"Code: Insomnia"
By cdc100
Summary: Jeremie is having fits in his sleep. Aelita wants to know what's wrong with him and he insists that nothing is wrong. Find out what happens.
Disclaimer: This is a work of pure non-profit fan fiction. I do not own any of the characters, their weapons, their abilities, or any of their universes, nor do I own any of the lyrics that will appear in later chapters, or any of the products mentioned in the story such as Coca-Cola, or Playstation.
Note: I don't know if I'm spelling Jeremie's name right. I've seen it spelled, "Jeremie," and "Jeremy," so just bear with me. If anyone thinks I should change the spelling, send me a review. Yolande is pronounced, "Yo-lawn-duh."
Chapter Five
"Aelita's Confession"
Jeremie was in the factory typing on the supercomputer, typing in code after code. He decided that he might work on the group's powers a little. He was working on their Lyoko powers until about five o' clock when he came across Aelita's profile. Aelita… He was still unsure of how he was ever going to reveal to Aelita how he felt. A tear escaped his eyelid, and he turned around in his computer chair, walked up to the wall, leaned his arm against it, and put his head against it. He loved Aelita with all of his heart, but he was unsure if she felt the same way. Whether he realized it or not, it was slowly but surely causing him to doubt himself.
Aelita looked at the spot where Jeremie had been standing.
"Now what are we going to do?" asked Odd.
"I don't know," said Yumi.
Aelita looked down at her shoes. She suddenly had an idea.
"Guys?"
"Yeah, Princess?" asked Odd.
"Would you come with me to the factory?"
"Why?" asked Ulrich.
"I think I know how to persuade Jeremie," answered Aelita.
"Really?" asked Odd.
"Yes," said Aelita.
"How?" asked Yumi.
"I'm going to need you guys to just trust me with this," said Aelita.
Everyone looked at each other, seemingly weighing the pros and cons, the former seemingly outweighing the latter, because they nodded their heads.
"Lead the way, Aelita," said Yumi.
Aelita smiled, and then walked down the hall. The others followed her curiously. She led them out of the school grounds, and then, when they knew that they were out of sight and earshot, she broke into a run and stopped right in front of the manhole that led to the factory. She took one of the scooters that was leaned against the wall of the sewer, and began scooting down the tunnel. She stopped directly below another manhole, and then climbed the ladder that led to the top, and opened it.
Jeremie thought of the times he and Aelita had spent together, and suddenly had a dark thought. He remembered when Aelita had pretended to kiss Odd to steer Herb Pichon and Nicholas Poliakoff away from the factory. His thought was Odd and Aelita kissing, for real, and sneering at him as they did so. Aelita walked away from Odd toward Jeremie. She put her head right next to his.
"I don't love you, Jeremie," she said. She sounded happy about it.
She walked back to Odd with a smile on her face. She then kissed Odd square on the lips, she then began making out with him. She kissed him again, and again, and again.
Jeremie snapped back to reality. He looked back at the supercomputer. He began to feel dizzy… he looked at the ground, and began to feel nauseous. He struggled to find some way to balance himself, but to no avail. He fell to the ground, supported himself with his arms, and emptied the contents of his stomach before everything went black.
Aelita made her way into the factory and grabbed one of the ropes, slid down to the floor, and walked to the elevator.
"Get in," she said.
She punched in the numbers: 7, 1, 3, 0, check, 5, 1. The elevator doors closed, and they began to descend.
Jeremie was regaining conciousness.
"My head. It hurts," he said to himself.
It was at that moment that Aelita and the others came out of the elevator. They saw Jeremie laying on the floor, getting up, rubbing his head.
"Jeremie!" yelled Aelita.
She rushed over to Jeremie's side, and steadied him.
"I'm fine, Aelita," he pushed her hand off of him, and then started to walk, only to fall back down, but this time Odd and Ulrich caught him.
"Okay, you win. I'm not fine. Are you happy?" asked Jeremie.
"What happened?" asked Ulrich.
Jeremie upchucked again.
"Ugh… The last thing I remember… I fell down, and I…" he passed out before he could finish his sentence.
"Jeremie!" yelled Aelita.
Jeremie saw Aelita in front of him. She had a look of malice on her face. She let out a small grin, soon replaced with a look of disdain. She drew her hand back, and with all her might, hauled off and slapped him across his cheek.
Aelita was slapping Jeremie lightly on the face.
"Jeremie! Jeremie!" she called.
"What?" he asked.
"Ugh! What did you have for breakfast, Einstein?" asked Odd.
Odd was looking at the gutpile that Jeremie left behind.
"You don't want to know," he replied.
"Are you alright?" asked Aelita.
"I guess not," he answered.
She looked at Jeremie. She put her hand on his shoulder. He was vibrating like her cell phone.
"You're shaking."
She took her coat off, and laid it on top of Jeremie.
"Is that better?" she asked.
Jeremie looked at Aelita. She had a look of great concern in her eyes.
"Warm. Thank you, Aelita."
Aelita put a hand to his head. He was cool as a cucumber.
"You're not even warm," said Aelita.
She then observed a swollen spot on his head.
"What happened here?" she asked, pressing the spot with her finger.
"Ow," he replied.
"Sorry!" said Aelita.
"It's all right."
"How did that happen?"
"When I passed out the first time, I threw up, and then I hit the floor."
"Does that hurt?" she asked.
"It comes and goes," he answered. "There's a few brain cells I'll never get back."
"Your brain cells are the last thing you should be worried about right now, Einstein," said Odd.
They sat for a minute, and just stayed by Jeremie's side. Aelita rubbed his back, up and down, up and down.
"Feeling better?" she asked.
"Not quite," said Jeremie, covering his mouth. He ran to a trashcan on the other side of the room, and emptied his stomach contents once again.
"Ugh. What is going…?"
Aelita came over to him. He was shaking worse than before. She rubbed his back again, and he seemed to calm down.
"Come here, Jeremie," she said.
She led him over to the other side of the room, and sat him down. She then sat down beside him.
"Rest your head here," she said, patting her lap with her hand.
He hesitated for a moment, and then slowly turned his body. He sat his head down slowly. She took off his glasses, and set them to the side. She and Ulrich both sat their jackets down on top of him. After a few minutes, he nodded off.
If it weren't for that infernal computer, Jeremie wouldn't have to go through all of this, she thought.
"You all right, Aelita?" asked Yumi.
"I'm fine. I'm just worried about Jeremie."
"Well, that's natural," replied the dark-haired girl.
Aelita looked down at the boy sleeping on her lap. She saw a tear escape his eye. Suddenly, she felt one escape hers. She knew that he must have been dreaming about her.
Jeremie saw Aelita once again. She was in the woods. He could see her standing next to William Dunbar this time. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the lips. She began kissing him like there was no tomorrow. They both faded away, to be replaced by a round room with no exit. Heard a terrifying cackle behind him. He got up and started running, trying to find some way to escape. He needed to get out.
Aelita looked down, Jeremie opened his eyes, and sat up out of her lap. He shot up and grabbed his head.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" he yelled. The gang's ears were bleeding.
"He's having another night terror!" exclaimed Yumi.
"Jeremie!" said Aelita.
He stood up, and ran around the computer room. He began banging on the walls until he found the elevator. He began trying to pry open the door with his hands.
"Jeremie, it's me, Aelita!" she said. She was crying now.
Jeremie continued to pry on the door.
"JEREMIE!" they all yelled at the same time.
Jeremie shook his head, closed his eyes and looked around. He was back in the computer room.
"Did I?"
"You did," said Odd.
Jeremie looked at the floor. He felt so embarrassed. He was having night terrors, banging on windows, trying to jump off roofs, trying to pry open elevator doors, and throwing up in front of the love of his life.
Odd and Ulrich came over to him and picked him up. They put his arms over his shoulders so as to keep him up. They led him to the elevator. Aelita typed in the code for the elevator once again.
They went to the bathroom upstairs and fixed Jeremie up. He had a nosebleed from the fall to the floor, so they gave him some Kleenex for it. Aelita gave him an ice pack to put on his head, and he washed out his mouth a few times with water from the sink. They then went back downstairs to clean up Jeremie's mess.
"I can get it, you guys," insisted Jeremie.
With that, he set to work.
"Guys? Can you give us a moment?" asked Aelita.
They did as they were asked, and went back into the elevator. When she heard the sound of the elevator going back up, she began to speak.
"Jeremie?" asked Aelita.
He was looking at the floor, still working on his mess. He seemed sad.
"I want to tell you something," she said.
"I'm listening," he answered.
She didn't know where to begin. She wanted to tell him so many things.
"Jeremie, I know why you're having these night terrors, and why you passed out just now."
Jeremie looked up at her, and then back down at the spot where he upchucked. Aelita bent down, and took the washcloth away from Jeremie, setting it aside. She then put a hand on his cheek, and turned his head to her.
"I know because it's the same reason that I worry about you."
Jeremie didn't say anything. He just stared into his favorite girl's emerald green eyes. They were so beautiful.
"You're working so hard because you are trying to find my father… for me."
He didn't say anything. He could feel sweat trickling down his forehead.
"You're trying to show me that you care for me, and it's stressful for you, because you are having doubts about whether I care for you, and you're about ready to give up."
Jeremie almost fell backwards, but Aelita caught him.
"I want you to know this…"
Jeremie was listening intently.
"You are overworking yourself. You should not be shutting us out like this and locking yourself up in your room for the sake of Lyoko."
She said this in an almost judgmental tone. It felt like a blow to the gut. Jeremie had half a mind to back away, and half a mind to counter with something.
"But that's okay. I realize now that you are doing this because…"
Jeremie sat silent.
"You love me," she finished. "And you know what?"
Jeremie was mentally shooting himself in the head. She was going to say the words that he had been dreading ever since he met Aelita.
"I love you, too."
Or not.
"I want you to know something else, too. I appreciate everything you've done for me. Materializing me, trying to find me an antivirus, helping me find my dad. You didn't have to, but you did. Thank you."
She pulled him closer, and hugged him.
"Am I right? Do you love me?"
He looked at her eyes. He couldn't think of anything else to say. He mouthed the word, "Yes."
She leaned into him, and caught his lips with hers. She gave him a long, sweet, loving, beautiful, passionate kiss. After a minute, he kissed back.
"I love you, Aelita," Jeremie said, finally.
"I love you, too, Jeremie," said Aelita.
Jeremie pulled her into another kiss. They spent the next fifteen minutes in the computer room, kissing and hugging.
"Jeremie?" asked Aelita.
"Yes, Princess?"
"For the very first time, I'm going to ask you to do something for me."
"What is it?"
"I want you to go to the infirmary, or the hospital. I can't stand to see you go through one more of these. They terrify me. I don't want you to have any more of them because of me. If this keeps up, you'll have ten of them by the end of this week."
"I-" began Jeremie.
"Please? For me?" asked Aelita. She looked at Jeremie again. She looked at him with such sincerity, such care in her eyes.
"Okay, Aelita. I'll go to the infirmary."
Aelita gasped and then leapt onto Jeremie and kissed him on the lips.
"Thank you, Jeremie. For everything."
Jeremie kissed her on the lips again.
"You're welcome."
To Be Continued…
Let me know if you guys think that this chapter should have been longer.