gatwick ♔ trying to make sense of it all

[unhappily]

WHO || Skye, Stiles, Kenzi, Kyomi, Regina, Professor Henry Bogdanovich [closed]
WHAT ||  The Knights escort  a Professor from the airport
WHERE || Gatwick, London
WHEN || Late May, 2016 [backdated]
HOW || Actionspam

[ According to their mission dossier, while Bogdanovich is a certified genius, he's also a bit of a flake.  They'll have to make certain that he doesn't get into any trouble or wander off, while keeping an eye out for potential kidnappers or spies who might be after his research.

In order to avoid drawing attention to his arrival, Wynn says that they've arranged to meet him at the baggage claim inside the airport.  The file contains a photograph of the professor as well.  ]

Comments

[hacker]

He's cute for a nerd.

[ Skye flips through the file, plucks out the photo, and passes it off to Kenzi and Kyomi, who seem like the best audience for this comment. ]

[killingtodeath]

[Stiles is trying to take this mission leader thing super seriously, so he's not paying much attention to Skye's comments, but more focused on scanning the crowds for any early signs of trouble (spot 17)]

[sakurasmile]

Ooh. The beard almost makes you want to overlook the flaky thing. [yeah, the girls are useless right now. time to coo over the hot nerd.]

[unhappily]

[ NOT ENOUGH EYE ROLLING IN THE WORLD.

stiles looks around but doesn't see the man in the picture. a husky man in a chauffeur's uniform is meeting a gaudily dressed older woman. either they like to play dress-up, or she's got lots of money. ]

[killingtodeath]

[The wealthy woman catches his eye, but she's probably not a spy and/or assassin here to take out their buddy. Stiles sighs and looks at his phone.]

What time is he supposed to be here?

[hacker]

I mean, the guy's not exactly renowned for getting places on time. [ Skye flips through the file, looking for a flight number or arrival time. ]

[unhappily]

[ the flight arrived about fifteen minutes ago??? so there's that ] Let's hope he didn't get lost following the straight line here.

[killingtodeath]

[Stiles is mostly just nervous about not screwing this up. The flight could have landed 15 seconds ago and he'd still be antsy.]

I'm gonna take a lap. Anyone want to come with?

[He's just going to be extra careful and look out for trouble. But more than that, he just feels like he needs to move a bit until their guy shows up.]

[sakurasmile]

Aye. I'll do it. [she steps away from Kenzi and Skye to join him.] The kitsune thing does wonders for the vision.

[killingtodeath]

Text me if he shows up. [idk if this room is even big enough that he wouldn't just... see the guy on his own but like I said, he's nervous so he's being doubly sure.]

The foxy lady and I will be right back. [Annnnd he turns to go do a sweep, getting a nat 20 spot this time so hey he's on his A game. At some point, he points out the people he saw earlier.]

I feel like people with too much money just end up adopting the same look when they get older.

[sakurasmile]

Those glasses. I didn't even think you could get those with a real prescription. They look like TV props, yeah? [Kyomi scans the crowd as well, after getting her two cents in (spot 28)]

[hacker]

Yeah! Great! We'll just ... wait. [ She drops her arms to her sides, staring off after them, then casts a miserable look back at Regina. Cool. This is fine. Rather than keeping an eye out, she'll make an effort at small talk (spot: crit fail). ] Seen any good movies lately?

[unhappily]

Are you physically incapable of concentrating on the task at hand?

[ kyomi takes notice of a redheaded man with an ugly yellow-and-pink travel bag in this style standing by carousel #4. he's watching the arriving passengers as if he's looking for someone in particular.

stiles notes that one of the arriving passengers seems exceedingly nervous. he keeps looking over his shoulder at a guy in a pinstripe suit who stiles clearly pegs as an undercover cop or a fed. but the undercover guy doesn't seem at all interested in the nervous one.

as they head away from the baggage claim area, he also notices a bit of a commotion outside the glass doors. a cab driver leaps out of their taxi and goes running for the other entrance of the airport. ]

[killingtodeath]

[As they walk, he nudges Kyomi and gestures with his head over towards the pinstripe suit guy.]

Definitely a cop. Also, that guy looks like he's about to crawl out of his skin. Not like he'd be nervous about flying around here. [Baggage claim means you already did the flying part.]

[morethanasidekick]

[Arms swinging back and forth as her gaze sweeps the area. (Spot 25.)]

Deadpool?

[unhappily]

[ she doesn't catch anything else that they haven't, at least ;; ]

[sakurasmile]

[since she doesn't notice the kerfuffle at the front of the doors that's in Stiles' line of sight, she focuses on the ginger.]

And that fellow has rubbish taste in luggage...

[hacker]

What task? Are you expecting me to go surveilling the men's room in case he made a pit stop? Because I don't see you pointing him out either.

[unhappily]

[ regina turns to narrow her eyes at her, opening her mouth to retort, when suddenly -

from ancient-looking speakers mounted on columns and in corners around the terminal, a crackling, barely comprehensible message blares out.

"Will the party here to meet Dr. Henry..."

a hesitant, slightly nasal voice interrupts. "Um... actually, it's 'professor', not 'doctor'."

"Whatever," says the first voice, sounding gruff and impatient.

"They work for the Knights," says the nasal voice. "But that might be secret."

regina's eyes look ready to roll right out of her head.

"Not no more, it isn't," says the first voice. "Look, whoever's here to meet Professor Bog-... Bogda... how the heck do you say this? Bohg-da-NO-vich?"

"Bog-DAN-ovich," replies the nasal voice. "All together... really quickly... Bogdanovich."

"Right," says the first voice crisply. "Anyone here who actually wants Professor B, should pick up a white courtesy phone before we strangle him." ]

[sakurasmile]

[Kyomi's eyes go wide for a second, and then she grabs Stiles' arm and begins turning him back towards the others.] Aye. I think we found 'em, yeah?

[hacker]

[ Skye's eyes widen in panic, fixed on Regina's as their scuffle is interrupted by, well, the worst thing ever. No, literally, not only is it that someone else got him first, but they apparently suck at it. Shenanigans. This is just embarrassing. A moment later, she wrenches herself free of the frozen panic of shock and begins scanning for a white courtesy phone (spot 19). ]

[killingtodeath]

Yeah, we should get to the others. [Stiles is trying to figure out if the thing about strangling the guy is legit or just annoyance (sense motive 24) but also looking for the phone while he walks back with Kyomi (spot 14).]

[unhappily]

[ several such white phones are placed conveniently around the area, and skye and stiles both spot the same one as they re-convergence.

for what it's worth, it doesn't sound like the threat is a serious one. ]

But who found him first?

[sakurasmile]

Friendly, yet exasperated TSA agents? [Kyomi crosses her arms over her chest and looks hopeful.]

wrap-up

[unhappily]

The Knights were tasked with meeting Dr. Henry Bogndanovich, a research scientist who had developed a theory that ordinary objects might absorb sounds and could perhaps play them back under the right circumstances. They met him at the airport, and found him to be a stereotypically absent-minded professor, who was carrying a prototype of his invention in his bag. Unfortunately, several other interesting characters came to the airport sporting the exact same bag, and confusion ensued.

These characters included Dr. Hugh Fredericks, a rival of the Professor who made an attempt to take off with his bag, but was too cowardly to put up a real fight, Eunice van Hoskins, who was smuggling gems in her bag and under suspicion by the Federal authorities, Peter Buck, a smalltime gangster carrying the goods from a recent heist and being tailed by Larabee Hosquith, an agent of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and Judy Bannister, a young, charismatic con-woman who was there with the intention of trying to create a scene and swipe a more valuable bag from the airport.

The Knights stayed on top of things enough to keep any of the crooks from getting away with the goods, and kept the professor's bag straight and separate! The airport police arrived on scene to break things up, and check all the bags, asking for the Knights' input in who to charge.