A/N: So I'm thoroughly embarrassed that I've let this story go for as long as I have. I am so so so sorry. We've ben having some family issues lately, births and deaths, and I have been incredibly busy with school. I know, that's no excuse. I'll try to do better, I promise. Anyway, without further blabber from me, here's Chapter 4.

Chapter 4: Tessa

The phone call to Nicky went better than Larry had expected. The boy was distressed, of course, but he took it in stride, even reassuring his father.

"Don't worry, Dad. You two have both gotten out of a bunch of bad situations before. I'm sure you can manage it again. Besides, you two were meant for each other. There's no way you two won't find each other again."

Larry smiled. "Thanks, bud. I hope you're right."

"I am, Dad. You'll see. Now, go find her, okay?"

"I will, Nick. See you soon for break, okay?"

"Yeah. See you, Dad," the boy replied, and then h hung up.

The night guard stood staring at the phone in his hand for a moment longer, and then he shook himself out of his reverie and put it back in its cradle. Then he grabbed his bag of supplies and headed out the door. He wanted to be a little early today. Maybe a few extra brownie points would be enough for him to ask MacPhee for some time off.

When he arrived, the director was nowhere to be seen, so he simply went about his duties until the opportunity to speak to his boss arose. The doors soon opened to admit the nocturnal visitors, and Larry watched, chuckling to himself, as Rexy terrorized a trio of teenage boys. Suddenly, he caught sight of a flash of red out of the corner of his eye. He glanced over and saw a woman with brilliant red hair. It was long and straight, rather than short and curly, but the shade was exactly right…

Just then the woman turned around, and Larry gasped. It was her, it just had to be! He hurried over to get a better look, but the woman saw and noticed that he was staring.

"Can I help you?"

"I'm sorry, it's just…you look like…someone," Larry stammered out.

"Yeah, I get that a lot," the woman replied. "I guess I just have one of those faces. She started to turn away, but Larry spoke again.

"Do you know…I mean…are you, by any chance, related to Amelia Earhart?"

"No, I don't think so…" she replied, looking cautious, but amused.

"I'm sorry. You just look like her." He smiled. "You must think I'm crazy. My name's Larry. Larry Daley. I'm the night guard here. Do you need anything?"

"Actually, yes. I'm terrible with maps. I was trying to find the…" she consulted a guide pamphlet. "…Hall of African Mammals."

"Oh, you don't want to see that," Larry told her. "The Hall of Miniatures is much more interesting."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. It's right over this way. Come on, I'll show you," Larry said.

"Thanks," the woman said. "My name's Tessa, by the way."

"Tessa. Pretty. So, Tessa, what brings you to our humble museum? Besides lions, elephants, and evil monkeys, of course."

She eyed him warily. "Evil monkeys?"

Larry winced. "Yeah. It's a long story. When I first started working here, Dexter took it upon himself to make my job miserable. He's one of the capuchin monkeys. He's also a bit of a kleptomaniac, so watch your keys."

"Just to be clear...we're talking about one of the animatronic monkeys, right?" Tessa asked.

"Well, sort of. Yes. Again, long story. I'll tell you later, okay? Oh, look, here's the Hall of Miniatures," Larry exclaimed, changing the subject. "The Romans and The cowboys are real characters. I don't recommend getting too close to the Mayans. They may be behind glass, but it's best to be cautious. They have these nasty little blowguns, and darts and…it's just not pretty."

Just then, Jed and Octavius came zooming by in their plane. They swooped down and buzzed right over Tessa's head. She shrieked and ducked, swatting at the plane. Jed brought the plane around and landed it neatly on the bench in the middle of the room. He gave a loud whoop and jumped out, striding over to the two humans. Octavius followed him closely, appearing sheepish but exhilarated. "Well, Gigantor, I see you found her. Don't know why you were so worried, she wasn't lost for long."

"Lost?" Tessa asked, confused. "What are you talking about? I want's lost, and I've never seen this man before in my life!"

"Oh, that's just Jed," Larry said, chuckling nervously. "He says the funniest things sometimes."

"Now that ain't true, Gigantor, 'least, not when I ain't had any moonshine, and I promise, I ain't!" the little cowboy protested. "And just what d'you think YOU'RE talkin' 'bout? Just last night you came tearin' in here tellin' us all pilot girl was lost, and now all of a sudden, she ain't lost, she's right here, only she looks funny, and she's actin' all confused…are ya'll tryin' to pull the wool over my eyes?"

"I must admit, I, too, am quite perplexed," Octavius chimed in. "My lady, are you all right? Is there some enemy we might vanquish for you?"

"Oh, ha ha, aren't they so funny?" Larry asked, forcing the words out between gritted teeth. Real jokers."

"I ain't jokin'!" Jed started. Larry picked the two miniatures up and stuffed them back into their plane, ignoring the protests from both of them.

"sorry about that, Tessa. "I'll just send them off; they won't bother you anymore. I think something must have gone haywire with their programming." With that, the night guard picked up the toy plane, intending to lock the two little men in a different room until the night hours were over.

"Wait!" Tessa exclaimed. "Mr. Daley, something odd is going on here. Now, either you tell me what it is, or I'm walking out of here right now, and I won't be back!"

A/N: So there it is. Please review, let me know what you think. Also, the next chapter is going to be kind of special. A friend of mine wanted to try his hand at writing, so he's going to attempt to write Chapter 5. Don't worry, I'll be editing, so hopefully the style won't change too badly. It just might be a little while longer until it gets posted (though if it takes too long I'll tell him he can write Chapter 6 and I'll do it myself. lol.) Thanks for reading, and I'll try to update soon!

Since my friend is going to try writing Chapter 5, that frees me up for a bit. Therefore, I've decided to start a new story. It'll be a Bones/NCIS crossover since BOTH of my favorite shows are on hiatus at the SAME TIME! lol. My muse is satisfying my craving for more episodes. I'll be starting to post some of that, but don't worry. I'm still keeping up with this one. Thanks!