Summary: Ardeth thinks back on his times in the desert…and Rick. (Times: The Mummy, the Mummy Returns and everything in between)

Disclaimer: I love the Mummy and all but for some reason I don't think I'm about to make a lot of money outta this fic.

A/N: This is a semi-slashy fic featuring Ardeth/Rick pairing. If you don't like slash, look the other way. It's also my first Mummy one-shot fic so if anyone knows more about Egyptian stuff then me then I apologize in advance.

Desert Love

He wasn't supposed to think of such things, not when he was so close. He tried not to but ignoring the feelings only made it grow stronger, harder to forget. He remembered everything in detail, everything about him.

The first time they met…

Ardeth had just been appointed the leader of the Med-Jai tribe his fore-fathers had directed in the past and was on another of his mission to protect Hamunaptra from the outside world. He was seated atop his dusty-white horse while his keen eyes gazed across the forbidden area and spotted yet another troop guarding the entrance to the forbidden city from raiders and treasure-hunters.

Why do they never give up? he asked silently

The garrison wasn't of any importance when he saw the spineless general gallop his horse towards the ruins of the city. He scoffed. Deserters and anyone who survived the fight didn't get the privilege of living for another day. The waiting Med-Jai would make sure of that.

But then he saw him and he knew that he would break all rules just for this foreigner.

Ardeth watched the man command the remaining soldiers with determination and felt a pang of…something start in his heart. He wasn't that unusual. His sand-colored hair was a mess and from what he could see, his frame was muscular and fit his uniform the way no others did. Certainly he was no man he hadn't seen before.

The Med-Jai beside him shifted. At the young age of 28, the young leader may not have known his tastes but the rest of the tribe certainly knew of it. It was not a big deal in the Med-Jai tribes for a man to fall for another of the same gender but they could see that this unnerved the young Med-Jai for he'd been raised by a homophobic father who'd taught him that men who loved others were no better then dogs. The former leader was great but his feelings and ideals got in the way of many Med-Jai and some resented him for the interference. So, the young Med-Jai was often confused when men and women looked at him with passion in their eyes. The Med-Jai admired him for his strength and leadership and promised to stand by him and help him with his dilemmas when he was puzzled at why he kept straying towards the training men.

"Prenez vous position!"

Ardeth's gaze flew back to the young commander. His voice was rough and rubbed against his nerves like sandpaper on silk. Ardeth shivered. He'd never felt anything like it before. He craved the sound o his voice and unknowingly, shifted his mount closer.

Then came the time when the raiders cornered the foreigner and for a moment, Ardeth panicked. He didn't want the man to die and choked back a sigh of relief when the raiders fled, leaving the foreigner under the statue of Anubis. The man's senses were well honed, he thought, when he backed away and ran from the City of the Dead.

"Should we kill him?" Yallah asked, as the sand-haired foreigner stumbled away.

He murmured something; he didn't know what. The man turned back to look towards the cliff and Ardeth tingled all over, practically seeing the man's intense blue-gray gaze.

I WILL see you again! he vowed silently.

That first memory had kept him hot and bothered in the nights until the time when the man dared enter the sands of the desert again. His thoughts were obsessed with the man from the time Ra made the sun rise till the sun set. Seeing him again shot an arrow of pure pleasure and delight through him.

Their people rode through their camp with the cover of darkness. His brethren killed all who defied their orders. Ardeth himself was terrifying a cowardly Englishman who was drinking when he shouted for "O'Connell" and out of the blue, the stranger who'd captured his attention from the start tackled him from his horse and his mask fell.

Glory!

The man – no – O'Connell was even more spectacular close up. His frame was broad and muscular in a wiry sort of way. His hair was a mussed as ever but it added a rakish air around his near-perfect body. His eyes captured his attention and unnerved him but he had no more time to contemplate things as O'Connell brought up his gun and his attention narrowed to the fight between them. His bravery was commendable and his concentration was like that of a Med-Jai.

Ardeth worked in close contact with Rick to stop the Creature during the day but at night…Night was the time of fantasies. In the darkness, he devoted his attentions to the writhing American beneath him who insisted Evy was the one he loved. Ardeth's attentions turned the American towards him but day was torture when Rick insisted on devoting his time towards the Englishwoman.

His thoughts turned to the return of the Creature. Dreams, or rather, past lives in Egypt drifted through his consciousness and embedded them in his soul. Dreams about the most fearless Med-Jai who'd ever walked with the rest. The Med-Jai who'd fight where others feared and returned to tell about the battle. The Med-Jai who had hair the color of the sun and eyes as deep as the Nile. The Med-Jai who'd, in the past, had been his friend, teacher, lover and…soul mate.

When he saw the tattoo, his heart pounded and he asked the riddle that had marked the beginning of the new way of the Med-Jai. The correct answer made Ardeth want to mark him as his own but he could not. Rick was still wary though he responded well in the darkness and his son was at risk. He would not put passion before duty. It had clouded his mind before in his past life, got his mate killed and he knew he had the power to control both his mind and body. So he would wait for the opportune moment.

Ardeth fought side by side with his newfound mate but tortured himself by not pushing his attentions on him, knowing that he'd be touching a married man.

The opportune moment came, when his wife suddenly died from a tragic accident by the automobile. Suddenly, Rick was grief stricken and had run towards the only sanctuary he believed was safe – the desert. Ardeth and his tribe received him and his son with hospitality and kindness. He hadn't pushed and had waited patiently for the man to come of his own free will. And come he had.

Their reunion was hot and desperate, the mating of animalistic lust. The sound of skin slapping against skin, the gasps, moans, pleads and grunts were the only sounds made in the dim desert tent. Ardeth gentled out the desperation in his lover's eyes with soft kisses, gentle caresses and soothing words in Egyptian. Then he had aroused him to a fevered height and the furiously passionate heat rose again. And again and again.

Now, he looked down upon the sleeping man with candle light touching his fair face and shimmering hair and whispered the words he'd come to desperately want to say.

"I belong to you. I love you, my gentle warrior"

-End-

A/N: Well, as I said, this is my first slashy Mummy fic. If you have any comments, please click the lower-left hand button. I'd appreciate comments and if I did anything wrong, please don't leave off with a 'You suck!' Tell me why. I'd appreciate it!

8:30 PM – March 21,2006