A/N: I failed. I wanted this to be a two-shot, but it was getting too long, so a three-part fic is what it shall be. Ah, well--good things come in threes, right? I hope so. Thanks for all the great reviews for the first chapter! :)

Note: A couple people have mentioned Jed/Oc slash. That will not happen in this fanfic. I'm not a fan of the two as a couple-I like them much better as best friends.

And get ready for more depressing reading...

Scattered

Several days passed with no change. Ahkmenrah spent every moment of every night wandering around the museum with the tablet in hand, sometimes muttering in his native tongue, other times simply glaring at the immovable slab of gold before him. The others knew better than to bother the king; he would only fix them with a blank stare until they moved away.

The still figure of Jedediah had been placed in its usual spot on the frontier; all the western figures kept far away from it, most leaving the diorama completely until the night was over. They had not taken the news of their leader's death well, but they knew they couldn't logically put the blame on anyone in the museum, so they remained miserably peaceful.

The other exhibits kept out of the Hall of Miniatures altogether. Many were just as upset as Larry; all soccer games had been postponed, and the Neanderthals were given the sole responsibility of entertaining the still-rambunctious Rexy, who understood only that his favorite distraction, the little car, had been put away.

But Octavius was by far in the worst state of all. Sacajawea had finally managed to pull him away from the Egyptian room and get him and herself back in place just before the sun rose on that first night. Since then, he kept to himself in his room in the Roman palace; much like Jedediah, he refused to speak with anyone and only emerged when it was almost sunrise. Larry insisted that a guard be posted outside the general's door and check in hourly, just to make sure Octavius wouldn't try to follow his friend's lead. The Roman had agreed to this only after he saw the desperate look on the night guard's face.

Larry felt like the museum was falling apart. He never would have guessed that losing one little plastic man could cause so much chaos. When one of the cavemen had died his second night on the job, there had not seemed to be anything missing and no one was upset. Then again, Jed was truly one-of-a-kind, and the Neanderthals, though endearing, weren't very individual.

Friday night came—the fourth night of Jed's immobility. Larry was worried. Friday was when Nick came to work with his father, and it was unknown as to how the almost thirteen-year-old would react to Jed's passing. Probably not well at all, which was why Larry had put off telling his son what had happened.

But now there was no way around it. Nick would rather write a ten-page essay than miss the night with his friends, so as usual, Larry picked him up from his mom's and they went to the museum to wait.

Once everyone had gone, the doors were locked, and it was only a matter of minutes until sunset, Larry sat Nick on the information desk in the lobby.

"Nicky, I need to tell you something."

Nick recognized the serious look in his father's eyes. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Something happened to one of the exhibits."

Nick's eyes widened. "Did something break? Did anyone get hurt? Was it Teddy? Attila? Ahkmen-"

"No," Larry cut his son off. "It's…it's Jed, Nick. He…well, he died."

Nick swallowed; instantly, moisture began to form in his brown eyes.

"I…I don't get it. They're plastic. They aren't real. How…how could he die?"

Larry explained, as gently as possible, what had happened. When he finished, Nick opened and closed his mouth several times, blinking away tears.

"But there's still hope then, right, Dad? If Ahk can find a way…if he can use the tablet…"

Larry reached forward and wrapped his son in a hug. Nicky was reacting the same way he himself had, at first. Grasping at any hope, however unlikely it was. Searching for a way out of the nightmare.

While they were embracing, the exhibits came alive.

Teddy rode up on Texas. "Nick! Good to see you, my boy!" His greeting was much less hearty than usual.

"Hi," Nick said softly.

Teddy dismounted and laid a hand on the youth's shoulder. He seemed about to speak, but something caught his eye and his face tightened. Larry and Nick turned.

Ahkmenrah was passing by, his face bent over the tablet, nose almost touching it. He was muttering in Egyptian and seemed exceptionally agitated.

"Ahk…" Larry began. The king looked up, revealing a very red face. The night had just begun, and already he looked close to falling apart.

"I can't do it," he whispered, stumbling toward them. "I-I've tried everything."

Larry gently pried the tablet out of his friend's hands and placed it on the desk. He put his hands on Ahkmenrah's shoulders and looked him straight in the eye.

"You need to stop this. Okay? You are killing yourself. It isn't your fault. You can't change what happened."

There was a pause; then the young royal dissolved into tears.

--

Upstairs, shut away in his chambers, Octavius was trying to make sense of a dream he'd had during the day.

In the dream, he found himself in a place both familiar and unfamiliar—meaning he felt like he'd been there before, but at the same time he was sure he'd never seen anything like it.

He was standing on a stone balcony, looking out over a vast and busy city. All the people below were dressed similarly to him—there was a very archaic look to the scene. The sun overhead was hot, beating down on his heavy armor.

Without thinking, he reached up to wipe the sweat off his brow and remove his helmet—it wasn't there.

"Weird, ain't it?"

Startled, he spun. Jedediah was leaning against the balcony railing, his arms crossed over his chest and a neutral expression on his face. He looked very out-of-place in his western garb.

"Jedediah!" Octavius stepped forward, extending his arms, but the cowboy held up his hands.

"Whoa, slow down there. You can't touch me. I'm not really here."

"But I cannot be here, either," Octavius protested. "This is but a dream, correct?"

Jed tilted his head to one side, considering this. "Yes," he said finally. "But this is your world."

Octavius' attention turned once more to the sprawling kingdom below him.

"This is Rome?" he murmured to himself.

"Ancient Rome," Jed corrected him. "Yeah."

"Then…what are you doing here?"

Jed pursed his lips, clearly considering what information to tell his friend.

"I'm just here to talk to you," he said finally.

Octavius frowned. "You want to speak to me?" His voice rose angrily. "Jedediah, I have many things to say to you! How could you leave us like that? We all wanted to assist you, but you would not let any of us close enough to try! We always cared about you. The museum is not the same now—everything is ruined! Did you ever think about what you would be leaving behind? Even once?" He took a shaky breath, suddenly aware there were tears on his cheeks. "No. I suppose you did not."

Jed blinked.

"Octavius, I-"

Footsteps were heard in the room behind them. Octavius swallowed and kept his gaze fixed on his friend.

"Please," he whispered. "Come back to us. We need you."

Jed seemed torn. "I don't know if I can, Oc. I don't know if it's possible."

"Try," Octavius murmured. He felt something tugging him away from the dream and resisted. His legs collapsed under him as the world swam.

Jed simply watched him, his face calm but his eyes sad.

A young woman burst onto the balcony and flew to Octavius' side, taking no notice of Jed—she probably couldn't see him.

"My lord," she cried in Latin. "What…?"

Octavius searched for her face in his mind. She, like the city, was familiar and yet unknown. He reached up slowly and fingered her flaming red hair.

"Livia," he murmured, recognizing her at last. His wife.

She turned and shouted, "Bestia! Fetch the doctor, at once! The emperor is ill!"

Octavius turned his head with difficulty, trying to look at Jed one last time. But the cowboy was no longer there.

"Jedediah…" Octavius murmured before everything turned black.

The next instant, he woke in the Roman display, and after standing quite still for a full minute, went to his rooms and shut himself in to think.

Octavius didn't understand the meaning of the dream. He wasn't even sure if he'd really been speaking to Jedediah or if the whole conversation had been just a figment of his imagination.

It was rather odd that he'd dreamed of Rome—he never had before, despite being vaguely aware of his real counterpart's history. He supposed this mixed conscious of both the past and the present, seemingly instilled in every exhibit in the museum, was what had enabled him to recognize the real Octavius' queen.

Perhaps Larry, or better yet, Akhmenrah, would be able to shed some light on the subject.

The general stood and straightened his clothes. He took a breath and opened the door to the hallway. The guard standing outside looked surprised to see him.

"My lord?"

"I am going to see Larry," Octavius said clearly, proud of how strong his voice sounded. Somehow, the dream had replaced his grief with a buried anger that both fueled and steadied him. "You are excused."

The soldier bowed and stepped aside, watching his leader stride confidently down the hallway. He shrugged, smiled, and moved in the opposite direction. It was good to have the old Octavius back.

--

Octavius left the Hall of Miniatures on foot, since Larry had removed the car from its usual hiding place. He began to stroll down the hall, greeting the exhibits he passed. Some of them looked after him in astonishment.

As he approached one of the Halls, a familiar Native American woman came out.

"My lady!" he called. "Sacajawea!"

She turned and looked around before glancing downward. Her face lit up and she stepped closer, bending down.

"General Octavius!" She extended her palm and the Roman stepped onto it. She straightened.

"Would it be too much trouble to ask you to take me to Larry?" Octavius asked politely.

"Of course not." Sacajawea began moving in that direction. "I was going there to find Teddy." She hesitated. "I'm glad to see you out."

"Yes, well…" Octavius sighed. "I must have reached the next step in the grieving process. Denial leads to anger."

"You do not seem angry," Sacajawea mused, furrowing her brow.

"It's just something I heard Larry talking about," he explained, sighing heavily.

They reached the stairs in almost no time at all. Octavius saw Larry standing near the front desk, his arm around Akhmenrah. He appeared to be speaking quietly to the young king. Nick sat on the desk with the tablet in his hands; Teddy and Texas stood beside them.

Sacajawea crept down the stairs and stepped up next to Teddy, lowering her hand so Octavius could dismount onto the desk.

"What is happening?" she whispered. Close proximity had revealed that Akhmenrah was crying.

Teddy sighed. "I'm afraid young Ahkmenrah has realized he likely can't do anything for poor Jedediah. He isn't taking it very well."

Larry came over to them then, leaving Ahkmenrah seated sadly on Rexy's empty platform.

"Hey, guys," he said quietly, sighing. "I don't know what to say to him, you know?"

"I might be able to help," Octavius spoke up. He had to smile at the startled look the night guard threw him—clearly, his presence had gone unnoticed until that moment.

"Yeah?"

"Yes. I had a strange dream earlier today. The Egyptians believed that dreams held messages, did they not?"

"Uh-huh," Nick answered, hopping off the desk. "We learned about that in history."

Everyone was now crowded around the small Roman man. Octavius was torn—on the one hand, if he had the ability to help, to bring Jedediah back, of course he wanted to try. On the other—what if his dream meant nothing? To get everyone's hopes up and then…

He sighed and nodded to himself. He had to try. "I will tell you all what I dreamed, but Akhmenrah should hear this as well."

Larry turned. "Ahk!" The pharaoh looked up slowly. "Octavius had a dream last night. He thinks it might mean something. You wanna hear it?"

Ahkmenrah stood and made his way over to them. The gloomy expression on his face had not changed, but there was a new glimmer of interest in his eyes.

"I learned a bit about dream interpretation in my schooling," he remarked. "All right. I am ready to listen." And he shut his eyes.

Octavius told them the dream, making sure he remembered every detail exactly as it had been. When he was finished, he shrugged.

"And…that was all. I awoke in my usual place."

Ahkmenrah opened his eyes. "Did you visit Jedediah before you came here?"

Octavius shook his head. "No…I did not think of it."

"That is where we should start, then," the young king said, straightening.

Teddy mounted Texas and offered his hand to Sacajawea, who leapt up behind him. They led the way to the Hall of Miniatures as Larry, Nick, and Ahkmenrah followed on foot, Octavius riding on Larry's palm once again.

Everything appeared the same in the western display—there were a few plastic figures walking around, and Jedediah stood on the sand, frozen.

"Nothing has changed," Octavius said sadly, leaping onto the frontier and looking around.

Ahkmenrah studied the display closely before turning to the others.

"As far as I can gather, because Jedediah made the conscious decision to retreat into himself, he has the ability to slip into different lands and times than his own. The rest of us have the natural ability to enter our own 'worlds' when we sleep, but this only happens when we feel a strong—often unconscious—desire to do so. For instance," his face darkened, "the day after you returned from the Smithsonian, I was furious at Kahmunrah. I dreamed of Egypt."

Teddy spoke up, taking Sacajawea's hand. "The day after I finally spoke to this beautiful woman here, I dreamed of America in the early 1900s. I did not understand why then…"

Ahkmenrah nodded. "But now you do. Octavius, somehow Jedediah knew you would be in Rome at the very moment you were. I have not died twice, so I do not completely understand this, but perhaps he even influenced you to be there somehow. Either way, I do believe you were actually speaking to our friend. I was hoping you might have convinced him to come back—but it appears he does not wish to return, or is unable to."

Everyone fell silent for a few moments.

Larry sighed. "Then I guess we've done all we can. Maybe it's time to-"

"Don't say it!" Octavius said angrily, balling his hands into fists and running up to Jed. "Wake up! You-you-" He pulled his sword out of its sheath and, before anyone could stop him, hit the cowboy on the back with it. The still figure fell over.

"Octavius!" Larry reached forward and lifted the little man away, righting Jedediah with his free hand.

Instantly, Octavius went limp. "I apologize," he muttered. "That was not like me."

Larry took a deep breath and pinched his nose. "It's okay," he murmured. "Maybe you should just get away from here for a few hours. Nick—would you mind?"

"No," Nick shook his head and held out his hands to accept the distraught Octavius.

"Just…go find Rexy, or Dexter, or someone," his father instructed. "Try to think about something else, Oc."

Octavius nodded, ashamed, as Nick carried him away. The rest watched them leave.

"What are we going to do about this?" Teddy asked softly.

No one had an answer.

A/N: I promise the next (and last) chapter will be happier.

Also, according to the IMDB profile for Octavius, he is supposed to be the one who became the Emperor Augustus, so I assume he was a general and then an emperor. Livia really was Augustus' wife-his third and last (Of course I have no idea what she looked like; I made that up). I just thought about how old Octavius looks in the movies and decided he would have been married to Livia by that time, since his other wives were when he was in his late teens/early twenties.

Anyway...review?