Disclaimer: I own nothing, zilch, nada...

Read and Review please?

To RealityXIllusion, Bonnie Celt, TheMajorKlainer, Nicole Silverwolf, Spuffy394, Darkpool, StoryFinder1, androgynonymous, HarrietSilverwynd, Peregrin Agbora, Sheepgril3, nagrme2702, ThePokemonMasterQ123, LunarWingLatias, razena, : Thank you for the faves and follows!

To CXMP: Oh my gosh thank you!

***Thank you to the following people for their ideas***

Bexi: Sacajawea being motherly; Sheepgirl3: Ahk homesick; Balderdash4: Ahk being hungry; Dragonninja-fan: Ahk jealous of Nicky and Larry and missing his parents; EgyptianAngel: for wanting more Nicky and Ahk; and NATM-Tribute-Wizard-Narnian: the tablet causing Ahk to have issues/makes Ahk have memory problems. I will possibly use some of the ideas again later on as well, but thanks is due.

Chapter Eighteen

Stricken Part Two

Xxx

January 29th, 2008

Xxx

Nicky had seen a lot of crazy things when coming to the museum every night.

He didn't think he'd see his best friend and almost older brother completely forget him.

After getting the confused pharaoh to his dad, Nicky had bolted. Usually on the rare nights Ahk wasn't able to hang out with the night guard's son, and Nicky couldn't go to his dad for a problem, the kid turned to Roosevelt. Teddy was always ready to help.

Tonight, with Ahk more than a little not normal, Nicky had to turn elsewhere when both Larry and Teddy had to step in for the pharaoh.

Last night had scared Nicky, he'd seen Ahk tired, or shaken up from the sarcophagus being locked-not full blown panic attack like his dad didn't know Nicky was aware of, but definitely not really happy. For Ahk's sake, Nicky hadn't been witness to a migraine yet, the pharaoh not succumbing to one while Nicky was present since the kid's late birthday bash last fall. Walking in to the pharaoh already deep in pain, the tablet messing up from being dropped, and Ahk bleeding...Larry hadn't noticed how unsettled his son was, not with all the chaos of the museum, Nicky's grandfather finally leaving from staying for five weeks, and Erica getting off her ex-husband's case about her own parents.

Once back up to the second floor, Nicky had fled to Sacajawea, intending on sending her to help.

The woman had taken one look at the young boy and swept him in a hug.

Nicky hadn't let go just then, he'd clung to Sac tightly before she'd assessed the situation, sending Nicky to Bjorn and the Civil War soldiers to join their rough housing.

A proper distraction, until Sac had passed the third floor exhibition room that was home to makeshift sparring lessons. Seeing Ahk-menrah...still completely lost as to who Nicky was, had hurt. He'd managed another half hour of distracted wrestling, before feigning hunger and leaving.

The bag of chips in his hands was better suited for crushing in frustration than snacking, and Nicky trekked back to the lobby to find his dad and the comfort only a parent could provide.

He caught the tail end of the conversation, Sac, Jed, Teddy, Attila, and Larry all agreeing to wait until tomorrow and sunset to figure out what exactly was going on with Ahkmenrah as it might just need time.

That's not quite what he was wanting to hear.

Larry caught him, deftly tossing the powdered chips into the trash and scooping up the sobbing kid. Nicky clung to his dad tight, sitting on the desk edge so his dad had better height to let the kid cry out.

As a night guard, Larry felt responsible for this mess, as a father-his chest ached with wanting to fix everything with a snap of his fingers so both of his boys were better. He hadn't realized how much he'd claimed Ahk the longer he got to know the young pharaoh. But seeing the utter blank expression on Ahkmenrah's face had hurt.

Time wasn't on their side.

Xxx

Ahkmenrah had managed over half the night hiding just how badly his head hurt, but after discussing Roman and Egyptian trade that had commenced over a thousand years after his death, the weariness in his heart had only expounded on the ache in the pharaoh's skull.

Just maybe...the night guard...who seemed to be held in high regard by the others here, would allow the pharaoh to be left alone while he suffered in hidden silence, no one need see the weakness.

General Octavius had graciously explained how to return to the lobby, implying that's where he'd likely find the night guard, Daley. Leaving with a strained bow, Ahkmenrah had fought to remember the directions around the pain.

At least it wasn't so bad, he could still see and walk for now, just maybe no one would know about this at all. Weakness wasn't accepted, in Egypt or in Cambridge.

After his tomb had been discovered, he was moved to England and the first five nights awake had dragged on in hours of dark confusion and struggling to communicate with the frightened professors. Only Professor Hemsworth had spoken Greek, but the tie was close enough to the Ancient Greek Ahkmenrah knew that they could limp through basic language lessons until comprehension was reached, translating very roughly through Greek to Latin to English. He still struggled with English, it was so confusing but at least it made it easier to understand what the professors wanted. Having only been learning from them for just over fourteen weeks now, and then suddenly thrust to this museum, Ahkmenrah was a little lost as to what he was supposed to do.

The museum was quiet as he walked, cautiously glancing around but not stopping on his way, he had no idea this wasn't the norm for the halls to not be buzzing with chatter and activity. Silence other than distant noise, bouncing about on the stone walls, made a part of Ahkmenrah flare to life that he'd bitterly tried to suppress since waking inside the University.

That part sent a stab straight through the pharaoh's chest, pausing in the shadows to see the night guard comfort the child who had come to Ahkmenrah at sundown. The young boy was distraught, his sobs quite loud in the otherwise quiet room that allowed his cries to echo. Sacajawea was helping soothe the distress, speaking softly in a tone that made the ache in Ahkmenrah only grow sharper.

With a vicious spasm, the pain in the pharaoh's skull roared past his control, eliciting a stifled grunt before the pharaoh spun on a heel and almost rushed back to where his sarcophagus was set. The thought of returning to it, so early in the night, was for once not as unsettling as it normally was but pain liked to play tricks on anyone's mind.

He missed them...

One would think that upon discovery, the sarcophagi of a royal family would be kept together for study. That's what Ahkmenrah had hoped once properly able to understand the professors around him almost every night. When he'd asked though, the question that had been burning in him since the second night and not seeing anything in the room he was held in, Ahkmenrah had lost it.

His parents had not been taken to Cambridge.

Rough hands had forced the distraught pharaoh into the dark sarcophagus, some shouting incoherently while others made enough sense Ahkmenrah understood he'd messed up. He was just a new toy in their eyes, useful if they deigned him to be free. The pharaoh wasn't allowed to be more than their play thing.

On top of not understanding English well enough to communicate, Ahkmenrah just knew he'd still be cursed with the dreaded headaches that had plagued him in life. And tonight he was right...

His tomb guards, the pair of stone jackals gifted to him upon reaching his tenth year, barely twitched at his arrival, but did slam heavy spears down in an "X" to block the entrance to this new room. Ahkmenrah ran his fingers over the glass cases holding a few statues and some of his royal garb. The gleaming gold of his crown held no comfort, not like this.

And the jeweled collar, his Wesekh, sent a painful throb that let the tears struggling to escape finally free.

The pained sob slid out before he could stop it, a hand going to his mouth to stifle the cries but it wasn't enough. Ahkmenrah stumbled back, eyes that were quickly blurring remained locked on the beads and gold, while the long body collapsed into a rough heap on the floor. It just hurt.

Long minutes passed and didn't calm his grief or his pain, and it wasn't until someone else shouted at the jackals did he stir from more than pained sobs.

"Yakfi!"

Xxx

Knowing anyone else would likely make things worse, Sacajawea left the lobby in pursuit of the fleeing pharaoh, she'd caught his retreat while calming Nicky and volunteered when Jed had pointed out the pharaoh in the corner.

Nicky was settled knowing the adults in the museum were doing everything they could to ensure everyone especially Ahk was okay, even if it wasn't as instantaneous as the boy would like. And while Teddy and Larry went about calming the rest of the museum, Sac tracked Ahkmenrah back to his exhibit.

The jackals blocking her path to the obviously distressed pharaoh was not what she was expecting.

Calmly asking for entrance didn't work, and with Ahkmenrah unable to hear her over his own distress, Sac glared at the jackals with the fire of a mother.

"Bouger!"

Rarely did she slip into French, but her anger was getting the better of her and Sac wasn't about to try and attempt the scant bits of Egyptian she remembered. Not when a pair of spears were pointing at her in clear warning.

"Yakfi!"

Sharp and commanding, the spears retracted with notable disdain, but the jackals allowed Sacajawea to enter after being yelled at by their pharaoh.

Ahkmenrah didn't look up at her approach, flinching when her hand rested on his shoulder. Sighing softly, Sac eased down to sit beside him after fetching one of the blankets tucked inside the sarcophagus. Ahk was always cold when in pain or just not feeling well. He leaned against her, needing the warmth now that the pharaoh was openly showing his pain.

"Ahkmenrah, please...deep breathes."

A low groan slid from the young adult's throat, and it took two repetitions of the request before Ahkmenrah understood her. The shaky inhales helped soothe some of the unsteadiness, but did little to stop the grief rolling loose.

Sac carefully brushed her fingers through the dark curls, amused that even being confined to a heavy crown constantly they still held the bounce of youth. Ahkmenrah leaned into her touch as much as he tried to pull away from her. She didn't let him, humming softly to soothe the pain.

"What is wrong Ahkmenrah?"

He shook his head, not understanding her until Sac made the pharaoh sit up enough to watch her lips.

"Tell me...what is wrong?"

An attempt had been made for the pharaoh's face to compose itself and not show just how much pain he was in, but the open comfort Sacajawea was offering was too much to ignore.

The bronze skin crumpled, and he shifted to cling to the woman in grief.

"I...I t-turid li amma!"

The last syllables slipped into Egyptian, but Sac didn't need to know the language to understand, there was one word she'd heard Ahk slip out during the grips of the last migraine when she'd checked on him.

Amma...

Mother...

Sac crooned softly, stroking her fingers through Ahkmenrah's hair and down his neck. There was little she could do with the pharaoh struggling to comprehend anything around the language barrier, let alone the migraine beginning to take a stronger hold. Ahkmenrah didn't seem to care though, clinging to the woman that was willing even if she wasn't who he wanted.

Exhaustion won out after awhile, and Ahkmenrah slumped into Sac's side to try and hide from the pain. Adjusting the blanket, Sac rubbed her hand over the pharaoh's back to warm him, softening her hums to not aggravate the sound sensitive young adult.

"Please...do not stop..."

Hushing him, Sac leaned back against a cold pillar, using the support to keep Ahkmenrah huddled to her side better, "I am not going anywhere Ahkmenrah, just rest-"

"No-" Ahkmenrah whined, rubbing at his face before slumping back down to her shoulder, "The song...please..."

A small smile graced the woman's face, but it was a weak one backed by tears as she hugged the shaking pharaoh tighter. The humming picked up again, still soft, but the soothing tones eased the trembling enough Ahkmenrah might have fallen asleep had he not still been grieving. Soft sniffles made it to Sacajawea's ears, but she let it go unmentioned, letting the pharaoh cry himself out.

She'd seen the look on his face, the longing and desperation at seeing Larry with Nicky, father and son. Ahk had shared little about his own father, just that the previous pharaoh had held both of his sons to high standards, competing them against each other if he had to. The pharaoh's mother...Sac had caught Ahk in a rare moment of weakness, a couple weeks after being released the pharaoh had vanished into the far wing to hide. Sac found him staring at the silent paintings, unmoving amidst the waking night. The image was by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, titled Child with Toys, and depicted a mother and a small boy playing with toy animals.

It wasn't that the image was something Ahk had seen before, it was the meaning, the love of the woman for her child to take time from her day to spend playing with the little figurines. Ahk hadn't said a word, just leaned against Sac when she sat next to him to admire the painting as well. Weakness wasn't an option for a royal, not when the majority of Ahk's actual life had been training for combat and the throne. Later, he'd thanked her for the silent understanding she'd displayed, unspoken was his gratitude for her not sharing the incident with others.

Sac had stopped Ahk in his tracks, proclaiming no one had to know if he did not wish it, but that they were all here for the pharaoh should he have need of them. While Ahk hadn't taken her up on that idea at the time, he had shared pieces of his past, mostly of his lessons and duties, but after Sac helped through the migraine and had soothed some of the laudanum induced haziness, Ahk had gratefully accepted the motherly compassion given.

It's why Ahk clung to Larry and Nicky when he could, the stability of a family the one thing the pharaoh would admit to needing while hiding everything else. And why the very confused pharaoh had fled the lobby in grief stricken jealousy.

But right now, Ahkmenrah needed something to dull the pain. Sac wasn't the only one who had gone looking for him, and Teddy appeared after an hour or so with a small cup, ready to help now that the pharaoh wasn't fleeing or breaking down.

Ahkmenrah downed the cup without a fuss, not seeming to care about knowing the contents. It still took several minutes, but he did succumb to the medicine and fall asleep against Sac's shoulder.

Between the two of them, it was a bit of trick to get the unconscious pharaoh laying down in the sarcophagus, padded with blankets to ease the slumber. After carefully wiping his face clear of the tears, the bruise still stood out dark on the pharaoh's face. A harsh reminder.

"Let us give him quiet to rest my dear," Teddy held out an arm for Sacajawea, tenderly adjusting the blankets covering the teen.

Nodding, the pair left the exhibit, shooing others away and their hovering concern.

Jed was waiting for them at the main desk, arms crossed and looking sullen.

"How's the pharaoh, el presidente?"

Teddy shrugged, "Sleeping now, the migraine has definitely begun. I suspect he will remain that way through dawn. Did Lawrence and Nicholas have to tend to something?"

"Nicky's crashin' so Gigantor took 'im to the office ta rest, figured I'd wait here fer now."

Leaving Teddy with the cowboy, Sac left to check on the night guard. Roosevelt turned to the railroad foreman, dropping onto the chair with a low sigh.

"Ya know what this means Mr. President..."

"Yes..." Teddy pulled his glasses free to clean them with an almost nervous energy, "But I am dearly hoping we are both wrong."

Xxx

January 31st

Xxx

Luckily, or unluckily, this migraine was not as long lasting as the first one Larry had to deal with to help Ahk. The second night after the tablet fell and Ahk collapsed, the pharaoh had been incoherent with pain and spent most of it drugged beyond the ability to function. On the third, Larry was waiting in the Egyptian exhibit, having pulled the lid open already without looking inside and stepping back.

Ahkmenrah sat up slowly, rubbing at his eyes in either lingering pain or exhaustion before spotting the night guard.

"Good evening."

Larry forced a grin, "Good evening yourself, how are you feeling?"

Unlike normal, Ahkmenrah didn't fully hide his embarrassment, rubbing at his face again before climbing out of the sarcophagus and straightening his shendyt, "I am well, the pain is no longer all encompassing."

"Good-good," Larry winced, "...uhh...hey this is going to sound weird-"

The pharaoh's face contorted in confusion, but he didn't interrupt.

"-but I was wondering if you would know what happens if say..." Larry gestured vaguely to the museum wall, "The tablet free falls to the ground?"

Ahkmenrah's brow furrowed in blank confusion, but he did step to the artifact and carefully pull it from the hooks. Practiced fingers ran over the pieces, smoothing any imperfections and tracing the hieroglyphics embedded in the gold.

"It appears to be in order," The pharaoh turned, "Did something happen? Is that why I was moved so abruptly? I do not believe the University had such immediate plans for transfers, not with what the professors were discussing."

Shrugging, Larry carefully replaced the tablet back on the wall, leading them both out into the rest of the museum, he stopped near Ocean World, the sounds of the whale quietly singing inside catching Ahkmenrah's attention.

"I can't really say why you were moved, but for now there's another hall for you to explore if you'd like."

Another shrug, this one from the pharaoh free of his fancy collar and jewels, just wearing the long pants and using the cloak to wrap his upper body in the chilled museum. Ahkmenrah never looked so young. He took the out though, bowing a little before stepping into Ocean World without protest, joining Sacajawea and Octavius who were waiting inside.

At least Ahk's constant curiosity was something rather ingrained, made it easier to distract him.

Teddy, Attila, and Jed were already waiting in the lobby, no one looking happy. Larry's face was all the news they needed, Ahk didn't remember anything.

"Lawrence..."

"I know..."

The night guard dropped onto the desk chair, grabbing the phone while digging in his back pocket for the sheet of paper he still kept. He hadn't wanted to do this, but both Teddy and Jed had insisted it might be their only option if Ahkmenrah had no ideas to his unlikely predicament.

Jed was glaring while the phone rang, but it wasn't at Larry, instead it was the device itself. At least the cowboy remained silent when a familiar but unwelcome voice echoed off the speaker phone.

"You know...I might not be the best at these new smartphones my nephew is yelling about...but I can recognize the number from the workplace I was unemployed under."

Larry grimaced, "Yeah I figured you'd know it was me, how ya doing Cecil?"

"I'd be doing better if I was actually enjoying my retirement, but instead I'm on this phone call with you."

Attila glared at the disembodied voice, but didn't growl like Larry knew he was wanting to, allowing the current night guard to go on, "Well at least you picked up so that's something."

"What do you want Larry?"

"We've got a problem, and I figure you'd be the one to ask."

Cecil groaned loudly, "I told you! Do the instructions and do them fast! How hard is that to remember?!"

Larry had to stop Jed from charging forward to yell into the receiver, instead he kept his hand on the desk as a makeshift barricade, glaring for silence, "Yeah that's not why I called."

"Then what?"

"Short version?" Larry sighed, "The tablet fell and hit the ground, so far nothing super weird has happened and it doesn't look like it was damaged but-"

"Damn thing is solid gold, shouldn't do more than scuff it up. I can count at least a dozen times it's hit the deck for one reason or another-"

"Cecil!"

"What did you do?"

Larry snapped, "Tablet fell on the ground, Ahk collapsed, and now he doesn't remember anything!"

The quiet on the other end of the line almost lead them to believe Cecil had hung up, until the former night guard sighed loudly, lacing static across the phone, "How far back?"

"Somewhere in 1939. Thinks he's supposed to be at Cambridge University."

Wincing audibly, Cecil let out a strained laugh, "The good news is, the tablet will correct itself, the bad news...it's going to be awhile."

"How long is awhile?"

"Well..." Cecil mumbled over the phone for a moment before piping back up, "I'm assuming Roosevelt is there with you?"

Teddy straightened up, "Indeed."

"1976, the museum got a fresh paint job and the addition of the Christopher Columbus statue, Attila and his men were on a rampage again and the packing crate holding the tablet during rennovations got knocked down the stairs."

"Oh..." Teddy's face fell into a tight grimace, wincing when Attila shied back in guilt.

"The tablet will correct the issues, just takes a few days for the moon cycle to change, don't ask me how in the hell that works but if the tablet ever got dropped and someone lost memories of mobility or whatever, we usually just had to wait until the next moon phase to happen. Two weeks tops I think."

Jed whistled, "That ain't too bad."

"Jedediah this better not have anything to do with you!"

"Oh, blow it out yer-"

Larry plucked Jed off the desk, setting the cowboy on his shoulder to hold on to the uniform jacket, "Cecil, are you sure that's all it takes? No messing with the combination, no ancient words...nothing?"

The former night guard grunted like he'd shrugged on the other end of the line, "Not that I'm aware of, leave the damn thing alone and keep everything inside the museum. As long as the mummy goes back in the box at the end of the night, not much you have to worry about, is there?"

Xxx

"Sixteen days."

"Lawrence?"

Larry gestured at the computer screen, "Tablet dropped on the 28th, that's basically the half moon after the January full moon, two weeks out puts us the night after Valentine's day if I'm understanding this right."

Teddy leaned on the desk, reading over the calendar predictions for the lunar cycles of the coming nights in mathematical calculations and visibility percentages.

"Fascinating."

Shrugging, Larry scrubbed a hand over his face, careful not to jar Jed too badly; the cowboy had gone sullenly silent while the phone call had finished up, and while Larry had gone scouring the internet for moon cycles. Now, Jed easily slid down Larry's arm, walking along the forearm to climb next to the computer monitor.

"Gonna be a long two weeks, hope it ain't gonna get worse a'fore hand."

"What do you mean Jedidiah?"

The cowboy waved vaguely at the computer, even while stepping away so Larry had full range of motion with the mouse and keyboard, "Long as this ain't gonna act none like a fever, burnin' worse 'fore it burns out. Pharaoh ain't too good at English, all stiff and robotic right now, better not get harder or this ain't gonna be any easier."

"Jed's right," Larry glanced around the lobby to ensure they were alone, "Ahk learned English in Cambridge, any further back and the language barrier would be almost impossible. Teddy, did anyone have more issues the last time this happened?"

"In the 70s? Not that I'm fully aware of, Columbus speaks almost pure Italian or Spanish depending on the night, Reginald knew enough to keep him calm while the initial introductions were repeated during the incident. I was rather otherwise occupied supervising the Huns."

Attila at least looked a bit embarrassed, shrugging it off when Roosevelt smiled in understanding.

"As for others, the tablet hasn't caused such a noticeable change in someone's behavior besides that, not unless someone else experienced such that I wasn't aware of-"

"That's because you were not privy to such information."

"Evening Lewis."

Meriwether nodded as he approached, looking worn down as he paused next to Teddy, "Good evening gentleman, I suspect Sacagawea is still entertaining our ailing pharaoh?"

"Indeed."

Humming softly, Lewis gestured over his shoulder the way he'd came, "Night Guard the president is mostly correct, no one has had such incidents in years, but that is not to say they did not occur. Roosevelt, you did not know of them as myself and William were unable to tell you. I suspect the tablet was dropped or mishandled at some point in the 1980s, to be honest many of those years blurred together locked behind glass, but there was about a solid fortnight that Sacagawea spent at least an hour every night reassuring William and I that we were not prisoners and part of a museum. Our memories of our captivity and the nightly stretches of such confinement had been erased. They did return after the fourteenth night, but it was a rather confusing time."

While Teddy sighed in relief, and no little guilt at his part in the explorer trio's confinement, Larry just groaned softly, "Lewis did the memories just snap back? or take longer or what happened?"

"William spoke of a severe headache that night, the clarity returning with it before recovering, I myself was rather fatigued and unfocused but my thoughts were clear and the reasons for our being behind the glass were clear. I suspect with our dear pharaoh, it will be much the same. Though, I would caution you that I can distinctly recall all that occurred while I was 'incapacitated' for lack of a better word. A rather embarrassing realization to recall such unseemly conduct." Lewis sighed, "The pharaoh will likely be unsettled and unhappy the night this is all corrected, but will be unharmed."

"For now then," Teddy clasped Lewis' shoulder in thanks, "We just have to wait."

This is open to suggestions/ideas as well if you lovely readers want to, just stick your thoughts in the little white box below! I take them and work with them as I get them and insert the drabbles as they fit with the series, trying to keep in order with the movies but will see how long it lasts.

Review?

Oh my gosh have I been spelling Sac's name wrong?

"YAKFI"-Arabic: Enough

"BOUGER"-French: Move

"...turid li amma"-Arabic: Want my mama