Chapter 5: Only the Good Die Young-er

Amelia knew it was the night she was waiting for. Tonight, her planes would arrive. The replicas were delayed recently after rain came down hard in Nevada, causing Amelia to pout for a while on Saturday. Larry promised her that he would let her repair it. The museum had opened today and tonight, allowing her and Lindy to walk around, advertising their soon to be open exhibit. The nights she had were great. Between her new friends, her lovely job, and her new boyfriend, it was all going great.

This night was going to be spent with Larry. Their first real date was going to be building the airplanes, as they needed to be slightly disassembled to fit through the museum doors. The place was off limits, meaning the two would be uninterrupted. The shipments had already arrived, but Larry waited until sundown, just as he promised. The two spent 3 hours straight working on the Electra 10E, and just needed about an hour until they decided to stop for a break.

"Aren't you made of wax? I didn't know you could get tired." Larry was exhausted, but Amelia looked like she could go on forever. "Maybe I'm just out of shape."

"No, I can most definitely get Joed, but I'm hard boiled, Ace. I used to do this often when I was younger, and as I got older I muled on my public image. I could do harder, longer." Amelia had helped Larry substantially over the past few days with his job, doing a better job most of the time. Amelia was a quick fit with the rest of the museum with her head-strong attitude and curiosity about almost everything. "But I understand, Larry. You've never done manual labor before."

"Of course I have, for the most part, this job is manual labor, just with living museum exhibits helping out." Larry was a bit agitated, but he understood it was mostly a joke. "Let's get back to work." And they worked until completion.

Upon completion of the Lockheed Electra 10, the two embraced and danced to the music playing over the speakers. Once the two had danced enough for both their tastes, they kissed passionately. On all measures, the date was going extremely well. They were both having a good time, and being productive.

They had brought the parts of The Canary to where the plane was being displayed. Working for only 2 hours, they had the entire plane built. They had to finish the display tomorrow, but neither knew how to arrange it. The pair decided they would figure it out then. They were going dancing in the Hall of Miniatures again.

Arriving in front of the Romans and the Cowpoke, as Jed insisted, they waited for Octavius to announce the set list. Larry had installed a retractable stage for the exhibit. He had also gotten actual instruments for the band. The best Cowboy at drumming was a bearded man with glasses who wore fancy suits. Another member of the railroad display played base, a Chinese immigrant. One of the Roman women was on keyboard, with the rest of the Romans as a symphony ensemble. The Cowpoke acted as the choir. Neither were used that often, just the main 5.

On the docket tonight was a strong set list. Come as You Are, Comfortably Numb, Knights of Cydonia, Paradise Lost, Song 2, Clocks, Kids With Guns (using actual guns). Larry was excited as Nick suggested most of these songs. Larry thought this would be a good way to bond with his son, despite being a long ways away from each other.

The show was amazing. A large audience of exhibits came and listened to the amazing sounds of the 1:12 instruments. The roar of the crowd impressed the group, as only Amelia & Larry had watched them practice or perform. Jed was particularly enthused, claiming he was the 'biggest, smallest man in the world' despite protests from Octavius.

The sun was about to rise, and this was a great day for Amelia & Lindy, as they were about to be on display for the first time.

"So how did you enjoy our date Amelia? I thought it was fantastic, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't pressuring you into something you didn't want to do." Larry was being very sincere, knowing it was best for the moment. "Enjoy your plane too, Lindy."

"It was the best night of my new life." Amelia was embellishing a bit, the actual best night was at the Smithsonian, but this was a close second. "See you tomorrow night Ace."

Dr. McPhee entered the museum at 8:15 AM, just as any day. However. These last few days had been different, to say the least. Larry had told him about the Tablet of Ahkmenrah's powers, and that he was in love with wax, weirdo. McPhee had been keeping a journal, and for that night he wrote the following.

Week of 5 to 12 of September,

I discovered Larry's secret. I knew they weren't

animatronics, but this is ridiculous. He informed

me that this has been happening for years! Ahk,

as he's called, informed me in every detail he

knew. Also, Larry is in love with a wax version

of Amelia Earhart, the creep.

McPhee absolutely loved the museum, even before he knew its secret. McPhee had moved here fresh out of college and made his way up the ranks until he became director. Despite his seeming hatred of Larry, he remembered being in a similar position. He had new respect for the night guard after seeing how everyone treated him at night.

Today was a Monday. The planes took an extra day to ship, so while Larry and Amelia worked at night, McPhee spent the day documenting what minor changes in the placement of the exhibits took place. No one except him and a few other cleaners were there on Mondays and Tuesdays. All the cleaners had left by 10AM, leaving the curator alone for the next 10 hours. McPhee used his time well, taking a 3 hour nap after eating lunch. By the time he woke up, it was already 4PM, meaning he would do a bit of maintenance then sort his files.

By 7PM Larry had walked into the museum. The museum was closed, which usually allowed him to work on personal projects for his friends. Tonight however, he was working with Amelia to finish her exhibit. Larry was still thinking about how the real objects were going to be displayed.

He worked on it until the display was finished, finally closing the case when he was done. Sundown was about 20 minutes away from Larry, meaning he was about to see Amelia again. That was until Dr. McPhee called him up.

"Larry, I'm gonna need you at the loading dock again."

"What for, Dr. McPhee?" Larry had already brought the planes in, why would he need to be at the docks?

"It's a part of the display, don't worry."

Larry went to the dock and picked up the crate. It was heavy enough that he was tired by the time he got it to where the display was, it was only a few minutes until dark. He decided to let Amelia do the rest of it. Little did Larry know, it was hers to do.

The bow was shaking when sundown arrived, startling both Larry and Amelia. Suddenly the top flew open. An arm came up, then another, then a head. Amelia looked on in awe, realizing what the box contained.

"Excuse me Ace, can you tell me where I am?" The voice sounded exactly like Amelia, but her lips were stopped. Then it dawned on Larry. It was Amelia, just a different one.

"M-Mrs. Earhart?" Larry stuttered out, looking between the two women. "This is Amelia Earhart, same as you. When are you from?"

"You're so… young!" Amelia blurted out. "You must be in your 20s!"

"So I am, Miss. So if you're really me, Why are you so old?"

The slightly older woman got red. "You, missy, are nuts! You're not so hot yourself, crumb."

She retorted.

The younger woman got up, ignoring herself. She walked directly over to the Canary. "How did you two mules get my plane? And what is this other device?" She was looking at the Electra E10. "When are you from, Me?"

"1937, right before my, I mean our, disappearance. Oh wait, you don't know we did that yet. Probably shouldn't have told you that." Amelia was still a bit red from the younger her's comments, but added extra red from telling her that. "Sorry."

"Both of you stop!" Larry yelled, then took a few steps toward the new arrival. "Hi… Amelia, I'm Larry Daley, the night guard, and I guess I'm in charge here. You need to calm down," He said before looking back at the Amelia he was dating, "So do you." Turning back to the younger, he said "Yes, you both are the same person, she's older, by about 15 years, and you're younger. Now that we've gone through that, both of you need to stop."

Larry told the new Amelia what she was, how she got here, and what year it was. He explained all of the rules he had, hoping that she wouldn't break them. Then the younger woman ran off to talk with other exhibits, leaving the older couple two talk.

"You were kind of a prick kid, wonder how you turned out so well." Larry said, half joking, half serious.

"My family was wealthy at the time. They were a few months from losing it all." Amelia looked extremely disappointed. "My father was an alcoholic, I was often a plate, more often than I like to admit."

Meanwhile, the younger Amelia was causing all types of mayhem. She went around asking everyone about everything, that was until she met Dr. McPhee.

"Who are you? What made you famous?" She asked curiously.

"Uhh, excuse me? I'm Dr. McPhee, Amelia. Y'know, the guy you met 3 nights ago. Museum director and all." He smugly stated, before realizing something. "You're… new, right? First night ey? Must've been what was inside that crate. You meet Larry and well, you yet?"

"I have Mr. McPhee! They we-"

"Dr. dear, Dr. McPhee."

"Sorry, Dr. McPhee. They were very odd. I didn't know that I would get so pilly."

"Ah, well Larry is well liked around here, so be careful insulting the man, don't want Attila the Hun on your ass."

"Hey Dr. McPhee have you seen uhh, Amelia? She's not the one you bought, she's younger." Larry then looked back to where the new Amelia was standing. "There you are Ameli- You know what? We gotta get you a nickname. How's Meeley? Good? Good." Larry was out of breath after spewing his words. Amelia walked up behind him soon after him.

'Meeley' turned around and stared at McPhee angrily. "You Bought me?! I am a human being Dr. McPhee, you greaseball!"

"Meeley," Amelia piped up, "He can buy you. You, like me, turn into a statue at the break of dawn. And for your information, Dr. McPhee, I don't think you understand. She just woke up for the first time, she isn't ready to be told all of this."

"Sorry, Mrs. Earhart." McPhee had never felt so embarrassed. He was genuinely sorry, as he didn't quite understand the ramifications of his actions.

"It's Ms. Earhart McPhee." She added after seeing the look on Meeley's face. "I married our publicist, never wore the ring." She assured her younger self. "It was on the rocks, don't worry."

With that the trio went back to where the area where the aviatrixes were being displayed.

"Now Meeley, you're gonna have to pick a pose to be displayed as for the rest of your life. It sounds scary, but don't worry, Teddy here is gonna help you." And with that Larry left the two alone. He crept back into his office, where Amelia was watching TV, and sat down with her.

Larry walked back to the exhibit after Amelia. It was about time for the sun to rise, and the exhibits to go back. They looked up at Meeley, and the 23 year old pilot was sitting, waving in her Canary. Her goggles were down, her hat on too. It was the pose she chose.

The sun was up, lighting up the exhibit. The two women were at peace for the first time, giving Larry a sense of relief. His job was done, that's at least what he thought.