Disclaimer: This story was written by a fan only for the enjoyment of other fans, without any monetary compensation. Gundam Wing and its characters are registered trademarks of Bandai Entertainment Inc.™ and Sotsu Agency. All rights reserved.
'The Museum' is a short story set in my Ghost Detective universe set during the last days of 'The Junkyard' while Duo and Heero are still out of town, and at the beginning of 'The Piano'. Hope you enjoy!
The Museum
Chapter 2
"Alexander?!" Trowa asked. "I thought he was with you guys?"
Quatre looked around then shook his head. "He is not here. Should we go look for him?"
"I don't think that will be necessary," Treize told him. "He was here only a moment ago; probably just wandered off. He did that a few times earlier, too. Never stayed away too long. So, I don't think we should worry.""
"Well," the young man shrugged. "If you say so."
"Besides, you do have the diary, don't you?" Wufei asked. "Then he can't be far, anyway."
"True," the Professor confirmed while Milliardo checked his backpack just to be sure. "The diary is a bit like a dog leash, you could say. Although, we are not completely sure how far his boundaries reach. At home he will walk Cabal to the corner of our block and back on occasion. That's at least 200 yards, wouldn't you say, dear?"
"Give or take a few," the blonde agreed. "But like you say, I don't think we need to panic. He will probably be back soon. Why don't you go to the gift shop while we are waiting for him, Wufei?"
The young Chinese man nodded, and Treize asked.
"Mind if I come along?"
"I'll come too," Trowa added, throwing a questioning look at his friend and housemate. "Quatre?"
"No, I think I will stay here with Milliardo."
"Okay then," The professor nodded. "When Alexander comes back before us tell him not to run off again. We will be leaving soon."
"Got it," his lover assured him as he and Quatre settled down on one of the benches by the fountain.
"So, from what I heard your sister recently discovered her love for the piano?"
"Yeah," Milliardo huffed, in a mixture of humor and sarcasm. "That's Relena for you; always thinking couldn't have discovered her love for the recorder or violin, could she?"
His friend laughed. "And yet you went with her to buy a piano today."
"We only went to look at one," Milliardo pointed out. It wasn't like he had actually planned on buying it, was it? "What was I supposed to do? My father suggested she should use the piano that's in our attic; the one Alexander has been playing."
"I see. So you were doing it to keep Alexander happy, not her." Quatre grinned.
"Absolutely!" Milliardo replied with as much conviction in his voice as he could muster. "Would you like to live under the same roof with an unhappy ghost?"
"I guess not," Quatre admitted as he looked around the museum's lobby. "Say, you wouldn't happen to know where the restrooms are, would you?"
"Head toward the East Wing but take a sharp right just before you reach the stairs. The doors are hidden in a little alcove," his friend told him.
Quatre nodded as he rose to his feet. "Thanks. I'll be right back."
###
As he put down the phone, Dr Nassar Hazzir checked his watch. He had just ended an hour long conference call with the minister of antiquity and the director of the Cairo Museum, informing them about the break in and discussing the possibility of cutting short the international exhibition tour. In the end though, it was agreed to not jump the gun and wait for the American police to do their job.
Dr Hazzir was, by all accounts a handsome man; tall, dark tanned with wavy black hair that was starting to show its first streaks of gray, and deep, intelligent eyes. But he didn't get where he was today on his good looks. Hazzir had spent most of his adult life in the deserts of Egypt, trying to find and preserve traces of his country's past. He was the kind of archaeologist people wrote books and made movies about. So, why a man like him had decided to accompany this rather insignificant traveling exhibition was a mystery to most.
The tall mall rose from behind the desk of his small temporary office and crossed the room in a few large strides. It was time to meet with the director and inform him of the decision made by his superiors in Cairo.
As he headed down the hall toward Dr. Snyder's office Hazzir suddenly stopped. For a moment there he could have sworn that he was not alone. There was nobody in sight, yet the feeling remained. It was the kind of sensation that set his teeth on edge and made the hair in the back of his neck rise. After a brief moment of hesitation the archaeologist turned on his heels and headed in the direction he had sensed the strange presence from.
###
Tossing the soiled paper towel into the wastebasket as he passed it, Quatre walked out of the men's restroom. But even before he had reached the lobby, the young man held his step. In the back of his mind he could sense a faint presence that didn't seem to belong amongst the visitors and employees at the museum. By now be was able to tell a ghostly spirit apart from those of the living quite well.
Alexander?!
Closing his eyes for a brief moment Quatre concentrated his senses, trying to locate direction from which the feeling came.
When he opened his eyes again he turned left, heading toward the South Wing where the museum's offices and research facilities were located. Moments later the young man found himself in front of a heavy mahagony door and a sign that read:
"Restricted area, Authorized Personnel only!"
After just one brief moment of hesitation, and a look around, Quatre slipped through the door and found himself in some sort of corridor. There were several doors to his left and a single one to his right. A large arrow painted on the wall pointed toward a staircase at the end of the hall.
"2nd Floor administrative offices" the young man read below the arrow.
Quatre honed his senses again, trying to lock on to Alexander's presence. He could feel something... still faint. It seemed to be coming from behind the door at his right.
After another quick glance around to make sure he was alone, the young man hurried toward the door in question. When he tried the handle he found, to his surprise, that it was not locked. Without a sound Quatre pushed the door open, just far enough to see what lay behind. There was a staircase, similar to the one at the other end of the corridor. Only this one was descending into darkness.
"Alex?!" He called out in a hushed voice. "Alexander?!"
There was no reaction from below, but he still could feel a presence.
Afraid to alert someone by turning on the light, the young man put one hand against the wall as he slowly climbed downstairs. But with every step his feeling of uneasiness grew.
"Alexander?" He called once again, louder this time. As he reached the end of the staircase Quatre stopped. His eyes were beginning to adjust and he was able to make out boxes and crates around him. He couldn't see far but he was unwilling to explore any further, because by now the young man was convinced that someone... something was down here in the darkness. And it certainly was not Alexander.
Time to get out of here. He thought as he hurried up the steps toward the corridor. I don't think I am welcome.
###
The first thing Dr Hazzir noticed when he came down the stairs to the first floor, was the open door to one of the storage rooms in the basement. It was the very room where his artifact filled crates had been stored after they arrived from the airport. At first he didn't make too much of it, assuming either a museum's employee or someone from the police had opened it.
But then he frowned as he noticed a young man who somehow seemed out of place.
"Excuse me!" He called out. "May I help you? Visitors are not allowed back here."
Startled the 'trespasser' turned toward him. He looked even younger than Hazzir had thought and in some strange way vaguely familiar.
"I'm sorry." A somewhat sheepish smile crossed the young man's face. "I was looking for the restroom. I guess I took the wrong..." He trailed off and his eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Doctor Hazzir...Dr Nassar Hazzir?!"
"Yes?" His frown deepened.
"I guess you don't remember me. It's been almost ten years, after all."
Suddenly recognition hit, and the archaeologist smiled as well. "Young Mister Winner?! What a surprise. Look at you. You are..."
"A little taller than you remember me?" Quatre laughed.
"A lot taller I would say. But tell me, what are you doing here?"
"Here at the museum, or in town in general?"
"Both I guess."
"I'm going to school here; college," the young man explained. "Today is the last day of Harvest Break, and we decided to see the new exhibit, but unfortunately..." He trailed off, leaving the rest of the sentence hanging in the air.
Hazzir turned serious. "Yes, it is such terrible thing. But you said 'we'. You are not alone?"
"No, I'm with a few friends. Dr. Hazzir would you happen to have a few minutes to spare? I would like to introduce you to them."
He checked his watch then gave a little shrug. "Yes, why not."
"Are you sure? I'm not keeping you from anything?"
"Only meeting with director of museum. Nothing that can not be umm... postponed for a few minutes. I would love to meet your friends."
"Thank you."
###
"Relax, Trowa." Wufei told his friend who was checking his watch for the third time. "He has barely been gone for fifteen minutes."
The other youth huffed. "You obviously have no idea how much trouble Quatre can get himself into in fifteen minutes. Maybe I should check on him."
"In the restroom?" Treize asked. "He would never let you live that one down."
"Good point. Maybe we could send Alexander?!" The young man looked around. He knew the ghost had returned shortly after they got back from the gift store.
"I don't think that will be necessary. There he is now." Milliardo thrust his chin forward, pointing across the lobby. "Not sure about him being in trouble, though. He isn't alone."
"Hm... You think that guy is a cop or security guard?" Wufei mused.
"No!" The professor shook his head firmly. "That's Nassar Hazzir; Dr. Nassar Hazzir. He is one of Egypt's most renown archaeologist and an expert on the 13th dynasty."
"You know him?" Milliardo sounded impressed.
"Only through his work and the occasional special on the history channel," his lover admitted. "But I had asked Doctor Mayfield to contact him and see if she can talk him into giving a lecture of some sort at the school while he is in town."
#
"Guys!" Quatre waved at his friends as he and older man approached. "I would like you to meet someone. This is Dr. Nassar Hazzir, a old...acquaintance of mine. Dr Hazzir, these are my friends... Professor Treize Khushrenada, he teaches History at my college, btw. Milliardo Peacecraft..." the young man introduced the small group one by one, leaving out only Alexander, for obvious reasons.
"It's such a pleasure to meet you, Doctor Hazzir." Treize shook hands with the archaeologist.
"It is my pleasure," Hazzir replied.
"So, how do you and Quatre know each other?" Wufei wanted to know. "He has never mentioned anything to us."
"It was a long time ago. When I was just about 9 my father had to go to Cairo for a few weeks. It was during my summer school break and he decided to take me along, telling me that a friend of a friend had volunteered to give me a special lesson in Egyptian history. I can't say I was impressed, at least not until I found out my 'tutor' was a real live archaeologist and my 'classroom' the middle of the desert where they had just started to work on a new dig site. In those 4 weeks I learned more about the 13th dynasty...scorpions and the unpredictable weather in the Egyptian desert, than most learn in a lifetime. It was the most amazing history lesson one can imagine." The young man gave Treize a apologetic smile. "Sorry, Professor, no offense."
"I'm not offended," the older man laughed. "Just extremely jealous. Working on a real dig-site... did you actually find anything while you were there?"
"Unfortunately no; like I said the dig just started when I was there." Quatre shook his head. "Maybe Dr. Hazzir can tell us some more about that? He had been working on it or years."
"I would love to," the archaeologist replied. "But the director of museum is waiting for me. I will have to go find him."
"Try his office," the professor suggested. "That's where he was going a while ago . The sheriff was with him ."
"The sheriff; from the police? Oh, good. I was looking for him too. I'm sure you heard about what happened last night?!"
"About the break-in and theft?" Quatre nodded. "Yes, we know."
"Its very unfortunate. A man was hurt during the robbery," the archaeologist added. "I hope he will be alright. Maybe the sheriff can tell me."
"Yes, we heard about that too," Treize told him. "I didn't realize you knew the guard."
"Not well," Hazzir admitted. "But we talked last night before I went back to hotel. He told me about his family. His youngest daughter is studying art in Italy. School is expensive he said. That's why he was still working. But once he daughter was done with school he wanted to hang up the uniform and start traveling. Egypt was on the top of his list...Well, I would better go now. But perhaps we can talk some other time? Mister Winner, will you call me...here at the museum?"
"Absolutely." The young man nodded.
"Good bye for now." Hazzir nodded to Quatre and his friends.
"Good bye."
As the archaeologist walked away he paused and threw one last look back at the group.
Treize frowned slightly. For a moment there he could have sworn that Hazzir's gaze was fixed on the empty spot between him and Milliardo, the very spot where he could feel Alexander's presence.
"Seems like a nice guy." Wufei remarked as the man disappeared through a large door.
"Yeah," Milliardo agreed. "Very nice guy. So, are we all ready to leave now?"
"Why the hurry?" Trowa grinned. "Afraid of a severe case of cultural over-exposure?"
"No, but we left Cabal alone, in the kitchen. I'd like to get home while we still have a kitchen to come back to."
"Ah, good point," his lover agreed. "I think we should leave. That peanut butter bone we left him with won't last forever."
TBC
Author's Note: As always, thanks for the reviews. I have a few more chapters ready to post. So keep your eyes open.