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CHAPTER 5: TRIP OF A LIFETIME.

CHAPTER FIVE
Trip of a Lifetime

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THE FLIGHT TO VENICE—the first stop on the Europe trip—was at six am, which meant Cecelia had to be up by three in the morning. The hour shuffled into the room like a hungover college student, setting off her alarm (which was Come a Little Closer by Cage the Elephant, for obvious reasons). Mom and Dad had insisted that she get at least some sleep before she needed to be awake again, but Cecelia hadn't managed to drift off until after midnight. The two-and-a-half hours she'd actually gotten weren't exactly giving her an energy boost, and she was beginning to regret all of her life choices. Even so, she'd managed with less sleep before. And she was totally going to doze off on the plane. The flight was almost nine hours, after all. What else would she do with that time?

So, reluctantly, she clambered out of bed, rubbing her eyes. Her suitcase was right by her door, ready to be lugged down to the JFK Airport. She'd packed it ages ago. All that was left to add were her toiletries, and that would be dealt with soon.

Through her door, she could hear Mom and Dad puttering around in the kitchen, grinding coffee beans. Thank Creation. If Cecelia didn't have either a steaming cup or an energy drink in her hands within the next five minutes, she might actually murder somebody.

She turned on her bedroom light without worrying about it waking Eva. Sure enough, Eva didn't flinch. She just continued to snore, stray strands of hair falling over her face. She'd said her goodbyes to Cecelia and Alex last night, solely so she didn't have to wake to see them off this morning. Cecelia completely understood.

She got changed, pulling on her most comfortable clothes—an oversized purple sweatshirt and leggings paired with her favourite black Converse. Then she tied her hair into a single braid down her back and went to meet her parents.

They were both already dressed when she arrived. Dad was wearing a Lord of the Rings shirt and jeans stained with paint. Mom wore a pink tank top, stretchy black yoga pants, and a messy ponytail. Cora sat on her hip, still in her baby blue onesie.

"Oh, good, you're awake," Mom said. "I was just about to get you up myself. Though I suppose your brother's still in bed, isn't he?"

"Of course he is," Cecelia said, yawning. She crossed over to the coffee pot and poured herself a generous cup. Putting it to her lips, she added, "I think he went to bed even later than I did."

Mom sighed. "I'll go wake him up. And make sure he actually gets ready. We can't afford his chronic tardiness today."

She passed Cora off to Dad without a word, then headed down the hall to the room Alex shared with Jules. Dad turned to Cecelia, grinning.

"So!" he said. "How are you feeling? The big day's finally here! It's time for Europe!"

"Ask me that when I'm finished my coffee," Cecelia replied. She opened the fridge and pulled out a Monster Energy for the road. "Seriously, why does the flight have to be so early?"

"Well, if you left any later, you'd lose the whole day! At least this way there's actually time to sight-see before it's time for bed again. Venice is six hours ahead, remember?"

"Yeah." Cecelia swallowed another gulp of her coffee. "I know. It was more of a rhetorical question, Dad."

"Ah. I see." Dad made a face for Cora, who giggled, clapping in excitement. Then, noticing Cecelia's questioning look, said, "She's been up every other hour. At this point, we might as well bring her along with us. Honestly, I don't trust either Jules or Eva to deal with her if she gets fussy again."

"That's fair." Cecelia took a seat at the table. "She can sleep in the car."

"Exactly." A sudden meow at Dad's feet drew his attention. King must have been drawn in by their voices, because here he was, winding his way around Dad's ankles. The bell at his collar jingled with every step he took. "Oh, look at that! I guess King wanted to see you off, too!"

"Mhm." Cecelia stuck out a lazy hand, stroking the cat's fur. He technically belonged to Jules, but ever since Cecelia and her siblings had come back, they'd all taken turns caring for him. And if she was being honest, he was the one change that she really didn't mind.

Just as Dad went to fetch King a treat—he really spoiled him—Mom returned, trailed by an exhausted Alex. To his credit, he was dressed, but his hair was a tangled mess. He was also wearing mismatched socks, though Cecelia couldn't tell if that was accidental or some sort of fashion statement.

"Morning," he greeted blearily. "How's everyone doing?"

"And there he is," Dad said. "The man of the hour. Good to see you up and about, Alex."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Are you two gonna eat before we go?" Mom asked.

Cecelia shook her head. "No. No offense, Mom, but I really don't have an appetite right now."

"Oh. Well, that's okay. I'll pack you some snacks for the flight. Just make sure to drink lots of fluids before we go."

Cecelia held up her coffee cup. "Does this count?"

"No. I'm talking about water, Lia. Here, I'll pour you a glass—"

Once Mom had forced Cecelia and Alex to drink around five cups of water, everyone hustled around the apartment, double- and triple-checking to make sure nothing was forgotten. Cecelia ensured that her laptop, iPad, wireless earbuds, and USB drive containing Howl (along with other miscellaneous items that probably weren't strictly necessary) were all safely within her carry-on, then eyed her Phantom suit. She'd already made her decision, though. She would be going to Europe strictly as Cecelia.

It took around half an hour before they were finally ready. While Dad loaded the suitcases in the trunk, everyone else settled themselves into the car. Cecelia clicked Cora into her car seat and Alex queued up a road trip playlist, even though the drive to the airport was less than twenty minutes (his music taste consisted mainly of Gorillaz, Queen, and The Weeknd, a mix he liked to call 'the holy trinity'). Finally, Dad joined them, and they were off.

Somehow, they reached the airport just in time. Then it was only a matter of saying their goodbyes and meeting up with the others. Cecelia threw her arms around each of her parents in turn, then pressed a kiss to Cora's round cheek. "I'll see you in a week," she said. "I love you."

Mom gave her and Alex a soft smile. "Have fun, kids. Go be teenagers for a while."

"Just don't do anything too reckless," Dad added. Both Cecelia and Alex groaned and rolled their eyes.

Mr. Harrington and Mr. Dell, the chaperones of the trip, had said that the group would be meeting up by the baggage check area. Sure enough, Cecelia and Alex found them awaiting the last stragglers. Christine was already there, chatting with Yasmin and Zoha, but when she noticed her friends, she stood up to go greet them.

"Ah, hi!" she chirped. "I'm so excited, oh my God! This is going to be the trip of a lifetime!"

Alex grinned. "Hell yeah, it is!"

"We're just waiting for Flash, Brad, and Josh. Hopefully they show up soon; Mr. Dell seems to be really worried about us missing our flight."

"We're going to be okay," said Mr. Harrington, injecting himself into the conversation. As he spoke, he scratched a few notes on a clipboard. "Cecelia, Alex. I'm glad to see you here. I'm just signing you in... there we go." He clicked his pen and tucked the clipboard under his arm. "But, seriously. We've still got time. I made sure to give us some wiggle room just in case people were late."

Even as he spoke, Josh, one of the players on Midtown Tech's basketball team, made his way over. That just left Flash and Brad, two of Cecelia's least favourite people. She'd nearly forgotten, in all of her excitement about the trip, that they would be coming along, too. Though, honestly, given that they weren't here yet, the group should just leave them behind. They'd all be better off for it.

Unfortunately, being Blipped hadn't made Flash any more tolerable. He'd been picking on Peter since Freshman year, and he didn't seem inclined to stop. Sure, he'd stopped calling him 'Penis Parker', but that had been mostly Cecelia's doing. Once she was officially Peter's friend, she'd cornered Flash in the library one afternoon and told him to lay the hell off with the nicknames. Surprisingly, he'd been quick to oblige, on that front at least. She got the feeling that he was a little scared of her.

Even so, he hadn't dropped his taunting completely. Most of the time, it was more idiotic than hurtful, but Cecelia could still tell it grated on Peter. She made sure to stand up for him as often as she could.

Brad wasn't as much of an asshole as Flash, but he still ground Cecelia's gears. She could do without his pestering for a week. But, alas, it didn't seem like it was going to happen.

While they waited, Alex went over to talk to Zach, the boy he'd be rooming with in Europe (Cecelia and Christine were together again, much to their delight). Zach hadn't Blipped, so Alex hadn't known him before, but they'd become fast friends ever since the Snap had been reversed. He was one of the only other out trans guys at Midtown Tech, and liked chess almost as much as Alex. It was practically a match made in heaven.

Meanwhile, Cecelia wandered over to MJ, Peter, and Ned, who were hanging around the back of the group. MJ was sketching, and Peter and Ned were playing on Ned's Nintendo Switch. When they saw Cecelia approaching, though, they looked up. Both smiled in greeting, but while Ned's was merely polite, Peter's lit up his whole face. Yet again, this made something in Cecelia's stomach coil. He had a really nice smile.

"Hey, CeCe!" Peter greeted. "How are you?"

"Exhausted," Cecelia said truthfully. "But excited."

"Me, too! It's gonna be a lot of fun." Suddenly, he seemed to grow bashful, running a hand through his hair. "So, um... who are you sitting with on the plane?"

"Christine and Betty. I'm right in the middle of them."

Ned twitched a little at Christine's name. Cecelia shot him a look. Well, he definitely wasn't over her.

"Ah, nice." Peter nodded. "I'm with Ned. Just—just Ned. I think we've got a stranger in our row."

"Oh. Good luck with that."

"Yeah. Yeah."

Unfortunately, they didn't have much time to talk. Within the next few minutes, both Brad and Flash had arrived, and Mr. Dell ushered them through the bag check, sweat shining on his bald head. Cecelia dutifully took off her shoes and set them and her suitcase on the conveyor belt, watching it go through the scanner. Then she spread her arms wide and walked through the metal detector.

Honestly, it was a good thing she hadn't brought her suit. The Iron Phantom, at least, might set off a few alarms. Unless Mr. Stark had prepared for that. She wouldn't put it past him.

Before they knew it, they were boarding the plane. Cecelia lugged her carry-on bag with her, wondering how she was going to fit it into the overhead compartment. She'd packed too much, as per usual. It was the one thing she'd really retained from foster care. Well, that and the trauma.

When she reached her seat, she tilted her head, contemplating the best method of maneuvering it into the small available space. Before she could start doing mental calculations, though, Peter's voice was in her ear.

"Hey, uh... need some help?"

Cecelia looked over at him. He smiled at her, cheeks flushed (probably from the excitement of it all, Cecelia thought. What other reason would he have to be beet-red?). A few strands of hair were sticking straight up, giving him a sort of windswept look. As if he'd already clung to the side of the plane before getting into it.

Her heart skipped a beat, then jolted like it had just been shocked by a defibrillator. Sweat beaded on the back of her neck, and she shoved her bag at him.

"Great, thanks."

Seriously, what was happening to her?

Peter let out a slight oof when the bag connected with his chest, but recovered quickly. He stuffed Cecelia's bag into the compartment, using his enhanced strength to force it to fit. Once it was snug, he patted it with one hand. "There we go."

"Thanks," Cecelia said again.

"No problem," he replied. Then just stared at her.

She swallowed. "You should go sit down."

"Oh. Oh, yeah."

"Before you do, though..." Cecelia reached out and flattened those stray strands of hair with one hand. She immediately regretted the action as soon as stuck her arm out, but it would have been even more awkward if she'd drawn it back midway. So, she made sure his hair was back in order, then cleared her throat. "Uh, sorry. It was bothering me."

Peter's face got even redder, probably because that had been such a weird thing to do. But instead of telling her off for it, he just said, "No—no worries. Thanks."

Then, averting his eyes, he turned and moved toward his seat.

Cecelia sat down in her own. Christine, who was already settled—she'd even gotten out a pale lavender neck pillow—whipped her head around. "What was that?"

"What was what?" Cecelia asked, looking around for the seatbelt. "Where the hell are the seatbelts on this thing?"

"You know what! Was that a move? Were you making a move?"

"No!" Cecelia's voice was so loud that the man in the seat in front of her turned around. When he met her gaze, though, he just shrugged and faced the front again. "No, that wasn't—that's ridiculous."

Her, making a move on Peter? Ha, ha. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. That was laughable. That was absurd. That was simply... preposterous.

Why would Christine even think that?

Christine gave her a look like, girl, you're not fooling anyone. Cecelia ignored it. Instead, she took out her wireless earbuds and hooked them up to her phone, preparing for take-off. Then she had to take a deep breath, because holy shit, she was going to fly.

Come on, she told herself. You've literally clung to the side of a spaceship before. This should be a piece of cake.

Even so, she patted her pocket, feeling for the familiar shape of her pills. Just in case.

"Yo, Parker," Flash called from across the plane. Cecelia looked up. He was standing in the divide between economy and first class, a glass of champagne in his hand. "This is called an airplane. It's like the buses you're used to, except it flies over the poor neighbourhoods instead of driving through them."

"Shut up, Flash," Cecelia snapped. Flash's head whipped over to her, and he shrunk back a little.

"What?" he said defensively.

"Ma'am?" MJ called, signalling for the flight attendant.

"Hm?" the woman poked her head through the divide.

MJ pointed at Flash. "He Blipped, so technically, he's sixteen, not twenty-one."

The flight attendant smiled at Flash and snatched his glass. "I'll take that."

Flash chased after the flight attendant, sputtering. "She's lying. I don't even know this girl—"

Cecelia snorted, crossing her arms. When MJ passed her seat, she held out her hand. MJ high-fived her.

Less than a minute later, Betty plopped into the aisle seat. "Hey, guys!" she greeted. "Does anyone want some gum? I've got strawberry kiwi."

"It helps pop your ears," Christine explained to Cecelia. "The change in the plane's altitude usually causes them to get blocked, but chewing gum or yawning can get them back to normal."

"Ah," Cecelia said. "Sure. Thanks, Betty."

Betty passed over a stick of gum to the both of them. Unwrapping her own, she said, "Don't worry. I won't, like, talk the entire flight. I'm actually probably going to sleep most of the time. Well, sleep or watch rom-coms."

Somehow, this was entirely in character for Betty. "No worries," Christine said. "I'm gonna sleep, too. I tried to go to bed early last night, but I could still use a few more hours of shut-eye."

"Me too," Cecelia said. "Except minus the whole 'getting to bed early thing', because that didn't happen."

Christine shot her an exasperated look. "Cee!"

"What?"

"Sleep is important!"

"Which is why I'm gonna get it on this flight! Well, maybe. Let's hope a crippling fear of flying doesn't keep me awake."

"You're afraid of flying?" Betty asked.

"Maybe. I don't know. This is my first time on an airplane."

"Oh! Oh, right! I think you mentioned that. Well, you're going to be okay, Cecelia. It's really not that bad. But if you need a hand to hold when you take off, I'm right here. And I'm sure Christine is, too."

"Of course I am," Christine said. Then her gaze caught something to Cecelia's right, and she blanched.

It was Ned, wearing his trademark fedora and a nervous smile. Notably, he was strictly avoiding eye contact with Christine. This resulted in a more-than-awkward stare-off with Cecelia for a solid five seconds before he said, "Uh, hey guys."

"What is it?" Christine asked immediately.

"Uh, there's an old lady sitting in front of us wearing a crazy amount of perfume, and it's kind of setting off Peter's allergies. Um, you know, Betty, if you could just switch seats with him, that would be—"

"He's allergic to perfume?" Betty interrupted.

Cecelia doubted it. Not only had the spider bite completely cured Peter's asthma, but it had removed his allergies, too (except to mint; apparently it was a repellent to spiders). It was more likely that the perfume was overloading Peter's enhanced nose. His senses, though impressive, could prove to be a hindrance sometimes. Cecelia had once tried out a new body spray ("Moonlit Path"), and was confused as to why Peter seemed to be avoiding her until he admitted that it was a little too much for him. She'd switched to a milder scent after that.

Of course, Ned couldn't exactly say that in front of Betty and Christine. So, instead, he fumbled, "Yeah, yeah, because... um, it—it makes his eyes water, and he can't really—"

From the row in front of them, Mr. Harrington's head shot up. "You said that Peter has a perfume allergy?"

Ned whirled around. "Oh, uh—"

"I'll tell you from experience, perfume allergies are no joke." Mr. Harrington unbuckled his seatbelt and got to his feet. "I can feel hives breaking out already. Cecelia, stand up. Ned, take Cecelia's spot. Cecelia, you take my spot. Peter, come with me. Let's get you out of there. Zach and Alex, you take Ned and Peter's seats."

"That seems like a lot of work," Cecelia said. "Why can't we just—"

"We need to get Peter out of the line of fire. Now, come on, everyone. Let's move."

Cecelia glanced back at Christine, who was stiffening as Ned sat between her and Betty. A twinge of pity shot through her. It was definitely going to be an awkward nine hours.

That pity dissipated completely, though, when she reached Mr. Harrington's vacated seat. For there, planted right beside her, was Brad.

A groan left her lips. Was Mr. Harrington trying to make this the worst flight of all time?

Brad smiled at her when she sat down. "Hey."

Shut up, Brad, Cecelia thought. She really, really wanted to say it out loud, too, but she managed to swallow the temptation. It went down like a bag of rocks.

"Hi," she said instead.

Still in the aisle, Mr. Harrington clapped Ned's shoulder. "Ned, thanks for bringing this to my attention. Your safety is my responsibility. And Mr. Dell's, but he's..." he trailed off. A few rows down, Mr. Dell was already snoring. "I got it for now. Let's go, Peter! Let's go!"

Peter gathered his own bag and headed after Mr. Harrington, pausing only to lock eyes with Cecelia. His face was flushed with mortification, his eyes were notably not watering, and his entire expression just screamed that this wasn't what he'd wanted. Cecelia understood that. If Mr. Harrington had just gone with Ned's plan, Peter would be sitting with her for the entire flight. Which could be...

Well, actually, that sounded kind of nice. Not that she'd ever admit that to anyone. Especially not to Christine or Alex.

Peter finally disappeared after Mr. Harrington, and Cecelia slumped into her seat. Brad wasn't touching her, but his mere presence made her itch. Honestly, she would've gone intangible if it didn't mean sliding right through the seat (and perhaps the plane).

Then he made things worse by opening his mouth. "Oh, I got a dual headphone adapter if you wanna watch a movie." He held said adapter up.

Cecelia turned to him. His entire face was lit up, and she swore he was making puppy-dog eyes. It didn't really work for his bone structure, though. He kind of just looked like he was flexing his jaw.

"What makes you think I want to do that?" she blurted. The words felt good, even when a mental image of her parents shook their heads at her (she really did love them dearly, but they were always telling her to be nice, Cecelia. Give him a chance, Cecelia. Who knows, you might end up making a new friend).

Honestly, though, being nice was exhausting. It was so much easier to just tell the truth.

Brad's face fell, and Cecelia had to admit, that felt good, too. He turned his back toward her, facing the window (of course he had the window seat), and let out a little sigh. It was definitely an act. The puppy had been kicked by a steel-toed boot, and it wanted someone to come kiss it better.

Well, Brad was going to have to find someone else to coddle it. There were plenty of other girls (and quite a few guys!) that were into him. Maybe he should stop going only for those who clearly didn't like him.

The screen in front of her sparked to life with a safety video, and Cecelia gladly latched onto it for a distraction. She watched flight attendants put on life vests and cartoon parents strap oxygen masks to their children's faces with a lot more focus than was necessary (though, if she was being honest, a part of her did want it all engraved into her mind). She even read the little pamphlet slotted into her seat.

Before she knew it, the plane was taking off. Unfortunately, now that she'd moved seats, she didn't have Christine's or Betty's hands to hold as her world rumbled underneath her and intense vertigo threatened. Instead, she clutched the arms of her seat and closed her eyes.

Though she did have the gum Betty had given her. She'd been right. It did help.






WHEN THE CREDITS FOR Nova: Einstein-Rosen Bridges with Dr. Erik Selvig rolled, Cecelia went back to the main menu of in-flight entertainment. It was mostly documentaries—there was one about the Blip (which seemed... inappropriate), one about Wakanda, and one about Hydra—with only a few movies sprinkled in. There was even a documentary titled Heart of Iron: The Tony Stark Story. Cecelia had to take a few deep breaths and wipe her eyes after seeing that one.

The plane was now safely in the air, but Cecelia couldn't look out the window without feeling sick. No matter how many times she reminded herself that she'd been far higher before, she couldn't shake the anxiety that spiked through her. She'd already had to take a Xanax after the plane hit a patch of turbulence.

Of course, sleep hadn't come to her, even with the incredibly comfortable neck pillow that kept her head secure. And listening to music had been a bust, too, as it had allowed her swirling thoughts to take up too much of her attention. Thus, the in-flight entertainment was her final option. Especially when it featured a documentary starring Dr. Selvig, a renowned (though eccentric) astrophysicist Cecelia adored.

Now that Nova was over, though, Cecelia needed another option. Anything to keep her anxiety at bay and prevent Brad from attempting to chat her up. He'd been watching videos on his phone for the past hour and a half, but she swore he could sniff out her boredom like a bloodhound.

She scrolled through the options and eventually selected A Quiet Place. It was the only half-decent movie on the catalogue—all of the other ones were clearly made for children. She sipped the Ginger-Ale she'd purchased to settle her stomach (it was far too expensive for such a tiny cup) and let herself be lulled into the fake horror.

An hour into the movie, she had to get up to use the bathroom. When she got there, it was occupied, but only for a moment. Then the door swung open, and she was face-to-face with Peter.

She was just opening her mouth to greet him when he noticed her, froze, and went right back into the bathroom again. The door shut firmly behind him.

Cecelia stared at the red occupied sign. What the hell was Peter doing?

She turned around and headed across the plane for the other bathroom. He could really be weird sometimes.

When she returned to her seat, she passed Christine's aisle. She only meant to give her friend a reassuring squeeze of the hand, but when she actually took the scene in, she froze.

Because Ned and Betty were holding hands.

Christine had a sleep mask over her eyes, either purposefully ignoring this or simply not realizing what was happening. For her sake, Cecelia hoped it was the latter. Because not only were Ned and Betty holding hands, but they were also pressed against each other, shoulder to shoulder, and giggling. Giggling. Like they were eighth graders.

Neither of them noticed her, thank Creator. Cecelia slowly shifted by them and made her way back to her seat, thoroughly scarred.

Ned and Betty. Ned and Betty. Wow. That was a pairing she'd never expected.

When she returned to her seat, she found that Alex had texted her a few TikToks (an app she refused to get. She could barely tolerate Instagram). Despite her dislike for the platform, she opened them. She was losing her mind, and there were still six hours left of this flight. Perhaps stupid ass videos could be the remedy for her insanity.

Which was definitely a bad sign. If this was what the flight was like, Cecelia sincerely hoped the trip would be all sunshine and rainbows. She literally wouldn't be able to stand a week of this.

(Of course, looking back, that naïve hope would seem to be the setup for some cosmic joke. One that was meant to be at her expense. Because the universe really did seem to like dunking on her.)

(Yay, vacation!)

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HAVEN: shout out to zach, who was the first canonical trans character in the real mcu, and who i definitely had to include here. he's played by zach barack (most of the side characters on the trip, according to the mcu wiki, had the same name as the actors), who you might know from voicing barney in dead end: paranormal park. right now, he's also still the only trans character in the marvel cinematic universe, though apparently there is going to be trans girl in the ironheart show. even so, it really does show a lack of diversity in marvel when their only trans character is a guy who gets like two lines in the actual movie ://

(of course, we do get alex and cyrus in this universe!! another shout out to those trans icons :))

next chapter, i'm giving everyone a break with some wholesome vacation content. enjoy, because it won't last long :)))

thanks for reading <333


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