Three days came and went like nothing. Stanford couldn't decide whether he was grateful or not. Those three days were almost laughably hectic, with one Battle Zone per day. They almost missed their check-in because of it. Thankfully, they made it just in time. Stanford took a breath; it was going to be a long day. First a three-hour wait before boarding, then a ten-and-a-half hour flight to Heathrow airport. They'd arrive by morning. Which meant sleeping on the plane, unfortunately. Thankfully, Stanford had booked them a first-class flight; which meant they had at least some legroom rather than being packed in like a tin of sardines. The wait time for boarding was dull, and Stanford found distraction in music, as always. Rather than his usual selections, he found himself listening to classical music. It had been a long time since Stanford had willingly listened to Mozart and the like, but he chalked it up to his ever-growing anxiety. When they finally began boarding Stanford had hoped he'd be relieved, but no. His worries only seemed to worsen.

"What are you listening to?" Agura asked while they settled into first class.

"Nothing really, just filling the silence."

"Care to let me listen?"

"Uhh… Yeah. Hang on."

Stanford quickly turned the volume down to more tolerable levels for someone else before offering an earbud. Agura took it and put it to her ear, closing her eyes and listened. Stanford waited a few moments, wondering when Agura would comment on his current selection, but she said nothing. Eventually, she handed the earbud back and returned her attention to her book. Stanford blinked and replaced his earbud, turning the music back up to his preferred volume, leaned back and closed his eyes.

He immediately regretted it.

Stanford couldn't help but picture what the wedding would look like, imagine the bride and groom would look like on the day, smiling faces and all. With the stress of the Battle Zones, two run-ins with the Vandals and one with the Reds, he hadn't had time to think of the upcoming ceremony at all. But now? Now that he was on his way to it? It was all Stanford could think about. Truth is Stanford did know Genevieve. Knew her years ago, befriended her, fell in love with her, courted her… And was dumped by her. She told him that she never wanted to see him again and he abided by her wishes. Briefly, Stanford wondered if she knew he had no choice but to see her again. Perhaps she was flying to high on the anticipation of wedded bliss to care. Perhaps she would hardly notice him at all. Perhaps she would notice and still wouldn't care.

Stanford wasn't sure which idea he preferred.

He wanted to be happy for her, desperately so. It was the only thing he wanted for her, hence why he left despite how much it hurt. He wasn't upset that she was getting married at all; far from it. Stanford was far more worried about whom she was marrying. As much as Stanford loved his brother, he also knew him. And Stanford knew Simon very well indeed. Simon was never anything but himself at all times. He was charming, charismatic, and worldly, but he was also erratic, impulsive, and snide. He'd never kept a lover of any sort longer than a few weeks — two months was the longest any relationship of his had ever lasted — and now he was getting married. Stanford was more than a tad concerned for Genevieve.

Stanford opened his eyes again and looked over at Agura. She was still absorbed in her book, eyes taking in the lines of text seemingly as quickly as Sage could process data. Stanford closed his eyes again and wondered what Agura would think of his family. Not just the nobility and, admittedly, rather weak claim to the English throne he boasted of, but who his family were as people. From the time they had all spent together, Stanford learned that she didn't care much for titles and the like, but she did care about the contents of other's character. He was honestly a bit surprised that they had built the friendship that they had, given that he had very little to offer by way of character. Still he glanced over and wondered what she might think of this…

-BF5-

Agura was reading the novel voraciously; Beauty was quickly becoming one of her post-modern favourites. Children's literature it might be, but it was still very good. She turned the page and paused, glancing over at Stanford. The red-head had was leaning back with his eyes closed. He looked tired. They were always a little tired; they had a war on their minds and battle stripes to show for it. But this was a different kind of tired. Stanford looked… Emotionally drained. And coming from someone who never let the stress of battle seep into his day-to-day, even at home, was saying something. When Stanford first read out that invitation and fainted after reading out the names of the bride and groom, Agura knew he had to have known that woman personally.

When they were sure Stanford would be all right, Agura wondered whether it was a crush on a close friend, or if he and this Genevieve had been closer that friends. When he came to and refused to give a straight answer, Agura decided it was most likely the later. Agura paused in her reading and wondered how she would feel if her older sister were to marry her ex, or someone that she knew Agura was in love with. The more Agura tried to imagine it, the more she realized that she couldn't picture it at all. Her sister Iyangura would never betray her like that. Simon, on the other hand? She could very easily see Simon hurting Stanford, intentionally or no. Simon had gone out of his way to show up at handler's corner and embarrass Stanford, and as funny as it had been at first, he then stole the Reverb and went on a joyride in it. Agura put the book down altogether and momentarily wondered where the heck Sheriff Johnson had been then, when someone stole a car? Didn't Vert list their vehicles as private company property of Spectra Motors? Then again, given how little Simon seemed to care about the ramifications of stealing a car, it probably wouldn't have mattered if the police had intervened anyway.

And now he was getting married. Funny, as far as Agura was concerned, he didn't seem like the marrying type. Simon seemed like the kind of guy who'd be happy to remain relatively single forever. Agura was morbidly curious. What kind of girl breaks up with one guy; only to go for their older brother?

Eventually, she heard Stanford's breathing slip into very light snores. She laid back and decided to follow his lead into dreamland, knowing that there was going to be a whirlwind of action when they arrived.

-BF5-

Stanford woke up as the plane was about to land, and gently shook Agura awake too. The woman blinked up at him for a moment before she seemed to recall where she was.

"Landing time?"

"Almost, yes."

The plane landed and the two disembarked without issue. Everything was going smoothly and when they collected their bags, Agura gave pause.

"You're the one who planned all this, but I forgot to ask: where are we going specifically, and how are we getting there?"

"Well, we're staying at our family's estate tonight, then we'll be going to a hotel. I figured you'd want to as few run-ins with Simon as necessary. Then we'll be back on my family's estate on our last night here before we go back home."

"And transportation?"

"Well, I figured we'd use my old car to the hotel and back again; but Mummykins said she'd come to collect us."

Agura's brow raised and a sly smirk drew on her face.

"Mummykins?"

Stanford flushed slightly.

"My mother."

Agura nodded and the two headed out to be picked up Stanford saw a familiar face holding up a sign that said "Rhodes". Stanford got Agura's attention and nodded in the direction they needed to go in. Stanford greeted the man warmly.

"Bell!" he called out with a smile, hugging the older gentleman.

The man, Bell, returned Stanford's hug with warmth and Agura watched curiously, politely waiting to be introduced.

"Agura, this is Nigel Bell, he works for my family. Bell, this is my friend and colleague, Agura Ibaden."

Agura held out her hand and Bell did the same, giving her hand a firm shake. Nigel Bell was a stately man, his hair was almost completely grey and beginning to thin out a little, but if you looked closely, you could see the jet-black it had once been. He had a round face, wore a walrus mustache and had brown eyes that sparkled with mirth. He seemed like a pleasant man. But Agura couldn't help but notice that Mrs. Rhodes had yet to appear.

"Hey, Stanford, where's your mother? I thought you said she'd be picking us up from the airport."

"The Lady is unable to make an appearance today, miss," Bell said quietly. "She's been busy planning the upcoming wedding for Master Rhodes the elder."

Stanford nodded in understanding, whereas Agura was mildly confused. Nevertheless, she said nothing. Bell offered to take her bags and he and Stanford packed the luggage into the trunk before Bell held the door for them both. Stanford motioned for Agura to enter first, which she did, and he followed after. The door shut and soon they were on their way. Through the partition, Bell asked Stanford questions. Thing such as, how he was handling living in America, any details on his job as a test-driver he could give, and whether or not he picked back up on being a DJ again outside the UK. He asked Agura where she was from, what she thought of being a test driver, and what she thought of Stanford. The two shared a look via the rearview mirror that Agura caught. Stanford a look of good-natured annoyance, and Bell one of impish mirth. Bell continued to question them both, pleased with every answer they gave, thankfully. They went on like that for so long Agura only barely registered when they slowed down. They came to a stop and Bell turned to them with a warm smile.

"Welcome to Rhodes Manor."