Author's Note: Another chapter! Whoot! And I just realized that this is getting really long. I think I should probably finish this some time soon before it gets to be a hundred chapters or something. Although, with my tendency to go on and on forever, well, it just might. Anyway, I got a couple reviews, and I've got time now to reply to them, so, yay. Actually, because I'm really bored, and otherwise I'd have to study, I'm gonna respond to all the reviews from the previous chapter that I didn't get to. So for those of you who like to skip ahead to the story, sorry for how long you have to scan down. Lol.

Aizxana: Hee! Thankies. I had fun with the new morph descriptions, so I'm glad you liked them. The koala thing was just too much fun as well. ;)

Sharina Silverstorm: Yes, I actually updated! Can you believe it! Good to see you're still reading, though. :) Glad you liked the koalas and the sex change thing. I thought it was funny. ;P

A writer of fics: Thanks for reviewing again! I appreciate it a lot. :) And definitely happy that you like the fic.

Chessrook44: Do I want to know what particular ride that was, or will it bring up too many painful memories? In any case, thanks muchly for the review.

Lily of the Shadow: Thankies! Danny's koala obsession was actually a result of a conversation between me and a fellow Animorph lover about what morphs we would pick. He spent twenty minutes trying to convince me that koalas really were fierce fighting machines, so you never know. It actually could be useful, somehow. If you have any suggestions, let me know. ;)

Ruiner of Worlds: lol! I love your s/n. It's so awesome. Thanks a bunch for the reviews. I'm glad the backpack scene didn't seem too over the top. I was a bit worried about it at first. Also glad you like Danny, he's a lot of fun to write.

sitainuyasha4life: Thanks a bunch for taking the time to review:)

Thermopolis: Umm….he got a kangaroo? Which is technically a battle morph. Well, to Danny it is. But he's just weird that way. ;)

Meethrill: I updated! Hope you didn't die, 'cause that would really be not good. And I love your s/n, too, by the way.

Imaginary1018: Hee! You caught me. I'm such a big Tamara Pierce fan. Good to see another one around, and thanks a lot for the comments! Glad you liked it.

King-of-death: You're right! I completely forgot to do a disclaimer last time! I beg forgiveness. :) Thanks for the review.

Disclaimer: "I cannot take orders from the underwear model."

Chapter Thirty-Four Part One – Reese

It was Cold. Not just cold. Cold. And I thought it was freezing in our morphing outfits at home. Nu-uh. Compared to here, that was warm and cozy.

My life has just gotten to be so much fun.

I was on a plane, headed for Disneyland. That would have been fine. But, no. I was in the baggage section of said plane, where I was freezing my butt off.

And the reason I was going to Disneyland? To spy on some stupid brain-infesting aliens in a world I had never liked.

Oh, yeah. So much fun.

Plus, I was still mad. Not as much as before, but it was still there. I did not want to be an Animorph. I hate those books. Besides, this wasn't my world. These weren't…

I stopped for a moment. 'Yes,' a little voice said, 'Yes this is your world.'

This may not be Dani's world, but it was Reese's. And I wasn't Dani anymore. In fact, it was unlikely I'd ever be Dani again. So I had to start thinking like Reese, not like Dani.

It's harder than it sounds. I really didn't want to feel like this world was my responsibility, but I did. Now, I did.

And now, thinking about it, I couldn't hate them. Here, they were not fictional characters in a book I could like or hate. They were real people, in a world I lived in. And they were my friends. More or less.

And then there was Marco…

No. Oh, no. I did not like Marco.

'Would that really be so bad?' That same little voice asked.

It was probably my conscience. Stupid conscience. Yes, I told it, Yes it would.

Or would it?

I didn't want to go there. I really, really didn't.

It wasn't just that it was Marco. Even though that was in there, too. But if I started caring about someone…Someone who was in a battle for life and death constantly…Well, I didn't want to deal with that. I didn't think I could, really. Better not to care and not worry, or get hurt…

But I did care. As much as I didn't want to, as much as I wasn't going to admit it out-loud, I did.

Damn it.

Why are you so quiet, Reese? Sammie asked me.

I jerked back into reality. Jake and Cassie were lounging against a giant suitcase, trying not to let anyone notice they were holding hands. I was sitting on another suitcase, huddled in a sweatshirt I had pulled from my bag. Marco was sitting on a suitcase beside me. Ax was lying down next to Marco's suitcase, and Sammie and Tobias were perched on a duffel bag.

Yes, that's right, perched. Sammie was in hawk morph.

"Why are you a hawk?" I replied, glaring at her.

I told you, because I chose warmth. And feathers are warm. Sammie answered.

Bull. I knew why Sammie was a hawk…So she could be closer to Tobias. It was a wonder no one else had realized something was up.

Then again, that wasn't entirely true. Cassie seemed to have figured out something was going on.

I glanced over at her, but she and Jake were involved in a conversation, so I didn't interrupt them.

"How are you holding up?" Marco asked me quietly.

I shrugged. "I'm fine. But, uh, by the way…That whole crying thing.."

Yes, I was embarrassed about that. It's not often I end up crying on guys' shoulders.

"Don't worry about it. It happens." He said, then grinned. "Besides, it's not like I minded or anything. Come on, what guy wouldn't want a good-looking girl hugging on them?" He joked.

I smiled, resisting the urge to blush. "Okay. So, uh, how's life?"

He raised an eyebrow.

Oh, yeah, that was an intelligent question.

"Normally, I mean. Come on, we've got a long flight, work with me here. Family? Friends? School? Girlfriend?" The second that last word was out of my mouth, I regretted it. What had gotten into me?

"Hmm. Family, fine. Friends…." He glanced around. "Insane, as usual. School, failing like always. Girlfriend?"

I shrugged. "It was the first thing that popped into my head?"

"Well, actually, it was the fourth." He replied.

"Oh, fine, be technical." I stuck my tongue out at him.

He laughed.

There was a moment of silence. Then I couldn't take it anymore.

"Uh, I'm still waiting for an answer, over here." Oh, someone just kill me now…

He grinned at me, then winked. "Fine, if you're really that interested, no. No girlfriend."

"Oh. Okay." I replied, then shivered. "Why is it so damn cold?"

Oh, you do so like Marco. I'm telling him to put his arm around you. Sammie told me in private thought-speak.

What? Ahh! No! Of course, I couldn't say anything because then it would only make matters worse…

I glared at the hawk that was my best friend. Don't you dare. I thought hard at her, even though she couldn't hear it.

She dared.

Or, at least, she probably did, seeing as Marco blinked and glanced down at me.

"Why didn't you bring a thicker jacket?" He asked.

"Because it wouldn't fit." I replied. "I did get only one suitcase. Stupid Sammie, not letting me use half of hers."

He snickered a bit. "You want me to share?" He asked, holding up one sweatshirt-covered arm.

I considered that. Yeah, I did. But, no, no, I didn't. But…Hey, it was cold. So getting warmth wouldn't mean anything, right?

Sure. Just keep telling myself that. Right.

I leaned closer to him, though, so he could put his arm around me.

Sammie glanced at me. I swear she looked smug, even though she was a hawk.

Why is she always….No, I refuse to admit that she was right this time.

Damn it.

Chapter Thirty-Four Part Two – Sam

Okay, so my excuse for going into my hawk morph was lame. And, most likely, no one believed it.

At least they were all nice enough to not say anything about it.

Well, except for Reese. But then again, I didn't think she could have lasted the whole flight without making some snide comment.

So maybe I liked Tobias. So what? Was there any harm in that?

Shut up. I know there's harm in that. Last I heard, Tobias was Rachel's. I was just screwing myself over with this whole stupid thing.

I should just let it go. The rational, logical part of my brain knew that. That would have been the smart thing to do.

But the idiotic side? The side that liked Tobias? It wouldn't let go.

Stupid idiotic side.

I sighed mentally and adjusted my wings slightly. Actually, Tobias wasn't the only reason I was hawk right then.

Hey, I liked being a hawk. It was cool. With the feathers, and the beak, and the wings….Yeah, I'm done.

I shifted my head so I could see Tobias, who was perched on the same duffel bag as me.

'Get over it, Sam.' I thought to myself. 'It's stupid. Forget it. Never going to happen. Forget about Tobias.'

Yeah? Tobias asked, looking my way.

I blinked, startled. What?

Didn't you call my name? He sounded confused.

Oh. Uhh…I must have been thinking out-loud. I replied.

Yeah, that was good. Okay, no more thinking while I'm in morph.

Oh…Uhh…Okay, then… He said.

Actually, though, I have a stupid question. I admitted.

What? He asked.

What was the last mission-thingie you guys went on? I wanted to find out exactly where we were in the series…Although I didn't think it would matter anymore.

Obviously, the future of the series was not the future here. I never heard anything about Yeerks taking over Disneyland in the series. And Reese, Danny, and I certainly weren't in there.

Yeerk-related? Hmm…That had to be getting this Hork Bajir kid back from the Yeerks. Although after that, there were the Helmacrons. He replied.

Ahh. Okay. I said.

There was silence for a bit, while I was considering something.

Hey, Tobias? I asked finally.

Huh? He said.

You…uh, your father….He knew. I told him.

What? He asked.

When he saw you the night he gave you guys the morphing power? He knew you were his son. I, uh, just sort of remembered you were wondering about that… I trailed off lamely. Just thought you should know.

Silence. Then, How do you know?

Elfangor had his own book. At the end, was when he met you. And, well, he knew. At least…In my world. I dunno. Here it could be different. But there… Another lame trail off.

Oh. Tobias said.

Neither of us said anything after that.

After awhile, I hopped off the duffel bag to demorph. As fun as being a hawk was, I didn't really want to get trapped as one.

"Man, it is cold." I commented as I stood there in my little morphing outfit. "How are you guys not freezing?"

I paused. "Oh, right. Shared body heat."

Cassie and Jake both blushed furiously and separated a little.

"Sammie!" Reese yelled.

I don't think I understand the implications of that remark. Ax informed us.

"Oh, don't mind me." I said cheerfully as I began morphing. "Snuggle all you want. Have pleeebbh…" My vocal chords changed and I had to wait until I was able to use thought-speak to finish my sentence. Plenty of warmth.

Reese mumbled something under her breath, but I didn't catch it.

Whatever that was, Reese, I'm sure it wasn't nice, so pbbt. I commented.

Reese smiled. "Me? Would I ever say anything not nice?"

Marco rolled his eyes. "I decline to comment."

We talked, or slept, for the rest of the flight, until a little mechanical voice told us we were going to be landing soon.

"Time to morph, everyone." Jake told us.

I demorphed back to human, first, then started in on my roach.

Eww. Roach.

As cool as they were, it was still not fun turning into them.

Sam? Tobias called in private thought-speak as we were morphing.

I had to wait for a moment and morph a bit more before I could ask, Yeah?

Thanks. He said simply.

Chapter Thirty-Four Part Three – Danny

Airplane seats are surprisingly comfortable. And they lean back, too, which is kinda cool.

Was I gloating about getting to sit in the plane while the others were back in cargo? No…of course not….

Although, we did get lunch. And it wasn't too bad. I wondered if the others had realized this was going to be a six-hour flight straight through lunchtime…Oh, well, maybe I could save them a pack of pretzels or something.

We could always go to McDonald's or something, anyways. The 99-cent menu would work for even our sad little budget.

And there was the in-flight movie. Then again, it was pretty lousy. Or actually, it looked pretty lousy, seeing as we couldn't buy the five-dollar headsets and therefore couldn't hear the stupid movie.

At least I was warm, though, which is more than the rest of the group could probably say. And Rachel wasn't exactly bad company.

My mind kind of drifted around, listening to the droning of the engine. Stewing, I realized, laughing silently. But this wasn't how it was supposed to be. We weren't here. Not the first time. This mission never took place, and maybe the Yeerks are supposed to take over Disneyland. So why were we here? It had to be the work of the Ellimist. Or maybe Crayak, although hopefully not.

"So." Rachel said, interrupting my thoughts.

"So?" I asked.

"So, we've got a six-hour flight with a crappy movie, and, not that I'm usually into this talking stuff, I'm bored." She informed me. "So tell. You apparently know all about me. Reciprocate."

"Like…what?" I asked her back. "I don't exactly have your life story stored in my internal memory."

"Yeah, but you know enough about me. Shouldn't I know something about you?" Rachel countered.

"I wear a medium sized shirt," I answered back.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Oh very funny. You know what I meant."

I thought about what she was talking about for a minute. "I don't know if I'm supposed to tell you what I know. I can tell you this though. It will end."

"Oh, that's encouraging." Rachel muttered. Then she considered. "On second thought, though, maybe I don't want to know. I might not like it."

I gave her a small sad smile. Her statement was full of the irony that Marco would have appreciated.

She was silent for a little while. Then, "Okay, I thought of something to pass the time. Your turn."

"So uh…" I began. Unfortunately, I had no idea how I was going to end the sentence. "How about them Dodgers?"

She looked at me, then laughed. "Wow, there's a conversation starter."

"Hey," I said defensively. "You wanted something, you got it."

She considered that. "Fine, next time I'll be more specific."

"Yeah, good idea." I was quiet for a moment. "Think I should get the kosher meal?"

She looked pointedly over at the remains of our lunch. "Isn't it a little late for that? And don't you have to order those before hand or something?"

"Good point," I conceded. "'Sides, I'm not Jewish anyway."

"Yeah, but I bet half of the people who ordered them aren't really Jewish, either. They just wanted the vaguely recognizable meal." She replied with a grin.

"And yet it's still probably better then the cafeteria's food," I pointed out. "Safer too."

"Nuclear waste would be safer than our cafeteria food." She informed me.

"That's true." I agreed.

We chatted about normal, meaningless things such as those until the seatbelt light flashed on and the captain told us to remain seated. Plus, apparently we should have our tray table up, and our seat back in the full upright position. Because, you know, I just really wanted to get up and walk around while the plane dove right for the ground.

Rachel and I stood up as soon as the plane landed. Our seats weren't that close to the door, but somehow we managed to be the first ones out of the plane and into the airport.

Okay, so maybe it was because Rachel shoved our way through. Hey, we had a good excuse. We had to get to our bags, which contained our friends, who were currently roaches, before two hours was up and they were stuck as roaches forever. Normal? Who needs it?

And who knows how long it would take the plane people would take to unload our bags.

We got to the baggage claim and stood there, waiting for our bags to come into view.

For a half an hour we craned our necks, scanning all the bags in an attempt to find the one that had the other Animorphs on it.

"How long could it take them to unload a plane?" Rachel muttered, sounding annoyed.

"Worried about Tobias?" The words were out of my mouth before I realized what I was saying.

I was surprised at myself. Not just for saying it, but because I thought I heard a bit of jealously in those words.

She looked at me for a moment, as if trying to figure out what I meant. I fought the urge to blush.

"Worried about them all. Who wants to be stuck as a roach?" She said finally.

"Yeah, I agree. Come on, airlines." I commented, looking at the bags again.

Then, I saw our bag. "There it is." I said, pointing.

She smiled. "Oh, good."

She grabbed it when it came by us. "Now let's get to the bathroom."

"Am I going to have to go into the girl's one again?" I demanded.

Of course. Your sex change still isn't complete, remember? Reese reminded me.

"Hah-hah." I muttered.

Actually, we ended up going into the men's. We started for the women's, but Rachel looked in first and found it really busy. Fortunately, there was no one in the men's, so we went in there.

Rachel unzipped the bag and set it down, then we leaned against the door.

Seven roaches scampered out, then began demorphing. Soon, instead of roaches there stood an Andalite, a hawk, and five humans. Tobias and Ax quickly morphed human while the others pulled their clothes and shoes out of the bag and began dressing. Tobias and Ax dressed once they were human, Tobias picked up the duffel bag, and we were out of there.

We went back to the baggage claim and found the rest of our stuff already there. We each grabbed a bag, except for Tobias, who already had one, and Ax, who probably would have toppled over if he attempted to carry a duffel bag, and went outside to the parking lot.

There was a line of taxis in front of the airport, along with a couple of buses and some shuttles to various hotels.

"Hey." Marco said. "Does our hotel have a shuttle?"

Reese laughed. "Yeah, right. We're in the ten dollar a night motel, remember?"

"I guess we'll have to take the bus." Jake said reluctantly. "The motel's really too far to walk with all this stuff."

We found a bus that went to our motel and paid the fifty cents each, which was pretty cheap. Of course, the bus itself was no prize. The nine of us took up all but two of the seats, so after we got two more people, we were off.

Fortunately, the ride wasn't very long. I was squished in between Rachel, which wasn't bad, and this old guy who smelled like he hadn't bathed in weeks and kept drooling. That wasn't pleasant.

Our motel was first, so we squeezed past the drooling guy and his equally unpleasant smelling woman companion and stepped out into the parking lot.

There was silence for a moment.

"You are so kidding me." Rachel said.

The motel was medium sized, three stories high, and shaped like a square C. The end of the C was the lobby, and the rest appeared to be rooms. It was painted a faded gray, but the paint was peeling so bad that I could see at least ten or twelve different colors from previous paint jobs. The parking lot was filled with cracks, potholes, and weeds and all of the lines marking parking spaces seemed to have disappeared. The shutters on every window we could see were either cracked, falling off, missing pieces, or missing all together. A faded sign in front of the lobby read 'Pardis Mote'. The missing 'A', 'E', and 'L' were scattered on the ground below it.

"Hey, it's ten dollars a night." Sam said defensively.

"And that would be overcharge." I commented.

"It's better on the inside?" Reese offered.

"Even I find that difficult to believe." Cassie muttered.

"This facility…Faa-ciil. Iii-teee. Does not appear to have been built by the same standards…An…Dards….As others in your home, Prince Jake." Ax told us.

"Don't call me Prince, Ax. And come on, let's check in." Jake said, although there was reluctance even in his voice.

"Oh, the glamorous life of the super hero. What happened to the billions of dollars of funding? The mansions? The cool cars? And the most important thing, uniforms that actually look good." Marco said as we headed into the lobby.

"It could have been worse." Tobias replied.

"I'm not sure how." I muttered.

"Hi, we're checking into room 206. We called ahead and reserved it?" Jake told the receptionist, a guy who looked to be in his early thirties.

The inside of the lobby was in slightly better condition than the outside of the motel, fortunately.

"Uh-uh, let me check…Yeah, the Addamses, right?" He asked, then looked us over.

We look nothing alike, by the way. Except for Ax, who looks vaguely like Cassie, Jake, Rachel, and Marco combined. Everyone else? Totally different.

"Right." Jake said, his face perfectly straight.

"Okay….How many nights are you paying for in advance?" The guy asked.

"Two." Jake said, handing over twenty dollars.

"And you want…nine keys?" The guy asked.

Yes, keys. This motel had doors locked by good old-fashioned locks, versus the way-too expensive keycard models.

"Actually, only seven." Jake replied.

"All right, then…" He handed Jake seven keys. "Here you go, Mr. Addams."

"We asked for two roll away beds?" Jake prompted.

The guy nodded. "Right, right. They should be in there. If not, call down and we'll bring some up."

"Okay." Jake said. "Thanks."

The guy nodded again and went back to talking on the phone.

We left and climbed up a flight of stairs, then walked down the hall until we got to 206. Jake opened the door with his key and we piled inside.

And got another surprise.

The room was actually clean. And not broken. There was a room in front that had a couch and the two rollaway beds, then a fairly nice bathroom with an actual shower, not just a faucet, and after that was the bedroom with a king-sized bed, two dressers, and a closet. We were on the side facing the next building, rather than the parking lot, and the shutters bordering our window were more or less intact. Plus, we had two TVs, one in the bedroom and one in the main room.

"You're bloody kidding me," I said.

"I told you it was nicer on the inside." Reese said cheerfully.

Jake closed the door and looked around. "Okay…We should figure out sleeping arrangements. I figure Ax'll sleep in the bathroom, so he can have room to be himself and won't be seen from outside. Tobias, you can either sleep outside or in the closet with the door open…The clothes rack should be an okay perch."

Tobias blinked and looked around the room. "I think I'll take the closet. It's never a good idea to sleep in strange territory."

Jake nodded. "And, as for the rest of us…"

Cassie grinned at him. "We'll take the bedroom, seeing as you boys seem to have this thing with sleeping in the same bed." She teased.

"Yeah, their manhood might be brought into question." Rachel agreed.

Jake, Marco, and I put up some form of protest, but none of us really wanted to share the bed.

"Who gets the couch, and who gets the beds?" I asked.

"Flip for it?" Marco suggested.

"I don't care…You two pick, I'll take what's left." Jake said.

"Think we can fit all four of us in the bed?" Reese asked.

Cassie grinned. "We can try."

"I can always sleep on the floor." Sam offered.

"Well, I call one of the beds, then." Marco said.

"Guess you get the couch, then, Jake." I told him.

He grinned. "I figured I would. All right, then, now that that's settled….Time to plan what we're going to do at Disneyland."