Arrgh! Rage! Bite! Snarl!

[logansrogue]

Mum downloaded the Mummy 3.

OH MY GOD, the SUCKAGE!

I mean, I will admit that 2 was pretty bad, but at least the characters were still, you know, SORT OF IN CHARACTER. And it took place in EGYPT. You know, the country Evy actually studied!!

And oh God, Brendan spoke all his lines in this fake deep voice and he sounded SO STUPID. And the gun scene! Rick and Alex comparing guns! *weeps* Oh sweet Lord, it was painful! Alex! Alex was SMART! *sobs* Alex was BRITISH! *sobs* Alex didn't look like fucking L RON HUBBARD! Seriously - POTATO FACE! Couldn't they find a good looking guy?!

Okay. To take us out, I'm leaving you with a touching scene from my Mummy fic, "We'll Meet Again."




That night, dinner was a very quiet affair for the O'Connells. Alex wasn't up for energetic discussion. In fact, eating was proving to be a bit of a chore as well. He pushed his food about his plate, letting the short snatches of conversation between his parents float past him, his mind utterly elsewhere. It was wrapped up in a problem he'd promised to solve, but how could he? He didn't know enough about its background, and his feelings were twisted up in ways he couldn't account for. He didn't understand the depths of himself and that always made him uncomfortable.

"Doesn't matter how many times you shift it on your plate, Alex, the food's gonna taste the same."

Alex glanced up at his father, his eyes taking a moment to focus on him as his mind settled from far away. Rick frowned at his son.

"You all right?"

"Yes," said Alex quickly, putting on a smile. "Just fine."

"Alex, you're a terrible liar," said Evy gently, concern in her tones.

He shook his head, stabbing a potato. "Really. I just – I've just got a lot to think about."

"Oh?" Rick lifted a brow.

"Yes, well," Alex shrugged. "When to start off for the temple, for a starters. Then there's how long to stay-"

"What do you take me for?" asked Evy. "I know you've been away for a long time, that you mightn't want to talk to you mother and father about some things but it doesn't mean we won't understand. You can talk to us, you know."

He nodded, embarrassment crashing with denial. "I… I know, Mum. I need to sort my head out, is all."

"Well you know we're here if you need a sounding board with that," said Evy.

Pushing his plate away, Alex gave a short, stiff affectation of a smile before standing up abruptly. "Thanks, Mum. I do." Without another word, he turned and rushed from the room.

Rick and Evy spent a long moment staring where their son had been standing only a second ago. Evy sighed, resting her forehead in her hand.

"What's gotten into him? He was so happy yesterday!"

"Whatever it was, it happened at the Medjai camp," murmured Rick, looking down to his dinner plate and skewering a sausage.

"Well… he was spending quite a lot of time with Kalila yesterday. In fact he was downright defensive when I asked him if he had a good time after he'd danced with her."

Rick looked up from his food and looked dry yet slightly incredulous. "Evy… you're not suggesting what I think you are, are you?"

"What?" asked Evy, quite innocently. "They're two young and gorgeous people with rather a lot in common-"

"Yeah, but haven't you spent these years referring to Connie as Alex's 'aunt'? Don't you think it's kinda weird-"

"Oh for heaven's sake, Rick," sighed Evelyn. "They're not related. They didn't really grow up together, either."

"What about the age difference?"

Evelyn covered a sudden smirk on her face with her hand.

"What?"

"You do recall how old I was when you met me, don't you, darling?"

Rick's blue eyes unfocused as he thought for a moment, then he nodded, a withered smile on his face. "Yes, very funny."

Tilting her head, Evy leant forward, taking Rick's hand. "Does the thought of Alex and Kalila… does it bother you that much?"

"No," said Rick, shaking his head. "It's just strange to hear out of the blue like that." He dug about the food on his plate, an echo of Alex only a moment ago. Stopping, he looked up at Evelyn. "You really think that's what the problem is?"

"I don't know," said Evelyn, shrugging. "It's just a guess, based on what I saw and what I know."

"What do you know?"

"Well – Kalila was meeting that boy from another tribe today. She looked awfully upset about it this morning."

Rick snorted, popping a piece of sausage into his mouth. "If she's upset about it, then Alex has nothing to worry about."

"Not necessarily," said Evelyn. "Young women have been known to change their minds."

"The daughter of Ardeth and Connie, fickle and easily swayed? I don't think so," said Rick, smirking.

Evy sighed, looking up at the ceiling of the dining tent thoughtfully, blowing out her lips. "Of course, there's every reason to suspect that Ardeth mightn't want his only daughter marrying an O'Connell."

"Why? What's wrong with Alex?"

"Nothing, dear, but we are prone to causing trouble," she said, gently.

Rick shook his head. "Naw. Alex has a good head on his shoulders. He's developed a sense of caution, which, I gotta say, we severely lacked in our tomb-discovering years."

Evelyn opened her mouth to protest, then closed it with a defeated sigh. "I suppose you're right."

"I know it."

"Maybe you should go talk with him."

Rick's eyes widened. "What?"

"You're his father," said Evelyn, gripping his hand. "He'll probably be more comfortable talking about this sort of thing with you."

"If he wanted to talk to me about it, he would have."

"But darling, he's spent all those years at Bembridge developing a stolid British exterior and a ridiculously stiff upper lip," said Evy. "Go soften him up with some American 'buddy' charm – he needs it."

Leaning back in his chair, Rick glanced upwards and sighed heavily. "All right. But if it goes wrong, it's all your fault."

Evy grinned, getting up from her chair and embracing Rick lovingly. "Thank you!"

~~*~~

He hadn't done it in years, in absolute years. Fifteen or so, he guessed. Walking a little distance from the camp, he sat atop a soft-sanded dune, gazing out into the great expanse that was the Egyptian desert. Black and blue shapes melted into the distance, and a deep satin sky blazed with gleaming stars. There were no streetlights or city glow to steal the fire from the sky, and the crescent moon had already set. It was just him, the universe and the Gods.

They looked upon these same stars, he thought. The scribes and the wise men to the Pharaoh. I wonder if they felt as small, as lost? Of course when they saw the stars, they didn't see distant burning suns. They were glittering points of light on the belly of Nut. Perhaps they felt enclosed, protected, surrounded by her cosmic body. Almost like a lover's embrace.

A pain stung his heart as he thought of that. He'd not really had a serious love affair. A bit of spooning and laughter after a dance, kisses and promises. They never understood him past his scholarly fervour. Perhaps that's all there was to him when he'd been in England. His being a clever boy saved his mother. Some part of him always felt a compulsion to be clever, to know as much as possible, just in case. Just in case.

That fear, that drive, it dogged him for so many years. Being in Egypt again brought him an unexpected freedom. And finding Kalila…

He rubbed his eyelids, groaning to himself. Perhaps he was just finally going mad.

From the direction of the camp he could hear a familiar heavy trudging, the comforting steps of his father. He knew that his parents would try to find out what was wrong with him at some point. At least it was his Dad making the attempt. He wasn't sure how he would explain it all to his mother.

"Hey, Alex," said Rick, dropping a hand to his son's shoulder. "Mind if I join you?"

"Of course not," said Alex, glancing to his father with an affectionate smile. It faded as he gazed out at the desert again. Rick eased himself down with a grunt, sitting in the sand next to him. They sat there silently for a minute or two, the both of them staring into the darkness.

"You'd think all that quiet and emptiness would make you feel lonely," said Rick. "But it doesn't."

Alex shook his head. "The desert is crawling with life, you can feel it."

Rick smiled.

"I forgot how comforting it could be," said Alex, his unrest present in his voice. "I suppose a place so old and timeless puts things into perspective."

"What sort of things?" asked Rick, lifting a brow.

"Unexpected things," replied Alex, not looking at Rick.

After a moment of silence, Rick cleared his throat. "Your Mom seems to think this-" he pointed at Alex, "has somethin' to do with Kalila."

Alex let out an embarrassed sigh, grimacing. "It – it does, but not in the way she might think."

"Oh?"

He dared to look at his father, and was surprised to see an openness there. He could see Rick wanted to understand. Rubbing the back of his neck tensely, he gulped and went on.

"She's in a bit of a bad position right now," he said. "She – she wants to please her father. Wants to be a good Medjai. It's important to her for some reason."

"Most kids want to do their families proud," said Rick, his eyes glinting.

"I know," said Alex, a little self-consciously. "But she's feeling so much pressure to sacrifice her own happiness for the sake of the bloody tribe." He shook his head. "I promised I'd help her. It's crazy. How can I help her? Why did I even promise such a thing? I'm an outsider, for cripes sakes!"

A quirk of a smile touched Rick's lips. "Well, I don't have all the answers to those questions. I don't know why we do the things we do. I remember getting mixed up in a terrible mess with a foolish librarian and all I knew was that I had to help her fix the problem. Not just because I owed her my life, but cause I wanted to protect hers."

Alex looked to his father with a sharp, frightened gaze. "You really think…"

"I don't know," Rick replied softly. "All I do know is when a feeling takes you that strongly, you don't ignore it."

Burying his face in his hands, Alex sighed. "The way she looked at me when I left the camp this morning… I felt like I was abandoning her."

Rick shrugged. "If she needs you, go to her. In the end, you'll figure things out, you'll find a way for everything to work."

Alex rubbed his eyelids again. "I need time to think. I can't just rush into decisions and hope not to make a mess of things."

"Why not? It's what you used to do when you were a kid," said Rick.

"Yes, and look where that got me," said Alex darkly, pointing to his wrist where the bracelet of the Scorpion King had been bound to him.

"You gained more than you realised from that experience, Alex," said Rick. "I know it's frightening to nearly lose someone, or to be in a situation you think you can't escape. You should never have been put in those situations, and your mother and I regret that you were more than you could ever know. But you know what?" He pointed at Alex. "You've done some amazing things in the face of danger. You've done more than I could ever expect of you. You're more than your mother and I put together. You're…" He waved a hand. "I think you're destined for great things. But great things don't happen if you're hiding away from all the bad things life can throw at you."

"I know," said Alex, nodding and peering into the sky. "Right now I really need to think, though… just get my head together."

Rick nodded, grunting as he got up to his feet. "Yeah. But don't think too long – last time you did that, we lost you to the dusty halls of Bembridge." He ruffled Alex's hair playfully.

"Very funny," said Alex, ducking out of the way with a smile.

Rick winked and waved laxly to his son before trudging back to the encampment.

Alex looked back out to the desert. Tomorrow he'd start his journey for the temple of Isis. Perhaps after that little excursion, he'd know what to do with himself. Yes, a nice, low-key, relaxing jaunt to an abandoned old temple seemed just the trick to sort out his confused thoughts and feelings.

~~*~~