---

Mercury was just paying for the snacks which filled his bag. "C'mon, loser, we're going to New York!" He jolted as he wasn’t able to sense anything around him when shifted like he could when in his true form. So she’d scared the daylights out of him. He set a hand to his chest, and patted it. ”Damn girl, gonna give a guy a heart attack… So where is New york? You got work there or something?“ He was curious, and wanted to make that Eddie wasn’t being inconvenienced in the slightest.

He walked with her through security, and sure enough he was eating a bag of gummy bears the entire time he got through just fine no problems in the slightest. ”Airports are fun… I like people watching.“ He shrugged slightly, and soon found a seat at their gate. He offered Eddie some caramel popcorn as he watched some kids playing around. ”I wonder what childhood is like,“ he said absentmindedly.

---

---

Eddie laughed at his surprise. Grinning from ear to ear, she wondered what else would go on. The more she got to know him, the less terrifying Mercury seemed to become. He was just a kid, pretending to be some sort of merciless creature of the night. ”Damn girl, gonna give a guy a heart attack… So where is New york? You got work there or something?“

Eddie shook her head. "I'm a university student right now, doing research in order to get my masters and then doctorate in physics. New York is just a major city, and any flight out of this hell hole is good to me."

Leading the way, Eddie quickly taught Mercury the basics on going through security. Going through, she was pulled aside, and given a full body scan. She was used to it, smiling at Mercury as she was given a pat down by one of the TSA agents, scanned several more times, and then sent on her way.

"Security likes me," Eddie joked, meeting Mercury as he was eating some candy once more, people watching.

”Airports are fun… I like people watching. I wonder what childhood is like,“ Mercury added.

Eddie paused. What was childhood like? She had been homeschooled, her parents hiding her from the world because she was different. Her sister wasn't born until Eddie was nine. She hadn't had childhood friends.

"I wouldn't know," Eddie smiled bitterly. "My parents bought the same parenting guide that the King and Queen in Disney's Frozen did, I guess. The entire "hide your freaky daughter from the world" thing."

Her eyes drooped a bit, and she couldn't wait for boarding to begin. By the clocks on the walls, it should start in just under fifteen minutes. If she was lucky, she'd be able to sleep on the plane... without anything terrible happening.

---

"I wouldn't know. My parents bought the same parenting guide that the King and Queen in Disney's Frozen did, I guess. The entire "hide your freaky daughter from the world" thing." Mercury frowned at Eddie sadly, and shook his head. ”I’m sorry they treated you that way. It’s not fair to the world to keep someone like you hidden away. You’re honestly my first real friend I’ve ever had, a gift I cherish. Maybe your parents were just greedy, and didn’t wanna share you with anyone.“ He ate his snacks again, and emptied the bag before throwing it out.

He came back, and took a seat again before leaning his head back to take a short nap. When he next woke it was time to board the plane. He’d only ever traveled by boat before. So he wondered what it’d be like to fly in an airplane. He was used to flying under his own power.

---

---

”I’m sorry they treated you that way. It’s not fair to the world to keep someone like you hidden away. You’re honestly my first real friend I’ve ever had, a gift I cherish. Maybe your parents were just greedy, and didn’t wanna share you with anyone.“

Eddie couldn't help but feel touched. To be someone's first friend..."I mean, I don't hate them or anything for it. Don't blame them much, either. Can't have been easy, you know? They were just doing their best."

The call for boarding sounded, and Eddie tugged on Mercury, waking him up from his brief siesta. Handing him his ticket, Eddie joined the line, and showed the agent her ticket when it was her turn. Having it scanned, Eddie boarded the plane, motioning for Mercury to continue to follow her.

"We're in the back of the plane," Eddie said, going to the third to last row. Settling into the window seat, with Mercury having the seat next to her, Eddie shut her phone off. Closing her eyes, she quickly drifted off to sleep, her head falling to rest on Mercury's shoulder.

---

Mercury followed behind Eddie, and let her sit first before taking his seat at the outside on the isle side. He grabbed a small bag of fruit snacks, and ate a couple as he watched all the people boarding the plane. ”Wow, I’ve never flown with this many people before. “ He ate more the bag of snacks, and then stopped feeling Eddie’s head hit his shoulder. He looked down at her a little surprised, but soon smiled.

Then turned away, and laid his head back to rest a while. Though was having a great deal of trouble. His heart was racing in his chest, and he didn’t understand this feeling. He opened his eyes again to look at Eddie. What in the world is this? Am I sick? So now the entire time Eddie was asleep Mercury had this worried look on his face.

---

---

The flight to New York was nine hours, fifty five minutes long. Had there been any stops, it would have been much longer. Instead, Eddie slept through the safety lecture, slept through the first three times they came by and gave out complimentary drinks, and slept through Mercury's heart beating a samba. Eventually, just five hours into the flight, she let out a yawn, and opened her eyes.

Shit, Eddie winced, realizing that she had drooled a bit. Quickly wiping her face and hoping that Mercury didn't notice, she caught a glance of his nervous look. "Wh-what? Is there something on the plane?" Eddie whispered, looking around frantically.

Seeing nothing, she sat back in her seat, attempting to relax. The lack of foot room was irritating at best, and she tried in vain to stretch out her legs, achieving nothing. Noticing a Dr. Pepper on her tray table, she quickly gulped it down, shivering a bit from the caffeine rush. She chuckled a bit, and peered out the window, attempting to see.... Nothing.

"Sorry, I get restless on planes," Eddie chuckled. "Are you alright, man? You look like someone's after you...again."

---

Mercury saw the drool, and whipped it up with some napkins. He’d gotten her a blanket, and laid it across her lap a bit ago. ”Umm, my heart was racing a bit ago. I thought I was sick, because my stomach felt weird too.“ Mercury was sipping a ginger ale he’d not opened another bag of snacks since the bag of fruit snacks. Not wanting to puke on the plane. So now he felt exhausted on top of everything else. ”Is that normal when someone leans their head on you?“ He’d never fallen in love before or understood any of the symptoms.

He slowly stood up so Eddie could stretch her legs. ”I think I’m sick… Though now I don’t know, because I feel a lot better now. “ He was rubbing the back of his head in distress.

---

---

Eddie froze, her eyes widening. Not being prone to understanding flirting and such, she was able to know the symptoms. An elevated pulse. Dilated eyes. She glanced at Mercury's eyes, and nearly swore under her breath. "Crap. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...."

What didn't she mean to? Befriend him? Fall asleep on him? Make him fall in love? She didn't know how her own thought, her own sentence, would end.

”I think I’m sick… Though now I don’t know, because I feel a lot better now. “

"Okay well...Here, how do you feel now?" Eddie asked, desperately hoping that he just had the monster flu. She held his hand, giving him her best winning smile. If he was in love with her, that should cause something to happen. And if he was just sick, she'd hand him a barf bag and convince him to lay off the sweets for the rest of the flight.

---

Mercury looked at Eddie as she held his hand, and smiled at him. His pupils instantly dilated, and his heart began pounding in his chest again. ”umm… ubuh buuh.“ For the first time ever he was incapable of speaking. What in the hell was this? Quickly he tried pulling his hand away, but it refused to budge. Then he heard the voices inside his head, the masks voices. In Particular Warlord, God your an idiot Merc, you’re in love with the girl!
Mercury didn’t understand what love was, and looked up at Eddie. Slowly the voices started trying to explain. At the end, he looked ashamed almost. What right did he have to love? He was a murderer a monster, kids ran screaming when they saw him in the dark. Slowly, and reluctantly he pulled his hand away. ”You shouldn’t be the one being sorry… I’m the one that’s sorry.“ He then turned, and went to the bathroom to clear his head as much as he could.

---

---

”umm… ubuh buuh.“

Eddie blinked, watching as Mercury struggled to form words or to even move his hand. Delicately letting go of his hand, she tried to figure out her next course of action. She'd seen the films, where one person found a way to tactfully reject the other, let them know they were just friends...

But for some reason, she wasn't able to say any of that.

”You shouldn’t be the one being sorry… I’m the one that’s sorry.“

"Mercury...." Eddie called out, and then she sighed. Leaning back in the seat, she put her headphones on and turned her music all the way out. Somewhere, in the various beats and rhythms, she'd be able to figure out why she couldn't turn Mercury down.

Perhaps, she liked him too.

---

When he entered the bathroom Mercury washed his face, and then stopped feeling an electric like shock of pain run through his body. He tensed up, and dry heaved his whole body going rigid. Maybe it was just the flu after all…. Wait, Mercury didn’t get sick. He then tensed up in pain again he looked at his hand as black veins showed up on his skin. He held his abdomen in pain, and banged the back of his head. Then just as suddenly as the pain had come it’d gone.

Merc was able to breath again, and he was in a cold sweat. What did that devil woman do to him? This’d never happened to him before. He looked at his hands, and saw his skin return to normal. ”What in the hell is happening to me?“ He washed his face clean, and tried to shake away that shock. But, he could feel the void like pit inside his stomach growing. ”Maybe I’m just hungry… I didn’t eat a whole lot. Right?“ He shook his head before leaving the bathroom, and went back to his seat. He grabbed a bag of chips, and started eating peacefully.

Every so often Mercury would steal a glance towards Eddie. He loved her, but was it right of him to love her? Did she even like him back? He knew they were friends. But, was that a permanent thing? Most “friends” never stayed long, and abandoned him when he was in need. So maybe she wasn’t like the others. Was that why he loved her? He groaned at the thoughts buzzing through his head.

---

---

Eddie glanced at Mercury as he came back, eating yet another bag of chips. He was remarkably calmer, as if his entire episode was a thing of the past. Her stomach twinged, and she frowned a bit. It bothered her, for whatever reason. Shaking her head a bit, she went back to listening to her music, attempting to lose herself.

And then, of course, her stomach growled. Pausing her music and pulling off her headphones, she glanced around. No food cart in sight.

"Do you have anything I could eat?" Eddie asked tentatively. "I can pay you back for it..."

Her arm accidentally brushed against his, largely due to the close quarters they were in. The flight was hardly half way over. And Eddie had a feeling that somehow, they'd either leave the plane as something more than friends, or nothing at all.

---

"Do you have anything I could eat? I can pay you back for it..." Mercury looked over at Eddie, and went through his bag pulling out an assortment of things he thought she might like. Cheese crackers with peanut butter, salt and vinegar potato chips, and a bag of fruit snacks. He then put them all on her tray table. ”Don’t worry about paying me back, and whatever you want hand back. I’ll pull something else out for you.“ Mercury just wanted to make sure Eddie wasn’t hungry. ”Maybe after we can grab an actual meal from a restaurant after we land.“ When he looked her in the eyes she could tell he was still very much in love with her. He was just scared to admit it, and be turned away.

---

---

”Don’t worry about paying me back, and whatever you want hand back. I’ll pull something else out for you.“

"Oooh, cheese crackers with peanut butter?" Eddie grinned, accepting the bag. She munched on them slowly, sneaking furtive glances over at Mercury whenever she assumed he wasn't looking. As she recalled, he didn't have as extraordinary senses in this form. ”Maybe after we can grab an actual meal from a restaurant after we land.“

Eddie smiled. "Sounds like fun." She continued nibbling on the crackers, only to glance up and see Mercury peering into her eyes. She laughed nervously, the slightest tint of red in her cheeks. "Listen, Mercury, I..."

Only her words were cut off. As if the hand of fate had been played, the plane began to plummet, falling towards the ground with imminent speed. Somehow, the emergency exit door had opened, ripping out from the immense pressure and colliding with the red wing of the plane. Smoke and sparks and screams filled the air, as the oxygen masks came down out of the cabin as the plane headed straight for the watery depths of the ocean.

---

"Listen, Mercury, I..." Mercury raised his head a bit to look at Eddie. She was blushing at him, and he blushed back. Though stopped when he felt the plane was going down. ”Oh for FUCKS sake!“ He’d been paying fervent attention to the briefing on plane safety. So easily helped get Eddie’s mask on, and then his own. He went to true form, and switched out from Sly to Warlord. As that’d ensure he’d survive the crash. Then moved to shelter Eddie’s body. By god he was going to fucking hear what she had to say!

When the plane slammed into the water Mercury cringed in pain the water quickly flooding the plane due to the door being open. He grabbed his dagger from his bag, and cut both Eddie and himself free. The people at the exits were dead so they couldn’t do what they were supposed to. ”Fucking fucky fuk!“ He swam to the exits, and deployed the slides before coming back over to Eddie. He was making sure she was still alright, but then stopped as a surge of pain rippled through his body again paralyzing him. ”Dammit, this is so not the time for this.“

---

---

Eddie would have screamed. But instead, she felt someone forcing a mask over her face. Her instincts kicking in, she started kicking and squirming, trying to get what she was certain was a piece of human bone as far away from her as humanly possible.

The mask went on over her face, and she felt herself begin to hurl. Wait? It's plastic... Oh thank god... Inhaling in the oxygen, Eddie fumbled with her seat belt, figuring that it wouldn't do much to save her at this point. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Mercury fiddling around with his masks, before turning into something...else.

The next thing she knew, she couldn't see. Everything was dark. Her powers weren't responding to her and she screamed, trying desperately to get herself free, and to somewhere she could see. The plane crashed into the ocean, and despite Mercury's best efforts, the impact knocked Eddie out cold.

Somewhere, distantly inside of her mind, she saw a face...It was silver and comical, leering and jeering...She tried to raise her mind to touch it, but it vanished instantly, just like a dream...

---

Mercury felt himself slipping into unconsciousness the pain was so bad. But, he could see Eddie was out cold from the impact. He swam towards her slowly reaching out.

The next thing he knew he was on a raft with Eddie the sounds of screams of terror ringing in his ears. Something had happened, and he didn’t know what nor could he remember. He set a hand to his abdomen expecting pain, but there was nothing. If anything he felt fuller than he did before. But, that was soon shoved into the way far recesses of his mind.
As he saw Eddie still out cold. ”Eddie wake up, c’mon please tell me you’re alright.“ He felt for a pulse on her neck he was so worried. He swapped masks turning to human form to start giving her CPR.

---

---

Distantly, Eddie could feel something press up against her lips. She screamed and kicked, the natural light turning harsh and bitter.

"WHAT THE....Oh....Mercury..." Eddie laughed awkwardly, catching her breath. The light turned to normal, and she glanced around, trying to make out where they were. From what she could see, they were on a raft in the wreckage. A silver glint caught her eye and she screamed again, nearly falling off of the wrath in terror.

"There's something over there!" Eddie whispered, staring at where she saw the silver glint. "There...There was a thing and a mask and....it was laughing?"

The wreckage, floating and going up and down, naturally revealed the silver object. It was indeed a mask, one with crying eyes and a wide smile. No one else was near it, and it quietly sank, ebbing beneath the water.

---

"There...There was a thing and a mask and....it was laughing?" At first Mercury though Eddie was talking about him. Till he looked where she was staring, and saw the weird mask. He stood up on the raft, and looked back at Eddie. ”Do you think that thing caused the plane to crash?“ He was about to go after it until it sank into the water. He then felt his abdomen seized with pain again, and he fell to his knees. Soon lifting up his mask to hurl into the ocean. What he puked up was hard to tell as it was night. He panted, and gasped in pain spitting out whatever was left in his mouth. ”God that was a world of unpleasant.” He looked around trying to figure out how they were going to get to shore.

---

---

"You know," Eddie began slowly, "I've found that Warlord has some helpful ideas on occasion..."

She watched uncomfortably as Mercury spewed his guts, and bit her lip. There was definitely something wrong with him--perhaps it wasn't love after all. Her spirits fell slightly, but instead, she stood up on the makeshift raft, looking around for any signs of a passing ship. "I can try to make a flare, signal a cruise liner or something?"

Reaching into her pocket, she found her phone, largely in tact. With a chuckle, she held it up, trying to get signal or anything. There were no bars. Maybe we're in the middle of nowhere....

"Um, brainstorming ideas here but.... If there's a you....Then there are things like you, right? Maybe there's a nice friendly sea creature to help?"

Clenching her hands together, Eddie glanced down at the spew that had left Mercury. Without saying a word, she shined a bit of light on it, hoping desperately that it was just half digested chips. Unfortunately, it all seemed to have been washed away by the waves.