I Wish They All Could Be...

[Thevshi]

San Diego International Airport

San Diego, California

Wednesday, July 30, 2014; 10:21 AM

 

Giang Trang stood in a hallway of the San Diego airport through which passengers debarking from international flights would pass after they left the security area of the terminal.  The Asian teen was wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a red T-shirt with the seal of the city of Del Mar on the upper left side and the word "LIFEGUARD" across the back, along with a pair of sandals, allowing her to not look at all out of place among some of the other young women nearby. 

 

Although Giang exhibited her typical serene exterior, on the inside, she was feeling a slight sense of excitement as she awaited the arrival of two of her closest friends from her time at Claremont.  Both she and Mali had graduated from the Academy in late May, while Cerys still had one more year.  Very shortly after graduation, Giang had accompanied her roommate Thaelia down to Atlantis for a couple of weeks, before returning to Freedom City to pack up her few possessions and travel out to San Diego in an attempt to find a job for the rest of the summer as she waited for her college classes to begin in the fall at the University of California: San Diego, where she planned to major in Environmental Systems.

 

Mali had taken a trip to Thailand following graduation, and Cerys had left the states as well.  But Giang had managed to stay in touch with the two, and once she had secured a job as lifeguard here and found herself a small apartment, the Asian teen had invited the two to come visit on their way back to Freedom City.

 

The number of people exiting the security area of the terminal began to increase, an indication of some recent arrivals, causing Giang to focus on spotting whichever of her two friends would be the first to arrive....

[Tiffany Korta]

Blodeuwedd thanks to her training was normally incredibly difficult to stop, unless she wanted you to, but today she blended in because she looked like a normal teen. Dressed in a Super Furry Animals t-shirt and a pair of shorts, though she had managed to avoid the sun, her hair in a pair of platts and a large backpack slung over her shoulder.  Of cause the backpack contained, thanks to cunning concealment, all of her equipment.

 

Normally she would, almost without thinking, sneak up to people before  revealing her presence but today she paused so Giang was aware she was there, before giving her friend a big hug.

[Thevshi]

Giang had been craning her neck slightly to better look through the incoming crowd of arrivals when she noted Cerys standing just a short distance away. A wide smile came to the Asian teens face, as she realized that Cerys had allowed herself to be seen.

She returned the hug from her friend. "I am so glad you were able to stop by for a few days Cerys." Giang said as she looked at the Welsh teen. "Mali's flight should be arriving soon as well. I trust your summer has been a good one?"

[Tiffany Korta]

As they waited for there friend to arrive Blodeuwedd told Giang about her trip to Patagonia, or at least as much as she was allowed to tell.

 

“The thing is that almost no one there speaks English, only Spanish or Welsh, so I spent the whole time communicating in my native tongue.†indeed her accent was a lot stronger than when she had been at school.

“Sorry I’ve gone on for so long about me but it first time I’ve been abroad, well apart from Freedom City of cause.â€

[Thevshi]

Giang listened closely to Creys' descriptions of her trip to Patagonia. The Asian teen had a warm smile on her face, happy to hear how much her friend had enjoyed her time there. When Creys' become apologetic about talking for so long about her trip, Giang gave a small shrug. "There is no need to apologize, I am sure Mali will have similar stories to tell about her trip to Thailand, and I have some about my…after graduation trip with Thaelia and then my move here."

She then turned to regard the hallway through which arriving passengers came. "And speaking of Mali, she should like have been here by now." Moving over toward one of the monitors in the terminal, Giang checked the status of Mali's flight, noting with a bit of disappointment that it was currently delayed.

"Well, perhaps this will work out for the best." She stated to Creys. "While we wait for Mali, we can try to go sort out whatever issue the rental car agency is having with getting me the vehicle I reserved."

[Tiffany Korta]

Blodeuwedd follow Giang’s lead as they made her way through the airport. She might appear more relaxed than normal but even now she was still looking out for danger.

 

“I wouldn’t mind grabbing a coffee whilst we wait as well. I can never sleep on a flight I’m always looking out for trouble. Guess that par for the course for what we do.†she shrugged the comment away, she wasn’t bothered by the fact at all.

 

“And what were the chances that both flights would come in at the same time anyway, beside I like airports there something about them being stuck between two places.â€

[Thevshi]

Giang gave a small understanding nod at Cerys' comment about being on the lookout for possible trouble.  It was indeed something that came with their decisions to be superheroes, and certainly applied with her need to keep an eye out for possible agents of her father or Dr. Sin.  If nothing else, that habit certainly translated well into her work as a lifeguard.

 

The two young women made their way through the airport to a coffee shop, continuing to talk more about their summers.  With Mali's flight still delayed, they then made their way outside to catch a shuttle out to the rental car company, so they could at least get that issue dealt with while they waited.

 

After a short wait in line, Giang went up to one of the available agents and gave them her information.  The young woman glanced at her computer and then replied, "yes, Miss Trang, we are so sorry for the earlier problems.  Everything has been handled now and we have upgraded you to a premium package a no extra charge."  She handed Giang the renal agreement and invoice as she continued, "your car is in row 6, parking space 11, just through those doors."

 

Giang was a bit surprised by the sudden change of circumstances, but took the documents and made her way out the indicated doors along with Cerys.  The two young women made their way through the rows of cars and turned down the indicated row, the indicated parking space just around the corner. 

 

As the space came into view, Giang barely noted the stylish convertible waiting for them, instead focusing on the young man leaning up against the car.  "John?"

[Semi-Autogyro]

Giang guess had been correct, as Johns' head snapped up when he heard his name called out. "Good Morning, Frauleins." He pushed up a pair of wraparound sunglasses and gave the pair a lazy wave that was at odds with his personality, but not his attire. The clone hero was wearing a Hawaiian shirt in an rather eye-watering shade of pink coupled with a set of board shorts and surfer shoes. "I do apologize for my abrupt appearance without warning you first, but something has come up that could not be disseminated over normal communication lines."

 

He stood and stretched with a yawn, which both of the women saw him use as a means looking around to see if they were being watched. Once satisfied he fished the keys out of his pocket. "Sorry. I am still operating on Hong Kong time. I can take your luggage and can pull around to the front while you wait for Miss Malis' plane to disembark. Once on the road I will gladly chauffeur you ladies to whatever destination you require and answer the questions you most certainly have." A beep signaled the trunk opening automatically, the lid moving upward to reveal what was undoubtedly Myrmidons' armor and associated accouterments in a large duffel bag already secured.

 

"Regardless of everything else, it is nice to see the both of you again." John said to them with an honest smile.

[Thevshi]

Giang was rather surprised at the presence of the clone hero, although she was happy to see him again as well. It had been over a year, shortly after he had graduated from Claremont, since she had last seen him. Of course, they had stayed in contact via email during the intervening period, if not frequently, at least regularly. She had been a little surprised when she had learned a few months after his graduation that she was the only one he was staying in contact with, but had chosen not to pry into his reasons for that.

The Asian teen gave him a warm smile, as she recovered from the initial surprise at seeing him. "It is very good to see you as well John. It has been too long." She was also rather curious as to what it was he felt could not be communicated over email, although, given his emails were often lacking in actual information on where he was or what he had been doing, it was not too great a surprise.

When he mentioned being on Hong Kong time, she could not help but stiffen slightly, considering that was her father's base of operations. But for the moment she was not going to let those type of thoughts ruin things. "Well, it looks like we have our ride." She instead stated to Creys, as helped her friend load her luggage into the trunk and then climbed into the convertible.

[Tiffany Korta]

Blodeuwedd gave John a smile, it wasn’t a vast gushing if emotion but anyone who knew Blodeuwedd wouldn’t expect anything more.

 

“It’s good to see you again John. Is it too much to hope that this is just a social call?â€

 

As she spoke she subtly as she could, which was incredibly subtle, tucked one of her throwing knives away. Before she knew it was a friend of hers she had been prepared for trouble, then again she always did.

[Semi-Autogyro]

John gave Blodeuwedd a helpless shrug from the drivers seat as the car roared to life. "Unfortunately that is not the case this time. When the nature of the information I discovered came to light, I cancelled my current contract and made arrangements to be here after making a few calls to ascertain your location. My apologies for being off grid the last year or so, as well. I have been working on my professional and heroic careers post graduation, which necessitated my discretion. Until now." Once he was sure the pair were buckled in he turned to Giang and simply said "Beneath your seat. Manilla file folder. Sole remaining copy." John pulled smoothly out of the car rental place and towards the loading terminal of the airport.

[Thevshi]

Giang had climbed into the front passenger seat as John started up the convertible and started back toward the terminal. She looked over at John as he apologized about being absent over the last year. "I understand John, no need to apologize. While your emails have been rather light on the details, it was rather evident you were very busy with things."

When John mentioned a folder under her seat, the Asian teen looked over at him with a slightly puzzled look. After a brief moment, she reached underneath and took the folder out and opened it to look inside. Giang looked at the first page as she seemed to go slightly ridged. "It's about my mother. My real mother." She stated to John and Cerys.

[Tiffany Korta]

Blodeuwedd had never knew her parents she had been raised since birth by the Order, and had never had a strong desire to find out who they were. But whilst the Order wasn’t the most traditional of families she knew how important such things were to people.

 

“You know I’d do almost anything to help my friends, I went through almost hell to help Tona.†she gave a friendly smile to Giang “What can we do to help you?â€

[Thevshi]

Giang glanced back at Creys, giving the other girl a return smile, appreciative of her support. "Thank you Creys, I know I can always count on the two of you. But…I am not exactly sure what there really is to do."

"I mean, ever since I was taken to Hong Kong and introduced to my true father, I have never known anything about who my real mother was." The Asian teen looked back at the documents in front of her for a brief moment, before she continued. "According to this, my mother is one Murjana al-Darsah, the oldest daughter of Amir al-Darsah, otherwise known as Typhoon, the ruler of Socotran. She currently lives in Dakana, having married a Dakana nobleman."

[Semi-Autogyro]

John wove through the light traffic "I cannot tell you the circumstances I received the information; what I can tell you is that I can confirm its veracity and that I sanitized the site and all potential leaks and breaches." The clone nodded towards the paper. "The only other copy of that is in my head."

 

They came to stop at one of the airport lanes as a shuttle bus stopped to load a group of tourists. "That information comes at a price of what this knowledge means. Dr. Sin and Typhoon have or are working together. If you pursue this you could further expose yourself to danger, or worse the direct attention of Amir al-Darsah." Johns' tone had shifted to that of Myrmidon, which further highlighted how serious he viewed this information. "I wish I could give you some insight on your choice, but the last time I saw my father we traded more ammunition than words."

 

John took the time to turn to face Giang directly and  after a brief moment of hesitation put a hand on her knee. "Know this. You will always have my support. No questions asked." The shuttle bus started away from the curb and John was back to both hands on the wheel.

[Tiffany Korta]

Blodeuwedd was quiet for a few minutes as she considered the various options the help Giang, between them they probably had the skill and contact necessary to help out. it would just take a while to put things into action.

 

“How do you want to proceed was this?â€

 

The decision here would ultimately come down to Giang.