"Carter! We still have one more plane ride!"

"Please. Let me die in peace," Carter grumbled.

"It won't take long, I promise," Winter patted his shoulder.

Carter gawked at her and melted. Though they were in college and were "independent" people now, he could never live by himself. Taxes were draining, shopping was terrifying, traveling was difficult, and cooking. Well, that's a whole other story. Carter was more sporty if anything. His mom tried to teach him proper etiquette and how to take care of a family but Carter wanted to live on the wild side.

His vision focused. Winter was already at their gate, leaving Carter with their bags in front of the restrooms. He sighed and carried them to the gate. Once he sat down, Winter latched onto his right arm and closed her eyes. They had first met in junior year of high school and got closer as the years passed. It had all started when the history teacher lost her jade hair fork. It was passed down to all the women in her family, and she was about to give it to her daughter. Those were the good old days. The object stayed inside a certain place and was easy to retrieve. Then, a friend of theirs died, and paintings started to end up a gazillion miles away from where they belonged. It was honestly kind of annoying.

"You've been to Greece, right?" Winter questioned.

Carter looked down at her, "Uh, yeah. Yeah, I have."

"It's pretty surprising to think about how much ancient stuff is in Greece and has never been taken."

"Know what? That is an excellent observation," he nodded his head.

"Yeah, I know it is."

"Heh, I bet you did."

"Know what we should do?" Winter sat up again.

"And what's that?"

"We should hire another person."

"Wait," Carter twisted his body to face her, "Like, have another person join Janus?"

"Yeah. A three-person team! Why?"

"I, mean, there's a lot of stuff ya gotta think about before a very well-known mysterious person named Janus decides to have, like, a sidekick or something. What are they gonna do anyway? And, how do we know when we've found the right person? Is Janus's identity just gonna be revealed to them, or wh-"

Winter put her hand on Carter's mouth, causing him to stop abruptly. She looked down at her lap, then around her seat, looked back at Carter, who's very confused at this point, and took her hand away.

"Ya gonna explain why ya did that?" Carter lifted an eyebrow.

"Sure, I guess I'm in the mood of explaining things," Winter rested her head on the back of her left hand, "People."

"People?"

"People."

"As in? Ya know, using a word to explain something you used to explain something else, doesn't really get anything anywhere."

"People, Carter. People," Winter held Carter's face and turned it to face the corridor where thousands of people were walking, "People?"

"Ohhh, people," he nodded.

Winter let go of him and nodded as well, "People."

Carter puckered his lips as he thought, "Hm... hug?"

"Mm... hug."

"Hug."

As they hugged, Carter thought about what might happen in the next couple of days. They had just met after a long while. Maybe they should do an ice breaker. After all, something about them had probably changed. Like, a favorite color or something.

"Hey, Carter?" a muffled voice came from Winter.

"Yeah?"

"The arm thingy hurts, I'm gonna let go now, okay?" she said, pulling away.

"Sure," he took her arms from around her.

The hug lasted only a couple of seconds, but it felt like forever. At least, Carter wished it could be. He picked up his book and picked up where he had left it. He tried to read it. He couldn't stop thinking. What would happen if they hired another person? Would they leak their identities? What would they do? Janus was already fine. They could track, they could hack, and they could find things without a third person. Then, Carter asked the question that bothered him most. Why was he so worried about a third person on the team? Was it because this person was new and couldn't be trusted? No, it wasn't that. Was it because he would feel crowded or ignored? He was getting closer. Was it because he felt like they would take Winter away from him? Was it because he thought Winter would pay more attention to them since they were new? Yes and yes. He didn't want her to be taken away again. Then, Carter realized how close they were. Nothing could separate them. Even after two years of separation, they were still as close as ever. It was like nothing changed. So, a third person wouldn't be able to ruin that. Right?

The person at the front desk broke his thoughts.

"Now boarding first class," she said.

Carter sat up straight as he sighed. Winter looked at him, a concerned and confused look on her face. He looked back at her and shook his head while softly smiling. He was going to enjoy all the time they would have together before a new person would join the ranks. Maybe they would become a couple before that. Hopefully.

This time, they booked some seats in the economy class. It was gonna be a short flight anyway. As long as Carter could get some z's in, he wouldn't mind the flight. The flight was only an hour and a half long but that was enough to upset Carter's stomach.

"Wintahhhh," Carter rolled his head to face Winter, "Can I lay my head on yor lap?"

"I don't know... Can I eat the rest of your chocolate?"

"Yessss, now please, don't do anything stupid while I'm asleep," his eyes half-closed.

"Hush, my sweet child. Don't let the bedbugs bite," Winter cooed as she patted his hair.

"You're only being nice to me 'cuz I let you have the chocolate, aren't ya?"

"Like I said, 'Hush, my sweet child. Don't let the bedbugs bite'."

"You called me sweet. Heh."

"Goodnight, Carter."

"Nighty night."

He closed his eyes and waited. A couple of seconds passed and Carter decided to focus on his breathing, as it always helped him sleep. Finally, he went limp in Winter's lap. To make sure he was truly asleep, Winter softly blew some air in his face. His eyelids fluttered a little but didn't open. She smiled as she laid her head back to enjoy that ginger ale she ordered. She took a couple of sips (gulping carbonated drinks hurt her throat) when, suddenly, she noticed movement coming from Carter. She sighed and put her drink back down, wondering if she would ever get some peace and quiet to drink that ever so refreshing drink. Carter's eyes could be seen moving under his eyelids. He had already entered REM. Winter started to panic. Markus had told her once during breakfast that it usually takes a person 90 minutes to enter REM sleep, and if Winter timed it right, Carter had only been asleep for a minute or so. Winter noticed that his breathing and pulse had gotten much faster. She kept monitoring him after this discovery to make sure he wasn't about to die.

————————————————————————

Carter's world turned to white. He blinked a couple of times so his eyes could adjust. He looked around. It was a black sand beach. No one was there except for tall, leafy palm trees. He breathed in the air. It felt stuffy. Carter felt a small feeling creep up his spine. He recognized this feeling. It was the feeling of being watched. As soon as he thought that, he heard a rustle in the leaves from behind. He turned to face the many trees. He shook his head thinking that it was probably Winter trying to scare him.

He grinned, "You can come out now!"

Nothing.

Carter's smile began to falter, "Minty Fresh?"

His question was answered by a snapping branch from his left. He turned. There was a dark figure.

"Wintah!" he sighed in relief, "Where are we? Are we already in Athens?"

There was no reply. Carter felt as though the air became rough. There was another rustle.

"Wait a minute. There's only one Wintah! Is this a dream!?" he thought.

A voice came from above, "Yes, child. You are currently in a dream. Wake up before they get to you."

Carter recognized the voice, "Wintah! Help me please!" His eyes started to sting as he ran towards the ocean, "Wintah!"

The figures came into the sun.

"Aw, fuck me dead."

The figures were shaped like socks and had either googly eyes or buttons for eyes. Some had feathers sticking from the top of their uncolored bodies while others had nothing but stripes all over. Some had yarn sticking in every which way. They were all the height of an average human. And there were several of them. They were coming from behind the trees and from under the water. Carter was soon surrounded by the very home-made looking sock puppets. He looked around some more, even though he didn't want to. And that's when he saw it. Eggy. That little sock left Carter alone in America. A scary experience for Tiny Carter.

Then, the Earth started to shake.

"Wintah, please!" he started to sob, "I can't die now! I still gotta meet Autumn!"

"Carter!"

His eyes shot open. There was a blinding light. He blinked several times but the light wouldn't go away. A dark blob moved over him to cover the light.

"Is this heaven? Am I dead?."

"I think you would go to Hell instead, but you're not going anywhere, not until I'm dead at least."

Carter opened his mouth to talk but Winter stopped him.

"We just landed and we have around, er, one minute before we reach the gate."

Winter was right. Except there weren't any gates. They had to go down some stairs to get to the ground and then onto a bus to actually get to the airport.

"Winter! I did it! I didn't barf! I'm so proud of myself," he hopped through some doors.

"Congrats, Volkswagon," Winter didn't sound impressed, probably because she knew what was about to happen.

"Oh, man! I'm so ecstatic. It's been so long since I've been on a plane without-" Carter stopped abruptly and put a hand on his chest. His face turned from happy to concerned.

Knowing this was going to happen, Winter pointed him to the nearest bathroom, "It's right over there, Buick. Just follow the signs."

Carter decided that he didn't really like the Athenian airport because of all the transportation. The planes and the buses were too much for him but it wasn't even close to being the end of it. After entering the airport they had to find the metro, which was difficult because they couldn't speak Greek. Eventually, they found the metro and got off at the Kerameikos station. Which, of course, was a short forty-five minutes away. Carter was really starting to not like Athens. At all.

From the station, they went out of the way that led to Dekeleon. This was the tricky part. They weren't sure whether to go right or left. Carter took a wild guess and started left. Winter couldn't do anything but to follow. They were stopped short when they approached a corner. This time, Winter suggested they just go across the street. On their left was a sweets store. They really didn't know what else to do, so they went inside the store and asked if they knew where their apartment was. The person behind the counter, thankfully, understood English, but not Carter's English. She gave them some directions and asked if they would like something to eat. Carter looked at Winter. As thanks, they got a couple of sweets. They left the store and went left, arriving at another corner. The duo turned left and walked until they saw a small café called "Gazoza". Here they turned right at a corner that looked like a U-turn. They walked some more. At this point, Winter really wished she could turn into a bird. Carter didn't mind the walking. They found an abandoned-looking store called "Katoikoi", at least that was what it looked like. It was next to a nice alley that had plenty of trees along the middle. Carter stood and looked at the alley for a little, ignoring Winter as she planned and recited her last will. Finally, Carter folded.

"Do you want me to carry you or something?"

Winter looked up at him, eyes wide, "Can I get a piggyback ride?"

Carter took off his backpack and squatted. He waited as Winter go comfortable and stood up with their baggage. He made his way across the street and entered the alley. The building they were looking for was the eighth building in the alley. Thankfully, it was numbered. Winter, being herself, located the number eight when she looked around to spot anything shady happening. They, well, Carter opened the gate and went through. He told Winter to get off and much to his surprise, she complied. She pulled up the directions to get the keys to the building and the apartment. This was easy as their specialty was finding things that were meant to be hard to find.

From the apartment to the National Archaeological Museum was a thirty seven-minute walk. It was a spacious little place they had found on Airbnb. The apartment was on the first floor and there was a fun little "scavenger hunt" to find the keys to the apartment. The moment they opened the door, they were greeted by the sight of a living room and kitchen on the right. On the left, there was a short little hallway connecting two bedrooms. Between the bedrooms was a bathroom that held a washing machine and dryer. The bathroom was very cramped so they decided to never close the bathroom door when there was someone in it, for it was too little space for either of them.

Soon after scoping out the new territory, they discussed who was getting which room at the dining table.

"I should get the master bedroom," said Winter.

"Yeah. Sure. Give me a reason why ya should have the mastah bedroom. I am much more deserving of the mastah bedroom than ya. I have motion sickness and ya know. All the traveling we did the past few days? I need a comfy bed." Carter snorted.

"Well, I need my privacy and besides I need to set up our network. I need the room for all the wires and stuff!" Winter leaned into the table.

"Well, I need the room to stretch before going into the vents or whatevah."

There was a short pause. Carter shifted his foot to face towards the master bedroom. Winter twisted towards the master bedroom without breaking eye contact. Then, they were gone. The sound of cursing and insults drifted throughout the small living space. Both of them were trying to get their stuff onto the bed in order to claim the bedroom.

"I need to be able to rest while getting into the security cameras!"

"Move it, you galah!"

"How dare you!"

"You don't even know what that means!"

"I know!"

The clamoring continued even as both squeezed through the doorframe.

"Why are we even doing this!?"

"I don't know!"

"Why don't we share!" Carter threw his hands up.

"Fine!"

There was a small moment of peace.

"I call three forths of the bed!" He jumped onto the bed and sprawled out his limbs.

"NO!" Winter grabbed his left leg and pulled him off.

*oh you wonder why I told 'bout everything about the Airbnb but not the "scavenger hunt"? That'd be because it actually exists. I'm not about to tell random people how to get into someone else's place! It's a really nice place, btw. Maybe I'll put pictures somewhere... if I have any...