Tongue Tied

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the motion picture The Mummy. I wish I was, but sadly, I have no rights to anything. Please, please, please don't sue me. I also have no money.

AN: Big thank you to my reviewers, redscarletangel, LadySoftball, Nelle07, Gem of the Stars, midnight-flurry, Seyyed, Ravenclaw Samurai, Mariella D'Angelo, marimo head's lover, OceanFae, Pirate College Graduate, Makayla, and WhiteInnocence. You guys are awesome. Oh, and PS to Mariella: I took your advice on both last chapter and chapter 21. At least, I think that's the right chapter. Again, same plot, nothing changed, I just tried to fix some of the language. Thanks!

This is the final chapter, you guys. Hope you like it.

Chapter 21: A Reunion and a Goodbye

There were probably a hundred other things that were more important for Madeline and Ardeth to be thinking about or doing at the moment. The fact that someone had obviously read from the Book of Amun-Ra and taken control of the murderous Med-jai mummies was probably a good sign, but they still didn't know for sure if Imhotep had been defeated, or even whether or not Evie, Jonathan and Rick were still alive.

But for a few moments, all thoughts of impending doom and panic had been pushed from their minds in favor of continuing the ill-timed make-out session against the passage wall. What had started as a kiss was quickly devolving into something else: a messy blur of hands and lips and tongues. Madeline felt Ardeth lifting her up, his hands on her thighs as he pushed her higher against the stone wall. She clutched tighter to his robes, weaving an arm around his neck as her legs wrapped around his waist. Warmth collected low in her stomach and her heart hammered in her chest. She was breathing hard, when there was a moment to breathe at all. Ardeth's mouth was fused to her own, but she had no complaints. Every touch, every kiss, every warm, tingling, pleasant sensation… Madeline wanted more, more, more.

But reality came back all too soon: sudden, loud and violent, with dust and rocks raining down on them from above as the entire maze shook with a grating, groaning roar. Madeline bit down on her involuntary moan of protest as she and Ardeth abruptly pulled back from each other, looking all around them for the source of this latest upset.

"Seriously?" she exclaimed, looking up at the ceiling beseechingly. "What now?"

"Seti's lever," Ardeth murmured, his eyes trained uneasily on the ceiling as well.

Madeline rolled her eyes. "Whatever that means."

Ardeth ignored the sidebar and gently, albeit distractedly, lowered her to the ground. Once her boots hit the sand, he immediately grabbed her arm and began tugging her determinedly down the passageway. "We have to go!" he shouted over the increasingly loud groaning. "The City is sinking!"

Sure enough, the heavy stone slab ceiling was slowly but surely coming down on top of them. Madeline eyed the phenomenon as she stumbled through the sand behind him, half certain she was losing her mind, and yet recalling the stories about Hamunaptra that she'd heard on the streets of Cairo… a booby-trapped maze rigged to sink beneath the sands at the pharaoh's command. The city was sinking – with them inside of it. They were probably going to be smashed into a fine pulp, ground down between the sandy floor and the heavy stone ceiling.

There was barely enough time for her to register that she should panic, let alone actually do it. Ardeth was still insistently tugging her along behind him, both of them kicking up dust as they raced through the twisting, pitch black corridors. They had no torches now; there was barely enough light to see their hands in front of their faces, let alone the pathway that would lead them out of the doomed, sinking city. Her heart was still hammering and her breath was still coming too fast and too short, but now it was for entirely different reasons. Ardeth seemed focused on only one thing: getting both of them the hell out of there. Madeline was as focused on that as he was… until she remembered Rick.

With a sharp yank, she freed herself from Ardeth's grip and half turned on her heel, ready to go sprinting back the way they came. "My brother!" she exclaimed, her voice high and cracking. "Rick, Jonathan, Evie…"

"There is no time!" Ardeth returned impatiently, grabbing her arm again. He tried to drag her back down the hall, but she dug her heels in the sand. "Please! Your brother is strong and smart, and he will find a way out on his own! We don't have time to look for him!"

He didn't wait for her acquiescence; he started running again and dragged her with him. Madeline tripped after him, forced to jog along. Her mind was whirling as Ardeth tugged her through the maze. They stomped through the sand, Ardeth pulling her around corner after corner, making turn after turn. She was at war with herself; the panicking half of her wanted the hell out of this death trap, and the other half wanted to find her brother first. But the ceiling was still coming down on them like a pestle, and the city echoed with loud groaning and grating and rumbling as the walls crumbled and everything overhead continued to sink into the earth. She coughed and choked on the dust raining down around them. Of the two of them, Ardeth was the only one who knew the way out; in the pitch black passages, just barely illuminated by an occasional sunbeam straining in through the few cracks and holes in the foundation, Madeline could barely see enough to prevent stumbling into a wall. She'd never pick her way out of here on her own, and certainly not before the ceiling crushed her to death.

She thought about arguing further with him, but as badly as she wanted to find her brother and the Carnahans, there simply wasn't time to stumble about the tomb. Nothing made that clearer than the door at the end of the passage they were currently racing down. Even as they ran, the arch was rapidly closing up; the ceiling was low enough they had to stoop, and a block of heavy stone was quickly coming down over the exit.

They barely reached the doorway in time, and Ardeth practically threw her under the stone. Madeline skidded through the sand, kicking up a cloud of dust as she rolled through the doorway and landed in a heap on the other side. Just behind her, Ardeth slid under the closing door with barely inches to spare, and sent sand flying in all directions. He landed in a heap on the passage floor as well. But there was no time to stop and catch their breath. They still had a ways to go before they were completely out of the tomb, and the ceiling was still threatening to crush them. Ardeth leapt immediately to his feet and reached back for Madeline. She grabbed his hand and sprang back up from the ground, letting him drag her along as they raced down the second dark, sandy passageway. The dust in the air was thicker here, and they ran with their heads ducked low, weaving side to side and dodging endless falling rocks. The passage seemed to grow narrower as they ran, sloping uphill but getting impossibly skinny, and soon they could no longer run side by side. Madeline somehow found herself ahead of Ardeth, his hand pushing solidly against her back as he shouted occasional instructions in her ear. They ran single file, as fast as they could, feeling the sting of tiny rocks against their skin and dust in their eyes as they traveled further down the narrow hall, headed for another arched doorway.

The ceiling was so low that Madeline had no choice but to hit the sandy ground and crawl the last few feet to the rapidly closing door. She rolled under the heavy slab of stone that was coming down over the exit and Ardeth skidded underneath the stone behind her, crossing the threshold seconds before the rock slammed down into the sand.

"Holy hell," Madeline breathed. Ardeth vaulted back on his feet, tugged her up with him, and made a sharp left turn. They sprinted along the new passage, this one wider than the last, and not quite as dark, but still going steadily uphill. There was light – finally, there was light – streaming in from somewhere up ahead, a few twists and turns away. They raced past statuary and carvings that were crumbing where they stood as the ceiling continued to grind its way down on top of them.

Ardeth yanked her around a corner, and Madeline saw the exit, but it was vanishing before her eyes. Bright sunlight streamed in through the shrinking doorway, and she could see the sandy courtyard waiting for them. It was shaking too, rocks tumbling down from the fortress wall several yards away. They ran the last few feet at full speed, and then Ardeth gave Madeline a shove towards the exit. The opening to the courtyard was barely tall enough for her to crawl through, and she squeezed herself through the tiny sliver of space as fast as possible, sliding through the sand on her stomach. Behind her, Ardeth tried to drag himself through the rapidly shrinking doorway too, and Madeline reached back for him, grabbing hold of his arm and yanking him bodily through the opening, as easily as though he had been half his weight.

It was blindingly bright in the courtyard, the harsh sunlight beating down on the sinking city a stark and painful contrast to the pitch black of the tomb. Madeline and Ardeth stumbled out away from the door, tripping through the shifting sand and daring to stop and catch their breath. Ardeth waved at the exit, which had by now vanished from sight; the only thing visible was the ornately carved stone at the top of the doorway, which was sinking rapidly into the sand right before their eyes. "Thank you," he said breathlessly, his brow pinched as he regarded her with something like wonder. "You… you are very… strong."

"Thanks," Madeline gasped, doubled over and clutching her knees as she attempted to regain her breath. "I know."

Nearby, a tall pillar tumbled from where it had once stood straight against the bright blue sky. It toppled sideways slowly and ominously and Madeline nearly fell over when Ardeth seized her arm and yanked her towards him. The large pillar crashed into the sand, landing directly where she had been standing. A cloud of dust engulfed the thick, rounded column.

All around them, pillars and urns teetered and wobbled on the precarious, shaking sand of the courtyard. Madeline and Ardeth started to run again when the tall, thick columns and human-sized urns hurtled to the sand below, launching huge, billowing clouds of dust high up into the air. Nearby, the statue of Anubis sank rapidly beneath the earth; it was barely more than a jackal head now.

"Hurry!" Ardeth ordered, still dragging Madeline through the courtyard. The whole place was shaking harder, vibrating violently, as though the city was going to explode under their feet. The two of them tore through the blinding sand clouds, artfully dodging the falling architecture and leaping over rocks and debris before they finally made it to the exit. The ground seemed to vanish behind them as they ran, the destruction following them as they raced through the high stone walls, crumbling away before their eyes. Ardeth yanked her down the sloping sandy incline, jogging as far from the city as possible. They didn't stop until they reached a dusty, rocky patch of plateau several yards away from the collapsing ruins, where the herd of camels from earlier stood and watched the destruction without concern.

Madeline collapsed onto her knees in the sand, gasping and panting for air. Ardeth managed to stay on his feet, but he was hunched over and holding his side, gasping for breath as hard as she was. She tossed her hair out of her eyes and turned back to the city, squinting against the bright sunlight. Sand shot up straight in the air, hundreds of feet from the ground, like landmines were going off inside the fortress walls, thick cloud after thick cloud of dust rising up into the clear blue sky. The stone and brick wall around the city crumbled and collapsed, and Madeline watched wide-eyed and horrified as the city finally fell, sinking deep into the earth mere minutes after she and Ardeth made it to safety. There was nothing left.

She gasped harder than she intended, and the sound echoed in the sudden stillness of the desert. It sounded like a hiss of pain, and if she really thought about it, it was. Her eyes stung as tears threatened to spill. She sucked in another shaky breath, trying to steady herself – trying to stop the bite of the tears at the corners of her eyes. But the effort was futile. Hamunaptra was gone, and Rick with it. Evie and Jonathan were gone too, and that was horrible as well, but not nearly as horrible as the realization that Rick had sunk into the earth with the city, sealed inside a ready-made grave… buried alive. She was torn between bursting into tears and this odd numbness, as though she was removed from the situation… as though nothing was real.

Ardeth's hand was heavy on her shoulder, and she heard the rustle of his robes as he knelt in the sand beside her. He tapped her chin and she snapped her head up to look at him – to glare at him, because she didn't want his damned pity, anyway. But Ardeth smiled at her – that thin, barely there half-smile that lived mostly in his eyes – and then he pointed somewhere over her shoulder.

Frowning, Madeline followed his finger with her eyes. Little figures, dark against the bright sun along the horizon line, were running madly through the sand. They were yards and yards away, but the little figures were obviously Rick, Evie, and Jonathan, and the empty numbness turned to sharp relief. She released a long, harshly loud breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. The little figures were oblivious to their presence, but all that really mattered was that Rick, Evie, and Jonathan were alive, outside the city, and racing towards another group of weirdly nonchalant camels. They'd escaped.

"They made it," she murmured breathlessly. She shifted on her knees, hands in the sand as she tried to get up again. Ardeth's hand fell from her shoulder. "They actually made it out… we all made it out."

Both of them got to their feet, brushing sand off their knees. Madeline glanced at Ardeth, squinting against the bright sun, and he smiled at her again. "I told you, yes?" he said. "Your brother manages on his own quite well. Of course he found a way out."

"Yeah," she breathed heavily, the harsh exhale blowing her hair out of her eyes. "Yeah, I know. I just… well, let's just say it's been a long time since… since either of us… it doesn't matter. He's out, he's safe… all of us are out… except Imhotep, apparently."

"Yes," Ardeth agreed, nodding once as he turned towards the heaps of sand that were once Hamunaptra, one hand shielding his eyes from the sun. "I think it is safe to say the Creature is dead."

They stood there in the sand for a long, silent moment. Madeline shifted slightly, folding her arms over her chest, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. She and Ardeth met one another's eyes, only to look away immediately. "So…" she stammered. "Does this mean your work is done?"

He frowned at her. She kept on stammering. "I just mean… it looks like Imhotep is dead for real this time, and… well, Hamunaptra doesn't really exist anymore. It's been buried under hundreds of feet of sand, so… is that it, then? Is your job done?"

"My job is never done," he returned.

Madeline couldn't help but snort at how unintentionally melodramatic he sounded. He raised an eyebrow at her, and she lowered her eyes apologetically to the sand. "Sorry. It's just, that was…"

"Cheesy, I believe you call it?" he interrupted her good-naturedly. "Yes, I suppose so. What I meant was that Hamunaptra is not the only cursed or dangerous place under the protection of the Med-jai. There are other treasures out there, treasures that could bring about the end of the world just as easily as the Creature. And, well… Hamunaptra may be buried now, but… it is my experience that most archeologists have shovels."

She laughed at that, quite unexpectedly, and Ardeth graced her with a rare, real smile. "Fair enough," she returned. "I guess we better get going, then."

He nodded, gesturing at the nearby camels. Madeline took the hint and made her way towards the stinky, lazy animals, already wrinkling her nose in dread of the long, bumpy camel ride back to civilization. But it was what it was; they had no choice, because they no longer had a plane, because Winston…

She inhaled sharply, blinking back the sting in her eyes. There was no need to go down that road again, not now at least – no good would come of that right now. She immediately changed tracks. "I guess you'll be headed home?" she asked, tugging on the lead of the nearest camel. It obstinately ignored her. "Back to your village or your camp…"

"Yes," he agreed, steering one of the other camels closer to her. The beast followed him easily, without complaint, and Madeline eyed him in irritation. Also envy. "But first, I want to thank your brother."

Madeline nodded. "All right then."

"And you," he added. "I want to thank you. You and your companions have done my people – no, actually, the world – a great service."

"Sure," Madeline snorted, still tugging on the camel's lead. It continued to ignore her. "After we put the world in danger, you mean. Go us."

"But mostly you," Ardeth pressed, overlooking her interruption. "Because back in the city, with the priests… you may very well have saved my life."

He took the lead from her hand and Madeline spun around. He was far too close, and Madeline swallowed harder than necessary, taking a step back into the smelly camel behind her. Ardeth's breath hitched noticeably as he too seemed to realize how close they were standing. He blinked down at her, and Madeline blinked up at him.

"I very seriously doubt that," she replied, trying to sound nonchalant, but instead she just sounded breathless.

"No," he insisted, and oddly enough he sounded breathless too. "It is true. Without your help… I doubt I'd have been able to fight them all off myself."

Madeline looked to the ground, embarrassed. "Yeah, well," she murmured. "You're welcome, I guess."

She turned away from him quickly, taking back the camel lead, and refocused her efforts on bringing the camel down to her level. Of course, she was unsuccessful. Even after everything that had happened, nothing had changed between her and camels.

"Here," she heard Ardeth say behind her as he reached around her shoulder and tugged the lead from her grasp. He let the rope dangle into the sand, and Madeline whirled around to ask him what the plan was just as his hands wrapped around her waist.

He was inches away from her now, and they both stared at each other for a long moment, caught off guard. His hands were hot around her waist, burning through her shirt and against her skin. She took a slow, deep, steadying breath, watching him intently as he leaned in closer to her, automatically, as though his body was moving without permission from his brain. Madeline stared openly at his lips as his head tilted towards hers.

"I…" he said, and then he paused to swallow. "I can… I was going to help you up."

Her stuttering problem seemed to be contagious, she thought ruefully. "Oh… um… uh-huh," she returned, before wincing at herself. Complete nonsense seemed to be the only thing she could spit out of her mouth at the moment. "I… I…"

Ardeth was leaning in closer as she stammered pointlessly; clearly (hopefully) he wasn't listening to anything she was failing to say. Madeline felt herself tipping forward, accidentally closing the already miniscule distance between them. Her mouth was dry, and her words dried up with it. She opened her mouth, but no sounds came out. It was too hot, the sun blazing down around them, but especially hot between them, and Madeline could hear herself breathing strangely loud. Suddenly, Ardeth surged forward and pressed his lips against hers.

She seized his robes immediately, gasping against his mouth as she pulled him in closer and pressed her lips harder against his. It was a whirling mess of hands and lips and tongues again; she closed her eyes against the spinning desert as his fingers grasped at her waist, and then her back, traveling up and down, settling at the back of her neck, twisting in the roots of her hair. She felt the scratch of his beard against the skin of her jaw; felt that tug low in her stomach as they grabbed at one another and kissed harder, hastier, sloppier… and then, all the urgency and rush and demand waned. Ardeth slowed, his hands resting softly on her shoulders. She let him, lips glancing gently off his in short, soft pecks… and then she inhaled deeply as he pulled away. She blinked, reluctantly opening her eyes. He stared at the sand between their boots, still holding tight to her arms, and Madeline focused her eyes on the tanned column of his throat. She ran her tongue slowly over her lips, tasting him there, and it gave her the oddest thrill, and yet there was something rather sad about it too. Everything tasted like a goodbye.

"Thank you," she breathed out quickly.

Ardeth frowned at her. "For what?"

Madeline tore her eyes from his neck and met his gaze. "Well, I figure you saved my neck just as many times as I saved yours… possibly more, so… anyway, thanks. Let's call it even."

He smiled slightly at that, and Madeline smiled too because it was nice to see his smile spread quickly and genuinely across his face, with only the slightest attempt to conceal it. "Yes," he agreed. "Even."

"We should go," she returned, because Ardeth still had goodbye written all over him, and she'd be damned if she let him let her down easy. Thanks, but no thanks.

He nodded, and knelt beside her. Madeline had only a moment to frown before he was giving her a leg up, and quite suddenly, she was off the ground, leg swinging over the camel as she was lifted fluidly into the saddle. Surprised, she blinked down at him from her newly acquired perch, clutching at the reins.

"Um… thanks," she murmured, embarrassed again.

Ardeth only nodded again, and then he climbed onto his own camel. He gave it a smart tap with the prod, and Madeline followed his example. They began riding towards Evie, Jonathan, and Rick, into the harsh sunlight and across the flat, rocky plane of sand that led away from Hamunaptra's burial place. Madeline narrowed her eyes at Ardeth's back as her camel plodded along behind his, studying him, trying and failing to figure him out. One moment, he was all hands, and the next… well, he was all stiff nods and awkward silence and carefully calculated distance. It was hard to comprehend, but Madeline was having an equally hard time figuring out her own actions.

There was really no explaining what was going on between them. Neither one of them really knew. It wasn't really important anyway, she decided, because their adventure was over now, and he was going back to his isolated, duty-driven life amongst his people, and she… well, she hoped she wasn't going back to the exact life she'd had before, but she was returning to Cairo and that was enough to put some serious distance between the two of them. They'd had their little moment – two little moments, really – and that was good enough, because Madeline had never expected Ardeth to reciprocate her attraction to him on any level. She was still trying to figure out why he did.

Their camels covered the space between them and the rest of their little group in no time, and soon they'd reached Rick and the Carnahan siblings. The three of them were staring at the dust cloud where Hamunaptra had stood only moments before, seemingly unaware of their company. The camels moved quietly, and the others were distracted as they rode up behind them, but Madeline would have thought someone would notice something. Ardeth placed his hand on Jonathan's shoulder to get his attention, and Jonathan screamed loudly, disproving her assumptions. Rick and Evie swiveled around in panic. When they saw Ardeth and Madeline however, their expressions changed from panic to relief.

"Thank you! Thank you very much!" Jonathan exclaimed in annoyance, clutching his heart as he stumbled away from Ardeth.

Rick ignored Jonathan, literally shoving him out of his way in his haste to get to his sister. "Maddie!" he exclaimed, giving her camel's lead a hard tug once he reached her, and forcing the camel to sit. He practically yanked her off the animal's back and then enveloped her in a huge, bone-crushing, out-of-character and completely embarrassing hug.

"Oof," she complained, but she hugged him back just as tightly. "Is this really necessary?"

It was, of course, and her own grief at seeing the city sink beneath the sand when she'd thought Rick was still inside made her understand where he was coming from. Rick snorted loudly.

"You're an idiot," he said. "Running off like that back there with that stupid flask…" Rick paused, pulling back and seizing her by the arms so he could properly yell in her face. "I thought you were dead!"

"Likewise," Madeline replied. She gently disentangled herself, and punched Rick in the shoulder. "But you're not, and I'm not, and… it's really good to see you again."

Rick rolled his eyes, but he smiled and punched her back. "Yeah, you too, kid."

Ardeth ruined the moment, but Madeline was actually pretty grateful about it, rather than annoyed. She suspected Rick was glad for the distraction too. "You have earned the respect and gratitude of my people," the chieftain announced, looking at each of them in turn.

"Yes, well," Jonathan replied, affecting humility as he waved Ardeth off. "It was nothing, really."

"May Allah smile on you always," Ardeth returned. He graced them with a respectful hand gesture, something Madeline assumed was a Med-jai salute type thing.

Jonathan tried – and failed miserably – to imitate the gesture. "And yourself."

Ardeth smiled at him, nodding once, and then he nodded at all of them. He met Madeline's eyes over Jonathan's head. Unsure what to say to him, especially now that they were in the company of others, Madeline offered up a small, shy smile. He too said nothing; he merely returned the smile, and it looked just as shy as hers. She nodded at him, and he nodded back, one last time. Then Ardeth waved at them all and turned away. He prodded his camel back into action, and rode the beast off into the desert, in the opposite direction from civilization.

"Yes, anytime!" Jonathan called after him sarcastically.

"Stay out of trouble," Rick added.

"He's just leaving us here," Jonathan announced, sounding annoyed. He turned back to look at the city with a small, bitter laugh. "Well, I suppose we go home empty handed – again."

"I wouldn't say that," Rick replied.

Madeline turned to look at her brother, eyebrow raised. Rick, however, was not looking at her. He'd left her side and made his way back to Evelyn, and now he was staring into her eyes and she was staring back at him. Madeline was torn between smiling indulgently at the cuteness and gagging at them in disgust. Slowly, Rick and Evie leaned into one another, and then their lips met. The kiss seemed to go on for ages, and Madeline immediately turned away. She wanted to give them some privacy – it was only right – and also, gross, she did not want to look at her brother sucking some lady's face off, whether it was Evelyn or not.

She looked out into the desert, watching Ardeth turn into a black dot at the horizon line, eventually disappearing from sight, into the bold bright blue of the expansive sky. She supposed she ought to feel sad about what seemed to be an indefinite goodbye, but strangely, she wasn't at all. Maybe this whole thing had been a regular pain in the ass while it was going down, but everything had been tied up nicely at the end: Imhotep had been defeated, Hamunaptra was deep under the sand where it belonged, her brother had worked things out with Evie (were they ever going to stop kissing?) and she had earned a friend in Ardeth Bay. That's what he was, she decided: a friend. There was no reason to expect anything more than a few personal conversations, a back-to-back battle, and a handful of kisses. She didn't expect anything more; in all likelihood, she was never going to see the man again. But for some reason, Madeline didn't really believe that. She couldn't help but feel that this wasn't the end. She'd see Ardeth again. Between her reckless brother and the incredibly inquisitive archeologist who was apparently going to be a semi-permanent fixture in their lives (judging by the longest make-out session ever) Madeline was sure the lot of them would stumble across some cursed ruins or artifacts or books that shouldn't be read, and Ardeth Bay would appear out of nowhere to stop the end of the world. She didn't know why she was so sure, or what would come of it, but she was confident she'd be proven right.

"Oh, please," Jonathan grumbled. Madeline started, thinking for a moment that Jonathan had heard her thoughts. It took a moment to realize that his derision was directed at Rick and Evie. Jonathan waved his hand disgustedly at the still kissing pair, and then approached one of the camels. He grabbed a hold of the lead, tugging its head down to his level. "How about you, darling?" he asked the beast. "Would you like a little kissy-wissy?" The camel grunted in response, and Jonathan fanned away its breath with his hand. "Whew!" he exclaimed, making a face. Clearly, the camel wasn't exactly up to par when it came to dental hygiene.

"Well, hell, Jonathan," Madeline quipped. "Was kissing me really so bad that you've turned your attention to livestock instead?"

Jonathan jumped, making a face and then staring at her awkwardly. Madeline hid her laugh behind her hand. He looked rather embarrassed. "Right, Maddie, old girl," he stuttered, running a hand nervously through his hair. "I don't know why I did that, really… I was just… well, you know how it is… could we just…?"

She interrupted him, because she recognized the desperate, stuttering embarrassment all too well, and she needed to put him out of his misery; it was what she'd want someone to do for her. "Friends," she said with a smile, extending her hand. "We can just forget anything else ever happened. All right?"

He smiled back gratefully and shook her hand. "Friends," he agreed. "Don't recall anything else happening anyway, do you?"

"Nope!" Madeline smirked. "Not me. Not a thing."

"Are we ready to go?" her brother's gruff voice interrupted the moment. Madeline raised an eyebrow at him. He was leaning on a camel, arm around Evie's waist, and he seemed impatient and annoyed. "Because I'd like to get the hell out of here."

"Oh, now you're ready to go, all of a sudden?" she retorted. "We weren't exactly the ones holding up progress here, buddy."

"I'll say," Jonathan added indignantly. "Thought you two were never going to come up for air. Right rude, if you ask me."

"Exceedingly rude," Madeline agreed. "Also nauseating."

"Oh, you two," Evie waved them off, rolling her eyes. "I would hardly say you've been permanently scarred, or anything so ridiculous. Now, let's head home, shall we?"

She had a dreamy smile on her face, and Madeline couldn't help but grin back. It was cute. Disgusting and inappropriate and she'd really like it if her brother and his new lady friend would keep the cute to themselves, but cute none the less. Jonathan made a noise of disgust somewhere behind her, and Madeline decided he'd failed to find the cute in the moment.

All of them saddled up, Evie and Rick sharing a camel, and prodded their mounts into gear. It was almost a perfect ending to their adventure, really. The good guys had won, the bad guys were dead, and now they were literally riding off into the sunset. Jonathan was regaling her with the entire sordid tale of Imhotep's defeat as they rode. He told her all about finding Evie chained to an altar in the center of the city, surrounded by bowing and scraping mummified priests as Imhotep recited a spell and raised a dagger high above his head; Jonathan heroically (his word, not hers) distracting Imhotep by running into the room shouting Evie's name and waving the Gold Book around; Rick storming straight into the horde to rescue Evie, swinging about some ancient sword he'd managed to pick up; Anck-su-namun's semi-resurrected corpse rushing around and trying to kill Evie while the reanimated warrior mummies tried to take out Rick; Jonathan taking control of the mummified warriors by reading the cover of the Book…

"Oh," Madeline had interjected here. "I think I owe you a big thank you for that one, pal."

Then, of course, there was the bit where Imhotep came after Jonathan, and Rick cut off the High Priest's arm; Jonathan picking Imhotep's pocket and stealing the key; Evie opening the Gold Book and reciting the spell that turned the Creature mortal, and finally Rick stabbing Imhotep with the sword, sending him back to the Underworld where he belonged.

Madeline had in turn told the others about leading the mummified priests through the maze with the flask, the battle in the narrow chamber, Ardeth's assistance, and the attack of the mummified warriors. She left out a few major details, though… her brother didn't need to know a damn thing about who she went around kissing, anyway.

They were all high on adrenaline and good spirits, excited about their victory, and at the time it seemed enough to make the harrowing adventure worth it. Later, the real benefits to the adventure would make themselves known – two saddlebags worth of treasure loaded onto Jonathan's camel that no one could explain. The treasure wouldn't be found until they reached Cairo, however, and in the moment, as the camels plodded their way home, through the sand and towards the melting red, pink and gold of the sky as the sun sank beneath the horizon, Madeline was strangely content.

When they got back to Cairo, things could be different. If they could save the world, maybe they could do anything. Move out of the hovel, certainly. Find and keep better jobs – why not? And she and Rick could do it side by side, with new friends to boot.

The monster was at rest now, and their lives were just beginning.

The End

AN: Well, the story's over – but you haven't seen the last of Madeline. I plan to write a sequel very shortly, so be on the lookout for a story called Self Esteem if you are interested in reading it. It will not be a rewrite of The Mummy Returns – although I am considering one for later on. But this story will take place in between the two movies. Madeline will be back of course, and so will Jonathan and Ardeth, although I don't plan on including Rick and Evie. Thanks for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed it!