AN: This is just a little chapter fic I've written to entertain myself. Not sure how good it is, but I've written it, so I may as well post it. It picks up right at the end of Secret of the Tomb. It's a follow on from my other NatM fic, End of an Era, but works as a stand-alone too. This fic is all but written, I won't leave it unfinished. I plan to post a chapter each Monday until it's done. Enjoy :)

Ahkmenrah danced half the night away, beyond happy to be back with old friends, but now it was time for him to take care of practicalities. He lifted the tablet from the wall, tucked it under his arm, and headed for the front door. A little moonlight to keep the tablet healthy was in order.

Stepping out into the night air, he drew a deep breath, savouring the fresh air as always after his long confinement. And then, as his eyes swept the scene in front of him, his gaze landed on a familiar figure.

Larry Daley was looking back at him from across the street.

A jolt of excitement coursed through the Egyptian. He had missed Larry and been sorry to hear that he was no longer employed at the museum. A bright smile lit up his face at seeing his old friend but troublingly, the smile wasn't returned. Instead of approaching, Larry turned away and headed into the park.

Ahkmenrah could not let him go.

"Larry, wait!"

Dodging between New York traffic, ignoring the angry beeps of horns, he traversed the street and reached the park. For a terrifying second, Larry was nowhere to be seen.

"Larry!" the king called into the darkness.

He waited, heart hammering, until a soft, sullen reply issued from the trees.

"Yeah?" Then Larry materialised in the darkness and Ahkmenrah was rushing towards him, throwing his arms around his old friend.

"It is so good to see you," Ahkmenrah offered. He squeezed Larry tight, but the embrace was not returned.

Puzzled, Ahkmenrah stepped back.

"You are not pleased to see me?" he surmised, studying Larry's face for a sign as to what he was thinking.

"I..."

Ahkmenrah waited with bated breath to hear how that sentence would finish. He was afraid the presumption was correct.

"Um, yeah. Sure. Of course I am."

Ahkmenrah released the breath in relief but Larry's demeanour still troubled him. He reached out and laid a hand on the man's shoulder.

"What is troubling you, my friend?"

"Me? Nothing. I'm fine."

Ahkmenrah did not believe a word of it.

"Come, you think I don't know you better than that? Talk to me."

"I don't think that's a good idea..." The refusal was born of sadness more than anger. If Larry would not talk to him, Ahkmenrah decided that he must talk to someone.

"Come inside with me."

"No, I can't." It was the first answer the former night watchman seemed certain of.

"Shall I fetch someone? Teddy? Jedediah perhaps?"

"No, no," Larry declined. It was most vexing.

"I wish you would tell me what the matter is."

"It's nothing," Larry dismissed. "What are you doing out here anyway?"

"Moonlight," Ahkmenrah explained, holding up the tablet.

"Right," Larry allowed. Then something in him seemed to soften. Perhaps he was remembering their last adventure together. "How have you been, Ahk?"

"Wonderful," Ahkmenrah smiled, spending time with his parents again was a joy.

Larry smiled too, but it was a sad thing, and sensing that, Ahkmenrah's own expression faltered. He couldn't bask in his own happiness when one of his friends was so downcast.

"Though I did miss everyone. That is why I convinced Tilly to suggest a travelling exhibition."

"Seems like you guys are having a great time," Larry said, looking across at the museum where light and music was still flowing.

"We were."

Larry nodded and gave him a tight smile.

"When I said I missed everyone," Ahkmenrah offered. "That included you."

Larry looked up at him, and for the first time that evening Ahkmenrah saw a spark of something flare up in his friend. He wanted to do whatever he could to kindle that spark.

"Everyone has been asking about you."

"Me? Really?"

"Of course Larry," Ahkmenrah assured, hardly able to believe that Larry doubted their regard for him. For Ahkmenrah personally, he owed Larry a great debt for releasing him from the prison of his sarcophagus, and also for restoring the tablet. "Do come inside. I know everyone would love to see you."

Hopefully, being around the others would rally Larry's spirits. Ahkmenrah knew he was close to Teddy and Jed, even Attila and Dexter shared a special understanding with him. Perhaps seeing them again would help.

Larry looked over at the building, then back at Ahkmenrah, who offered him a smile and a nod in encouragement. If he was incapable of raising Larry's spirits, perhaps one of their friends would succeed.

"Well," Larry finally allowed. "As long as none of the board members are there. It's not like I have anywhere else to be."

"Excellent!" Ahkmenrah beamed, before realising how that might sound. "Not that I'm glad you have no plans... I mean... I'm just glad you'll join us. It's good, and..."

"I get it," Larry assured, patting his arm to let him know it was alright. For now, Ahkmenrah ignored the pleasant tingle that small touch produced, in favour of leading Larry back across the street, to the warmth and light of friendship.

xxx

It had been three years since he'd walked up these steps. Taking the fall for McPhee had been the only thing to do. The museum director had done him a solid by organising the London trip, and he certainly didn't want to stay in the job when it involved night after night haunting silent halls. Seeing his friends every night but never being able to speak to them would have been torture.

Ahkmenrah gave him a bright smile before pulling the door open to allow them inside. Larry would've been lying if he said he wasn't still a little bit bitter towards the Egyptian. Irrationally so maybe, but the feeling was still there.

Inside, the entrance hall was packed with hundreds of exhibits, all dancing and laughing, illuminated by the living constellations above them. He had missed the vibrancy of life here so much.

"Lawrence!" Teddy exclaimed, a wide smile on his face as he grabbed Larry's hand in a firm and vigorous handshake. "Wonderful to see you again."

"Hey Teddy," Larry greeted, maybe not as enthusiastically as he should've, but he couldn't pretend that three long, lonely years hadn't taken their toll.

"T'was an honourable thing you did, lad. Shouldering all the blame to allow Dr McPhee to retain his employment."

It wasn't that honourable, he'd planned on leaving anyway, so that was just a way to make it count.

"Um, yeah. Thanks, I guess."

Teddy gave him a scrutinising look, probably unused to Larry being this unconfident since the beginning.

"Gigantor! How you been, boy?!"

"Hey, Jed. Octavius."

"Larry, a pleasure," the Roman replied.

Before they had a chance to say anything else, Laaa spotted him, and raced across the room, wrapping him up in an overly tight hug.

"Okay, buddy," he wheezed, trying to coax the caveman off. "Yeah, it's good to see you too."

Next, Dexter sprang up onto his shoulder next and kissed him, while Attila shouted hunnic greetings.

They were all exactly the same as he remembered them, but then, they hadn't had to endure three years alone. He resented them all a little for that.

"We heard you became a teacher," Sacagawea said proudly. Everyone else's faces reflected that pride, but it wasn't as great as it sounded. He'd barely seen the inside of a classroom, most of his time had been spent in college, learning things he already knew, not yet having a chance to share his love of these historical figures with the next generation. The fulfilment he'd thought it would bring had taken too long to eventuate. He felt lost.

"What do you teach?" They all wanted to know. He didn't want to tell them, it was too pathetic, but he didn't know how to avoid the question either. With this one word they would all know how tragic he really was. But their faces, all so eager to hear...

"History."

The admission was met by a loaded beat of silence, and it was too much. Now they all knew he had spent the last three years unable to let go. He could see the pity in their eyes. Wax and polyurethane models felt sorry for him. And yet, when the tablet came back, not one of them had reached out to him.

"Well, it's getting late," he announced. "Guess I should get going. Exams to study for and all that."

They all protested, asking him to stay, but he just wanted to get out of here. He needed some time to process all this and re-evaluate exactly where the hell his life was going. One thing he was pretty sure about was that he couldn't be pulled back into all this, not just to lose it all over again.

"I'll see you guys later," he fibbed, heading for the exit as quickly as he could.

xxx

"What do you all think?" Ahkmenrah asked the circle of concerned faces surrounding him in the wake of Larry's abrupt departure.

"Woeful," Attila supplied in his native tongue.

"There's something seriously up with, Gigantor," Jed agreed.

"Ahkmenrah, how did you come across him?" Teddy questioned.

"I stepped outside to supply the tablet with some moonlight, and he was there across the road. I don't think he intended anyone to see him."

"It's fortuitous that you did," Octavius observed.

"Why wouldn't he want to see us?" Sacagawea wondered. It was the question on everyone's mind, and not one of them had an illuminating answer.

"This calls for a plan of action," Jed declared.

Ahkmenrah was all for it, whatever it might be, because something needed to be done. Larry was quite obviously miserable.

"What is it that you propose we do?"

AN: Please excuse any errors or inconsistencies, I'm still learning this story and these characters. Thanks for reading :)