Will felt oddly out of place without his furs. That was an especially strange reaction, given that he’d only worn them on three occasions now. But it was the first time he’d been out in public without them, and he couldn’t help feeling a little vulnerable. He was indistinguishable from a normal person in his simple hoodie and blue jeans, and with his flame pulled in so tightly that he couldn’t feel it. It was strange to be so keenly aware of the difference in temperatures. He’d forgotten what it felt like.

Glancing to the side, he noticed that James, Emmet, and Joseph looked even more uncomfortable than he did. James did the best at hiding it, but Will still noticed the way he shifted his feet every few seconds, putting his weight from one leg to the other. He, like the others, was unable to keep his eyes focused in one direction. They had to glance to the side and behind as casually as they could, constantly on the lookout for potential threats. So they were feeling just as vulnerable as he did, Will thought. That was a relief.

“Wish Charlisa was here to see me off, at least,” he said to James, sighing. “Would have loved to spend a bit more time with her before we took off.”

“Right,” Jame said, drawing the word out. “Because making out with the daughter of Edward Ambrose doesn’t show that you’re connected to him. Not at all.”

Will scowled at him. “I know why she can’t come, and why I can’t be seen in public with her. I’m just making conversation.”

“We get it,” Emmet said, offering Will a quiet smile. “I had to tell my girlfriend that I was going away too. She was upset when I couldn’t tell her why.”

“Jesse will understand,” Joseph put in, bumping Emmet with his elbow. “She’ll just hold it over your head for a year or two, then let it go.”

Emmet let out a snort of laughter. “If she doesn’t kill me first.”

They all laughed at that, attracting the attention of several nearby people. Will quickly made an apologetic gesture to the middle-aged woman in the line before him. “Sorry, we’re all just a little nervous about flying.”

She gave an exaggerated sigh and turned away, but said nothing. Will rolled his eyes behind her back. Clearly someone from out of state, he thought. No Alaskan would be that passive-aggressive. He contented himself with taking a deep breath and giving the others a tired sort of shrug. They snickered quietly at that, then fell silent. The line began to move, and they all picked up their rucksacks, inching forward in silence. Once again, they shared a nervous look. They were so close to it now.

Edward had driven them to the opposite side of the city from Nexus Hill and dropped them off at the side of the road. Then, according to his instructions, they’d stepped into a local diner, and had breakfast. Will had barely been able to swallow his order of biscuits and gravy, his throat too tight from nerves. The others hadn’t done much better. After nearly an hour, they paid for their half-eaten meals and left the diner to call a cab. Luckily, it was a completely new driver who didn’t recognize any of them, and he took them to the airport, where they’d been waiting for just under two hours for their flight.

Will patted his hoodie pocket once more, making sure that his ticket hadn’t fallen out while he’d talked with the others. It was still in place of course, but just to be safe he took it out and slipped it into the side pocket of his duffel bag. They walked through the security checkpoint, depositing their bags and taking off their various metals. This process took quite a bit longer for Emmet, who, as it turned out, had quite a few metal bits in his body from surgeries in the past. Eventually, after explaining his case, an agent just patted him down manually. But shortly after that, they were thorough, and all that was left was to wait for the gate agent to call for them.

“How long is this flight?” James asked as they hauled their bags over to a few empty seats in the gate area. “Something like twelve hours?”

“Eighteen,” Will said. “And nearly half of that is layover time.”

James grimaced. “It always takes forever, flying into or out of Alaska.”

“How would you know that?” Joseph asked, arching one eyebrow. “You’ve been in Alaska your whole life.”

“We traveled for the war,” James said. “You don’t think we walked to Ohio, do you?”

“Oh,” Joseph said, his voice going a bit quiet. “Right.”

“Why wasn’t Richard in this trip?” Will asked suddenly, his eyes scanning the area for a vending machine. “Boss said we were picked because we’re the youngest, right? Well, he’s the newest apart from me.”

“Oh, you know perfectly well why he's not here,” James said scathingly. “Eventually he’d annoy you, and you’d hit him over the head. Inter-fighting would screw everything up.”

Will opened his mouth to argue the point, then hesitated. He had to admit that James had a point. There had already been a small handful of times where the thought of whacking Richard had crossed his mind, particularly when the burly youth resisted Will’s efforts to teach him how to fight. Will would have expected Richard to welcome the new skills, seeing as how he loved showing off the ones he already had. Will closed his mouth, pretending he couldn’t see the smug smirk that James wore

“All passengers of Flight one-twenty-four, we will begin boarding soon. I repeat, all passengers of flight one-twenty-four, we will begin boarding soon.”

The four of them jumped up at the sound of the cool female voice over the intercom. They would be one of the first to board, they knew, as Edward had wasted no money on this trip. They would be sitting in first-class all the way and staying at a very nice hotel when they arrived. Will was a little uncomfortable with the extravagance, but he’d known better than to argue. But it did put Charlisa back on his mind. Sharing an expensive, comfortable hotel suite with her would have been preferable to doing it alone. But he also knew he shouldn’t share that thought with James, as the man would just torment him with snide comments all flight.

They made their slow way over to the gate agent, producing their tickets and handing them over. Will grimaced internally as, recognizing the first-class ticket, the smile on the woman’s face became more sycophantic. She was getting ready to put her “VIP guest” mask on. He quickly set his bag down on the moving platform and shook his head. “Please, none of that. We’re just normal people.”

She hesitated momentarily, then the smile returned to its normal state. “Of course, sir. Please, follow Davis here, and he’ll show you to your seats.”

Will nodded his gratitude and followed the portly man in a three-piece suit who had just arrived, the others falling in line behind him. They were shown to very comfortable seats, the kinds that had way more legroom than was necessary and could recline back to the point they were almost beds. Will declined the offer for food or drink, though Emmet and James both ordered a beer. Will instead unslung his backpack from around his shoulders and pulled out the book he was planning on reading for the trip. Ignoring James’ snort of derision, he opened the page he’d last stopped at and settled down for a long journey.

——————————

Things started to go wrong pretty much as soon as they touched down in Florida. They landed at the Miami International Airport and realized all too soon that they had taken a lot for granted. For one, as passengers who were arriving from Alaska, they were automatically scanned and checked more thoroughly than any of the others who had gotten on after their layovers. Then they were instructed to walk through a different kind of scanner. As expected, Will caught the barest glint of odd red and green lighting on the screen, indicating a thermal scanner. He held his breath as James went through first, but there was no hiccup, and he looked no different from a normal person. After that, the others went through with similar results.

“Apologies for the extra hassle, gentlemen,” the security agent said, offering them a tired smile. “This is a standard procedure for those originating from Alaska.”

“Why?” Will asked. He knew the answer perfectly well, but he wanted to appear like he knew nothing to lower suspicion. “Do they think we’re gonna be terrorists just because of the heat or something?”

The man laughed out loud at his remark. “No, no. You’d be surprised how many Alaskans think that, but no. We’re just, uhh..”

“Checking to make sure you’re not members of the Fire Nexus,” the man’s coworker said firmly. “Sorry, but it’s the rule. They’re not allowed here.”

Will widened his eyes, hoping he could still remember how to react to news of the Nexus. His assumed uneasiness seemed convincing, he thought. “Oh god!” No thanks, those people terrify the daylights out of me.”

The first man laughed again, shaking Will’s hand as they passed. Will couldn’t help but notice that they gave the other three more scrutiny. Clearly, there was no way that Will was a Fire Nexian because there had never been a white person accepted before. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but with difficulty. At least they’d passed the security on their way in, he thought. The biggest hurdle was over, and they were in. They made their way to baggage claim to pick up their duffel bags and stepped out into the balmy, humid Miami air to call a taxi.

Will wrinkled his nose in distaste as they arrived at the hotel. If you lived in Alaska long enough, you began to forget that other major states and cities stank. A lot. He was a little nauseous at the smell of dirty water, and, judging by their expressions, the others weren’t enjoying it anymore. Emmet in particular had pulled up the collar of his shirt to cover his nose, his eyes narrowed against the stench.

“What in the hell is that smell?” James growled, looking around, possibly trying to see where the pile of rotten animals was. Will pulled him along towards the hotel front doors. “It smells like a damn sewer.”

“Everywhere outside of Alaska smells like that,” Will told him. “You’ll get used to it, trust me.”

The hotel was the typical massive building in a tourist destination, designed to hold hundreds of guests every night. Easily fourteen stories tall, it was made almost entirely of some white rock, save for the large tinted windows that obscured the rooms of guests above. The lobby was equally magnificent, Will thought. Large black and white diamonds spread across the entire polished floor, with maroon rugs scattered about where the average customer would stand. Will was actually tempted to remove his shoes, a habit born out of force from visiting nice buildings in Japan.

Something snagged his attention to the right side of the open lobby. When he glanced over, his hackles raised, he saw an elevator door opening, and several chatty women stepped out. One of them, he saw, was wearing a light blue skirt over her tanned figure, complete with a light blue top that exposed her shoulders and stomach. But what was most interesting to Will was the wooden disk she wore around her neck. It was hanging on a necklace of tiny beads and had a wave etched into it.

This, and the way the other women spoke deferentially to her, immediately told Will that she belonged to the Water Nexus. This was confirmed by the way she walked. There was a kind of quiet confidence and power that only a Nexian had as if they knew they were a class above normal people. He subtly directed his friends to step to the left side of the lobby, staying well out of her trajectory. They didn’t waste time with questions, obviously recognizing the woman as well. He thought could hear James grinding his teeth, but let the matter go.

Just then, the doors behind them opened. Will, still a little dizzy from the wave of relief that had washed over him as the Nexian woman passed, glanced idly to see who had come in after them. He saw a few tourists, smiling as they talked amicably about their day. He found himself smiling as well. It seemed that they were safe at last, he thought. They just had to make sure to avoid running into another Nexian again. He turned back to face the desk, and his heart stopped.

Behind the desk stood a man wearing a dark pair of jeans and a loose grey hoodie. A very familiar hoodie. But what was even more familiar was the mask. Blank, featureless, and made of black fabric. It was just as unnerving as the first time he’d seen it after the man had knocked James unconscious and attacked him. It was the stranger who had saved the water Nexians. Will reacted instinctively, not knowing if the man had a weapon or not. He turned slightly so that his back was to Emmet and Joseph. He shoved himself back into them, forcing them out of the stranger’s reach.

“Run!”