Jared Padalecki and the Mystery of the Egyptian Mummy (Ch 16/18)
Title: Jared Padalecki and the Mystery of the Egyptian Mummy
Chapter: Sixteen
Author:
hunters_retreat
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Rating: R
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: A huge thank you to
insane_songbird for the amazing manip! Previous chapters can be found Here. A big thank you to akadougal for the beta on the last few chapters of this story! Any mistakes are new and totally my fault :P
Chapter Sixteen
Jared worked through most of the night. As much as he wanted to spend more of the time with Jensen, he still had some hope that what he learned might counter what the visions has shown him had to happen. When his eyes began drifting to Jensen too often, he decided it was time to take to bed himself.
He slid his cot beside Jensen’s and slipped into it. Curling up beside his lover, he listened to him breathing for a while before he leaned in and brushed his lips lightly over Jensen’s. Jensen moaned softly and it was more than Jared could take. He didn’t know what the next day would bring, but he knew that this would be the last night they’d have together.
He brought his hand up to the back of Jensen’s neck and kissed him again, his tongue parting the way into Jensen’s mouth. He felt Jensen opening up to him, felt his hand grip at his hip and pull him closer.
He rolled them until he was on top of Jensen and reveled in the feel of the other man underneath him. He felt Jensen’s hands rising up his back, fingernails dragging lightly across his skin. He needed more than that though so he sat up, pulling Jensen up with him. He removed his lover’s shirt and pants as quickly as he could then got rid of his own pants. Jensen pushed him down on the cot and followed him, their bodies pressed close as he attacked Jared’s neck and chest with his lips. Jared bit into the flesh of his hand to keep from calling out as Jensen worked his way lower. Jared felt like his body would explode from the intensity of the desire that coursed through him as Jensen licked and sucked at him, working him into an incoherent mess.
Jensen pressed inside him and swallowed his moans as he moved in and out of his body. It was too much, knowing that this was their last night, knowing that the next day would change everything between them. He didn’t feel the tears leaking down his face, not until Jensen began kissing them away, but then orgasm swept through them both and with that release, sleep came to Jensen quickly after. As much as Jared wanted to talk to Jensen, he let his lover rest. There were no words he could say anyway. Instead, he lay beside him, enjoying the weight of him pressed beside him, until the gentle sound of his breathing lulled Jared to sleep as well.
Jared squinted as his eyes adjusted to the brightness outside the tent. The men were already clearing the other tents away before he managed to get stumble out of his cot and into some semblance of decency. He looked around until he found Jensen working with some of Jahde’s men. They had set aside a pack animal during this trip for anyone that wanted to return artifacts that had been taken from the temple and its packs were full. They’d left them to the side where no one would be watching, but on the way to the latrine area that was used. With no one to watch them and an easy way to explain why they were going that way, they had given the men the anonymity they needed to return the stolen items without losing their reputation.
He wondered, considering the impressive amount of items stolen, if any of the men were as honest as Akil believed. He shrugged the thought off almost as soon as he thought it though, seeing the way the necklace hung from Jensen’s neck as he worked.
“We have more to discuss.”
Jared sighed as he looked back at Jahde. “What would you like to know?”
“You know more about the General than you were speaking last night.”
Jared had spent a little time the night before thinking up his next words. He wouldn’t tell Jahde the truth of what he’d seen, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t tell him part of it. He just hoped it was enough of the truth that he wouldn’t notice the omission.
“The necklace that Jensen wears around his neck.” Jared said softly. “I believe that is the source of the Pharaoh’s curse. He planted that in the tomb to enslave the General’s soul.”
“The Green-eyed does not know what he carries.”
“No, and I would prefer to keep it that way. He doesn’t need to know.”
“The Pharaoh will come for him because of it.”
“I know, but I think Jensen will be in the heart of the fight no matter what we do. If there is anyone that can protect the General today, it is Jensen.”
Jahde didn’t look happy about his answer, but he seemed to understand it. Jared breathed out a sigh of relief when the other man walked away. He smiled weakly when Jensen looked up at him, but turned away before the other man could take it as an invitation. As much as he’d like to spend time with Jensen, they had to see this through and the more he thought about it, the more he had the urge to grab Jensen and just run.
Instead he went in search of Akil. They were finishing up the last of the tents since Jared had left his and he found Akil talking softly with Jahde at the edge of camp. He was about to head towards them but Jim caught his attention and he went over to the makeshift table the other man was working off of to help him finish one last translation.
He didn’t realize how much time had passed as they discussed the translation until there was a shadow over the rubbing. He looked up to see Jensen, Akil, and Jahde staring over them.
“Time to move on then?” Jim asked.
To his credit there was no hesitation in his voice. Jared smiled at Jim, hoping that the other man understood his gratitude. If they all got out of it alive, he’d make sure to tell him. He was sure he’d need the other man’s support then anyway.
“It’s time.” Jahde said with a finality that made Jared glare. As much as he understood the man’s motives and his feelings about the day, he resented him as much for the irrevocability of his words as he did the gun to his head.
Akil helped Jim get the table packed away and Jahde went back to his men to see that they were ready. It was a useless gesture since they all knew they were ready, but he seemed to dislike Jared’s company as much as Jared did his. Jared was left to walk to the front of the camp with Jensen and the silence felt thick enough to suffocate on. He couldn’t say much to the other man, none of the things he really wanted to. He could see the question in Jensen’s eyes, but he didn’t ask and Jared didn’t say anything.
It wasn’t until they reached their mounts that he leaned over and grabbed for Jensen’s arm, stopping him. Jensen looked up in surprise and he realized they hadn’t spoken since he’d woken. “Stay close Jensen. Today, please, stay close to me.”
Jensen eyed him for a minute before nodding. “I was going to anyway, Jared. Not a chance in hell I’m letting you out of my sights when we go up against something like this.”
He wanted to pull Jensen close but he didn’t. There was no way to tell him that he didn’t want Jensen’s protection. There was no way, without explaining it all, to tell him that it was the Green-Eyed that would need protection today.
There was nothing to hinder them as they rode into the valley; nothing came out of the sand or tried to keep them from their journey. The men seemed unsettled and Jared understood. The Pharaoh wanted them there, he wanted the General’s soul and it was with them now. All he had to claim in that empty tomb was decayed flesh and musty wrappings. It was the soul that would follow him into the afterlife and it was the one part of the General that he had never owned.
Jared could understand the obsession that drove the Pharaoh to do what he’d done. He could understand the need to make sure that the General remained his. What he couldn’t understand though was how the Pharaoh could have done any of it without a single thought of love.
The visions had shown him that it was love and devotion that had caused the General to rise from his lowly stature to try to prove his worth. If the Pharaoh had shown even the slightest affection, he would have won the General’s soul without a fight, without murders and bloodshed. Those thoughts consumed him as he rode at the back of the column.
Jahde’s men rode at the front, the first wave that would protect them from the worst of what was to come. Jared and Jim rode in the back with Jensen and Jahde. He doubted Jahde would stay at the back when the fighting started but it wouldn’t take long for the fighting to center around Jensen so he figured Jahde would be close to them most of the time either way. It was comforting, even if they did dislike one another. He seemed to have a healthy respect for the Green-eyed and Jared knew that Jahde would try to see them all through it no matter what his personal feelings were.
When it happened, it was like a shadow passing over them from above. The horses and camels suddenly reared up, trying to toss their riders. Sand shifted around their feet as if snakes rode just underneath the surface, waiting to attack anything sitting still.
Jahde’s men were well trained though and they pushed their beasts forward and the other men followed. They rode hard towards the entrance of the tomb, but they stopped well short of it. As much as Jahde’s men had talked about the Pharaoh and what sort of creature he would be when he rose from his tomb, none of them prepared for what actually came from the depths of the pyramid.
Their movements were disjointed and at first it was hard for Jared to understand what he was seeing, but as they got closer and his mind finally caught up with his eyes, he knew what it was. Shabti, the men and women that have dedicated their lives for their General, that had put a little of their own souls into the miniature reenactments of what they would do for him in the afterlife, were lining up in front of the tomb.
He didn’t have time to think as Jahde was suddenly letting loose a battle cry and springing from the back of the company. His yell was enough to send the men forward and all Jared could do was grab onto his reigns and pull the rifle from its holster.
Jared watched as a man in front of him was pulled from his saddle. He pulled the trigger and the shabti disintegrated into sand as the other man scrambled back onto his horse. The rode past the darkened sand, but the shabti wasn’t dead. It was already beginning to reform. Jared looked around and saw the same thing happening over and over again. The shabti weren’t smart soldiers, but they were fierce and no matter how you hit them, they simply folded into sand and reappeared in full form again where they fell.
Another shabti tried to grab Jared, but Jensen was there at his side then, keeping Jared in his saddle while shooting the creature with the handgun in his other hand.
Jensen stayed close to Jared as they continued to fight their way towards the entrance. Jared watched as men fell around them, unable to stop it, knowing that the only way to end it all was to get to the tomb. Even as he rode, as they weaved in and out of the shabti, Jared began to realize that the shabti were different as they attacked the Green-eyed. They were muttering, sounds that seemed almost a projection of thought than actually words, but it was directed at Jensen and Jensen alone. The shabti around Jensen spoke even as they attacked, never stopping even when Jensen shot them down. It didn’t take long for Jared to understand the words they spoke and his heart thudded dully each time his vision was proven true.
Jared realized that if they didn’t get out of there soon, there would be no way to end it. If they died on the sands… if Jensen died… “Jensen!” Jared shouted over the clamor. They’d been working towards the entrance, but in a weaving pattern that had taken them to helping others as often as it got them closer to their goal. They couldn’t do that any longer. “We have to get inside to the tomb!”
Jensen didn’t ask, but started hacking a straight his way through, Jim and Jahde falling in behind them as they passed. Jahde’s men filed around them, instinctively moving to keep the shabti at bay.
They rode hard to the entrance and threw themselves off their beasts as they ran to the main passage way. It was eerily quiet as soon as they stood, looking out from the first room into the hallway that lead to the tomb. Jared wasn’t sure what to expect there, but it seemed the shabti were all outside.
“I’m beginning to think they wanted to make sure we made it in alone.” Jensen said softly. Even the clipped volume echoed against the walls though and they all heard him. Jared could tell from his face that he’d intended them to.
Jared felt a stunned silence fall over them as they looked down the hallway. He knew they needed to move forward, that Jahde’s men were dieing for them as they stood there, but something help him there. He tried to find words to say to get them moving but before he could he felt himself being pushed up against the wall, the breath knocked out of him as Jim pressed him hard into the stone. “What the hell are you playing at boy?!”
Jared’s eyes widened in surprise. Jim was furious and he could see Jahde behind them though, could see the same anger and for a moment he wondered if he was any safer with them than he had been out front.
“Imey er mesha?” Jim’s fists were still tangled in the front of Jared’s shirt as he spoke the words. Translating the words in his head automatically, he realized why the other man was upset. The secret that he’d been keeping from them all had been spoken from the mouth of every shabti that had come close to Jensen. Imey er mesha. General.
He couldn’t answer though. He couldn’t validate the words the shabti had spoken to Jensen anymore than he could when they begged “enredi wi.” Enredi wi. Forgive me. He was afraid to look at Jensen, afraid that he’d understood the words as well. When he forced himself to look away from Jim though, Jensen was facing away from them all.
“A’nen iretey wadj.” Jim continued. “Come back, Green-Eyed.” He dropped his hands from Jared but the disgust was plain on his face. The shabti were under the Pharaoh’s control, but they still recognized their General after all their years of waiting. They recognized their beloved Green-Eyed and begged his forgiveness for what they’d done.
When Jensen looked over at Jared, his eyes were carefully blank. There was no hesitation in his voice though as he slung a rifle over his shoulder and pulled out two hand guns. “Alright Jared, I got you in. Now what do we do?”
He didn’t know whether to weep at the lack of warmth in Jensen’s voice or be thankful that it wasn’t outright hateful, but he pushed it aside as much as he could. Jensen had been right about being allowed into the tomb alone. They still had an enemy to face and they had no idea what he would throw at them.
“We need to get to the main room. The Pharaoh will want to be near the General’s body when he tries to get the necklace back.”
“So he still needs the necklace. Even though the soul is … it doesn’t… even though the General’s soul isn’t inside it.” Jensen asked, stumbling over the words none of them wanted to say.
Even though the General’s soul was Jensen’s.
“The Pharaoh used the necklace to seal the General and himself to this fate. He needs it to complete the ritual.”
“So why don’t we just destroy the damn thing?’ Jim asked.
“In destroying it, we destroy the General’s link to immortality. In essence, you push his soul back into the former body and it dies there.”
“So you destroy it, you kill me?” It was more of a statement than a question and Jared could only nod dumbly at the cold look Jensen was giving him. “What happens if he gets the necklace?”
“If he can complete the ritual he’ll control the General’s soul.”
“We can’t destroy it and we can’t let him get it. So what was the plan to stop him?” Jensen asked.
“Look, the visions said there was a way.”
Jensen’s voice turned stone. “I’m getting really tired of your visions about now, Jared.”
Jared took a deep breath before continuing. “The point of the tomb was to let the Gods judge the General’s heart so that he would be allowed to live a different life. They wanted him to be able to have a full life and to be able to have an afterlife and stay there eternally. I think, if we let that happen, then the General will be safe and without the General’s soul to bind him here, the Pharaoh will have nothing to ground him.”
“Great, so how exactly do I let my soul be judged by ancient Egyptian gods?”
They were all looking at him and Jared didn’t have an answer they would like. Knowing that he was talking about his lover, knowing with all the translations that he’d done there was still no other way, he took a deep breath and answered.
“We cut out your heart and place it on their scale.”
On to Chapter Seventeen