wow okay. My first fanfic here in a very very long time. but I watched NATM recently and this fic idea stuck in my head. hope you like it! I was kinda scared to post this! please review/leave a comment to let me know how you like it!

CH 1

New school year, new struggles. Well Avery Daniels hoped there wouldn't be any struggles but let's be honest, this was her senior year. Of course there would be struggles. But today seemed promising because she was on her way to the first day of her internship at the Museum of Natural History. She was incredibly thankful to her advisor for helping her manage to grab this internship. Apparently the museum hadn't had any interns in years, but a strong letter of recommendation sealed the deal. She thanked her advisor dearly for that. She was on her way up the steps of the building when she thought about how excited she was to finally be one step closer to her dream career of a Museum Curator. She hoped her art history classes would come in handy. Yes she knew about history some, but her strengths were rooted in the arts. She had hoped to be interning at the MET or MOMA. But those museum's were too full of themselves and rejected her. And though this museum wasn't her top choice for an internship, this whole experience was just a stepping stone into the world of curators. The basic foundations for running a history museum or an art museum were practically the same, at least that's what she had gotten from her classes. And besides, Dr McPhee was extremely well known and respected, so she felt privileged to be under his tutelage for a year's long internship.

She opened the large brass doors and stepped inside the museum's foyer. Her eyes landed on the woman at the information desk. Well, here goes nothing, she thought to herself. She took a breath to collect herself and approached the desk.

"Hi there, I'm Avery Daniels, I'm supposed to start my internship today with Dr Mcphee."

"Hello! Welcome Ms Daniels, if you'll follow me, I can take you to his office now. I'm Rebecca by the way. I'm a tour guide here at the museum. So if you need any help around here, let me know!"

On their way they had run into Cecil Fredericks, a night guard. But he was in a rush to meet with the other two night guards so their introductions were kept short.

Before long they had reached the closed office door and Rebecca had bid Avery goodbye to start a tour group. Avery couldn't help but smile, she was actually going to meet a giant in the curator world! She knocked on the door first before she heard a gruff voice telling her to enter.

"Hello Dr McPhee, I'm-" She started to introduce herself but stopped short when a hand was held up.

"Yes, yes I will make sure to send the board those reports. Hang on, the new intern girl is here so I have to fill her in on her duties." His loud voice rang out with an unmistakable British accent.

"Yes hello, who are you again?" He asked her bluntly, not even meeting her eyes as he shuffled some papers

"Oh! I'm Avery Daniels, your new intern from NYU. It's a pleasure to meet you sir." She held out her hand as she approached her new boss's desk… to which he ignored.

"Well Ms Daniels, you're late! I expected better punctuality from a 'highly suggested' intern."

She checked her phone covertly and she was not late, in fact she was 10 mins early. But apparently being early was the new late. She bit her tongue in an effort to keep her mouth shut as she wanted to prove that she was not late.

"Well, sit down! I don't have all day to babysit a wide-eyed newbie intern. Look, this is how it's going to go. I need you to be an efficient assistant. I know you Americans have a vastly different yet poor work ethic. Now that being said, when are you available to work?"

"Oh well I have classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday in the morning and afternoon. I have a night class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I can be here in the morning and afternoon. That leaves Fridays and the weekend where I can be here all day, if need be."

"Hmm well it's not ideal, but I guess I'll just have to deal with it won't I? On your days off, I may require your assistance in the museum so I expect you to get back to me quickly. Your duties are not limited to fetching papers, perhaps my lunch, organizing and archiving artifacts in the archives room, and whatever else I say. Is that clear?"

"Uh yes sir. But if I may, when will I get to shadow you and really learn the inner workings of a museum director? That's kind of the whole point of this internship."

"No no no, to learn about the museum you must first learn what it takes to upkeep it. You must start at the bottom and work your way to the top and only then will I allow you to 'shadow' me, when you've earned it. You think you are the first intern to come in here and demand things be this or that, well wake up Ms Daniels. This is the real world you're getting into. Running a museum is not easy. No, it takes years of practice to even be recognized in the first place. Start by organizing these boxes of artifacts and catalog everything in that corner of my office, surely you can handle that? That it shouldn't be too hard for a 'gifted student' like yourself? And who knows, you have a whole year to impress me." He asked condescendingly

"Oh I-, yeah I believe so sir, but when will I-," she was cut off.

"Ah excellent, now if you'll excuse me I must be off to a meeting with the board."

Avery felt dejected. She didn't expect to have a brutal tongue lashing on the first day. She hated to admit it but her pride was hurt. If she couldn't be treated with the respect she thought she deserved, then what was the point of all this, this nonsense?

Her eyes prickled with the threat of tears. But she wouldn't be caught crying in her boss's office. That would not be good for her case. So in an effort to avoid anyone seeing her cry, she turned tail and ran away

Avery needed a quiet place where she could be alone to break down. She desperately tried to hold it all together until she found a place. She decided against a restroom since the stalls were usually filled with people so she would have to keep quiet. No, she needed a room to herself, where she could just freely cry without interruption. She wandered downstairs and lo and behold she found an empty room. She guessed it was some kind of staff room because of the lockers in it. She took a seat at the small table and allowed herself to finally cry.

She was rocking back and forth with her head between her hands. Willing herself to calm down, but she couldn't. Her past traumas had come up and been triggered by McPhee's neurotic rules and behaviors.

How was she going to finish the day let alone the rest of the year? Was this internship really worth risking her mental health? Well of course it was! This was just a minor roadblock in her path that she needed to get by. She cursed and criticized herself for getting overworked by McPhee's nature. Years of therapy had reminded her that she could only change how she reacted. Her thoughts went to her parents who were the reason she had begun therapy in the first place. If they hadn't- and that sent off another wave of fresh tears. God, how long had she been gone from her work. And on her first day no less! She reached for the tissue box and blew her nose and desperately tried to wipe her tears and make herself look presentable.

"Ahem, I hate to interrupt miss-"

To her horror she hadn't heard anyone else enter the room until he cleared his throat. She scrambled to make herself appear like she didn't just have a breakdown. Failingly so.

"Oh um Mr Fredericks, I'm so sorry i-

"Please dear Mr Frederick was my father's name, call me Cecil.

He smiled warmly at her. "Looks like you've had a rough first day dealing with the boss."

She could only look down and nod.

"Why don't we take a little walk around the museum to calm yourself down? I can tell you some tips on how to handle McPhee."

"I guess that wouldn't be so bad, thank you."

And they were off. He took her around the museum, explaining this exhibit and that. Really took her under his wing for which she was extremely grateful. It was always nice to find a friend at work. Pretty soon she found herself calmed and at ease. Cecil's tour had done her more good than McPhee lecturing. She learned more from the night guard than she had expected. Pretty soon they were at the Egyptian wing. Her eyes wandered up to the two imposing jackals standing guard at the entrance. They seemed intimidating but she figured that was the point. From her art history classes she knew that these statues were designed to wayward potential graverobbers as well as to protect the Pharaoh's soul. The entire exhibit had its own aura, dark but alluring all the same. Egyptian art history was a favorite of hers to study. It was just so fascinating! She knew she wasn't the only one.

"And here is our Egyptian wing as you might have guessed," Cecil let out a cheeky laugh to which Avery smiled.

"It's our most popular exhibit but oddly enough one that sees little foot traffic, making it the perfect place to collect one's thoughts."

Pretty soon they were at the back of the exhibit where a golden sarcophagus lay encased in protective glass. Above it was a golden tablet.

"This here is the tablet of Ahkmenrah. Said to have brought magical powers. It's a very special artifact to this museum."

Cecil had paused his speech and looked at the tablet, briefly reaching his arm out as if to grab ahold of it but then withdrew his hand. Avery couldn't help but see a look of hunger and possession in his eyes as his facial expressions grew serious and grim. But as quickly as she noticed it, it was replaced by his usual friendly demeanor. Cecil looked at his watch and placed his hand on Avery's back to guide her out of the exhibit.

"Alright I think that gives you a grand tour finale, best be getting back to your duties as an intern now."

He guided her back to McPhee's office door and was just about to leave when-

"Cecil, I um, thank you so much for everything you've shown me today. I really appreciate it. Though I hate that you had to see me breakdown, you really helped me get out of my head. So um thank you." She smiled gratefully at him.

He looked shocked by her kind words. All he could think to do was return her kind smile and tip his imaginary cap and off he went.

Well maybe this won't be so bad after all.

One last breath and checked her reflection in her phone's camera, she pushed open the door ready to finish her first day strong. Thank God McPhee was still busy and preoccupied with the board, saving her yet another tongue lashing.

After spending several more hours at the museum, it was time for her to head out and get ready for her last class of the day. She wasn't particularly excited for it since it was a math class but she needed the credit to graduate this year. And she had put it off until now. As she sat in class looking at the math problems and equations, her mind drifted elsewhere. She thought about how horrible McPhee had been, and how awful she felt for having a breakdown. Then she thought about how kind it was of Cecil to show her the ropes. And before she knew it class had ended.

After a quick stop to the dining hall, she was off to her dorm room. Crying had exhausted her and all she wanted was to quickly do her assignments, crawl under the covers and sleep. But the universe had other plans. By the time she reached her shared dorm room, she realized the door was locked. That could only mean one thing, her roommate Bethany had her boyfriend Josh over…again. It was past visiting hours but the couple found a way to skirt past that. Josh usually snuck in through the window since their dorm was on the first floor. She didn't like Josh. She always felt uneasy around him. He and Beth had only been together since the end of last year but Avery noticed a drastic change in her roommate of 3 years. Before she met Josh, she always followed through on plans, while simultaneously balancing her extraverted social life and academic life. Josh entered the picture and suddenly her focus was all on him. She was bailing on her social commitments to hang out with him. She was always glued to her phone in hopes that he would text her. Avery rarely saw one without the other. Beth had seemingly absorbed Josh as part of her personality. But he was no prince. He always snuck in through the window. He always had a flask on him of God knows what alcohol. That made her uneasy. She was still triggered by her parents' alcoholism and had sworn off the drink. Her best friend had changed before her eyes in such a short amount of time that she almost didn't recognize her anymore. She could see that Josh was manipulative and pushy but when she brought up her concerns it resulted in a nasty fight.

Avery was in no mood to deal with them so she walked down to the common room and opened her textbook and notebook to begin some homework to keep her mind occupied. By the time it was 11pm she was extremely exhausted and desperately needed sleep. She walked back to her dorm room and unlocked it. There on Beth's bed was Josh scrolling on his phone. He looked up and smiled devilishly at Avery. Beth was sound asleep and there wasn't any waking her as she was a heavy sleeper…if she wasn't already drunk. Only her incredibly loud alarm and a kiss from her boyfriend could wake her.

"So Beth tells me you just started your internship at the Museum of Natural History. How was your day?"

Ugh she hated having to make small talk with him.

"It was fine. I'm just really tired now so if you don't mind leaving, I'd like to get some sleep."

Her energy was already drained but she didn't want him to know the cause of it being her new boss.

"Alright I got the message babe. Goodnight and sweet dreams. He whispered as he started to leave the room. His fingers grazed her shoulder. She tensed up and didn't move until he was gone.

alright so I edited the part about Beth. I wasn't happy about how it was written