The Sound of Silence: Fire in the Dark, Fanfiction Book #2

Chapter Two

"Zemira," Leon walked over to his now slumbering partner at the airport bench. He shook her shoulder, but the girl was still rather very much asleep. 

Considering he gave her a piggyback ride, on top of toting his backpack and his suitcase...

He shook her again, adding, "Zemira, I hate to wake you. But I have a rental waiting. I have a hotel we can go to for the night."

Shaking her seemed to have some sort of effect, as Zemira jumped awake, shaking her head and holding her hand to it. "Owch..... Sleeping on a plane is not comfortable...." She murmured, tilting her head. "This isn't the plane...."

"No, it's the waiting area," Leon smiled. He asked, "Can you stand? Jet lag can be tiring for some first timers."

"I can try." Zemira chirped, stretching slowly, tilting her head. "Wait, how did I get off the plane if I was asleep?"

Leon rolled his eyes. He extended his hands, as if to tell her. "Hello, who else on the plane would be able to carry you?"

"Most people, but thank you. I'm not exactly the heaviest person." She said, getting to her feet, testing her legs. "I hope the only time I ever have to have such a long flight is on my way back to D.C and never again...."

That being said, she collected her own bag, a sole suitcase perfect for the overhead compartment that Leon had carried as well. "You mentioned a hotel?"

"Yeah," Leon answered. "Just a half mile from here. And with a good view of the Palace of Culture too."

He eased his backpack over his shoulder and held his suitcase. He asked, "Ready?"

"When you are." Zemira nodded, testing her legs to ensure that they were able to be walked upon. "I'll follow you; Your Romanian is better than mine is, and I still don't have the pronunciation with asking directions down."

Leon chuckled. He led from the airport to the parking lot, seeing their driver waiting with the rental car, a rather sturdy and very new model SUV. He approached the driver and spoke very careful Romanian, asking him if he was looking for the client who called for him. The driver, smiling, stated, "Your Romanian is good, but you'd have to practice your accent. It's rather revealing."

Leon grinned. "I wanted to spare the trouble of us English-speakers," he explained.

"No no no," the driver noted, "No, don't spare us. We Romanians should practice our English as well."

Leon nodded. He gestured to Zemira. "This is my sister. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," the driver said. He asked to confirm the hotel they were staying at, and Leon complied. He turned to Zemira and opened the door for her first. He told her, "After you."

"Thank you brother." Zemira smiled sweetly, climbing into the back of the SUV, her eyes darting around inside first. Perhaps she was more than capable of handling more than cold cases, immediately eyeing the details of the vehicle, her suitcase settled between her legs. Other than that single moment, she played the role of sweet, shy little sister quite well. Almost as if she was someone's little sister. "And thank you for bringing me with you on your trip, I'm most excited."

"Well, we did talk about visiting the Palace of Culture for a while," Leon played along. He tucked his bags in the  car and followed suit, climbing into the other side of the SUV' passenger seat.

As the driver took off, Leon watched the passing street lights. It was like a whole other world in Romania. Like walking into the night of a fairytale. Old wrought iron gas lanterns, brick-laden streets, fancy gardens and fountains and old gothic architecture.