A/N: My first multi chapter after a Brief History of A Lifetime. Eek. It's only three parts but I've been wanting to write this AU for a while. Hope you enjoy and I'd love to hear your thoughts! Thank you for reading!


"Well, boys, I don't think this trip could've gone any better," Wendy said as she entered the large tent, where Token and Kyle were carefully packing the discovered, ancient artefacts; covered in layers of bubblewrap amongst other things to stop them crumbling.

The Smithsonian curators could do marvellous things, but Kyle felt that his crew could at least make their jobs easier. Repairing four thousand year old relics was not a simple task.

Wendy placed another crate on the ground, before brushing her hair out of her eyes and wiping her sweaty brow. Two months in Egypt had left her bronzed, whereas Kyle was sunburnt, his freckles coming out of hiding.

"Agreed," Token grinned, before shaking his head and chuckling, "Doctor Tucker wishes he'd had this much luck in Machu Picchu."

"Now, now, Tucker's excavation proved to be very successful and we know it," Wendy interjected. She was careful to not humour the rivalry that existed between the two departments. "Isn't that why we fought so hard for our grants?"

"And that fight paid off," Kyle replied. Maybe it was due to the debilitating desert heat, but when he saw the first glimpse of bountiful treasure glittering in the sand he had felt breathless… and a little teary.

"I'd say so!" Token added, before gesturing to the strangest and grandest find of them all. "We bagged a prince, for crying out loud!"

Three pairs of eyes immediately went to the tall, amber slab where a royal body was distinguishable. Not a skeleton, or a rotting corpse, but a prince frozen in time. Among the vases and ornaments, Kyle had nearly yelped when he saw wide, still eyes staring up at him through an amber pane.

As if he had just set eyes on Medusa, Kyle had stood still, eventually thawing out from his curse with a trembling hand and a silent, stuttering mouth. Five minutes had passed before Kyle was able to call out to his team, his voice shrill and uneven when he did so. But they couldn't exactly mock him when they saw what Kyle had discovered, they were just as speechless.

"A perfectly preserved body, despite no mummification," Kyle whispered, still gazing at the slab. "It's incredible! Not only from a historical standpoint, but scientifically… how has this happened?" Kyle stepped forward, ever since they uncovered the body he had wanted to take a closer look. He was glad that they had decided to pack this particular find up last, he had more time to stare. "This… th-this amber casing must have properties that- but why would they use it in the first place?" He turned to his slightly amused colleagues. "Why discard years of tradition and customs for one prince?"

Wendy sighed. "I have no idea, but hopefully the other treasures we've uncovered will provide us with clues."

Kyle eyes roamed the amber block. It gleamed almost like a confectionary. The figure was murky beneath, but Kyle knew that it would be the discovery that launched his career into the stratosphere. To be an archaeologist at such a prestigious institution was a huge achievement – especially at his age – but to make such a remarkable discovery would make him a hero in his field. Life changing doesn't even cover it…

"I can't wait to get back home… to really study this thing…" Kyle could feel himself becoming breathless again, he was careful not to start bouncing on his tiptoes. Instead, he turned to Token with a grin, "How much you wanna bet that Craig will be green with envy?"

"Especially when Doctor Victoria won't be able to stop talking about it," Token replied.

"I knew coming to this region would be beneficial," Kyle continued, ever since he had first read about this neglected desert kingdom he was itching to go. "It's so scarcely written about, so vaguely documented; you can't help but be drawn to the mystery!"

"Good catch, Kyle," Wendy smiled.

"We could be making history over here!" Token laughed.

Kyle was in no doubt that nothing would ever be the same, and the mysteries would only keep coming the deeper they dug.


It had been nearly a month since their return from Egypt and Kyle had never worked harder. As expected, their colleagues at the museum were curious and impressed by their findings, firing intrigued questions that Kyle, Wendy and Token gladly answered, ignoring Craig's muttered accusations of the Egyptology team being "grave robbers."

But this prince was a scientific anomaly hidden for thousands of years and it was the opinion of those who embarked on the dig that it was their duty to learn from him and figure out why he was buried in such a way, and how he was preserved like this.

Still believing the discovery was to be a turning point in his career, Kyle elected himself to lead the project. While Wendy and Token contributed to his research and testing, Kyle very much saw the work as solely his and therefore the prince was his responsibility. Especially when he was staying in the lab late into the night trying to unravel the mystery, and found it occupying his thoughts even when he returned home.

But even after all the hours put in, every resource at this disposal used, and despite Kyle pouring all his determination and effort into this case he still couldn't find a feasible explanation for why such an anomaly had occurred. The biological implications admittedly swam over his head, but even in the anthropological and archaeological arena he was most comfortable in, he was still puzzled and left to make educated guesses.

Every speculation had a constant, and that was that the body in the amber slab had been put there as punishment. What could his royal highness have done to be denied proper funeral rites, theoretically wiping him from history? Had he been disowned? Estranged?

In the quieter hours of the night, these possibilities made Kyle's tired heart ache for the abandoned, nameless prince. While Kyle was still no closer to finding out the truth about what happened thousands of years ago to his discovery, he could at least right one wrong. He could give his prince a name. Everyone deserves that. So Kyle named him Eric, after the author of the first Egyptology book he ever read as a teenager. He thought it suited him, though his features were still murky beneath the honeyed tomb.

Kyle had not divulged Eric's new name to anyone, especially since Token and Wendy had ripped on him for being so enthusiastic about the prince in the first place. But given the amount of time Kyle was spending with him, how could he not become attached to Eric? Fond of him? Feel pity for him despite the equal amount of fascination and irritation he brought him? But he wasn't obsessed, no, he definitely wasn't obsessed. He was just passionate about his work, of solving possibly the biggest mystery in Ancient Egypt.

It was 10PM and Kyle was still in the laboratory. Although he couldn't argue with his bosses, it frustrated him that he couldn't take larger samples of the material Eric was encased in. It was argued that it would be best not to disturb both the slab and the body, especially since it was to be an exhibit soon. Kyle wanted to argue it was too late to be worrying about disturbing the prince when they had already flown him over an ocean and were picking away at his tomb, anyway. Maybe Craig was right…

Such a careful process was slow and time-consuming, at least that's what Kyle told himself was the reason for staying all night again. Not like it mattered, it's not as if Kyle had anybody to come home to. And he occasionally wondered maybe such fixations, such stubbornness, such intensity he placed on his projects was the reason for his… not loneliness, but his romantic encounters falling to the wayside as of late. He couldn't dwell on it too much though, and it was easy to quickly divert his thoughts to what he was doing at the present moment. Right now, it was inspecting a small sample of amber under a microscope for the fiftieth time.

A muffled groan distracted him. Kyle furrowed his eyebrows, looked up from his work but concluded that he must've been hearing things, and that maybe he should go home pretty soon and get some sleep. Hesitantly, Kyle continued peering into the microscope before he heard the groans again, louder and interspersed by incomprehensible shouting. The shouts were not only nonsensical to Kyle, but stifled too, as if… it was coming from behind a screen.

His discomfiting heartbeat in his ears and his back rigid, Kyle stiffly straightened and was careful to be slow when he turned around. Eric, a stranger, an impossibility, was propped up in his natural tomb like a fake skeleton in a science classroom, unassuming were it not for the fact that Kyle knew he was somehow making those noises, that the sound travelled directly from him. And Kyle realised then just how little he really knew.

Gulping, Kyle took silent, arduous steps forward, to take a closer look. He suspected that anybody else would've ran, anybody sensible would've done just that. But Kyle wasn't sensible, not when it came to his gut, his heart, his drive. Common sense was drowned out by his roaring determination, it was left black and scorching in his pride's wake. Kyle was not only terrified, but fascinated and a quiet, flickering part of him knew that Eric was in distress. The shouting grew louder, manic, and was punctuated by pleading thumps and the closer Kyle got, he could see the shadows of two fists pounding under the lights.

Before Kyle could say or do anything, one of the fists burst through the slab, squelching as it did and sending rubbery debris to splatter on the floor. Kyle screamed and jumped backwards, clutching his chest as his lungs and heart seemed to be competing over who could heave and beat faster. Shaking, wide-eyed and undoubtedly drained of colour, Kyle watched in awe as the four thousand year old prince pulled apart at his tomb, the consistency of which Kyle discovered was like molasses, weighing down on Eric still even after he had broken free.

Kyle imagined the stiff, ancient joints in Eric's limbs creaking with every clumsy movement, his consciousness rushing back to him like headlights as confused grumbles fell from his mouth. Finally, Eric stumbled out, swaying under bright clinical lighting, his ankles elastic and throwing off his equilibrium. His heavy eyes met Kyle and widened, in his panic he collapsed into a stool behind him.

Kyle had never imagined what he would say to Eric. Fuck, he never thought he'd have to! He had no idea what to open with, shock was smothering his ability to speak.

"Wh- what's going on?!" Kyle finally yelled, making Eric jump in fright. Not the best start. He sighed. "A-re you okay?"

Eric furrowed his eyebrows, his obvious malaise making him shaky and unable to register Kyle's question.

He can't understand you, idiot!

"Shit!" Kyle muttered, running a hand through his hair. Now what was he supposed to do? This situation was chaotic enough without the language barrier.

Looking to Eric, Kyle saw that his face was creased, and he was groaning as he pressed a hand to his forehead.

He's probably starving. Not to mention dehydrated.

The realisation clicked, and Kyle smiled, rushing to his bag and pulling out a bottle of apple juice and an energy bar. Finally, he was being helpful. At least he had some semblance of control over this.

Eric was still groaning and shaking when Kyle went over to him. Eric glanced briefly at Kyle, shielding himself from the harsh lighting above them.

An adrenaline Kyle had never felt before was pulsing inside him, and his fingers were jittery as he unwrapped the energy bar. The rustling sound was obviously strange to Eric and he watched Kyle intently.

"H-h-here…" Kyle said, handing the bar and juice to Eric.

The prince was reluctant, staring at the items in his hands before casting Kyle a quizzical, almost affronted look. A crease in his brow, Kyle wondered what it was exactly that Eric was failing to understand. He then noticed the bottle was sealed firmly shut, and he wordlessly took it from Eric and opened it for him.

Eyeing the drink for all of five seconds, Eric gladly started to gulp the apple juice, depleting the bottle's contents by half before moving onto the energy bar, chewing loudly and gratefully.

Kyle sighed, Eric appeared to be sated, his nerves and fragility waning now that he had some much needed sustenance. Kyle's shock too, was dissipating but he was still in awe, just like he had been when they first set eyes on each other in the desert. When Kyle was eager to find something incredible, and Eric's own gaze was sad and numb. Now, Eric's eyes were very much alive and a more gentle fascination started to bloom in Kyle's mind, there was so much more to marvel over.

The life-sustaining qualities of that amber material Kyle could only describe as magical, and Eric was remarkable. Kyle knelt down to his level, while Eric was distracted by his food and drink. He never thought he would see Eric in such a way, for he was hardly a cadaver, a body worn away by time. He was still a young man, and well –covered too, his shoulders broad, his face full and belly still round and soft after all these years away from the palace. The bronze glow of his ochre skin reminded Kyle of the sun setting over the pyramids, and his topaz eyes shimmered regally. Handsome and perfectly intact, the only part of Eric that had diminished was his clothing. His sandals were faded, his shendyt was now yellowing and threadbare, and his once proud Nemes headdress was perched lopsidedly on his head. The defiant blue and gold stripes were struggling to shine, much like the tarnished gold cuff on his arm and the sapphire ring on his middle finger.

Eric blinked, and returned Kyle's stare, furrowing his eyebrows at this strange man in a long, white coat gazing at him. Unstoppable colour immediately flooded Kyle's cheeks and he stood up, coughing into his first awkwardly and offering Eric an apologetic nod.

"This is incredible…" Kyle whispered, before returning to his bag and finding his phone.

He called Token, and tried his hardest not to stare.


It only took Wendy and Token about twenty minutes to join Kyle in the lab, but the temptation to stare at Eric and search for answers in his bewildered eyes made the seconds drag on torturously.

Kyle didn't want to frighten Eric, or confuse him further, but he was helpless to stop studying him. That's what Kyle did, uncover what had been kept hidden and place it in the light. It would take a while to undo that way of thinking. But he wasn't dealing with a vase, or a dusty scroll, he was dealing with an actual human being.

At least he could take comfort in the fact that Eric appeared to be just as curious and fascinated by him. There was such scrutiny, such desperation for answers in Eric's intense, golden stare that Kyle found himself wilting at the force of it all. And with the heavy lights weighing down on him, he feared he would perish.

When Wendy and Token finally arrived they could only mimic Kyle's behaviour. It was in their nature too, after all. They studied Eric intently, peered at him like the tiniest chip that had flaked off a crumbled masterpiece, or the only discernible letters in a particularly challenging crossword puzzle clue.

Eric had blinked, frowned, resumed the crease in his brow and kept looking to Kyle. Even if Eric wasn't totally sure what was happening to him right now, in a strange place surrounded by people he didn't know, Kyle could've sworn that defensive front was slowly lifting. Every time he glanced at Kyle, Eric's eyes were a little wider, his lips parted as if he wanted to verbally communicate what his expression were conveying. But he and Kyle were still lost in translation. Although after barely an hour together, Eric knew that he should somehow trust Kyle. The person who gave him food and drink, the first face he had seen in thousands of years.

That was important, Kyle knew it, and it made Eric's presence slightly less daunting. He smiled tightly at Eric, hoping it would provide comfort if not clarity. But Kyle still felt like he was floundering in this extraordinary situation.

"Well?" Kyle asked, arms folded over his chest. "Any thoughts?"

"I… he… this…" Wendy tried to find her words before she laughed disbelievingly. "It's pretty miraculous. "

"Right?!" Kyle exclaimed.

"It's baffling!" Token added. "How are we ever going to explain this?"

"I don't know," Kyle sighed, trailing his gaze over Eric. "I don't even understand how this could have happened."

"We just need to keep studying the amber," Wendy offered, one hand on her hip. "Call in some help from the biology guys."

"I doubt they'd be any quicker finding an answer," Kyle said.

"True, but this is really their game," Token replied.

"But what happens to this guy?" Wendy asked, gesturing to Eric.

"After the amber goes through God knows how many rounds of testing you can bet your ass that'll be going on display," Token answered. "As for him? I don't know…"

The assumption prompted Kyle's gag reflex, fear lurching in his throat. He stared at Eric, innocent and disorientated, and winced at the thought of him being exploited like that, taken advantage of, and waking up to such a dehumanising experience. The fear lodged in his throat turned into disgust which was even more difficult to swallow, and his apprehension combusted angrily.

"You don't know? It's obvious, isn't it?!" Kyle exclaimed. "He's alive! They can't just let people gawk at him without his permission! It's inhumane, and, a-a-and unfair to Eric!"

Token arched an eyebrow and chuckled, "wait, who?"

"Eric?" Wendy smirked.

Kyle froze, in his frustration he hadn't realised he said that.

Token and Wendy were waiting, amused, for a response and Kyle's cheeks were scorching. Due to the commotion, Eric was now staring at Kyle too and it was when Kyle noticed those topaz eyes on him that he huffed and fidgeted, vying for an explanation.

"Well… w-w-well yeah, I mean, we don't know his real name so I thought I'd give him one," Kyle said, shrugging as if to appear nonchalant.

"You think it suits him?" Token asked.

Kyle slid his gaze to Eric, and although their worlds were totally different Kyle couldn't imagine him being anything else.

"Yeah, I think it does," he said with another shrug, his face cooling down.

Token and Wendy were still smirking at him, and Kyle gritted his teeth and rolled his eyes.

"Look, it doesn't matter, okay?" He snapped. "I'll email Doctor Victoria and we can all talk about this. Ultimately, it's her call."

"Alright, but you're not going to leave Eric here overnight, are you?" Token asked.

"Where else is he going to go?" Wendy interjected.

Token grinned smugly. "Well, since Kyle named him I think it's only fair that he offer his couch for the night."

Wendy hid her giggles behind her hand, while Token pursed his lips to conceal his bubbling laughter. Kyle scowled at them, but when he glanced at Eric he softened. After all, he was a person who needed help. And Kyle didn't see anything funny or strange in helping him out.

"Of course he can stay with me until we figure out what to do," Kyle replied, sounding surer than he really felt, but when he looked at Eric it was reaffirmed that he was doing the right thing.


Eric had shivered and wrapped his arms around his wide, bare chest when he and Kyle crossed the parking lot. Raised in an arid, desert climate, he was obviously unaccustomed to the colder nights. But the chill was on Kyle's side, as it made Eric less reluctant to get into his car. However strange Eric perceived the vehicle to be, it was warm, and getting out of the cold appeared to be Eric's main concern.

It was a short drive to Kyle's apartment, and at every traffic light Kyle took the opportunity to keep an eye on Eric. One minute he was staring up at tall, twinkling buildings, absorbing the bright night, and the next he was dozing off in the passenger seat. Ironically, Kyle considered, since he had presumably been comatose for a couple millennia. But Kyle was exhausted too and if Eric's fatigue meant he could just arrive home and go straight to sleep then he didn't exactly mind.

When they arrived home, Kyle immediately began pulling out the mattress hidden in his couch with Eric hovering over his shoulder watching him. This led to an awkward collision of noses when Kyle turned around, his face flushing and muttering something about a duvet although Eric had no idea what he was even talking about.

Cursing under his breath, Kyle went to his bedroom and found the spare duvet and pillows he kept for guests and when he returned to his living room, he caught Eric studying the TV. Kyle couldn't help but smirk. Perhaps he would teach him how it worked tomorrow.

Kyle placed the duvet and pillows on the makeshift mattress while Eric's eyes roamed the walls.

"You can sleep here," Kyle said once he was finished.

Eric arched an eyebrow, gaze switching from the couch to Kyle.

"Here?" Kyle asked, before throwing the quilt back so it looked more inviting. "Here… "

Eric nodded and sat on the bed, the questionable springs creaked with the added weight.

"Well…" Kyle began, with a small clap of his hands. "Good night…"

As expected, Eric remained quiet and Kyle sighed to himself before returning to his bedroom. He didn't bother undressing, or brushing his teeth, he just collapsed onto his mattress and stared up at the ceiling.

His thoughts were racing; any desire to sleep had vanished.


Eric awoke before Kyle, and it was as if no time had passed.

Kyle had entered his living room in the clothes he was wearing the day previously, while Eric was still curiously padding around the apartment. His presence felt different in the daytime, real and inexorable. In the night Kyle could've kidded himself that it was a dream, a vivid hallucination brought about by lack of sleep and too much work. But noticing Eric that morning it felt like the sunlight had streamed in and illuminated what was shrouded. Kyle knew then, that this wasn't a dream anymore.

Both their eyes had widened upon seeing each other, not anticipating any interaction with each other after they had just woken up. But Eric had smiled sheepishly even if he was still rather puzzled, and Kyle gladly smiled back. He ruined it with a yawn though, contagious enough to make Eric reciprocate.

They had eaten their breakfast in silence, and since Kyle had no clue what Eric's preferences were, their meals had been identical. While Eric slurped at his cereal, Kyle had emailed Doctor Victoria with shaky fingers. No matter how many times Kyle erased and redrafted the message it still sounded like an inappropriate joke that overfamiliar employees would send to their bosses.

While he waited for her reply, Kyle had tried to distract himself from dwelling on whatever that may be by mentally scouring his wardrobe to see if he had anything that would fit Eric. All that came to mind were sweats he wore when sprawled out on the couch watching reality TV and cartoons, and the baggy t-shirts he sometimes wore when he went jogging.

It was hardly fitting for a prince, and Eric looked like he had no intention of stepping out the apartment door by the time Kyle was done with him, but it had to do. Besides, Eric hadn't complained. Kyle had missed Eric's initial reaction to the clothes as he had tried as hard as possible not to look while Eric was changing. But he had helped Eric tug his t-shirt on when the stubborn scruff refused to pull over his face. There had been the slightest tinge of blush on Eric's cheeks, his gaze on his feet. Kyle had been unable to stop a smirk from appearing on his face.

Kyle had just come out the shower when Doctor Victoria replied to him; he had also received a separate email from her that was addressed to everyone. The subject: 'Emergency Meeting.' Kyle found his breakfast hard to hold down after reading that.

Now, he and Eric were stood at the head of the conference room with Kyle's colleagues unabashedly gawping like Eric was a carnival attraction and Kyle was looking to con them out of a couple dollars. They all spoke over each other in the same hushed, over-excited tone like bees buzzing around a hive. In fact, Kyle couldn't distinguish one voice from another:

"Well…"

"I'm speechless!"

"But there must be some explanation?"

"Where would we begin?"

Eric's eyes were rapidly searching the crowd, sometimes focusing on the mouths of Kyle's rude colleagues, stubbornly trying to wrangle sense out of them. That deep, bewildered crease resurfaced on Eric's brow and it was becoming clearer in the daylight that Eric's frustration was a mask for his fear. He still appeared intimidating, but Kyle was beginning to understand, his sympathy for Eric overriding anything off-putting.

It had been hours, but Kyle was tentatively becoming stronger, braver, and he hoped Eric was at least starting to become comfortable around him. In lieu of being able to ask the question outright, or offering Eric comfort in the form of verbal reassurances, Kyle took a quiet breath and reached out for Eric's hand.

Eric flinched, and Kyle was actually relieved to feel it. Facial expressions are not always enough to gauge a person's emotional state. Kyle kept his grip gentle, his eyes, on Eric. He hoped a soft touch would be a universal indicator of care, and Kyle hoped that as Eric's only constant to this very new world, it would mean something.

Eric smiled at Kyle, tight and grateful, before looking to their linked hands and giving Kyle's fingers a quick squeeze.

"No sign of decomposition at all!"

"Not even cerebral damage!"

"Now, that we can't be too sure of. The lack of oxygen could have-"

"Especially if he was unconscious for so long…"

"But how do we know he was?"

"Fascinating… and why now? Any theories, Doctor Broflovski?"

With a question finally directed at him, Kyle slid his hand out of Eric's own.

"Personally, I think that he was unconscious up until last night," he replied. "Perhaps the change in environment prompted him to come to?"

"Seems feasible…" Doctor Kenny McCormick piped up (the first person Kyle had been introduced to when he started working at the museum and the only person Kyle was friends with in the biology department).

"You're only saying that because it's the only explanation we have," a typically bitter Craig argued.

"I believe I'm the biology expert here, Tucker, and for now I fully endorse Broflovski's theory," Kenny replied.

"Quit the squabbling, boys," Doctor Victoria spoke, rising from her chair and making her way over to the crowd that had gathered around Eric. She pushed her thick-rimmed glasses further up her nose. "The question now is what becomes of the poor soul? He has no family, he doesn't speak the language, he needs to adapt to modern life somehow, so what can we do to aid him in that? Any suggestions?"

For once, the room fell silent. Kyle had spent most of the night observing his spinning thoughts like a baby observes a mobile, but it was futile when he had no idea how to discuss those ideas with Eric, or whether these were ideas Eric would agree to.

"Ma'am," Wendy piped up. "I don't think Doctor Broflovski would mind me saying that he and the, uh, prince, have established some kind of bond. After all, Doctor Broflovski has been putting in countless hours studying him since our return from Egypt."

"Yes, that's true," Doctor Victoria considered before turning to Kyle, "he does appear to be rather comfortable around you, Doctor Broflovski."

Kyle glanced at Eric, and almost magnetically Eric's gaze followed.

"I, I suppose…" Kyle nodded.

"He stayed with you last night, didn't he?" Doctor Victoria asked.

"Yes, ma'am, he did."

"And everything was fine, I assume?"

"I think so," Kyle replied. It had been awkward and a bit difficult but Kyle had expected nothing less… in fact, he never expected anything like this to happen to him at all.

"Is he wearing your clothes?" Craig suddenly asked.

Kyle scowled and tried to reply as placidly as possible, "Yes, because his were falling apart and not really suitable for the fall."

He almost wanted to hold Eric's hand again, as if soothing the offense that Eric obviously hadn't registered. But Kyle thought better of it.

Doctor Victoria smiled; a knowing smile that Kyle wasn't exactly fond of.

"I would say that – in a rather short amount of time - you've taken rather good care of him," she remarked.

"I'm trying, ma'am," Kyle replied honestly. "I don't want him to feel any unnecessary distress."

Doctor Victoria nodded, looking between Kyle and Eric.

"Good," she smiled. "So would you be willing to let him stay with you for the time being? Help him integrate into modern life?"

Kyle blinked, he thought of his job, his small apartment, how big of an undertaking this would be. But then he looked at Eric, alone, and confused, and with literally nothing. He needed somebody, and Kyle already felt like he was his responsibility.

"Sure," Kyle nodded.

After all, he couldn't very well abandon Eric after finding him in the first place.