Flight Security

A MOTE Prompt Response

Conor watched the young woman out of the corner of his eye. She hugged herself, withdrawing against the airport wall; it was clear to him she had never been in a crowd before. Long red hair pulled back in a ponytail, wearing jeans tucked into black leather boots, a t-shirt with some sort of graphic design on it, and a hoodie, she blended in with the small crowd milling around the departure gate. But for Conor, there was something off about her. Turning her head slightly, she caught his eye and quickly looked away, returning her gaze to the gate information board.

It was then Conor caught the blurry edge around her shoulders. A glamour. His nervous young woman was using a glamour.

“Did you catch that?” Daniel murmured, never looking up from his phone. He braced one foot against the pillar and leaned back, the perfect picture of the bored, experienced traveler.

“Yep. Wonder who she’s hiding from?” Conor raised his coffee cup to his mouth, hiding it from any prying eyes.

“Us?”

“Nah. We aren’t here because of her. So, she’s not on the boss’s radar. At least not yet.”

Daniel swiped at something on his phone. “Yeah, you’re right. She looks really scared though. Are you about to assign us to her currently non-existent protection detail?”

Conor gave a long, slow exhale. “Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on if we see anyone who looks like Dark Court lurking around. She’s on our flight.”

“And anyone hiding from the Dark Court is on your ‘to be saved’ list. I know. And I agree with you.” Daniel smirked, still staring at his phone.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for waiting. We are now boarding flight 2747 to Philadelphia. We will start with families with young children, those passengers in wheelchairs or needing a little extra help down the jetway, and active duty military with military ID. Please line up and have your boarding passes out and available.” The crowd started flowing and shuffling back and forth in response to the announcement from the gate staff.

Daniel pushed himself upright and shoved his phone into his back pocket. Conor picked up his backpack and slung it over one shoulder. The two men made their way toward the boarding lines and paused. The gate attendant called for first class and they moved forward once again. Conor noticed the glamoured young woman joined the first class line slightly ahead of him and Daniel. He glanced at his friend and colleague and nodded his head in her direction. Daniel raised one eyebrow in response. Since Conor had already decided the young woman was their current security assignment, having everyone sitting in first class would make that a whole lot easier. He hadn’t seen any Dark Court operatives, and if they were on this flight, they weren’t sitting in first class.

As they shuffled down the jetway and into the plane, Conor noted that the redhead was sitting across the aisle from him and Daniel. Good. Hopefully he could trike up a conversation with her during the flight. They had five hours, so he should be able to get at least some kind of story out of her. Or at least enough lack of information to allow him to fill in some of the blanks. He noticed she looked even more uncomfortable in the cramped cabin of the plane than she had in the terminal. Yeah, not someone who was used to dealing with crowds of humans.

Daniel slid into the window seat while Conor shoved his backpack into the overhead compartment. He sat down and glanced over at the young woman. Once again, she caught his eye, but this time she gave him a small smile before looking back down at her phone.

The rest of the passengers continued to shuffle past making their way into the economy section. Conor felt a punch against his thigh and raised his head. Daniel simply jutted his chin toward the forward door. Standing there, exuding charm and chatting with the flight attendant while waiting for the line of people to move further into the plane was Ethan Black, Dark Court tracker extraordinaire. He was focused on the flight attendant and hadn’t glanced around the cabin yet.

Conor’s phone slipped off his leg and fell into the aisle. “Oh, I’m sorry,” he murmured to the man standing there. Leaning down to grab the phone, Conor braced himself on the arm of the young woman’s seat.

“Keep your head down. Tracker incoming,” he said in a voice just barely a whisper.

Wide green eyes darted to his before shifting back to her phone. Conor pushed himself upright and smiled another apology at the man standing in the aisle. The young woman reached down and pulled her bag from under the seat. For a moment Conor worried that she might try to leave the plane, but she opened the bag, buried her head, and started rooting around in it.

Black’s mild flirtation with the flight attendant ended as he moved forward into the first class cabin. Conor deliberately looked up and caught the tracker’s eye. Next to him, he felt Daniel do the same. Black’s eyes widened and he stared at the two High Court enforcers as he continued down the aisle and into the rear of aircraft. Conor watched until Black disappeared in the crowd. Turning back he caught the redhead’s eye once again. She mouth a silent “thank you.” Conor gave her a nod and turned to Daniel.

“What the hell is Black doing on this flight?”

Daniel shrugged, but Conor could see the tension in his shoulders. “No idea, but this flight continues on to London after Philadelphia, so he could just be going back to England.”

“Yeah, I still don’t like it.” Conor grumbled.

“I don’t either, but there’s not a lot we’re going to do about it now. And then there’s her to consider.” Daniel nodded toward the glamoured young woman across the aisle. “You need to get her name and where she’s going before we land. We don’t know if Black is following her or what, but like you said earlier, she’s clearly running.”

“Yeah, I know.” Conor paused. “Well, we’ll figure it out. It’s what we do.” He sat back in his seat and closed his eyes.

******

This week’s prompt challenge was issued by Parrish Baker: She hugged herself, withdrawing against the airport wall; she had never been in a crowd before. There’s many more to read over at More Odds Than Ends and if you’re of a mind, pick up one of the spares and see what you come up with. Enjoy!