Final author's note at the end of the chapter.

1 week later

A rare breeze fluttered the lace curtains of Fallon's apartment. She kept the lights off to keep the space cool as she got ready for the day. The dull grey of the room also calmed her, too much firelight seemed to make her heart race.

She finished buckling the straps of her Mary-Janes, new ones she had bought upon her return to Cairo that actually fit. They were also the first thing she bought with her newfound fortune from the treasures stowed upon the camels they took back from Hamunaptra. Her too-small Mary-Janes had been given to a girls' orphanage a few blocks down. Standing from her chair, Fallon placed her hat on her head over her dark curls and grabbed her scarf.

But she stopped.

Fallon ran her fingers over the soft blue tulle. A week earlier it had been tied around her hair to keep it out of her face, found in the library of the Cairo Museum by Ardeth after she'd left it about. He'd kept it wrapped around his hand until he was able to return it to her.

There was a knock at her door. When she turned, Kelly opened it to reveal herself.

"Hey there," Kelly said,

Fallon gave her a small smile before slipping the scarf around the collar of her blouse. Kelly made herself at home like she normally did, flopping into a chair. Fallon noted that her hair looked the best it ever had since before their expedition to the City of the Dead, the mousy brown hair cropped short in sleek fingers waves as opposed to the frizzy, wild mop.

"How's the packing going?" Fallon asked.

Kelly shrugged. "Almost done."

"Have you figured out where you're going then?"

The ancient warfare historian shrugged again. "London, most likely. See if the British Museum wants anything to do with me. If not, Hadrian's Wall. There's some Roman dig sites up there."

Fallon leaned against her desk, grabbing the books from the tabletop. "From what I understand, Adam may be joining you up there then." She raised a knowing eyebrow at her friend.

Kelly failed at hiding the blushing smile that beamed on her face. "Well, we're not going to go anywhere until we know you're going to be okay here by yourself. I mean, even Jonathon, Rick, and Evy are planning on skedaddling out of here themselves."

Fallon rolled her eyes. "I'll be fine here. I think it's been established that I can take care of myself."

"I know you can. And I'm sorry that I've been… a bit overbearing throughout this whole thing," Kelly said, her voice heavy.

"That's an understatement," Fallon chuckled.

"I know." Kelly nodded. "There's no justification for it." She eyed the books in Fallon's hands, recognizing one of them as her mother's journal. "Where'd you end up finding it?"

"Wedged between the seats of Jonathon's car back at the Royal Air Field," Fallon said.

Kelly reached her hand out for it and Fallon obliged. Looking through the last pages of it, she finally closed it and handed it back. "Could you promise me one thing?"

"Anything," Fallon replied.

"Don't go looking for answers," Kelly said.

Fallon's silence told Kelly that she knew what Kelly meant.

Kelly continued. "I know you still have questions. Based on what you told me that Ardeth told you…" Kelly noticed a sense of sadness fall over Fallon's expression at the mention of the Medjai. "There was some shady shit going on in regards to your parents. It only gives you more questions. But all of those diggers are dead. We don't know who they were or with what they were associated. I know it's tempting, Fallon. But I think this is the one thing that you should just let go."

Fallon kept her gaze down. Kelly stood and leaned against the desk with her, placing her hand on her shoulder.

"If you don't do it for yourself," Kelly continued, "then do it for Adam, and me."

Fallon nodded slowly. She sighed. "It seems like there's a lot for me to let go after all of this."

Aside from Jonathon, it seemed Fallon was the only one who got the short end of the stick in terms of leaving with a partner. Rick and Evy were moving rather quickly, passion blossoming between the two. And Kelly and Adam were keeping things on the down-low and moving slowly. Fallon knew they did this deliberately for her, but she wished they wouldn't. She was happy for them, and it was sincerely something she hoped would happen for a long while. She tried to tame the envy within her.

Kelly struggled to find something to say. Fallon hoped she would eventually tell her what she and Ardeth spoke about before their return to Cairo. But Kelly's insistent silence was enough for Fallon to understand that it was best she didn't know.

When Fallon looked to Kelly, she found her looking out of the window below.

"Kelly?"

Kelly snapped her head back to Fallon. "Such is life, I suppose. But who knows? Before all of this, fate seemed like a bunch of bullshit to me. But now? Well, it seems there are people like you, and him, are riding along the wings of it. You never know, fate may have something else for you in store."

Fallon smiled, something in her heavy heart lifting. Kelly gave her shoulder a pat, and began to edge her away from the desk and the window towards the door.

"Just don't go looking for it. That's when we'll have a problem," Kelly added.

Leaving the apartment building, Kelly ushered Fallon to head to work. But at the last second, Kelly grabbed her arm.

"Hey are you still having those dreams?" Kelly asked.

Fallon scrunched her shoulders. She searched for the right words to say. Kelly spied the blush on her face before she smiled.

"They're not exactly the same," Fallon finally said. "He's still there. Sometimes he's still that dark spot on the horizon riding away from me. Other times it's a dream where I'm running through the desert at night, there's a falcon flying above me like I'm following it. To him. Sometimes I'll actually see him, but I wake up before I reach him. That's it."

Kelly stared at her for a moment, her expression unreadable. "Well, at least they're not alarming anymore."

Fallon shrugged. "For now at least."

Kelly snickered. "Go on, go to work. I'll see you later."

Kelly waited until Fallon was turning down the street before she crossed her arms and approached an abandoned street stall across the street near an alley.

"Funny," Kelly said, keeping her voice low. "This isn't Hamunaptra."

A dark figure emerged from the alleyway. Kelly was glad Fallon hadn't seen him earlier, she knew it wouldn't have been good for her; it surely wasn't some acquaintance call between two dear friends.

Ardeth Bay lowered the dark mask covering his face and gave her a nod.

"I suppose I can guess why you're here sneaking around in the shadows outside Fallon's apartment building, but I'd like for you to do me the honor of making it sound less creepy."

"The Medjai's purpose is to prevent the Creature from rising, and to protect the world from such evil," Ardeth said.

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure we made your job a little easier by taking the city down with him," Kelly added.

He gave a nod to acknowledge this. "But the threat will always be present and we need to be aware of any threats that may arise."

"And what does this have to do with Fallon?" Kelly asked.

"These are merely a Medjai's responsibilities," Ardeth replied.

Kelly put the pieces together in her mind, remembering some briefly muttered details. Why did he have to be so vague all the time, talking in riddles? "You're not just the protector of Hamunaptra's secret, you're the protector of the oracle. Of Fallon."

He gave another nod. "At least that is solely my responsibility, and mine alone. The knowledge she has and the knowledge she can have make her dangerous in the hands of the wrong people."

Kelly scoffed. "You make her sound like she's a weapon rather than an actual person. She can take care of herself. At this point, the last thing she wants, or needs, is protection."

"I know," Ardeth agreed. "But there are still looming threats. Some that she may be connected to."

This was what Kelly was afraid of hearing. She wanted to believe Fallon was fine. That everything was behind them, and yet…

"You're referring to her parents," Kelly said.

"Yes," Ardeth confirmed.

"Shit," she hissed.

"Those diggers with her parents knew more than they should have. I highly suspect there are more."

"Do you think they'll be coming after her?" She asked, something in her stomach flipping.

"I don't know," Ardeth replied, truthfully. They held each other's hard stares. "Only if they find out what she is and what she possibly knows."

Kelly stepped closer to him, her eyes tense and threatening. "Your job is to make sure that never happens. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," he said, his expression as serious as hers.

"Good," Kelly finally said after searching his eyes. She stepped away from him, the tension between them thinning. "Everyone else is leaving. For some reason she wants to stay. I'm leaving everything up to her now. I can't keep hanging around, sticking my nose into her life to make sure she's safe. I can't keep worrying about her all the time. I have to trust that she'll keep herself out of trouble. But it'll help me sleep at night knowing you'll be around to keep an eye on her."

"It would be easier if my uncle was still alive, but I still need to be with my people. I'll be around as often as I can be. And I'll keep my distance," Ardeth assured her. He made to move down the alleyway following a parting nod.

"Hey," Kelly called after him. He stopped. "Last time I saw you, you told me that in a perfect world the decision to leave her behind wouldn't be an option. And you wouldn't tell me why that was." He avoided looking at her, and it only made her angrier. "Look me in the eye and tell me that you don't dream about her still."

He met her seething gaze. But he didn't say anything. Not immediately. He swallowed, parting his lips to start, but Kelly spoke first.

"Because she still dreams about you. And it breaks my heart… because it breaks hers."

Ardeth remained silent.

Kelly continued. "I understand what you meant. You two come from two different worlds, and making a decision like that isn't that simple. Hell, you two barely know each other. Maybe it is best for Fallon to move on, let go, and live a regular life. One where mummies stay dead, plagues are kept in the bible, where what you dream at night means absolutely nothing, and secret organizations protecting lost cities don't exist. But I can't help but feel that is so unfair to her and everything she went through and everything she feels. After everything that's happened, from when her parents died, to losing friends, to learning she's some mystical mystical psychic for an Egyptian God… she deserves some happiness. And there are only two thing that I know of that would make her happy: her parents coming back to life. And seeing you again."

Ardeth broke their eye contact and Kelly could almost feel his heart sinking as if it was her own. She took a step back towards the street, meaning to leave.

"I'm going to leave you with that knowledge. Just… look after her. I'm leaving it up to you as how you do that. Goodbye."

She made her way out onto the street and barely walked three steps before she heard her name being called. When she turned she saw Adam running up to her.

"Hey you," he said, kissing her on the forehead. "Want to get some lunch?"

"Sure," Kelly said, linking her arm in his.

"Did you get the chance to see Fallon?" He asked.

"Yeah. She seems to be doing alright," Kelly said.

"Do you think she'll be okay without us when we leave?"

Kelly looked back towards the alley, spying Ardeth. He gave her a nod before slipping on his mask again and disappearing into the shadows. She turned back to Adam with a smile.

"She'll be just fine. I know she will."

Hi all! This is... my first finished fanfic. I want to thank everyone who has stayed with this story for so long and followed, favorited, and left reviews. Every single one was what led me to pick this back up and finish it. It's great reading back and looking at how I've grown as a writer. I'm sorry I won't be finishing this series. BUT I did post the first chapter to my rewrite/new fic of this called Tiger's Eye. There are some similarities, but it's far more developed and has all new OCs. It's still an ArdethxOC fanfic, and I am putting in it all of the love and TLC that I have for this movie and fandom. It would mean the world to me if y'all would check it out. All the love to you guys!