The Old Jackson Twins Book 2

Chapter Thirteen

Chloe Kitzman hated night shift with a burning passion.

She could have been at home, asleep, or hanging out with her new puppy, or something. But where was she? SHIELD's computer room, nursing a cup of strong black coffee.

She checked the clock and groaned when it said 1:57 A.M. This was an absolutely inhumane hour to be awake. It wasn't like anything ever happened, anyways. Things had died down since Tony Stark snapped Thanos away.

Returning to her seat after refilling her coffee cup, she barely glanced at her readings as she picked up her book - and then put it right back down, because there was something new.

A ship, entering the upper atmosphere of Earth, right above Stonehenge.

Not taking her eyes off the screen, she fumbled for the phone and dialed the number of the Triskelion.

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"Okay, so, $582.58 became 516.67 euros," Reyna reported. Aria looked up from the bus schedule.

"We should be able to catch the one at 11 o'clock, and it's only 5 euros per ticket."

"Okay, where does the 11 o'clock bus go?"

"It's a couple hours to Warsaw, Poland."

"We don't speak Polish."

"Right, but there's another one to Calais, France, and we can take the Chunnel to London from there."

Reyna grabbed her bag, which had the tent in the front pocket. "Well, let's go, then."

Aria was already standing, her backpack over her shoulders, and they headed towards the ticket booth hand-in-hand to buy their tickets. Once they were safely on the bus, Aria claimed the window seat - each row had only two seats, so there was no risk of a stranger sitting next to them - and pulled out a Sharpie.

"What are you doing?" Reyna asked curiously.

"Shh." She pulled Reyna's arm into her lap and started drawing, swirls and dots and flowers. By the time she'd finished, the bus was nearly to Warsaw and the golden mock-tattoo covered Reyna's arm from wrist to elbow. "D'you like it?"

Reyna turned her arm from side to side, studying it. "This is incredible."

Aria grinned and snuggled against Reyna's shoulder. "It is, isn't it?"

"Love the humility you've got going on there."

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Percy was the first one off the plane in New York. Annabeth had remembered to bring the bag that he'd forgotten in his desperation to be out of the evil metal tube, and they wandered downtown to the twins' apartment. Aria and Reyna had wanted to see London's decorations for Christmas, then they'd shadowtravel with Mrs. O'Leary to New York just in time for the holidays. For now, Aria had tasked Percy with not dying beforehand, which was a promise he'd thought for sure he'd break while on the plane.

They made it home in one peace, explained that Aria wouldn't be back for a couple days, and then collapsed on the couch, Percy exhausted from the nerve-racking flight and Annabeth a good girlfriend.

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"Hyde Park?"

Reyna sighed. "Is it big?"

"Far as I can tell."

"Think we can hide there?"

"It might be the only place we can. London's a little short on parking garages and forests." Aria leaned against her shoulder. "'m so tired."

"I know, love. I am, too."

"I like it when you call me 'love'."

"I'll have to do it more, then." Reyna savored a few moments of peace, then started walking. "We'd better get to the Tube station. C'mon."

Aria clearly was exhausted, because when they got on the train, she leaned against Reyna's shoulder and was asleep before the next stop. But they had a fifteen-minute trip to Hyde Park, so Reyna let her sleep. Besides, she was glad to have a quiet few minutes with her girlfriend, when the dread growing in her stomach left her constantly nervous about everything.

Aria woke up two stops away from theirs, and was still yawning as they stepped back onto the platform. "I can't wait to get to bed," she murmured.

"We have to pitch the tent," Reyna teased. It was a little bit of an inside joke, since the tent pitched itself in seconds.

"Yeah, yeah." She yawned again. "You know, we woke up in Norway this morning."

"That we did. Do you want to get some food before we get to the park?"

"We're already here. Besides, what's going to be open at 11 o'clock at night?"

Reyna pointed at a Hard Rock Cafe about a block down, which was lit up like a goddamn Christmas tree.

Aria perked up a little. "I kinda want some fries."

"They call them chips here, love."

She tilted her head. "What do they call chips?"

"Crisps."

"Crisps," Aria repeated. "Well, I want chips, then."

But the second they walked through the door, one of the screens showing a soccer game - football, Reyna reminded herself - suddenly switched to the news station.

"Attention. An unknown object has recently been spotted over Stonehenge. Local authorities are investigating it now."

Aria sighed. "Guess I'm not getting chips."