit had put up his finger, shaking it back and forth. "Ut-uh! I'll hit you so goddamn hard your friends will feel it!"
"Who were they?"
Kit looked at him suspiciously. "Paddy and Margaret O'Connell."
Rick walked over and stared out the porthole for a few minutes, silent, lost in his own thoughts. "What was her name, Kit?" he asked quietly.
"Caroline Anne, but they called her..."
"Carrie Anne," Rick finished.
Kit frowned, "How the hell do you know what they called my Mom?"
"Cause I gave it to her as a nickname," he said sadly. "I couldn't say Caroline, when I started talking. All I could say was Carrie."
"LYIN' SONUVABITCH!" As Rick turned toward the young man, a fist crashed into the side of his head. Before he blacked out, in the corridor, he remembered Kit running for the steps to the deck, screaming and cussing, saying he'd rather be eaten by sharks than spend another damn minute, with a damn lyin' bastard.
As Rick lay on the bunk, he realized, Kit was the only link he had left to Carrie Anne, and now sadly, that link was gone. Ardeth said something, bringing Rick back to the here and now.
"What? What Ardeth? Sorry, didn't hear you. What'd you say?"
"I said, Jon said to let you know that when you feel up to it, you can go Round Two, with your nephew. Until then, Jonathan says he will keep him locked up in the hold."
"He's not dead? Ardeth, he's not dead?"
Ardeth looked at him with worried eyes, feeling the lump on the side of his head. "No, he's not."
"The sharks didn't eat him?"
"Nooooo."
Rick sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bunk. "GOOD, CAUSE I'M GONNA KILL THAT DAMN NEPHEW OF MINE!" Rick marched out the door, leaving a bewildered Med-Jai in his wake. Outside the hold he found Jonathan sitting in a chair.
He looked at the side of Rick's head and remembered the bruise and lump on Kit's. "I say, Rick. You two are a matching set if ever I saw one."
"Yeah, great. Unlock the door Jon and let me in."
When Rick walked into the hold, he found Kit dozing on a pallet. Hearing Rick slam open the door, Kit raised up and sighed heavily, "Shit. If I throw a stick, will you leave?"
Shelby (pen name Eviefan) January 9, 2003
The hold was a small room, with one tiny window, too small for Kit to get out of, which had been the reason for putting him in there. Next to the door, which Rick had closed on his entry was a chair, and he pulled it in front of him and sat down glaring at the boy laying in front of him. "We have unfinished business," Rick said dryly, trying to maintain a hold on his temper.
Annoyed that this man, who had made the past several hours a living hell for him, had once again returned, Kit chose to keep his eyes planted on the floor. "I've got nothing more to say," came his cool reply.
"Oh, you'll answer my questions, even if I have to spend the next two days in here with you," came Rick's reply, equally as cool.
~*~*~*~*~
Outside the room, Jonathan had his ear pressed firmly against the door, trying to determine if he should intervene before both of them ended up killing one another. He was so focused on trying to hear, that he didn't see or hear the approaching footsteps of his nephew, and for that reason, he jumped, and hit his head on the frame of the door. "Bloody hell that hurt," he said as he turned coming face to face with Alex. "You're mum is going to have a fit if she finds you out of bed," he said, feeling relieved that it was just him.
"And my dad will have a few words for you when he finds out you're eavesdropping," Alex said holding a blanket around his still fevered body. The commotion which Kit had made earlier, about someone not being his Uncle woke Alex, and now he wanted to know what was going on.
It appeared that the boy had a point, and Jonathan sighed, rubbing his head as he sat back down in his chair. Then realized that Alex didn't look so good. "I'll fill you in, but maybe we should get you back to bed before your mum comes looking for you," he said as he stood up and proceeded to escort Alex back to his room.
~*~*~*~*~
The tension in the air of the small room was so thick, that one could likely cut it with a pocket knife. Not a word had been spoken between the two occupants, and Kit now glared at the man before him with more hate in his body than he had ever felt.
Not far from where Kit lay, on a pallet of several blankets piled on the floor, Rick starred back, still trying to come to terms with what Kit had said before everything went black. The boy was obviously telling the truth, he couldn't have made up all that about Carrie Anne, or their parents, and remembering them brought up old feelings, ones that Rick hadn't let surface in a long time.
Kit lowered his head to the floor, and thumped it once before raising it again to stare back at the bastard who sat in front of his only way out. He had better things to do than to just sit there.
When he had raised up the blanket had fallen away, and Rick's eyes were now fixed on a mark on the back of his right shoulder, a birthmark shaped like the half of a moon, the same birthmark his mother had.
"What the hell are ya looking at?" Kit finally said as he sat up dragging the blanket around him.
"You have a mark on your shoulder, like your mom," he said, without anger.
"Look you Son of a Bitch, I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you don't know nothin' about me, or nothin' about my mom, so why don't you move away from that door before I knock your teeth out?" When he didn't move, Kit stood, letting the blanket fall. All he had on was his underpants, but he didn't care, and started forward when the knob on the door twisted, and both of them heard Evelyn's voice.
Evelyn, had checked on Alex, and upon finding Jonathan with him, had decided she better go make sure Rick and the young man they had found, were still in one piece. "Rick?" she called out as she twisted the handle of the door with her right hand. Under her left arm, was an old shirt, and some pants that belonged to her brother, which she thought might fit him. When the door opened she found her husband standing with his arms folded against his chest, and Kit sitting on the pallet, with a tan blanket wrapped around him.
"Rick, why don't you take over the wheel for a while?" she suggested as she walked in front of him, getting his attention.
He looked at his wife. "Not till Junior here starts talking,"
"I don't think you'll get anything out of him if you try forcing it," she said as she turned to face Rick's prisoner. Her eyes opened wide as she looked down at him. The way his hair fell on his face, and the manor in which he was looking at her was exactly like looking at Rick, and she would have said as much, but knew that he would likely be repulsed by that, so decided to leave her thoughts to herself. "These may be a bit big for you, but I thought they might due for now," she said as she put the clothes on the chair.
"Thank you," he said, staying where he was.
"Are you hungry?" she asked.
"Yes Ma'am," he responded pleasantly.
"I'll bring you something to eat," she said, smiling at him before she turned back to her husband. "Rick, I need you to come with me," she said, taking his hand.
For a moment, Rick stood where he was, then heaved a sigh, and left with his wife, shutting and locking the door behind him.
~*~*~*~*~
"He looks just like you do, the way his hair fell in his eyes, the way he looked at me," Evelyn said as she made a sandwich for Kit.
Rick was sitting at the table, still thinking about the birthmark. "Carrie Anne had a birthmark on the back of her right shoulder, and he has the same mark," Rick said as he looked at his wife.
She had finished making Kit's meal, and walked over to him, settling on his lap. "It seems like our past is coming back to haunt us doesn't it? My Parents, your sister, and Kit. I'm almost tempted just to have you turn us around and go back to England," she said, then sighed as his lips moved over the right side of her neck.
"I don't think we have a choice about this anymore, there are too many things that need answers, and whether he wants to or not, Kit is going to have to learn to trust us," Rick said as he rested his chin on her left shoulder.
"Maybe you should let him rest first," she replied.
A sigh escaped his lips, then he stood up and turned her around. "He doesn't have that luxury, nor do any of the rest of us," he said, then kissed her before getting the food she had prepared for him, and returning to his room, to get the answers he needed.