Joseph Wilson buckled his seatbelt on the first class of a 747 airplane on flight to America and laid a protective hand over his left pocket. Though he didn't expect to stay in the United States for long, Addie had given him enough money to last more than a month on his own, and he felt that storing about half of it in his pocket was safer than putting it somewhere else. The other half he had put in his guitar case, which was somewhere in the back of the plane with the rest of the luggage. He had always been taught that carrying that kind of money on you would give more of a chance of getting robbed, but he didn't think he really had a choice at this point. In his opinion, the money being on himself would have it far more protected.
He hadn't brought much with him, only one small suitcase, his guitar, and his backpack, which was mostly filled with art supplies and music sheets and was in the compartment above his seat. He had only packed a few changes of clothes, and today he was wearing a white shirt with long sleeves and gold wristbands under a violet vest that extended past his gold beltline and over his black pants. His calf-length boots matched the color of his vest and were topped with gold bands. He glanced to the right at his seatmate which was on the window side, a middle-aged man with dark hair, dress clothes, and a laptop. He typed slowly and glanced at his watch every now and then, obviously waiting for the plane to take off like everyone else. A baby screamed across the aisle, its mother cooing and trying to comfort it, but to no avail. The pilot's voice came over the intercom and announced that the plane was getting ready for take off.
Joe had been on an airplane only once before for a third grade field trip, but he had never flown on one, especially by himself. In fact, he could hardly remember doing anything alone, but Addie had let him -actually requested that he do it- this time because she was so grief-stricken over Grant. Though he was also upset, Joseph didn't think she should cry just yet. After the things said yesterday, it was obvious that Slade was a liar and was hiding more than they had thought he was. He could have easily lied about Grant, but why would he? Joseph frowned. Grant was Slade's son just as much as Addie's, did he just not care? If the story was true, Slade either didn't care that his oldest son was dead or he didn't show it. But what if it was a lie? What kind of father would make up a story like that about his own son, and for what reason?
Joseph must have had an awful expression on, for the man beside him looked at him funny, probably wondering why that skinny blond kid was throwing dirty looks to the back of the seat in front of him. Joseph realized what he was doing and turned to smile at the man, who just raised an eyebrow and turned back to his computer.
Joey had been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he hadn't realized the plane was moving until now. He suddenly wondered if he would have to change the time on his watch when they went through time zones, but he had never done that before either and decided not to bother with it until he reached California.
The man beside him seemed to have traveled on planes many times before, as he didn't even look up from his laptop as the plane took to the air. Joseph looked past the man's shoulder and watched the ground below get smaller, knowing that Addie was somewhere down below at the airport, probably still watching the plane. She had gone through a checklist of everything that he would need, then hugged him to her chest for nearly fifteen minutes straight until it was time to board the plane. Right before he had left her, she grabbed him by the arm and sternly told him to be careful. Well, she didn't have to tell him twice. Though he might not look like it at first glance, he could watch out for himself.
An hour or so into the flight, a Hispanic flight attendant walked down the hall and asked everyone individually if they needed anything. When she got to Joseph, she asked the same question, and he suddenly realized that it was going to be hard to communicate with her. This early into his trip and he had already made a mistake. He was so used to most of the people he knew knowing sign language that he didn't even think about the ones he would encounter that didn't. Addie obviously hadn't thought about it either; but she hadn't seemed to be thinking about much lately. He held up a finger to signal the woman to wait, and he stood up and took his backpack down from the compartment above his head, pulling out a sketch pad and a pencil. As he wrote down that he would like a soda, please, the man beside him once again gave him a strange look, but Joseph just smiled at him and handed the paper to the flight attendant. She read it and handed it back.
"Sure thing, sweetie," she said in a thick accent. She looked at the man in the business suit. "Is there anything I can get you?"
"No," he said flatly.
The woman walked away and ran a hand across Joseph's hair as she passed. He smiled at her again and knew that he was lucky to be able to communicate with her this time, but later on with other people it was going to different. And no doubt the rest of this trip was going to be tough.
-T-
He must have fallen asleep later on, because Joseph was suddenly waking up to the intercom again, signaling that the plane was preparing for a smooth landing. He put his seat belt back on and glanced at the man beside him again, who was staring straight ahead with his arms crossed tight across his chest. Joey wondered what time it was and looked at his watch, but knew they were in a different time zone now and that his watch was pretty much useless. It was more helpful to just look out the window and see whether the sun was up or not, but it was pitch black outside.
The pilot had been right when predicting a smooth landing, and once the plane had touched down and the engine shut off, the door was opened and the flight attendant was telling people when and how to get off. When only some of them did, Joseph suddenly wondered if this was even his stop. The flight attendant came over to him after a few minutes and touched his shoulder.
"Is this your first flight, and are you alone?" she asked, smiling broadly with her teeth showing.
Joseph answered both questions with a nod, and the flight attendant pulled his backpack down from the compartment and handed it to him. "If you're headed to California, honey, we're at Jump City airport now. Your stop's here."
He took his backpack from her and stood up, patting her arm in appreciation and smiling. She directed him to the steps and waved as he got off the plane. He walked towards the airport to retrieve the rest of his belongings and suddenly realized his felt nearly sick. He figured food and a comfortable sleep would probably help that, and he went in search of a hotel after he got his suitcase and his guitar.
He felt uncomfortable walking on the dark streets of a strange place he'd never been in before, especially a city this size. He had never seen buildings so tall and so close together, except on TV. A phone booth caught his eye and he went inside, setting down his things and picking up the phone book that was chained to the wall. Finding a hotel this way would be easy, but getting there would be the hard part. After figuring out what street he was on and writing down the address of the nearest hotel, he picked up his stuff and went outside to flag down a taxi. Even though it was night, it didn't take long, and when he got inside and the cabbie asked 'where to', Joseph pressed the paper with the hotel's address into his hand and sat back. The cabbie shrugged and drove away from the curb.
"Don't talk much, do you?" he said, glancing at his passenger in the rearview mirror.
I only wish I could, Joseph thought, but he just shook his head. Let the man think what he wanted. Everyone didn't have to know that he was mute.
"Where are your parents?" the man asked.
Joseph just looked him in the eye and didn't answer. Even if he could tell the man, he wouldn't.
"Oh, that's right, rude question. None of my buisness, huh?"
Joseph hoped all of the people in this city weren't like this. He didn't know why the cabbie was so persistent on finding out, or why he cared. He wished he would just drive, and after awhile he did.
They reached the fancy hotel after awhile, and Joseph grabbed his stuff and paid the man after he was told how much he owed. He would have tipped if he knew how, but he just wanted to get a room and go to sleep. He went inside and stood at the counter, putting everything on the floor except his guitar and looking expectantly at the woman behind the counter.
"Can I help you?" she said, entwining her thin fingers and leaning forward in her chair.
Joseph held up two fingers and only hoped she would understand. Thank goodness, she did.
"You want a room for how long, two night?" He nodded. She named the price and he raised an eyebrow. It sure was expensive at this place, but he didn't really care at the moment. He paid her the money and she handed him a key as she told him what floor and what room number he would be using, then asked if he needed help finding it. He shook his head, and after picking up his luggage, got in the elevator and found the room more quickly than he thought he would. He was surprised at the elegance of the place, and was excited to have all this space and even a fancy bathroom to himself. He wanted to take a shower but was afraid he'd fall asleep while doing it, so he just threw his clothes onto the floor and fell into the queen sized bed, nearly smothering in the softness of it. His own mattress would feel like a bed of nails after this, and when he thought of home he was almost home sick, but not quite. He would be absolutely thrilled with being on his own if it wasn't for the circumstances of finding out the truth about his brother's death. He would somehow find Grant's college in the morning and get to the bottom of what was going on, but he fell asleep while thinking about it.
-T-
"Mr. Wilson, there's a phone call for you," a female voice said through the door the next morning.
Joseph had just gotten out of the shower and was getting dressed in the clothes he wore the day before, his hair wet. After coming to California he saw that he should have packed t-shirts and shorts for the trip instead of long sleeves and jeans. The weather here was much warmer than in Tibet.
He wasn't used to being called Mr. Wilson and wasn't sure if the woman was talking to him at first, but it dawned on him quickly. He opened the door and the woman said that she would put the call on the line for him.
He picked up the phone, wondering who in the world would be calling and how they had found him. Then he was glad when he heard his mother's voice.
"Joseph?" He smiled and tapped the phone twice. She sighed with relief. "I just wanted to check in and see how you were doing. Don't try to say anything, I'll take silence as a posotive answer. Well, I'm sure you're wondering how I found you, but I'll explain later when you come home. Just try to be careful and come back as soon as you can, okay? I haven't heard anything from your father-" she hissed those two words, "-but I'm sure it's better that way. Tell me if you find anything about Grant; send me a letter if you have to, but I really hope you're not gone that long. But I have to go now, so I love you."
Joey hung the phone up gently and gazed sadly at the wall, his eyebrows etched in a worried frown. He hoped his mother would be all right while he was gone and didn't act in haste until he came back. He had never seen her this upset, so he wasn't sure what she was going to do.
Joseph made the bed and cleaned up the bathroom. Unlike most boys his age, he had a pet peeve against things being a mess. Maybe he was one of the reasons that Addie kept her apartment so clean. He left the room and locked the door behind him, then jogged down the stairs to the first floor, figuring he could use the exercise instead of taking the elevator. He slowed himself to a walk and stopped at the front desk, out of breath. The receptionist was a man this time, and he said, "Yes?"
Joseph scanned the desk with his eyes and saw a pencil and a small pad of paper. He pointed at it questioningly, and the man nodded once. Joey picked it up and wrote down the name of Grant's college with a question mark, then laid the paper down. The man seemed a little confused at first, but then seemed to know what the boy wanted. He gave detailed directions and watched as the blond kid left the building by himself.
Joseph considered taking another taxi to the college, but felt more like walking in the warm weather. Now that it was daytime, he could take in the sights a lot better, and he had a better direction of where he was going. He luckily remembered the directions to the college he had been given, and he had to keep looking at street signs to figure out where he was. The traffic was very thick in this country, or perhaps it was just this state, or even just this part of town. He waited to cross a busy street, but by the way it was looking he would be here all day. He turned around and cut through a few alleys, but quickly realized his mistake when he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder.
He whirled around and saw a dark-skinned man with an evil grin on his face. Joseph tried to pull away, but the man's other hand shot out and grabbed Joey's arm. Joseph wasn't sure what this guy wanted, but he didn't plan on sticking around and finding out. He kicked the man in the shin savagely, and that bought him enough time to pull away. He was fixing to make a run for it, but the man was quick to recover from the kick and grabbed Joseph's around the back of the neck. Joey turned around, his eyes glowing black and green, and possessed the man's body just long enough to pass through him and come out the other side. The man was stunned for only a second, and he whirled around with his hand extended, knocking Joseph to the ground, but suddenly his whole body glowed black with white outlines and he was invisibly thrown into a nearby wall.
Joseph turned around to see what was happening, and a red haired girl literally flew around the corner of a building and shot green glowing beams from her eyes, which hit the man in the stomach and drove him across the pavement. A black haired boy seemed to appear out of nowhere and grabbed the man by the lapels, pulling him close to his face, then slamming him into another wall, and the man ran as soon as he was able to stand.
There were suddenly five of them now. A boy with pointy ears and green skin came over and took Joseph's hand, pulling him to his feet. "Hey dude, are you okay?"
Joseph brushed himself off and nodded. He found it no surprise that these kids had superpowers, and in fact, he had been expecting to see them. He smiled, prepared to use the name he had given himself, now glad that he had.
"Are you Jericho?" the black haired boy said. Joseph nodded. "We're the Teen Titans. And we've kinda been expecting you."