Part of a Crew

Chapter 6

   Hardison rolls his eyes in frustration. Eliot and I smirk, then start to laugh. Nate smiles a mocking smile, Sophie smiles, and Parker outright bursts out laughing. Hardison scowls. He storms out, and we follow. Hardison is already in the elevator, and Parker joins him. Eliot and I head for the stairs, while Nate and Sophie stay behind to lock up. The elevator doors shut just as Eliot and I enter the stairwell.

        When we reach the bottom, we head out to the street. Eliot asks, "My car, or yours?"

        "How 'bout mine?"

        "Lead the way."

        My car is parked around the corner. Well, I shouldn't say car. It's actually a truck. When we reach it, I survey it. It is an old Ford pickup, red with gray. Rust has started to form on bits where the paint has chipped off. It was my father's. HE grew up on a farm in western Massachusetts, and when he moved here, he brought the truck. He taught me how to fix an engine, how to change the oil, and any other kind of car mantience on this old truck. Then, he gave it to me.

        I look over my shoulder at Eliot. He seems to be surveying the truck as well. I say, "Hope you like trucks." I know he is from the heart land by his accent, but I don't know how he feels about trucks. He surprises me by saying, "I got a blue and gray one. Same model actually."

        "Nice. Throw your bag in the bed. Then hop in." I toss my duffel in the bed of the truck, then get into the driver's side. Eliot hops into the passenger seat a minute later. I start it up, and it rumbles to life. I pull out of the parking spot, and drive off towards Logan Airport. As we drive, he asks, "So, what's the story behind the truck?" And I tell him.

        When I finish, he sits silently, then asks, "Is your dad dead?"

        "Oh, no. He lives on the other side of the city. He comes back to McRory's every once in a while. Ever since Jimmy disappeared, he has had a hard time finding work. Does Nate know where he went?"

        Eliot pauses, then says, "I don't know. One second." he says, "Nate? Are you there? Dylan wants to know if you have any idea where your dad is." I am really confused. I remind Eliot, "Eliot, we can't telepathically communicate with Nate. We can ask him later." Eliot holds up a hand to stop me, then says, "Are you sure?"

        "Yeah. I'm pretty sure you can't telepathically comminucate with Nate. Unless you are magic."

        "I wasn't talking to you."

        "Oh, really. Who were you talking to?"

        "Nate, damn it."

        I am kinda pissed at him now. In the breif glances I get at him while I drive, he appears to be listening to someone. When we stop at a light, Eliot pulls something out of his pocket, and holds his open palm out. In it is a small, tan, earplug looking thing. I ask him, "What's this?"

        "A comm unit. It's what we use to communicate while we are on a job, or when we are seperated. Put it in your ear." I take it hesitantly, and fit it in my ear. It fits snugly. As soon as it is in, I hear Hardison's voice, Parker's, and Nate's. I say, "Hello?" Hardison and Parker's voices stop, adn Nate says, "Good. Eliot gave you a comm. Keep it in. We can communicate this way." Hardison and Parker's voices resume, talking about a past job. Then, Sophie and Nate start talking. I ask Eliot, "How can you deal with this consant yapping in your ear?"

        "Frankly, I've learned to tune most of it out."

        From the comm, I hear Nate say, "What did you just say, Eliot?"

        Instead of answering, Eliot reaches up, adn pulls out the comm. Then, he puts it in his pocket. While I drive, I quickly reach up and pull mine out as well. We ride the rest of the way in silence.

        Twenty minutes later, we arrive at Logan. We park in the parking garage amongst many other cars, then we both grab our bags. I lock the truck, and we head into the terminal. Eliot replaces his comm, and asks, "Where are we meeting?"

        He waits, and I assume he is getting an answer, then he turns to me and says, 'We are meeting at the gate. Let's get this over with." We walk into the terminal and head for security. When we get there, we both pull out our phones and other stuff that may set it off. I hand my new fake ID to the guard, and she quickly checks it over. Eliot hands her one as well, this one much more used. She lets us through. After sending the bins and our bags through, we both step through the metal detector. It doesn't go off for either of us. When we get through, I re-check our tickets, adn head off to the gate. Eliot trails a few steps behind me.

        When we get there, Hardison, Parker, Nate, and Sophie are already there. We have a half hour until our flight, so Eliot and I stand around while The others sit. Hardison has his laptop open, adn he is furiously typing on it. I ask what  he's doing, and he responds, "Hacking the airport. I'm going to get our comms hooked up to the plane's wifi. That way, we can still communicate on the flight."

        I ask, "How long is the flight? Why would we need to communicate like that on the plane? Can't we just walk over to each other?"

        "Four and a half hours, in case of an emergency, and yes."

        "Whoa, wait a minute. Slow down and explain."

        Hardison continues typing, but says, "We did a job on a plane once. We needed the comms."

        "Is that what you guys were talking about when you said, 'And no need for Parker to be a flight attendant'?"

        "Yes."

        "Can you tell me more?"

        Right then, the man at the counter starts to call for boarding. He calls first class first, an Nate, Sophie, and Hardison get up and leave. A few minutes later, we get called. Parker, Eliot, and I board the plane. As we pass through first class, we pass Nate and Sophie, and two rows later, Hardison. Smirking. As Eliot passes him, Eliot scowls; I'm not so nice. When I pass Hardison, I slug him in the arm. He rubs the spot, his smirk slightly dimmed.

         When we get to our seats, we sit down. We all are sitting in the same row. When we are settled, I ask Eliot, "Can you tell me more about that job that you did on an airplane?"

        "Sure."