Anna sat at her desk, finishing up some paperwork before her next flight. She glanced up when Cole groaned. It was Friday afternoon, and instead of hanging out with his friends or playing video games at home, he had to do two weeks' worth of math homework by Monday or he risked failing the class. Anna had insisted he go to the airfield after school that day so she could make sure he actually got it done. She couldn't prove it, but she suspected he nearly failed most of his classes in order to try and get out of his extracurricular activities. The only classes he wasn't at risk of failing were his gym class and his introduction to business administration class.

"… When am I ever going to use algebra in real life?" Cole asked, rubbing his eyes.

"You may not, but you need to know how to learn concepts you struggle with because you never stop learning new things, and it may not always be easy," Anna told him.

"Really?"

"Yes. I was in class for two years before I earned my helicopter pilot certifications. It was hard, especially since I had to retrain myself to not follow the instincts I learned when flying planes. And long after you graduate, when you have a job, you will have to learn new skills, and it may be very hard for you. Learning algebra now is good practice for later."

Cole groaned and put his head down on the desk.

"Alright, take a break. Go to the vending machine and get me a chocolate peanut butter bar," Anna said, handing Cole two dollars. He took the money and left, and she went back to finishing up her paperwork. As soon as she was done, she looked up her next passenger on the roster. She frowned in confusion. The roster said she was taking Morgan Knight. That couldn't be right. Surely that couldn't be right. Maybe it was a coincidence, Anna reasoned, though her gut was telling her it wasn't.

"Anna?"

Anna jumped and looked up. She hadn't heard Cole come back.

"Yes?" Anna asked. She took the candy bar he was holding out for her.

"There's this really creepy guy in the lobby," Cole said, opening up his own candy bar.

"Creepy? How?"

"Just, the way he was staring at me. I don't know. He's what I imagine serial killers look like."

"I… I don't even know how to respond to that," Anna sighed.

Cole just shrugged and finished his candy bar.

"Right, I have to get going. Stay here and finish your homework. And no cheating by looking up the answers on my computer," Anna said.

"Aww, darn, you read my mind." Cole gave her a fake frown.

Anna patted his shoulder as she went to the waiting area. There were only four people there at the moment. One guy was by himself, dressed in black pants, a blood red shirt, and a black leather jacket. There were dark circles around his eyes His clothes were hanging off him, since he was extremely skinny. He stared at Anna from behind his long, thin hair. The other three people were obviously together. There was an older couple and a younger boy with reddish brown hair that looked to be about Cole's age, if not slightly younger. The boy was talking nonstop, clearly excited about riding in a helicopter.

"Morgan Knight?" Anna asked, hoping that the woman in the family would stand up. Instead, the man in black leather stood up.

"That's me." As he got up, Anna was hit with a wall of body odor mixed with way too much body spray. He stood extremely close to Anna, grinning when he sensed he was making her uncomfortable.

"Morgan?" Anna asked, taking a step backward. She nearly backed into her coworker, who called out for the Walker family. They followed her coworker out, leaving Anna alone with the man.

"It's a guy's name. You ready or what?"

"… Actually, I just wanted to tell you that I'm running a little bit behind today. I'm sorry about the delay. I saw that you requested me, but if you do not want to wait, one of my coworkers would gladly take you up instead."

"I don't mind waiting. I'll wait all day if I have to," Morgan said, getting close to Anna again.

"Right. Okay. Wait here, and I will come get you when I'm ready." Anna smiled at him as she backed out of the lobby. As soon as she was out of sight, she ran back to her desk. Cole looked up when she started packing his things into his backpack.

"Anna?" Cole asked.

"I need you to go to the library."

"Why?"

"Because I said so." She grabbed his arm and started dragging him down the hall, past reception and the waiting area, and to the front door.

"What's going on? You're acting weird, and you're hurting me."

"Sorry." Anna loosened her grip on his arm. She told the clerk at the front desk she was taking Cole to the bus stop and would be back soon.

"What's going on? Why are you walking me to the bus stop? You never do this," Cole asked when they were outside.

"I can't tell you right now. You just need to trust me."

Cole looked at her out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't say anything. Anna knew he was upset that she was starting to act like Lou whenever Cole tried to ask about his real mom. She hated having to dismiss his questions for the moment. She had always tried to give Cole a full answer whenever he asked her about anything. They walked to the bus stop that was a quarter of a mile from the airfield. To Anna's relief, the bus was at the end of the road headed their way.

"Now, go to the library and finish your homework there. And I will check it when we're back home."

"Okay. Who was that guy?"

"I promise, we will talk about this at home." Anna kissed his forehead, which he wiped off out of disgust. Anna smiled at him as the bus stopped in front of them.

"Cole? You know I love you and I would do anything for you, right?"

"Yeah."

"Good lad. I'll see you at home." She watched him get on, and once the bus left, she went back to the airfield. Once she was back, she grabbed a burly male coworker and asked him to be her copilot, saying she felt the guy might try something if it was just her. Her coworker agreed and quickly got himself ready to depart. They grabbed the passenger from the waiting area and headed out.

Anna and her copilot went over their pre-flight checks. Once everyone was buckled in, they started the engine. Before long, they were flying over the Sea of Sand headed towards Ninjago City.

"Alright, Mr. Knight, is there anything in particular you wanted to see today?" Anna asked.

"Yes, there was one thing."

Before Anna could react, he had grabbed Anna's copilot and held a rag over his mouth and nose. Anna could smell the chloroform from her seat. Anna reached for her mic, but the guy pointed a gun at her, still holding her copilot down.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You just keep her steady until I say so." A few minutes later, her copilot went limp. The passenger then climbed into the front seat, opened the door, and shoved the copilot out.

"No!" Anna yelled. She tried to stop him, but he was too fast for her.

"Finally, some privacy."

"Who are you? What do you want?" Anna demanded, trying to keep her voice steady while struggling to keep the helicopter straight without a copilot. She carefully lowered the aircraft in twenty-foot increments, hoping the whole time the guy wouldn't notice.

"It's not important who I am. Let's just say we have a mutual acquaintance."

"Why?"

"She wants to see her child, but she knows you won't let her."

"I won't let that happen. My husband won't let that happen. She just wants to kill him."

"Perhaps. But, she told me that as long as you're around, you won't let her see her son. She came to me and made me an offer I couldn't refuse."

"Oh?" Anna managed to turn the helicopter around and started heading back to the airfield, but flying solo was difficult, especially with the gun still pointed at her.

"I'm dying, Mrs. Burtchenelli. Stage four colon cancer. It's only a matter of weeks. And my wife will be paying my medical bills for years to come. My kid won't get to go to college because there won't be any money. Morgen offered to make sure everything was paid for, if I just do this one thing."

"I won't let you."

"Oh, you don't have a choice."

As they wrestled for control, the helicopter started to violently spin. Anna saw the ground rapidly approaching and braced for impact.

After what felt like an eternity, the helicopter stopped moving. Anna opened her eyes. She was still buckled into her seat, just inches from the ground. The helicopter was on its side. She couldn't see her passenger from her vantage point, but she could smell smoke. Pain raced through her body as she slowly tried to move. She managed to reach the mic, but it fell apart in her hands. She started to cough as the toxic smoke reached her. She tried to unbuckle the seatbelt, but it was jammed. Anna started to cry. She prayed Lou and Cole would be safe from Morgen. It was only a few minutes before she succumbed to the smoke and her injuries.