A/N: Back from Ghana! Well, rather I was home for two days and am now in California doing my normal island life before real life sets back in. Pictures from Ghana are on my devART and my LJ, enafrique.

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A week later, Hediyeh sat on the floor of the living room, her hands in fists in her lap. She stared at the clock watching each second pass, wishing it would go faster. Two o'clock, the package would be delivered. Two o'clock, she promised. Two o'clock, you know where to find it. Two o'clock, it finally clicked over, and a few seconds later, the elevator doors opened. Hediyeh didn't even turn around, listening to two women chatter. There was the sound of rustling fabric and she crawled to the other side of the couch, watching the women walk up the stairs before focusing on the coat that had been thrown on the entry table. Once the women disappeared, she ran with socked feet to the table, throwing open the coat and using the tiny sewing scissors in her hand to open the bottom hem. She could see the outline of the thing she'd asked for, the rounded edges, the smooth surface.

After a few moments of pressing it out of the hem, she took the needle and thread she had stuck in her blouse and used it to sew the hem back with a quick surgical stitch that Augustine had taught her. After looking at the little booklet in her hands, she grabbed her backpack from under the table then checked up the stairs before walking to the door next to the elevator and opening it slowly, closing it with just a light click behind her before running down the stairs.

On the ground floor, she peeked out the glass window to make sure no one was in the lobby before opening the door and running across the tile. Opening the front door, she sprinted down the street away from Horatio, not stopping until she got two and a half blocks away. Looking back the way she came, she flagged a taxi, jumping into it as soon as it made its way to the curb.

'JFK Airport, Lufthansa terminal,' she said simply, digging into her bag as the cab jolted forward. Without question, she stuck a fifty-dollar bill through the plexiglass and the cabby took it, never saying a word.

There was surprisingly little traffic on the drive, and Hediyeh spent the time staring at the much shorter skyline of Queens. There was a creeping sensation in her chest, a tight nervousness, but she refused to let it take her over. She had the money from her father's safe, and no one else would notice it was gone; everyone thought she was at school, so it would be hours before anyone realised she was missing. No one would have a clue until they couldn't do anything about it.

'You said Lufthansa?' asked the cabbie, snapping Hediyeh from her thoughts.

'Yeah,' she replied in a sort of dreamy tone, zipping up her bag as they pulled up to the airport.

The cab stopped at the Lufthansa area, the cabbie looking at the fifty as Hediyeh scooted across the leather seat. Gathering up her bag, she stepped out into the cold December air, mixing in with the seemingly thousands of people getting ready to fly home for the holidays. As she waited in line, she stared at the plastic as she held it and a clean pile of wrapped bills in her hands. Agatha had done almost as good of a job as her mom would have done had her mom known what Hediyeh was planning.

Of course, had Melissa known what Hediyeh was planning, she would have stopped her and got her in trouble with her mom and grandparents. From prior experience, Hediyeh knew that Agatha wouldn't say a word.

'Next!' said a counter attendant, getting antsy when no one stepped forward. 'I said next!'

Hediyeh looked up from the things in her hands, realising that she was the one being called. Stepping forward, she smiled at the woman.

'One one-way ticket to Paris, coach class,' she said calmly, setting her fresh passport on the counter.

The woman took the passport, quickly typing the information on it into the computer. 'We have a flight leaving in about two hours. Is that all right?'

'Sounds good,' she said, leaning against the counter to watch the woman type more.

'Do you have any bags to check?'

'Nope, none today,' said Hediyeh, shifting the backpack strap on her shoulder. 'Just a carry-on.'

'All right,' said the woman. 'That will be $2,028.'

Setting the pile of bills on the counter, she looked over the amount before flipping the bag over her shoulder and pulling out more bills from the side pocket. The woman stared at the large amount of cash, which unnerved Hediyeh, but when she took the money, the younger girl calmed.

'My parents don't like cards,' she explained. 'They prefer I just take cash with me.'

The woman just gave her an odd smile as the tickets printed out. Taking them from the printer, she tapped them on the counter and slipped them into an envelope.

'You'll be leaving from Terminal 1,' said the woman, highlighting the gate information on the top ticket. 'Thank you, Miss Greene. Have a lovely flight, and enjoy yourself in France.'

'I'm sure I will,' said Hediyeh, taking the tickets from the woman.

Once she went through the security check, Hediyeh completely considered herself to be Zoë Greene, and no one knew the wiser.

---

Talking with Melissa had gone far longer than Lisa thought it would, so by the time Melissa left and Lisa was able to get down to the kitchen for breakfast, she was so hungry she actually felt sick. Staring at the fridge, she dug out a grapefruit and sliced it, throwing it into a bowl and scooting it across the counter before beginning to walk around it. As he walked by the phone, it rang, so she grabbed it and pushed the talk button right as she sat down.

'Rippner residence.'

'Mrs Rippner,' said the woman on the other end. 'This is Harmony Wilkenson, the secretary at Chapin. I was wondering if we need to fax your daughter's homework assignments to her.'

Lisa froze, the spoonful of grapefruit she was eating perched on her lip. 'Excuse me?'

'Your daughter hasn't been to any of her classes today,' explained the woman with some question in her voice. 'We assumed that she was home sick.'

'You're talking about Hediyeh Rippner,' checked Lisa, setting down the spoon.

There was a shuffling of papers. 'Yep, Hediyeh Mahdis Rippner, Class Five.'

'And... you're sure she's not there?' Lisa asked in a choked voice.

'Mrs Rippner, are you all right?'

'Please, can you check again?' she begged the woman, dropping the spoon with a loud clatter onto the counter. 'Please, go to her homeroom, go to whatever class she should be in, check the bathrooms, check everything, God, please!'

'Mrs Rippner,' said the woman in a measured voice. 'Your daughter isn't here.'

'There has to be something wrong with your computer system.'

'Is there someone else I can talk to? Is your husband home?'

That was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. Lisa could feel it coming, just like any sufferer can, and before she could do anything, the anxiety welled up in her chest and she found herself beginning to hyperventilate. She took fast, shallow breaths before trying to stand up and just falling, grabbing at the counter stool with one hand as she fell, the phone skidding across the floor when she hit it. Stretched on the floor, she kept hyperventilating with tears rolling down her face, listening somewhere in the back of her mind to the chattering woman's voice leaking from the speaker of the phone. The room grew fuzzy and she felt her head lolling before there was the thumping of feet behind her.

'Oh shit, Lisa!' said Augustine, sliding in socked feet across the hardwood floor before bending down and turning Lisa onto her back.

'Hello? Mrs Rippner? Do I need to call emergency?'

Augustine looked over at the phone before reaching out and putting it to her ear. 'Hello?'

'Is Mrs Rippner all right?'

'Who is this?'

'Harmony Wilkenson, I work at her daughter's school.'

'Is something wrong with Hediyeh?' asked Augustine, tensing up as she tried to balance the phone against her shoulder and tend to Lisa at the same time. 'Come on, Lisa, deep breaths...'

'She's not at school today,' said Harmony. 'We thought she was home sick. Has something happened?'

'I sent her off to school this morning,' Augustine replied, raising an eyebrow. 'I'm her nanny, and we did just the same as we do every morning today.'

'She's probably just ditching,' the secretary said with distaste.

'No,' Augustine said, putting the palm of her hand against Lisa's forehead. 'Hediyeh's not one to ditch school. Listen, I need to deal with Mrs Rippner... can I call you back when we figure this all out?'

'We need—' the woman started, but Augustine just hung up the phone, dropping it onto the floor.

'Lisa, Lisa, look at me. Focus on me,' Augustine said before looking up the stairs. 'Carol!'

Augustine relaxed as Lisa's breathing became more regular, but quickly returned to panic when Lisa's hands flew to her stomach and she curled into herself enough that she rolled onto her side. Reaching out, she tried to turn Lisa back onto her back, but Lisa remained curled up, her eyes squeezed shut, even when her mother and father made it downstairs and over to her.

'What happened?' asked Carol, trying to coax Lisa out of her curled position as Joe went to her other side, leaning down to murmur to their daughter.

'She fell,' Augustine answered lamely. 'I... Hediyeh's not at school. She's missing.'

'What?' Carol said, taking her hands from her daughter to look at Augustine.

'This isn't important now!' said Joe with urgency, and both women turned to give him dirty looks, but he wasn't looking up at them as he reached around to rub Lisa's back. 'Call 911 right now.'

'We have it handled, Mr Reisert,' Augustine replied. 'She's just having another panic attack. It'll be fine in a couple of minutes, just let her calm down.'

'I said call emergency,' Joe yelled, immediately snapping his head up to look at the young nurse. 'She's just started having contractions.'