#hummus my beloved | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

kmomof4 · 5 days ago

Text

X Never Ever Marks the Spot - A Birthday Fic for @zaharadessert

We are off to Cairo in this chapter and things really get cranked up now!! I hope y'all enjoy and let me know what you think!!

Many thanks and loads of long distance internet hugs to @snowbellewells for her beta services and for the FABULOUS banner above and to @hollyethecurious for the title and her help with my grammar issues.

Rating: M for smut and scary moments

Words: 3364 of approximately 24k

Tags: Inspired by Raiders of the Lost Ark, Birthday Fic for Zahara

On ao3 From Beginning / Current Chapter

Tagging the usuals. Please let me know if you'd like to be added or removed.

@jrob64 @winterbaby89 @hollyethecurious @the-darkdragonfly @jennjenn615

@donteattheappleshook @undercaffinatednightmare @pirateherokillian @cocohook38 @qualitycoffeethings

@booksteaandtoomuchtv @superchocovian @motherkatereloyshipper @snowbellewells @djlbg

@lfh1226-linda @xarandomdreamx @tiganasummertree @bluewildcatfanatic @anmylica

@laianely @resident-of-storybrooke @exhaustedpirate @gingerchangeling @caught-in-the-filter

@ultraluckycatnd @stahlop @darkshadow7 @fleurdepetite @captainswan-kellie

@soniccat @beckettj @teamhook @whimsicallyenchantedrose @jonesfandomfanatic

@elfiola @zaharadessert @ilovemesomekillianjones @mie779 @kymbersmith-90

@suwya @veryverynotgoodwrites @myfearless-love

Under the cut, unless Tumblr ate it.

Ch. 3 Cairo

Aladdin led Killian and Emma up the stairs to the rooftop terrace of his home where his wife and children waited to greet their most welcome guests.

“Unca Killian! Unca Killian!” the little ones cried, as they ran as fast as their little legs could carry them. Aladdin wondered how they could possibly remember his old friend. They’d been knee high to an asp the last time Killian had been in Cairo.

His friend bent down and wrapped his arms around them both before hauling them up like sacks of potatoes on his shoulders as he moved toward the covered portion of the terrace.

“Nadeem, Kamran,” Killian laughed, “You’ve grown entirely too much since I saw you last.” His eyes landed on their daughter Nadia, who even at ten years old, so resembled her mother, Aladdin could hardly look at her without his eyes filling with tears. Killian set the boys down and smiled tenderly at her, running his knuckles down her cheek. “And you look more like your mother every day, my wardit al sahraa,” Killian said, his affectionate appellation of the Arabic for desert flower making Aladdin smile and Nadia blush.

“My home is your home,” Aladdin said, turning to Emma as she reached the terrace. “May I introduce my beloved Jasmine, and my children, Nadia, Nadeem, and Kamran. Nadeem means friend or companion in Arabic and I named my firstborn son in honor of my dear friend and companion for many years, Killian Jones.”

Emma’s face lit up in delight, and Aladdin smiled as he looked at his friend, whose face resembled a ripe tomato as he scratched behind his ear in embarrassment. Jasmine, the consummate hostess, set out a tray of flatbread and hummus, dates and other fruits for their guests to enjoy before greeting Killian and Emma with an affectionate embrace and kiss to both cheeks.

The boys squealed suddenly, drawing everyone’s attention to the table where a spider monkey wearing a smart little red vest had suddenly appeared on the table and had grabbed a date, munching contentedly as it looked around at the gathered audience.

“Where did this creature come from?” Jasmine exclaimed. As soon as the monkey finished its treat, it leapt up on Emma, unheeding her cry of alarm and dismay as it settled down on her shoulders, like a king on his throne.

“What an adorable creature,” she said, though the shock on her face and hesitancy in her eyes belied her words.

Emma’s gaze met Killian’s, and Aladdin smirked at his friend’s soft smile. There was no doubt in his mind that this was the woman his friend cherished in his heart but wouldn’t talk about all those years ago when the two men first became friends.

Aladdin and Killian sat down at a small table away from the main table after filling their plates.

“So this is her, eh?” Aladdin asked, watching Killian closely. He was gratified that his friend didn’t even try to deflect, as his face flamed again and he scratched at that place behind his ear that always seemed to itch when he was embarrassed.

“Yeah,” he conceded with a shrug. Aladdin waited to see if Killian had anything he wanted to add.

“I am happy for you, my friend,” he said, when he remained silent.

Killian’s gaze moved toward her, and Aladdin recognized the same look he had when he looked at Jasmine. It did his heart good to know that his old friend had found the same love and happiness that he enjoyed with his family and looked forward to the day when he and Jasmine would be invited to celebrate their nuptials.

“I knew the Germans would get you, Aladdin,” Killian said, peeling an orange. “You’re the best digger in Egypt.”

“They don’t need me,” Aladdin replied. “They’ve hired or shanghaied every digger in Cairo. The excavation is enormous. They’ve hired only the strongest backs and pay pennies for them. It’s like the pharaohs have returned.”

“When did they find the map room?”

“Three days ago.” Aladdin studied his friend for a moment, before dropping the most important information he had. “You know who’s there, don’t you?”

“No,” Killian replied. “Who?”

“Cassidy.”

Killian grimaced and looked sick, but strangely, not surprised at all.

“They are close to finding the Well of Souls.”

His friend chuckled and pulled out a large medallion with a crystal in the middle before handing it to him.

“Well, they aren’t going to find it without that,” he informed him, grinning. “What do you make of those markings?”

Aladdin studied the carvings along the edge of both sides of the medallion. “Perhaps a man I know can help us.” He paused a moment before continuing. “Killian, there is something that troubles me.”

“What is it?”

“The Ark.” Aladdin sat back, his brow furrowed as he gave voice to his thoughts. “If it is there at Tanis, I have to believe that it was something man was not meant to disturb. It is not of this earth. I am afraid of what might happen if it is found.”

“Well,” his friend replied, with a shrug, “We have to find it first.”

~*~*~

“Did we really have to bring the monkey?” Killian asked as he and Emma walked through the Cairo marketplace later that day.

The monkey screamed at him from atop Emma’s shoulders.

“How can you say that about our baby?” Emma teased.

“You’ve certainly changed your tune from Aladdin’s house,” he observed, drily.

“He’s just too cute,” she said, holding up her arm as the animal crawled from her shoulders to his new perch. Emma scratched its little head and cooed at it before it leapt off her arm and disappeared into the crowd. “Hey!” Emma cried, “Where are you going?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Killian urged her. “Here, have a date.” He finally got her attention by holding the fruit directly in her sight line. She took it and looked directly at him, her gaze turning sultry as she wrapped her lips around the succulent fruit.

Killian’s mouth went dry as he watched, wanting nothing more than to kiss her within an inch of her life. The look in her eyes told him she probably wouldn’t mind, though this was certainly neither the time nor place.

Once she swallowed the treat, her gaze coy and only slightly disappointed, they continued walking through the market, stopping at different booths and bartering over the wares. They were looking over beautiful hand woven rugs when a sudden motion at the edge of his vision drew his attention. Several men - the one in the lead with a scimitar held high, their heads all wrapped in black headpieces - were running toward them.

Killian pushed down on Emma’s shoulders, making her kneel. “Look out,” he cried, as the first man swung the sword toward his head. Killian’s boxing training took over as he punched the man square in the face, breaking his nose and sending him to the ground. The second man had grabbed Emma around the waist and was trying to hoist her up and over his shoulder, but Killian’s second punch and Emma kicking her legs into both of the man’s knees caused him to drop her before he could get away.

“Emma, get out of here,” he cried, grabbing her by the shoulders. Just as quickly, he pushed down on her shoulders again. “Duck!” He punched the next man square on the bridge of the nose before he could bring down the raised scimitar he held on Emma or himself. Emma came back up and turned to where the man lay moaning on the ground holding his shattered nose as blood poured out from under his hands.

“Come on!” He shouted, grabbing Emma’s hand and pulling her along the alleyway. They came to a cart filled with hay and he picked Emma up and tossed her in the back, turning back toward their attackers while unfurling his whip and cracking it to keep them at bay.

“Hook!” Emma screamed, as the sound of the whip made the horse in front of the cart run. He was too busy warding off their enemies to hear her. When the horse finally came to a stop in a busy square, Emma climbed out and started to run back the way they’d come. As she turned the corner into the alleyway, she saw another of their attackers running toward her. There was only one this time and Emma ran to a cart against the wall and grabbed a pan from it, holding it up like a baseball bat as the man came to a stop.

He grinned at her - showing several missing teeth - and pulled a long knife out of his robes. Emma cursed herself for leaving her gun back at Aladdin’s and turned and ran further down the alleyway, finally finding an open door where she could hopefully hide. She entered and got behind the door, still holding up the pan and waiting to see if he would find her. A black covered head poked into the doorway and Emma wasted no time. She brought the pan down on the man’s head, knocking him out. She grabbed his feet and pulled him inside before emerging back into the alley and running back the way she came. Turning another corner, she saw several more men running toward her - two were in white suits, while the rest wore the traditional garb of the desert.

She ran back the other way and climbed into a giant basket to hide. She could hear the sound of many feet running past and she breathed a sigh of relief until she heard the scream of a monkey from atop the lid covering her hiding place. She lifted the lid, trying to get the creature to either move away from her or shut up, but it continued its screeches until she could see the men turn around and start back for her.

They secured the lid on the basket and Emma could feel it being hoisted up. She could only imagine that a couple of the men were carrying her on their shoulders to God knew where. Her only hope was for Hook to find her and save her. Again.

“Hooooooooooook!” she screamed as loudly as she could. One of the men carrying her punched the side of the basket, but they didn’t stop and she wouldn’t be deterred. “Hook!!! Jones!!! Killlllllliaaaaannnnnnn!!!!! I’m over here! Help meeeeeeeeee!!!!!”

Killian heard his name being called moments after arriving at the abandoned cart. He looked up and saw two men with a large basket on their shoulders running away from him. The lid was tied to the basket, but it was moving enough that he could tell there was someone inside. He started running toward it, but the crowd was too much. Suddenly it parted to reveal a tall man dressed in black robes, a long sword embedded in the ground held in his hands.

As soon as the crowd completely parted, surrounding them both, the man picked up the sword and began swinging it in an elaborate show of strength and skill with the deadly instrument. Killian didn’t have time to deal with this, he had to get to Emma. As soon as the man stopped, he pulled out his gun and shot the man dead in the middle of the street. The crowd around them cheered, and Killian ran through them toward where he’d last seen the basket containing Emma.

He sprinted around a corner only to be met with machine gun fire. He quickly took cover and could hear the sound of a large truck barreling down the alleyway toward him. He ran out into the middle of the alley, to see the truck, still fifteen or so feet away from him. He could clearly see two men who’d chased him and Emma. One drove the truck and the other hung off the side, a machine gun in his hands.

Killian took aim and shot the man with the machine gun, setting his gun off, shooting the driver of the vehicle. He meant to jump into the cab of the truck, take care of the driver, and drive them to safety, assuming Emma was in the back of the truck, but the dead driver slumped over the gear shift and ran the truck into the wall of the alley. It tilted onto two wheels and Killian had to run to get out of its way. It all happened so fast, but also in slow motion as the tilt grew worse and worse until, with a crash onto its side, the truck exploded into a conflagration that he could feel burning his own skin twenty feet away.

“Emma,” he breathed as he staggered as close as he could to the burning vehicle. There was nothing left, only the burning outer skeleton of the truck. He held his arm up, trying to shield himself from the heat, so he could get closer to get a better look, but it was hopeless. From where he stood, he could see no evidence of a basket, or even any of the people who’d been inside the truck.

He wiped the tears he hadn’t even realized were there off his face as he tried to comprehend what he was seeing, what he’d just lost. There was nothing he could do here now. He fell to his knees in utter despair, with no thought to what he should do next.

~*~*~

Killian wandered the streets of Cairo for hours, unseeing, uncaring of anything or anyone around him. At some point, he’d obtained a bottle of rum and occasionally drank straight from it as he roamed aimlessly. He knew he should be making his way back to Aladdin’s but he couldn’t bring himself to face his friend and tell him what happened.

Suddenly, two men in white suits appeared on either side of him and spoke to him in rapid German, instructing him to come with them, someone wanted to see him. He was a bit too drunk to try and thwart their intentions, so he indicated that he would come with them with a vague waving of his hand.

They led him into a restaurant, and Killian scanned the open area seating until his eyes landed on none other than Neal Cassidy. He turned to leave, but his colleague and former friend stood and held his arms out in an expansive and inviting gesture.

“Oh, come now, Killian,” he called. “Surely we can have one short, civil conversation.”

Killian turned back around and faced the man who’d nearly derailed his career before it had even begun.

“I should kill you right now,” Killian gritted out as soon as he was close enough to the table so as to not be overheard.

“Not exactly private,” Neal observed casually. “Come on, sit down.”

Killian looked around as he sat down across from him. “These folks won’t care if I shoot you like the dog you are.”

Neal just stared unamusedly at him and took a sip of his drink. “It’s sad that our partnership should end this way.”

“We haven’t been partners for a long time,” Killian growled, nearly standing to his feet again. “Not since you plagiarized your thesis and tried to pin it on me. So don’t you dare talk to me like we’re friends.”

“I almost regret it, you know?”

Killian’s brows nearly hit his hairline. Was Neal possibly apologizing?

“Where else will I find such an opponent, so close to my own level?” he continued. Killian rolled his eyes. He should have known better.

“Try the sewer,” Killian sneered as he glared at the man before him. “You know, you have lied and cheated your entire career, and look at you now.”

“Yes,” he interrupted, his eyes gleaming with excitement, “look at me now! On the threshold of the greatest discovery of all time! The Ark of the Covenant!”

“What about your boss? De Führer? I thought when you found it, you’d be turning it over to him.”

“All in good time,” he replied. “When I’m through with it.” He leaned closer, showing enough sense to not grab Killian’s arm. If he had, Killian didn’t think he’d be able to keep himself from killing the man where he sat. “Do you realize what the ark is, Killian? It’s a transmitter. A mouthpiece for talking to God.”

Killian had heard enough. “You want to talk to God,” he asked, standing to his feet and reaching for his gun in his waistband, “Let’s go see Him together.” He pulled his weapon out and prepared to fire as the sound of many guns held in the hands of the men around them, cocked and ready to fire filled his ears, and then the voices of Aladdin’s children calling his name reached him as well.

“Unca Killian, Unca Killian,” they cried, arriving just in time and throwing their arms around his waist. “Come home now!” they insisted, dragging him away.

“Next time,” Neal called, “it will take more than children to save you, Killian!”

They dragged him out into the street where they found Aladdin standing next to his truck.

“Better than the Marines, eh, Killian?” he asked with a smile. “When you didn’t come back last night, I feared the worst. I’m glad we found you.” Killian approached his friend, who opened his arms and embraced him tightly. Killian took a shuddering breath, but wouldn’t let the tears burning his eyes fall. They wouldn’t do anyone any good and they needed to get off the street. “I am sorry, my friend,” Aladdin commiserated. “We will take them home,” he continued, releasing him and gesturing to his children, “and then I will take you to the old man.”

~*~*~

“I can’t figure out how he did it,” Killian muttered, wandering around the home of the man Aladdin had brought him to see. The man who may be able to understand the markings on the headpiece he still carried. “How did Neal get a copy of the headpiece? There are no pictures, no duplicates of it anywhere.”

“I only tell you what I saw with my own eyes,” Aladdin explained. “A headpiece like that one, except around the edges which were rougher. In the center, Neal had a crystal, and surrounding it, on one side, there were raised markings, just like that one,” he continued, motioning toward the tall, thin man, dressed entirely in black robes who sat at a low table some feet away.

“They made their calculations in the map room?” Killian asked, moving toward the old man, who held the headpiece in his hand.

“This morning,” Aladdin confirmed. “Cassidy and the boss German, Walsh Grünmagier, when they came out of the map room, they gave us a new spot in which to dig, out away from the camp.”

Killian looked at his friend pensively. “The Well of Souls, huh?”

“Mmhmmm,” Aladdin replied.

“Come,” the old man called. “Come look! Look here,” he said as Killian and Aladdin joined him at the table.

“What does it say?” Killian asked.

“It is a warning,” he explained. “It says not to disturb the Ark of the Covenant.”

“What about the height of the staff though?” Killian asked. “Did Neal get it off of here?”

“Yes,” he replied, pointing at the markings on the edge of the medallion. “This was the old way. This means six kadam high.”

“About seventy-two inches,” Aladdin said.

“Wait!” the old man said, holding out his hand in a stop motion. Both men stared at him as he slowly turned the medallion over and pointed to the markings on the back side of the relic. “And take back one kadam to honor the Hebrew God Whose Ark this is.”

Killian’s eyes widened as he and Aladdin locked gazes.

“Neal’s copy only had markings on one side? Are you absolutely sure?” he asked. Aladdin nodded slowly, understanding coloring his visage as they both realized the same thing at the same time.

“Neal’s staff is too high,” Killian whispered, a grin breaking over his face. They stood and grasped each other’s hands as they spoke together.

“They’re digging in the wrong place.”

~*~*~

Thanks for reading and sharing!! Don't yell at me too hard, please! If you don't know the movie, happy endings are ALWAYS guaranteed with me! We'll be back on Wednesday! See you then!!!

#x never ever marks the spot #krystal writes #bday fic for zahara #art by marta #inspired by raiders of the lost ark

16 notes · View notes