Chibi-Kari: I tried to make this a little Zack centric. He needed to time and we needed to see how he really felt about the whole situation…I mean he's the twin brother of Cody. I don't own…but I did update quickly like I promised!
Missing Years
Airport
The ride to the airport was silent and a heavy anticipation had settled over the whole van. Moseby had arranged to have the Tipton's airport van bring them all there to get Cody back.
Zack closed his eyes as he leaned back. Max held a firm grasp on his hand, but that didn't stop it from shaking. He was barely functioning as it was. It had been over four years since he had seen his brother. His twin. His other half. And now he was different and angry. Hurt. All because Zack hadn't been there to protect him. That thought in and of itself was painful.
"Oh God, I'm going to be sick." He really felt it as he leaned over trying to put his stomach in a more comfortable position.
"It'll be okay." Max's hot breath blew in his ear and in any other circumstance he would feel more than better with that, but not now. He did take comfort in her being there and he sure as hell was thankful for her hand rubbing his back in a very maternal move.
Zack glanced at his mother who was still next to him. She hadn't moved since they got in the van almost twenty minutes ago. Zack could only pray they would get to Cody before he got on the plane. If they didn't, he wasn't sure his mother would recover. It almost killed her to lose Cody once. It would destroy her.
"Can you all just please shut up!" Maddy's voice rang out through the van as she turned in her seat to look at the five British kids in the back.
"We shouldn't have to. It's not like being silent is going to accomplish anything." Mae said she as she huffed back into her seat crossing her arms.
"And it's not like we won't see him again."
"Simon!" Sarah snapped as she hit him lightly, "We'll be quiet."
"Oh God." Zack couldn't even contemplate that.
There was a chance that they might miss him or worse, he might not want to come back. What if these people in the back seat were more important to Cody now? Hell, when he disappeared they knew where and how to find him. Zack was his twin and when Cody left he had no idea where to look. He had never even known that Cody loved parks.
Over the last couple years, Zack had kept a version of Cody in his head. It made him feel closer to his lost brother. Now he almost wanted to scoff. He didn't know anything about Cody. His impression of his brother was so skewed by his immaturity and his ideas. Cody thought things through, that's all Zack realized he knew. Cody was a thinker. Zack was a man of action. While he would have prided him on that when they were kids, he now knew better.
He needed his brother and he might not get the chance to have that. Cody had probably stewed over this all night and figured that leaving was the right thing. What his friends had said made sense. They knew Cody in a way that Zack had never tried. He just figured because they were twins he knew him best. It was so wrong. Zack made a vow then and there that if he got his brother back he would get to know him. He would know Cody, not who he thought Cody was.
The van pulled to a quick stop as Mr. Moseby slammed his door as he looked around the drop off area of the airport. The rest of the passengers sat in shock before starting their exit. They stood in front of the building for several moments before Sarah came forward and took Carrie's hand.
"Come on. He'll be inside if he's here yet. Martyn, can you go and check to see when the next flight takes off?" He nodded and broke away from the group as they stepped inside the busy lobby.
Carrie scanned the crowd for a mop of blonde hair. Her eyes started to tear as she came up empty after three sweeps of the crowd.
Martyn came back up to them breathing heavily as he shook his red hair from his face, "Takes off in an hour. That would be the flight he's on. Cody doesn't like to linger."
"Damn it," Max swore lightly, "He's probably already through security and God knows they won't tell us if he's on the plane or not."
"Let's go look at the security line just in case. You never know. Sometimes they get backed up." London nodded to herself as she started in the direction of the international terminal.
Zack stood on his toes slightly as they scanned the crowed.
Suddenly Cody's short girlfriend pushed him to the side as she walked forward and called out, "Cody!"
The man that turned was nothing like Zack had expected. His brother looked so much older and tired. Not lack of sleep tired, tired of life.
"Sarah?" His voice broke slightly as his eyes widened. His face pulled itself into a smile and his eyes seemed to lightened as he made his way back through the crowd.
The small girl took off forward towards him and he caught her swinging her slightly in the air. They both laughed before sharing a kiss.
"You're dirty. We need to get you a bloody bath." Sarah smiled slightly as she brought her hand up to his face, pushing his hair away from his face, "And a haircut."
"What are you doing here?" He looked genuinely surprised by her arrival.
"Here to rescue you from the damned American clutches, mate." Simon moved forward from the back of the group, as the rest of his friends mirrored his actions.
"God knows all that was on last night was their president and his pushy healthcare rubbish. If only they were all saying the same thing at those town hall meetings. I don't think anyone knows what that stupid bill says. They really need to get things together." Mae nodded to herself as Martyn and Simon shared a laugh.
Carla stepped forward with a roll of her eyes, "Well we came to save you. Mae came to wreak havoc on the American public by telling them how wrong they are about everything. But of course you know that." She laughed slightly placing her hand on Cody's arm, "Don't disappear on us like that. I'm your oldest friend and I don't like having you out of my sights."
"Sorry. It was a bad idea. Let's just go home and forget about this." Cody shook his head slightly, his eyes trained on his friends and his arms still around Sarah.
Zack had been silent and in shock at seeing his brother. 'This just isn't Cody. It couldn't be Cody' was all that was running in his head. As Cody turned slightly towards the line again Zack finally found his voice. "Cody?"
Cody's body went riged as he turned slowly. Both boys blinked at each other several times, "Zack?"
TBC
Chibi-Kari: I hope you enjoyed this little chapter. I had to put in the group's interaction with each other so they didn't just seem like random people that showed up to look for Cody! Thanks for reading…please review!
