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Irene cried until she could shed no more tears.

She felt a bit better after her outburst, but now that she was feeling better, she realized that she didn't have anything else to do besides wait. And she hated waiting.

She turned and studied her surroundings. There was a herd of camels not far away from her spot, and out of boredom, she decided to count them. That would certainly take her mind off other things -

One.

Two.

Three.

Irene snorted, shaking her head at her own idiocy. It wasn't as though anyone would be interested in knowing that there were fifteen camels wandering just outside of Hamunaptra, unless there were fifteen travelers looking for fifteen camels, but that was besides the point.

She looked up into the sky and counted the clouds. Not that there were many in the desert...This wasn't America, after all.

Just as she resorted to counting the grains of sand beneath her, Irene froze when she heard footsteps making its way towards the camels. She edged closer for a better look, and she saw a figure quickly approaching, dragging a large bag with them.

Beni, she recalled. He had betrayed them to work for Imhotep, which meant that he probably knew what was going on inside Hamunaptra. She picked her way to him cautiously, knowing that there was a chance he could be hostile towards her, but she couldn't hide the excitement boiling inside her. She could ask him if he had seen Rick and the others!

In her haste, Irene had completely forgotten to stay as quite as possible. Beni's head snapped up, relaxing slightly when he saw who had disturbed him. "You're the sister," Beni acknowledged in a tone that was neither friendly nor evil.

"Yes," Irene responded.

"I didn't expect you to be here," he continued, eyeing the heavy bag as though he was afraid she would snatch it away from him any minute.

Irene shrugged. "I'm not planning on stealing your bag, if that's what you're thinking. You came from inside, right? You must know how Rick is doing."

He didn't seem convinced, but his eyes flashed with interest. He was definitely planning something. "Why don't you come with me? It's better if you see for yourself...and you can even help me carry a few bags along the way."

Yup. He's probably worried that I would steal whatever is in his bag if he left me alone out here, Irene thought. "Relax," she reassured him. "I'm not interested in your stupid bag. Besides, I promised Rick I would stay here. If I went now, I would just be more trouble for him..."

"You'll be with me," he pointed out. "It's not far from here, and you'll be back before he notices. So don't worry about O'Connell." Without waiting for her reply, Beni grabbed Irene around the arm and began tugging her along with him.

"W-What are you doing?" Irene protested, trying to yank her arm free, but his grip was too tight for her to break. Is he leading me into a trap? she thought, beginning to panic as he got closer and closer to the entrance. "Stop it! Let go of me!"

Bang!

A gunshot rang in the air, causing Beni to jump back and loosen his hold on her.

Irene took the opportunity to jerk away, just as a familiar thick-accented voice called out "Let go of her!"

Irene whirled around, relieved to find Ardeth making his way towards them, the handgun he had used still gripped tightly in his hand. Aside from the fact that he looked ruffled and exhausted, he appeared to be fine.

Beni cursed in annoyance before he scurried back toward the entrance.

"Ardeth!" Irene exclaimed, unable to stop a grin from spreading as she ran into his arms. "Oh, thank the heavens! You're all right!"

"Yes. I have to thank you for that, Irene," he said solemnly. "You told me not to die, after all."

Irene's cheeks burned. "Of course. I would never forgive myself if you or Rick..." she faltered, unable to bring herself to finish. "And speaking of Rick, he's not with you?" she asked hopefully.

Ardeth shook his head, but he appeared far from worried. "We had to split up," he explained, "when Imhotep's priests attacked. But he did find the book, so I am sure he will be fine."

"That's a relief," Irene sighed. "You were taking so long, I thought - I thought that you could have - "

A tear rolled down her cheek, but Ardeth gently brushed it away with his thumb. "I am sorry to have worried you so, Irene," he murmured. She suddenly felt something heavy in her hand, and she looked down to see that Ardeth had given her his handgun. She blinked with surprise, and he chuckled before continuing, "I want you to take this. We Medjai are trained to handle a variety of weapons, but we all pick one unique weapon as our...last resort, meaning we only use it if our lives are in danger. The machine gun ran out on me, which is why I took this out. If you hold on to it for me, however, it would mean I would never have to use my last resort."

Irene stared at him. She couldn't believe he was giving her something so important. "A-Are you sure about this, Ardeth?" she whispered.

Ardeth took her hand and squeezed it. "Yes, I am sure. It would mean that my life is not in danger, so you do have to worry about me. Besides, you still owe me for saving your life so many times, so putting my life in your hands is fitting. It makes us even," he added lightly.

"Then...I'll take good care of it," she promised, hugging the gun tightly against her chest. I'll never let it go, she vowed silently.

Ardeth nodded. "Thank you."

This feels like goodbye, Irene wailed. She opened her mouth, but before she could decide what she wanted to say to him, the ground rumbled dangerously beneath them. Irene nearly lost her balance in the sudden movement, but Ardeth quickly took her arm to steady her. "Is this an earthquake?" she gasped, clutching onto him for support.

"It must be the lever," Ardeth muttered. "Someone must have set it off. We have to leave before it destroys the City."

Irene made to follow him, but then stopped dead and whirled around. "But Rick is still inside!"

"Your brother is strong. He will survive," Ardeth pointed out, and scooped Irene into his arms before he effortlessly seated himself on top of one of the camels. "We do not have much time."

Irene didn't know how he was able to move so swiftly, especially when he was carrying her at the same time, but she didn't complain as he whipped the camel and set it racing out of Hamunaptra.

Ardeth didn't slow the camel until they had left the City far behind, and as Irene finally relaxed, she looked over Ardeth's shoulder to see three very familiar people running toward them. "They made it!" she laughed, hugging him tightly in relief before turning to watch in amazement as the City of the Dead exploded behind them.

Her brother, Evie, and Jonathan too stopped and stared, completely oblivious to anything else around them. Irene shared a look with Ardeth before jerking her head at her companions, forming an evil grin at the same time. Ardeth must have understood, for he leaned down and placed his hand on Jonathan's shoulder, causing the poor man to jump in fright and whirl around. Irene giggled when Rick and Evie turned with equal looks of surprise. It was priceless.

"Oh, thank you, thank you very much!" Jonathan gasped out, putting a hand over his heart.

"Rena!" Rick exclaimed, noticing that she was with him. She beamed, grateful that her brother was alive and well.

"You have earned the respect and gratitude of me and my people," Ardeth told them seriously, though Irene could see that he was smiling.

Jonathan shook his head. "It was nothing," he insisted.

"May Allah smile upon you, always," Ardeth continued, clearly still amused as he lowered the camel so Irene could join Rick on the ground. As the camel rose to its full height, Ardeth kissed his hand before moving it to his forehead in a gesture of blessing, which Jonathan tried to mimic but failed miserably.

"And yourself," Jonathan returned.

Irene stepped forward, knowing, deep down, that this was goodbye. "Will I...will I see you again?" she asked hesitantly.

"I believe we will, Irene," he stated firmly, "because you still owe me a cup of coffee." With that, he clicked his tongue at the camel, leaving Irene standing, stunned, behind him.

"Call me Rena next time we meet!" she called after him, still feeling dazed at the fact that he had remembered. Ardeth held up an arm to show that he had heard.

"He's just...leaving us here," Jonathan complained loudly, staring after the Medjai, before letting out a sigh of annoyance. "Well, I guess we go home empty-handed...Again."

"I wouldn't say that," Rick argued, before he turned and smiled tenderly at Evie.

Irene smirked triumphantly as Evie returned his smile, and it was all the invitation her brother needed before he leaned down and kissed her. "It's about time," Irene remarked. "Don't you think so, Jonathan?"

He rolled his eyes in response. "Oh, please," he grumbled, turning toward his camel. "How about you, darling? Would you like a little kissy-wissy?" Irene couldn't help but laugh as the camel snorted in his face, causing him to wave at the air in an attempt to get rid of the smell.

The group took no time to climb onto the camels, happy to leave Hamunaptra behind for good. It was only once they had set off into the setting sun, and Rick had broke off from another kiss with Evie, did he suddenly notice what Irene was holding. "Uh, Rena? Why do you have...a gun?"

"Oh, this?" she said cheerfully. Irene felt strangely giddy, in the way an innocent schoolgirl would feel when she got to spend time with the boy she had a crush on."It's rather complicated, but the short version of the explanation is that Ardeth has entrusted me with his life."

Her brother deadpanned. "I wouldn't have done that if I were him. The guy really must be crazy to give something like that to you. A weapon in your hands could only mean trouble," Rick muttered under his breath.

"Watch what you say, Mister," Irene threatened, albeit jokingly. "I...I have a weapon!"

The enemy was dead, her brother was fine, she was going to see Ardeth again - and even though he was no longer by her side, his gun was enough to tell her that he was safe.

It was the first time Irene had felt so happy in a long while.

~La fin~

A/n: Behold, the final chapter! *insert epic music here*.

I think the gun scene might be a tad cheesy, but it's more suitable than a ring or something similar /hides/. And now that Irene has a gun, she'll use to kill everyone on a crazy rampage. (shh. Don't worry, she won't. Badass skills aren't made in a day.)

I am definitely planning on including Irene in The Mummy Returns (and that gun will play an important role in it 8D), but I'm not sure when I can get to it because school is starting soon and I'll probably end up being too busy to write (or expect less frequent updates). *frowns*

Leave a review and let me know what you think? Only 13 more to 100! :o the 100th reviewer can request any sort of one-shot from yours truly and have it dedicated to them. It can be any genre and from any fandom that I'm comfortable with (i.e. Harry Potter, Mummy, etc). The offer still applies even after the story is finished! Feel free to review to your heart's content - And here's a little something bonus: as soon the story reaches 100 reviews, I'll upload a teaser (or possibly even the first chapter) of the sequel. Very tempting, no? ;)

Thank you to The Queen of Water, GambitLover, Brunette, Lady Minuialwen, Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, PurpleFairy11, sarahmichellegellarfan1, and Guest for reviewing the previous chapter! And thank you all for supporting the story. I had no idea it would become this popular. Sob.

Special special thanks to Brunette, Lady Minuialwen, The Queen of Water, and sarahmichellegellarfan1 for your continued support!

(Random trivia: The title of this chapter is taken from a horror game called Ib.)