None of them had any baggage to claim, so security had gone comparatively quick. Now the three of them sat in the waiting area. Carter had been remarkably quiet ever since they left Ford's flat, which was why he turned to Holt to ask his question.
"When did you get here?"
"We flew in this morning."
"Going for the miles, are you?" She didn't return his smile. James sighed. "There's not that many flights back and forth."
"I flew the plane here myself. It was the fastest way. We're on a bit of a tight schedule." The hint of a smile. A start, James found.
"You can fly a plane?"
"Indeed I can. It was my senior project at Hobbit School."
Ford grinned broadly, then he looked pretty thoughtful all of a sudden.
Skye took in his slow, approving nod. "What is it?"
"In my experience it's always good to know a pilot."
She regarded him quizzically, then turned away again. He followed her glance at Agent Carter, and thought she looked worried about her. The black-haired woman sat leaned back against the plastic, fixating the empty chair opposite her. He thought Holt would talk to her, but they kept quiet.
Then the call for boarding sounded. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Are you okay?" Holt asked.
Surprised, he looked at her. "You know that moment when you think you've been through enough crazy shit in your life, but it just keeps happening and you're wondering why you keep going along with it?"
"Believe me," she said, and this time she smiled. "I know that moment."
/\/\/\/\
One continent away, Ethan Hunt put down his phone. "That was Skye. They got him. They're at the airport and they're about to take off."
"That's it?" Benji asked, because according to the slightly confused expression on his friend's face it clearly wasn't.
"She also said we should check the hide-out's supply for hair-dye and to brace ourselves."
"Did you tell her?" Benji wanted to know.
"Not yet. I want to see that guy for myself."
"What- but what if he tries anything?"
Ethan grinned. "I don't wanna be the guy that tries to mess with Skye and Jane. We can call ourselves lucky if he gets here in one piece."
Benji smiled, but a little doubt remained.
/\/\/\/\
On the plane Skye had to think back to the three occasions she'd met Trevor Hanaway.
The first time had been years ago, when she'd met up with Connor for dinner at Pizza Hut after he'd been back in town from a mission and they hadn't seen each other in a while. Connor had always dragged everyone to Pizza Hut, no matter what the occasion was. Hanaway had been with him on that one, and had accompanied him to dinner. Connor had introduced him as "the best shot in the whole outta history". He'd grinned at that, but refused their invitation to stay. It had been a thing of ten minutes.
The second time had been some time after Skye had been back from Samara, the mission where Connor had died. She'd almost run into Hanaway on some hallway at IMF HQ. Before she knew it, he'd bought her a cup of coffee and told her how sorry he was. That he was trying to get the lead of the recovery mission, since Skye hadn't been allowed to leave the country until the circumstances of what had happened in Samara were clear. That he was aware that they didn't exactly know each other, but that he'd considered Connor a friend who had always spoken fondly of her, so if she ever needed someone to share a drink with, she knew where to find him.
The last time she'd seen him was two weeks after that – the day Hanaway and his team returned from the recovery mission. He had stopped by to give her Connor's old dog tags. He had been wearing them when he died, not a very smart thing for secret agents to do in terms of being identifiable, but apparently he hadn't particularly cared. By taking them, Hanaway had most likely saved her a lot of trouble.
To this day Skye didn't know what to make of that. She'd been pretty shaken back then, and most likely not the best person to try and have a conversation with, so she couldn't even be sure if she had been nice. (Presumably she had not.) But altogether, Hanaway seemed to have been a really great guy.
Next to her, Ford heaved himself out of the seat. His knuckles were white from gripping the armrests and he looked overall a bit pale.
"Just gonna get some water in my face," he explained when he caught her glance, and disappeared between the rows.
"Do you think he's sane?" Jane asked the second he was out of earshot. She kept looking out of the window. It was the first time she'd spoken in quite some time.
"I think he's just a bad flyer, that's all."
"I meant that talk about an island back then."
"I don't know. He seems to have been through quite something."
"Mh."
"And I guess I would get suspicious as well if I got recruited out of the blue like that," Skye gave to consider.
"You're probably right."
Skye hesitated for a moment. "Are you okay?"
"He looks just like him. It's... it's so..." Jane faced her. "It's been four years since he died. I thought I was over it. But the moment his name came up last night when I got the new intel – the moment I saw his face..."
Skye was touched that Jane suddenly shared her feelings with her. She wasn't sure where it had come from but she wanted to be there for her. She thought she understood, too.
"It just takes so long. To be okay again. And this isn't helping."
"I know," Skye said quietly.
"Thank you for coming along. I couldn't have smashed him into the wall again."
"That's what I'm here for," Skye smiled, and to her relief Jane smiled back for a second.
/\/\/\/\
It had been a model flight, lacking turbulences of any sort, and still Skye had rarely seen someone so relieved and yet in need of a drink when they had landed in Sydney. Even when they got in the car – Jane was driving – she noticed that Ford still doggedly tried to calm down. He was good though. At keeping up his façade.
Jane parked on the street outside their base.
"So what happens now?" Ford asked. Apparently the end of the drive had coincided with the end of his reverie.
"Now we'll meet up with the others again," Skye said while she got out of the car. Jane and Ford followed.
"The others?"
"The rest of the team," Jane said. "And we'll have to get you – prepared." At the top of the stairs she assaulted the door again, and the team was reunited.
