Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Aelita woke up early the next morning, and had to reorient herself to her surroundings. After remembering that she was at Sophie and Simon's apartment, she got up and headed for the bathroom.

Breakfast with them was simple, eggs and toast, fruit and coffee, or in Aelita's case, milk. Towards the end, Simon asked, "well, Aelita, what would you like to do today?"

"You don't have to do anything for me, really," Aelita replied, "I'd be just as happy to go back to school."

"It's no problem," Sophie said, "and Gennedy wanted you to stay away for the weekend, and that means no appearance at The Factory tonight."

"Won't that cause problems?" Aelita asked.

"No. One of the other DJs will take over, Henri already has that covered," Sophie said, "so, what do you want to do?"

"I don't know. What do you want to do?"

Giuseppe didn't usually stay around while dirty work was going on, unless he was the one doing the dirty work. But the man wanted to make sure nothing happened to their moneymaker, and they knew precisely nothing about this girl they had left with him.

The first contact he called about the other gang member's girls resulted in a hit. The man was more than happy to take them off Giuseppe's hands, and would even do it gratis. He sent some trucks over in the night, and the girls were herded wailing into them. That just left this one, thirteen year old, loose end to take care of.

Giuseppe wasn't one to just barge in on someone without cause, so he knocked first. Hearing no answer, he opened the door and steeled himself for what he was about to see.

Inside the room, Vladimir Ptcharsky was sound asleep on a throughly rumpled bed. Across the room, sitting in a chair and watching television, was the thirteen year old girl, naked. She turned her head and regarded the new visitor.

"He's not dead, if that's what you're wondering," the girl said.

"He wasn't the corpse I was expecting find," Giuseppe replied.

"He likes getting his way," the girl said, shrugging, "I understand that."

Giuseppe walked over to the other seat in the room and sat down. The girl had red hair, and was fairly thin, almost malnourished. Though girls this young were not his thing, he noticed that she was pretty. There were remnants of bruises and scars about her arms and chest. It even looked like someone had carved "bitch" in her chest, right above her left breast. That scar was so old, it was white against her skin; you had to look real close to see it.

"That's an odd statement coming from a thirteen year old kid," he told her.

"Thirteen going on thirty," the girl replied, drawing her legs up so her knees covered her chest, "by the way, my name is Aimee."

"Giuseppe," he replied, "I'll bet you're thinking, 'what now?'"

"Kinda," Aimee replied, "you thought he would do the job for you; but since I'm still here, you're now wondering if you have to kill me."

"Not exactly kill you. I could send you to the same place I sent the others."

"Look, I'd rather not have to walk the streets. I did a good job on your friend over there, and he wasn't near as brutal as some of the bastards I've been with."

"So, you wouldn't mind staying here with him?"

"If I had the choice, no, but I want to live," Aimee replied "I'm figuring that you sent the other girls off to be auctioned off to the various pimps around town. Like I said, I'd rather not walk the streets; you never know what you're getting yourself into, plus the pimps want to hook you on crack or heroin so they can better control you. You saw what the Apaches' girls looked like; some of them were so zoned out they could barely dress themselves."

"Apaches?"

"The gang you took out last night; they called themselves the Apaches. Even called the girls squaws. I earned my keep by playing house mother to them, if you could believe it. Now, getting back to my point; the way I look at it, you've got three options: one, send me off with the others; two, kill me; three: let me stay here and tend to his needs."

"And you would stay here, willingly, and do that?"

"Yeah. Like I said, he isn't as bad as some I've had to deal with. And I don't want to die."

"And what do you want in return?"

"Food, shelter, clothes, some spending money. You can surely provide that; you look like you've got more than a couple of coppers to rub together."

"That I do. Well, Aimee, we have a deal. You are now Vladimir's assistant, and your job will be to keep him organized and happy, while he's here. When he's not here, I want you in school."

"What for?"

"Two reasons. One, someone would ask questions if they see a girl your age running around not in school, and I can't afford that. Two, I'm going to put you in a particular school, and I want you to keep your eyes open for me, and report on what you see."

"You want me to spy on a school."

"Yes, I'll give you the particulars later. Now, why don't you get cleaned up and put on some clothes. I have to keep reminding myself that I have daughters around your age."

Aimee smiled, "sure, boss. Oh, one more thing."

"Yes?"

"Have a talk with sleeping beauty over there. He likes to brag."

Simon decided that it would be a good day see the countryside. He, Sophie and Aelita packed themselves up and left Paris, and drove out into the Wine Country. Aelita just about pressed her face against the car glass, watching all of the beautiful vineyards pass by. It reminded her so much of the drive to London, she wanted to cry.

"So, you like?" Simon said from the driver's seat.

"Oh yes!" Aelita replied, "this reminds me of the trip to London! I so loved that. I said then I could spend the rest of my life just traveling around the world. Jeremie told me that there were people who did just that."

"I thought about doing that too, in my younger days," Simon said, "in fact, when I graduated from high school, I took a year off and hitchhiked around Europe, seeing all the sights. It was a year I'll never forget."

They finally stopped at a small vineyard. When they got out, they were greeted by name by the owners, and older man and woman. They were invited in and shown to a table, where the owner's wife sat and talked with them while the owner excused himself.

"It is so good to see you again, Simon!" the woman exclaimed, "and you too, Sophie. And who is this young lady?"

"Aelita Stones," Aelita replied, "I'm a DJ for Sophie."

"Oh! Another of Sophie's famous clients!" the woman exclaimed, "I'm honored that you have graced our small home."

"Ellen, please," Simon said, "you'll drown the girl in complements. Aelita, Ellen Renneoux and her husband Michel put me up for a time while I was hitchhiking. They let me stay over the winter, and I helped them with the winery."

"Please! You'd think I was Mother Teresa, the way you say that," Ellen replied, "he showed up on our doorstep one winter night, looking for shelter, and we got ourselves fairly free labor for the next two months."

Just then, the owner, Michel, returned with a bottle.

"Do you remember this, Simon?" he asked, extending the bottle to Simon.

"No, I'm afraid not," Simon replied as he looked at the bottle.

"This was the first bottle of wine you filled for us," he said proudly, "I've kept it back to surprise you with. Let's open it up and see how it has aged."

"Vlad, how could you!" Giuseppe exclaimed, "you told her about the Bliss operation? If something happened and she escaped here, she could go to the police and that would be the end of us!"

"I not tell her about Bliss," Vlad protested.

"You told her that you were responsible for making the number one drug in town," the mobster replied, "and since your last name is not Salk, the only thing you could be talking about is Bliss."

"She seemed to appreciate," Vlad said.

"Yes, she did; and as it turned out, you probably didn't have to tell her anything; it seems she's a little more experienced than one would think, in a lot of ways."

"She good girl; she treat me right."

"And as a result, she's now a member of the team. And as such, I want you to be careful with her. I was expecting something a little more grotesque when I came into your room this morning, and since I didn't, I expect it to remain that way. Keep the lab running smoothly, and I'll bring you by to visit her on the weekends. I've also got a job for her aside from you, and that means no marks on her, not a one."

"If she cooperates, she be okay."

"If she don't cooperate," Giuseppe said, "you don't do. I'm going to put her in that school close to the factory, so I have to trust that she won't blab to the cops the first chance she gets. If you beat her up, she may just do that, and that eliminates her value to me. No rough stuff."

"Da, no rough stuff."

Just then, Aimee walked in wearing the clothes she was wearing last night.

"Sorry if I still smell," she said when she came in, "but I didn't have anything to change into, and I didn't have a chance to wash these."

"While you were cleaning up, I took a look at your clothes and got your size," Giuseppe said, "I sent one of my boys out to get you some clothes at the mission store. Later on, we'll get you some new things. In the mean time, I'll leave you two alone. Vlad, remember what I said."

Aimee walked over to Vlad and plopped herself in his lap, laid her head on his shoulder and started rubbing his chest.

"So, want to do anything in particular?"

Sophie, Simon and Aelita wound up spending the rest of the day at the winery. Both adults agreed that the bottle of wine the owner brought out was delicious, and they even let Aelita try a sip. After that, Simon took the girls out into the vineyard and showed them around, with Michel, the owner, in tow to correct any of Simon's mistakes.

Evening came and the couple invited their guests to stay for dinner and overnight. Simon agreed to dinner, but had to decline about staying, saying they needed to have Aelita back so she could return to school. The dinner that night was wonderful, and the trio was loathe to leave when they finally pulled out of the drive.

The drive back to Paris was quiet, for the most part. Simon and Sophie sometimes spoke in low tones, but otherwise, the only sound was of the countryside rushing by. It was late when they arrived back at the apartment, and the pink haired girl just about collapsed in her bed.

Aelita's last thought before drifting off to sleep was, I wish I could have days like this all the time.

One of Giuseppe's assistants brought Aimee some clothes purchased at the mission store. They were used, but not rags. Aimee took the clothes and performed a critical check of them, and couldn't complain. She certainly had worn worse than these in her life, and in some ways, they were positively luxurious. The man who brought the clothes said that Giuseppe would send someone around tomorrow to take her out and get her some newer clothes, plus underwear. These clothes were just to tide her over, and give her stuff that looked like she had owned it for a while, for when she went to school.

Her new "boyfriend," Vlad, was also somewhat of a mystery. After Giuseppe left this morning, she sat in his lap and gave him the perfect opening to have sex with her again, but he didn't, opting instead to just cuddle with her before getting up and fixing them something to eat. He explained that there was a time and place for everything, and he preferred to do everything at the preferred time. In her mind, Aimee let out a sigh of relief; at least she wouldn't be molested during the day. Plus, it seemed like this Russian didn't drink all that much, for when he brought their meal, he had made himself tea instead of the vodka he was drinking last night.

"Aimee," Vlad said as they ate, "what I told you last night, you can't tell anyone."

"I understand that," she replied, "look, let's get something straight here. My number one priority in life is to see the next sunrise; and for the first time in a long time, I've got the feeling that I'll be able to do that on a regular basis. To do that, I've got to keep you happy and in line, so don't worry about me squealing about what you do. By the way, I hope you realize that at some point in time, they won't need you anymore. Have you got a contingency plan for that?"

"They need me for long time yet," Vlad said, "no need to worry 'bout that."

"I'll bet they've been having you train workers to make up the drug you're making, right?"

"Da, otherwise I do all time."

"Well, once they know how to make the stuff up, what do they need you for?"

Vladimir thought for a moment. "I don't know," he finally admitted.

"That's right," Aimee replied, "I don't know how much they're paying you to do this, but if you suddenly weren't around anymore, that would be a big cost savings to them."

"Why you tell me this?"

"Because," the girl said, "if you're not around, I'm not needed. That means either I wind up in some pimp's stable, or dead, and I'm not fond of either option. You start thinking of a way to get out of this once they don't need you any more, then take me with you when you go."

"Why should I do that?"

"Because, if you do, I'll be yours forever."

That evening, Vlad got playful and Aimee let him play. Afterwards, she lay in the bed and tried to relax. It was hard, but it wasn't as hard as some nights she had spent, and it was getting easier.