Chapter 2

When I look at you, I can feel it. And-and when I look at you, and I... I'm home! -Dory (Finding Nemo)

"I win! That puts the score at 4-2!"

Ulrich blinked, trying to clear away the light that had come with the return to the past program from his vision, only to discover that they had returned to lunch when he and Aubrey had been in the middle of a staring contest. This, of course, meant she had won.

"Damn it!" Ulrich exclaimed. Aubrey laughed at him with a smile on her face. She decided that she was extremely grateful that she had bumped into Ulrich that morning. The first time she looked at him and he at her, she'd felt like they just clicked. And, they had become really good friends just through note passing and playing games in class. He was slowly becoming one of the best friend's she'd ever had.

And yes, it did scare her that their friendship was moving so quickly as she had never really connected with someone on this level before, but it also made her happy. And that's why she decided to continue to get to know him better.

"4-2? Whatever this is Ulrich, I hope you know you're getting your ass whipped by a girl." Odd snorted in laughter. Ulrich glared at him, and then at his other friends as they joined in laughing as well.

"It's kind of like a staring contest... tournament." Aubrey began to explain, not knowing that she had already explained it earlier that day (to the Lyoko Warriors anyway) "Class is boring, so we needed something to do. After ten games of tic tac toe, four rounds of the dot game and six thumb wars, we decided on staring contests."

Ulrich felt slightly guilty about having to follow along with the conversation while Aubrey remained blissfully unaware that his friends already knew what she was going to say.

Jeremy scoffed, a hidden smile playing amongst his lips. "You wouldn't be so bored if you paid attention."

Once again, with dead serious faces, Ulrich and Aubrey answered at the same time "Yes we would."

The table laughed again, Aubrey blushing slightly and glancing at Ulrich, who met her gaze and winked at her. Her smile grew impossibly bigger at that.

Thankfully, lunch was normal after that and the next class that everyone but Yumi had together was gym. Aelita, being the sweet kind soul she was, showed Aubrey where the locker rooms were and acted as a guide for the girl.

"So, what kind of things do we do in this class?" Aubrey asked, slipping on her gym clothes. She was wearing grey leggings that stopped just bellow the knee's with a long, red bubble tank top. On her feet she wore her black low top converse with her hair still tied up in a bun, a black headband added to keep her bangs out of her face.

"The usual. We go for a jog and then work on skills like flexibility or strength. Why? Do they do something different in America?"

Aubrey snorted. "Our entire class was just dodgeball or kickball or something!"

"Dodgeball?" Aelita repeated in confusion. Aubrey's eyes widened.

"You don't know what Dodgeball is?!"

"Er, no, should I?"

The brown haired girl nodded, talking wildly with both her voice and hands as she explained the game.

"Okay, so dodgeball. Dodgeball is played on a court or field. The court is broken into two sides, and on each side you have teams of however many people you want, as long as they're even. Several rubber or foam balls are placed on the center line of the court. When the coach says go, players run have to run forward and try to grab a ball, though not everyone does."

"How come?" Aelita interrupted. Aubrey placed up a finger.

"Hold on, I'm getting there. Okay, so once you have a ball, your objective is to throw it and try to hit one of the players on the opposite team. If a player gets hit anywhere but the face, then they're out. If a player gets hit in the face, then it's called a head shot and the thrower is out. If a player catches a ball, then the thrower is also out. The closer you are to the center line, the more likely you are to get hit. The game keeps going until only one team still has players or a player on the field, and that team wins."

"Doesn't that hurt?!"

"Like crazy." Aubrey agreed. "Also, there are several different versions of dodgeball, the difference only being how players who are out can get back in the game. For example, in one type of dodgeball, if a player catches a ball thrown by the opposite team, their entire team get's to come back on the field. In another version, you have a medic. If the medic touches a fallen player on their team, then that player can come back in. Sometimes, when players are hit, they stay on the field and other times they have to go off to the side. Anyway, if the medic gets hit with the ball, then the game is over."

By this time, the girls had reached the field. Aelita was gaping with her hand placed over her mouth. "That game sounds awful! It's like a war!"

"Yeah, I guess it is. Thing is though, a lot of people love the game. Something about pegging people with a rubber ball as hard as you can is apparently very appealing to them. Actually, it's mostly loved by really athletic guys."

Just as they finished the talking, they made it to the field and took their seats between Odd and Ulrich. Aubrey had already been informed that Jeremy was, once again, skipping this class.

"Hello Ladies." Odd greeted. "What'cha been up to?"

"I was just explaining what dodgeball is to Aelita. I'm surprised she's never heard of that game." Aubrey answered.

"Dodgeball? I love dodgeball!" Odd exclaimed. Aelita's face grew into one of horror.

"How could you?! It sounds terrible!"

"It isn't that bad." Ulrich defended. "I'm sure Aubrey just made it seem that way because she's a big baby." Of course, his tone kept a playful edge the entire time.

"No." The girl cut in quietly. She was huddled between Ulrich and Aelita with her legs crossed and pulled up to her chest. She was hugging them close, her chin resting on her knee's. "The last time I played dodgeball, a guy threw it at me so hard he dislocated my shoulder."

Ulrich's eyes widened. "Aubrey I-"

"No, it's okay!" She cut him off, giving him a bright smile from over her arms. "You didn't know, it's fine. American's are a lot more violent so don't worry about it."

"Right." He responded. Somehow though, he still felt guilty about what he'd said, and he really did want to apologize, but he wasn't sure how. She wasn't looking for his forgiveness at all, but that didn't make his comment okay. He resisted the urge to face palm. Why was he so stupid?

The rest of the day had gone by fast for Aubrey. It was weird to think that in one day she had already made such good friends. As the hours went on, she found that she and Ulrich only continued to grow closer and closer.

It was around 9:00pm and she was completely exhausted. All she wanted right now was a good nights sleep.

So, completely ready for bed, she slipped under her new covers, curled up while clutching the blankets and with a happy sigh, fell into unconsciousness.

Aubrey woke up in the middle of the night coughing. At first, it didn't seem like much, but before she knew it she was doubled over and sitting up on the bed, one hand covering her mouth and the other clutching her stomach. She tried to take a deep breath, but it only made her cough harder.

Weakly, she pulled the covers off of her with the hand that had been clutching her stomach and tried to get out of the bed. Unfortunetly, she didn't have enough energy to do that and her knee's gave out on her, leaving her useless on the floor. Tears streamed down her face from the lack of oxygen she was getting.

She opened her eyes slightly, but beyond the blurred tears all she could see was a purple haze surrounding her. It was impossible to see past, coloring everything in her vision purple. If she concentrated, she could make out shape of her computer desk with the laptop sitting on it.

She tried not to breathe, holding her breathe until it simply became impossible to do so and ended up coughing harder, her whole body dry heaving from the action. She was on all fours, back arching higher and higher with each couch.

And then, to her great relief, Aubrey's bedroom door slammed open. Her head was pounding, and she couldn't tell who it was, but she only hoped they could get her out of there.

Arms wrapped around her waist, scooping her up and turning her so she was being held bridal style. She clasped onto the persons shirt weakly, gasping, trying to get as much oxygen as she could. Each deep breath she took made her cough on the exhale.

"Shh." A voice soothed her. It was calm, familiar and welcoming. "Breathe Aubrey, breathe. Just breathe normally. Shallow breaths, there you go."

She did as the voice instructed her, letting her breaths come out lighter and faster. What felt like hours later, her breathing was back to normal. She raised a hand, wiping the tears from her cheeks. Looking up, she was able to identify who was holding her.

"Ulrich." She croaked, gently snuggling against him more, taking in the comfort he offered. She realized now that they were moving. She was in his arms and he was running somewhere.

"Where are we going?" Her voice came out in a whisper, and immediately after asking she started to cough again.

"Aubrey, don't talk." He ordered. "I'm taking you somewhere safe. Hold on a sec." He placed her down, leaning her body back against what felt like a tree. A moment later, a water bottle was being held out to her.

"Don't drink to much and hurry up. We have to keep moving. I'm gonna bring you somewhere safe, I promise."

If her head wasn't pounding so much, she might have been able register all of what Ulrich had said. He was taking her to a safe place. Why? Why wasn't it safe in the dorm? What was that purple haze? Why did it feel like she had been choking?

But she didn't because she was in too much pain to try.

After sipping about 1/3 of the bottle, Ulrich took it away from her. She whined in protest, but he promised she could have more later when they were safe. Without waiting for an answer, he scooped her up again and resumed running through what Aubrey guessed was the woods.

She vaguely heard the sound of metal on metal, and then Ulrich was cradling her with one arm and using the other to climb down a ladder.

Based on the smell, she knew they were in the sewer. Ulrich ran without hesitation, and it felt like they were running forever. Finally, she felt him cradle her with one arm again as they climbed up another ladder. He moved what must of been the sewer cover, and then once they were out he kicked it closed with his foot. Then they were running again.

Aubrey was tired. She felt her eyes closing, and she knew that she needed to sleep.

"Aubrey, you need to stay awake." Ulrich whispered urgently. "I need you to trust me right now, and I need you to know that I'm not going to let you go, okay."

"Mm-hmm." She mumbled. His grip on her tightened.

Then, they were free falling. Well, it felt like free falling. His grip on her was impossible tighter. She herd the light thump of Ulrich's feet hitting the ground. They ran again, and stopped. She heard doors close, and the floor beneath them moving.

Are we on an elevator?

The doors opened again, and Ulrich sat her down once more. She was leaning against a metal surface. The room around her mostly green, and was that a super computer? More importantly, was that Jeremy sitting at the super computer?

Ulrich handed her the water bottle again and headed over to where she was almost positive Jeremy was. She could make out snippets of there conversation as she chugged the soothing liquid down.

"I found...Her room...choking...X.A.N.A attack...isn't safe...brought her...Jeremy...eye on her...worried...please?"

"It's okay...I'll watch...to the scanners...hurry...you know...she changes."

And then Ulrich was there, crouching in front of her with a hand on her face. From her point of view it seemed like there were two of him, and the only reason she knew this was real was the feeling of his warm hand on her cheek.

"You're gonna be okay Aubrey, I promise."

He got up again, gave a final nod to Jeremy, and went back into the elevator, making eye contact with her one last time before the doors.

Aubrey closed her eyes. She wanted to fall asleep, but Ulrich's voice in her head telling her that she had to stay awake kept replaying in her mind so she did just that. It was hard, but she forced herself to stay awake.

Some time later, the pain in her head dulled enough so that when she opened her eyes, everything was normal. She was now fully able to take in her surroundings. The room was green like she had predicted with green metal walls and flooring. She turned to her left and just like she thought she would, saw Jeremy sitting at a super computer. She opened her bottle of water and finished it off quickly, and once that was done tried to get up off the floor.

Much more difficult then it should have been.

Once she got to her feet, (bare feet, mind you) She began to stumble her way over to Jeremy.

"Jeremy?" She croaked out. The blonde's head instantly snapped over to her.

"Aubrey!" He exclaimed, rushing to get up to help her.

"What about Aubrey? Is she okay?" She thought she heard Ulrich ask, but dismissed it. She must have been hallucinating, Jeremy was the only one there besides her. Jeremy stood next to her and wrapped on arm around her to steady her as he lead her over to the chair.

"How are you doing?" He asked as he gently placed her into the computer chair, hitting a button on the keyboard that made the chair move over a bit so he could still stand in front of the key monitor.

"I've been better." She answered, snuggling back into the comfy fabric. Jeremy chuckled lightly and placed the headset back onto his ear.

"What? No, Ulrich, she's fine. Just woke up actually. Wha- hold on, just calm down. Yeah, she's sitting in the 'captains chair.' I know, so could you guys please just focus on the mission? Yeah, just a bit up ahead. Remember, protect Aelita."

Aubrey figured that whatever Jeremy was doing, it was important, so she didn't bother to ask. Instead, she simply stated, "This is important, isn't it?"

Having fully expected to stall giving a full blown explanation, Jeremy's eyes widened in shock but he nodded. "Very."

There was silence between them again. Jeremy called things into the headset and continued to type on the keyboard while Aubrey stared blankly at the wall. She heard Jeremy also talking to Yumi, Aelita and Odd.

"Are they safe?" She asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Jeremy, I just want to know, are they safe?"

He fumbled a bit before giving an answer. It was hesitant though, making Aubrey doubt that he was telling the truth. "Yeah, they're fine. They're gonna be fine-Yumi!"

The urgency in Jeremy's voice made Aubrey alert. She sat up with a slight rush to the head and looked at Jeremy in a slight panic.

"Jeremy, what's wrong. Is Yumi okay?"

"Y-yeah. She's fine. She'll be here in a minute."

True to his word, a minute later, the elevator door opens, and Aubrey realized that within that minute, she was hardly breathing. However, when she saw the japanese girl, the nervous feeling in her stomach went away and without really knowing why, she bolted out of her chair and rushed over to Yumi, hugging her.

"You're alright!" She exclaimed, arms wrapped around the girls body. Yumi blinked in shock, but slowly hugged the girl back.

"Ya, I am. Did you think I wouldn't be?"

"Well, Jeremy just sounded so surprised and scared when he called out your name that I thought something happened and I mean, I know I'm just getting to know you but the thought that you had died or something was just really-" She took a deep breath and stepped away from the japanese girl. "really scary."

Yumi's face softened. Ulrich had already explained to her that X.A.N.A had attacked the school and the attack had almost killed Aubrey, which is why she was at the factory. At first, Yumi was a bit upset that he would bring her without asking anybody, but seeing the girl now she couldn't help but feel that Ullrich had made the right choice.

"And umm, sorry about hugging you like that. I'm kind of a hugger and I was just relieved that you're okay so. . ."

"It's fine." Yumi laughed. "Really. Besides, who doesn't like hugs?"

"Welllll-" Aubrey started, a finger placed on her chin as though she was contemplating the answer and then slightly nudging her head towards Jeremy. She never got to say anything though, because the two girls had broken out into a fit of giggles.

"So how's it going Einstein?" Yumi asked, walking over to the computer where Jeremy had now taken the seat again. He was still talking on the earpiece, but Aubrey had learned to just ignore him and let him say what he wanted, no questions asked.

"If Ulrich isn't careful, he's going to get himself devirtualized." Jeremy snapped, emphasizing 'Ulrich' and 'Devirtualized.'

Yumi looked worried. "How far to the tower?"

"Not far, but it's being guarded by two tarantulas and a block. Ulrich has twenty life points and Odd has sixty."

"Come on guys..." Yumi trailed off. Feeling awkward, Aubrey decided to lean against the wall behind them. She was staring at the ground and shuffling one of her feet when all of a sudden, she noticed purple gas appear out of no where and head straight towards her.

"YUMI! HE *cough* help me!"

Yumi quickly spun around and was horrified to see Aubrey surrounded by the purple gas that Ulrich had described was at the school. She was coughing again, keeping one hand over her mouth and another against the wall so she could still stand.

"Aubrey!"

Jeremy turned. "Yumi, what is it?"

"Jeremy, whatever you do, don't tell Ulrich okay? Keep them focused."

"Don't tell Ulrich what?" A voice asked. Jeremy ignored it.

Yumi took a deep breath and held it, then ran into the purple fog to get Aubrey out. She grabbed the girls thin arm that was against the wall and began to drag her away, desperate to get her out, yet no matter how far they moved, they were still inside the cloud.

"Yumi, get out and get a breath of air."

"Aubrey, I'll be right back." Yumi whispered, shooting an apologetic look to a girl who couldn't see and then ran right back out of the fog. Aubrey groaned. Her knee's buckled and she fell to the ground again.

"Yumi, it's following her! There's no way to get her out!"

"Then what are we supposed to do? Leave her there?" The Japanese girl snapped. Jeremy shook his head, facing the monitor.

"Deactivate the tower. Ulrich! Odd! Aelita! Look, I didn't want to tell you this, but you've got about two minutes to deactivate the tower before Aubrey..."

"Before Aubrey what?"

"Before Aubrey suffocates."

Suffocates! Said girl thought. She was back at the point where she was doubled over on all fours, tears streaming on her face and dry heaving whilst still getting in a cough or two.

"Aubrey!"

Aubrey blacked out.

When Aubrey came to, she was able to recognize the group of people around her. There was Jeremy, Yumi, Aelita, Odd and Ulrich. Aelita and Jeremy were back at that computer monitor and Odd and Yumi were leaning against the wall while talking in hushed voices. She was fairly certain that was Ulrich she was looking up at, and a hand was running through her hair.

Oh, and her head was on Ulrich's lap.

"Ulrich?" She whispered. His head snapped down to her, and the worried expression he wore changed to a smile the second they locked gazes.

"Aubrey! You're awake!"

Upon hearing that, the rest of the rooms occupants rushed over to where they were sitting, everyone wanting to make sure Aubrey was okay.

"Yeah, I am." She agreed weakly with a tiny laugh. "What happened?"