A/N: *Yawn*. It's impossibly late for me.. I just.. sorry for errors xD! I need sleep now. This one's more JxA centered, but we'll just give Yumi and Ulrich a small break. Enjoy the read.Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko! Only my imagination :)!
"Jeremie, could you please dematerialize us first?" Yumi asked.
"I would readily take you out of the current game, but the virus can be tackled from within. I'll be opening up the coded version of the game. Everything around you will turn blue, much like sector 5. If you can beat the monsters that aren't supposed to be there, I think it'll expose the virus in the disks' coding. Actually, all monsters that you can see are your enemies, because I'll be switching off the spawns of the normal ones," Jeremie explained.
"Okay," Ulrich and Yumi replied.
The two of them got to work and swiftly handled the given task until they heard Jeremie speak up again. "That'll do just fine, I tracked the virus back to the original location. My suspicions have been confirmed. I'll dematerialize you and then we'll talk," he said, an audible annoyance was present in his voice.
Yumi and Ulrich looked concerned, but couldn't say anything with Jeremie being able to hear it. Ulrich shrugged. "Well, see you soon," he told her as they were called in by Jeremie at the same time.
When they returned to the lab, Aelita and Jeremie weren't talking to each other. Odd was casually sitting on the floor, trying not to mind them. "So, what was the problem?" Yumi carefully asked.
"Apparently, someone found it funny to sabotage her own work," Jeremie began, glaring daggers at Aelita.
Odd, Ulrich and Yumi eyed each other. The latter continued, "I don't understand. Why would Aelita do something like that?" The others nodded in agreement to Yumi's question.
"I already thought it was strange when you revealed you got our newest recruit to retrieve a new disk. That's absolutely nonsense, since we don't let those workers anywhere near the lockers. She actually claimed to have been there, so why bother requesting it in the first place?" Jeremie spoke to no one in particular.
"Princess, care to explain?" Odd tried to pave a way to give Aelita a chance to defend herself. She stood on the other side of the room with a neutral expression on her face.
"Jeremie, will you at least listen to me for a few minutes?" Aelita finally asked.
"Sorry I'm not in the mood now. Try to imagine what it feels like when you find out your partner is purposefully delaying our release. If I hadn't found out, the entire game could have been ruined. I'd have to start over from scratch. What were you thinking, Aelita? And that's not even all. You actually planted the virus from within this computer. Honestly, I cannot believe this… You were obviously dead set on withholding this information," he turned away from the pinkette and shut down the computer.
"Let's go outside for some fresh air princess," Odd took her by the hand and dragged her away. He stopped in front of the room's exit. "Jeremie, I am a hundred percent sure that Aelita wouldn't have let this escalate as far as you are willing to expect. I thought you trusted her more than this." Odd could almost feel Aelita's sadness. He quickly pulled her along to allow Jeremie to cool down. It was a precaution. He didn't want them to verbally hurt each other further than this.
Yumi sighed. "Jeremie," she began. When he didn't respond or look her way she sighed again. "Look, I'm positive Aelita has her reasons for this. It's true the timing wasn't the best. I get that it caused trouble. But hearing you talk just now, I have a feeling I understand Aelita. It's rather hard to explain, so I'm going to bluntly point it out for you," Yumi sudden disapproval of her friend made him pay attention.
"You have always praised Aelita for her good work, right? You were being modest too when we told you how amazing you were. However, I have one word for you now. 'Arrogance'. That's the vibe I got from you last little speech. I don't know how long this has been on Aelita's mind, but it's clear that using this extreme method was the only way to get your attention."
She gathered her stuff. "Things might seem harmless on the surface. But if you flip it around, there is always chaos. Trust me, I know more about it than I would've wanted," she glanced at Ulrich, who didn't meet her gaze.
"I'll be going home now. Hiroki said he'll be staying over this weekend, because he has to go to some extracurricular activity on Monday. I still have to prepare a few things. I hope you can sort it all out Jeremie. Sorry if I went too far. What I saw and deduced might also be less heavy in reality. Talk to Aelita as soon as you can," Yumi advised, as she headed for the door.
"Wait, I'll take you home," Ulrich stopped her. "Thanks," she replied, as they walked out. "Einstein, Aelita probably wanted to keep it a secret for a reason too. You guys are so close. Please show us it's not easy to break us apart," Ulrich said, before he closed the door. He kept his eyes as well as his thoughts on Yumi as he followed her to the building's exit. "For her sake too," he thought when he saw Yumi hugging herself with one arm.
Jeremie let his head fall onto the desk. "They're right…," he whispered to himself, closing his eyes to let it all sink in.
"Hey Jeremie, our new recruits have studied coding from another game and they've found some issues within the security. I know we have already run many tests, but I wanted to take this perspective into consideration as well. It will be our biggest project since taking over this company, so we don't want anything to fail, right?" Aelita had stepped into his office to bring him a cup of coffee.
He hadn't been sleeping well and was frustrated with all the work that had piled up while he was busy fixing things in different departments. "Thanks," he accepted the drink, "However, I can state with certainty that our software and hardware are in tip-top condition. You've admitted it too. We have run the security check countless times. I really don't think we should trust a beginner's insight in this highly advanced programming," Jeremie countered.
Aelita frowned. "I'm aware that you want to lead this project, which is fine. But as the CEO of this company and basically manager of each department, shouldn't you also listen to others. We've been together for many years now and I agree that we excel in what we do. However, we also have standard routines that are hard to break out of. We hired the new employees for that very reason right? Fresh insights and creative influx for example. There are a few workers that have caught my eye already. I can introduce them if you'd like. They're the ones who inspired me to check one more thing. Let's give them a chance to explain their thoughts on it," she reasoned.
"I'm telling you it's fine like this. We should focus on lessening this workload. It's our priority now. The game is pretty much finished and ready for release. The team that's handling it will do just fine without our constant supervising. Please, if you could assign the new recruits other tasks – for instance from this pile – then it would be great," Jeremie insisted.
"Sure, I will. But in my opinion you should be careful with that attitude Jeremie. We're always open towards innovative ideas. Part of that involves taking all possible issues into consideration," Aelita warned him. She looked at a few files. "I think these four files are good starting points for them, so I'll be handing them out. I hope you change your mind. Although, of course, I won't force you," she told him as she smiled mysteriously afterwards.
Aelita whispered on her way out. "He'll never stop being stubborn." Jeremie didn't hear the words. He figured she was most likely grumbling about his behaviour, so he let it go.
"Jeremie?" Aelita shook him. "Wake up. It's getting late. We should go," she told him. He rubbed his eyes. "Hmm? How long did I sleep?" She chuckled. "About fifteen minutes I guess? That's more a nap that real sleep though," she answered.
He stared at her. "What?" Aelita asked. "Nothing, just.. I'm sorry," he started. "It's okay, I haven't been honest with you. It really broke my heart, but I couldn't think of any other way to make you realize how serious the problem was," she fidgeted with her fingers. "And! I never meant to let it get this far! Getting Yumi, Ulrich and Odd involved was really unnecessary and confusing for them. Even if Yumi and Ulrich probably had a good talk judging from the atmosphere between them. But that's deviating from the topic. I'm truly sorry."
She stood there painfully watching him. Jeremie got up and approached her. He took her hands in his and held on tightly. "I was shocked. For a small period of time I actually believed you betrayed me. When they all threw remarks at my head, I realized I was the one being stupid. Of course, you would have a proper reason for doing something so – if I may say – ridiculous." Aelita chuckled again. "Though what Yumi said, hit hardest. Maybe I was too proud of the fact that this was solely our idea and I had wanted it to be ours only," Jeremie blushed after revealing that.
"That aside, I indeed have difficulty with not doing everything by myself. But that doesn't mean that I can do it all. You're right about that and I should have noticed that earlier on. I'm really sorry, Aelita," he said.
Aelita hugged him. "Apology accepted," he heard her say. "Luckily I did it in a clumsy way. Otherwise you'd have a much harder time figuring everything out," she teased him. Jeremie laughed. "I know, you're amazing too after all," he complimented her as well as himself. Aelita giggled.
"Let's have a strategy meeting somewhere this week. Invite the rookies too. I'm interested after what you told me – and after what you did," Jeremie said.
"Okay, I'll schedule it for Wednesday. Everyone should be present then," she agreed.
"Good. Shall I take you home then?" He offered. Aelita nodded. She was about to get her bag and coat when Jeremie pulled her back.
"I trust you more than anyone. I'm sorry for doubting you, even if it wasn't for long."
"I know. I don't blame you. We'll get through it all. Don't worry too much or you'll end up like me." She grinned at him.
Jeremie moved in close enough to capture her lips for a split second. "Very funny. You could have become an actress with the top-notch acting you showed," he told her afterwards. Aelita blushed.
They got distracted by the vibrating noises of their phones.
Wait, so who won the mini competition between the three of us? Odd asked in the group chat.
Oh, yeah, I'm curious as well. Yumi entered.
Don't forget to reveal who you guys voted for. Ulrich reminded them.
Aelita smiled. "Odd won't be happy with this."
"He can't really do anything about it," Jeremie had gather all the belongings and together they walked outside. "Just let him know he needs to save up some money." He smirked. Aelita laughed. "I will."
Odd, I hereby advice you to financially prepare yourself for our next dinner outing (since we didn't go today). Aelita typed.
Hahahahahahahahaha. Not bragging anymore huh? Ulrich mocked Odd.
I want Italian. Yumi joined the fun.
By the way, you're on your own. Jeremie voted for Ulrich and I voted for Yumi. I'll send you proof of the votes. Aelita revealed. She also posted a photo of the pieces of paper with names scribbled on them.
This was a conspiracy! I demand a rematch! See you around! Odd left the chat with that message.
I'll be looking forward to that dinner then. Ulrich left him a message.
Yumi didn't say anything else. Aelita put away her phone as well.
"Ready?" Jeremie asked. Aelita looked at him. "Yep, let's go home," she said as she reached for him to hold his hand. He gently clasped his hand over hers. Valuable lessons like today's would only help them along their way. They were sure their relationship was going to keep improving day by day.
A/N: I was so tired that I almost named this chapter 27.. luckily I double checked haha. Okay, so chapter 30 is getting closer and I'm feeling generous (yes, in advance). I hereby announce there will be two bonus chapters after chapter 30. One for the usual (once per ten ch.), one to have fun. Is there anyone in particular you guys would like to read about in the second one? Let me know and I'll take it into consideration! ~ See you later!
