Chapter Text
A is for Aeroplane
1998
Geri groans, glancing at her watch for the umpteenth time. At the rate the traffic is going, she’s missing her flight for sure . She even made sure to leave extra early, with the goal of getting coffee before her flight, but that idea’s out the window now.
She pulls out her mobile phone - she should at least call Mel to let her know - and groans again. The two of them had been talking on the phone until late, not wanting to hang up. Of course, one o’clock in the morning was the time Geri then learned her charger wasn’t working, and her phone died about ten minutes after that. Hopefully Mel would understand.
She gets a dash of hope when she arrives at the airport and can check in, but security’s bit of a nightmare - it seems even being a worldwide celebrity doesn’t get you out of national security checks. She still tries to stay hopeful, but her fears are confirmed when she arrives at the gate - the door is closed, and she can see the plane pulling away from the gate through the wide windows. However, the staff are more than helpful and lead her to the first class lounge to keep her out of the public eye.
“Not to worry, Miss Halliwell. We will get you on a new flight,” the attendant at the first class counter tells her kindly in Spanish. “Anything for a Spice Girl. You said you’re flying to Belgium, yes?”
“That’s right,” Geri confirms, grateful to have fans worldwide. She offers up what she hopes is a charming smile.
The attendant smiles back, then turns to her computer. She narrows her eyes a little at the screen, tapping away, and then her face lights up. “We have a flight departing in about twenty minutes. It is going to Brussels South Charleroi Airport though, but we can arrange for a car to collect you and bring you to where you need to be. The two airports are only a forty-five minute drive apart.”
Geri lets out a sigh of relief, and beams. Just in the last five minutes, she was picturing a rough night stranded at the airport and having to sleep on a bench, so honestly, an extra drive would be nothing . Especially if it meant being back in Mel’s arms sooner. “Yes, that would be incredible, thank you so much,” Geri gushes, and the attendant beams.
“Of course, not a problem. And we have room for you in first class as well, Ms Halliwell. Please relax here for just a moment, I will call a security personnel to come and collect you.”
“You’ve literally saved my day - is there anything I can do for you?” Geri asks, and grins when the attendant stammers a little, finally asking for an autograph. Geri more than willingly scrawls out a short thank you message and her signature. She hands it over with a grateful smile, before heading to relax in the first class lounge. Maybe today isn’t such a rough day after all.
“Are you alright?” Victoria asks, after Mel sighs for probably the fourth or fifth time.
“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m just bored,” Mel replies with yet another sigh. She glances out of the window of the large hotel room, watching a plane descending towards the airport, then heads over to the sofas where Victoria, Emma, and Melanie are currently sprawled out while reading magazines and snacking on a fruit platter, some French soap playing on the TV in the background.
She plops down next to Emma, who eyes her over the top of her magazine. “Geri’ll be here soon enough,” she says with a soft smile. “Why do I get the feeling that once she arrives, you won’t be bored anymore?”
Mel rolls her eyes at the knowing look in Emma’s eyes, but grins a little - because she knows Emma is right. “I just don’t see why we all had to do these promo events separately,” she remarks, and steals a strawberry off the tray.
“Like Simon said - there’s too many places, not enough time,” Melanie C pipes in, but her tone is patient. “Honestly, I didn’t mind going to Luxembourg, especially having my brother come with me. I hardly get to see him anymore.”
Mel nods, knowing that Melanie is right. And she enjoyed going to Berlin with her own sister, having seen her off at the airport that morning for her connecting flight home to London. But still, she’s now been apart from Geri for a total of thirty six hours now, the longest it’s been since they became a couple six months earlier, and honestly? She hates it.
“At least we get today off to rest - not poor Geri though, after a day of travel,” Victoria says. “But I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s show, should be a good one, yeah?”
“I hope we…we…”
Emma’s voice trails off, and Mel glances curiously over, to see that Emma’s distracted by the television playing silently in the background. What had been a random soap had been replaced with a serious looking reporter, and a fast moving ticker at the bottom of the screen. It’s all in French though, and Mel squints at the foreign words as if that would help her understand it better.
“What’s up, Em?” she asks curiously, and glances around for the remote. Victoria’s already on it, turning the volume up, but that doesn’t help her in understanding the rapid stream of French the reporter is saying.
“I - I’m not sure, my French isn’t great,” Emma says, faltering a little. She glances over at Mel, and there’s a troubled expression on her face. ‘I just, I think…I thought I read something about a plane crash. And they said it was Madrid.”
Mel stills, the blood in her veins turning ice cold. “What?” she asks, her voice slow and unsure.
Emma leans towards the television again, and her breath catches. “Yes. A plane crash - it left Madrid an hour and a half ago, it was meant to land in Brussels in twenty minutes. It went down about ten minutes ago, in northern France.”
“But wait - it can’t have,” Mel says slowly. Her brain is struggling to comprehend Emma’s words. “Geri’s flight left Madrid about then - but it wouldn’t be hers. Did they say what airline?”
Emma doesn’t reply, covering her mouth with her hands and staring at the television in horror. Melanie, sitting on the other end of the couch, has gone silent, and Victoria reaches out to take Mel’s hand.
There’s a beep at the hotel door, and it flings open a moment later. Their publicist Jo comes charging in, closely followed by Camilla, the group’s executive assistant, Nina, their PR manager, and a couple security guards.
Mel sees Jo take in the television, the horrified look on Emma’s face, then turn to her. There’s pain and fear on her face, and this is when Mel realizes something is wrong. Very wrong.
“What happened?” she demands, rising to her feet. “Where’s Geri?”
“We don’t know,” Jo says carefully. “I just got word of a plane crash - and the initial report is that they think it’s Geri’s flight - but there’s no official confirmation yet, so I don’t know if Geri-”
“No,” Mel snaps, and Jo startles at the venom in her voice. “No,” Mel repeats again. “Don’t you dare say it. Don’t you dare. Where is she?”
“Mel, honey, slow down,” Jo tells her. “I don’t know where she is.”
“Bloody call her, then!” Mel shouts. “Where’s my phone?”
“Her calls aren’t going through - her phone’s off, or not working.”
Mel grabs onto that like a life raft. “Her phone probably died - we were on them talking til after one in the morning, she was saying the battery was about to go-”
Jo nods encouragingly, but Mel can still see the fear on her face. “Exactly. I’m calling the airline, we’ll get answers. We’ll find her.”
But Jo doesn’t say anymore. She’s distracted by something behind Mel, and her face just drops , but Mel doesn’t know why, because Melaine’s stepping forward, blocking Mel’s view, and she can feel Victoria taking her by the shoulders, steering her sit back down. Mel struggles, not willing to sit, she wants to see Geri, she doesn’t understand what’s happening.
Then Emma is crying, and so is Victoria, and Melanie turns to her, absolutely shattered.
And Mel knows.
The plane that crashed - it is Geri’s flight.
Because on the television in front of them, there’s another breaking news banner flashing on the television, and Geri’s picture is being splashed on the screen. This time, the announcer is speaking in English, and Mel manages to catch one phrase. “...confirmed among passengers: Geraldine Halliwell, member of the British pop group the Spice Girls…”
Her heart stops.
Geri’s plane crashed.
It crashed.
“No,” Mel says, but her voice is like water, and she can’t quite focus her eyes on anything in particular. She can feel Victoria’s tears, wet against her shoulder, and then Melanie’s kneeling in front of her, reaching for her hands.
“It’s just breaking,” Melanie says, and Mel’s throat catches, not wanting to miss a single word. “But right now - they’re saying no survivors - they don’t-”
“Then get me the goddamn check in counter!” Jo snarls into her mobile phone. Next to her, Nina’s pulling out her own mobile, fingers flying over the buttons, her face contorted in anxiety.
Mel doesn’t notice any of this though - she can’t tear her eyes away from Geri’s beautiful blue orbs on the screen, her face frozen in a smile. Mel remembers that particular photo having been taken, they’d been getting headshots done in the early days of the band, and they’d been making faces at each other behind the camera.
Mel’s never going to see those eyes again. She’s never going to make Geri smile again, she’s never going to hear that laugh. Her body goes numb, and Geri’s name runs on repeat in her head. She’s surrounded by the girls, but she’s alone, and she thinks she actually might shatter into a thousand pieces.
Geri drums her fingers on the armrest of her chair, gazing out of the small window as the plane descends. The landscape grows bigger and bigger, until the plane wheels touchdown on the runway with a bump. Although it had been an easy flight, she’s more than eager to get to the hotel and see the girls - see Mel. She hopes she can convince Mel to skip dinner in the hotel restaurant, so they can order in room service and have some time alone, just the two of them. At this point, they’d been apart for thirty eight hours - not that she was counting - and she was ready to see her girlfriend.
The head flight attendant comes on the speaker, jabbering away in rapid Dutch, then French, but Geri doesn’t bother listening. She can barely keep up with Spanish, let alone learning any other new languages. She unbuckles her seatbelt, and as soon as the doors are opened, she eagerly departs the plane.
There’s an attendant already waiting for her the second she steps out. He’s young, and clearly a little starstruck by her, and hastens to take her carry-on for her. “You choose - good plane,” he says to her in broken English.
Geri’s not quite sure what that means, but she smiles politely all the same, then gestures towards the airport. He nods rapidly, letting her through a staff door, and through the quiet employee halls until they reach a side door, where a driver and dark sedan is waiting.
She thanks him and then slides into the car, grateful that she was able to skip the hubbub of the airport. The complexities of flying when famous wasn’t something she’d ever considered back in the day, when they were an unknown group of five just trying to get their big break.
“Er, to Hotel Métropole, yes?” the driver asks in a heavy French accent.
“Yes, thank you - er, merci,” Geri replies. He nods, starting up the car, and Geri sinks back against the seats. This nightmare of a travel day is nearly done, and soon enough, she’ll be back with the girls, and most importantly, back in Mel’s arms.
She can’t wait.
Therefore, the moment the car pulls up at the hotel, she thanks the driver, and retrieves her carry-on from the trunk. Normally she should be calling Jo to have security meet her to escort her up - you never knew when a fan would sneak inside - but with her dead phone, that’s not happening.
The elevator ride takes ages, but finally she’s in front of the main hotel suite, the one that they were all collectively using as a main base, and digs her room card out of her pocket. At least she didn’t lose that .
It takes her a second to properly swipe the magnetic card, then she sighs with relief as the door swings open
“Hey,” Geri calls, stepping inside. “Bloody hell, you wouldn’t believe the day I’ve had. Missed the first flight, some angel of a flight attendant got me on a later one to Charleroi. It took forever to drive here-”
She stops.
Instead of just the four Spice Girls, like she’d expected, the room is a little more full. Jo’s there, on her phone, and Camilla’s standing by the couch, her arms around Emma. There’s a couple of security guards, deep in conversation with Nina.
Her eyes catch on Mel, hunched over on the couch, Melanie and Victoria on either side. Mel looks up at her, and their eyes lock, and Geri’s immediate thought is she’s crying, what’s happened?
Because Mel’s not just watery-eyed or red-nose. She’s completely undone . Her eyes are swollen, and her face is pale. Her arms are wrapped around herself, as if she's trying to hold herself together. Something bad has happened. Did someone die? Is it's Mel's family? Fear grips onto Geri like a vice.
But she doesn’t get the chance to voice this, because her name is screamed, a guttural cry from Mel’s lips, and then Mel is running to her. Geri barely has a second to drop her carry on before Mel’s flinging herself into Geri’s arms, holding her so tight that Geri can’t tell where she ends and Mel begins - not that she wants to.
“Mel, love, I’m here,” Geri murmurs into her hair, caressing her back as she feels Mel’s body shuddering with sobs. “What’s wrong, are you okay?”
Jo’s closing her phone, then steps closer. “Geri, honey,” she says gently. “There was a plane crash. Your flight - Madrid to Brussels - the aeroplane went down in France about an hour ago.”
Realization slams into Geri, and now Mel’s reaction, the scent of fear that permeates the room, the panic - it all makes sense. “Oh my god,” she murmurs, and clutches Mel a little tighter. “I wasn’t on the plane,” she tells Jo. “There’d been traffic getting to the airport, so I missed it. An attendant helped me onto another one to Charleroi, but my phone died, I couldn’t get a hold of you all. I just figured that you’d realize I got held up.”
Over Mel’s shoulder, she can see Emma, crying, now in relief, being hugged by Victoria and Melanie. Victoria catches Geri’s eye, and doesn’t hesitate to come over, pulling the other two with her.
Geri opens up one arm to embrace her, not letting go of Mel, and the five end up in a group hug, clinging to each other. They stay like this for a full minute, before Jo steps forward again, having hung up from a quick phone call.
“The press is being informed,” she tells Geri. “Some idiot didn’t think to fact check before announcing that you were a victim, they just ran with the first hint of a story. We’ll need to release a statement, but I’ll give you a few minutes to settle in first.”
Geri offers up an appreciative smile, then turns her attention to Mel. The sobs have slowed, and Geri nuzzles into her neck. “It’s okay, love, I’m here,” she murmurs.
Mel withdraws, but only enough to properly look in her eyes. “I know. I just - I thought I’d lost you,” she admits, her voice cracking. Geri brings a hand to her face, cupping it gently as she uses her thumb to wipe away the tears. Then she pulls Mel into a kiss. It’s messy, and intense, and full of the love and passion that they have for each other.
“You’ll never lose me, okay?” Geri tells her, once they break apart, and Mel nods.
“Good,” she says, finally smiling, and Geri lets out a soft sigh. She leans forward, resting their foreheads together.
They stand there together, completely forgetting about the rest of the people with them in the hotel room. Around them, the others begin to breathe easier, the tension in the room shifting from raw panic to cautious relief. Emma wipes her eyes, then gestures to Victoria and Melanie to go to the couch with her, to give them some space. Geri appreciates that more than she can express.
“I love you,” Mel murmurs softly.
“I love you too,” Geri replies, then startles as she feels Jo’s hand on her shoulder.
“Why don’t you two go take a few minutes,” Jo says, gesturing to the bedroom, and Geri nods. She takes Mel by the hand, leading her to the small bedroom that the group had been using as overflow storage. She catches Emma’s eye right before she closes the door and they share a meaningful smile, before Geri turns back to Mel and guides her to sit on the bed.
Mel’s much calmer now, but isn’t ready to properly let go of Geri yet. They intertwine their hands, and Geri can’t help herself from giving her another kiss.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” Mel says after a moment. “I honestly thought I’d lost you. It was chaotic, and Jo didn’t know where you were, and the news had put one of your headshots up saying that you had been on the plane.”
Geri kisses her again, softer this time, pressing her lips to Mel’s with reverence. “I’m so sorry, babe. If I’d known, I’d have moved mountains to call you. I thought I’d just show up a little late, complain about the traffic and how crap Charleroi is.” She gives a watery laugh. “Not walk into this.”
Mel closes her eyes, taking a deep breath, letting the sound of Geri’s voice anchor her. “I don’t care where you landed, how long it took. I’ve never been so glad to see anyone in my life. You’re staying glued to me for the rest of the day,” she murmurs.
“Deal,” Geri whispers, her lips brushing Mel’s temple. “You’re not getting rid of me.”
And they sit there, wrapped around each other, just taking each other’s presence in. Soon enough, they’ll have to rejoin the group, Geri will need to make a statement to the press, and life will go on.
But for right now, neither woman plans to let go of the other for a very long time.