Dark Wisdom Chapter Two

"Are you sure I can't get you there on Val Air?" Dressed in a designer Italian suit, drawing stares from some of the passersby, Virgil stood next to me at the concourse of the Queen City Airport.

"Not so loud," I hissed. "Do you want people to know?"

Virgil smiled, but dropped his tone just a little. "Know what Athena? No one here expects to see either of us here, especially in our civvies. It's a matter of perception. They see two young friends seeing one another off."

I looked around and saw he was right. A piece of wisdom from my father popped into my head at this revelation. "Athena, dear, most people don't spend time thinking about you, they're busy thinking about themselves!" As usual, Papa was right.

I heard the PA announce my flight and I hugged Virgil. "Take good care of things while I'm gone," I said.

"Don't you worry about a thing here," he said. "Daisy will be just fine. You just be careful in Egypt, y'hear? And come back soon!"
*****
The pilot announced the approach to London and I smiled at the memory. My finger traced my lips where Val had kissed me long and hard. I leaned back in my seat and stretched. The flight to London had been uneventful. I was feeling a need to stretch and eat during the three hour layover.

After touchdown I passed off the plane, and headed for the concourse. I didn't have to bother with customs as I wasn't staying, and soon I spotted a nice little overpriced restaurant. I sat down to coffee and chatted casually with the hostess, named Sally. She had a winning smile despite the lateness of the hour in England, and I acted on her suggestions to enjoy a meal of bubbles and squeak with my coffee. I set up my laptop, intending to catch up on some correspondence and my homepage came up with news about a calamity in Victory Park. My neighborhood.

I followed the link and listened as Jackie Marks described in detail the conflagration of my building. "Despite the brilliance and extreme heat of the blaze, the building was undamaged, thanks to the more than timely intervention of Captain Valiant. The good Captain has been seen with increasing frequency in Queen City, prompting many to ask, 'is there a budding romance between the Man of Marvels and our own White Owl?" A stock photo of me was flashed on the screen and to my dismay, I saw it was from Chateau magazine. The model wasn't really White Owl at all. I grimaced and felt my stomach gurgle a bit.

Just at that moment, my Iphone bleeped. I punched the respond button angrily.

"Hello?" I asked tentatively.

"Daisy is safe at my place, and your place is being rebuilt by the Coleman Group. I nearly had him Athena. We never sleep, you know."

"I thought that was the Pinkertons," I laughed. But it was a nervous laugh on my part. I'd heard the concern and frustration in his voice.

"Seriously Athena, someone has an enormous grudge, with either White Owl or with you. The guy I missed matched the description Scirocco gave. Please be careful and don't take any risks, OK?

"Oh come on Virgil, I appreciate your concern, but what could possibly happen on an archaeological dig?"

I seem to remember terrorists on one in particular," he retorted.
That stopped me and I suddenly felt my blood run cold. The incident he'd referred to, was my very first outing as White Owl, just after our dig had been taken over by European terrorists. My cousin Jason went for the police while I went into action with the new gifts I'd received.

"Athena?"

"I promise I'll be careful Virgil. My flight lands in Cairo in the afternoon; and I'll spend the night there. Dr Sahdi will send someone to pick me up the next day, so I'll be fresh and alert."

"Care for some company tonight?"

"No!" I was adamant. "We need to spend some time apart too, Virgil, to develop as individuals." My mind went back to Jackie Marks' comments. My hand clutched at the Chi Rho cross pendant around my neck; a gift Captain Valiant had given me. It was made of extremely rare metals . Not gold or platinum but it shone brighter than either of them.

I also thought about Father Timothy's sermon from the previous Sunday. "Love is patient, love is not rude..."

"I'm sorry Virgil, I was thinking about Father Tim," I said. I could almost sense the smile crossing his face.

"Well I'm the part that wants to protect all things Athena. But I also know about trust. So I'll trust you'll be fine. But will you do me one favor?"

"Name it"

"Will you make sure to wear you guild comlink?"

My heart melted. "If it will make you happy. But it will have to wait until I get to Cairo, when I can catch up to my luggage."

"I guess that will have to do," he said. I could hear the concern in his voice. But his next words caught me completely off guard. "Be safe Athena, I love you."

I swallowed hard. Though I'd seen it demonstrated so often, this was the first time he'd actually said the words out loud. What could I say...What should I do? The words tumbled out before I could consider or catch them.

"I love you too. You're a marvel."

"No that's the guy in Fawcett City," he said, teasingly. "See you soon."

I snapped the phone shut and sat, troubled over my emerging relationship. Was Athena in love with Virgil? Was Owl in love with Captain Valiant? Was there room for all that ego and compartmentalization in a relationship?

I almost missed the call for my plane and caught the plane seconds before the door was shut. I dozed fitfully the whole way to Cairo.