AfterAhkmenrah had not recovered as well as the night guard had hoped from the night before. For one thing, he was back to slamming the lid of his sarcophagus across the room. The lid hit hard, revealing a still too pale and still rather shaken Egyptian who could not scramble down to set both feet on the floor fast enough.
Larry decided to ignore the lid. "You don't look well." He said gently.
The mask was back. "I assure you, guardian, I am sufficiently recovered from the previous night's-ordeals." Ahkmenrah assured the Larry, his expression carefully neutral, his voice perfectly controlled, giving away none of the Egyptian's thoughts, offering no hint of how he truly felt. The sudden return of this wall between them hit the night guard like a physical slap to the face.
Larry frowned. "Don't shut me out, Ahkmenrah." He begged. "I know yesterday was a nightmare come true, I know you still probably feel like crap, and I know that right now every warning in your head is probably screaming that it's better-safer-to retreat, to keep your distance, to hide what you're feeling. But you don't have to do that anymore. You don't have to hide. Not from me, not from anyone here."
It was a terrible speech, but it at least made the pharaoh hesitate. "I have behaved myself in ways unfitting for a pharaoh of Egypt." Ahkmenrah finally said, his voice bland. He was looking for some sort of response, Larry realized, but the night guard was unsure exactly what he was supposed to say.
He would give it his best attempt anyway. "You aren't just a pharaoh here, remember? You don't have to be alone. It's okay to be human; it's okay not to be perfect. Nobody's going to think any less of you for it here. What happened last night-you have nothing to be ashamed of, Ahkmenrah. Nothing." Acting purely impulse and hoping he was not making a terrible mistake, Larry stepped forward and clasped a hand on the Egyptian's shoulder.
Ahkmenrah did not pull away, much to the night guard's relief, but neither did his expression change. He glanced briefly at the night guard's hand, eyebrows raised, before lifting his eyes once again to meet Larry's gaze.
Too late, the night guard realized Ahkmenrah was barely holding himself together, and that while the tablet had been capable of healing the pharaoh's physical injuries, it had been able to do nothing for his state of mind. Ahkmenrah was still tired, still frightened, and still trying to cope with everything he had been through the night before. It made sense that he would try to protect himself, and though it still hurt, Larry completely understood.
He tightened his grip on the Egyptian's shoulder, briefly, and let go, stepping back to give Ahkmenrah some space. "You aren't alone, Ahkmenrah. Just try to remember that."
For a long time, Ahkmenrah said nothing, though he did not look away, and it occurred to the night guard that never once, during any of the difficult or uncomfortable conversations they had been through, had the pharaoh ever failed to meet his eyes, not when he was angry, not when he was embarrassed, not when he was afraid. Larry remained still, staring right back at Ahkmenrah, waiting for something, though he honestly had no idea what.
Finally Ahkmenrah spoke, his voice low. "I know what you ask, guardian, however, it is not something I am capable of at this particular moment. Forgive me."
Larry could accept that. He knew Ahkmenrah was trying-in spite of everything that had happened to him, he was still trying. He could back off, knowing that tonight, at least, the Egyptian needed that wall.
"What do you need?" He asked instead. "You look like you could use some rest."
Ahkmenrah shook his head slightly. "It is not necessary." He said, and Larry did not press.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I think we've stuck around here long enough. You ready to get out of here?" Ahkmenrah inclined his head slightly, and followed Larry when the night guard headed toward the entrance to the exhibit.
The pharaoh was again forced to endure the attention of several of the exhibits who had witnessed the state he had been in the night before and wanted to reassure themselves that he was all right. Attila actually went so far as to grab Ahkmenrah by the shoulders while a stream of Mongolian poured steadily from him and other exhibits looked on. The cavemen, as was usual for them, invaded the Egyptian's personal space with grunting and prodding and poking.
Ahkmenrah endured it all with his usual grace, though Larry did not miss the slight edge that had not been present in any of Ahkmenrah's earlier interactions with the other exhibits. He knew the pharaoh was struggling, but it was nonetheless heartwarming to see the obvious regard the other exhibits had for Ahkmenrah and to realize that they had accepted him as one of them.
Teddy, at least, seemed to recognize that Ahkmenrah was not as well as he pretended to be, and offered only a heartfelt, "Good to see you, pharaoh," before moving on.
Sacagawea, on the other hand, kept her distance, though Larry was unsure why. He had caught sight of her a few times, watching the Egyptian intently from across the room, but the Shoshone seemed to have absolutely no intention of approaching Ahkmenrah.
The pharaoh eventually settled down in the chair behind the front desk, taking part in polite yet brief conversations when approached, but primarily content just to watch the other exhibits interact. Larry heaved a sigh of relief-he had not been entirely sure that Ahkmenrah was not going to collapse on them-and allowed himself to go looking for Teddy.
He found the President in the diorama room, speaking with Jed and Octavius. All three looked up as he approached and fell silent, watching Larry expectantly.
"So, I was wondering if we could talk about last night?" He asked, uncertain. "I mean, it was obviously a disaster, especially what happened to Ahkmenrah, but I need to know what else happened. And how to keep it from happening again."
Teddy nodded in agreement, but Jed asked, "Should others be a part this conversation? Ahkmenrah, for one? Maybe Attila?"
"It does seem to me that those most affected by the previous night's events should be at least given the opportunity to participate." Octavius offered.
Larry was reluctant to bother the pharaoh right now, but he had to admit the miniatures had a point. "So Ahkmenrah. I'm not sure Attila would be much help since he doesn't speak English. Who else?" He asked.
"What about Sac?" Jed asked. "I know she's not as obvious about it as you and Teddy are, but she does a lot of looking out for the exhibits too."
Larry was surprised by the revelation only until he actually thought about it. She had been there the night before, right in the middle of things, and she had stepped in without hesitation when Ahk had been injured by one of the Hun's spears. When Teddy had been damaged the night Cecil and the other guards had tried to steal the tablet, she had stayed behind to take care of him.
"Sac too." He agreed. At the moment, he could think of no one else they needed to include.
They found Sacagawea and Ahkmenrah both in the mineral room, away from the general noise and chaos of the museum, seated on the floor and leaning against the wall, a position Larry would not have expected to see the pharaoh in. He also was not expecting to see Ahkmenrah leaning against the Shoshone, head on her shoulder, more relaxed than he had been all night.
His eyes opened and both he and Sacagawea looked up as Larry and the others entered. Ahkmenrah shifted as if to move-or at least put some distance between himself and the Shoshone woman, but Teddy put a hand up. "Don't get up, son." He said kindly. "You manage it well, but the horrors of the night previous still plague you, don't they?"
Ahkmenrah wavered, unsure how to respond, then simply nodded, relaxing back against the wall behind him.
Sacagawea glanced briefly at the Ahkmenrah before addressing both Teddy and Larry, though her attention was primarily on the former. "The museum is in much better spirits, what with the return of our regular night guard and assurance that all is well once again. We sought refuge in here when the-enthusiasm began to get to be a bit much."
Larry was impressed at how skillfully Sacagawea had just managed to let them know that Ahkmenrah had needed a break from the rest of the museum without expressly saying as much-Larry himself had never been blessed with an overabundance of tact.
"It is rather peaceful in here." Teddy noted, bending to sit down near Sacagawea. "I myself have spent the occasional hour or two here when in need of some peace." He set down the miniatures, who had been riding along in his hand. "However, I fear it is about to become significantly less peaceful. Lawrence wishes to discuss what happened yesterday, as well as how to keep it from happening again."
Sacagawea's eyes narrowed; Ahkmenrah's expression blanked. "I fear there is little we can do as far as who the museum sends to protect the museum in your place, Larry Daley." The Shoshone pointed out.
"Right," Larry cleared his throat. "Maybe we can figure something out. Hopefully, this won't happen again. I got held up, and it shouldn't have happened." He paused. "I owe you all an apology for not being here."
"You were…" Sacagawea frowned over the unfamiliar wording, "mugged?"
"He was attacked and then robbed." Ahkmenrah clarified. "Badly enough to need to go to a hospital for treatment of his injuries." Looking from her to Larry, he added, "You were not at fault, guardian."
Larry shrugged, uncomfortable with the turn the conversation had taken. "Still, I'm supposed to be watching out for you guys. I wasn't here to do that last night."
"You came when we needed you." Sacagawea reminded him gently. "And it is over now."
"Yeah," Larry sighed, still not completely ready to forgive himself. Moving on, he asked, "I know what happened with you and Ahkmenrah, Sacagawea. What about the rest of the museum?"
"Our exhibits were covered up." Jed put in.
"I saw the list." Larry said. It was currently sitting on the coffee table in his apartment. Briefly he wondered how different things would have turned out if Dexter had not destroyed his own copy and left him to figure things out on his own.
"The old night guards occasionally called in a replacement-the man you saw last night, Lawrence." Teddy explained. "He followed the instructions on that list to the letter. Unlike the other guards, he also took steps to insure that the other exhibits were quiet and stayed out of his way."
"Such as?" Larry was sure he was not going to like this.
"The first time he came, he singled out one of the more rambunctious Huns." Teddy said soberly, removing his glasses to clean them. He did not speak again until he had finished and replaced them. "He forced the poor creature outside just as the sun was coming out-the last thing I saw before the magic wore off was the Hun dissolving into dust."
Larry remembered all too well watching helplessly as one of the cavemen met the same fate. "I take it after that no one dared cross him after that." He said, and the President nodded, a grim expression clouding his features.
Larry sighed. "Okay, well, obviously, as much as I hope it never comes up again, he's not coming back as a substitute, not even for one night. I'll talk to Dr. McPhee and see what we can do about finding someone else, just in case."
"If you are aware ahead of time that you will not be here," Ahkmenrah ventured, his voice mild, "you could simply leave the tablet deactivated."
"The museum would not come to life." Larry realized.
"In that case, it would not matter who was here to watch the museum." Teddy pointed out.
"But would you guys be okay with that?" The night guard asked. "Would you, Ahkmenrah?"
"The exhibits would never notice." The pharaoh explained. "They would simply awaken on the next night that the tablet was active, with no knowledge or awareness that they had missed a night."
"That does include you?" Larry pressed, wanting to be
sure. Ahkmenrah nodded. "It wouldn't have any sort of weird side effects?"
"It would not." The Egyptian assured him.
"Well, that's certainly an option." Larry said thoughtfully. "It would be nice if we could find someone who could get along with you guys, though."
"You are the first I have come across in five thousand years." Ahkmenrah muttered darkly. By the way he immediately shifted into ultra-pharaoh mode, his shoulders and back straightening, his head coming up, and his expression once again unreadable, Larry was pretty sure the comment had slipped out unintentionally.
Larry had nothing to say to that. It was not as if the statement were untrue.
Sacagawea stirred. "Larry Daley cannot be the only good person left in the world." She suggested, her tone gentle. "It is worth trying."
"It is indeed." Teddy put in his opinion. Octavius and Jed nodded in agreement.
"If I do find someone, I'll make sure they know how things work around here now." Larry said firmly. "Nobody will have to worry about getting locked away or anything else." Eyes on Ahkmenrah, the night guard waited for the Egyptian to meet his gaze. "This will not happen again."
Ahkmenrah hesitated for a long moment, then nodded, and Larry was impressed and a little awed that at the pharaoh's willingness to trust him after everything he had been through. He was not sure, in Ahkmenrah's place, that he would have been able to do the same. Larry fervently hoped that he never did anything to betray that trust.
Sorry guys, got a choir concert this weekend and been busy with rehearsals. Concert's actually tomorrow, but I wanted to go ahead and get another chapter up. Thanks, always thanks for reading and reviewing.