"Good-bye, my friend," Beni said to O'Connell as he took off into the crowd.
"Come here, you little…" O'Connell said as he started after Beni.
O'Connell looked down and saw a drain cover. He tossed his torch into the crowd before he started to lift the cover off the hole.
"Come on!" he said motioning towards Jonathan.
"What about my sister?" he asked.
"We're gonna get her back! Go!" Rick said practically shoving him down the hole. "Jamila!"
Jamila ran over to him and practically jumped down the hole after Jonathan.
"You're next!" O'Connell said grabbing Ardeth by his robes and tossing him down the hole.
The curator had pulled out his sword and was starting to slice up the mob.
"Come on! Give me your hand!" shouted Rick.
"You go!" shouted the curator.
"Come on!" shouted Rick again.
"GO!" shouted the curator.
O'Connell jumped down the hole after his friends.
"Where is the curator?" asked Jamila.
"He wouldn't come," said O'Connell looking up at the hole in the celling.
"You mean he's…" said Jamila.
"Yup. And we've got to get out of here," said O'Connell heading down one of the adjoining tunnels.
"Where are we going?" asked Jamila as they drove through the desert.
"To see an old friend," said O'Connell.
"In the desert?" asked Jamila. "Who is out here?"
"Winston," O'Connell said simply as they pulled up to a gate.
They pulled through the gate and drove up to where an old man was sitting under an umbrella.
"Morning, Winston. Uh, a word?" said O'Connell leading the group up there.
"What's your little problem got to do with His Majesty's Royal Air Corps?" asked Winston.
"Not a damn thing," said O'Connell.
"Is it dangerous?" asked Winston putting his tea cup down.
"You probably won't live through it," said O'Connell.
"By Jove, do you really think so?" asked Winston.
"Well, everybody else we've bumped into has died. Why not you?" said Jonathan.
What's the, uh - What's the challenge then?" he asked standing up.
"Rescue the damsel in distress, kill the bad guy and save the world," said O'Connell calmly.
Winston laughed cheerfully, "Winston Havelock at your service, sir," he said with a salute.
"And how exactly are we going to do that?"
O'Connell nodded to a plane that was sitting a little ways off.
"That's a two person plane," said Jamila. "And If I'm counting right there are five of us."
"Not a problem," said O'Connell.
"Come on," said O'Connell after he strapped Jonathan to the plane wing.
"Not going to happen!" shouted Jamila.
"Then you aren't going," said O'Connell simply. "In fact, I think that's good idea. Have someone take her back to the fort."
"Like hell!" said Jamila with her hands on her hips.
"Then get on the plane!" shouted O'Connell.
The plane flew over a sand dune. Winston was in the pilot's seat while O'Connell was in the gunner seat. Ardeth and Jamila were tethered to one side of the plane while Jonathan was on the other.
O'Connell looked to his right, at Jonathan and whistled, "Are you all right?" he shouted over the engine and wind.
"Do I bloody look all right?!" shouted Jonathan.
O'Connell turned to his left and did the same to Jamila and Ardeth. Ardeth's face was being blown back by the wind and it looked like he was smiling. Jamila had her eyes closed and was trying to keep her head as close to the plane as possible. She did not like this at all. Not one bit.
"See that? I've never seen one so big," said Winston point to a sand tornado.
"Never?" asked O'Connell slightly worried.
"No," replied Winston.
Winston kept flying the plane and the tornado disappeared. But in its place was a sand wall
"Oh, my God," said O'Connell spotting the wall. "Hey, Winston! Pedal faster!" he shouted.
"Hang on men!" shouted Winston as he spotted the sand wall in his mirror.
Suddenly the plane dipped forward and over a cliff. The wall continued to gain on them. O'Connell pulled his goggles down over his eyes and loaded the gun. Suddenly a face appeared in the wall. It was Imhotep. O'Connell started shooting at the wall but it didn't do anything to diminish it. Suddenly the whole plan was engulfed by the wall. It started to turn over on itself. Everyone was screaming, except for Winston.
"Here I come, laddies!" he laughed.
There is something wrong with this man, thought Jamila.
The wall fell down around them and the plane crashed into a nearby sand dune. Ardeth was able to free himself and helped Jamila down from the wind. O'Connell pulled himself from the back seat and fell to the ground.
"Excuse me," said Jonathan. "Um, a little help would be useful, if it's not too much trouble!" he yelled. He was still strapped to the plane wing.
"Yeah, yeah. All right," said O'Connell walking over, pulling his hat off.
O'Connell cut Jonathan down from the plane before he want to go check on Winston. Winston had a smile on his face but no pulse. He'd died on the impact. Jamila frowned and Ardeth pulled the machine gun off the back of the plane.
"What do you need that for?" asked Jamila.
"Just in case," he said shrugging his shoulders.
"Men…" she said under her breath. "What now?"
"We go into the city and kick some Ancient Egyptian ass," said O'Connell heading for the ruins.
"I'd take those bigger stones first," said Jonathan as Ardeth and O'Connell pulled rocks out of hole. "Take them from the top, otherwise the whole thing will cave in on us. Come on. Put your backs into it."
Both men turned to stare at him.
"Yeah, well, you've got the idea. Chop-chop," said Jonathan.
"They are going to throw the rocks at you of you keep it up," said Jamila with a smile.
Jonathon walked over to a nearby wall that had jewels embedded in it.
"I say!" he said pulling one off.
"What is it?" asked Jamila coming over to look.
"Gents, you should come and have a look at this," he said laying it flat in his hand.
Suddenly the blue coating on the jewel cracked and a scarab popped out and dug itself into Jonathan's hand. He started screaming and so did Jamila. Both O'Connell and Ardeth turned around to see what was going on.
"What?! What?!" shouted O'Connell.
"It's in my arm! My arm!" shouted Jonathan.
O'Connell ripped the shirt sleeve open to see a small lump moving up Jonathan's arm. He pulled out his knife and dug into the skin. Jamila turned away. She couldn't watch him do that. Suddenly there was gun shot and she turned back around. Jonathan's shoulder and hand were bleeding and the remains of a scarab were lying in the sand.
"What the hell happened?" asked O'Connell.
"He just picked it up off the wall," said Jamila shaking slightly as she bandaged her cousin's wounds. "And it just popped out of the shell."
O'Connell tossed his torch through the tiny opening. They had made their way through the very tiny tunnel and were standing in a very large room. Ardeth jumped down behind him and helped Jamila down. She smiled and blushed at him. She still couldn't get that kiss out of her head. She didn't know what she was thinking when she'd done it. Jonathan popped out behind her.
O'Connell pulled out his pistol and shot one of the mirrors. The mirror spun for a moment before it caught the sun and sent the light shooting to the other mirrors. Within moments the whole room was lit up. They were standing in the treasure room. They stood there in awe for a moment before making their way across the floor.
"Can you see…" said Jonathan.
"Yeah," said O'Connell.
"Can you believe…" said Jonathan.
"Can we just…" started Jonathan.
"No," said O'Connell.
There was croaking/groaning sound and everyone turned around. Jamila was the only one without a weapon. She felt defenseless even through two of them three men were heavily armed. Arm started shooting out of the ground in front of them.
"Who are these guys?" asked O'Connell/
"Priests," said Ardeth. "Imhotep's priests.
"All right then," said O'Connell.
Both men started shooting at the mummies as they walked towards the group. Jonathan grabbed O'Connell's pistols and started shooting the mummies as well. Jamila turned around and found a sword lying about the gold jewelry and statues. She was going to arm herself if it was the last thing she did.
After a moment they started to make their way through the maze of treasure to get away from the mummies. As Jamila turned to run she saw Beni run into the room. The boys were focused on getting away from the mummies that they didn't see her slip away from them.
When Beni thought everyone was gone he pulled a couple bags out of a hiding place and started to stuff them until they were completely full.
"What ya doing, Beni?" asked Jamila stepping out into the aisle.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I could ask you the same thing, but I think I know the answer," she said nodding to the bags of treasure. "Skipping out on your boy Imhotep?"
"That's none of your business," he said gripping his gun.
"Are you really doing to shoot a defenseless girl?" she asked walking closer to him.
"If you're friends with O'Connell, you aren't defenseless," he said still holding his gun up.
"You're right," she said pulling her sword from behind a statue. "But, I think we can settle this without weapons, you worm."
Beni scoffed and she kicked him in the face. His gun flew out of his hand as he hit the ground. He scrambled to get to it and she kicked it well out of his reach again. She wasn't much of a fighter, but she wasn't going to let him get way with what he's done. As he stood up again she kicked his ribs. She heard something crack as he fell back to the ground.
"Te kis kurva!" shouted Beni as he tackled her.
"Oomph!" she grunted she hit the ground.
Beni landed a punch on her face, busting her lip open. Jamila brought her leg up and kneed him in the side. There wasn't much force behind it but it was enough to knock him off balance. She rolled them over so that she was sitting on his chest. She punched him twice before she was pulled off of him.
"He's is not worth it. His time will come," said the voice.
It was Ardeth. She kicked Beni before they took off out of the room. As they reached the outside of the city the ground started to shake. She looked and saw that the city was starting to sink.
"Evelyn! Jonathan! They're still in there!" she shouted.
She pulled free from Ardeth and started to run back into the city. Ardeth grabbed her hand and pulled her back from the city walls.
"It is too dangerous!" he shouted.
"That's my family in there!" she shouted trying to pull away from him.
She struggled to pull free when he pulled her close and kissed her. Her struggling slowed until she stopped completely.
"You cannot go back in there," he said. "I can't lose you."
"What?" she said looking at him confused.
"I have done nothing but think about since you kissed me the other night. And I don't know why," he said. "I can't get you out of my head."
"Oh," she sighed.
He leaned forward and kissed her again. It was then that she saw his hand was hurt.
"What happened?" she asked pulling it down to look at.
"It must have happened when I was fighting with the priests," he said with a shrug.
She tsked and ripped part of her skirt and wrapped his hand. She kissed it before she let go and let it drop back to his side.
"I have to find my cousins. I have to know if they are okay," she said.
"Come," he said.
He helped her onto one of the camels before he climbed up on another one. As they made their way around the sinking city they saw Evelyn, Jonathan, and Rick running out of the ruins. Jamila gave a sigh of relief when she saw them. The silently rode up behind the three of them and Ardeth put his hand on Jonathan's shoulder, ultimately scaring all three of them.
"OH! Thank you. Thank you very much," said Jonathan with his hand over his heart.
"Jamila! You're safe!" shouted Evelyn.
Jamila nodded.
"You've earned the respect and gratitude of me and my people," said Ardeth.
"Yes, well, it was nothing," chuckled Jonathan.
Jamila rolled her eyes at the comment. Something would never change.
"May Allah smile upon you always," said Ardeth kissing his knuckles before touching them to his forehead and motioning to the three of them.
"And…yourself…" said Jonathan trying to mimic the motions.
"I think I am ready to head home," said Evelyn.
"I second that," said Jonathan.
"What about you Mila?" asked Evelyn.
Jamila looked at her cousin and then back at Ardeth. There was something drawing her to the Medjai. She could tell that he sensed it too.
"If it's all the same, I think I'm going to stay," she said.
"What?" said Evelyn. "Stay here? In the middle of the desert?"
"No," she said. "Here," she said nodding slightly to Ardeth.
Evelyn smiled. "I want to see you for holidays," she said.
"You couldn't keep me away," she said with a smile.
Ardeth clicked his tongue and turned his camel. Jamila waved to her cousins and O'Connell one last time before she turned to follow him.
"Why are you staying?" he asked when they were a safe distance away.
"I really don't know, but something deep inside me is telling me I should," she said. "And I think I'm going to listen to that gut instinct for once," she said with a smile.
Ardeth smiled as they slowly made their way through the desert.
A/N: This is the final chapter. I'm going to make a sequel. It will be between The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. Review and let me know what you think. There will definitely be more Ardeth/Jamila in the sequel! ~Kat