One Last Time [Night at The Museum Fan-Fiction] **COMPLETE**

Chapter Eight

If anything was considered a facepalm moment, now would've been a good time to do so as she looked and almost laughed at the unimpressed look on her father's face upon seeing the newest neanderthal jumping up from the box, wearing an excited expression on his face.

In the limited amount of time she got to know the neanderthal, La, Emma could feel herself warming up to him and almost laughed at the childish, jealous nature of the rugged man as he deliberately pushed Nick out of his way as he followed Larry to the door.

"How are you doing?" Emma turned to her head to look at Ahkmenrah and her smile dropped slightly at the sight of him. He looked more worse for wear and was beginning to look a bit grey in areas. Whether or not it was the lighting, but even if it was, he still didn't look that great.

"You're asking me this?" She asked softly, "You look horrible."

He looked away, "Thanks."

"I didn't mean it as offensive Ahk but this whole thing has been affecting you the most, hasn't it?"

"It's been affecting all of us, Emma."

"That's not what I meant." She sighed, turning fully to look at the young Pharaoh, "You and the tablet are connected, it belongs to you, and the fact that mostly everyone else is made out of wax and this is your original body, you must be feeling it more than the others."

He didn't say anything and she felt her stomach drop as she, without thinking, placed a gentle hand on his arm and gave a gentle squeeze which earned her a small smile. "I am fine."

She sighed, giving him a small smile, one that she was certain he knew was completely fake as she knew that his words were nothing but a lie and that he was not fine. "Can I at least ask you one question?"

"And what is that?"

She opened her mouth to speak, feeling hesitant for a moment, taking a deep breath, "Are you in any sort of pain because of this?"

It took him a moment to finally answer, but it confirmed her fears when he gave her a nod, averting his gaze from her.

Emma sighed, pursing her lips as she reached down and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, rubbing her thumb over the back of his hand as she looked up, snorting when she saw her father still fighting with La to be the door guard.

"Stay there, La." La looked back at her and she gestured to the door, to which he stayed put. Larry turned his attention back to her, his expression thankful as he sighed with relief and glanced at his watch.

"So, Lawrence what is the plan of attack?"

"Uh, well, we're going to go to Egypt and find Ahk's parents and hopefully get the tablet fixed."

There's the word that made everyone silently cringe, hopefully.

There was no guarantee that this plan would work.

There was no guarantee that they could undo the corrosion on the tablet.

And as Emma glanced at the tablet in Ahkmenrah's hands she felt her heart skip a beat as just a little bit more was green.

She prayed to whatever God, to anyone willing to listen, that they could fix this. She gritted her teeth, her vision blurring from fresh set of tears wanting to spill. She quickly blinked, glancing up at the ceiling, willing them to disappear.

"So, we should probably get going now, then." Nicky said slowly, following Larry with Emma and Ahkmenrah on his heels as they quickly made their way through deeper into the museum.

"Uh, you guys hear that?" Larry asked, slowing down until he fully stopped, everyone stood still as they listened to the sounds of approaching footsteps - footsteps that sounded too large to be human.