Jared Padalecki and the Mystery of the Egyptian Mummy, Ch. 9
Title: Jared Padalecki and the Mystery of the Egyptian Mummy
Chapter: Nine
Author:
hunters_retreat
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Rating: PG (eventual R i'm sure... it's me after all :P)
Summary: J2 AU. Jared is a young Egyptologist trying to find a prize. Jensen is an adventurer in need of a mystery. Jared provides him with one. This is the story of the legend they become.
Author's Note:Huge insane thank you to
insane_songbird who did an amazing manip for this story!! *Snuggles* Check it out (and find all previous chapters) here.
Chapter Nine
The day was long, but his exhilaration kept him going late into the night. The torches gave him enough light to work by but he could feel the pull of exhaustion as he looked at the rubbings and then back to the sarcophagus. He didn't know what to make of it all, what to think of the man that was lying underneath it. He walked over to it, running his hands on the smooth surface, just feeling the grooves of it. He sat on the floor then, leaning back against it as his head fell back. He closed his eyes, willing the visions to come again but they'd been oddly silent since earlier.
He still didn't know what to think of that. He'd gone to check on Jensen a few times. The last, he'd found him looking disheveled and rumpled, still in Jared's bed, sleeping off the headaches that threatened him with black outs. He hated to see Jensen in pain, but there was something beautiful about the way he looked curled up on Jared's cot. He'd allowed himself to admire the tight hug of his trousers, the muscles of his forearms that showed where his shirt sleeves were folded up, and the beauty of his face.
He wanted to touch so much that he'd found himself standing beside the cot without realizing he'd moved. He watched the way the dieing sun cast shadows across his face, watched the way sleep softened the hard lines of his jaw and relaxed the lines of worry. He could look at those full lips and remember the feel under his thumb, imagine them against his lips and how he'd taste if Jared kissed him. He'd backed away then, knowing how far he'd come from the safe territory he'd wanted to maintain.
When Jensen woke they'd deal with what had happened, that moment, between them. He didn't know what the other man would do. Until he woke though, there was little enough Jared could do but work and wait.
He heard jocular laughs from outside in the main hall but the way the door had been opened kept him from being able to see what was happening. If it was something of the find, they'd let him know. If not, it was just the men having a little fun. Jared thought about joining them but he wasn't sure he had the strength to get up anymore. He laughed a little at himself, thankful that the men in the hall were willing to work so late and wouldn't think too much of an archeologist who fell asleep lying against a sarcophagus.
He closed his eyes to catch more of the laughs in the hall but it was too distant to make out any one voice too clearly. He took a deep breath and relaxed until he heard footprints coming closer. He heard someone else enter the room and the crunch of sand under heel as he came closer.
"All work and no play makes Jay a dull boy." Jensen's voice said with a smile.
Jared opened his eyes to find Jensen crouched in front of him. He sighed, a goofy grin on his face, he knew. "The Green-eyed awakes."
Jensen laughed. "Awakes? I've been helping the men for the last hour when I heard you hadn't come out of here at all today. Didn't I tell you to eat?"
Jared closed his eyes again and smiled. "Since you already had arrangements to have food brought to me I'm sure you realize just how futile that request was."
"Come on Jared. You need some sleep or you'll start telling us your General was a six foot bird who hatched full grown soldiers and led his men with a flaming sword."
Jared laughed as he opened his eyes. Jensen reached for an arm and pulled him up, wrapping it around his shoulder and putting an arm around Jared's waist to steady him. "I could walk on my own."
"Sure you could."
"You aren't babying the men."
"Akil orders them to work in shifts, as he should, and you aren't as smart as them to actually listen to anything your foreman tells you."
"That's what I have you for."
"You don't listen to me."
"You didn't tell me to go to bed before." He felt the heat creep into his face as soon as the words were out.
"Perhaps I thought you smart enough to come to bed earlier."
Jensen's voice was oddly quiet but the Jared yawned and Jensen laughed and they walked the rest of their way back to his tent. He was surprised when he opened the tent flap to see a second cot set up, catty corner to the other. It woke him up as Jensen dropped Jared into one of the cots and sat down on the other.
"I didn't think you'd mind. I didn't want to stop anyone to help me with a tent and I'd already fallen asleep in here already."
Jared shook his head, "No, I don't mind. Makes it easier to find you to begin things anyway." He felt slightly dazed because after the morning in the pyramid the last thing he'd expected was to find Jensen wanting to be in his tent alone with him. He was reading too much into things probably.
"Jared?" He looked up and Jensen was looking down at his hands. "About what happened in the tomb?"
His words were halted by a sharp cry from outside the tents. Jared's eyes went wide as Jensen was reaching for the guns at his belt. He had one as well in case of raiders but he'd never had to use it before. Jensen just nodded, taking a deep breath as he threw himself out of the tent and into the chaos beyond.
Jared followed, surprised at his own feelings of fear, not for himself but for Jensen. He knew the reputation of the Green-Eyed and knew that Jensen was more than capable of handling himself in a fight, but there was knowing and seeing and Jared would give anything to keep Jensen safe from all this.
Chaos described the scene perfectly as raiders on horses came through, setting the tents on fire and attacking the camp. Jensen was already in the middle of it, gun flaring with each bullet. He watched people fall to the ground and pulled his own weapon. He wasn't but a few feet out of his tent when a horse came running past, it's rider tackling Jared to the ground as he jumped off. They fought as Jared tried to free himself but he wasn't a soldier. He was a good shot but fighting like this wasn't something he'd done often so the other man took him easily enough. He felt the gun at his head and heard the scream. "Green-eyed!"
He saw the way Jensen jerked and knew that he'd caught this in his peripheral. Instead of stopping though, he faced off against the man in front of him. Jared knew from swirls of fabric and color that whoever he was facing was considered rich by these people. He watched in avid fascination as the two fought and it was only when the other man overextended himself that Jensen moved gracefully into full motion, catching his attacker by surprise and putting a knife to his throat even as he turned to the man holding Jared.
It was a stand off and the man holding him screamed something to his men. They backed off the camp, coming to stand behind Jared.
"Let him go Green-eyed." Came the gravelly voice of the man still holding the gun to Jared's temple.
Jensen smiled. "Not until he's safe and your men back off."
The man in Jensen's grasp nodded and suddenly the camp was clear of most the men. His own people were mostly watching, but some were working on the fires, trying to put them out. He was grateful for Akil's advice on using the first small room they'd found to store the finds they had already catalogued. He'd hate to find the shabti and vases and ornamental furniture in ruins under destroyed tents.
The man behind him said something to Jensen in a language Jared didn't know but recognized. It was mostly a written language, only a few tribes alive still used it and he'd never become accustomed to the sounds of it. He couldn't follow the conversation at all.
Finally Jensen looked at Jared. "They say they'll back off, but we have to leave by morning."
"They want us to leave the pyramid when we've just opened it up for them?"
Jensen shook his head. "They want it sealed back up. They say it was never meant to be opened."
"It needs to be opened Jensen."
The man behind him spoke quickly to Jensen. He quirked an eyebrow at what was said and then the man in his arms was nodding, continuing whatever was said.
"They say it's cursed." He said looking up at Jared. "That the slaves built this place for a General, but that the Pharaoh found out about it after it was completed. He never found the location, but before he was laid to rest, he found a way to put a spell on this place. They say that when the tomb is opened the Pharaoh's mummy will arise to torment his slave as he did in life, that he will be restored to his full power and will continue to reek havoc on the world until...” he looked at the two men, asking them something in the other language before looking back at Jared and continuing.
"He will reek havoc on the world until the general willing gives his heart to the Pharaoh or until his heart is crushed beneath his feet. Then he will take him to the underworld to be his faithful servant for all eternity."
He closed his eyes and shook his head softly, pained eyes looking up at Jared. "They say we're already disturbed the tomb and they have to try to seal it before the Pharaoh comes for the General. We are to leave everything here, no artifacts can leave. They will seal the doors and that when the Pharaoh comes to collect the General they are bound to fight him."
"Who are they?"
"The descendants of the slaves who built this place. People determined to keep the General out of the Pharaoh’s hands. Jared, they will kill you, they will kill all of us if you don't do as they ask."
He was angry beyond words, unable to understand what was being said really, but that sank in. His people were in danger from these raiders. If he didn't agree to leave then they'd kill them. He nodded slightly. He didn't like it, but he'd come back. With more men for the dig and trained men to fight off any raiders that came for them. He would see the tomb opened though. He would see the General free of that prison he'd been set in.
As he nodded the man behind him let go, holstering his gun. He gave Jared a small shove and he stumbled forward. When Jared was within reach, Jensen lowered his knife. "We leave in the morning." He said to the man he had been holding.
No other words were exchanged but the other man went to his men, riding off into the night as swiftly as they rode in.
On To Chapter Ten