eye1

Title: Eye of Ra
Author: T. C.
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Willow/Angel; Willow/Rick O'Connell III
Summary: A crossover with The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, Willow meets
         the great grandson of Rick and Evie O'Connell while doing an
         internship at the Southern California Museum of Natural
         History and staying with Angel against the wishes of the
         Scooby Gang
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or
            Angel, they were created by the mind of Joss Whedon, the
            only one who can truly claim them, but Twentieth Century
            Fox, the WB, and UPN own them legally. The characters from
            the movies The Mummy and The Mummy Returns as well as the
            situations they were in were created by Stephen Sommers and
            the movies were a Universal Pictures production.
Spoilers: The plots and the endings of The Mummy and The Mummy Returns
           will be spoiled so if you haven't seen these movies I
           suggest you do before reading the story. As always, Season
           5 of BTVS and Season 2 of Angel may be referred to.
**********************************************************************
Part One

The museum was silent and dim. The only light came from the small
spotlights illuminating the displays. Most people would have found
being alone at night with the mummified remains of ancient Egyptian
pharaohs creepy, but Willow was right at home. She hummed a soft tune
while she sat cross legged underneath a display of pottery shards.
She was using the light from the display to read the large book she
was translating. She flipped the page carefully, not wanting to damage
the ancient, delicate paper and gasped.

A large, painted illustration in all its intricate detail graced the
next page. The hieroglyphics on the opposite page told her that it was
an illustration of Anubis, the Egyptian God of the Dead. The tall God
had the head of a jackal on the body of a man standing in profile, its
red eye glittered menacingly in the soft light. It was looking right
at Willow.

"It's real, you know."

The deep voice from the shadows over her shoulder made Willow jump.
She didn't scream though, she was from Sunnydale. The man leaned into
the light, revealing twinkling blue eyes and a rakish grin.

"Don't tell me that you believe in the revenge of the Gods and the
curse of the Mummies, Rick O'Connell," Willow mocked with a touch of
irony. She knew very well that these things existed, but she wasn't
sure how seriously her new friend took ancient myths and monsters. She
really liked Rick, he was an outrageous tease and she really needed to
be around someone fun. Life in Sunnydale had become oppressive after
Buffy's return and Giles' departure and she had needed a break. When
the chance to spend the term in Los Angeles cataloging Egyptian
artifacts and translating ancient papyrus at the Southern Californian
Museum of Natural History had come up a month ago, Willow had jumped at
it.

"The eye. It's a real ruby sliver." Rick leaned over the book and his
finger brushed the tiny gem that winked in the dim light. "The
Egyptians often used flaked gold and slivers of real gems to give their
paintings life. It was a way of honoring the gods they depicted."

"You know a lot about this, huh? Are you studying it at UCLA?" Willow
smiled as Rick settled down beside her on the floor. She felt a little
guilty because she hadn't said anything to Rick about Tara, but it's
not like she was dating him and cheating on her girlfriend. She was
just enjoying his company as a friend, like she enjoyed Angel's. That
thought made her feel even more guilty, like she was cheating on Angel,
which was totally ridiculous. Angel was just her friend, no matter
what Buffy and Tara thought about their living arrangements. It was
more convenient for her to stay with Angel at the hotel than with
Cordelia at her apartment, the Hyperion was closer to the museum.
Willow shook her head slightly and pushed all thoughts of Buffy and
Tara to the back of her mind. The time would come when she would have
to dwell on them all too soon. She concentrated on Rick instead.

"No, it kind of runs in the family. My great great grandfather was an
Egyptologist who helped discover Tutankhamen's tomb in 1922 and his
daughter, my great grandmother, Evelyn Carnahan O'Connell was the
curator of the Cairo Museum in 1925 and later the British Museum. And,
of course, my grandfather, Dr. Alexander O'Connell was also the curator
of the British Museum before he retired a few years ago. My sister,
Evy, and I are named after our great grandparents. My great
grandfather, the original Rick O'Connell was an adventurer. I've kind
of taken up the family trade. My sister and I look for Egyptian
artifacts for the museum." As he spoke, Rick shifted closer to Willow.
His thumb brushed over the illustration of Anubis and he wondered what
it would feel like to run his fingers through Willow's hair. It looked
soft. She was so beautiful and smart.

"Wow, that sounds interesting. And your great grandmother must have
been amazing, I mean to be a woman in the 1920's and given the position
of curator of the British Museum. She must have been a strong, smart
woman." Willow looked at Rick with awe.

"She was that and more if you can believe the stories my grandfather
tells about her and my great grandfather. Actually, you kind of remind
me of the way Grandpa Alex describes her. Smart, beautiful,
courageous...." Rick trailed off as he met Willow's pretty green eyes.
He loved making her blush and flirting was fun, but it was time to
progress to the next level.

A lesbian. Willow added to herself, but didn't say it out loud. She
never had been sure of that label. She loved Tara and their sexual
experiences had been an extension of that love, but right now, Rick's
closeness was making her stomach flutter and she was tingling in
places she didn't think lesbians tingled when a male body was close to
them. And then there was Angel. Living with him was a learning
experience, one that had taught her that no matter how tired she was
always knock before entering the bathroom because the vampire you are
living with could be in the shower. Naked and wet. And she had also
learned that you really shouldn't stare. At naked, wet vampires.
Willow gulped and dropped her gaze from Rick's. She brought up the
first thing she saw to break the sexual tension. "Hey, why don't you
tell me more about this Anubis guy. Any inside info you can give me to
impress my supervisor?"

"Well, Anubis had many roles as the God of the Dead. He was the patron
of embalming and the conductor of souls." Rick leaned against the
display case. He didn't let Willow's change in subject faze him. He
could charm her with his knowledge of ancient Egypt. That was how you
got the smart ones, with your brain. "The Egyptians believed that
people were made up of three main parts: the ka, the spirit; the ba,
the soul; and the akh, supernatural abilities. The process of
mummification after death kept the ka and ba alive. In this
illustration, Anubis is performing the act of judgement, there were
42 different crimes. You see, the heart of the dead is set on one of
the pans of the scales and a feather is placed on the other. Every
time a person committed one of the 42 crimes, his or her heart would
get heavier. If the heart is heavier than the feather, than it would
be devoured by Ammut." Rick leaned into Willow again as he pointed out
the short demoness with the head of a crocodile, the body of a lion,
and the hindquarters of a hippopotamus squatting beneath the pan
holding the heart. The fierce demoness' jaws were open wide, waiting
for the heart of a sinner. He felt Willow jump as his other hand
skimmed the side of her outer thigh and the pen she had been using to
transcribe her translations fell from her hand. Willow turned away
from him to pick it up and Rick took the opportunity to steal a
glancing caress of her fiery hair.

"Are you ready to go home now, Willow?" Another male voice interrupted
the intimate scene. Angel stepped from the shadows. He had arrived
when the guy Willow was with had been telling her about his family, but
had waited to make his presence known. He wanted to know what this
guy's intentions were toward the young witch. Obviously more than
friendship if his grabby hands were any indication.

"Yeah, sure, Angel. I just have to put this away." Willow shut the
book and stood up. Rick stood up with her. She started to leave for
the back room, but changed her mind and turned back to the two men who
were facing each other. "Oh, Angel, this is Rick, he works at the
museum. Rick, this is Angel, my...uh...." Willow was at a loss for
words. How did she explain Angel? As her best friend's ex-soulmate?
The recipient of her first major and successful spell? The vampire
with a soul she was currently staying with much to the extreme
displeasure of her girlfriend and said best friend? None of them would
work without a more lengthy explanation attached. "Um, my Angel,"
Willow blurted out and immediately blushed. She practically ran to the
back room before she said anything even more embarrassing.

Her Angel. Now Rick understood Willow's reluctance to move past
flirting. Rick sized up the other man. He was big. And good
looking, he guessed. His sister would probably have had more to say on
that subject. Evy was into the dark and dangerous and this guy exuded
a quiet menace. He didn't seem to be Willow's type, she seemed like
she would be more attracted to brains than brawn. "So, you and Willow
live together?"

"Yeah." Angel didn't elaborate. He didn't offer Rick any assurances of
mere friendship between he and Willow. After all, he was her Angel.
Angel smiled to himself. The inadvertent and innocent way she had just
laid claim to him was just another example of how Willow charmed him.
Over the last month that she had been staying with him, the slight
crush he had always had on her and the intense obsession his demon had
carried, had transformed into a full blown attraction. Angel wanted
Willow and he was glad that she couldn't explain him away as a friend.
It could mean that the attraction was mutual, as her Freudian slip had
also indicated. Not that he could do anything about it but dream. He
knew that he would find the happiness forbidden to him in Willow's
arms.

"You've known each other long?" Rick continued with the small talk. He
wanted to see how serious Willow's relationship was with this Angel.
She hadn't mentioned him before. She had said something about staying
with a friend, not living with a man. It could be that this wasn't a
romantic relationship.

"Around six years." Again Angel didn't add details. It wasn't his
fault that the guy didn't ask specific questions.

"Okay, I'm ready." Willow came out of the back room with her jacket.
"See you tomorrow, Rick."

"We still on for lunch?" Rick glanced at Angel for his reaction. If
he was Willow's boyfriend than he would protest or something. Nothing.
The guy's face was stone, his jaw didn't even tighten with repressed
jealousy.

The manners his mother had ingrained in him from boyhood gave Angel the
advantage of automatically helping Willow with her jacket. "Better
make it a late lunch. It's already eleven and you're going to be up
for a while longer yet, Alainn." A smile lurked on Angel's features as
the boy's hands clenched into fists and he gritted his teeth. It was
nice to have someone perceive him as a threat for a woman's affections
and not as merely some handsome statue made untouchable not because he
was made of stone, but because of a stupid clause in a curse.

"Is two o'clock okay, Rick?" Willow frowned. Angel didn't have that
quiet urgency he usually did when Cordelia had a vision and an innocent
life was on the line. Researching a new nasty was the only thing she
could think of that would keep her up most of the night. There were
things that would keep her and Angel up all night that she dreamed
about sometimes, more often in the last month, but that was impossible.
Even if Angel's soul was secure, he would hardly pick her to indulge in
his happiness with or even to fool around a bit.

"That's fine. Good night, Willow." Rick sighed, noticing that Willow
was already gone mentally if not physically. He didn't have a chance,
her bulldog boyfriend had made sure of that. Rick was going to have
to settle for friendship, which was too bad because Willow was one of
the most beautiful women he had ever met. Maybe she would change her
mind. He still had two months.

*****

The skyline was beautiful at night. The lights of the buildings
glittered against the dark curtain of the sky. Lilah didn't notice.
The only beauty she saw was in the file sitting on her desk. The
Marxim file. Eliot Marxim was a thief, someone typically beneath
Lilah's notice, but she was in need of his particular talent.

Lately, Angel had become more of a pest than usual. He had picked up a
witch that had helped him foil many of Lilah's recent plans and she was
starting to look bad. Looking bad was not good for your health at
Wolfram and Hart. Unfortunately, the senior partners hadn't given up
on the idea of turning Angel into his evil counterpart Angelus, so
simply eliminating him and his witch was out of the question.

Lilah removed a glossy photo from the file. The invasive still showed
Angel with his hand pressed intimately on the small of the girl's back
as he guided her through the doorway of the hotel. She was pretty,
this Willow Rosenberg, in a fresh, innocent way. Just what she needed.
Unlike the males at Wolfram and Hart, Lilah knew what made Angel tick.
They had thought that Darla would be able to seduce him back into her
fold with her wicked ways, but it hadn't worked for the simple reason
that Angel had a hard on for innocence. It was in his past with
Angelus' obsession with nuns and convents and it was in his present
with Angel's penchant for rescuing damsels. It wasn't a vampy siren
that would be Angel's downfall, it would be this red haired ingenue.
Angel was already playing with fire having her live with him. With a
little help from the Amulet of Sekhmet that Marxim was currently
acquiring, he would get burned. And Lilah would get promoted.

"Working late?" A soft feminine voice made Lilah look up. A tall,
caramel haired black woman a few years Lilah's junior stood in her
doorway. A shorter blonde man with a frosty Aryan look stood by her
side. Lilah recognized them both as law clerks.

"Excuse me?" Lilah shut the file on her desk, but didn't bother to
stand up.

"I'm Angelique Dane. This is my partner, Corwin Banes." Angelique
stepped into Lilah's office. "We're Dane, Banes and Mammon - Mammon is
our silent partner."

The name of the demon of avarice made Lilah uneasy. A silent partner
indeed. "What do you want? I'm sure that if I contact our senior
partners...."

"You don't have to. Your senior partners are also ours. They've
decided that Wolfram and Hart has become too conspicuous so they've
formed our law firm as well. We're taking over the Imhotep case. It's
too important for you to allow Angel to foul it up."

"I don't allow Angel to do anything. I'm taking care of him," Lilah
hissed.

"The senior partners have heard that before." Angelique walked to
Lilah's desk. She held out her hand displaying the small brand in the
middle of her palm. A reddened circle with the head of ram inside had
charred black flesh still clinging to the raised ridges. It was fresh.
"Give me the Imhotep file."

The senior partners were serious. Lilah rubbed her palm with her
thumb, she herself had just been branded a few months ago. It was
easily hidden with a simple spell. It was a symbol of loyalty and it
wasn't something that the senior partners doled out to all of their
employees. Their fair-haired boy, Lindsey MacDonald, had never been
branded and yet they marked this upstart. Lilah stood up and got the
file. She handed it over, glad for her habit of making copies. This
didn't look good for her. She was going to have turn Angel to their
side and find Imhotep before Dane and Banes could usurpher position
at Wolfram and Hart and she was sent to see the senior partners for the
last time.

*****

The bed was comfortable. The pillows were soft and plump, the
comforter wrapped around her in warm cocoon softness. It was quiet.
All the things conducive to a good night's rest. Willow sighed and
sat up. She couldn't sleep. She threw the covers aside and climbed
from the bed. She made her way downstairs to the kitchen without
turning on any lights, she had lived here long enough to know the way.

That was one of the reasons why Willow couldn't sleep. Tara had called
and the main topic of their conversation had been how Willow had lived
with Angel long enough. Eventually, Willow had hung up. She felt
guilty about just hanging up on Tara, but she was also tired of
reassuring her. Tara believed that Willow loved her or she didn't and
there was nothing more Willow could say to convince her. She was tired
of the argument and Buffy's irrational jealousy wasn't helping matters.

"Yeah, Buffy, Angel and I have been having a torrid affair and this
museum internship is just an elaborate ruse for us to hump like
bunnies," Willow grumbled to herself as she opened the fridge to get
some juice.

"Really? It would probably work better then if you spent less time at
the museum flirting with your friend Rick and more time here with me."
Angel smiled at Willow's surprised shriek. He had been sitting in the
dark kitchen, nursing a mug of blood and contemplating - not brooding -
his attraction to Willow and what to do about it when the object of
his thoughts had walked downstairs. He would have said something
sooner, but he had wanted a few more moments to enjoy the sight of her
in her dark red satin pajama jacket. It barely reached her knees.

"Angel, why are you sitting in the dark? Do I have to call Cordelia?"
Willow scolded gently. She sat down at the table, curious as to why
her friend was in a brood. It was actually unusual behavior for him
these days. She knew that their friends had to be okay, Angel would
have been devastated if something had happened to Cordelia, Wesley,
Gunn, or Fred, not just quietly depressed. "Did you lose someone
tonight? Were you too late to save them?"

"No. Patrol went great."

"Speaking of that, why did you tell Rick that I would be up late and
then take off as soon as you brought me back home? I thought Cordelia
had had a vision or something and you needed my help." Willow sipped
her juice from the carton. This was the second reason why she couldn't
sleep. Angel's behavior at the museum was puzzling.

"Sorry. I thought you wanted him to back off from hitting on you."
Angel was warmed by Willow's reference to the hotel as home. Home was
a place where you were safe and loved. Willow felt safe and loved
with him in his home. Her home. "You spoke to Tara tonight?"

For a moment, Willow allowed herself the indulgence of imagining that
Angel was jealous of Rick's interest in her, but had to finally admit
to herself that it was more likely a big brother-like
overprotectiveness. "Yes." Willow sighed as she answered his question.
She wanted to stop thinking about her girlfriend and their troubled
relationship. It didn't have to be this hard, that was what was so
frustrating. "Is this why you left Sunnydale, Angel? Did the lack of
trust get to you until you had to leave?"

"It was one reason." Angel's mind flashed briefly to the wary look in
Buffy's eyes and the way her muscles would tense in defense, not sexual
pleasure, with every kiss they had shared after he had returned from
Hell. Buffy had never trusted him, not even when they had made love.
She had allowed him to take her virginity, but she hadn't given in
to the passion fully and allowed him to please her. If he had realized
that at the time, he wouldn't have found that moment of peace, of
complete happiness, that had been his downfall. Even on that stolen
day when he had been human, Buffy had kept checking to make sure that
he was alive, that it wasn't some trick and she would be laying next to
Angelus. Angel couldn't really blame her for that, he was a vampire
and she was the slayer. He did blame her for the murderous gleam in
her eye when she had discovered him with Faith though. He could only
guess at the amount of jealousy she felt for her best friend at this
moment. "Tara doesn't really think we're sleeping together, does she?"

"I don't know. It's not just you." Willow stood up and paced the
kitchen. "Every time a guy smiles at me or I talk to one, she thinks
I'm going to have sex with him or at least she accuses me of wanting
to have sex with him. She's so insecure because she's the first woman
I've loved, the only woman, but I can't take the distrust. It's
destroying my feelings. I don't want to be around her right now. I
thought that some distance would help and it might have if Buffy hadn't
freaked."

"Buffy is just being Buffy. She doesn't want me to move on. I can't
believe that Tara is taking her seriously, doesn't she know about the
clause in my curse?"

"Yes, but apparently she and Buffy have decided that we can still have
sex. I guess they aren't convinced of my ability to make you that
happy," Willow said sourly. It was a bitter pill to swallow. Her best
friend and girlfriend both thought that Angel wanted her enough to
have sex with her, but that her performance is so abysmal his soul is
jsut fine.

"They would be wrong." Angel looked at Willow as she stopped at the
counter. She faced him, her mouth dropped open slightly in surprise.
She blushed a rosy pink, but her eyes didn't drop his gaze. Instead
they lit up with her smile.

"Thank you, Angel." Willow walked over to the table. She leaned down
and kissed his cheek. "You would make me very happy too," she
whispered into his ear. "Good night."

"Good night," Angel replied automatically, stunned and aroused by
Willow's response. She hadn't shied away in fear and embarrassment as
she would have a few years ago. God, he wished he could be the one to
make her happy.

*****

It was early morning when his plane landed in this foreign land of
America. Untouched by time, the Med-jai warrior, Ardeth Bay, walked
out of the airport. He shifted uncomfortably in the constricting
western clothing, the button down shirt and jeans clinging to him in a
way his robes never did. He got into the nearest cab. He felt strange
without his horse and the hot desert sands blowing around them, but
leaving his homeland had become necessary. He Who Shall Not Be Named
had been lost and the Med-jai had learned that he was in the New World.
Ardeth Bay checked the address on the paper again.

Allah had blessed his journey thus far and would lead him to the
descendants of his good friends, Rick and Evelyn, may their God rest
their souls, and he would have allies in his quest. He Who Shall Not
Be Named must not rise again. The evil must be defeated once and for
all.

To Be Continued....

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Part Two

It was with a lighter heart that Willow woke up the next morning. Her
conversation with Angel had done wonders for her mood - not to mention
her self esteem. Angel thought he would lose his soul if they made
love! She had fallen asleep quickly with dreams of them doing exactly
that and had woken up restless. Not being able to cure herself by
acting on her dreams, Willow had decided to go for a run. Now back at
the Hyperion, she had just enough time to shower, change, chat with
Cordelia and change again into the clothes that the Seer approved of
before she met Rick for lunch. Angel was probably still sleeping.

A brown FedEx van pulled up as Willow ran up the steps to the front
door and she stopped and waited for him. She began stretching to cool
down. "Hello," she greeted the uniformed delivery man cheerfully.

"I have a package for a Miss Willow Rosenberg." The man held out a
clipboard.

"That's me." Willow took the board and signed the papers on it where
indicated while the man went back to his truck to load a rather large
box onto a trolley. "Thank you. I'll get someone to help me bring it
in." Willow handed the guy his clipboard once he had finished sliding
the box from his trolley. "You have a nice day too!" she yelled after
the retreating figure.

An envelope was taped to the box. It was lavender with a black cat
sitting in the bottom corner. It was Tara's stationary and her
handwriting on the address. Willow sat down on the step beside the box
and pulled the envelope off. Maybe it was an apology gift. Maybe
Tara had finally realized how silly she was being. It was an awfully
big box though. Willow opened the envelope and took out the letter.

On some level, the words made sense. They must have had meaning to
some part of her brain or else she wouldn't be so numb. Or cold.
Willow wrapped her arms around herself and dropped her head to her
knees, curling herself into a ball. She wanted to cry, but her tears
were lost. This was shock. Funny, she had never felt it like this
before. Not when Buffy died or when Oz had left her.

"Willow, I thought I heard you out here, but when you didn't come
in..." Cordelia's voice penetrated the paralysis of Willow's brain.
"Willow?" A tentative hand touched her shoulder. She felt the letter
being tugged from her fingers. After a few moments she heard Cordelia
yell, "Wesley, Gunn, go wake up Angel!" Again Willow felt Cordelia's
hands on her arm as she tried to get her to stand up. "Willow, please,
you have to come inside. Angel can't come out here. Oh, Willow, I'm
so sorry." This time Willow helped Cordelia when she tried to get her
to stand up.

Fred hovered in the doorway. "Angel's on his way down." Fred moved
aside as Cordelia guided Willow inside. Her eyes widened as Angel came
rushing down the stairs, his shirt still in his hands. His chest was
so broad and...and...Fred's mind scattered into a million different
thoughts so she couldn't focus on one. She noticed the big box on the
step. Angel was pulling on his shirt. His muscles rippled with his
movement. An involuntary strangled squeak found its way out of her
mouth. Fred hated when that happened. Something to do, she needed
something to do. She tugged at the box to drag it inside. Willow
would probably want it inside. Unless it was what upset her. Fred
hesitated. But it was just a box. A closed box, not open. How could
a closed box upset someone? Willow was a witch, maybe she could see
inside without opening it. Fred's eyes widened. Now what was she
supposed to do? The box was sitting halfway in the doorway, she
couldn't leave it there. It was with a relieved sigh and grateful
smile that Fred greeted Gunn when he walked over and helped her pull
the box the rest of the way into the room. Angel had his shirt on
finally.

"Willow?" Angel sat down beside the still girl sitting on the couch.
Wesley had woken him up from a very pleasant dream involving the
huddled figure at his side. He looked to Cordelia for an answer to
why Willow was so shell-shocked, worry shining in his dark brown eyes.
She just handed him a light purple piece of paper. "Willow, since
you're enjoying living with him so much, stay there. Don't bother
coming back. I've packed up the rest of your clothes and books and
sent them to you. The rest of your stuff is with Spike at his crypt.
Buffy didn't want it. I doubt Xander will either when he and Anya get
back from their honeymoon."

"She didn't sign it. Or make the flower garden around her signature
that she always doodles when she writes me a note." Willow leaned into
Angel's comforting embrace. She didn't have a home. Or a girlfriend.
Or best friends. She just had her stuff in boxes in Spike's crypt.
How was she going to fix this? What was she supposed to do now? She
knew what Buffy and Tara wanted her to do. Crawl back to Sunnydale on
her hands and knees begging for forgiveness. They wanted her to tell
them that she was wrong, that she would never do anything they didn't
like again. She wouldn't look or talk to guys. She wouldn't do any
spells that weren't approved by them first. She would go back to being
a quiet follower. Well, they could stuff it! Willow sat up straight.
"I have to go shower. I promised to meet Rick for lunch."

"Willow?" Angel watched Willow stand up. She had pulled herself
together amazingly quickly. "Maybe you should cancel. We can talk
instead." It wasn't a completely selfish suggestion, he was concerned
for her welfare. Willow was repressing her feelings and he didn't
want her to break down later and cry on Rick's shoulder. She needed a
friend who understood her, not a stranger.

"I'm fine, Angel." Willow smiled. She wasn't lying, she was over her
initial shock and now she was just angry. She had dealt with Buffy
and Tara's expectations for long enough. It was time they tried to
see things her way. "I really am. If this is what Tara wants, then I
can't change her mind and I don't want to. I'm here because this is
where I want to be right now and if Tara and Buffy don't like it,
that's their problem."

The angry glint in Willow's eye was heartening. Angel doubted that she
would break down just yet, her indignation would carry her through the
next few days at least. "You can stay here as long as you like,
Willow." She could stay with him forever as far as he was concerned,
no matter how tempting it was having her around. Tara was an idiot
for throwing her away because of Buffy's paranoid and jealous ranting.

"Thanks, Angel." Willow reached down and squeezed his hand. She had
Angel. She noticed the concerned faces of Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn, and
Fred. She had friends. She had a home. She hadn't lost everything.
"Do you mind if I call Spike and ask him to bring the rest of my stuff
here?"

"As long as he doesn't plan on staying." Angel absently rubbed his
ribs. It took a while to forget the feeling of red hot pokers shoved
through your side, but he would suffer the bleached idiot's presence
as long as he was bringing Willow's stuff.

"Who is Spike?" Fred asked eagerly. She liked meeting new people now,
as long as they were Angel's friends. She liked Willow. She was
really nice and Fred didn't even mind that Angel looked at her with
that hungry look, like Willow was a rare blood type. She didn't expect
Angel to ever look at her like that - she wasn't beautiful like Willow
and Cordelia. Fred was content to adore him and be his friend.

"You don't want to know." Cordelia rolled her eyes. "He's evil and a
vampire and he used to be in love with this other vampire that Angel
turned all looney back in his evil days, but now he has the hots for
Buffy. Spike is sick and twisted and obviously suffers from chronic
bad taste. Stay away from him, Fred."

"He's not that bad anymore. You should see him with Dawn, it's down
right cute." With that last defense of Spike, Willow left them to
debate the issue among themselves. She actually felt a pang as she
thought of the former Big Bad Vampire and the Slayer's little sister.
They were the only two people who hadn't driven her out of Sunnydale
and she was going to miss them.

As she walked upstairs to her room, Willow wondered at how easily she
accepted her move from Sunnydale to Los Angeles. There had been a time
when she couldn't have possibly conceived of a life without the Scooby
Gang, but things had changed since she had brought Buffy back from the
dead. Buffy had pulled away from her. And everyone else, with the
exception of Spike and Dawn, pretended that they weren't afraid of her.
The internship and staying with Angel in L. A. was supposed to have
been a break from her friends, her girlfriend, and her powers. When
she had helped out at Angel Investigations, it had strictly been in a
computer hacker capacity and some minor spells to kill demons. Now
that it was looking like her vacation was permanent, maybe she should
let Angel and the others know the full extent of her powers. Maybe
she should tell them exactly how Buffy came back from the dead and
hope that they didn't react in the same way her other friends had.

*****

Damn! He was going to be late. Rick stepped out of the shower,
hastily rubbing a towel over his wet hair. He bet Angel was never
late. He was probably always early. Rick slapped on some cologne and
gazed critically at his reflection in the foggy mirror. Could his hair
get any flatter?

A brief knock warned him two seconds before the bathroom door swung
open. "God, Rick, anyone would think you were the girl in this
family," Evy O'Connell declared as she walked into the small room. She
reached across her brother and opened the medicine cabinet. Her image
swung by - dark honey blond hair gathered in a bouncy ponytail, dark
brown eyes and lightly bronzed olive skin. She looked nothing like her
namesake even though Grandpa Alex seemed to think she was Dr. Evelyn
Carnahan O'Connell reincarnated. "Get the hell out, Rick. I don't
care
how hot this chick is, your bathroom time is up."

His sister's impatience was nothing new to Rick, so he let her push him
out into the hallway. He had to get dressed anyway. "Gee, Evy, what's
the rush? Don't you usually save your action for late night rendezvous
with your overgrown gorillas you call dates?" He grinned when his only
answer was a door shut in his face. Sometimes he thought his sister
purposefully set out to pick up the wrong kind of guy, someone she
couldn't love, but he didn't have time to contemplate his sister's
love life. Rick rushed to his room and got dressed. He had gone for
casual/normal - blue button down shirt which he left open at the neck
and dark pants. "Hey, Grandpa Alex, I'm going out for lunch now," Rick
called as he walked downstairs. The bottom floor was a jungle clutter
of Egyptian relics collected by various members of his family in the
last eighty years or so. His grandfather could usually be found buried
deep among his treasures reliving his youth and remembering his beloved
parents. "Grandpa?" Rick made his way into the library.

"Warrior Knight," Alex O'Connell greeted his only grandson. He looked
so much like the father he had worshiped as a boy and a man, right
down to the pyramid-shaped tattoo with the eye of Horus on the side of
his right hand. The tattoo proclaimed his grandson a Knight of Templar
- a warrior of God and protector of man - although the boy had no idea
of his destiny yet. "Did I ever tell you about The Scorpion King?"
It was important that his grandson listen to his stories, it was the
only way he would be prepared for his duty.

"Yes, Grandpa, you have." Rick shook his head at his grandfather's
nickname for him. He refused to tell him why he called him that, he
would just say that he would know in time and then launch into another
story. Rick loved his grandfather, he really did, but he told his
stories about Egyptian gods, mummies, and med-jai warriors like they
were real and he always had so they couldn't even blame it on senile
dementia. "I've got to go. I'm meeting a lady for lunch and I'm
already late."

"Well, we can't have that. 'Love that lasts longer than the temples of
the gods.' It's a rare and wonderful thing and once you've found it,
you don't let it go." Alex sighed. He had spent his life searching for
what his parents had shared, but had only caught it in fleeting
glimpses. He had loved Grace, Rick and Evy's grandmother, but that
love had faded as he had chased the mysteries of Egypt that his parents
had opened up for him and Grace had gotten tired of following. She
had settled down here in Los Angeles with their son, Rick Junior, who
had become a bank manager, and they had built a life without him.
Luckily, his grandchildren had caught the family Egypt bug and they
had traveled to London to find him and brought him back here once he
had retired. He loved his grandchildren and he wanted them to find
what had eluded him his whole life - enduring love.

"I don't plan on it. She's special, Grandpa." Rick winked at his
grandfather and got a chuckle in return as he left the library. He
opened the front door just as a strange looking man was about to ring
the bell. His long dark hair was pulled back in a low ponytail and
intricate designs were tattooed across his cheekbones. There was
something about him that made him seem out of place - like he didn't
belong in this time. "Can I help you?"

"Rick O'Connell, can it be you, my old friend?" The man looked at him
in wonder.

"We've never met. I'm Rick O'Connell the third." It was silly, but
the thought actually entered his head that this man had known his
great grandfather. Stupid. The man was only a few years older than
he was.

"Of course. You greatly resemble...pictures of your great grandfather.
Is Alexander O'Connell still living?"

"Yeah." Rick turned and yelled, "Grandpa, there's someone at the door
for you. Look, I have to go, I'm late." Rick moved past the stranger
and ran down the front steps.

Alex heard his grandson's jeep start up and he knew that the boy had
left their guest standing on the front steps. This girl must be
special if she made him forget the manners his grandmother had
instilled in him. "One moment, please," Alex called out as he made his
way to the front door. Navigating the clutter was not his only
problem, mentally he cursed the arthritis in his joints that slowed
him down and made him feel ancient. "I apologize...." the rest of
Alex's words were lost as he looked up and saw a face from his past.
It was the face that he almost thought was part of a dream or fantasy
he had had as a boy. It certainly wasn't possible that it was looking
at him now. But then most people would think that it wasn't possible
for mummies to live and for the dead to be brought back to life.
"Ardeth Bay...you look exactly...how?"

"It's a long story, my young friend, and we have other concerns."
Ardeth Bay looked at the old man before him, but in his mind's eye he
saw a blond haired moppet of eight. "He Who Shall Not Be Named is in
danger of being woken."

"Imhotep."

*****

It was all right there. Everything Angelique Dane had ever wanted and
dared to dream about was within her grasp. Once she had proven herself
to the senior partners, her life would be golden. Her first step was
to find the mummy, Imhotep, and the next would be to give him life
again. The people Lilah Morgan had hired to track down the mummy had
been very thorough and methodical - they had checked every tomb in
Egypt and every museum in the world. They had found nothing. Ever
since she had been hired by Wolfram and Hart last year, Angelique had
watched Lilah Morgan. She knew Lilah's weaknesses and her strengths.
Lilah's biggest weakness was that she always approached things as a
lawyer. She made plans and looked at things logically. Thinking
would not get them Imhotep, acting would. Angelique was content to
let Lilah plot and plan and play her games with Angel. It would keep
her occupied while Angelique went after her job. Then it would be
her turn to play games with Angel.

"Everything is in place, Angelique." Corwin Banes stood in the doorway
of his half-sister's office. Their offices were located in an office
building next to the Wolfram and Hart Tower, it was hardly prestigious
and it was not Angelique's ultimate goal. Corwin was well aware that
he didn't have the balls to make it at Wolfram and Hart on his own,
but Angelique did. His sister had a driving ambition that should have
been scary except that it got them what they both wanted. He was
content to be her shadow and let her take the risks while he shared in
the rewards. "When we have his grandson, he'll have no choice but to
give us the location of Imhotep."

"Good. I hope the basement is ready for our guest?" At Corwin's nod,
Angelique allowed herself a brief satisfied smile. This wasn't the
time to get smug, she couldn't afford it yet.

"A guest? Are you sure? This office is rather small." Lilah pushed
past the annoying iceman. Eavesdropping on them had told her very
little and neither had having their backgrounds picked over with a
fine-toothed comb. As far as Lilah could tell, Angelique and Corwin
had pasts like most of the high-ranking junior partners at Wolfram
and Hart - dirt poor with a yen for the grass on the other side of the
fence. The only intriguing part was the fact that they shared a
father. The old man had had his fun with Angelique's mother before
leaving her pregnant and marrying Corwin's mother. "I believe that
your brother intercepted a package for me this morning. I want it."

"The Imhotep case is mine. I was instructed to gather all the evidence
you had at your disposal. The Amulet of Sekhmet is Egyptian, so I
assumed...."

"That would be your first mistake. The Amulet has nothing to do with
a rotting mummy. Hand it over." Lilah tilted her chin up and let her
eyes go dangerously frosty. This bitch wasn't going to get her knock
off Gucci-clad feet over the threshold of Wolfram and Hart again if
she had anything to do with it. This small hole on the side was as
far as Angelique Dane was going to get in life.

"Certainly. It must be important if you want it so badly." Angelique
took a rectangular box wrapped in navy crepe paper and tied with a
pink bow out of her desk drawer and held it out. She had known all
along that this 'present' had nothing to do with Imhotep, she had just
wanted to gage its importance to the other lawyer and to see how
threatened Lilah felt. If she had been unconcerned by Angelique then
she would have sent her assistant. "A present for Angel?"

"No, it's for a friend of his." Lilah snatched the box from her
rival's hands and stalked out of the offices of Dane, Banes, and
Mammon.

"Sekhmet was the Egyptian goddess that protected the good and
annihilated the wicked. Whoever wears the amulet will be possessed by
the goddess," Corwin informed Angelique as soon as Lilah was well out
of earshot. "Why would Lilah Morgan want to give such power to one of
Angel's friends?"

"Since everything is in place on our only other case, why don't you
occupy yourself with finding that out, little brother." Angelique
waved Corwin out of her office. She was looking forward to meeting
their guest and getting to know him better.

*****

"Mommy! Mommy, look!" Chocolate covered hands pounded on the glass of
the passenger-side window as the seven year-old boy gestured
frantically to garish banners fluttering in the breezy mall parking
lot.

"Todd, stop that. You're smudging the window." Cheryl Elliott parked
her car and brushed her bangs out of her eyes. She needed a haircut.

"But, Mommy, I wanna go there!" More fingerprints marred the surface
as Todd pointed at the object of his desire. A red banner flapped
persistently in exclamation of its announcement in gold lettering
'Egyptian Mystery Carnival.'

"We'll look around, but only for a minute." Cheryl sighed and got out
of the car. She followed her son as he excitedly ran toward the
main entrance of the cheesy traveling carnival that had set up in her
small town's mall parking lot. It had a few small rides - a train
with sphinx cars and a merry-go-round of mummy cases, she thought they
were called sarcophagus, thrones, and pyramids - and a mini-museum in
a long trailer. She paid the five dollar entrance fee and almost
groaned as Todd headed straight for the hokey museum. She wondered
what 'treasures' the hucksters who ran this place had managed to
fake.

"Cool!" Todd exclaimed as he disappeared behind a curtain into the
dark trailer.

"Todd, wait!" Cheryl called anxiously as her excited son left her
sight. She handed the attendant two dollars and rushed in after him.
Who knew who was lurking around in there?

The light was dim to enhance the realness of the exhibits in the
display cases. Todd passed by broken pottery, crumbling parchment,
and fake jewelry without pausing and headed to the back of the
trailer. For once, her son's chocolatey fingers marked up someone
else's glass as he pressed against a large window, his interest
captured by the grotesqueness on the other side. Two crumbling,
rotting corpses clutched each other in a macabre embrace. The one
seemed to be gripping the other by the throat.

"King Anotep and his bride Princess Anck-Nu," Cheryl read from the
placard. "That's one hell of a paper-mache job." She shook her head
and reached down to pull her son away from the glass. She nudged him
out into the glaring daylight. "That's enough, Todd, Mommy has
shopping to do."

The skeletal fingers tightened imperceptibly on the neck of his
'bride.' The gawking slaves were leaving. When first he had been
unearthed, Imhotep had thought that his time of glory was once again
upon him. Instead he was stuck in here with she who had betrayed him.
The consciousness of Imhotep roared in impendent rage. Twice he had
almost ruled this world with an iron fist. Someone, someone would
recognize who he was and release him. He would not be stopped a third
time.

To be continued....