Hi everyone! This is my first 39 Clues story. I'm kind of nervous/iffy about posting this, because I've tried editing this a lot and it never really seems right...

This story is actually supposed to take place near winter break, the holiday season before when the Rapid Fire book #7 (Fireworks) is. Oh, also-this story (or at least this chapter) might not make much sense if you haven't read Rapid Fire book #4 (Crushed), which is about Ian. So please be aware that there are spoilers to people who havn't read #4. Sorry!

"NOOOOOO!" came a great big cry from the new Attleboro command center.

The door opened with a bang. Amy quickly stumbled in, her reddish-brown hair flying around in a fit. Her heart beat fast, senses heightened at the possibility of danger.

"Dan, what's wrong?"

"It's horrible! You'll never believe it! It's the end of the world!" Dan moaned, holding up his hands in gargoyle-like claws for emphasis. He was staring at the screen as if it had just declared that the word "puke" had been outlawed.

Amy scanned the room, relieved that there was no danger in sight. But then she was confused. What was going on? Dan was never this dramatic, unless he lost a super special grave rubbing or something. Amy's whole body tensed, waiting for any hint or sign of danger.

"Dan, w-what is it?" Amy stammered.

"It's that!" Dan pointed an accusing finger towards the big screen. He quickly slammed his hand on the keyboard, causing a video from an email attachment to open. On the screen a blue icon flashed, signaling that the video was loading. The 13-year-old boy then abruptly stood up and headed towards the exit.

"Dan? Where are you going?" Amy asked.

"To go find a hole to die in, of course," Dan replied as he slipped out the door.

What was going on? Amy wondered, turning towards the exit. She was about to go chase after Dan when a voice suddenly spoke out.

"Greetings, cousins. I hope you've been faring well."

Amy jumped 3 inches off the ground.

"I would just like to inform you that our plane will be landing at six' o clock tomorrow evening. We're arriving at the Logan Airport—please don't be late, as my dear sister can get a bit irritated on…economy class." The voice seemed to choke a little on the last couple of words.

Amy wondered if she was going insane.

Then the door opened.

"Hey," Dan greeted Amy, sliding in through the entrance. He seemed to have calmed down a little bit. "I forgot to take my juice box with me. You never know when you're gonna need it when plotting your death."

Amy just stood there, frozen, staring not quite at him. Dan looked behind her and noticed that the video was still playing. Darn it. He'd forgotten how long that snooty guy had dragged out the clip.

"Anyways, I trust that you'll meet us there on time," continued Ian Kabra in his silky British accent. His amber eyes seemed to smolder even on the big screen. "Natalie and I are looking forward to spending the week with you both."

Dan gagged and ran straight out of the room.

"Ian, come on, we can't miss our flight! We have to go early because of those commoner lines," complained a distant, high-pitched female voice.

"Oh, there's Natalie. I better leave," Ian concluded. "But we'll see you soon." Amy glanced up just in time to see him flash a brilliant smile.

And with that, Ian Kabra disappeared with a little "blip" on the screen.

Amy stared, openmouthed, at the black monitor.

What…just happened?

Why had Ian sent the video to her and Dan? It wasn't like they'd talked since that…that phone call he made earlier that year. Amy ignored the slight pang that came into her chest. Maybe he made a mistake and meant to send the message to some other relatives instead—they did have a big family, after all. But then Amy slowly walked towards the computer and found where the video had come from.

Her email.

Wait, how had Ian gotten her email?

…And how had Dan gotten into it?

Amy shook her head, determined to find out later. She started reading the message and turned just slightly pink.

Hello, Amy.

Just thought I'd send you a quick reminder, in case you'd forgotten about your invitation. Not that that's likely, of course.

Cheers,

Ian

Angry tears stung the corners of Amy's eyes. That jerk. What right did he have—basically rejecting her over the phone, and then out-of-nowhere stating that he and Natalie were coming over tomorrow? And that they were so amazingly important that she and Dan were just dying for them to get here?

If there was going to be any dying, it would be from the terrible punishment of having to spend time with that snob.

It wasn't so much the wording of the letter as it was the memories that he had rekindled. He just had to go and bring up that phone call. She'd thought she'd gotten over it, but now the memory came back full force—how he blatantly stated he would never come visit, ever, and how her stomach dropped when he said so. And how he pushed her away, just when she'd thought that they might become…friends, or even something more. Again.

She felt so stupid for getting her hopes up. And weak for being at the fingertips of some boy who…who was so mean and only thought about himself.

The door banged open again, interrupting her thoughts. Dan rushed in, glancing at the screen.

"Yes! Thank god it's over. I hate that cobra." Dan said, distracted as he looked around the room, apparently searching for something. His eyes lit up as he spotted his abandoned drink in the corner of the room. "Oh, there's my Capri Sun."

He grabbed his juice box and was just turning to go back out the door when he noticed something. Amy still hadn't scolded him for called Ian a snake.

He was though.

But Dan turned back around and saw the look on Amy's face.

"A-Amy? You okay?" Dan asked, startled. His eyebrows scrunched up like they did when he got worried. He suddenly looked a lot younger.

Amy's face was red, a mixture of anger and a few tears. But she managed to give a choked up, "Y-Yeah."

Dan's eyebrows stayed scrunched. "Is it about that video? Because don't worry about it—he's probably just messing with us. I mean, why would he want to come here in the first place?"

Amy sucked in a breath.

Dan's eye's widened. "I-I didn't mean it that way. I just meant that he's so stuck up and snooty—he probably thinks he's way too good to hang out with us. But in reality, we're tons better than him, because you know, I have my super amazing ninja fighting skills and you're a complete genius. Basically, we're both just awesome people. We rock his sorry designer shoes off!" Dan said this last sentence victoriously, pumping his arms up in what he considered a fierce ninja pose.

A small giggle escaped from Amy. She felt a little better thanks to Dan. Her brother could be such a dweeb, but inside he really cared. Amy's eyes teared up again, touched.

"Although now that they're, quote quote, "poor", maybe they'll get to experience not having 5000 dollar desig—Oh no. I know that look. Don't come any closer—I'm allergic to cooties!" exclaimed Dan, backing away as Amy came in for a hug. But because of Dan's aforementioned ninja skills, Amy decided not to push it and chose to ruffle his hair affectionately instead.

"Thank you, Dan" she said gratefully.

"Um, it's not big deal, okay? No need to get all mushy on me. Let's just go downstairs, and uh, eat something!" replied Dan, embarrassed.

And so they went.

Ian Kabra absentmindedly tapped his fingers on the dirty armrest of the seat, lost in thought. He wondered how he, a young, handsome millionaire, could have gone from buying exclusive polo ponies imported from Argentina to sitting here in this cramped, loud, and public airplane. He supposed that it was no worse than sitting in one of those things they called…what was it? "McRonalds". He shivered slightly in disgust.

But the fact that Ian had never been to a fast food chain was not the only thing that made him different from an average 16-year-old boy. Almost 2 years ago, Ian had taken part in an important Clue hunt with his sister against all of his other distasteful relatives. He had traveled the world, survived the yakuza, and faced a gun from his own mother. He had survived it all.

But then why was there still this unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach? It couldn't be…nerves, could it? All he was doing was sitting on a plane. That just happened to be going to where two of his distant cousins lived—one who was quite silly and the other who was quite…not. He wondered if she still remembered that phone call.

He hoped not.

Ian immediately shooed this thought away. Compassion is F.L.O., he scolded himself. Besides, it was too late to change the past. He had made a decision, and he would stick to it.

"Can you please stop that tapping noise?" Natalie Kabra suddenly complained. She was sitting next to Ian in a stiff black dress with white trim, a red hair band tucked into her shiny black hair. "It's starting to give me a headache."

Ian wondered what she was talking about until he saw his hand on the armrest. He hastily snatched his arm away, hoping that not too many germs had gotten on his sleeve. He grabbed a crumpled Skymall magazine from the seat in front of him and started dusting his sleeve off with it. That is, until he noticed all the dirt on the cover.

Ian tossed the magazine away in disgust. He suddenly felt irritated. Honestly, did they expect this cramped plane to provide any comfort at all? He resisted a strange sudden urge to put his newly shined shoes on the head of the seat in front of him—he realized it would be extremely improper, no matter how stiff his body was. Not to mention it would soil his footwear.

"It's strange, isn't it? That in just a few hours we'll be in, what is it, Maryland?" Natalie sniffed, looking out the window. "I hope our cousins' housing has better décor than their wardrobe."

Ian glanced at her. She seemed to be taking their sentence to public planes better than he thought she would.

But Natalie was being strangely talkative with him. Recently, Ian had realized that he and Natalie never really "chit-chatted" as other siblings did. Oh well, more time for polo, he had thought at that time. But now, for a split second, he wondered—was Natalie nervous? The States was, after all, where their mother was confined. Natalie was probably hoping that they wouldn't run into their mum—not after all she did.

"I hope so too," Ian murmured.

Natalie gave him a curious look, which made Ian wonder if he had, unawares, snubbed all of her previous comments. But surprisingly, Natalie let it slide.

"Yes, although I am curious as to why they suddenly invited us. It's not like we've been the best of friends or anything. It's strange, isn't it?"

And that concludes the first chapter :D Sorry, I realized after I typed this that nothing really happened in this chapter... Sorry if the first part was too rushed and the second part was too slow... Maybe Amy was sort of OOC...but I decided that if Ian was being like that to her (sort of...with an air of self importance?), then she might get a bit emotional before locking her feelings away..

In the next chapter, hopefully things will start to happen :D This is my first time posting a story that I definitely want to be a multi-chapter story. I'll try my best to update with not too much time in between. Thank you so much for reading this! I hope it was at least a little bit enjoyable!