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February 7, 1992 — Orlando, FL 12:45 PM, EST
Shelby sat in the parking lot of the Orlando International Airport, waiting until Flight 703 from LaGuardia arrived in the Sunshine State. Despite being winter, it was over 90 degrees outside, so the A/C was blasting along with Shelby's Rolling Stones cassette tape inside her beloved Jeep.
She was waiting for Tony and Donna, who had both caught the same flight from New York to watch the Tenacity launch, which would be going up in a few short days. The other astronauts would have their families there, but Shelby's only surviving family member was in prison. Though he had assured her in his last letter that he would be watching on TV, Shelby's father would definitely not be joining her in person. So, she'd done the next best thing: brought in the best makeshift family that she could.
Robbo and Lisa had both flown in the day before, and Shelby was very much looking forward to having all of her closest friends in the same city again. The icing on the cake would be Donna and, of course, Tony, who Shelby hadn't seen since the two had reunited in December. She'd hoped to have him come down to Florida for Christmas, but the Stark boy had been extremely busy filling in his father's footsteps. Tony would be alright, and so would Stark Industries.
Shelby checked her watch, seeing that her two friends would be arriving any minute now. She'd given them both detailed instructions as to where she would park, so they wouldn't get lost trying to find them.
The redhead peered anxiously out of her windshield, her heart racing in anticipation of seeing her friends — well, Tony, really. Of course she was happy to see Donna, just like she was happy to see Lisa and Robbo, but none of them got her heart racing quite like Tony did.
Finally, she caught the familiar sight of Donna's dark bouncing curls, and trailing behind her was Tony, a large grin on his face.
Shelby hopped out of the Jeep, opening the back so they could put their luggage inside.
"Shelbaroni!" Donna yelled, waving her hands in the air as she ran towards the redhead, her backpack swinging wildly behind her. She crushed Shelby in one of her famous Donna hugs, then threw her backpack into Shelby's trunk.
Tony, on the other hand, arrived at a normal pace, a giant smile on his face. He wrapped Shelby in a warm and enveloping hug that made her legs feel like jelly before saying, "It's nice to finally see you again in person, Girl Genius."
"It's nice to see you too," Shelby said with a beaming smile. She gently squeezed his arm before turning back to the Jeep. "What do you say we get out of this humidity?"
Donna, who was already seated in the passenger seat and was fanning herself with the Florida road map she'd found in Shelby's glove box, nodded in agreement. "Yes please. Besides, I am dying to see Lisa. And Robbo, though on a slightly less excited note."
