Just over an hour before the newly scheduled flight time one of the staff in the lounge approached where Buck was sitting. "Sir? I just wanted to let you know the cart to get you and your friend back to your gate will be outside in a about ten minutes."

"Thanks." Buck started to lean forward to wake Ezra but turned back around to the staff person. "Uh, excuse me. Can I just hang on to the blanket and pillow for him, so we don't have to get them onboard?"

"Of course," the woman said. "And feel free if you'd like to take some water or some snacks with you."

"Thank you, ma'am. I'll probably grab a couple of bottles of water. Ezra tends to get thirsty when he flies."

The woman smiled back at Buck, taken with his charm and obvious concern for his injured friend. "You wake your friend and get him ready and I'll get them for you."

"Thank you." Buck watched the woman walk away for a few seconds then turned back around to where Ezra was sleeping on the couch. He really did hate to wake him up since it was the first solid sleep he'd had since the incident yesterday. Buck had heard him tossing and turning most of the night unable to find a comfortable position to settle. He gently shook his shoulder and called his name.

Ezra pulled in a deep breath and let out a small groan before his eyes blinked open. "Wha...?" He tried to sit up but let out a louder groan when his ribs complained about the movement.

"Hey. Hey. Settle down," Buck said in concern as he tried to hold Ezra still. "Nothing's wrong. There's just going to be a cart outside in a few minutes to get us back to the gate." He only let his hold on his friend's shoulders go when he stopped trying to sit up on his own. Only then did Buck put an arm behind Ezra's shoulders and carefully helped him to sit up. "You ok?"

"I think everything's stiffened up." Ezra rubbed a hand over his face and blinked his eyes a few times trying to wake fully. "It's time to go?"

"In a few minutes." Buck's concern was raised as he saw the normally ebullient man so lethargic and in obvious discomfort. "Let's get you turned around." He cautiously removed the carry-on that had been elevating Ezra's ankle and helped him to swivel around on the couch. Each grimace and groan Ezra wasn't able to contain was like a punch in the gut. "I'm really sorry, Ezra."

Ezra waved off the apology. "I know you didn't mean to hit me. It was just a series of unfortunate events. Please stop blaming yourself." He cautiously leaned over to rest his elbows on his knees and cradled his head in his hands. "How soon?"

"How soon?" Buck echoed not understanding the question for a moment. "Oh. In about an hour," he answered when he realized Ezra was asking how soon until their flight left. "Should start boarding in about a half hour." He sat on the couch next to Ezra and rubbed his back gently. Even after an almost two-hour nap, his friend was still looking rough. "Look, maybe we should just see if they can reschedule our flight to tomorrow, go back to the hotel and you can get some more rest. You know the doctor wasn't happy about you flying today. Hell, he wanted to keep you overnight."

Ezra shook his head. "No. All I want to do is go home and sleep in my own bed." He saw the doubtful and concerned look on Buck's face. "Six or seven hours and I'll be home. It's going to be fine, Buck. I doubt anything else is going to happen."

Buck let out a sardonic laugh. "From your lips to God's ears. Although, you probably just jinxed us."

"There's no such thing as jinxing." Ezra pulled in a quick breath sat back. "One creates one's luck, good or bad. There isn't something mystical out there jinxing people."

Before Buck could reply, the woman he'd spoken with earlier came back carrying a bag. "Here you go," she said as she handed it to him. "Is there anything else you'll need."

"No, ma'am. We should be all set." Buck took the bag from her and peeked inside. There were several bottles of water as well as packages of crackers and cheese. "Mighty generous of you, ma'am." He set the bag down at his feet and turned back to Ezra once the woman had left. "Good luck, bad luck, whatever. I just don't want to see you making yourself miserable, Hoss. Chris'll understand if we stay another day."

"We're here. Let's just continue the journey." Ezra tried to smile but, when he did, he felt his lip start to bleed again. "Damn it," he breathed out as he brushed his hand over his mouth.

"Now see." Buck reached for one of the paper napkins on the table, grasped Ezra's face, and gently pressed the napkin to the bleeding lip to staunch the flow of blood. Amazingly, Ezra sat still until Buck was satisfied the bleeding had stopped. "You really have your mind set on going home today." Receiving an answering nod, he let out a sigh and started to gather their belongs. "Let's head out to that cart then."

7

The waiting golf cart quickly whisked them back to the gate their fight was boarding from. When they got there, Buck saw that Arianna had been replaced by a different gate agent. Once he was sure Ezra was settled in one of the few empty seats, he went to confirm that they'd be able to board early.

Ezra watched as Buck approached the podium and talked with the agent there. After a minute or two, Buck reached into his pocket and pulled out both of their boarding passes and handed them over. After the agent spent a bit of time using the computer terminal, he handed Buck what looked to Ezra to be new boarding passes. He wondered what that was all about.

"Won't be much longer," Buck said when he returned. "And," he continued with a broad smile as he held up the boarding passes, "he gave us a complimentary upgrade to Business Class – said you'd be more comfortable there."

Ezra was smart enough not to try smiling again knowing that it would only set his lip to bleeding again. "And you thought I'd jinxed us. Things are already started looking up."

"I guess they are that," Buck agreed.

It was just a few more minutes before they were called to board. Buck got Ezra up and steadied on his crutches then grabbed both of their carry-on bags, the bag with the water and snacks from the lounge, and his coat and Ezra's overcoat. "You want me to hold on to this or can you get it?" he asked as he held out Ezra's boarding pass.

Ezra tried to hold on to the boarding pass and use the crutches but quickly gave up. "If you wouldn't mind, Buck."

"Not a problem."

The two made their way slowly to the jetway entrance and had their boarding passes scanned. They were the only ones preboarding. "Just take your time, Ez. It's not a race," Buck cautioned when his friend stumbled on one of the raised joints of the jetway. "They're not leaving without us."

Ezra gave short nod as he was concentrating too much on making his way down the jetway without putting any weight on his broken ankle. The jetway that always seemed so short every other time he had boarded or disembarked from a plane seemed at least twice as long as what it usually was. He was relieved when he finally made it to the door of the plane.

A flight attendant met them there and offered to assist Ezra to his seat. It was awkward to navigate the narrow aisle of the plane with crutches but, since they were seated in Business Class, he didn't have to go far.

There were twelve seats in the Business Class section. Three rows with two seats on either side of the aisle. Ezra and Buck were seated in the middle row on the left side of the plane. "I think it might be easier if I take the window seat," Ezra suggested as he eyed the row.

"You sure? If you're in the aisle seat, you can stretch your leg out into the aisle," Buck suggested. "It might be more comfortable for you?"

"But then I'd have to get up or you'd have to climb over me if you needed the restroom." Ezra couldn't hold back a sigh. Neither seat would be ideal. While he was mulling over the decision, the flight attendant made an additional suggestion.

"I don't believe either of the two seats across the aisle have been booked. I can probably move one of you gentleman to one of those seats. I'd just need you take these two for now and, once we're fully boarded and I know they're empty, I can get you moved."

"That would great," Buck said with a wide grin that Ezra hoped didn't mean he was going to start flirting. He just didn't think he could put up with Buck's Lothario ways feeling the way he was.

"Why don't you stick with the window seat for now. That way you won't have to move," Buck suggested.

As soon as Ezra was seated, he took the crutches from him and then stowed them as well as their bags in the overhead bin then took his seat in the aisle seat. The bag with the water and snacks he tucked under the seat in front of him. They'd just about gotten themselves settled when the rest of the passengers started to file on.

As the other passengers came on, Ezra's attention was mostly on the window next to him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Buck leaning over, presumably to get something from the bag of snacks. He turned to ask if there was a package of plain crackers hoping it might help to settle his stomach's queasiness. When he did, he caught sight of the passenger walking past their seats and pulled in a sharp breath. "Aw hell," he whispered.

Hearing the soft curse, Buck sat up straight and looked over toward Ezra. "What? What's wrong? You ok?"

"Fine. I'm just fine. However, do you remember the behemoth from the restaurant yesterday?"

"You mean the Jolly Green Giant who harassing Missy?"

Ezra couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes when Buck mentioned the woman from the day before. "That would be the one."

"What about him?"

"It seems he's also on this flight. He just walked by. He looked about as happy to see me as I was to see him."

"And you thought I was crazy talking about jinxes."

Ezra remembered the almost homicidal look in the man's eyes as he walked by and suppressed a shiver. "Perhaps you had the right idea about delaying for another day." As he spoke, they heard the door of the plane close.

"Guess it's too late for second thoughts now."