Sydney Airport - Gate 23

[Hollywood Heidi]

The check-in counter and waiting area for Gate 23.

[Brittany]

Sawyer spent the night before locked in a Sydney jail cell and just now got through meeting with the airport manager confirming his deportation. Now he stood in line at the check-in counter impatiently waiting his turn, with someone hovering over his shoulder. He was not a happy camper.

As the line inched forward and Sawyer shifted his duffle bag hanging on his shoulder, he finally snapped at the man behind him, "You wanna back off there pal?"

The man just glared and backed away a small step. Sawyer turned back to the front and grumbled loudly when he saw that the line hadn't moved, "Come on, what is the damn hold up? Some of us have places to be."

[Gwen Havers]

Gwen hurriedly made her way past the line of passengers, including a sandy blonde man uttering the usual complaints about the wait. She wheeled her bag behind the desk and took up a position at the counter beside Stephen, one of her fellow, dark-haired flight attendants.

"Made it by the skin of my teeth," she said with a breathless smile, logging into the computer and smoothing our her light blue uniform shirt.

Stephen acknowledged her, barely removing his attention from the task at hand. "Didn't know you were on this flight," he said.

"Well, I wasn't. But there was a slight change of plans. Switched shifts with Megan so that I could get back to LA earlier."

"I see. An overdose of quality time with the family?" he conjectured.

"Little bit," she replied curtly, offering a smile to the next person in line while asking for their identification.

Stephen handed over a boarding pass to the current passenger he was dealing with and motioned for the next person to approach the counter. "I should hope you at least got copious amounts of alcohol at the wedding reception out of this trip," he quipped.

"Nope. Cash bar," she explained. "No way my sister was going to pay for 250 friends and family to drink on her dime. Not when she and Neil could spend that money on a two-week venture to Angkor Wat or Madagascar or whatever the hell it is they're going."

"Careful, kitty, put the claws back in."

She sighed and collected herself. "I'm fine, I'm fine. I am now the official smiling face of Oceanic Airlines. By the way, who's on plane prep duty?"

"Not you," he answered. "You're out here on check-in duty with me. See, it pays to be on time."

"Lovely," she pouted slightly. "As if spending the length of a trans-Pacific flight with these people wasn't enough."

She straightened her shoulders, plastered on a brilliant smile that lit up her eyes, and in an even, pleasant voice asked if she might help the next person in line.

[Jack]

Jack waits patiently in line. He takes a look at his watch and looks back at the counter. He sighs, and looks around.

"Next!" the woman at the counter yells.

The line shifts forward. A tall man (probably southern) yells at the man standing in front of Jack.

"The nerve of some people you know." Jack turns and looks at a woman standing behind him.

"Some people have problems," Jack replies after a long pause. He looks back at the desk, the line hasn't moved. He looks to his left, he sees a Korean man holding a flower. He begins to tear a bit.

"You all right?" the woman asks. He sniffles, wipes his eyes, and looks back.

"I'm fine," he replies.

"Family issues?" she asks.

"Something like that." She looks down and then looks back at him.

"So where are you headed?" she asks trying to change the subject. Jack pauses.

"Los Angeles."

"Flight 815?"

"Yeah."

"I guess we'll be seeing each other again," she says jokingly.

"I'm Joanna."

"Jack."

[JINX]

Jinx was just finishing her tour, it was time to go home. she couldn't wait, to see her parents.

The tour was long and harsh and she hated people, i know not the greatest of professions to work in if you hate people. But she loved to sing. To be honest she didn't hate everyone, Just the ones that hated her first. the ones who hated her because they thought someone else was better.

Moments later as she checked in she got her ticket and checked her bag, she smiled as a couple of kids came up to her and asked for an autograph. "Jinx, can i have your Autograph?" she smiled and nodded, kneeling down to the little boy and smiled. "There you go guys, and i love to stay, but i got to catch my plane.

"I saw you show, i was in the front row!" the girl smiled, jinx reconized her from the show, she waved and smiled. she turned to her escort and sighed. "Please tell me i can skip bag inspection..."

"No Miss, but your the front of the line." she smiled as she was escorted up to the front. where she was given her own special check, by the male staff, she had no complant what so ever. her bags were checked and she was now aloud to move ahead. "Thanks boys, and i hope you enjoyed your presents." she smiled as each man held his own Jinx orginal. (thong)

[Hollywood Heidi]

HEIDI

Shelby, the friend I had come to Australia to visit had been kind enough to keep me company as I checked in and waited for my flight. She knew I'd never been comfortable being around tons of people I didn't know.

We stood in the check-in queue, quietly talking amongst ourselves. The one thing that always bugged me about queues were people's tendancies to invade your personal space. It wasn't as if it'd make the line go any faster if everyone crawled up on each other's backs.

As if in response to my musings, a tall, blonde haired man turned around and gave a menacing look to the man behind him as he basically told him to back the hell up, but in nicer words.

"Whoa, hope you don't have to sit next to him," Shelby said in the same quiet conversational voice we'd been using since we got in line. "He's got an attitude problem."

"Well, can you blame him? That guy was all up in his personal bubble. People have the bad habit of crowding while standing in line." I had spoken my response a bit louder. Just loud enough for the guy behind me to hear and take the hint by stepping back. I had said it in a nice, matter-of-fact tone and accomplished the same goal as the tall, blonde man. I was always the type to avoid confrontations or offense. My philosophy had always been to treat others as you'd like to be treated, but sometimes, if I've been pushed around too much, that philosophy went out the window. Hey, I'm only human after all.

The line began to move a bit faster after another counter had been open.

[Ashlee Stone]

Ashlee leaned againt the wall of Sydney airport, while Max carried her suitcase over to her. She smiled slightly, as she pulled the handle of the suitcase. Max swore in frustration.
"DAMN! I carried that thing all the way from the bottom of that friggin' carpark!" Max growled, glaring at the suitcase as if it had done him a great personal wrong.
"Don't they teach you anything in the army?" Ashlee asked, raising an eyebrow at the exasperated man infront of her. He shot her a sarcastic smile, before hugging her tightly.
"Good luck, Ash. As soon as you get in America, call me, yeah?" he mumbled into her thick, curly hair.
"You're starting to sound like a possessive boyfriend instead of my brother's best friend," she smiled. "And I'll call you. If your real lucky, I might even send you a postcard," she dug in her back pocket, and handed him a fistful of money. He looked like he was going to protest, so, rolling her eyes, she tucked it into his jacket pocket. "T'anks for looking after me, Maxy,"
She turned, and joined the very long queue of Oceanic Flight 815, fighting back the tears.

[ana]

The only luggage Ana-Lucia carried was a battered rucksack over her shoulder. It didn't hold much, just the basics. She hadn't really intended to be in Sydney for so long. She wasn't even sure why she agreed to come in the first place. She'd convinced herself that she could find herself a new life. But now it was painfully obvious to her, she had been running away from her old one. Now all she wanted to do was go back home and see her mom. To say sorry.

She made her way into the check-in lounge and looked at the huge queue in front of her.

"Mierda (crap)" She muttered under her breath. With a less than pleased look on her face, she joined the back of the line. today was going to be a long day.

[sugarplumfairy100]

Molly Sharpe sighed impatiently, as the Oceanic 815 Flight slowly edged forward. She flicked her blonde hair behind her ears again, and checked her Green Day watch.

"For Christ's sake, look at that grunge up front! Hooligans, the lot of them," someone whispered loudly from down the line. "Look at her hair! Down to her flippin' ass! Disgusting,"

Molly grinded her teeth, and clenched her fist, the little black nailpolished nails digging into her palm. She edged forward again, and noticed that one of her laces were undone. She bent down and quickly tied it, her pretty face hidden by a curtain of blonde. She pulled her iPod out of her pocket, grinned as she put it onto Nickleback, and shoved the ear pieces into her ears. Finally, their meaningless chatter of their sad, meaningless lives had been blocked out; finally, she could no longer hear them make snide remarks about her clothes and 'grunger' style. She smirked at the thought of them seeing her eye makeup.

[ana]

"Look at her hair! Down to her flippin' ass! Disgusting,"

Ana-Lucia glanced around, the noise distracting her from staring blankly at the bald patch on the guys head in front of her. She saw the guys further down, pointing and laughing in her direction. Then she noticed the girl bent down behind her, fastening her shoe lace. Her head covered completely by long blonde hair. Apparently the focus of their attention. She turned back around ignoring them. Not her problem.

[sugarplumfairy100]

The woman infront of her was standing like she owned the place, and she kept drumming her fingertips on her belt. Molly glanced down the queue, before perching on her suitcase, still listening to her iPod. People's tempers were rising, and most were watching a small scuffle that had just broken out in the next queue. Someone banged hard into her, to which she retaliated with a sharp kick and a few icy words. The queue was moving faster now, much to her pleasure, and she dragged her suitcase a few feet, before stopping again. She wished she'd thought to buy a magazine to read. Thinking she'd buy a couple once she'd been checked in, she amused herself by watching anxious families rush around, checking they had everything.

People were staring at her again, but this time with concern. Cursing the fact that she looked so young, she turned away, thinking longingly of when she could finally sit on the plane.

[Hamilton McCarthy]

Hamilton McCarthy, two tickets clutched in his hand, strode away form the line. He travelled light, most of the time, when business took him away to different places. This was more of a pleasure holiday.

He hated flying. He'd been going from country to country almost all his life, and he'd never gotten over his fear of flying. His stomach knotted up, and he usually stared out the window, breathing heavily. Still, you had to make sacrifices for a good job, flying wasn't a big one.

He had keen eyes, and was good at picking people out from a crowd.

An Arab man. He grew slightly worried, but remembered it was simply post 9/11 paranoia. He'd be sick with worry on the plane no matter who was on it.

There was something basically wrong with flying....a big hunk of metal in the air. Turned his stomach just to think about it.

He slumped down into a chair next to his wife. "Got 'em."

She was young, and although they were of similar age, people always looked at them with disapproving eyes. Either she looked really young, or the stress of his job was making him age. Either way, when he was in his suit, he always looked old, but powerful. That was the effect of the suit. It instilled confidence. And he bought it with him almost every country he went, even when he wasn't there on business. Almost like a comfort blanket.

He wasn't in the suit now, though. Nope. Black jeans and a T-shirt with blue Chinese letters, stretched across his muscular chest. Although his wife maintained he looked better in red.

[sugarplumfairy100]

ASHLEE
Ashlee stared around the airport, bored, and shuffled forward with her suitcase. She checked her watch. Not long until she'd be on the plane, searching for him. Max only knew half the story. He was, to her advantage, so very naive and was only too happy to allow her into his life, his flat. She smiled coldly for a second, as she tied her hair into a messy ponytail.

"Excuth me love, do you know if thith ith the plane for Loth Angele'th?" An old woman asked, somewhat shorter than herself, and spoke with a lisp. She bit back a sarcastic retort, and nodded. The woman toddled off and out of sight. She raised an eyebrow.
"Strange woman, eh?" Someone behind her said quietly.
"Yup," Ashlee laughed, giving the person behind her a lopsided smile, before turning back, and moving forward.

[sugarplumfairy100]

MOLLY
She slid her passport and ticket over the glass counter, and quickly put her iPod back in one of the pockets in her combats.

"Blimey, you look real young! I'd say 'bout 16," the flight attendant grinned at her. He flicked back to her passport, scanned it, and checked her tickets. "Visiting family?"

"Well, y'know what they say, you're never too young to use Olay!" she grinned at him, ignoring the question. He laughed, and slid the ticket and passport back to her.

"It's compulsory for me to say : Thank you for travelling with Oceanic Flights, I hope you enjoyed your stay in Austrailia. Enjoy your flight, and we hope to see you again. So s'later," he grinned again, as she shoved her passport in her pocket.

"Thanks," she walked over to the orange plastic chairs, and sat cross legged on one, whilest trying to locate somewhere that sold magazines, or at the very least, a book.

[sugarplumfairy100]

Molly spotted a likely looking shop, and wandered over to it, suitcase in tow.
***Molly Leaves For The Last Minuit Shop***

[sugarplumfairy100]

***MOLLY ENTERS***
She sat down on the hard plastic chair, cross legged, and began reading Kerrang, and smoothing her Green Day t-shirt unnecessarily. It suddenly struck her at how cold she was, so she dug in her luggage, and pulled out a black hoodie, the inside of the hood was aqua. She quickly pulled it on, along with her khaki shoulder bag, into which she put the other magazines, bottle of water, sandwich, book, iPod and placed the post card and pen on the chair beside her. Shoving the shampoo and shower-gel into her suitcase. She stared at the postcard, before swearing quietly under her breath, and placing it carefully into her shoulder bag.

[Ashlee Stone]

Ashlee stared at the young girl infront. Everything about her, from her long curtain of long blonde hair, to her black eye makeup and loose, grunger clothes and the book she had just put into her bag, spoke volumes about her. She looked like a pansy, but Ashlee had seen her kick the man in the shins, the way she glared at certain people, wishing them nothing but a slow, painful death.

She reminded her of someone else she had known, Maisy...no, that wasn't it. Maggie? No, that wasn't it either. It definately began with 'M'. Mandy, or something like that. No, Mandy or whatever-her-name-was, had to be what, 20? 21? The girl in front looked, at the most, 18. Still, it was peculiar. Ashlee lowered her gaze.

[Brittany]

BRITTANY

I stood in line quietly, not paying any mind to anyone around me. I was two people from the front and getting that itchy, antsy feeling of impatience that always seemed to occur at times like that. I noticed they finally got another person to take over another line and issued a sigh of relief. Finally this line will move faster.

Directly behind me a man with a Southern accent was griping about the slowness of the lines, saying what I'm sure we were all thinking. I took a quick glance back and noticed he was tall, with blond hair. He was cute. I smirked at his mutterings and turned back around. Two people later I was getting my passport stamped and checking in my suitcase. I put my ticket and passport in my purse and made my way to the waiting area at Gate 23.

I sat down in an empty chair away from other people and waited. Only a couple more hours and I'll be on my way home.

[Brittany]

SAWYER

He made his way to the front of the line and glared at the man behind the counter. "Your service sucks. Do you know how long I had to wait in that goddamn line?"

The man took Sawyer's grumpiness in stride and replied, "I'm sorry sir, we've been going as fast as we possibly can." He stamped the passport quickly and gave it back with a plastered on smile. "Thank you for choosing Oceanic, have a nice day."

Sawyer took his passport and handed over his duffel bag. Then pushed his way through the crowd to the bar for a drink.

***Left for Sydney Airport - Bar***

[sugarplumfairy100]

Molly spotted a bar quite close by, which seemed to be quite popular. She needed a drink, she was starting to get nervous. Molly glanced at her watch again, and decided the Food Court would be a safer, and cheaper bet. She was running low on cash, having not had a job in months. She checked her money in her purse; she had $30 in there, as well as a few hundred dollors in her suitcase.

Considering that the dollors in her suitcase would be used to pay for transport and a place to stay, she really needed to find a way of getting cash, and fast. She pocketed her money, and strode over to the food court.

****MOLLY LEAVES(again) FOR FOOD COURT****