Author's Note: I recently re-watched The Mummy and The Mummy Returns for purely nostalgic reasons awhile ago, along with re-watching some of Downton Abbey. I realized that the timelines converged, so the idea for this fic would not leave my head. Just a note, this is NOT a crossover with Downton. My head canon has always been that the big manor house must have been inherited from Evie's family because Rick and Evie never seemed the type to spend a fortune on a large estate.

Just a few notes: I realize that there are certain aspects of the main characters' family backgrounds that were revealed in works that are not these two films. I'm not following that as I've never read or seen anything beyond the three films (and as far as I'm concerned that third one doesn't count). So, if you're looking for that, you won't find it here, sorry.

Their final trip back from Hamunaptra took far longer than the second trip to get there, but Evie wasn't about to complain as it was also considerably more pleasant. Riding on a camel wrapped in the arms of a man she adored was infinitely better than being transported by a sandstorm with a three-thousand-year-old mummy intent on killing her to resurrect his girlfriend. And now, the boat ride up to Giza Port was far more relaxing than the original trip, considering there was no one after them this time.

Evie watched the river bank going by as she leaned on Rick's shoulder. He was running his hand through her curls and she relished the warmth of his body next to hers. Jonathan was off, probably drinking or joining yet another poker game. As the treasure they had found on one of the camels was safely locked in Evie's stateroom, she wasn't too worried about his whereabouts.

"We should be back in Cairo in a few hours," Rick murmured into her hair.

"Good," she replied. "It'll be nice to be home for a bit."

"Yeah," he said. "Will you go back to the Museum right away?"

"I think a bath is order first," she joked, turning to look at him. "But yes. With Dr. Bey being, well, gone, someone has to make sure everything's in order. And I still have to finish cleaning that library," she trailed off thinking of her enormous mess that still wasn't quite back to normal.

As she imagined going back to her life before the trip to Hamunaptra and what might change, a thought occurred to her.

"What about you?" she asked, curious. "What will you do when we get back?"

Rick gave a half shrug with a grimace.

"I hadn't gotten that far yet, to be honest" he admitted. "I didn't think I was getting out of prison alive."

"But, do you have somewhere to go?" Evie asked, concerned.

"Don't worry about me," Rick said, squeezing her closer. "I'll figure something out, I always do."

Evie looked back out to the river, suddenly feeling rather sad at the idea of the end of this journey. Where would he go? If he couldn't find somewhere to stay or something to do, would he want to stay in Cairo? If he needed, or wanted, to leave, what would she do? She'd survive, no doubt. But the idea of living without him nearby was bringing tears to her eyes. They'd only just found each other.

Evie quickly came to the most obvious conclusion although she hesitated to voice it out loud for a moment. She wasn't sure if it was too presumptuous or forward, although she had learned that Rick didn't seem to mind her being a bit forward. In fact, he enjoyed it if their last night in the desert had been any indication. She blushed as she remembered the kisses she had given him while Jonathan had wandered away for a time.

That strengthened her resolve, although she still hesitated for another moment. There was the small problem that it would look somewhat improper from the outside. But then, it was also something easily explained. And what did she care? She didn't spend enough time with people who would actually care for it to matter much.

With that settled in her mind, Evie twisted around to face Rick.

"Come home with us," she said.

Rick raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"We have a spare room," she reminded him. "It wouldn't be any trouble for you to stay."

"Are you sure?" he asked after a moment.

"Yes, of course. There's plenty of room," she emphasized.

"You want us to live together?" he asked, still looking a bit surprised that she would suggest it. Evie had to admit that when he put it that way it did sound...scandalous. But Rick O'Connell didn't seem one to care about that.

"Well, at least until you can arrange something else," she said, although she didn't much like that idea when she said it out loud. "I mean, we have the room, and I certainly won't have you living on the streets of Cairo after everything you've done for us."

"It wouldn't be the first time," he said, but he now had a grin on his face so she knew he was starting to like the idea.

"If I have anything to say about it, the last time you did will be THE last time," she said, leaning up to kiss Rick. He responded eagerly, running his fingers through her hair.

"Oh, for God's sake!" Jonathan's voice rang out. "I leave you two alone for five minutes!"

Rick and Evie pulled apart, but only slightly, giving their companion annoyed looks. Jonathan ignored them and set down a few drinks as he sat down opposite them.

"Not long now though. We'll be home soon enough," Jonathan said. "O'Connell, where will you go once we get back to Cairo?"

"Home with us," Evie answered for him, grinning at the idea now that it was settled.

Jonathan nearly spit out his drink.

"I say, what?"

"Rick's coming home with us. For now, at least."

"Is that okay?" Rick asked. "Evie said there was an extra room," he added, sensing the man's true concern even if Evie didn't.

Jonathan looked like he wanted to object, but Evie glared at him, daring him to defy her wishes.

"Well, I suppose that's fine. I suppose we're not using that room for anything else."

Evie rolled her eyes and snuggled closer to Rick, who kissed her head.

She was chained so tight that her body felt like it was constantly stretching out. There was no way for her to move no matter how much she struggled against the binds. The most she could do was turn over and when she did she felt her heart nearly stop. Imhotep was next to her, a dagger in his hands. As he raised it over her heart, she found her voice and began to scream...

Evie shot up in bed, still screaming. After a moment she stopped, and simply breathed heavily instead. Realizing she was alone in her bedroom in Cairo, she put a hand to her chest and tried to slow her breathing.

She heard footsteps and then her door opened. Rick stepped in with a wide-eyed expression, looking like he was ready to start shooting something. When he saw there was no danger, he sighed in relief and asked,

"What's wrong? You screamed, are you okay?"

"I...I'm fine," she whispered in a shaky voice. "I'm sorry I woke you."

He moved towards her bed and sat down on the edge.

"Don't worry about me," he said. "What happened?"

"Nothing, it was just a dream.

"Evie, you're shaking," he said, reaching out for her shoulder.

"Am I?" she asked, surprised, although it became obvious as his hand steadied her body. Neither of them spoke for a moment and then Rick took her in his arms. She nearly protested but he was so warm that she couldn't help but snuggle into his chest. As he held her close, he kissed her head and rocked her for a few minutes.

"I keep seeing him," she admitted. Rick kissed her again, not needing to ask who she meant. "With the dagger over me. Or sometimes, trying to kill you before I can finish the incantation. Even though I know he's gone, I keep dreaming about him."

"So do I," Rick admitted.

"Do you?"

"Yes, I keep dreaming we got there too late and he'd sacrificed you."

Evie wrapped an arm around his waist and squeezed him, as she had when they had been on the back of the camel in the desert. They sat there wrapped in each other for a bit and Evie's breathing eventually slowed down.

Rick wasn't sure how long he held her for until she fell asleep again, but he stayed awake just long enough to lay her down and cover with her blanket again. Then he moved over to the arm chair in her room and sat down to spend the rest of the night there.

The sun rose a few hours later, and Evie woke as she felt it warm her face. As she woke, she heard some soft snoring across the room. She sat up and turned to the source of the noise. She smiled when she saw Rick asleep in her arm chair.

Evie stood up and walked over to him. She gently shook his shoulder and whispered his name. He started and his eyes shot open, but she had a hand on him to stop him from getting up.

"Sorry," she whispered to him. "I didn't mean to scare you. It's morning."

After a moment his face took on a goofy grin.

"Well, the only thing that scares me Miss Carnahan, are your manners."

"Oh you," she said, laughing, and giving him a kiss. He pulled her into his lap and responded eagerly.

Suddenly the door burst open at the same time Jonathan called out,

"Evie! There's a telegram...what is this?!" he yelled when he saw them together.

"Jonathan, would it kill you to learn to knock?" Evie asked, exasperated.

"What is he doing in your room?" her brother asked. Rick rolled his eyes in response.

"I think a better question is, what are you doing in my room?" Evie asked her brother with an annoyed look on her face. "I believe you said something about a telegram."

Jonathan looked between them and seemed to be weighing whether or not it was worth telling them off some more. He decided it wasn't and just hoped that nothing had happened that he'd feel like killing the man for.

"Two actually. One from the British Museum in London, and another one from Papa." he said.

Evie quickly snatched the telegrams. She had called her father when they had arrived back in Cairo the week prior. Although she had left out the most exciting details, he had been thrilled to hear about the successful dig and the artifacts they'd recovered. He had mentioned that the British Museum would probably be interested in the artifacts, and they'd probably pay more for them than the Cairo Museum of Antiquities. On his advice she had written to them and this was the reply.

"The British Museum wants to see the artifacts!" she said, excitedly. "They want us to bring them to London and hear about the dig at Hamunaptra."

"What exactly can we tell them?" Rick asked. "Seems like Cairo forgot about what happened when Imhotep was here, but do we know that for sure?"

"I think we can probably tell them anything about the dig that doesn't involve resurrecting a corpse," Jonathan said. "Although we may have to leave out the stuff about the other Americans, or just pretend we have no idea what happened to them."

"It was a separate expedition," Evie pointed out. "And I don't know that it was sponsored by any particular historical or scholarly society so we may not be expected to know that much. Just don't mention them unless they ask us directly. No one has so far," Evie continued, putting that telegram aside. She picked up the second one and chuckled. "And Papa is already making the arrangements for all of us at the house."

"All of us?" Jonathan asked, and Rick cocked his head at her.

"Yes," she said, reading her father's telegram out loud. "'The museum will want to speak to all three of you about the dig. Stop. Please invite Mr. O'Connell to stay with us as well. Stop. I look forward to meeting him and seeing you both. Stop.' Well, that settles that," Evie said. "Oh, and he's booked our passage already. The ship leaves in two days!"

"So, we're going home?" Jonathan asked, looking delighted. After everything that had happened recently, Evie was sure he was ready for some time in comfortable English luxury.

"We're going home," Evie said. "We better start getting ready. We could be there for a few months if Papa decides to persuade us to stay for the summer."

With that, she shooed her brother and Rick out of her bedroom, so she could dress and start packing a suitcase, not noticing the look of trepidation on Rick's face as he left the room. As she was packing, she realized that in her haste to tell her father about the "successful" excavation, she had neglected to mention something far more important. Rick. She had not mentioned their relationship at all. But it was still so new and she wasn't sure how public he would want to be in England.

It wouldn't have been right, she reasoned with herself as she folded a few skirts and put them in her suit case. It wouldn't have been right to put Rick in a situation where he'd be put on the spot the moment he stepped foot off the boat without even asking him first.

They could discuss it on the journey, and decide together how, or if they should, tell her father and the rest of the family.