"On it." Ares whipped out of the plane and hurriedly unbuckled the clasps on the old trunk. In a panic, he opened a couple of the wrong drawers, but he soon found the right one. He grabbed four brown leather headbands and headed back to the plane. Mirrors were attached to the headbands, and each mirror was positioned on the end of a thin, metal rod. They were like rearview mirrors, but for people. They were a clever invention of the Detective's.

Most fairy and some otherkin had the ability to glamor themselves but a more powerful fairy, or a group of fairies, could camouflage a whole place. If Alexandria was seeing something they all weren't, something was up—with the plane and with Alexandria.

The illusion magick only worked if you looked directly at the fairy or the object that they were glamoring. If, however, you looked at it through a mirror, the glamor could be dispelled. Ares never quite understood it, especially since the "illusion" defied physics. Once you dispelled the glamor, the reality could change everything, which would explain why Alexandria had tripped on something that no one else had. She was not seeing the glamor. She was seeing the reality.

Ares was back in the plane in an instant and caught the tail end of something Dan was saying. "But what do you mean the plane's a mess? Take a look around. It couldn't be cleaner if it were brand new."

"Perhaps this will help clear things up, Mr. Skipper. Thank you, Ares," the Detective said while he fitted his headband over his head. "Dear me," he added when he peered into the mirror attached to his head.

Suddenly, Ares heard laughter and the sound of small feet running on the outside of the plane. Everyone looked up. They had all heard it.

Daniel quickly put on his headband and looked around like an idiot. Ares placed his headband on and turned so he could take a good look at the plane. The once-pristine cabin disappeared, revealing a total disaster.

It was a mess, but not the kind of mess pixies or goblins would leave behind. This was methodical. Pieces had been stripped off, and wires and circuit boards were exposed. The piles of equipment and tools were a little too neat for goblin or pixie mischief.

"Do you guys see it now? It's not just me?" Alexandria asked with concern.

"I sure as hell see it! What's going on here? Is this some sort of optical illusion?" Dan's face reddened as he adjusted his mirror angrily.

"It's no trick, I'm afraid. Someone has been tampering with your planes and hiding behind a little magick. We call this a glamor, Mr. Skipper. It's a talent that most fairies possess," Docherty informed him with one massive eye peering at them through his mirror.

Ares was about to add to what the Detective said when something heavy hit him on the head. He ducked, covering his head instinctively, and moved to the side. He looked down to see a wrench on the floor. Laughter echoed throughout the plane. Were Ares a lesser man he would have sworn.

"Are you okay?" Alexandria asked. She began to push past Dan and came toward him.

"I'm alright," he replied, taking a step back as she approached.

"Are you sure? That hit you right on the head," she said, lifting her hands as if to touch him. He stepped back again and almost tripped.

"Sorry. I just wanted to make sure you were alright," she said, backing away.

"I will be fine, but before anyone else gets hurt, we need to figure out what's going on here. Did you see anything else in the cockpit?" he asked, searching her face. He still didn't understand how she could see through the glamor and they could not.

"It looks like the rest of the plane, torn open with wires sticking out," Alexandria replied, walking back to the cockpit.

"Are you kidding me?" Daniel barked, clearly not taking this well.

"What do you think, Detective?" Ares asked, removing his headband. "What's the next step?"

But before Docherty could say anything, Ares heard a squeak from Alexandria in the cockpit. In a flash, he flew past Dan Skip, hopped over the passenger seats, and was in the doorway of the cockpit. His eyes were wild and his senses high; Alexandria was standing in front of him. Her headband dangled from her hand as she stared at a small man sitting on the yoke of the plane. He took his small snoopy cap off and bowed to Alexandria.

He said in a very formal tone, "I beg your pardon, miss, but I had not been expecting royalty on me plane this evening. Welcome aboard. May I get you anything, m'lady?"

Ares arched his brow and looked at Alexandria.

"Oh, I— thank you, but no." She looked at Ares for help.

The little man was less than a foot tall and was dressed in barnstorming aviation clothing: tan slacks, black boots, a black leather jacket, and a red scarf. He wore a cap that reminded Ares of the Red Baron, with dangling leather straps, and held a pair of goggles in his hands. He had pointed ears and a small pointed nose. He almost looked like the human stereotype of a Christmas elf, minus the pointed shoes and clothing.

"Pardon me, m'lady, but is he with you?" The little man indicated Ares, eyeing him suspiciously. Ares was not unaccustomed to fairy being untrusting or wary of his kind. In truth, there was not a lot of love between them.

"Uh—yes, yes he is with me. This is Ares, and my name is Alexandria. It's nice to meet you." As she spoke, she performed what some might call a curtsy.

Ares looked at her with a queer expression as the Detective and Dan stuffed themselves into the doorway of the cockpit. It was getting crowded.

"It is an honor to meet you, m'lady, Alexandria. They call me Bron. Who is your other friend? Him, I know," Bron said, indicating Dan Skipper with what Ares could only describe as contempt.

Alexandria looked over at Dan questioningly before she replied, "This is my uncle, Detective Docherty."

"Are you the one responsible for all of this?" Dan's angry eye glared at the fairy from his mirror as he stood backwards in the doorway. Ares considered telling Skipper he didn't need the mirror anymore, as Bron had removed his glamor, but Ares was never one to ruin a good show.

"If you're referencing the improvements, why yes. This is my work. How are you finding the—"

Dan spun around and lunged at him, shouting, "Why you little shit!" but before he could finish, a panel of the plane disappeared, and Daniel fell through the floor.

"Oh my Goddess!" Alexandria cried as she leaned forward to look down the hole. "Dan! Dan, are you alright?"

Bron disappeared, and peals of laughter erupted from the rest of the plane. Ares supposed he could have caught Dan before he fell through the floor, but he had been as shocked as everyone else—or so he told himself.

Fortunately, the plane was not that high off the ground and Ares could hear Daniel moaning below. He was not dead, which, as far as Ares was concerned, may or may not be a good thing

"I'm going to go see if he's alright," Alexandria informed them. "It doesn't look like he broke anything, but you can never tell." She got up and hurried out of the cockpit, saying, "I'll be right back."

Ares turned to find the Detective moving back toward the passenger seats and followed him out of the cockpit.

"I think Dan's alright," Ares told him. "What are you doing?"

The Detective was sitting down in one of the front passenger seats shaking his wrist and tapping his watch.

"Blasted thing. It appears to have stopped running. I say, what a shame. It's an antique."

"What?" Ares looked at him perplexed.

"My watch. I bought it ten years back at a charming gift shop in Scotland. It's so hard to find someone who can get it ticking again these days. So many people rely on those digital contraptions. A serious shame. I had hoped it would last me a while longer. Ares, you don't know anyone in town that can fix watches, do you?"

"No," he said pausing, wondering why the Detective was talking about his watch. "I've got one of those digital contraptions, a Timex Ironman. I normally replace them instead of fixing them. I like updating to new technologies. I'm sure you could find a jeweler or department store that could fix it—"

Ares heard footsteps up the ladder and assumed it was Alexandria.

"He's alright," she said breathless. "He had the wind knocked out of him, but he's sitting up now. Uncle Docherty, are you okay? Did something happen?" Alexandria directed the last question to Ares.

"He's fine. His watch stopped," Ares replied, unsure of what else to say.

"Blast, if I can't get it up and running, it's the end of it. Poor ol' thing. I wish I knew someone who could fix it." Docherty sighed mournfully.

"Detective, I think we've got bigger problems to—" Ares stopped.

On the passenger seat next to the Detective, Bron appeared. He stood on top of the backrest, as agile as a cat, and peered over the Detective's shoulder.

"Pardon me, sir. Is that a Davis Olympian watch?" the little man asked.

"Why, yes! Yes it is. Do you know it?"

"If you don't mind my saying, Davis must have been part gremlin, because he made some of the best watches around," Bron replied, moving closer.

Gremlins. They were gremlins. Why had he not guessed that earlier? Planes, technology, sabotage—it was all too obvious.

"Do you think you could have a look at it?" Docherty asked, showing him the watch.

"I don't see why not. I bet I can get 'er running. Did you say it was ten years old?" Bron inquired as Docherty handed him the Davis Olympian.

In Bron's hands, the watch seemed gigantic. The fairy opened the face plate, revealing tiny gears. He started to tinker with it using a needle-like instrument that reminded Ares of his lock-picking kit.

"Older, actually. It was an antique when I bought it. I've tried to keep it in good running order; however, my knowledge is so limited when it comes to these things. It was a good thing you were here, I say. I couldn't be more relieved."

Bron didn't reply. His focus remained on the watch while Docherty sat beaming next to him. To Ares's surprise, several other gremlins started to appear. It was if they came into focus, as if they had always been there, somewhere in the background—the same way vampires did it.

Except for Bron, they were all dressed like mechanics. Each gremlin wore a tool belt and had grease stains and smudges all over them.

Ares noticed one of the gremlins was female (with some fairy, it was not always easy to tell the genders apart). She had a red scarf similar to Bron's, and her hair was tied back. She even had a small pair of glasses perched on her nose.

"Good evening." The Detective nodded happily to the new gremlins.

Ares stood there dumbfounded. How did the Detective do it?

He started to smile, but stopped himself when he realized Alexandria was smiling back at him.

"I say, Bron, do you work on these planes as well?"

"That's right. Though she ain't much to look at right now," the gremlin replied. His tongue stuck out of the corner of his mouth as he concentrated.

"Most impressive. How long have you been at it? I imagine it's rather time consuming."

"Oh, just o'er the past couple of months. We had a home here before they built the hangar. When the airport moved here years ago, we were none too happy about it as we once shared the property with a lot o' nice neighbors. However, change is change. We were fine for a time, but when Mr. Skipper built the hangar, we had no choice but to move into the planes.

They are nice 'n all, but they have a lot of problems. We decided to make a few improvements, but they keep runnin' 'em before we can finish."

"You don't say? I can see how that would be quite bothersome—"

"Excuse me, but just what 'n hell is going on here?"

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