Hannah

61

Hannah was more forgiving after seeing the video footage that Regina had posted on a private forum page looking for other flight attendants who might have had the same exit experience. The number of responses had been overwhelming. "I can barely tell that it is me." Hannah had said, watching the video before finally switching her phone to airplane mode only a few seconds before the takeoff.

Hannah had wanted to just forget the entire unpleasant experience of losing her job. She had more than enough going on to focus on something that only almost happened. "How many women has Regina talked to?" Hannah asked, looking at the view count on the cached image of the original post. Once they were up in the air and settled. The ambient noise giving cover for their conversation. The views had been approaching one hundred thousand on the saved in time moment online.

Holland grimaced, not having any idea how Hannah was going to react. All he knew was that her mind was doing some deep thinking right now. "Regina had to activate her call centre for the calls," Hannah's eyes went wide. "Regina hasn't ever had a response like this, apparently the team who targeted you, were prolific and not the only team in the support staff." Holland told Hannah. "So many women are going to be able to get justice for what happened to them." Hannah regarded Holland. He still wasn't able to make heads or tails, up or down of her mood.

Hannah had responded, by telling Holland she needed to think. Put on her headphones and watched almost an entire movie in silence. Also pointedly avoiding making eye contact with Cassandra who was working in a different section of the plane than where Hannah and Holland were sat, with the empty seat Max could have been in. Holland was in the middle seat, Hannah curled into the window.

Holland could feel the flight attendant Hannah must have known. Staring at Hannah with laser focus, like she could will Hannah to call her over. To finally have whatever conversation the other woman felt like she needed to have with Hannah. Holland was not enjoying this flight nearly as much as he hoped he would. He finally had Hannah alone. Again, and she was feeling some kind of way he still couldn't describe because of one of his siblings, and he was also in a line of people Hannah wasn't talking to right now.

His siblings were going to have to grovel pretty damn hard to get a chance to come looking for their own mates back at Golden Green. After a full hour of silence, the decent to the airport closest to Hannah's hometown where she had kept her and her father living, her apartment and the nursing home weren't in the city, but a close and easy enough commute that had made the flight attendant job her best option for a decent income.

"I'm almost done thinking. We can talk on the drive to my apartment." Hannah said with a finality that did not leave Holland wanting to test his limits. Hannah hit the call button, "Now, you need to use the washroom for at least three minutes, preferably five so I can talk to Cassandra." Holland was already jumping out of his seat. If Hannah told him to crawl on his hands and knees to the closet that counted as a bathroom on a plane, he would have.

Before Holland had cleared the seat, Cassandra was already on her way over, signalling to the actual employee stationed in this section of the plane. Hannah didn't feel upset, just messy. Honestly Holland was disappointed in himself. He had enough sisters and enough life experience at this point, that he thought when he finally had a mate everything would just make sense. The bond would make everything easy. If anything the swirling sea that was Hannah's emotions that he was currently drowning in, just reaffirmed that he might not ever truly understand how a woman thought.

Holland went into the washroom, doing his best to not let any part of his body or clothes touch any of surfaces. Staring at his watch making sure he gave Hannah four minutes, when he felt her briefly switch to happy. He decided that whatever needed to be said between her and Cassandra was nearly over now.

Exiting the inhumane excuse of a washroom, Holland wished for the hand sanitiser in his carry on that he had not had time to grab before being evicted from his seat. Holland slowly prowled back towards his seat. There were an awful lot of shifters on this flight he realised as he walked down the aisle. Finally feeling something like content from Hannah, a little glimmer of her not in a swirling sea of thoughts and feelings that would drown him.

Cassandra was standing, crouched over talking to Hannah. Both were smiling. Hannah looked lighter, felt lighter. Holland smiled in their direction. Hannah made eye contact, and the storm returned in full force. Hannah ignored Holland, but he was now close enough to hear her. "It was good talking with you Cassandra, I'm glad we had this chance. If you are ever in rural New York, check in okay?" Hannah said, smiling at Cassandra. Cassandra gave her own good bye and ducked out of the way only a moment before Holland made it to his row with Hannah.

"She heard about when I got fired, she recognised the regional HR guy, and put the date of my termination, my schedule, and seeing Jose in the video together." Hannah said before Holland could say a single word as he buckled himself back into his seat. "She quit the day the video came out, and got a job here instead. They are paying her more than she made before, valuing her experience and ethics; How well she fit the brand here." Hannah finally looked at Holland, made real eye contact, he saw his baby girl, and how fucking hurt she was to have to think about that day again.

"Your sister is going to need the woman in the video to come forward, and say it wasn't staged. Without that, the whole case will fall apart unless another woman has evidence that is just as good." Hannah said, she was not happy, Holland could feel it. She was also feeling very brave.

"According to Cassandra there are dozens of women coming forward, people she knows. She thanked me for helping so many others come forward..." Like lightning, Holland finally saw it. Hannah wanted to help, desperately wanted to help find justice for other women. Even when Hannah would need to relive that day and trauma over and over as the case worked its way through the judiciary system.

Holland thanked whatever divine intervention it was that gave him that moment of clarity. "You don't have to do anything. Not one single thing you don't want to. Regina did this without asking, she always does what she wants, she will find a way to get what she wants, she's never been on a hunt like this one." Holland told Hannah, meaning every word. "I mean it Hannah. This doesn't have to be your fight." Holland looked at his sweet baby girl, and saw the fire in her eyes.

"If you want to fight, Regina is already an army unto herself, plus me and all your other mates will stand behind you." He didn't have a chance to check in with the others, he knew the dragon would want justice for all wrongs done against Hannah. Max would want what Hannah wanted, as would Aspen he was fairly certain.

"I'm going to fight." Hannah said, staring straight ahead, hands gripped on the armrests of the chair like she was scared. Holland knew it was the opposite of fear, Hannah was gripping the armrests to stop her fire from starting to burn too hot while she was still trapped on a plane. When Hannah had to defend someone else, she was supernova. Like when she had stood tall against two dragons to protect Aspen.

After landing, Cassandra chased after Hannah had disembarked to give her a hug. Swearing she would come up sometime for a rural vacation. Hannah smiled, said some polite non-committal goodbye platitudes. Her hand reaching towards Holland, moving towards arrivals and the baggage carousels before he had joined his hand to hers.

Hannah again went quiet as they waited for their luggage, and through the entire torturous procedure of obtaining their rented wheels for the trip. Once Holland had their small amount of luggage in the trunk and was manoeuvring the cheap basic rental SUV out of the parking garage and onto the highway.