A/N: First of all this update is dedicated to Momochan77. You left so many wonderful comments and your timing actually couldn't have been better. I had been going through my in-progress stories deciding what I wanted to update and what I wanted to write more for yesterday and I was disheartened at how little attention this story was getting, both on here and Wattpad. Then I woke up to your comments and oh my gosh! It brightened my morning and made my whole day! You are like my angel right now! Thank you from the bottom of my heart! In response to your comments:

-I'm glad you enjoyed the Brundon part, it was so hectic writing it because he and Larry just went back and forth so much and talked so fast, it took forever. I did think about skipping it, but I'm glad I didn't now.

-I fangirl screamed for 1.5 seconds when I read your cutie comment! And there were people around but I don't care. I actually based Billy's look off the one authentic photo we have of him (and artist renderings that remove the 100+ years of wear and tear and colorize it) I've read a lot on him and his friends say the photo doesn't do him justice. (I figure it's like how all photos of me as a kid have red eye but I don't actually have red eyes, and seeing as the photo is from like, the first camera ever made, I'm going to blame crappy quality on the technology of the time lol) But I've also watched the EPIX series and don't blame you for picturing that Billy. (I've been contemplating doing a fanfiction for that show too but I have a lot on my plate right now, but maybe it'll come later) I'm glad you liked the paintings coming to life, I looked through so many pictures of Smithsonian exhibits trying to figure out what Anna could use to defend herself and I loved the idea of using the pictures. Especially since we see so few of them in the movie.

-Glad you liked the humor too. I'm excited for movie #3 where I can add more Jed/Octavius comedy!

-Writing scenarios for what Billy must have seen and experienced was tough. Partially because his life must have been so brutal, but I knew it was important to share that since I believe seeing such horrible crimes was what fueled his killings, in the Lincoln County War anyway. I think Anna identifies with a lot of people since I know how I felt when researching Billy and it does feel like a huge slap in the face that he didn't get his pardon even though he kept his end of the deal. I agree with you that learning about Billy is such an experience, his story just sucks you right in. I still wish a governor would pardon him, even though it's kind of too little too late to help him, I think he'd rest easier if that could finally happen for him. There will be more Billy and Anna cute moments coming up, I can guarantee that!

Chapter 7

Shouting drew their attention back to the Smithsonian Castle. Out of its front doors poured Ivan the Terrible's Streltsy. They ran across the street clanging in their armor as they rushed for the Air and Space Museum. Amelia and Larry dove for one map, the kind on a large board you'd find at the mall. Billy and Anna dove in the other direction hiding among the shadows of a tree and park bench. Anna peered out between the slats of the bench's backing watching the Streltsy shout to each other as they searched for the four of them.

She heard a click behind her and turned to see Billy had drawn his pistol. Perched on one bent knee he aimed it over the top of the bench. Just as his finger moved to the trigger Anna grabbed the gun and pulled it down so it was aimed at the ground.

"What are you doing?" Billy hissed trying to stay quiet.

"We're just a few blocks from the White House, if the Secret Service hear a gunshot they will swarm this place and then we're all in trouble."

Instead of just nodding in agreement or debating with her – like a normal person – Billy smiled ear to ear, again.

"Well far be it for me to get a lovely lady into trouble."

Anna was so happy they were covered in darkness, blushing twice because of something Billy said or did in the same fifteen minutes was one blush too many in her book. Still not willing to risk him catching it she turned to check on Larry and Amelia. But when she looked to where they'd been standing they were gone.

"Did you see where they went?" she asked softly.

"No, I was lining up a shot."

Anna huffed and looked around, they couldn't stay here it was too out in the open.

Not far from them was the Hirshhorn with its sculpture garden out front. It would do.

"Come on." She told Billy before grabbing his hand and pulling him along. With the Streltsy preoccupied with searching around the Air and Space Museum they were able to make it to the bushes surrounding the gardens.

The Streltsy might not be a problem now but she could spot Napoleon's men thanks to the red in their uniforms. They were leaving the castle and crossing the mall to search the Natural History Museum. That still left Capone's men, and given they were all black and grey they would hide best in the darkness. Her stomach flipped thinking about their guns. At least with the Streltsy they had to get close enough to stab you. And the guns the French carried only fired one shot at a time. Capone's guns could put twenty rounds in you in the blink of an eye. And they could use the cover of the gardens against the pair of them.

Anna wove her fingers between Billy's and tugged him along again as she headed for the front of the Hirshhorn. There was another luminated map there that she pulled him behind before looking around. The sidewalk and pathways were wide enough here that they'd be able to see the silhouette of any of Capone's men coming, hopefully before they could shoot at her or Billy.

"Okay, we should be good here. We can lay low until the Streltsy move on then creep our way back over to the Air and Space. We'll meet Larry and Amelia there –"

She turned and saw Billy looking down at the ground. He had a wide grin on his face and something about it was different than the other smiles he'd been wearing all night. It had taken her a while but she was starting to notice the slight variations between them. Billy was always positive, sure of himself, confident that he'd get away from danger unscathed. Hence the constant smiling, but Anna could now detect when he was smiling out of joy, or if he was smiling out of humor, or smiling with a bit of mischief. But this smile she hadn't seen before.

"What?" she asked.

His blue eyes looked up and met hers. Then he nodded down at what he'd been looking at. Her face burned. The whole time she'd been planning out loud she'd kept her fingers woven with his – something that wasn't necessary anymore now that they'd stopped moving. But on top of that her grip had seemed to tighten on its own, her body itching to have closer contact with him.

She ripped her hand away from his and tried to focus on anything but how cold the skin of her fingers felt now that it wasn't touching his, or how that new smile and his blue eyes made her feel all hot and uncomfortably warm under her jacket.

Noticing the coast was clear she turned and headed to the Hirshhorn. The building was unique in the sense that the first level was actually under the structure. The circular museum was perched on thick legs allowing visitors to walk right under it. At the center was a fountain and you could look straight up and see the night sky.

There were the statues of animal heads resting on poles surrounding the fountain that added a weird vibe – artists who visited the museum might disagree with her but hey they didn't have to see the animal heads come to life. Thankfully they stayed quiet as she sat by the fountain and splashed some of the cold water on her face to cool her down. All this running, she blamed it on.

To help she combed her fingers through her hair and pulled it into a high ponytail, she felt better with the hair off her neck. Then she dipped her fingers into the water again and ran them through her bangs pushing them to the side and out of her eyes.

Billy approached her, quietly looking up at the stars with his hands in his vest pockets. When he looked back down and saw her looking at him he smiled, but it wasn't the same smile from earlier, it was an innocent smile, boyishly charming. Then it fell just a bit as he reached out and his fingers brushed the side of her face. When he pulled them back there was a single drop of water he'd removed from her skin that he flicked away. Their eyes met again and he smiled before looking back up at the sky.

The quiet became a bit awkward, so Anna wracked her brain for something to say. Something that was calming and didn't revolve around running for their lives or fighting a vengeful pharaoh.

"People used the stars to navigate in your time, didn't they?" She asked.

He hummed in reply still looking up at the sky, craning his head back.

"Are the constellations here different from New Mexico?"

He gave a nod, "Some. You see the North Star?"

She craned her head back but all she could see were the splattering of dots. She tried to figure out a shape, not wanting to give the stupid sounding 'no' as her answer.

"I can see the Big Dipper."

"Okay, so across from the cup is the Little Dipper." She hummed acknowledging she'd found it, "And the North Star is the tip of its handle."

She shook her head astounded, "That's all you had telling you which way to go?"

It seemed impossible to her. After using her phone's GPS so often with it's diagrams and maps it amazed her that people got along with so little. She envied the simplicity of the life and time Billy grew up in, despite its historical hardships.

"Well those are just the main three. Then there was the sun telling you east from west."

Her neck started to hurt from the extreme angle so she shifted on the wall of the fountain and laid down, keeping her legs bent as she rested her feet on the concrete.

"So what else is up there?"

"From what I know off hand?" he asked stepping closer to see the stars better, "To the side of the North Star is Cassiopeia. And from the bottom of the Big Dipper is Leo."

"Honestly, I can't tell what you're looking at." She admitted with a small chuckle.

Then she felt his presence closer and a moment later he drifted into her peripheral vision as he laid down with his head next to hers. She swallowed and focused on her breathing, one of her go to tactics when her anxiety spiked. And that was something she really didn't want to have to deal with right now.

Thankfully he pointed to the dark sky which gave her something to focus on other then how close he suddenly was.

"So in that direction." He pointed to the North Star then cut a diagonal line across from it, "That's Cassiopeia."

Without him pointing to it she never would have found it. The stars looked so far away and distinguishing the ones that connected and the ones that floated about on their own seemed to her to have no rhyme or reason.

"It makes this zig zagging line." He traced it with his finger. Then he pointed much lower, to under the Big Dipper, "And that's where Leo is."

The stars for Leo were more spaced out but shone brighter making it a bit easier to distinguish from the other stars. She still had no idea how that squiggle had been named 'the Lion' it looked nothing like one.

Then she felt Billy's eyes turn to her but she didn't meet them. She kept her gaze upward at the night sky. She'd seen all the movies and knew where looking at him would get her. Her face would heat up along with the rest of her, her heart would pound in her chest, their noses might brush and her breathing would come in shorter pants. Their eyes would meet, maybe one of them would lean in. It was a recipe for an anxiety attack. And that's what she reminded herself as she looked at the stars. This was not going to be a movie moment, this was real life. Trying to mimic film only got you one of two things, disappointment at being let down by too high expectations, or embarrassment from things not working as smoothly as the movies lead you to believe.

Thankfully Billy didn't look for too long before turning back to the sky. He shifted a bit and let out a long breath. As they sat there peacefully the sound of little crickets in the bushes reached them, the sound of cars on the road dull and far off.

"Will you tell me something about your world? Clearly it's much more advanced than mine." He asked.

She took a deep breath and chuckled. "Understatement."

"Just one thing?"

"Let me think." There was a lot she could go through but which one would he enjoy the most? Then she noticed a tiny red light blinking high in the sky among the stars and getting an idea, she smirked.

"People can fly."

Slowly, he turned to her and this time she returned the gaze. The confusion on his face made it easier, the tension nonexistent.

"What?"

She pointed above them, "See those lights moving across the sky?"

"Yeah, I was wonderin' what that was."

"It's a plane. Think of it like a train car, but with long metal wings and a tail.

"So people don't fly, the plane does?" He asked turning back to her, a small smirk on his mouth, "You lied."

She smirked back, "I misled for dramatic effect. That's not lying."

He shook his head turning back to the dot that was the plane, "Whatever you need to tell yourself."

"Anyway, people board the plane and it can take you across the country in about half a day or less."

He let out a low whistle, "Used to take weeks to do that, even by train you were looking at a long trip."

"And there are special types of planes that even take you to the moon."

He sat up and got off the fountain, "Now you're pulling my leg." He chuckled. She turned to watch him, easier now that he wasn't so close. He'd stuffed his hands back into his pockets as he paced around processing what she'd told him.

"Well only special people are allowed to go. You need years of training to handle being in space. And they don't stay out there, they come back after a brief time."

He looked at her grinning and shook his head. His gaze turned back to the sky and she took the opportunity to stare at him for a moment. Billy could be the definition of unique, he never seemed to get discouraged, he was polite, fun loving, kind, a fierce friend and loyal to his last breath. She knew he'd killed people, but it had always been people who had fired first, either killing his friends or trying to kill him. The four proven kills he'd made weren't the kills of some serial killer, or random violence like those who shot up schools. One was definitely in self defense, another an act of revenge for the cold blooded murder of his unarmed friend. The other two were shrouded in more grey area. History recorded Billy's statement of regret at killing the deputy Bell, and it also recorded the animosity between Billy and Bob Olinger, a man whose own mother said her son went straight to hell. Anna knew killing was wrong, but at the same time, wouldn't everyone wish for a friend like Billy? Someone who had your back even beyond death? Someone who was a protector.

A pang of sadness entered her heart at how unfair he'd been treated in life, how horrible his death really was, his life cut short. He deserved better. Maybe after this was over she could talk to Rebecca, even though she didn't work at the museum in New York anymore she was still a close friend of Larry's. Maybe she had enough pull in the historical community to encourage people to push for a modern day pardon for Billy. It would be too little too late on the one hand, but maybe his soul could rest easier if he could finally get what was promised him. She lived in an age where lots of wrongs from the past were being corrected, why not the wrong against Billy?

He must have felt her staring at him because he suddenly looked back down at her.

She cleared her throat as she sat up, "We should, um, probably head back to the Air and Space."

He nodded and offered his hand to help her up. Not that she needed the help but she appreciated the chivalry.

As they left their safe little haven they made sure to keep their eyes peeled for any of the men working for Kahmunrah as they rushed over to the Air and Space Museum.

"Let's see if we can find these Einstein's of yours." They heard Amelia's voice softly echo and headed to a staff only entrance on the side of the building.

"Larry!" Anna called in a hushed whisper making him turn.

"There you are. Where did you guys get to?"

"Hirshhorn." She said with a shrug. "Where have you been? I turned around and the next second you were gone."

"Oh, we were, uh, meeting President Lincoln."

Anna's eyes widened as Larry turned around and buzzed them in with Brundon's I.D. They only made it a few steps inside before their breath was taken away. There were rockets and planes of all sorts dangling from the ceiling and on display across the showroom floor, but now all the pilots seated in them were checking gear and flipping switches. More crewmen in uniforms and helmets walked about the museum checking out planes from times other than their own.

Anna smiled a toothy grin before turning to Billy. His eyes were wide and his mouth opened and closed a bit before he got out, "It's like everything Jules Verne wrote about."

"Told you." She gloated.

Amelia nodded in approval at the state of the large room as a man on the PA announced, 'D.C. this is Air and Space. We are back online and fully operational.'

After their moment of awe Larry waved them forward searching for the Einsteins. Anna hadn't searched the Air and Space during the day like Larry had so it was much more distracting for her. Every type of plane hung above, space crafts were almost everywhere you looked.

She hit Billy lightly in the arm. "See?" she pointed to an astronaut in a replica of the moon, "Moon landing."

He watched the astronaut bounce around in zero g's before turning to a large yellow rocket shaped display.

"What's that thing?" he asked as they passed it.

"Missile." She answered, "Think of it like a bullet but with a firecracker on the bottom to make it go further."

His blue eyes widened, "That's. . . a big bullet."

She laughed before tugging him away so they wouldn't lose Larry and Amelia again in this mess. During the day all the planes and rockets and missiles would look like a collection put together by a hoarder, but now, seeing the pilots tend to their crafts with care, it felt like a love of air travel bridged the gap of time.

"The Tuskegee Airmen are on the march once again!" a booming voice reached their ears. Anna looked ahead just in time to see one man's co-pilot reprimanding him before he announced, "The Tuskegee Airmen are living in the moment!"

"Miss Earhart." The co-pilot stopped the red head, "I'd like to thank you."

"What for Captain?"

"A lot of people thought we couldn't fly either." He saluted her grinning ear to ear, "Thanks for clearing the runway ma'am."

She smiled and matched his salute.

"Race you to Paris?" he challenged.

"You're on!"

Then Larry grabbed her arm before she could run off, "Whoa, whoa. Hey, hey. No, not now. We gotta –"

"It's just a quick jaunt, over the pond." Amelia tried to reason.

"No. Gotta find the Einsteins. Come on we gotta go, we don't have time."

Billy and Anna shared an amused look as Larry pulled her along like taking a child from a toy store.

"Sorry, it's in the blood." Amelia apologized fixing her jacket. Then her eyes lit up, "There she is Mr. Daley. Ol' Bessie. The old family bus. That gal took me across the Atlantic!" she rushed over to the plane.

"Okay, I think the Einsteins are over here –"

Suddenly a beeping sounded from the speakers drowning out Larry's voice, 'This is mission control. Flight check complete. You are clear for launch.'

"Launch?" Billy asked.

Anna's eyes widened, "Oh no."

"Contact!" someone shouted from the second floor. Simultaneously dozens of the missiles and rockets began to rev up, fire coming from their tail ends. Plane engines started, making their propellers spin faster and faster until they reached top speed.

'D.C. this is mission control. We are all systems go and green for lift off.'

'Roger that. We are green for lift off.'

"No!" Larry shouted and ran from her and Billy. Smoke began to curl along their feet covering the carpet. The ground filled with smoke from everything hitting their ignition switches at once and Anna put her fingers in her ears the noise was so loud.

"We are definitely not green for any kind of lift off!" she somehow still heard Larry shout but couldn't see him from all the smoke the engines around them were causing. She and Billy backed up until they hit a table and ducked just to be sure nothing took their heads off.

The scariest thing she saw was the exhibit of a spaceship base that was easily taller then any man ignite as flames shot out of it.

"Go!"

"Go!"

"Go!" people were shouting all around them.

Then Larry's voice came over the PA, "No we do not have commit. Repeat. We are decommissioning the committal of the launch. And it is now a negatory launch phase. We are in a no-fly, no-go phase. That is a November Gorgon phase of non-flying! And we're gonna say good night. Thank you. Good work. Over and out."

All around them the planes shut down, fires under rockets and missiles stopped, everything that had been in the air – mostly smaller model planes from the toy store – landed. Directors were waving yellow night sticks and crossing their arms in X's to their pilots above. Both Anna and Billy stood, he fixed his hat and she was happy she'd put her hair up.

"Okay, now where did Larry go?" she asked looking in all directions.

"Over there." Billy pointed spotting them first. Larry and Amelia were standing by an information desk where several bobble heads in different colored sweaters were speaking to them.

"Don't you get it kid?" one of the Einstein bobble heads was telling Larry as they approached, "You're looking for the secret number at the heart of the pyramids!"

Amelia snapped her fingers, "Well whistle me Dixie! The answers pi."

"Pie?" Larry asked her.

"3.14159265, to be exact." Einstein explained.

"Oh, yes. 3.1495265." Larry said incorrectly as Anna stood beside him. Next to her Billy leaned forward resting his arms on the counter.

"No, no, no, no, no." the Einstein in purple waved his arms, "3.14159265."

"Okay, 3.14. . . I'm sorry I can't tell. Is it yes or no, cause you just –" Larry imitated the nodding and shaking of the bobble head for emphasis.

"I'm a bobblehead dummkopf, and that's the way a-huh a-huh we like it!" the Einstein said, "All together now!"

"That's the way, a-huh a-huh we like it! A-huh a-huh!" the Einsteins all sang and Anna caught Billy grooving to the beat momentarily.

"Can you slow it down a little bit?" Larry asked desperately.

Einstein groaned, "3, point, 1, four, 159265."

"Okay, 3.14. . . "

"Do you have cotton in your ears?" Billy asked looking like he was questioning Larry's sanity, "3.14159265."

"I've got it." Amelia intervened.

"I think we've all got it." Anna muttered and Einstein laughed and held out his hand to her. She brought her pointer finger down to him and he high fived the pad of her finger. She giggled.

"Thank you, Mr. Einsteins." Amelia said as she pushed Larry away as he still tried to get the number right.

They headed back through the maze of planes looking for the door. Larry and Amelia began talking abut actually giving Kahmunrah the combination. Sure they could use it to get their friends back but then it would also give Kahmunrah the power to take over the world with his undead army. Amelia suggested using the combination as leverage but Anna found herself zoning out of the discussion.

She slowed down and Billy hung back with her. Amelia and Larry had paused ahead of them but they were too far away to hear what they were saying now.

Anna covered her mouth as a yawn took control of her jaw. She hadn't slept much on the plane to D.C. which now seemed like a huge mistake. Twenty four hours ago Larry had dropped Nicky off at home and there hadn't been many opportunities for sleep since.

"Tired?" Billy asked her smirking as she yawned behind her hand again.

She nodded, "And hungry. I've barely eaten or slept since yesterday."

Looking around it didn't take her long to spot something that would help – a vending machine. She headed over as she patted her pockets for any money but turned up emptyhanded.

"Can I borrow that?" she asked Billy, turning to the gun tucked in his belt. He looked down at the weapon, then shrugged and handed the Thunderer to her. She spun it around in her hand grabbing the barrel and used the handle to smash open the vending machine. Between the splintered crates downstairs from their earlier skirmish, the painting of the ocean that now had no water in it – courtesy of Larry Daley – and the exhaust and smoke smelling Air and Space lobby, a broken vending machine would be very low on the Smithsonian staff's list of curiosities come morning.

Pulling out a bag of chips she passed the gun back to Billy. "Thank you."

He chuckled, "You're not afraid to get your hands dirty, are you?"

"Never stand between a woman and food." She advised before leaning back on the frame of the machine and started munching, "Oh that is so much better."

Billy followed her lead and leaned against the other side of the vending machine. After a moment he peered into it and took a look at all the strange labels he'd never seen before. Finally he settled on a chocolate bar and wriggled it from its spot. He ripped open the plastic and broke off a piece and the two of them ate in peaceful quiet.

Anna was the one to break the silence once her stomach had stopped aching with hunger. "Sweet tooth?"

Billy laughed again before turning to her, "A mighty powerful one." He replied.

They shared a laugh and continued eating. For a moment she wondered about him eating food but then again she had seen the cavemen back in New York eating foam from fire extinguishers so some Hershey's shouldn't hurt Billy.

"Let me ask you." He began, "If this whole thing is your, step-brothers-father's job, then why have you stuck around? Why not skin out?"

"I could ask you the same thing about leaving New Mexico." She countered, "Figure the answers the same."

He nodded slowly, looking at the bar of chocolate again. When it was clear he wasn't planning on responding she continued. "You stuck around for your friend Tunstall, to avenge his murder, then I'm guessing the murders of your friends in the Lincoln County War." He glanced back up at her popping another piece of chocolate into his mouth. "I can relate to that."

She started thinking about Jed and the others. Anna didn't have many friends, after her parents split up and her dad got full custody she had to change schools once she'd moved in with him. She was just shy enough that making friends was hard, she opened up once she got to know someone but people didn't seem to have the time to wait that long.

She remembered Rebecca. She'd said once that she had always been the weird kid at school, which made sense in adulthood seeing as she had a job where she'd rather spend time with people who'd been dead for hundreds of years. 'It's the live ones that throw me.' She'd joked with Anna one night. But Anna understood what she meant. For Anna, there was no need for a 'get-to-know-you' period with a historical figure. You could read up on someone to know if they were a good or a bad person. Living people were too unpredictable, they could stab you in the back or decide they didn't want to be friends anymore at the blink of an eye. People like Jed and Octavius, Teddy, Sacagawea, and Ahkmenrah, left a personality profile in history books. Even Attila the Hun, one of the most brutal people in history, Larry had been able to befriend him by learning about his childhood, the thing that made him so angry.

But right now none of that mattered. It didn't help get her friends out of that metal prison they were trapped in at Kahmunrah's mercy.

She felt Billy's eyes on her and turned to see that shade of blue she'd become familiar with suddenly looked very deep. Like he was figuring her out.

"You're a loyal friend." He complimented after a moment, "Not leavin' 'em."

She gave him a small smile, "So are you."

He grinned at the compliment. Billy was popular in his day – or so she read. There wasn't enough of him to go around, one of his friends had said in an interview years later. But outside of New Mexico Territory all people read about was a murderous kid who was bloodthirsty and would kill you for just stumbling upon your wagon. Bad publicity like that seemed to give him a soft spot for compliments. An appreciation for them.

Whatever moment she and Billy had fallen into didn't have time to become awkward though as a shrill voice cried, "They're over there!"