Keep the Light Alive
Part 2 of 2
a Witchblade/Mummy crossover
by Celli Lane

Part 1 can be found here, under the Witchblade category. I couldn't figure out which category the story belonged in, so I split the difference.

Disclaimer: Offhand, I can't remember who everyone belongs to, but suffice it to say it's not me. I promise I'm not making any money off this.

Author's Notes: I blame 90% of this story on Cath, who got me hooked on Witchblade, and the other 10% on Val, who made a completely unrelated comment about Alex that got me going. The song is from the Lowen & Navarro album "Pendulum."

If you're not familiar with Witchblade, try http://www.witchbladetv.com or The Witchblade Fan Page.
For the Mummy movies, try http://www.themummy.com or Secrets of The Mummy.

Thanks to my beta-readers: Jen and the Horsechicks (KikiPerriValDeeCath'n'Lizbet), who tried really hard even though few of them were familiar with both fandoms. And a last-minute thank-you to my brother Brian, who listened politely when I got stuck. Feedback is welcome--email me if you don't want anyone to see your real opinion. :)

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We're standing at the crossing
Where day and night divide...
--"Keep the Light Alive," Lowen & Navarro

London, England
July 1945

The O'Connell mansion was imposing from the outside and downright labyrinthine from within. Alex O'Connell hardly noticed, though. From the way he paced the floor of the library, he might be in a lion's cage.

Alex's parents, Evy and Rick, stood unnoticed in the doorway and watched their son mutter to himself. "He's been like this since he came back," Evy said quietly. "He's hardly eaten a thing--Alex, who would have cheerfully eaten a whole cow for breakfast in the old days. Something's wrong."

"Evelyn." Rick's deep voice was as quiet as hers. "He's literally been though a war. We know that much, even if he won't tell us what kind of work he was doing. He couldn't be the same after that."

"It's more than that," Evy insisted. "I know it is."

Rick smiled slightly. "You think it's a girl."

"What makes you say that?"

"Come on, Evelyn. I can read you like a book. Most books," he amended at the look she gave him. "You're hoping it's a romance."

"I'm a mother," she said stiltedly. "I'm allowed to hope for a romance."

"A daughter-in-law? Grandchildren?"

The doorbell interrupted the dressing-down Evy was about to hand out. Alex rushed past them. "Lizzie!" he cried as he threw open the door.

Evy threw Rick a look. "See?"

Then they heard Alex's horrified voice. "Oh, my God, Lizzie!"

A young woman stepped in the door. She was carrying a baby.

"Oh, yeah," Rick said as Evy gaped. "I see all right."

~~~

"Um, Alex?" Elizabeth peered through the door. "Your parents...are they, ah..."

Alex's father was holding the baby, which seemed harmless enough, although the faces he was making seemed more scary than amusing. The baby was flailing around with both fists, so maybe she liked it.

Alex's mother, though, was standing in the far corner of the library, turning in little infuriated circles. Elizabeth was surprised the air around her wasn't turning blue.

"Evelyn, relax--" Elizabeth heard before she was jerked around to face a very angry Alex.

"I haven't heard from you in a year. No one at Intelligence would even look me in the eye. I was sure you were--" He cut himself off and gave her a hard shake. "What the hell is going on?"

"You're shaking me, that's what--Alex, let go!" She slapped his hands away. "You're not going to be happy about what I have to say, but I'm not happy about saying it, either."

"Where have you been?"

"It took me months to get out of Germany. When I got pregnant, Rolf thought it was, well..."

"And was there a reason for Rolf to think what he thought?"

"No. Alex, I don't have a way to prove it, but there are...precautions that can be...I took them with Rolf."

She looked him in the eye as she said it. "I believe you. Go on."

"I finally got away from Rolf and out of Berlin. I've been in an Intelligence safe house ever since." She smiled slightly. "They had a lot of debriefing to do. I had...ah...a lot of things to explain." One hand went unconsciously to the bracelet at her wrist.

"The baby was born the day Germany surrendered," Elizabeth continued. "I named her Victoria--it seemed appropriate." She reached for her purse and pulled out a piece of paper. "I brought her birth certificate with me..."

"Why would you bring me her..." Alex had half expected it, but the look on her face was like a punch to the stomach. "You're not staying, are you, Lizzie?"

"I can't."

"But you--"

"Alex, I'm a spy."

"So was I!"

Suddenly, she looked not just older than him, but older than anyone. "I'm something else, too."

There was nothing he could say to that.

"Did I ever tell you that I never knew my parents?" she said quietly. "I was raised in an orphanage in America. I think about the Witchblade, and I wonder--I don't want that to happen to Victoria, Alex."

"We can protect you."

"I can't be protected, Alex. There are things I have to do that even I don't understand." There was a bleak look in her eyes that he had seen once before, back in a German barracks almost a year ago.

~~~

Alex settled his daughter into his arms and tried not to hear the door closing behind Lizzie. His mother stood in front of him, at eye level with the bundle he held, and fussed with the blanket holding the baby. "When will she be back?" she asked.

"She won't," Alex said simply. "Did you see the bracelet she was wearing?"

"Of course. It's a replica of the one Cleopatra was wearing when she seduced Marc Antony."

"No. That is, it wasn't a replica." A sudden thought occurred to him. He looked down into his daughter's bright eyes. "Victoria, honey, don't develop a fondness for bracelets, all right? Your family doesn't have too much luck with that sort of thing."

We'll hold a spark between us and keep the light alive...