Clara Wilson moved into the classroom with her head held high. She had seen so many new schools over the past five years and eight months, she had gotten used to feigning confidence in the face of adversity. The adversity, in this case, was this school being the second one she had joined in the last month.

Due to her parents' particular career - and since the blip had wiped half of the universe from existence - those left had to pick up the pieces. Clara's family specifically, had very specialised skills and talents that had been needed across the world in a time of dire need.

This didn't get to Clara, though. In fact, she quite enjoyed the travelling; she got to see new places, try new food, and meet new people. More importantly, if she ever embarrassed herself she'd only need to wait a few months and she'd be back on the road – or the sky or sea.

Walking into the classroom, she heard a small amount of chatter from each of the students scattered around the room. She glanced up at the monitor on the wall as she took a seat behind another student, a memorial to fallen heroes rolling onto the screen. "Gone, but not forgotten." A voice from the screen said once the short video had finished.

An explanation of the blip played through next, Betty Brant taking the lead speaking role with Jason Ionello beside her, butting in with his own opinions every so often. "I have a plan." A boy said, dropping heavily onto the seat next to the student Clara had sat behind. "Okay... First, I'm gonna sit next to MJ on the flight."

"Mm-hmm." His friend replied, Clara listening in as she absentmindedly looked over the textbook pages in front of her, not paying attention to the written words as she slowly flipped through it.

"Second, I'm gonna buy a dual headphone adaptor and watch movies with her the whole time." He rushed, his words almost morphing into one as he spoke.

"Okay."

"Three... When we go to Venice - Venice is super-famous for making stuff out of glass, right?"

"True." He agreed.

"So, I'm gonna buy her a Black Dahlia necklace because her favourite flower is the Black Dahlia, because of, well..."

"The murder."

"The murder." He confirmed. "Four... When we go to Paris, I'm gonna take her to the top of the Eiffel Tower, give her the necklace, and then, five... I'm gonna tell her how I feel. And then six, hopefully she tells me she feels the same way."

"Don't forget step seven." His friend interjected.

"Step seven..." The first to speak held his pen above his page to begin a new note.

"Don't do any of that." The second said bluntly, his friend's expression dropping into an unamused scowl.

"Why?"

"Because we're gonna be bachelors in Europe, Peter."

"Ned..." Peter groaned, his head tipping back in frustration.

"Look, I may not know much, but I do know this... Europeans love Americans." Peter and Clara both shot Ned a questioning look but Clara was out of sight to the both of them, so her expression passed by unnoticed. She shook her head gently, reminding herself not to listen in to other people's conversation as she looked down to the textbook on her desk.

"Really?" Peter asked sceptically.

"And more than half of them are women!" Ned appealed. Clara had to admit, this was true. Still, the fact stood that the whole 'Europeans loves Americans' part was a bit of a stretch. She should know, she is one.

"Okay. Sure, but... I really like MJ, man. Okay? She's awesome, she's super-funny in a kind of dark way and sometimes I catch her looking at me, and I feel like I stood up too quick... Dude she's coming now." Peter hurried, slamming is notepad shut. "Just don't say anything."

"What up, dorks? Excited about the science trip?" Michelle Jones asked the two boys. Her thick curls were pulled back into a bun and she held her large art portfolio in both hands, fiddling with the handle subconsciously.

"Hey, uh, yeah. We're just talking about the trip." Peter stumbled over his words, clearly not very good when it comes to talking to his crush.

"Yeah." Ned informed her. "And Peter's plan."

MJ raised an eyebrow. "You have a plan?"

"I don't have a plan." Peter shook his head frantically.

Ned's eyes widened slightly, seeing his mistake and he rushed to think of an excuse they could use. "No, he's just gonna collect tiny spoons while we're travelling to other countries."

"Like a- Like a grandmother?" MJ frowned.

"I'm not collecting tiny spoons. He's collecting tiny spoons." Peter grimaced, shooting a glare over to his friend.

"Oh. Okay, well... That was a real roller coaster." MJ and Clara could both agree on that one; Clara mentally face palming each time either boy spoke. "By the way, travel tip... You should probably download a VPN on your phone just so that the government can't track you while we're abroad."

"Smart. Will do." Peter nodded, watching MJ as she walked away from their desk. Once she was out of earshot, Ned spoke up again.

"Dude." Ned started, a small grin playing on his lips. "I think that went really great."

Clara raised an eyebrow at Ned, the two boys falling into a casual conversation between themselves, mainly about what they needed to pack for the trip, and what was left on their to-do lists beforehand.

Looking over at MJ, who had now taken a seat, she saw the girl doodling in a sketchpad, glancing over at a student in the far corner of the room every now and then as if for reference.

With only a few hours left in the day, Clara kept to herself, taking time to survey the students and get a good picture of who she should avoid, and those she'd enjoy the company of. The lessons passed quickly, and she managed to get through the day without any teacher calling her to the front of the class to introduce herself. In fact, most of them hardly noticed her presence.

At the end of the day, per her parent's request, she waited to be picked up from the front entrance of the school. She was quickly inundated with questions about her day and the answers were the same as usual. "Did you meet any new friends?" Her mother, Laura, asked, digging through her handbag for something.

"I met new people. Didn't really speak to any one though." Clara told them.

"You know, you don't always have to assess everyone at every school you go to." Her father stated as he pulled out of the parking lot. "Just because you know how to tell, doesn't mean everyone acting odd is involved something 'unjust' – you're in high school, everyone in high school is weird."

"Er, I'll try not to take offence to that." Clara scowled.

"He's right, Honey." Laura interjected. "You need to relax. Find something to distract you!"

"Like what?" Clara groaned.

"Well... There's a school trip leaving for Europe in a couple of days; your science class is going..."

"Please don't tell me you've paid for me to go." She said, eyes wide with worry.

"We paid extra just to get you in!" Her mother grinned, clapping her hands together in excitement.

"So, let me get this straight, not only did you force me to go to school on the last day of the year – to which there was literally no point, by the way – you're making go on a trip to Europe with people I haven't actually spoken to?" Clara crossed her arms over her chest sulkily.

"We sent you to school expecting you to at least make one friend to sit next to on the flight..." Her Father, John, said matter-of-factly.

"Why do I even need to go? We'll probably be leaving as soon as I get back. How long is the trip, anyway?" Clara watched both of her parents exchange a glance, grimacing as they did. "Mum... How long am I going to be gone for?"

"Only, er, only, about..." Her mother cleared her throat. "A week?"

Clara's jaw dropped and she stared at her parents in disbelief. "A whole week? You might as well just tell me you want to get rid of me!" She threw her hands up in frustration, whining as she spoke. "Why did you book it?"

"Like we said, you need a distraction." John said. "A holiday will be good for you! You've been working so hard and...."

"I like working! That's why I do it!" Clara argued, her voice raising in pitch as she spoke.

"I'm not arguing with you, Clara. The trip's been paid for and you're going. End of." Her mother's tone switched from an apprehensive one to blunt with a hint of anger.

"Fine. But don't expect any souvenirs brought back for you." She mumbled, slumping back into her chair and watching the road roll past them.

"Don't forget we're going to the fundraiser tonight." Her father reminded her. "One time you can assume if someone's a bad guy."

~

The family of three arrived at the Urban Sports Cultural Centre that sat in the heart of Queens. A banner hung above the door. 'Homeless Support – Food, Shelter, Hope.' Clara found herself holding her breath as she walked through the heavy wooden door, easing it closed after her to avoid it knocking back into place. "When I Blipped back to my apartment, the family that was living there was very confused." A woman said on the stage, May Parker's voice amplified by the speakers scattered around the room. "The wife thought I was a mistress, Grandma thought I was a ghost..."

Clara, John, and Laura lingered for a moment at the back of the hall, eyes scanning over the crowd before they took seats at an empty back table. Both her parents worked with S.H.I.E.L.D, a counter-terrorism and intelligence agency, tasked with maintaining both national and global security. They travelled a lot in their roles, facing different atrocities around the world in attempt to return an unstable civilisation back to what it was before the Blip or, with any luck, an even better version.

They did their best to keep Clara away from the work, but since childhood, she had always been too curious for her own good, following her parents to work, worming her way into missions they had been tasked with. But still, no one at S.H.I.E.L.D knew about Clara's abilities and hopefully it was going to remain that way.

"It was... It was really a mess." May continued. "Thank you all for coming out to support those who have been displaced by the blip. And of course, thanks to our very own, Spider-Man!"

Clara watched the super-hero hesitantly take centre stage as her parent's continued surveying the scene playing out around them. "Thank you, Ms. Parker for having me." Spider-Man spoke, his voice timid. "And, thank you, you guys for having me."

He looked to the woman on stage with him for reassurance, and she took over, stepping in front of him to return to the microphone. "Well, thank you, Spider-Man. He'll be right back out to take photos and videos. Thank you."

Not long after that, a couple of agents came to take over from the family. They had originally supposed to be there from the start, but due to an over-running mission, the Wilsons' were asked to step in for them until they arrived. John and Laura were not agents, as such, but they did have the capabilities needed to step in as last resorts. Nonetheless, it was nice to go out as a family every once in a while.