Tom tapped his fingers on the wooden bar, his gaze flitting towards the door every other second. It had been so long since he'd felt this mixture between excitement, annoyance and fear.
They were leaving, going in search of a temple only entered once before and undiscovered by the masses.
They were running late. Where the hell was Sam?
"They're still not back?" Angie sat on the stool next to him.
His heart started beating a little bit faster. Ever since they'd ended up slow dancing last night, everything had become even more confusing. His conversation with Kyle hadn't helped either. Tom had held off on making a decision, knowing that the night and the music and how beautiful she looked messed with his head.
It was now morning, and there was no improvement. He still wanted to pull her in his lap and hug her, hold her there until his arms fell off.
"You know where they are? And who they are?" His voice came out husky and he had to fight not to cringe.
"Sam and Skye. They went to the Egyptology Museum."
Ah, yes, of course. Sam's dream and Skye was of course enabling him because that was how love worked.
"Don't get impatient. They only left because Kyle is probably hung over and Kay's detox might need a few more hours, too."
"I can't believe it's toxic water again," he mumbled. It sort of stung, being hit with the same thing twice.
"I can't believe we don't know what's wrong with it and who did it."
"You refuse to think it's the Agency?" he asked.
Angie winced, but it was very subtle. If he didn't know her as well as he did, he probably would've missed it. But he did know her, and it made his stomach twist again, because he couldn't fathom getting to know someone else as well.
"I believe there are a lot more factors at play," she said, her voice wary.
He leaned towards her. "Like what? Do you know something? It's not the first time you hint that there might be something else out there."
"You know me so well, it's scary," she said, but didn't elaborate.
"Angie?"
"I'm not..." She faltered. "It could be nothing. It could..." She turned towards the entrance and let out a sigh of relief.
Jessie came towards them, a big grin on her face. So apparently he was the only impatient one.
"Good news?" Angie asked, and Tom had the feeling she was glad she no longer had to talk to him.
"Only the best. Kay is doing much better. If she manages to hold down breakfast, she's good to go."
Well, that was good news. "Any clue about the water?"
Jessie shook her head. "I'll need a lab for that. I can hardly run any tests here. And Jerry would be appreciated. This is more his field."
"Fair enough." Tom's attention was drawn to the door once again as Kyle and Kay appeared and headed for one of the breakfast tables.
Together. Kyle's hand on the small of her back. Kay sat at one of the small round tables and Kyle immediately headed out to get food for both of them. He placed two plates filled with fruit and croissants in front of her, then sat next to her. She leaned her head against his shoulder.
"I can't believe it," Angie said, her voice low and breathy, as if she were afraid talking too loudly would dispel the magic.
"Trust me, I found it even harder to believe," Jessie said, watching them fondly.
"Huh. I thought Kyle getting drunk meant it was very bad," Tom said. Though thank God it wasn't. He was sick of bad.
But Kyle and Kay were obviously not. Because he could recognize the spark that used to be there, the tenderness in their poses. He wasn't sure why and how, but they were back to being happy and in love. The way they looked at each other proved it.
"Magic!" Angie said, waving her arms around.
"Communication," Jessie corrected her.
A knot lodged itself in Tom's throat and he looked away. Sure, communication. Talking. Figuring things out. Abandoning himself to full belief. He wanted to scream that it wasn't going to happen, but for the first time in his life, he kind of wanted it to.
A distraction fortunately presented itself in the form of Sam and Skye who wisely cut sightseeing short. It wasn't even noon yet, though it was getting dangerously close.
"Hi," Sam said, stopping next to his twin, his face all business. "I see everyone's up."
"Look!" Angie said, pointing at Kyle and Kay without even trying to be subtle.
Sam's face lit up in a smile, but he turned back to them, strangely not commenting on it. "Good, it means we can actually go. It's the luggage ready?"
"I think so," Jessie said. "I dropped mine at the reception. How'd it go at the museum?"
"Fabulous," Skye answered and Tom had to admit he had no idea if she was sarcastic or meant it.
"That place kicks ass. It's so full of history," Sam expanded, so much nerd in his voice, it was adorable.
"The only bad part is that when you see too much of similar things, they all start to look the same," Skye said with a sigh. "Which is probably exactly how we'll feel about the desert in the next few hours."
"I got a couple of Jeeps," Sam said. "They're specially equipped for the desert and I think it would be fastest."
"Though that camel salesman made a very compelling point," Skye said fairly.
Tom huffed and headed for the reception to pick up their luggage and load it in the cars. He'd always hated waiting, and the administrative crap before actually leaving on a mission was nerve racking. Loading rucksacks however made sense, because he could see progress.
"Hey." Angie joined him next to the car. "You okay?"
Not really, but he was doing his best. "I just want to get going already."
"Reverting to your impatient eighteen-year-old self?"
He didn't want to think about his eighteen-year-old self, because that guy was with Angie. So he just shrugged and started loading water pallets. Fresh water, not that crap the Agency gave them.
"Tom, what happened? You've been acting weird."
"Nothing happened." He fought with all his might not to add So leave me alone.
"Yes it did, you've changed dramatically since last night. What happened last night?"
We danced like we were in love again and I realized I really am. "Let's just drop it, Angie."
"Is this about me?"
It shouldn't be about her, but damn it, everything was. Just like it had always been since he met her. When they were together, he was okay, could properly focus on other things, because he always had an underlining sense of safety. When they were not, everything inevitably led back to her. And he hated this addiction, hated that Kyle was right and everything was his fault. His stupid control freak mind combined with his jealousy and his fear of abandonment had created a monster.
"No, seriously, let's drop this." He picked up another rucksack and shoved it in the trunk. Maybe they should get tents or something. Why didn't they have tents?
"Tom!"
Angie grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. He grabbed both hers in return and twisted her until she was the one with her back against the car. She didn't look freaked out, she was already used to his craziness, to how he liked to gain control. Except this time, it wasn't working. There was no control.
"Talk to me," she whispered.
Why? Why talk? Why awaken the dead? But it was happening. His hands found the trunk of the car, his arms moved a little closer, trapping her between them, and all he could do was move closer.
It's a choice. It was. You either went all in or you didn't. It was bravery and stupidity and the need to end the torment. It was what it was.
"What's going on?" Angie asked.
"Why are you letting me do this?" he asked instead, leaning so close to her, he could feel her perfume.
"I'm not sure what exactly it is that you're doing."
"Coming so close to you, holding you like this. We broke up."
"You broke up," she corrected him.
Her words were so much hope. It hurt. The confusion inside him, the battle between what he thought was right and what he really wanted hurt. But Kyle was right. She was the one who had the right to make a choice.
"About that... You were right." He took in a deep breath, finally ready to make the leap. To hell with whatever came next. He'd never cared much about consequences. "Seeing what I've done, it wasn't my place to make that choice. So I take it back."
Angie stiffened, her gaze turning wary. "What?"
"I'm taking it back. I'm unbreaking up with you. I still believe you had a part in it, just like I did, but I think we can work it out, grow together. So I don't... I..." This was getting rambling and what he meant became so much less obvious. So he did what he did best. Blurt out garbage. "There's no one else I want to be with. So if you want it to end because of what I did... Fair enough. But I'm not going to do it because I still love you."
He felt much lighter. She just stared, her gaze filled with disbelief.
"No," she whispered. She put her hands on his chest and pushed him back. "No! You don't just get to take it back!"
That was wrong too? "Wait, isn't that what you wanted?"
She gave him another shove, then stomped away without any further words. Tom glanced after, terribly confused. He'd probably fucked up, but it was so familiar and it happened so often that it didn't matter much. Breaking up was bad. Not breaking up was worse. He groaned and punched the trunk. Who could understand women anymore?
"Ready to go?" Sam asked, joining him next to the car.
Tom just nodded, gritting his teeth together, and got behind the wheel. She just needed time to cool off and then things will be better. Or worse. At least he'd know. She wasn't one to stay quiet about what she wanted.
Skye joined him and Sam in one of the Jeeps which showed a lot about how Angie was feeling. But Tom didn't comment, just drove off, listening to Sam's instructions as his twin unfolded a map, forcing his attention to flee over the endless dunes of sand.
"You okay there?" Skye asked, leaning in between the seats.
Tom had a nagging feeling she wasn't talking to Sam. "Sure, why not? How was the museum?"
That threw both her and Sam off, as Tom knew it would, especially because they'd already provided the short version. So Sam launched into a detailed description of the amount of rotting mummy stuff that was in there.
"Hold on, Snowflake," Skye said. "I don't think Tom wants to know that."
She was good. But them talking about anything that was not Angie was a blessing. Plus, the way she called Sam snowflake was adorable.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Sam mumbled. "It's just one of those places where I've longed to get since I was a starry eyed kid. No matter how many places you go, how much history you see, Egypt is still it. Anyway, maybe we'll go again when we return."
"Optimistic," Tom said.
"Shut it." Sam turned the map and pointed to a road off the highway. Because off course they were taking the sketchy back roads. "Anyway, the curator said he never heard about this lights of the gods mess or the hidden temple of Isis. But he said he'd check."
"Don't get your hopes up."
"Herrison did say they never told about the temple," Skye added. "And if this engraving is only in there..."
"It kinda bugs me if that's the case. If it's something that important, why isn't it all over the place?"
"Would you be able to tell how old the temple is?" Skye asked. "Because maybe it's just very old."
Sam pondered on this as they sped down the now empty road. The concrete was a little bumpy and Tom was tempted to just go off and try his luck on the dunes. Though he'd probably have enough of that soon.
"I could assume from the writing, but I'm not good enough to tell properly. I haven't studied this stuff in a very long time."
"Understandable. You've been otherwise engaged," Tom said with a nod.
"Life hasn't exactly been a walk in the park for any of you lately," Skye added.
Sam gave a shrug, but chose not to comment, and focused on the map. Tom enjoyed the silence only interrupted by observations about their environment from Skye or Sam. It felt business-like and made it easy to detach from his feelings.
Wadi El Ryan was only a couple of hours away, so it wasn't long before they pulled into a tiny dusty... He didn't even know if to call it a town, a village or a rest stop.
There was a market and a few buildings, but people bustled around as if it were a thriving comercial area. Maybe it was, since they were surrounded by desert. The air was dry, but the temperature was very pleasant, as if it were June and not late December.
"That wasn't too bad," Jessie said, coming towards the three of them and completely jinxing the rest of their mission. "The desert part will be fun."
"Did you find an auto shop or something?" Kyle asked as the rest of the group joined them. "We'll need to lessen the pressure in our tires so we can trek over the dunes."
"Oh, right," Tom said, since he'd had no idea about that.
Kyle of course caught on and squinted at him. "Do you know how to drive off road?"
"Um... I drove through a forest?" Except it was Angie who'd done that, but a lie was better than coming clean and losing the wheel. He needed the distraction.
Kyle pursed his lips, but after one look at the others, he seemed to realize there was no better alternative since Jimmy wasn't there. "Yeah, good enough. Four-wheel drive mode on, when not sure, shift into lower gears, and tackle the dunes on the fine sand side. You'll be fine."
Shit, he should've written that down. But he was sure that he'd figure it out once they got to it. Right now, they had a mechanic to find, so they split up. The girls went to refill their water supply and get some food, while the rest of them headed out between camels and chickens to find someone who could help with their cars.
Tom found no one, but he did pick up a couple of tents just for the hell of it, because what kind of mission was this with no tents? He wanted tents back. If only finding car stuff would've been just as easy.
"Camels, sir?"
Tom jumped and twisted, his hand resting on the hilt of his gun. He relaxed when he noticed it was just a plump local man wearing a white sheet, holding the reigns to what looked like about ten camels.
"No, thanks. They'll just weigh the cars down."
"You planning to go into the desert?"
Tom hesitated, but the man seemed harmless enough. He was probably just trying to sell or rent his animals to tourists. "Yes, but we have cars."
"But camels are so much better." The man grinned and indicated towards the first animal. The creature chewed obnoxiously, its jaw moving in impossible angles. The stench from the herd filled the air.
"I bet they are, but we're set."
The man didn't press further, because a new potential target appeared and he moved his camel business there. Tom heaved a sigh and turned the corner to the nearest house, looking for a picture for a car shop, because holy hell, he couldn't understand any of the writing.
"Should've took the camels," a familiar voice said. "He would've gave you a good deal for seven of them."
Tom twisted, his gun out and pointing. He hadn't been wrong. Eye Patch leaned against the nearest limestone house. He looked odd with the graying scarf around his head almost covering his entire face and wearing the same white sheets as everyone around, but the eye patch was unmistakable. Tom did a quick scan of the area for more goons, but he oddly seemed alone.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Guess." Eye Patch pushed off the wall, but didn't come closer. Instead, he raised his hands. "I'm not packing."
"I'm not buying. You after the jewel?"
"There ain't no jewel. The boss already told your twin that." Eye Patch began digging into his pocket.
Tom took a step forward, pointing the gun at his head. "Don't. Move."
"I'm just looking for a note," Eye Patch mumbled, continuing his search beneath his desert sheets.
"A note?" Tom lowered the gun an inch, but lifted it again once Eye Patch pulled his hand out of his pocket, complete with piece of paper.
"Yes. Unfortunately, I'm now a carrier pigeon." He spat on the ground and Tom had a nagging feeling he'd also spat on the note at some point.
"Okay..." Tom reached out his hand, but Eye Patch threw the paper on the ground. It just lay there awkwardly between them.
"Damn it," Eye Parch mumbled. "It shoulda gotten carried by the wind and then you'd scurry after it and I could disappear."
"Sorry. That would've been pretty cool." Tom made no move to get it. "What's on it? I'm sure you've looked."
Eye Patch huffed. "One of those coded messages only the boss understands. Honestly, I'm not sure why we're not just killing you all."
"I'm not sure either. How many of your are here?"
"Too few to count," Eye Patch mumbled. "I'm getting outta here. The smell of camel is killing me." And without fearing for his safety, he just hauled ass around the corner.
Not like Tom would've shot him unprovoked, but it was still a little offensive. Sighing, he put his gun away and picked up the note. It was indeed a short scribble which looked difficult to crack.
Sometimes, what others say should be believed. It could save you from doing everything yourself. But if you do, I will be watching and you will only find death.
"Criptic as fuck, as always," Tom mumbled and got back to the cars. None of the others was there, so he threw the tents in the trunk, leaned against his and read the note again. Nothing new. They always only found death. Yet, as he waited, a feeling of unease crept up his spine.
"Found a guy," Kyle said, approaching him together with some other dude wearing bed sheets.
"About time." Tom pushed himself off the car. "Where are the others?"
"I don't know, but they'll probably meet us here."
"They should, because I have news."
Fortunately, the others started showing up, so Tom could tell them about his weird encounter with Eye Patch and the useless note. After it passed to everyone, they mostly concluded that it was a vague warning and posed no immediate threat, so they got in the cars and started off.
Driving on dunes was not easy, but after about twenty minutes, Tom got the hang of it and it no longer felt like they were about to tip over at every dune. Kyle even let him go first to make sure they wouldn't get lost in the sand. But with driving becoming intuitive, he once again started obsessing over some undefined sense of danger. It wasn't about Eye Patch, because no one was following them, and it wasn't about Angie either, even if she kept ignoring him.
Trying to distract himself, he sped up a little in hope of creating more of a challenge. The car shuddered for a second, but then shot forward.
"Are you trying to tip us over?" Sam asked, not raising his nose from his map.
The bad feeling just got worse, and seeing Sam trying to figure out directions reminded him of another time and place. Except it was winter and they were young and scared.
Shit! They'd left the cars unattended.
"Sam, I think we're back to Paris."
"What?" Skye asked, surprised.
Sam raised his eyes from the map, frowning in confusion. Tom tapped the break and the car shuddered again. The look of understanding on his twin's face was heartbreaking.
"Are you sure?" he whispered.
"No. It could be the dunes, but I'm not willing to test it out."
"What are you talking about?" Skye asked, coming between the front seats.
"What should we do?" Sam asked.
"Quit while we're ahead. We're not going too fast. Throw the luggage out and jump."
"What if it's nothing?"
"If it's nothing, the cars will stop. They're manual transition, the engine will just die. And we'll get them back."
"Shit, you're right. Shit." He turned to Skye before she could ask again. "Tom thinks our cars are wired to explode."
Tom saw her face go white in the rear view mirror, but to her credit, all she said was, "Oh."
He however opened the window even if it meant sand getting inside, and gestured for Kyle to catch up. He immediately did, driving alongside him. Kay opened the window on her side.
"What's up?" she called.
Tom looked past her, to Kyle. "Don't you feel like the car is running awkwardly?"
Kyle hesitated for a moment. "A little."
"I think they're rigged and they'll explode the moment we hit the breaks. Abandon ship?"
This time, there was no hesitation. "Fuck yeah." Because just like Tom, Kyle knew they'd get the cars back if they were wrong. Their lives, not so much.
"Prepare to throw luggage in one minute," Sam instructed. "And then slow down as much as possible before we jump."
Kyle and Kay nodded and let the car trail behind theirs. Skye immediately sank into the back seat and removed the trunk protection to get to the luggage. Before the minute was over, she opened her window and started hurling stuff out.
"I like her," Tom mumbled.
Sam just grinned and opened the passenger door. "On three. One, two... Three!"
He and Skye jumped, and once Tom saw them rolling to safety, he hit the gas and jumped out as well. The sand bit into his skin, and got into his mouth, but his eyes were fixed on the car rolling away. The other bypassed him as well and the two vehicles continued their merry way into the desert.
"That was fun," Kyle said, yanking Tom up by the arm. "Is there any chance we might be wrong?"
"I actually hope we are. I don't really feel like walking."
The others joined them and they all watched the cars making progress towards the next dune. It was pretty large and the vehicles were loosing speed, so Tom seriously doubted they'd make the climb. He just hope they wouldn't tip over and not blow up, because then they'd have to tip them back and it was pretty hot.
"Huh, look at them go," Jessie said. "How long until we start walking towards them?"
"Should they have blown up by now?" Angie asked.
They waited another minute.
"Do I dare say it was a false alarm?" Sam asked.
The moment he did, the cars exploded into an inferno of flames and flying sand.
♠️♠️♠️
I'm blowing stuff up! I'm also moving to two updates per week to finish this baby up, so expect a new update on Thursday.
I had fun with this, especially with the Eye Patch scene. Good to see him again and to have an indicator that Snitch Gravel is always watching.
Also, apparently Tangie isn't going very well. We shall see where all the temple stuff goes. Oh yes, but before that... I need to fix some sentimental issues.
The adventure begins so grab your whips and fedoras. Also vote and comment for support and let me know your thoughts on this chapter.