The Heart Stoppers

AND WE GO

Three months after the AFO explosion, Zack and I were at the airport. I had actually contacted my grandfather, the only one who I thought could help us now.

    We were the only two agents from the AFO left. We were, dare I say it, coveted. Adamas agreed to let us work at the magical version of the FBI which he called SHIELD or BARRIER or something that sounded like a Marvel rip off. And we were headed to London to meet with him about it.

    Though I was slightly bitter toward the old man who had shunned me from this magnificent life I could've had, I still went down on my knees and asked for his help. Why? Because Zack and I needed to be integrated back into our world. We needed a new normal, and after what had just happened to us, I'm not sure it was possible.

    Zack's head lies on my shoulder, him asleep from the long night we spent traveling from California to Chicago. In that time, I had explained to him what we were, where we came from. He was much more accepting of the idea of he himself being a magical entity than I. Maybe it's because I had spent a large portion of my career hunting people like us.

    Our flight is called, and I shake Zack awake.

    We both walk in peaceful silence to the gate where we then enter onto the plane. "We're gonna be fine, you know," he says, appearing at my side after placing our bags in the compartment above our heads.

    "Pull your sleeve down; don't let them see the wrist tattoo. We may be wanted people," I whisper to him as a flight attendant passes.

    Tigger is somewhere else on the plane, and I can only imagine his frustration with us as we embark on our fifteen hour flight. I sit by the window as Zacks plops down on my right.

    "We'll be fine, Hayden. We're going somewhere where we'll be fine. We'll do what we do, and we'll be fine."

    I nod, looking out the window and patting his knee.

    "We'll be fine."