Amelia wove through the crowded baggage claim area, her elegant navy dress a stark contrast to the passengers around her. Six years had changed her. The scared young woman who had once fled Gatham City was gone. Now, her focus was solely on her children.
"Remember to stay close," she said, checking her phone for their baggage claim number.
"This place gets crazy during peak hours," she added.
The triplets stood perfectly poised beside their mother, drawing admiring glances from passersby.
Luther clutched his beloved tablet while keeping a watchful eye on his siblings. Adin straightened his silk bow tie, his own idea of proper travel attire. Ariel, in her matching blue dress, hummed softly, swaying to a melody only she could hear.
"Oh, would you look at those adorable little ones," a lady said, nudging her husband.
"Such beautiful manners and those matching outfits, they're like little dolls," another passenger whispered to her friend.
A passing flight attendant smiled at the scene.
"Carousel Four," Adin announced, his tablet already displaying the airport's luggage tracking system, though Amelia pretended not to notice her middle child casually hacking. Some battles weren't worth fighting.
"Mom, I gotta go!" Ariel suddenly cried out.
Amelia sighed. "Why didn't you say something on the plane, baby?"
"I didn't have to go back then," Ariel replied, shifting from foot to foot.
"What about you two?" Amelia turned to the boys. "Last chance before we head to the hotel."
Luther didn't look up from his tablet. "Nah, we're good. We'll keep an eye on the stuff," he said.
"Yeah, Mom, we got this," Adin added with a bright smile that made Amelia suspicious.
"Alright, but stay right here. We'll be back soon." She took Ariel's hand, already scanning the terminal for the nearest restroom.
As soon as their mom and sister disappeared into the crowd, the boys' innocent expressions shifted into something far more focused. Adin perched on their largest suitcase, fingers flying across his tablet as he accessed the airport's security feeds. Luther kept watch.
"Anything?" Luther asked quietly.
"Not yet, wait, look!" Adin pointed.
"That's him. That's Mr. Blake. Could he really be our... y'know," Luther trailed off.
Through the shifting crowd, they spotted him clearly.
Even in a wheelchair, Alan Blake commanded attention. His expression was stern as he spoke with his assistant. From a distance, his irritation was obvious.
"Another specialist must've turned him down," Luther muttered, recalling the encrypted medical consultation requests they had been tracking.
Then Adin noticed something.
"Wait, he has the same suitcase as Mom. Same color, same model. They look identical," he said.
A grin spread across his face, the kind that usually meant either brilliance or disaster.
"Got it. You thinking what I'm thinking?" Adin asked.
"About the suitcase?"
"Bingo. And you're way better at playing the hyper kid."
"Hey, I'm also the tech guy. Ariel's more the hyper one, she…."
"I know. And remember who taught you to hack?" Luther interrupted.
"You did."
"Exactly. Now, I want you to crash into him. Make it look good."
The next few minutes were a masterclass in controlled chaos.
Adin, channeling every ounce of six-year-old energy, hopped onto their rolling suitcase like a scooter.
Luther, playing the responsible older brother, called out fake warnings while mentally calculating the perfect trajectory.
The collision was flawlessly timed.
Adin clipped Alan's suitcase while narrowly avoiding the wheelchair, sending the bag spinning and creating just enough confusion for Luther to move in.
"Ow! My leg!" Adin cried, his performance Oscar-worthy.
"Adin, are you okay?" Luther rushed over, using the moment to smoothly switch the suitcases.
"Oops," Adin said, sitting up and brushing off his knee. "The cart went crazy."
"We're terribly sorry, sir," Luther said to Alan with wide-eyed innocence.
"My brother gets a little too excited sometimes."
Alan's stern expression flickered for a moment as he looked at the boys.
The resemblance, one that haunted Amelia's dreams, was striking up close, though none of them realized it.
His irritation, already high from another failed attempt to hire a specialist, softened slightly.
"The airport's crowded," he said, his deep voice holding the kind of authority that silenced boardrooms. "Running around like that could be dangerous."
"Sir is right," his assistant added gently.
"We're really sorry," Luther repeated, helping Adin up and nudging the newly acquired suitcase back into line with the rest of their bags. The swapped one now sat innocently among Alan's luggage.
They made their escape just in time, as their mom and sister returned from the restroom.
Amelia was none the wiser, though she did raise a brow at Adin's disheveled appearance.
"Everything okay here?" she asked.
"Perfect!" both boys chorused, angelic smiles in place.
Later, as they loaded their bags into the waiting car, Adin finally whispered what was on his mind.
"If that's really our father," he said, "he seems... cold."
"Of course he does," Luther replied softly, carefully setting their special acquisition into the trunk.
"He doesn't know us yet. What were you expecting?"
"Still," Adin murmured, watching Alan's sleek private car pull away, "he could've at least smiled or been nicer."
Luther shrugged but patted the suitcase they'd swapped.
Whatever secrets their father was keeping, they were now one step closer to uncovering them. And despite Alan's cool exterior, Luther had seen something, a split-second flicker of softness, when he looked at them.
"Buckle up, darlings!" Amelia called from the front seat, completely unaware of what her boys had just set in motion.
"Welcome to Gatham City."
The boys met each other's gaze in the rear-view mirror, matching grins spreading across their faces.
Phase one was complete.
Now they just had to wait for their father to open the suitcase.