A/N: Alright, here's my second Night At The Museum fanfic! I hope you, the readers, enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I do not own NATM or any of the characters.
Synopsis: A new night guard comes in to take Larry's place when he leaves to start his company. New friends and adventures await seventeen year old Alexandria in her new job as night guard at the Museum of Natural History.
Chapter One
"It's about time the pair of you got jobs." I simply listened as my adoptive father nagged at my brother and I to find work. I had been adopted as a baby from Egypt, and it was obvious that I was not related to my parents by blood, but they were the only parents I knew, and they had been good to me, raising me as their own. My older brother, Michael was a high school drop out. I had graduated a year early and I was going to use the year between high school and university to save up money.
"I have an interview today at the Museum of Natural history for a position as night guard. It pays pretty well."
"How much will it be?" My mum was a wonderful woman. Strict with discipline, but she was a very loving mother.
"Starting pay is twelve dollars an hour with full benefits, and if my work is good, I'll get a raise." I had always loved spending time at the museum, especially in the Egyptian exhibit. I had decided to apply to the University of Cambridge because of their top notch Egyptology department, which had numerous artifacts.
"That's good. Would you be able to get some groceries on the way home?" I nodded, putting my dishes in the sink.
"Sure, I can do that." I had a shower to clean myself up, get changed into something that looked professional and I headed out. I doubted that my brother would ever want to get a job. Walking into the museum, it was the same as it always had been. I went to the front desk.
"Excuse me, I'm looking for Larry Daley. I have an interview with him."
"He's right over here. I'm Rebecca." We shook hands. Rebecca had said that she was working here as well.
"Good luck." I rang the bell that was outside the door. Larry proved to be pleasant.
"Have you ever worked as a night guard before?"
"No, I haven't. I love being at the museum and I figured it would be great. I'm hoping to save up for when I hope to go to university."
"Cool, where did you apply to?"
"I applied to the University of Cambridge to study Egyptology. I was adopted from Egypt, so it'll be nice to learn more about where I'm from."
"Alright. What skills do you have?"
"Well, I do have a black belt in martial arts, so I am more than capable of holding my own. I also know a lot about the exhibits here and besides English, I can speak fluent French and German."
"Well, your resume is great. When can you start?"
"Whenever is good."
"Alright, you can start tonight. Go home and get some sleep." I shook Larry's hand and left.
"Good luck with your company." I picked up the groceries on my way home. When I got there, my father was at work, my brother was out with a friend of his and my mother was watching television.
"How did the interview go?"
"I got the job and I start tonight." I was greeted with a big hug.
"Your first real job, I'm so proud of you! Go upstairs and get some sleep. What time do you have to be there?"
"Larry said to be there for eight."
"Alright, I'll wake you up at six then so you have time to eat and get ready." My mother put the groceries away and I hung my new uniform on my door and settled down for some sleep. It would be easy enough, guarding the museum. The pay was good too.
"Alexandria, time to get up." I was looking forward to my first night at work. I came downstairs in my uniform, much to the delight of my father who was also quite proud of me.
"Are you nervous?"
"A bit, but how hard could guarding a museum at night be?" I had dinner and then left for work. I lived just up the road from the museum, so most days I could walk. Walking inside, the last few patrons were leaving. The museum director, Dr McPhee, was busy telling off a few kids who were touching the exhibits. Larry was waiting for me by the front desk.
"Well, here I am. Ready to work. How hard could this job be anyway?" I noticed a sly look between Larry and Rebecca, it was as if they were hiding something.
"Trust me when I say you'll have a lot of fun." I was given a quick tour and a briefing of my duties. Then the doors were locked and I was all alone. I headed back out to the front lobby to sit down for a bit, but what greeted me when I got there floored me.
"What the hell?" I had muttered it so quietly I could barely hear it. The tyrannosaurus skeleton was moving around, and when it took notice of me, instead of having me for a midnight snack, it shook it's tail and was behaving like a puppy.
"You must be the new night guard." I turned to my left. It was none other than Theodore Roosevelt.
"Yeah, what the heck is going on and how are all the exhibits alive?"
"Follow me." I was lead up the Egyptian exhibit. The two twenty foot jackal guards were not impressed with me being there.
"There's the source of all this commotion. The tablet of Akhmenrah. Arrived here from the Nile expedition in 1952."
"So it is true. All the information I've read about the tablet being able to bring things to life is real after all." At that moment, I was introduced to another prominent exhibit.
"Alexandria, this is Akhmenrah. It's his tablet that brings the entire museum to life." I just couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it, but here, standing right before me, was an actual Egyptian Pharaoh.
"It's nice to meet you." I stumbled upon my words a bit. Not only was Akhmenrah very charming, he was a real cutie as well. I had a feeling the two of us would become good friends.
"You're handling this quite well."
"Well, I guess I was in too much shock to do anything but stand there." I was introduced to many other exhibits, including Sacagawea, Dexter and many others.
"So how long can we expect you to be here?"
"I'll be here for a year. I applied to university and acceptance letters aren't being sent out until next week."
"Which school did you apply to?"
"One you should be quite familiar with. I applied to the University of Cambridge to study Egyptology." Dexter had taken quite a shine to me. Apparently he would frequently slap Larry whenever he got the chance.
"I was on display there for quite a while."
"I know, I've read so much about you and your family." I could see that I had hit a nerve at that point. I apologized, hoping I had not offended him.
"It's fine. Nobody here has ever asked about my family."
"I'm sure everyone would love to hear your stories."
"Well, it's not exactly something I enjoy talking about."
"I know that feeling. I'm adopted myself. I don't know who my real parents are. I was the only student at my high school that wasn't born in this country."
"Where were you born then?"
"I was born in Egypt, and my birth name was Halima after a high priestess during your father's reign. My adopted parents changed my name to Alexandria when they brought me here when I was a baby." Akhmenrah came with me to make sure all the exhibits got back to their correct locations before the sun came up. I had learned that most of them just wandered around as they pleased.
"It was nice to meet you." I could feel my cheeks going pink. I had only known Akhmenrah for a few hours and I liked him already.
"Uh, yeah. It was great to meet you." We said our good byes and I went to clock out for the day. Getting to the lobby, Rebecca and a few other employees had arrived just a few minutes after the sun came up.
"So how was your first night?"
"Well, it was interesting. A lot more fun than I thought it would be." I got home that morning, being greeted by the smell of a freshly cooked breakfast. My brother was still asleep.
"How was your first night?"
"It was alright. Nothing special." I hated lying to people, but the fact that the museum came to life at night was a closely guarded secret.
"Well, it sounds like you had a long night." I happily dug into the pancakes and bacon. I was very hungry. I guess playing with museum exhibits and riding a dinosaur skeleton will do that to you.
"Well, it's nice that you're doing something with your life." I slept for the majority of the day, getting up a bit earlier than usual to get a few things I could take with me. I was liking my job already.
"Have fun." I nodded, slinging my bag over my shoulder.
"Don't worry, I'll try to." With that, I closed the door behind me.
If only I knew how little things could change in a few short hours.