Control | Moon Knight

23

" And then I found him, with the scarab. Living 20 minutes from our old place. Right underneath Cleo's place."

Layla pauses and smiles for her picture to be taken against the white backdrop.

" Now, I can only hope she's with him, otherwise he's probably gonna get himself killed running around Cairo," She adds.

The forger sits behind a computer screen and carefully drags the text to align with the fake passport.

" That's why you look so unhappy to be going home."

" Anxious, maybe," Layla sighs, then smiles as s box of marshmallows appear on the desk, " It's been 10 years."

" Not worried you might've burned too many bridges?" Lagaro asks as Layla shoves the sweets into her mouth, " All those stolen relics and cheeky antiques?"

" I don't steal," Layla corrects as she grabs the paper from the printer, " They've already been stolen. That's what people forget," she slides the paper in between a piece of plastic, " I take them off the black market and return them to their rightful owners," she presses the paper into the laminater, " I might keep a few to pay the bills."

" And here I thought that's what Cleo was for," Lagaro says as she eyes a few details under a magnifying glass, " The world renowned archaeologist with a heart of gold. Pocket full of them, too."

Layla rolls her eyes at the women.

" It was never about the money with her," She states as she shoves a sweet into her mouth.

The woman chuckles.

" I wonder what your father would think about his little scarab now?" Lagaro asks as Layla places glasses over her eyes.

" Hm, we'll never know," Layla muffles through the marshmallow as she walks to the other side of the room, " I can't believe he let you teach me how to do all of this."

" Ha!" The woman exclaims from her spot in the chair, " The man indulged you. You think his dig sites were any place for a child?" she stands up from her chair and places the glasses on her head, " Archeology. One big mess of obsessive bookworms."

Layla finds the correct cover for her passport and examines it, keeping her cool both on the inside and the outside.

" Whatever happened in that desert is lost to the sands," She sighs and hands over the cover.

" It's a hard thing, exhuming the pain of the past," Lagaro says as she presses together the pieces of the falsified documents, " Easy to get stuck, fixate on what's hurt us."

" Great, then I won't do either," Layla comments.

" Like you haven't already," Lagaro sighs as she stamps the passport, " I miss him too, is all. But, that's your baggage, not mine. Just, avoid your old haunts. Call me sentimental, but I worry about you."

The woman goes to hand over the passport, but the moment Layla reaches for it, she pulls it back.

" Is all this really worth it for an ex husband and an ex..." Lagaro trails as she makes eye contact, trying to find the right word, " Lover?"

Layla chuckles.

" It was only one time," She states, " But I'm not doing this for him... I'm doing this for her."

Once more, Lagaro chuckles, but ultimately ends up handing over the passport.

" Have a good trip, love."

As Layla makes her way to Cairo, Marc and Cleo are already getting to work, thanks to the pressure from the God. He loves to make things difficult for them, and since Marc serves him, he must obey.