strangetrip | "No One Told Me Why I'm In Berlin"

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"No One Told Me Why I'm In Berlin" - Tag Peter and Alec

When Liz found out that the new world was actually Earth and Europe, she couldn't quite hold back her excitement. The fact that the year was, according to the people at the desk, 2018 meant she was going to be closer to Peter's time than her own. She would finally be able to experience what his world was like, even just a little bit, and learn more about the internet and scientific advancement and maybe watch a few of Peter's favourite films they couldn't get at the inn.

"I still don't know why I'm here." Alec sat across from the two teenagers on the train heading to Berlin looking appropriately put-out despite not actually feeling that way. The truth was, he had never been to Europe and he had seen that semi-embarrassing video that Peter had of his trip to Germany and maybe, just maybe, he wanted to see it. Though he told himself he was actually just chaperoning because the world could be dangerous and both Liz and Peter were naive and believed the best in people, even when they shouldn't.

Liz was dialing another phone number on the smartphone she had been given. Thankfully she had enough practice with Peter's to be able to use the one she had and not look entirely inept. So far there had been no answer with Maria's house and the number for the Crashdown was out of service. Her home got a busy signal. She also knew it was a possibility everyone had moved or something. Then suddenly her face lit up - the Roswell police department was on the other end.

"Hi, um. Yes. I was wondering if I could speak to Sheriff Valenti please?" A pause. "Sheriff Valenti. Valenti." Another pause as her excitement lessened. "Okay, well, um. Can you at least tell me if there was a record of a Sheriff Valenti on the force?... How can you not know that." She caught herself as the words came out more tense and annoyed. Liz took a breath. "Yes, I'll hold." And hold she did. The more she waited, the more her expression dampened. Finally, there was a voice again. "Oh.. okay. Yes. Thank you. Goodbye."

She hung up. "They, um. They have no record of him working there. So I guess.. this isn't my world."

Alec shrugged, still looking out the window. "This isn't mine either. We can be twinsies, if you want."

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Peter's hand snaps to catch Liz's wrist.

"No, don't go. I'm fine. I can do it."

Peter takes a breath and stands up, then weaves his fingers together again for her to use it as a foothold.

Again, he takes another breath.

Liz's heart ached for a moment. She looked back up at the vent. She didn't want to put him through that. She paused, then nodded, though she continued to look worried.

As she climbed back up, Liz had a plan. She had no idea if it was going to work. When she was inside, she crawled further - she had seen a t-junction ahead, and then turned around and came back so that Peter would be facing her. She'd have to crawl backwards, but that didn't matter to her.

Peter takes a breath and crawls up the wall and through the duct. He takes one deep breath and then another, trying to keep his attention focused on what's in front of him instead of what's around him.

One breath, then another.
One breath, and then another.

And as he focuses on what's in front of him, everything around him doesn't feel quite real. Peter knows that he is there, and that everything around him is there, too; he can feel the cool metal against his palms as he crawls forward and he can feel his back brush against the roof of the duct.

But somehow it feels like he's some other place watching some other teen crawl through the air ducts, and not himself.

It's only when he reaches the t-ship intersection and finds Liz there that his mind finally snaps back into its proper place. He manages to let out a breathy "hey" at her. A hey that he hopes sounds more steady than he feels.

The 'hey' isn't very convincing, but Liz smiled to him. She reached out and touched his hand which was hard and awkward to do, but she needed to do anyways.

"Just keep looking at me, okay?" Even if she had to navigate with her feet and they'd go a little slower, Liz wasn't going to let him deal with how he was feeling alone. "And if we need to stop we stop."

Peter nods wordlessly and follows, his head still spinning. But there's something about Liz being there that levels him. It's somehow easier to breathe.

Crawling backwards meant it was slow going and awkward when they came to a turn or something, but they were managing. Of course, Liz realized they didn't really have an idea of where they were going. They had no map, after all. Liz figured even if they could just find a stairwell, that would help.

"You're doing good" she kept her voice at a whisper and she maintained her smile, trying to come off as reassuring.

There was a moment the floor under her changed and she realized she was under a vent. She glanced down and saw someone. It looked like Alec, but it was hard to tell from above.

"...Alec?" And that was about as much as she was able to get out before the vent gave way and she plummeted down into the room.

Peter follows after her slowly, trying once again to focus on Liz and just Liz. And when Liz talks to him, he really does feel a little better.

But then, he watches as she says Alec's name and then the vent gives way from beneath her, and though he scrambles forward, she's fallen and --

"Liz!"

Alec only had a second to react, but he had heard his name. It wasn't as graceful as he'd like the catch to be, but Liz fell soundly in his arms. "She's fine." He deposited Liz on the ground and looked up. "I thought I said get to the roof, not come find me."

Because the room he was in was currently barricaded and there was banging from the other side.

Peter presses his lips together. He can't seem to shake this uneasiness.

"You guys should come up here," he says. "We can keep moving -- find some way out of here."

Alec could hear something was wrong with Peter. "What's wrong with you?"

"He's fine." Liz answered quickly, but Alec took one look at Liz's expression and was not convinced.

There was more banging at the door, like they had brought some sort of device to knock the door down.

Alec lifted Liz back up, who made eye contact with Peter with a worried expression again. She couldn't maneuver back around like she had been before and she wasn't sure if he'd want her to with Alec around. "Recite me your favourite movie monologues, okay? Start with the one from Bladerunner."

Alec grumbled. "Anytime now."

Liz pressed a kiss against Peter's lips and then climbed the rest of the way through - she was glad she was in pants.

"Keep going until you can make a right. I got the rear." Just in case.

"Okay," Peter says uneasily. He crawl along the side of the duct to avoid the gap that Liz crashed through, then situates himself back down onto the floor of the duct.

Peter struggles to think of the lines as he crawls behind Liz, and then suddenly they pop into place.

Hesitatingly, he begins:

"They bought it. Incredible! One of the worst performances of my career and they never doubted it for a second. How could I possibly be expected to handle school on a day like this?"

He takes a breath as he pushes through after her; the duct is starting to feel oppressive again, and he's trying hard to push that back. He tugs at the words again, then keeps at it.

"If I go for ten, I'm probably gonna have to barf up a lung, so I'd better make this one count."

Liz really wanted to stop and turn around somehow and just hug Peter, but she knew the best way to help right now was to find a way out and so she kept her eyes open for some sign of up or stairs.

Alec had... no idea what Peter was doing. It was like he was having some sort of stroke or something. "If this is some sort of foreplay sex thing, can you guys wait until we're out of this building?"

Edited 2018-07-02 03:26 (UTC)

Alec's voice feels strangely distant. He can hear what he's saying, but it's like the part of his brain responsible for processing those words isn't truly understanding it.

What are you talking about? That thing hasn't even touched me yet!
The Vulture's wings cutting through the other pillars.
The warehouse collapsing on top of him.

Peter swallows and pushes the thought away because he's supposed to continue the monologue like Liz asked him to. It's hard -- really, really hard -- because it feels like everything is caving in around him again, even though it's not.

"The key to faking out the parents is the clammy hands," he continues, his voice wavering. "It's a good non-specific symptom. I'm a big believer in it. A lot of people will tell you that a good phony fever is a dead lock, but you get a nervous mother, you could wind up in a doctor's office. That's worse than school."

Edited 2018-07-02 03:38 (UTC)

Alec picked up on the sound of Peter's voice this time. Something was definitely wrong. He started to go through the list - Peter was excited about fighting some alien a-hole on another planet, so Alec didn't think it was the fear of battle or getting hurt. Then Alec remembered there was a girl in his unit. They had been six and were on a training mission to find and retrieve enemy intel. Since they were so small, their advantage was to go through the small vents of this constructed house in Manticore for training exercises. She had frozen in the middle of a vent and couldn't move. Manticore's solution was to stick her in a small, dark box. Alec remembered her screaming and crying for hours until she got really quiet. They kept her there for two days and when they took her out, she never spoke again. Eventually she was removed from the unit and no one saw her again.

Alec's eyes refocused on the slowly crawling form of Peter, this time with a hardened expression of concern.

"We're almost there." Liz had no actual idea if they were or not. She had no idea if they were going around in circles. In fact, she was starting to worry they were going to do this forever and Peter wouldn't survive... and then she reached what looked like a dead end. Then she realized it went... straight up. Which was probably a good thing, since they needed to get to the roof, but Liz had no idea how to go up. She paused. "...It goes up."

She had seen enough action films to know what it was supposed to look like. Liz managed to squeeze to standing and then put her feet up against one side. She took a step and surprised herself that she manage to go 'up', but on the second 'step' Liz came crashing down. She winced - ow - and realized she didn't exactly have the strength to climb a vent like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible.

He finishes the first half of the monologue just as they reach the dead end. For one instant when Liz stops, Peter feels his chest clench up.

They were stuck.

They were stuck and they weren't going to be able to get out and --

"It goes up."

Desperation overtakes Peter as Liz slips on her first attempt to get up.

"Liz, I'll make you a foothold," he says, quickly, and he folds his hands beneath her again.

Not for the first time was Liz aware of how physically different she was to Peter. She needed to learn to climb better. She didn't like being the one who needed help all the time. Even in his current state, he had to help her - that was unfair.

She nodded and moved to put her foot in his hand and she grabbed onto the edge once Peter lifted her all the way up. She managed, with some effort, to pull herself up into the other section of the vent. There was a covering a little further away. She moved to the grate and peered through - it seemed empty. She pushed against the grate. It was old and rusted, but still wouldn't budge easily. She banged on it a few times with her forearm and then it suddenly dislodged.

Liz crawled out as quickly as she could so Peter could do the same. It looked like they were at the top of a stairwell and there was a ladder and a sign that said 'roof access' pointing up.

Peter scrambles up the wall easily, but he stops when he nearly reaches the top, and turns himself around; he's still stuck to the wall (one of the advantages of his spider-given powers) and looks down.

He takes another breath, then extends an arm down to Alec, just in case he needs it.

Alec almost said something. It was there at the tip of his tongue and in his eyes, but Peter's expression stopped him. Instead, he took the hand, even though he didn't need it, and managed to crawl outside.

Liz almost flung herself at Alec before she realized, it was Alec and not Peter. Her eyes went back to the hole in the wall. "Peter?"

She told herself to give him space when he got out. She didn't want to smother him, despite feeling the desperate need to comfort.

Peter climbs out after Alec and tries to steady himself on his feet. He wants to look all right because he knows if he doesn't, Liz will worry and he doesn't want her to worry.

Not being able to breathe.
Ripping off the mask.
Trying to push up and failing to.
Hey, please! I'm down here! I'm stuck! I'm suck! I can't move! I can't--

Peter stumbles, then presses a hand against the wall to steady himself.

I'm fine, he tells himself. I'm fine, I'm out.

Peter looks at Liz and attempts a smile. It doesn't quite come out right and he can feel it in his face even if he can't see it himself. But he still tried.

Liz's eyes never left Peter the moment he appeared from the hole. She had no idea what to do and it was killing her not to have an answer on how to make things alright. She squeezed her hands, fingernails cutting into her palms a little as she resisted the urge to embrace him. She was worried it would make things worst.

"We okay?" Alec's eyes were on Peter.

Liz pressed her lips together. "We're fine. Can you - can you go make sure it's safe on the roof?"

Alec glanced at Liz was visible annoyance, but then sighed and headed up the ladder. "Five minutes"

Liz kept her gaze on Peter and only when she heard the roof door open, did she speak. "Peter?"

"I didn't finish that monologue," he says in a low voice.

She took a tentative step forward, testing our Peter's personal space. "...I can't believe you remember so much from Ferris Bueller." What she really hoped that sounded like was are you okay??

"I've watched it so many times," he says weakly. "I didn't skipping school until I became Spider-Man."

Ferris Bueller had less altruistic reasons for cutting out of class.

She took another step forward. If she reached out she could touch him if she wanted. The palms of her hand were turning white. "Being Spider-Man is a good excuse." She only started skipping when she needed to help Max and the others with something.

"...Can I - can I hug you?"

Peter nods. "Y-yeah," he says. "It's fine. I'm fine."

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