It was the late afternoon and the group of unfortunate adventurers after waking to their hangovers and becoming reminded of their impending fate had finally separated to sort out their affairs. Evelyn and Jess had woken up in the Americans' quarters, curled up on the couch beneath two blankets whilst Jonathan had found himself seated at a round table, his top half sprawled out across it and several cards stuck to the right side of his face with a combination of salvia and spilt whiskey.

After Henderson had joked about Evelyn's snoring and Rick had mocked Daniels for trying and failing to bribe Anu with biscuits that had been left with the tea Jonathan had insisted on getting in the early hours of the morning, they had finally left the Americans' quarters.

Now it was just the trio and as the day had rolled on they had become more anxious and sombre with each passing hour. All of them could feel the wrongness in the air, though none of them could pinpoint why or what it was exactly they knew it was there.

"It's just the after effects of bad dreams brought on by whiskey that's all," Henderson grumbled as he fanned himself with his cowboy hat. It had been an unpleasant humid day and he had spent most of it sweaty and hot headed.

The three had spent the morning washing and dressing before discussing their plans. Burns had been incapable of course, still struggling just to find his way around their quarters, banging into the furniture as he did. Daniels had gone to help him in the bathroom but his arm had caused him pain and when Burns had started to sob from the humiliation the dark haired male had lost it. Anger had rushed through him and he had stormed from the bathroom, almost colliding with Henderson as he did.

The blonde had scolded his friend for just abandoning their companion, blind and confused, before hastening to finish the job. Henderson had managed to help Burns with his basic needs, before guiding him to shave. When Burns had rasped something that sounded like 'end it' as Henderson had raised the razor to his chin, the blonde had paled and for a moment frozen up. He had then dismissed the words as his own imagination and Burns had not repeated them, instead falling silent for the duration of the shave.

"What do you mean dreams?" Daniels scoffed as he eyed Henderson suspiciously.

The blonde gave an uneasy shrug. "I don't know Daniels seemed the place was more crowded than usual or something, thought Johnny was doing some sleep walking maybe, or O'Connell was prowling about on guard duty, I don't know," he rambled uncomfortably.

"Wait, what?" Daniels gave his friend a stern, probing indigo stare. "Did you see something last night?" he demanded.

"It was just a dream," Henderson insisted, "I mean all that stuff about Miss Jess, it was...well it was screwed up Daniels, and all this stuff going on right now, shit haven't you had one nightmare since we left that Godforsaken place?"

Burns let out a low groan at that prompting both men to look at him with a guilty sorrow. He was back on the couch, the only place he seemed to feel even vaguely comfortable, taking reluctant sips of the herbs Ardeth had given him, crushed into tea by Daniels. Daniels had scoffed that it was a 'devil's brew' but he had made it up anyway, muttering that it was probably opium and promising 'something better' when they got home.

"What exactly did you dream?" Daniels continued to pry.

"Shit David I don't know, people, messed up people in the shadows, just standing there watching and waiting. What do you care?" Henderson was trembling now and his fear was starting to show in the whites of his eyes.

"I don't," Daniels grumbled darkly as he stared at the floor, "I saw the same thing is all."

Henderson's blue eyes widened at that before he glanced sharply to the door as if considering bolting for it. "Well that ain't right," he grumbled before he reached into his pocket and plucked out his tobacco case. Damn it he really needed to soothe his nerves right now, the effects of last night's alcohol were long forgotten as was that brief moment of happiness they had managed to experience. Henderson didn't know how Jess had worked that magic just that she somehow had. After Daniels had brought her in from the balcony, something O'Connell had been very quick to joke about, she had made an effort to be a bit brighter and cheerier despite their dark situation. What had really touched Henderson was how she had focused all that light and energy on Burns, joking with him, encouraging her dog to nuzzle at him and paw at him for affection and somehow just making things seem like they weren't so final for the poor man.

Daniels had hated the young woman just a little for it, grumbling snidely to Henderson that she was given Burns' false hope, mocking him even and acting like he wasn't wounded. Henderson had grumbled back that she was just being nice and that at least she could see past Burns' injuries when the rest of them couldn't. It was hard to tell what Burns had felt about it all, at the time he had seemed not happy, no, Henderson doubted his friend would ever be happy again, but there had been something, a small spark Henderson hadn't seen on him since they had first laid eyes on the terrible but mesmerising Hamunaptra. This morning though, the man had seemed more broken than ever and the blonde didn't think he would ever forget that half-imagined, whispered plea for his friend to end it for him.

"I'm sorry," Henderson said woefully, addressing both his friends at once as his vibrant cerulean stare flickered between them, "this is all my fault. It was my idea to come out here and my idea to go after Hamunaptra."

"Hea..ree," Burns attempted to rasp out his friend's name and failed.

"It's not your fault," Daniels spoke up coolly, "we came didn't we? Not like you forced us."

"We shouldn't have opened that damn chest!" Henderson cursed. He tugged out his falcon headed canopic jar and glared down at it. Even now after all they had suffered he couldn't bring himself to part with it, hell now it was more valuable than ever, the only treasure he had to show for all his woes. "All that for this, it hardly makes sense," he mumbled between mouthfuls of tobacco.

"It was that bloody woman who read the book," Daniels complained, "he shoulda took her eyes!"

"David!" Henderson snapped with an angry look at his friend as Burns let out a moan.

"Sorry Bernie," Daniels was quick to say, "I didn't mean it, wouldn't wish that on her I just meant it's hardly fair." He moved to his friend and took a seat beside him, placing one hand on his left shoulder.

"We'll get the boat tomorrow to Alexandria, least the tickets are sorted for that," Henderson remarked confidently. Yes, that was a plan, a solid plan and it gave him a sense of control. "Just a pity there wasn't a boat today. Gives us time to say goodbye I suppose," he added dryly.

"Goodbye to whom?" Daniels grumbled. "Half the party we went with are dead, that rat Beni is either dead or close to it, the doctor's deserted us, obviously rates his chances better alone, the Carnahan woman thinks she can just stick around to fight this thing and you know her brother and O'Connell are going to follow along."

"Jesh?" Burns croaked out weakly.

Daniels gave his friend a serious stare though only Henderson could notice it. "Well she's got her own curse," he muttered.

"I asked her to come with us," Henderson admitted, surprising both his friends, "she refused of course because she's stubborn but I bought her a ticket anyway."

"You did what?" Daniels exclaimed with a look of annoyed disbelief as he stood up from the chair to face his friend.

Henderson rested his hands on his hips before calmly spitting out the tobacco into a flower pot. "Come on David I know you've got a soul in there somewhere, she's got nothing and no one out here."

"And how is that our problem? I didn't know you were cute on thieves Henry," Daniels retorted snidely.

"I'm not; I just feel if we leave her she's probably a dead girl. Sure she might have the sense to stick with O'Connell and the others but then again she might not and it's not like she's actually with them. Besides, you care about her too, you can't fool me, come on you brought her in from the balcony and you let her wear your hat."

"Don't we have enough problems?" Daniels muttered. He sighed hearing Burns giving a groan of protest. "Alright, you're right, she'll get herself killed if she stays here, whether by a mummy or a chaos god or some other mad ancient shit who knows." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly and his frown deepened.

"Dave..." Burns tried to speak again.

Daniels turned back to his friend, frowning slightly at the drool that leaked out of his friend's mouth. "Yeah Bernie?" he queried, trying to sound calm and failing.

Burns heard the mixture of revulsion and woe in his friend's voice. Ever since his eyes had been torn from him in one hellish moment his other senses had started, gradually, to improve. He should have considered it a silver lining in his anguish but he just considered it another layer to the curse as it meant he could hear the tone in his friends' voices, the faint hint of fear in Henderson's when he tried to be brave and confident, and the disgust in Daniels' when he meant to be kind. Burns understood it, he had been the level headed one of the trio until his tragedy, the voice of reason, the one to counterpart Daniels' temper and boost Henderson's confidence as he made a show of support even when the blonde's plans didn't always seem safe, or sane for that matter. Now he was too lost in his own despair to bother offering Henderson any voice of support or Daniels calming words. He was trapped in an eternal darkness, it wasn't even like being in a room with the candles out and the shutters drawn, even then there were shapes, hints of grey and deep blues, a suggestion of light despite the lack of it. This was different, there was no light for him, not anymore, it was just a never ending torment of the absence of light, it wasn't black or blue or grey, there were no shadows or shapes, there was nothing, just an endless abyss to mock him day and night.

"Oh Bernie don't," Daniels protested suddenly when his friend started to sob again. He pulled Burns against him with one arm and looked over his friend's shoulder to give Henderson a dark look.

"We'll get to Alexandria and get some proper help there," the blonde said confidently, ignorant to how Burns detected the waver in his voice, "real help I mean, there will be English doctors there, proper doctors, no desert herbs crap, and then we'll get you home. It'll be okay when we're home."

"Yeah," Daniels murmured, not even attempting to sound optimistic about it.

A few minutes seemed to drag by and for a moment both Daniels and Henderson seems helpless as they allowed Burns' hoarse sobs to fill the silence. After a while Henderson fumbled with another pinch of tobacco before deciding that they weren't being fair to Burns, letting him carry on as he was, probably feeling humiliated before his friends. The blonde moved to the balcony doors and drew back the curtains, the sun was starting to set now and its light wasn't so hot or bright, in fact it was pleasant, at least it would be if one had time to appreciate it.

Henderson glanced back at Burns as he released the curtains, the pale golden beams just about reached him, he hoped that even if Burns couldn't see them he could at least feel them and take some comfort in the knowledge that there was still light in the world. "How about I get us a drink?" he offered.

Burns tensed at the thought, the alcohol had burned too much last night and he had not been able to get as festive as everyone else with the bourbon. He shook his head in protest, pausing to dab at the drool that spilled from his mouth.

"I'd like a drink," Daniels grumbled as he stood up from the couch.

"Big surprise," Henderson murmured as he looked at his friend pointedly. "What do you want? I'll bring it up."

Daniels tensed slightly, obviously eager to escape the stuffy room but then he seemed to realise their predicament as he sagged slightly in defeat. "I don't know, something strong," he muttered. "Damn it's hot in here, better make it a shot, couldn't stand sipping over something in this heat."

"You go," Burns piped up quietly.

Henderson and Daniels both looked to him then and the blonde suggested, "why don't we all go?"

"No!" It came out as a loud gargle but Daniels and Henderson got the just of it. All Burns could think of then was the jeering he had endured upon entering this fort, the looks of horror he had felt upon him, the curses and the wondering, worse was the questioning over whether he had somehow brought it upon himself. 'I did,' he thought mournfully.

"Well I'll stay then," Daniels insisted.

"No," Burns protested again, quieter this time. He was tired of his friends and the falsehood in their voices, of hearing the doubt and fear they tried to conceal and worse, the pity. He knew they did not believe he could ever be cured of this and he knew that in their darker moments they wished the mummy had been quicker and more final with him and that they hated themselves for such thoughts. He was a reminder to them, especially to Daniels, who was most troubled as he saw Burns as yet another person he had failed to save, only unlike Bethany, Burns was taking longer to fade out of Daniels' life, taunting him every day with his suffering. "Pleash," he begged, "both...go."

"Well okay," Henderson gave in reluctantly as he nodded to Daniels, "but if you need anything, call out, get a servant in here, they're always scuttling about the corridors, it's their job."

Burns nodded weakly in response. He heard their footsteps shuffling away, heard Henry reach for the door, knowing the blonde had to be out first, he was terrified and he didn't like being in small groups anymore, he needed a crowd to reassure himself of safety these days. David's footsteps were slow and Burns could feel his backward glance even though he couldn't see it. "Don't...don't take...long," he said weakly.

"We won't," Daniels promised before he shut the door.

The men bumped into a dusty and weary looking Jess as they made their way to the stairs. She greeted them with a nod and a faint smile whilst Anu, ever present at her side, gave Daniels a wary look before wagging his tail at Henderson.

"Miss Jess fancy a drink?" Henderson quipped amicably, considering the woman might be more persuasive to the boat ride over drinks.

"Seriously?" she retorted as she wrinkled her nose slightly. "I honestly don't think I could even look at another drink for at least a couple of months."

Daniels gave a small smile at that. "What's wrong, the novelty of drinking to certain death and doom lost its charm?" he queried cynically.

"Not at all," she retorted, her smile widening as she did, "but the novelty of wearing the scents of the desert has. I'm going to get a bath," she explained.

"I was wondering what that smell was," Daniels replied mockingly.

"I assumed it was Jonathan," Henderson teased, laughing at the scowl Jess gave them. "Well enjoy Miss Jess."

"I will, enjoy the drink gentlemen; clearly you don't care much for the health of your stomachs and heads. Ah well I suppose when one is faced when the plagues of Egypt other things lose priority."

She continued on her way to the Carnahan's room leaving the pair to continue on to the bar.

"So what's the plan? Is there a plan?" Jonathan queried with an anxious smile as he followed Rick into the bar. It was a beautiful room of detailed columns with tiles of black circles in cream circles running along the bottom of them and the walls, whilst the top half had intricate carvings of leaves, flowers and symbols neither men recognised. Gossamer black curtains with gold diamonds patterning them hung between the pillars, some down and some bound back, expensive tan and maroon rugs hid most of the jade and cream tiles from view and everywhere they turned there seemed to be a decoration, statue or vase of wealth and beauty. Jonathan's eyes roved over clay flower pots with turquoise and gold enamelling, camels made of ebony, gold chandeliers and colourful lanterns resting on the glass tops of the tables. It wasn't a bad place to be in hiding.

"Well your sister naturally wants to stay and fight the immortal monster who can't be slain by mortal weapons," Rick answered sardonically as his eyes fell on a stout looking man wearing the uniform of a British fighter pilot.

Jonathan let out a chuckle at that. "Yes that's Evie, always with the sense of humour."

The stout man had a greying moustache that was curled up at the edges, a face red from both drink and heat, and a cheerfully oblivious demeanour. He was in the company of a plump but beautiful Egyptian woman, her face partially hidden behind a cloth mask of navy blue, and clutching at a dangerously overfilled goblet in his right hand.

"My even the goblets in here look pricey," Jonathan marvelled as he eyed the semi-precious stones that were dotted round the goblet.

"Jonathan no," Rick retorted with a stern gaze just as the pilot collided with a two tiered fountain of smooth, cream porcelain that acted as a centrepiece for the room.

"Some bloody idiot's spilled his drink," the man ranted crossly at the fountain in a thick, English accent before he sidestepped it and almost collided with Rick.

"Hi Winston," Rick greeted calmly as he gave the man a smile.

The man let out a burp before blinking his beady eyes at Rick. "Good grief, O'Connell is that you?"

Rick nodded.

"Well you've looked better," the pilot joked with a laugh.

"Yeah well haven't we all," Rick retorted as he eyed the wine stains on the man's mustard shirt pointedly. "Winston this is-"

"Jonathan!" Winston exclaimed, cutting the man off.

Jonathan gave him a faint smile as he shrank back from an unwanted embrace. "Yes, we've met," he confessed.

"Yes," Winston grumbled, "it was funny; I remember a lot of drink but not much else except I woke up without my money and pocket watch." He shrugged. "Oh well."

Rick gave Jonathan a suspicious look at that whilst the Englishman just looked at him innocently. "Haven't a clue what happened," Jonathan said calmly.

"You know laddies," Winston lamented, "ever since the end of the Great War, there hasn't been a single challenge worthy of a man like me."

"We all got our little problems today Winston," Rick grumbled as he finally reached the bar and took a seat on one of the square, black padded stools.

"I just wish I would've chucked it with the other laddies, gone down in a flame of glory, instead of sitting around here, rotting from boredom and booze!" Winston cried out with a dramatic wave of his hand. He leaned so far back he ended stumbling into another veiled woman. Hearing her giggle he immediately turned to face her and started telling her of his woes.

"Boredom and booze, how awful," Jonathan commented sarcastically with an envious look as he took a seat beside Rick. "Say O'Connell what would you prefer, boredom and booze or a vengeful mummy?"

Rick frowned at Jonathan before turning to face the barman. "Well Jonathan since I don't have to make that choice it doesn't really matter now, does it?"

Jonathan shrugged. "You never know, we could get lucky and die in an unfortunate accident before the mummy gets us, maybe with some beautiful women and gold, yes, wouldn't that be nice?"

Rick gave his companion an odd look as he resisted the urge to retort.

"Even the bar is gold," Jonathan murmured as he ran a finger along the bar's painted gold surface and immediately regretted it as he instantly touched something sticky.

"Tell me," Rick began curiously, "has your sister always been-"

"Oh yes always," Jonathan interrupted with a nod, somehow knowing what Rick was about to ask.

Rick turned slightly sensing a familiar pair arriving. After having spent so long with the Americans and under such serious circumstances he had quickly started to learn their mannerisms and quirks. He had learned from battle that it was always good to learn as much as you could about your allies, firstly so that you did not mistake them for enemies during the night but also so that you could bounce off and balance out each other's strengths. Daniels he knew from the heaviness to his step and the low, steady banging of his limp arm off his chest, and Henderson he detected thanks to that constant chewing of tobacco and the faint odour of smoke and horses that clung to him no matter how he bathed, not that there had been much bathing out in the desert.

"Well we're all packed up," Henderson informed them as he stood beside Jonathan who had just started pouring a bottle of bourbon into shot glasses, "but the damn boat doesn't leave till morning."

"Tail set firmly between your legs I see," Rick responded calmly as he accepted the glass Jonathan had poured for him.

Henderson rested his bare arm on the bar and leaned across it past Jonathan to glower at Rick. "You can talk. You don't have some sacred corpse after ya," he retorted moodily as Daniels stood beside Rick and waved to the barman for a glass.

Daniels, Jonathan and Rick all downed a shot whilst Henderson continued to frown at Rick waiting for his comeback.

Deciding it was best to move on from the petty exchange, Rick instead glanced at Daniels out of the corner of his eye as Jonathan started pouring drinks again. "So how's your friend?" Rick queried politely.

For a moment Daniels just looked depressed as he stared forward at nothing before he bowed his head slightly and scowled as his dark eyebrows furrowed together. Rage always came quicker than grief these days for Daniels. "He had his eyes and his tongue ripped out," he retorted savagely. "How would you be?"

Henderson glanced away at Daniels' words before turning to face his friend as Daniels suddenly turned away from the bar in disgust, shot glass still in hand. Rick remained still, turned slightly in Daniels' direction as he clutched at his own glass with both hands as a worried expression filled his features, a brief terror seeping into his eyes as he thought about Daniels' blunt description.

Henderson let out a sigh as he joined Jonathan in partaking another shot before slamming his glass down for yet another. Rick snapped out of his trance as Jonathan nudged him and he held his glass out, hoping to shake off the horror of Daniels' words with it.

"Well good luck boys," Henderson remarked with forced mirth as he held his glass out to them.

They clinked their glasses together and swallowed only to turn and spit the contents up just as quick. Everyone else in the bar started to do the same as if it was some sort of bizarre ritual. "Sweet Jesus," Henderson rasped as he tensed in disgust, "that tasted just like-"

"Blood," Rick finished for him as he stood and stared at the fountain in horror. The two tiers were now red as it bubbled and flowed with a seemingly endless quantity of crimson liquid.

Daniels was storming up the corridor, deciding he would rather keep company with his wounded friend than endure O'Connell's idiotic questions when he heard the scream. He paused and looked to the door to the Carnahans' room dumbly when the scream came again, only this time it was more like a wild shriek.

Unsure of whether to expect a mummy or a wraith or some other minion of Set or form of a plague, Daniels cursed his own stupidity before tugging out his Colt and kicking the door hard. The old lock gave way with the third kick and he hastened into the room, following the noise through an undisturbed living room and down a small corridor to another closed door, outside which Anu was frantically pawing at and barking anxiously. The dog moved to one side as Daniels arrived. This door gave way with one kick; it wasn't even stiff, swinging inwards with ease.

The Texan froze, unsure what he was looking at for a moment, he raised his gun threateningly, hand twitching at the trigger as he was greeted by a shrieking figure drenched in blood rising from the bathtub like a creature from hell. Only when its eyes snapped open did he realise it was not some bloody horror but in fact a familiar face.

"Jesus," he choked out as her hands slammed down on the edge of the bathtub and she wailed before clutching at her face, trying to rub the blood from it and only rubbing more into it.

"It's blood! It turned to blood!" she screamed.

At first Daniels thought the woman had suffered some horrific injury and he tried to imagine what and how, and what in the hell he should about it but then her words started to sink in, she wasn't the source of the blood, something else was. He holstered his weapon and turned for a towel before snatching one off a wooden rail, thick, heavy and large enough for two people; it was of the finest Egyptian cotton, soft, white and ready for ruination.

Daniels bundled the towel around the understandably confused and scared woman before attempting to pull her from the tub. She came out clumsily, smearing him with blood as she did before he let her weight carry them down to rest against the tub. He sat there with his back against the tub, stunned as the odour of fresh blood filled his nostrils and Jess sobbed against him. Anu sat opposite them, ears low as a whine escaped him.

"It just changed," she choked out, "it's blood, oh God I'm soaked in blood, whose blood is it? Whose blood?"

Daniels glanced down at her and seized a handful of the towel with his free hand and rubbed it along her face. "There now, comes off easy," he attempted to assure her.

"It doesn't," she muttered, "my brothers' stayed on my hands for weeks. I tried so hard to save Corbin but he just kept spitting it up and then...then he just left me. They all left me but they had to come back! You see that's the problem, they left and came back and now they won't go, they're not at peace, they can't rest and they won't go!"

Daniels did not know what to say to that, instead he just sighed and continued to rub the towel about the distressed woman and murmured, "you'll come on the boat with us, then you won't be alone in this mess. Better we stick together, right?"

"You don't want that," she murmured tiredly as she broke from him and attempted to dry herself off with the towel. The pair stood awkwardly, Daniels frowning slightly at the bloodstains on his grey shirt. "Don't give me that look," Jess addressed him with a weak smile, "I'm a little worse off than you. I mean you owe me now."

"How so?" he demanded.

"I only got to see you pee and it was dark, it was barely a glimpse, but you got the whole show."

"Really?" he queried with an incredulous look before he realised this was her odd way of distancing herself from the horror. He was starting to notice now how she and Jonathan were both good at bringing humour into inappropriate situations. 'Maybe she wasn't mocking Burns after all,' he thought to himself, 'maybe she really doesn't know any other way to deal with crazy depressing shit like this.'

"You're covered in blood," he reminded her, "it doesn't count."

"Still naked," she retorted chirpily as she ran part of the towel through her drenched hair.

Daniels reached out a finger and pressed it against the tip of her nose lightly. "You missed a spot," he said dryly with a taunting stare.

She froze up slightly then, her golden-brown gaze meeting his serious indigo stare before she murmured softly, "thanks for coming."

"Well you were screaming loud enough to wake the dead. Ah shit," he cursed his own bad choice of words as Jess burst into a peal of laughter.

"Subtle Mr. Daniels."

They both jumped at the sudden flash through the shutters at the window and the loud rumble that followed. Jess turned to the window with surprise but it was too high up and too small to really see anything out of it.

"A storm?" Daniels wondered in surprise as there was another flash.

"A nasty one," Jess murmured as she hastened over to her clothes and dropped the now carmine towel as she did.

Daniels' eyes widened as he unintentionally glimpsed her way before he let out another curse and prominently turned away. Anu let out a low growl and Daniels grumbled, "I didn't look on purpose mutt."

"He knows you're lying," Jess joked as she tugged on a cream shirt and brown trousers, frowning as they immediately became stained before she bound her still damp hair up in a hasty plait. She jumped again when there was a loud bang outside and the ground seemed to tremble slightly.

"What in the hell?!" Daniels exclaimed before the pair rushed to the living room to peer through the window there. Outside the sky had turned black as lightning and fireballs came from it in a fury.

"Oh no," Jess gasped as she paled, "this...it's the plagues. Water into blood, and a thunderstorm of hail and fire, Daniels he's here!"

"Burns!" Daniels snapped before he hastened to the door just as another bloodcurdling scream filled the hallway.