Take Me to Hawaii - A Tratie Fanfiction - Chapter 6 - Gate closes 45 before boarding - day 0
"What is it we have to put in those bags again?" Travis asks as he rummaged through his rucksack pulling out hair gel, a tube of toothpaste and a contact lense case.
"All liquids. They can't be more than a 100ml." Katie pulled out two prepacked plastic sandwich bags, one of toiletries and another of electricals.
"Those aren't liquids." Travis responded smugly. Placing his deodorant into a bag and pressing it shut. The delay with checking left Travis and Katie stranded, their friends already through and sending them photos of duty free: Selena posing gracefully next to a Teddy bear, Clarisse stood beside her with a bottle of something alcoholic and a lighter looking menacingly at the camera.
"Some airports ask for electricals in a different bag too." Katie sighed, obviously two charging cables, a power bank and airpods aren't liquids! She placed the items side by side in a gray plastic tray and pushed it down the slopes into the scanners. Travis copied.
"So what are they actually checking for?" Travis asked at he strolled through the metal detector winking at the woman who waved him through, she made a face of disgust and used the same gesture to Katie.
"Contraband."
"Well obviously, but what's that?" The two stood at the end of the conveyer waiting for the trays to roll down.
"Anything that could harm the passenger's I suppose." Katie's bags rolled down and she packed it back up, slinging it over her back. "Things like guns, drugs...explosives." She whispered the latter: you never mention bombs in an airport.
Travis' bag came through the curtain of the machine halting at the top of the slope. Travis put his hand out ready to catch it. Katie visibly panicked when the rollers began to turn, sending Travis' bag down for inspection. She glared at him.
"What did you do!" She snapped. He threw his hands up, declaring his innocence.
"Nothing! You said drugs right? It's probably just because I didn't declare my ADHD medication."
The person behind the glass opened Travis' bag searching for the offending substance.
"Sorry man, I forgot about my medication." The person pulled out the bottle, inspecting it before deciding it to be innocent. They carried the tray back to the end of the conveyer and let it roll through a second time.
"Not a man. Two things flared up but I couldn't find the second." They handed the meds back to Travis. They collected the tray again and searched once more. This time they pulled out a small yellow box, sending a glare up to Travis. Pressing a button on a radio strapped to his chest the person began to mutter into the device, turning away from them.
"What did you do!" Katie spat at him, anger shooting through her words.
"I didn't do anything!" He spat back with equal passion.
"Are you two together?" The person returned, their hands empty of bags or boxes.
"No!" The two of them practically screamed.
"But you know eachother?" Katie and Travis nodded. "And you're on the same flight?" They both nodded again. "I'm going to need you to follow them."
They pointed downward to two guards- each wearing bulletproof vests, thick black boots and carried guns at their sides- standing like they were about to escort the president into a club.
Travis gulped, growing redder with every step toward the guards. The took the two to a plain room locking it behind them. Travis and Katie each to a seat.
The room looked like something Katie had only seen on inmate prison interviews. Cream walls only filled with four metal chairs and a complimentig table. One of the walls was adroned with a mirror katie was certain to be one-way. Oh no. She panicked. She can't be arrested. She can't have a criminal record! She was supposed to go to Columbia next year. There's no way they'd still let her go with prison experience!
"Wait here." One of the guards said as they left the room. The other stood to the side staring down at Travis and Katie.
After twenty minutes Travis' panic had completely deflated into a boredom. He blew his curls out of face, resting with his arms behind his head, feet kicked up on the table.
"Travis put your feet down!" Katie sighed exhausted. Time had flown through the room at an undefinable rate. Had been an hour? Ten minutes? Katie couldn't place it. Her nerves had skyrocketed thinking of worst and best cased scenarios. Her knee tapped. Any longer spent in this plain, anxiety-inducing room and she worried she'd bite her fingernails down so low none of her nail polish would remain apart from the the smudges over skin from her impatient nature and immediate need to make a coffee.
God she could go for a coffee right now.
Travis continued to ignore her, rocking back and forth on the chair, bobbing his head to silent music resonating in his ears.
"Travis-" Katie warned. He continued to ignore her.
"Oi." The english accent of authority scared Travis causing him to almost fall from the chair. He scramble to grab the table, legs falling to the floor. "I'd listen to the lady if I were you."
The man walked in and slumped into the seat infront of them. He leaned his forearms on the table, his posture towering towards them. He was dressed in a white shirt. A blue tie hanging loose from under his collar.
"I was supposed to go home." He said. He looked at the guard still standing by the door they entered. He shuffled, stepping closer to Travis and Katie, as if he'd be safer beside potential criminials than the man before him. "But instead, I'm dealing with two idiotic teenagers who thought Fun-snaps are safe to bring on a plane!"
He slammed the box down onto the table. It beamed up at them in canary-yellow glory. The red and orange comic-book explosion reflected in Travis' widened eyes. He looked up.
Katie's mouth dropped.
"How stupid are you!?" She yelled at him. Travis cowered under the volume, smacking a hand to his ear.
"I told you to listen to the lady." The man said again. He loosened his tie fully, leaning back in his chair "You're not in any trouble - mainly because I can't be asked to deal with this right now - but someone needed to give you two a stern talking to."
Travis opened and closed his mouth a few times, words seemed to have been taken from him. Maybe he'd packed his brain into the hold luggage and shipped it off to the plane. The man picked up the box.
"This-" He said shaking it "cannot go on a plane! It is an explosive! It contains gunpowder!"
Travis nodded staring into his lap.
"What is it?" The man asked, patronising in his tone.
"An explosive." Katie stayed silent staring at Travis as he answered the man.
"So it can't...what?" He pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Go on a plane." The man picked up the box and tossed it into a trash can in the corner. He pulled two pieces of paper and two pens from God knows where, pushing them towards Katie and Travis. "These are to say that you understand what I've told you and you accept the warning. Refusal to sign these will result in additional charges and then we have to skip to the whole 'whatever you say can be held against you in blah blah blah'. You don't want that do you?"
They both shook their heads, Katie's continuing to shake as she signed the paperwork, more in disapproval than response.
"Brilliant. You're free to go." They stood and proceeded to leave the room. Travis was handed his bag from the guard by the door. "Bloody Americans." The man said as the door shut behind them.
Katie followed the signs to gate 13. She didn't utter a word to Travis as they walked.
"Katie." Travis said from a bench behind them. He'd stopped to pull something out of his bag.
"Katie!" He said again running up to her.
"For Christ's sake Katie I know you're annoyed at me but listen!" She turned to him. The fury on her face must've rivalled a demon. Travis cowered. He hesitated. Silence. Katie turned back and began walking again.
"You're going the wrong way." Katie holted. "The group chat messaged an hour ago. They moved our gate. They're already on the flight."
"What!"
"We're at gate 45. The completely opposite way." Katie stood there bewildered. A deer in headlights. "Let's go!"
Running down the hall, Katie could feel her heart thundering with each step. She reached for her boarding pass. Crap her boarding pass! Where is it?
Gate 45: now closing.
Each screen blurred into one as she ran past them. Travis stopped. He turned and ran to a kiosk.
"Travis we have no time for snacks." He shooed her off. Katie threw her bag around to her front.
Boarding Pass. Boarding. Pass.
She unzipped every pocket scrounging around for it.
"Eat these." Travis said handing her six white tablets.
"What is it?" He bgrabbed her hand and put them into her palm, next he grabbed her bag and got her passport and boarding pass out.
"How did you-" She began to ask
"You've been muttering boarding pass for a good 30 seconds." She stared at him. His eyes darted between each of them. "Katie just trust me for once."
She threw all six tablets into her mouth.
"They're mints." Travis said. "They'll make your eyes water. Big up the tears."
Travis stepped to her side and held her around her shoulders gently. Katie now saw it. The gate was just infront of them.
Gate 45: Hawaii. Now closed.
Katie's eyed stung and she blinked trying to clear her vision. Hey eyes began to water and she felt the tears slowly trickle out of her eyes.
Travis held her close and stroked her hair gently. Before taking her hand and kissing it. He lead her to the gate.
A group of flight attendants packing up their things, stopped and watched them.
"Shh. I know. Its okay. Take as long as you need." He whispered into her hair.
"Is everything all right?" One of them asked.
Katie let out a sob and clung to Travis again. She hoped whatever he was planning would work.
"Yeah we're okay." Travis said quietly. He kissed Katie's head. Katie could feel her phone buzzing in her pocket. Selena was probably calling her before they were told to turn on flight mode. "She just got a call...her grandfather passed away."
That little shit. Katie thought. She had to make sure her face was out of sight as she smiled into Travis' chest. Only Travis Stoll - Puller of fire alarms - would think to manipulate a flight attendant like that.
"Oh sweetheart." The flight attendant said. "Is there anything we can do?"
"Can you show where we can book another flight." He stroked her back.
"I'm sorry." Katie muttered into his chest and clung to Travis tighter. "I'm so sorry."
"Hey, hey. What are you apologising for?" He held her face in both of his hands, hers still wrapped around his waist.
"We missed our flight because of me." She sniffed. He chuckled. Katie knew he was laughing at her facade but watched as he played it off as endearing. The kind of love you feel when someone who's been through the worst still prioritises the other person.
He kissed her forehead.
"Don't be silly. We can get on the next one. It's not the end of the world."
"Let me see what I can do." The flight attendant walked back over to the desk, talked to wait appeared to be her manager and proceeded to make a phone call.
Katie took in a few shaky breaths and rubbed her eyes and looked at Travis. He smiled at her, not pitying but solemnly. Katie could almost believe he was really comforting her as she grieved if not for the wink he sent her when no was looking.
After a few moments of fake sobbing, hugs and swaying side to side, the attendant returned.
"We are ever so sorry for your loss." She said quietly. "If you can show ur passports and boarding passes we can get you through onto this flight.
Travis' smiled gratefully. "Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to us." He handed them the boarding passes.
"Row 10. Seats E and F." The attendant handed them back to Travis. He took Katie's hand and followed the attendant to the plane.