The almost complete lack of sleep the night before rescued Elisa to a point.
While the airship's engines came to life, Elisa gripped her armrests. As it rose into the air, her knuckles turned white with the force of her grip.
When the ship was finally on its way, Elisa forced herself to relax. To pretend that they were still on the ground.
In the end, exhaustion from only sleeping in short bursts in front of the cabin door caught up with her. As soon as the flight smoothed out, she fell asleep.
The total flight was a little over 24 hours on a regular commercial airliner, factoring in regular fuel stops.
The airship, despite its size, was faster, though not by much. It also didn't require as many fuel stops.
When Elisa closed her eyes, the sun was about to rise. When she opened them again, it was full dark and they were over the United States again.
"There you are," Fox said with a laugh. "I was wondering if you were going to wake up before we landed."
Elisa groaned, realizing just how stiff she was from lack of movement. "Where are we?"
"Somewhere over the Eastern seaboard," Fox said with an impatient wave of her hand. We'll be over New York soon."
Elisa got to her feet, raising her arms to give a full body stretch. "Where is everyone?"
"Thanks to the retrofit of Daddy's ship," Fox patted her armrest with affection, "We decided to redecorate a bit. One of the larger rooms that he had used as an office, we cleared out and turned into a movie viewing space for entertainment on long trips. There was some discussion as to what movie to watch, but I believe Crocodile Dundee won."
Elisa groaned. Not that she didn't like the movie, but…
"Australia?"
"Australia," Fox confirmed. "I guess now that they've been there in person, they wanted to compare notes."
Elisa sighed. Well, there were worse movies, she supposed.
"What about Goliath and Bolin?"
"Bolin is with the kids," Fox chuckled. "He didn't have nearly as much time as you all did exploring."
"Fair enough," Elisa said. "And Goliath?"
Fox frowned. "Honestly, I'm not sure."
Elisa looked around. The passenger seating area was large, and there were several halls that led from it.
"I guess I'm going for a walk," Elisa said.
"Have fun," Fox said. "I'm under orders to stay here, stay seated, and stay sane," she sighed.
Elisa raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I never thought you were one for following rules."
"Oh, I'm not," Fox said. "And I'll get up when I don't feel like my head is about to fall off of my shoulders."
"Still have a headache?" Elisa asked, concerned.
"Yes," she said with a scowl. "And its name is David. He's monitoring the cameras," Fox pointed a few out to Elisa, "And if I so much as twitch, he or one of the others come running to make me sit back down until we get back to Manhattan and Doctor James gives me the okay."
"He will," Elisa rolled her eyes. "Doctor James loved you. Me? He'd have me on bed rest for a week."
"True," Fox grinned. "Well, you go on and explore. I'll be here."
Elisa turned, choosing a hallway at random.
The path she'd chosen took her to a flight of stairs, and up to an enclosed observation deck. It had a ceiling, but all four walls were glass and gave an impressive view.
"Oh, wow," Elisa breathed out, walking to the foreword facing span of windows. She could see city lights below, moving at a quick pace as the ship made its way through the sky.
"Impressive, is it not?" Goliath asked quietly from behind her.
She didn't jump, as something had told him that he was there, even if she hadn't seen him right away. She relaxed, leaning so that her back rested against his chest, his arms coming around her at the shoulders.
"It almost makes me forget," Elisa mused, "that not that long ago we were falling from the sky."
She felt his arms tighten around her at the thought. She patted his arm with her unwrapped hand, trying to keep the bandaged one out of sight to not remind them both.
"It is beautiful," Elisa said, "But I feel safer with you here."
They stood for a time, gazing out at the horizon, when in the distance, a familiar skyline began to take shape.
"Welcome home, My Elisa," Goliath said softly.
