A/N: To everyone who reviewed, thank you SO MUCH! =D I'm just discovering this fanfic world, a friend rec'ed me a link to keacdragon's stories. Hope this isn't too dramatic!
A/N UPDATE 2/11/15: I wanted to update this story with a more polished 2nd ch after reading more fics and understanding their structure, as well as a thank you to all the amaing NATM fics on here!
You guys are amazing at capturing an amazing story and I aspirer to be as talented someday in the fic world. I'm feeling like this might end after a few chaps as not to infringe on anyones story lines of NATM family bonding =] you guys are too good to keep up with!
Reviews always loved and push me to write I guess. I realized I had 14 and needed to update again, mind blowing!
I also do not own Night at the Museum, its story/characters, or anything related to it.
7 Days & 7 Nights: Fear, pain, helplessness
Larry was seeing stars, and wondering why he was in the young Pharaoh Ahkmenrah's exhibit, just outside his Personal room instead of at home.
His head hurt as he shook it, he must have smacked it pretty hard he thought dazed when suddenly the events of the night came rushing back to him.
'No! Wait, he was trying to get to Ahk! What happened? Was he free?'
He whipped his head towards the sound he suddenly realized was someone breathing raggedly. The Egyptian king was struggling to raise himself free from his Sarcophagus. Long delecate fingers gripped the edges. Shaking arms with followed quickly. The young man's face was a mask of unadulterated terror mixed with pain, he shook weakly and all but fell out in his rush to distance himself from the golden prison. His back slammed into the wall of his Personal room and his eyes seems to be watching a scene from another time as he pushed himself into the wall.
The Pharaoh body was wracked with tremors as he cried and spoke brokenly in Egyptian. He slid down the wall weakly where he had collided initially. His legs seemed like they were no longer capable of bearing his slight weight as the unknown cause of his pain spiked sharply, triggering the ailing Egyptian to collapse. Larry shook himself free from his shock and jumped forward to catch the Pharaoh.
He was shunned by both the spears that appeared inches from his face, as well as the simultaneous anguished call for help that emanated from Ahkmenrah. He had order them to keep the Guard and the others away? He'd called for help, anyone who had been in need ever knew that tone, a plea for help.
But when he had called, it had been for the Jackals to keep them away.
Mortified and held steadfast, Larry, Teddy, Jed and Oct were forced to watch helplessly as Ahk curled into himself, hugging his midsection so tightly Larry was concerned he would break some of his own ribs. The tremors grew into bone wracking shakes as the Pharaoh began to openly sob words that no one but the mute statues could understand.
The twin Jackals did not move from their position of holding Larry and Teddy at bay. Their emotionless faces reflected nothing. Whatever small connection he'd made earlier was non-existent now.
Larry felt useless as he swallowed back emotions and kneeled down on the stone floor. He tried to catch the young king's eyes from between the two giant spears, and stone limbs but Ahk was in too consumed by pain to notice. Instead he spared a glance towards the Jackals before calling out to Ahkmenrah.
"Ahkmenrah! What's wrong? Common, it's Larry. I-" He stopped as Ahk interrupted him with a loud whimper of pain, sounding too similar to Nicky when he was severely ill, in pain or scared.
Swallowing his raising emotions again, Larry tried to reach Ahk. This time he spoke softy, trying to sooth the frighten young man.
"Ahk it's me, Guardian of Brookland? You're at the Museum of Natural History Ahk. I know your hurting, we can help make it stop if you let us in."
Ahkmenrah suddenly arched as something caused his pain to spike. He cried out in Egyptian and the only thing Larry and Teddy could understand was the word Rah, which they knew was the name of Ahkmenrah's god. He must be praying for help Larry realized.
"Your highness! Let us help you, tell your Guards to back off! Do it now son!" Teddy shouted, frustration building.
"Ahk PLEASE! I'm sorry Ahk, let me help you we can make the pain stop, we'll help, please Ahk!" Larry pleaded while reisting the urge to push against the Jackals.
He was about to try anything to get the young man to acknowledge them when suddenly the sobs paused for a moment.
Larry thought they might have been heard, it had been 10 of the longest minutes of the helpless onlookers lives as they watched the shrouded Egyptian suffer.
However the king, who was silent for a moment, suddenly lurched forward and began to bodily heave as he threw up.
His robes hid the fluids the first heave, but the second round brought up a large volume of brightly crimson fluid that seems to solely consist of blood.
Next to him Teddy was the first to react. His tone sounded horrified as he gripped Larry's arm. "My dear, sweet lord boy Lawrence..."
The real Teddy had been through war. He'd seen all types of gore from de-limbed survivors, to victims of torture and the wax incarnation of him had all of the man's memories. But this.. Seeing someone so close to you, in so much pain, scared and unable to get anyone near them..
It shook the wax man to his core. He doubted no matter how many nights he awoke, that he would ever forget the scene that was being imprinted to his mind's eye.
In the mist of his onlookers horror, Ahkmenrah had been heaving again, and again. Bringing up more and more blood each time, until the floor within a 2 foot circumference was slick with red. He let out the first sob they'd heard in a while as he finally gasped for breath weakly.
It caused his robe which had unbuckled, to finally come free and fall to the ground to begin to absorb the crimson, its slight weight and warmth gone seemed to instantly cause Ahk to start shivering.
Although the strength of the tremor that shook him was mild, and the sob was almost unperceivable under the gasp, the amount of pain they seemed to embody was immense.
As bronze arms could no longer hold their owners weight, he fell to the side a ways, lying on the floor gasping for breath as he shook.
Larry was frozen to the spot. Everything else forgotten as he stood and finally caught Ahk's gaze for a moment by mere accident. The Pharaoh had coughed weakly and turned his head towards his Jackals for the first time since he'd pled for their help.
A young man, no older than 17 or 18 being ravaged by an excruciating waves of pain and injury that left him laying on the black stone floor breathless. His normally deeply bronzed toned skin wad ashen and yet feverishly red, his face blood smeared with tear tracks. His normally clear and kind eyes were glazed over and unfocused as Larry met them. His image of the Pharaoh began to blur as Larry's eyes brimmed.
Teddy's firm gasp on the Guard's upper arm shaking him snapped Larry out of his locked gaze with Ahkmenrah. Teddy shook Larry until he shifted his gaze toward the former President's which were full of fear, guilt and absolution.
"Lawrence. Listen to me!" He spoke sharply, and jerked his arm once. "He will not survive whatever this is if we can't get to him! LAWRENCE! NOW!" punctuated with another sharp jerk.
Something snapped in Larry's mind and he shifted into mission mode, tucking his emotions and terrorizing sense of helplessness into a tiny chest and locking it tight.
He straightened himself and stood with as much authority as he could muster. He called to the young Pharaoh in a clear and stern tone that was not to be ignored.
The tone he subconsciously chose was actually the same tone he used on Nicky when he was especially unwilling to co-operating. Something that he would later realize and wonder about. The Egyptian seemed to shift his gaze slightly towards the Guard and encouraged his continued.
"Your Highness, Ahkmenrah, Forth King of the Forth Kingdom." He addressed him fully, the Egyptian seemed to shift his gaze slightly towards the Guard and encouraged his continued.
"I order you as Lawrence, Guardian of the Museum and of Brookland, to order your Jackals to step aside." Ahk's gaze focused almost minutely.
"In the name of RAH LET US IN! NOW AHKMENRAH."
The young ruler laid there on his side, gasping and staring with glazed eyes beyond his Jackals. His breaths seems to be taking longer, and longer to come. Yet at the mention of the word 'Rah' he had jerked, exhaled a shuddering, and then went still. His eyes were still trained, unmoving, towards Larry and Teddy.
"Ahk!" Larry shorted sharply before whistling between his teeth. The king seemed unresponsive, Larry choked, fearing that they would be too late. Even if they ever managed to get past the Giant granite Jackals.
"My leigh!" Oct suddenly called from Teddy's hat, Larry had forgotten about Jed, Octavious. "He lives!" the Roman shouted, "He just said something, I know I heard it!" Larry took a breath to reply and was robbed of it as he was violently pushed forward.
Suddenly the two stone Jackals had retracted their spears, only to use them to somewhat 'gently' shove the group within feet of the Pharaoh. Larry's forethought left his capabilities as he didn't hesitate to slide next to the young Egyptian with Teddy right behind him.
Larry held his breath as he gently yet swiftly lifted the king. He slid his hand under the boy's shoulders and turned him over so that his head and upper body rested on Larry's outstretched leg.
He was breathing; Larry could feel the small puffs of warm air emanating from the Pharaoh's mouth as he gasped almost unnoticingly. Larry could feel an unnatural warmth emanating from the young man, and now that he was close enough he saw the unnaturally flushed skin was actually burned like a terribly bad sunburn. His arms, the very edges of his ears, his chest and cheeks were all 'sunburnt' and even starting to peel gently. Larry was at a loss as he wracked his brain.
"Teddy, do you have any ideas what's causing this? Does anyone else feel ill at all?"
The wax man shook his head adamantly. "No Lawrence, just the Pharaoh. It must have been caused by those scientist." Larry inspected Ahk for any visible signs that could have caused this terrible situation and Ahkmenrah's quickly deteriorating condition but found none other than the 'sunburns'.
As Larry held the shivering, limp form of Ahkmenrah he was suddenly plagued with guilt by their conversation regarding the trip.
"I won't be awake for their, what was it…'Feline Scan'? I will not awaken unless within 100 yards of the tablet at sunset."
'And he was comforting me...'
He knew he'd had a terrible feeling about the whole thing, but what had happened to have caused this? Something to the tablet? Maybe scanning it with that new CAT scanner had harmed it somehow..
"Wait!" Larry grabbed Teddy's shoulder roughly.
"I won't be awake for their, what was it…'Feline Scan'?" The words rang through his head.
Wait! Prof McPhee had mentioned a new type of x-raying technology that was 'guaranteed not to harm the mummy, and used radiation so it wouldn't harm the metal in the tablet'.
McPhee had also made a point to mention it was so strong that it would be lethal to any living person who was dosed with that level of radiation. It was one of his selling points in convincing Larry of the artifacts safety.
Could it be…That the new Cat Scanner technology had somehow given Ahkmenrah's remains such a high dose of radiation that it had lingered long enough to be poisoning him now?
Larry wracked his brain for the symptoms of radiation poisoning he's seen on a documentary once; Fever, Nausea..
Topical burns and injuries, the cause of the mysterious sunburns?
Extreme gestural deterioration/ulceration, that was stomach bleeding and internal bleeding!
Impaired cognitive functions, the Jackals, speaking Egyptian and ignoring them...
"Oh my god." Larry said outloud. "It's completely radiation poisoning!"
Teddy's faced wrinkled as he frowned at the Guard. "What is this sickness Lawrence" He said urgently,"Is it treatable, contagious?" He asked in fear for the miniatures.
'What do I do?!' Larry thought panic stricken while holding the limp 4000 teenager who was quickly fading.
"Lawrence! Is. It. Treatable?" Teddy asked again, stressing the words in raising anxiety this time.
Between them Ahk stirred. For a brief moment looked almost lucid as he reached for Teddy and said something softly in Egyptian. His eyes slid shut and his arm dropped before making it to Teddys hand as his body went completely lax.