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 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."

She hugged him almost instantly. It wasn't as tight as she wanted it to be, but it was a deep, warm hug. "It's okay if you're not." She practically whispered it. "But it's okay if you don't want to talk about it right now either."

It takes a moment for Peter's arms to react, but when they finally curl around Liz, his touch is light.

He presses his face against her shoulder.

"It just sucks," he murmurs.

Liz felt the desire to reverse time suddenly so Peter never had to go through what he just did. She frowned deeply and wanted desperately to fix everything, but she had no idea how.

She let her hand run through his hair gently in the hopes to comfort him. "I know...I'm sorry you had to do that."

He feels bad that Liz had to deal with it, but he doesn't think he should say that. Instead, he just leans into her for a few moments longer, then straightens.

"We should join Alec."

Peter rubs the side of his nose, and before Liz can move to join him, he opens his mouth again.

"Thank you."

She smiled and nodded. She'd do pretty much anything for him. She wished she could do more.

Liz started to climb the ladder. The door was left open and was easy to climb out. She stepped down onto the roof and looked around. Her eyes landed on Alec and something swelled inside of her. She marched over, expression hard and intent, and she shoved his chest - not that it particularly moved him, she was rather weak.

"You need to be more careful about where you bring us!" She pointed at him, voice angry and Stern and maybe louder than it should be. "You can't just - just do that. Put us through things like that!" She surprised herself with another shove - Alec looked slightly surprised, but was obviously letting her take it out on him. "You're supposed to the one to keep us safe!"

Liz didn't normally feel like any of this, but at that moment, the turmoil she felt for what Peter had to go through and how he felt welled up inside her and released themselves out at Alec.

Peter climbs up the ladder and out into the open. The night air hits his face, and he's suddenly overwhelmed with a new appreciation for wide, open spaces.

Peter shoves his hands into the pockets of his jacket, oblivious to Liz's encounter with Alec only a few moments before.

"What do we do now?" he asks. "Are they still down there?"

He can easily make it to the next roof over; it's Liz and Alec he's worried about.

Alec didn't say anything about what happened though he muttered an 'I'm sorry', owning it because it was his fault and he was willing to take the brunt of Liz's negative feelings.

"Yeah, they're taking people's statements and waiting for transport for some." He looked out at the other buildings. "If we can get to that third building, we'll be able to take the stairs down and blend in with the crowd." There was, it seemed, a more legitimate club a few buildings down.

Liz tried to keep all the complicated feelings she had at that moment away from her face.

Alec looked at Peter. "I can make those jumps." His eyes glanced to Liz with a look that said 'she can't'. He paused. "I can jump with her." He could probably make it.

Peter gets the feeling something is going on, but he doesn't know what. Instead, he tries to ignore it.

"I should be able to swing over," Peter says, looking at Liz. "You okay if I take you?"

It will be easier for Alec to make the jump without her, he's sure.

Liz nodded to Peter. "I trust you." And she did. And while normally she trusted Alec, too, she was still upset with him since he was an easy target to push her feelings at because she couldn't quite fix what had happened to Peter in the vents.

She closed the distance between her and Peter, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Alec surprised the eye-roll he felt, but didn't say anything. "See you on the other side." He focused on the point on the other roof and did a run - fast enough he could avoid a bullet if he had to - and left much like the big cats in his DNA. The landed with a rolled of his shoulders and came up to standing on the other roof. Definitely easier without a teenage girl on his shoulder.

Peter's never actually done this before. Yeah, he's caught Liz a few times with his web fluid, but he's never actually swung with someone else.

He's confident he can do it, though. He wouldn't swing with Liz if he weren't.

Peter tightens his grip on Liz, shoots out a spray of web-fluid at a higher building just beyond the one they were going to land on, then races towards the edge and swings forward.

Once they're just over the building, he breaks off the connection with the fluid and lands solidly on the roof, arm still tightly wrapped around Liz.

"Everyone okay?"

Liz almost closed her eyes, but kept them open. She did, however, only take a breath when she landed. She nodded. "Yeah" and tried not to think about the rush she just felt - swinging like that was incredible and she could see why Peter enjoyed it.

Alec also nodded. "Yeah. You?" And maybe he didn't mean from the swinging. There was one more roof to get to.

Peter presses her lips together. "Yeah, I'm fine," he says simply. "One more." He looks over at Liz. "You ready?"

And once she has indicated she was, he repeats the process, landing just as smoothly as he had before.

Somehow, swinging out in the open made so much of what happened earlier better. Before, he felt trapped, but now... it was the opposite.

Peter'd really missed this.

Liz had a bit of a flush on her cheeks the second time. "You're... really good at this." She kissed him softly and then reluctantly diseneged.

Alec came landing on the roof with another roll to his feet. He had to admit Peter's way looked a little easier, although he, too, missed being able to stretch his legs like this.

"We climb down the fire escape and act like we're leaving the club, understand?"

Peter nods at Alec's instructions. Alec knows what he's doing here. Peter really doesn't.

Alec guided them down and through the crowd and eventually they found themselves at the hostel. Liz looked reluctant to letave Peter, but she agreed, shooting Alec a look that she hadn't really ever given him before and then disappeared into their room.

Alec rubbed the back of his neck. "You got a second?" He nodded towards his own room.

"Um, yeah," he says uncertainly. Is he in trouble?

"Everything okay?"

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