Chicago, same time.

“Now you be careful, do you hear me?”

Maddie sighed. “Yes, dad. I’ll be careful.” She repeated dutifully. “You look after yourself as well.”

Paul Andrews waved his hand. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll be fine,” he growled, waving his hand.

A chime sounded over the general noise of the airport. “…Attention, ladies and gentlemen; could all the passengers boarding flight 709 please make their way to the gate. Flight 709 passengers, please make your way to gate 64…”

“Well,” Maddie said briskly, trying not to cry. “That’s my call.”

Paul sighed. “Come here.” He said gently. Maddie hugged him tightly. “I’ll miss you.”

“And I’ll miss you, princess. Remember, forget everything and have a good time, okay?” he said, stroking her hair.

“Okay.” Maddie disengaged herself, wiping her eyes. “I’ll call you as soon as I get there.”

“That’s a promise,” he said with a smile. “Now go before I embarrass myself,” he added gruffly.

Maddie laughed, then disappeared through the departure gate with a final wave.

“…welcome aboard, ladies and gentlemen. This is Captain speaking; soon we’ll be leaving for…”

Maddie moved down the long narrow walkway of the plane, wondering not for the first time why on earth she hadn’t reserved a seat through the Internet. Thanks to the overwhelming number of holiday-goers this year, the plane was packed. Maddie was lucky enough to get a window seat.

“Thirty-four, thirty-five, thirty-six…aha.” Maddie looked up at the seat number, then back down at the seat. A puffy, dissipated looking middle-aged man was sitting there. Damn, she thought, and cleared her throat.

“Excuse me.”

The man gave no indication that he had heard.

Maddie tried a little louder. “ Excuse me!”

Finally, the man turned to look at her. Maddie definitely didn’t like the look.

“Yeah?” he said lazily.

Maddie indicated the window seat.

“If you don’t mind, that’s my seat,” she said pointedly.

A slow, toothless grin spread over his pockmarked face. He shifted to his own seat and twisted aside. Maddie sidled past him. As her skirt slid up, he eyed her legs appreciatively.

“Great day for a flight, huh?” there was a leer in his voice.

Maddie turned away. She had no interest in getting into a conversation with a fellow passenger. She had too much to think about. The vacation. The plans after the holiday. And, she thought, a new life, in a sense.

Her companion nudged her. “Since we’re gonna be seatmates on this flight, little lady, why don’t you and I get acquainted? My name is Daniel.”

Maddie gazed at him levelly. “Tracey,” she said, making up a name.

“Tracey, huh? Pretty name,” he winked. “where are you bound, Tracey?”

she gave him a small, unfriendly smile. “where this plane’s headed.” She replied.

“You’re a cheeky one, ain'tcha? Travelling alone?”

This guy was getting annoying. “No.” she lied.

“With your family then?”

Shut up. “Boyfriend.”

“so a vacation, huh?”

“Yep.”

“How long are you staying?”

“Two weeks.”

“Oh? Whatcha gonna do?”

That was the last straw. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to keep my holiday plans to myself, thanks,” she said coldly.

The guy shrugged. “Sure. Not very talkative, are you?”

Maddie didn’t bother answering that. Just then the announcement came on. “Ladies and gentlemen, we will be taking off in about twenty minutes. Please make sure that you are seated and the seatbelts are on…”

Bye, Daddy.

The airport was packed, as usual. The Carter family got out of their car, and almost immediately a huge, 7 feet giant lumbered over.

“What took you so long?” he rumbled.

“Mr. Lazy here was taking his time,” Aaron quipped, throwing a glance at Nick, who was helping his dad to take the luggage out.

“Aaron.” Jane chided.

“Sorry mom.”

“Well, let’s get going,” the giant said, piling the luggage onto two trolleys. “Plane’s not gonna wait, you know.”

“You worry too much, Rob.” Angel smiled.

“Somebody has to.” Rob looked around. “Is that everybody? Okay. Let’s move it.”

“Sounds like I’m on tour again,” Nick grumbled.

They threaded their way through the crowded airport. “where’s the Bahamas plane?” Jane asked Rob.

“Bahamas? Right at the other side. Why?”

“Just checking.”

They were going through the custom when a shattering scream pierced through the general noise of the airport.

“Oh my God! It’s Nick Carter!”

“Uh-oh,” Lesley murmured.

Both Nick and Rob swore at the same time. “C’mon- let’s go; it won’t be long till they alert the whole damned airport,” Rob muttered.

They hurriedly went through the departure gate. As he went through, Nick heard a scream;

“Nick, I love you!”

Aaron rolled his eyes. “Don’t you ever get sick of that sentence?”

“You get used to it after a while,” Nick replied, showing his passport and ticket.

“That was close,” Rob said, looking over his shoulder. “Things might be easier from now on.”

He proved to be right. Forty-five minutes later, they were settled into the first class of their flight, Pan American 747.

“When’s it going to take off?” Aaron asked.

“Never, I hope.” Nick shuddered. Even after all these years, he was still scared of flying. Some things just never changed.

A few minutes later, the plane was in air.

“Wake me up when we get there,” he muttered, putting his headphones on and closing his eyes.