Hunter Moebius and I do not own Code Lyoko, Maximum Ride, or Kaitlyn Belpois. Hunter does, however, own his own OC, as I own mine.

You'll have to forgive the blanks in my memories. After all, it's not exactly my fault that those whitecoats seem to like sedating me when I won't cooperate… But the last blank-out seemed to take a very long time, before I finally woke up. And I wasn't even sure where I was, at first. All I remember was seeing the others all around me, wondering if I was alright. They didn't look very happy, either.

"Ah… there you are!" Jeremie was the first to speak, after I opened my eyes. "Thank goodness."

"C-Cassidy!" Hunter was next; I think he was almost as freaked out as I was. "Y-you okay? You were… out for a while."

"I-I think the tomato went west from Scotland to join the soccer league," I mumbled, trying to make sense of myself.

"She's almost there," Ulrich remarked, giggling around the edges. "She's not quite back to herself, yet."

Yumi covered her mouth with her hand, finding it harder and harder to resist giggling, as well. "Yeah, 'almost'..."

My hand went for my neck. "Ooh…"

"Might wanna be careful with that," William cautioned me. "It might sting there, again."

I nodded, still slightly out-of-it. "Is everyone okay?"

The others nodded in reply.

"Yeah. It wasn't easy," Ulrich added, "but they got all of us in here."

"As l-l-long as things… don't get c-crazier… after this…" Hunter commented.

Sister crawled over by me. "Why don't you just rest, dear sister? Let that sedative wear off all the way, before you try anything. We're all here."

"What about Kiwi? And—" I minutely trembled.

"He's right here!" Odd jumped in, holding up his little diggity-dog for me to see. "All safe and sound!"

"Where's Aelita?!" My mind couldn't quite stop overwiring itself. The last time I saw her, she was roughly handled by the Eraser.

Thankfully, my worries would be put to rest, as I felt a pair of hands come to rest atop my shoulders, as the girl in question hovered over me, a warm, disarming smile upon her face.

"I'm right here, Cassidy," she soothed. "Don't worry."

"Are you okay? He looked like he would hurt you," I inquired, keeping my voice level. I would never forgive myself if she ended up harmed by an Eraser.

"My wrist hurts from him dragging me, but that's about it," she replied, her smile unchanging.

My eyes widened. "What about Jeremie? Is he alright?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." The Einstein nodded. "Just a few bruises, but nothing too dangerous."

I was slightly relieved, but I still felt the need to get something off from my chest. I gestured to the boy to come closer, and when he did, I reached up and grabbed the collar of his brown turtleneck, pulling him closer to me, until my bespectacled eyes were level with his own surprised peepers.

"What the ever-loving hell were you thinking, Jeremie Elvis/Albert Belpois?! You could have gotten yourself killed!" I hissed. "I told you that Erasers weren't to be messed with!"

"I couldn't just sit back and let them drag Aelita around like that!" he defended, his voice rising in pitch and fear. "And why are you so angry, Cassidy?! I told you, everything was just fine!"

"Refer to my second sentence, Einstein! You were putting yourself at risk!" I growled.

"Well, what did you expect me to do?!" Now he was starting to sound a bit angry. "Just sit there, and watch them treat Aelita like a rag doll?!"

"No, but use some common sense with the two that had read the books—Yumi and I!" I tried to keep my voice level. "I know we were cadets in Jim's commando camp, but you haven't gained enough strength. Plus, I worry about you, too."

That got him to calm down. "Okay, okay. I get it, it was a stupid thing to do. But nobody else was doing anything, and I…"

He lowered his voice, a bit of sadness taking over. "I don't like seeing Aelita treated like that."

"I understand, love makes you crazy, but at the time, the Eraser could have broken your arm or something like that," I soothed, letting go of him. "I'm sorry that we weren't doing anything to help. I think we were in shock at first. I could have kicked his hand, even if it didn't do anything."

Jeremie took a deep breath. "It's okay. But it made me feel better."

As he finished, rubbing his neck even though I hadn't touched it, his darling pink girlfriend wrapped her arms around him from behind, before resting her chin upon his shoulder.

"That was very sweet of you, Jeremie," she cooed, before gently kissing the boy on the cheek, causing a slight jerk to displace his glasses and a smile to form upon his face.

Yep, I can almost hear that Wedding March—possibly techno themed to suit Aelita's taste—now! I smiled, having bore witness to the scene.

As another onlooker, Yumi gained a big grin on her face, gently giggling at the sight of the two, especially Jeremie's reaction to Aelita's kiss. She knew those two were as much of a match made in Heaven as I did.

"Anyone else slightly hurt from them?" I asked, my facial features unwavering.

Samantha rubbed her wrists. "Just my wrists, too. Man, those Eraser dudes really can jerk you around! I almost thought my hands were gonna fall off!"

Hunter shook his head. "Just a bit… f-f-frazzled… that's all…"

"Not me, either," Patrick answered. "I simply glared at my own and cooperated. I wasn't gonna let myself get dragged around."

"I almost got a hit on him," Kaitlyn remarked, "but he gave me a gentle shove, and then grabbed me. But nothing hurts."

"How about you?" Aelita gave me a curious look.

"Not too much," I began. "My belly aches, my wrist slightly hurts, and my neck stings, but the pain is mild. Other than being displeased that I think they will jot me down as uncooperative for the moment, I think I'll be alright. I still have those flashbacks…"

"We heard from the whitecoat that you were being a bit stubborn," Jeremie noted, as if he thought it was interesting.

"Can you blame my own trigger about planes, jets, and so on? You know what happened about that contest," I shook a little more.

The blond genius gritted his teeth. "Oh yeah… I almost forgot about that."

"I ended up having bad flashbacks to that day. I swore I wouldn't go back to flying ever again if it wasn't on Lyoko!"

"Well, don't worry," Yumi soothed, as I felt her softly rub my arm, "you're safe here with us. You won't have to go through that, again."

"She's right," Sam jumped in, grinning. "Besides, it's not like you're flying right now, anyway—"

Suddenly, I saw her clap her hands over her mouth, as her eyes got wider.

"SAM!" The rest of my friends, plus mi novio y ex novio, yelled at her.

"You weren't supposed to tell her that!" Hunter called out, making it the first time I've heard that boy speak a coherent sentence without pausing, or stuttering, since I met him.

I clenched a fist on the floor. I could feel my nerves slowly churning up, just at the mere thought. "W-what did she mean by that?"

Mi novio looked around at the others, before turning his gaze back on me, his tone rising in pitch. "Uh, n-nothing! She was talking about her trip to Tanzania!"

There was something wrong in the air. Odd rarely used that tone of voice, which set off warning bells within my mind. "Odd… honey? What's—" I gulped, "—what's going on?"

He waved his hands in front of himself, trying to sound soothing. "Nothing, novia. Just lay your head back and relax. You're getting all worked up, again. And I, for one, don't want those whitecoats over here."

Something seemed fishy in the Alamo, and I could smell it. "Odd…?"

Before I knew it, he had crawled around behind my head, and was softly running his fingers through my hair. "I really think you need your rest, Cat Girl. You're getting all worked up, and that's not good for you. You already fainted twice yesterday, and you know what we'd think if you made it three in just two days!"

I blinked, his soft caress making me purr, even though I really didn't want to. "There's something happening somewhere…and I intend on finding out exactly what it is."

Now Sister was getting a bit upset, as she folded her arms. "Now, now, sister dear, it's all happening in your head. Why don't you just close your eyes and relax, like Odd wants you to do? You're getting awfully close to overloading."

That was a lie; I knew I wasn't even close to overloading! "'All happening in my head,' huh? Then why are you all here? This would be so close to something called lucid dreaming, right, Sister?"

"You could be simply in the middle of a daydream," Jeremie suggested. "Perhaps when the rest of us got out of the sedan, you started to worry about what the Erasers and whitecoats would do to us, and that's why you're here."

"Please, dear sister!" She looked like she was close to pleading. "Rest for us, won't you?"

"Daydreaming, Einstein? What you might be describing would be somewhat akin to hallucinating. Something I have experienced before with Odd and Ulrich after Samurai here clocked me hard," I gritted my teeth, lowering my tone, as I turned to look at the brown-haired German-named boy. "And you know I don't use drugs or anything. Not even all of you."

Jeremie tried to keep his voice level, as he kept trying to reassure me. "None of us ever made the suggestion that you used drugs, Cassidy. We all know you better than that. However, we also know that, when placed into a fearful situation, one's brain can involuntarily create—"

"Spare me your psychological speech! You used that on me once before, while I was involuntarily vision sharing with Aelita—and I really hated doing that." My friends still acting weird, even my new ones, check again!

That was when Ulrich stepped up to the plate. "Listen, Cassidy. What Einstein's trying to say, is that this whole entire thing, with the Erasers and the whitecoats… it's all kinda going to our heads. We're thinking that we just got a few bruises, like on our wrists, and things like that, but really, they've started messing with us in all sorts of weird ways—"

"Ulrich, I'm not an idiota. I'm not dreaming, hallucinating, or having an overload. I can feel the floor, my pain, Odd petting mi pelo, Yumi rubbing my arm, and my own emotions. So one of you tell me the truth, or I'll just find out the hard way. Samantha here seems to be on the right track… I believe," I growled. This was getting me nowhere. What were they trying to hide? Whatever it was, it must be super important.

Everyone suddenly turned to look at Sam, whose eyes widened in surprise. I next saw her squeeze her eyes shut, like she was regretting what she was about to do.

"Okay!" she blurted out. "We're all on the chopper! We left Paris about a half hour ago, and we're currently over the Atlantic Ocean, heading toward the United States!"

That was not what I wanted to hear! We're… on… the… very… same… CHOPPER I WANTED TO AVOID?! I couldn't believe this! Why did they keep this a secret from me?! I immediately looked up at Odd, giving him a look that was a combination of pure anger, and abject fear, wondering why he and the others would hide this from me, even after they promised not to withhold stuff from me! It was really starting to work my last nerve…

...and that was when his hands began to give me a sort of soothing scalp massage, calming me down a bit.

"Shhhh… it's okay, Cat Girl… relax…" he cooed, grinning at me. "We're all right here with you, and we don't want you to overload."

"B-but—"

"Trust us," Yumi soothed next, as I felt her hands softly and soothingly rub my shoulders. "Everything's going to be just fine."

My mind shot into overdrive, remembering what that whitecoat had said before he made my neck sting again. "Please don't say that right now. It scares me. He used Aelita's words against me."

Aelita's eyes widened when she heard that. "Huh? How did he do that?"

"'Everything's going to be just fine…' You used a similar phrase when you were transferring your DNA sequence code over to me. I heard it when I blanked out. Right now, I don't wanna hear that phrase." Just the thought of it made me shiver.

"Don't worry, though…" she crawled closer to me, finding a spot next to Yumi. "We wouldn't say it if it wasn't true. Those whitecoats were just trying to play a trick on you. I would never do anything like that."

"Well, it works for now. It scares me," I whimpered, eyes welling with tears. I swore my airplane adventures were gone for good. Why couldn't I have been right?! Why'd they have to go and put me on a chopper, next?!

"That's why we were trying to keep it a secret from you," Jeremie was next to try and calm me. "We knew how you would react if you had known, which was why we were trying to keep you blissfully unaware for as long as possible!"

To punctuate his point, he sent a glare toward Sam, who threw one back at him. She didn't look like she was angry at Jeremie, but something told me she wasn't exactly happy about accidentally blabbing.

"Kinda hard to keep me blissfully unaware when you don't have my favorite hobbies to keep me occupied," I said off-handedly. "That's it! Next inadvertent adventure, I'm stuffing my Hippity, my knitting and a few patterns, and iPod in my shirt."

"You're right," Odd agreed, grinning from ear to ear. "Maybe we all need to have emergency supplies in our clothes!"

"I'm still in favor of duct taping Jeremie's laptop on his back," I smiled, giving Einstein a playful glare.

"How would you expect me to retrieve it," Jeremie replied, even though I could tell, by the sound of his voice, that he was about as angry as Odd would get, if he and the others called him "scrawny," "if it was on my back, out of reach! Or even how I'd be able to bend backward! And do you know how long it would take me to get the duct tape residue off from the front cover?!"

I couldn't help but giggle at his retorts. "I'm kidding, Einstein! Jeepers, you act like Eddward 'Double D' at times. It's funny."

All Jeremie could do was blush.

"That's our Cat Girl," Odd smiled. "Always one for a joke."

Sister giggled, as well. "That's for sure! I don't know where we'd be, if we didn't have her with us!"

"Possibly a lot of things," I blinked. "But that being said—" I froze mid-sentence. If Jim hadn't been sedated, and they did something worse, the next few words were painful to cross my lips. I hoped he was okay.

And once everyone else saw the look on my face, nobody wanted to finish my sentence. It was like they already knew.

"I hope he's okay…" I whimpered. "I really like him."

"Yeah, he's a good gym teacher," Odd commented. "He always likes to yell at me a lot, though."

"I'm his favorite player on the soccer team," Ulrich added.

"He said I had guts in his commando camp. He is always proud of me now," Jeremie nodded.

"He's like a father figure, almost," Aelita remarked. "He's tough, but you know that he cares about you, even if he doesn't always show it at first."

"I still remember that kiss I gave him. He tells me everyday that that was the most surprising thing I did to him," Yumi commented. "Cassidy, I know you really enjoyed his stories, but it was like you said. Maybe they sedated him instead of having him fallen in battle in France."

"Even though I'm not as fast as Yumi is on the track," William commented with a grin, "he still thinks I have potential, and tries to get me to build up more strength in my legs."

"And he is the greatest at helping me with my cheerleading," Sissi smiled.

"I still hope he's okay," I interjected. "I really miss him a lot."

And the more I thought about that, the more it made me wonder… what if I was the reason that happened to him? If I hadn't unleashed the monster in the first place, the Erasers and whitecoats wouldn't have known about us, and we wouldn't have gotten to this point. That made me think this whole entire mess was my fault.

Odd grinned, as he tried to reassure me. "Oh, come on, Cat Girl. Jim's harder than nails at times. It'd take more than that to take out good ol' Jimbo."

"You're right, but I can't help but to think that he's hurt because of me!" I sniffed.

That made everyone's eyebrows jump. Yumi's came with a side order of surprise. "Why, because of the monster?"

My head went up and down, tears falling from my eyes. "We got surrounded, Jim's down for the count, and we're kidnapped right now… It all makes sense, doesn't it?!"

"H-how could you have known…?" Hunter spoke up, looking as surprised as everyone else. "Just b-because you… brought that out… d-doesn't mean you're… responsible for… e-everything that… happened, because of it!"

"H-Hunter…"

"Hunter's right," Ulrich commented, crawling over next to his novia before placing his hand on my kneecap. "Nobody blames you for the monster, or anything like that. We're all going through this together. We rise and fall as a group, remember?"

That made a lot of sense, especially since it sounded like something Jim himself had said in the past. I sniffed, feeling better about it. "You're right. I guess I'm worrying too much again. Yolanda's going to have a field day with me when I get back."

"Don't worry about that, Cat Girl!" Odd grinned. "The only thing you need is plenty of Vitamin Odd!"

"Just think of the side effects," Ulrich quipped, pretending to be afraid.

I cracked up at their setup. "Odd… Ulrich…"

"This is why you would make a terrible doctor, Odd, dear!" Sister grinned at mi novio.

"I don't think Dr. Odd would roll off the tongue," Aelita squeaked, on the verge of laughter. "And Dr. Della Robbia is way too long a title."

"Maybe he could call himself… Odd D.R.?" Hunter spoke up. "You know… Odd… and then his… last name, as two letters?"

"That sounds more of a vanity license plate on a car," I giggled.

"That'd be a great idea!" Odd commented, looking excited. "Now I know what I'll put on my car! But maybe you're right…"

I rose to a sitting position, still slightly disoriented from whatever the whitecoat gave me. "Ugh…"

Yumi's expression slowly morphed into one of concern, as her hands found my shoulders, once more. "Are you okay, Cassidy?"

"Just a bit dizzy, but it'll pass. I've been through equilibrium attacks worse than this. Remember when I was sick before the monster had been unleashed, before Jim's commando camp, and I passed out from a high fever and dizziness?" I asked her.

Aelita grimaced. "You lost a lot of bodily fluids that day. I was afraid you were going to get dehydrated, or even worse."

"That was the worst. It was thankful that Jim—" I stopped, saying his name hurting my heart, but forced myself to keep going, "—had found me and rushed me to the infirmary."

Aelita nodded, even though I got the feeling she still knew why I paused in mid-sentence. "And we're grateful that he did. You know he doesn't blame you, either, right?"

"I sure hope he doesn't if we ever get back," I frowned. "I don't need that on my heart, too."

"I'm sure that he's okay, Cass," William smiled. "He'll probably want to put more guards around your HQ after this, and make sure we're all alright."

"I wouldn't mind a hug from him, either," I considered.

"He'd probably hug you," Odd agreed. "He wouldn't hug me, though. He'd probably say, 'Della Robbia, have you gone mad?! You need to do five extra push-ups, now!'"

"You might be surprised," Jeremie winked at him.

Sister was next to look over at me, guilt overtaking her face. "Dear sister… I'm sorry for keeping you from the truth. It was wrong to make you seem like you were in a mental hospital."

I nodded. "It's okay. I don't blame you, but even though I really hate flying, the truth is better than anything."

Then Jeremie bowed his head, closing his eyes. "And we should have told you right away. We knew how you would react, and we thought we could protect you by not telling you, but that was a terrible idea, especially since we all agreed to be more transparent with each other."

"Exactly. Since you had kept the truth about the monster and my coma wrapped up for a month, but that time had special circumstances, so I understand that. Plus, from the way you all were talking, it sounded as though we all ended up at the funny farm." I shook my head.

"But this isn't a funny farm!" Odd jumped in. "Where's the honking pigs, or the quacking cows?"

"You forgot the tweeting sheep," Ulrich quipped, grinning.

Yumi sighed lightly. "She has a point, you guys. We all acted as though she went nuts…"

"And to some degree, I did," I nodded.

"But it was wrong of us to make you think that," she continued.

"If I didn't have these stupid triggers that flare up—"

"Cassidy!" Sister suddenly barged in. "We've had enough of you always beating yourself up over these things! Yes, we know about them, but you don't need to keep making yourself feel bad, because of them!"

Then her tone turned soothing. "You just need to relax, dear sister. Trust us, we know. Your triggers are fine. Just don't blame yourself over and over again, okay?"

Leave it to Sister to give me the right kind of slap in the face. She was absolutely right, and I knew it. "Thanks, Sister…"

"It's not good to beat yourself up over these things, dear sister," she grinned.

"I know, and I'm sorry. I just let it keep bothering me, no matter how many times we talk about it."

"Now, now, dear sister… Maybe you should get some rest. We're going through a lot, too," Sister cooed.

"I don't want to fall asleep right now, Sister. It feels a bit weird right now," I whispered.

Sister gained a knowing, understanding look upon her features. The only other person I've ever seen give someone that look was Yumi. "Don't worry, that's okay."

"Besides, this whole situation is still getting me discombobulated right now," I shook my head. "I mean, Erasers attacking Kadic Academy, taking us prisoner. It's got my brain in such a twist."

"You're telling me," Patrick quipped. "I don't think my life was ever this exciting before my parents transferred me to Kadic. I never realized you dealt with this stuff on a regular basis."

"I was more used to XANA attacking than preparing for this…" I looked him in the eyes.

"Well, it's not every day a bunch of wolves with feet," Odd added, "and a bunch of guys in lab coats show up to take you away. I almost thought we were in Hospital of Horrors!"

"I thought one of your own horror movie dreams was coming true, Novio, but once I realized the situation, I had to change directions," I remarked.

"I admit that, while I've never read any of the Maximum Ride books," Jeremie commented, "besides little excerpts you've read to me on occasion, Cassidy, the thought did start to cross my mind that I was hallucinating something out of one of Odd's horror movies, as well."

"What's wrong with being in a horror movie?" Odd glanced over at Einstein, pretending to get angry, but only for a moment. "Then again, I'm not sure you could handle Dr. Shrank!"

My gut twisted. "I think he would have the same thoughts that I feared about those dunderheads that took Aelita's mom away."

As if on cue, I felt Aelita softly rub my left arm. "At least we don't have to worry about them anymore. That's something that should make all of us happy, even Mommy and Daddy."

"It does, Aelita, believe me. I just hope that the whitecoats aren't thinking the same things," I blinked.

Fearing Aelita's reaction, Yumi moved her hands up to the elven princess' shoulders, before softly rubbing them. "I don't think we'll need to worry about that, either. Wouldn't the whitecoats and Erasers have gotten Franz and Anthea, too?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Schaeffer went to a hotel after the party to retire for the night, Yumi. I heard their thoughts," I pointed out.

Ulrich's eyes suddenly widened. "Hey, you're right! What hotel did they go to?"

Sissi raised a finger. "Hôtel Restaurant Campanile Paris 11 Bastille—Le Marais. It was the cheapest option for them, considering they are still trying to get their bank accounts unfrozen."

"That would explain their disappearance when we woke up this morning," Jeremie deduced.

"But the pregunta del millón is how are we going to get out of here?" I asked.

Odd raised his index finger, looking a bit unsure. "They um...told us not to try anything funny."

I let out a gulp, when I heard that. Great… just when I thought it couldn't get any better…

Seeing this, Yumi came up with an idea. "Maybe we can come up with some sort of plan, for after we land?"

"Maybe, but what?! We'd be almost five hundred miles shy of six thousand miles from Kadic! And they are faster than us, don't forget," Jeremie asked her.

"That's true." Yumi's face fell, yet I could tell she was determined to come up with something else. "But there's gotta be something we can do, isn't there?"

"Well…" Hunter looked all around at me and the others. "Where are we… gonna land? Somewhere in the… United States… r-right?"

"Death Valley, California," I answered. "The Erasers mentioned that place when they surrounded Kadic's dorm building."

"Bandersnatch." He snapped his fingers. "If we were closer to the Eastern part… that's where I live. We could hide out there."

"They aren't gonna allow us to run away, Hunter," Ulrich reminded him.

His head and voice drooped. "Yeah… you're right. I just… wanted to help everyone… stay positive, I guess. I'm sure nobody wants to think about… what they'll probably do to us… once we land."

I nearly cringed at that. The sad part was, I knew Yumi and I had the best knowledge of what they were bound to do to us, once we did land in Death Valley.

"That's what scares me," I whispered. "Especially since I already know… and Yumi does, too…"

"Well, whatever it is," Yumi commented, even though she knew I was right about her, "we'll get through it together. They can't break us, if we're all together."

"And I would hate to think of what they'd do if they ended up separating us," I fretted, heart going a million miles an hour.

I felt Yumi's soft, gentle hands find my back once more. Oh, how I adore her gentle, soothing back rubs. "Then we just won't let them separate us. If we work together, there's how many of them, compared to us, right?"

"Right…" I lowered my head to Aelita's lap, letting my geisha friend rub my spine. "But you saw how well that went over, back at Kadic Academy."

"That wasn't your fault, Cass!" William came in, ruffling my hair.

"It couldn't have been!" Hunter agreed, before he slowly began to shiver. "They probably got you… the same way they got me… you try to run away… and then they knock you… down… and t-then… you wake up in a… s-s-sedan…"

"I was so scared, but Odd told me not to cry, then Yumi told me that it's okay to be afraid…" I shivered, tensing into a ball.

"I thought they were like Dr. Shrank's creatures," Odd remarked. "If you show them no fear, they'll realize they don't hold any power over you."

"But Cassidy and Hunter aren't as emotionally strong as you are," Yumi interjected. "They can pretend to be strong, but sooner or later, it's going to falter."

"Plus, our situation scrambled my mind, causing me more overload than anything," I whimpered.

"We understand," Yumi replied, as she kept softly rubbing my back. "It surprised us, too. We've dealt with XANA's attacks before, but this wasn't like anything he's ever pulled. That's probably why you reacted the way you did."

"Yeah, I can deal with almost ninety MegaTanks, easy, but this is nothing I've ever experienced in my battles with XANA. This is so surreal…"

"Eighty-seven," Hunter raised his right index finger, correcting me. "And I still can't… believe that… that was just so… so…"

"Incredible," Aelita smiled.

"And, Hunter, I was rounding to the nearest ten. It's okay, you didn't know," I grinned a bit.

He let out a deep breath, his expression slowly relaxing. "Yeah… you're right. Thanks."

"You're welcome," I nodded, slowly uncurling from my ball. "I just never experienced a kidnapping of this caliber before. The first one barely fazed me, and the second one, Yumi saved me. And even when I started to share target stats with Aelita, XANA just put me on Lyoko with her, not even bothering to separate us."

"That was… really interesting. And I've never been… kidnapped before. It's just really weird… I don't even… know why they grabbed me… in the first place… I mean… what good would I be to them? Unless they just… wanted to help me meet… some incredible heroes that I… never knew existed for the… longest time."

"I guess that's a win," Kaitlyn nodded, having just walked back to us. "We're still over the Atlantic, and we passed Ireland."

Ulrich looked over at her. "How much farther do you think it'll be?"

"My guess is, we'll be there in about ten hours," Jeremie shrugged, answering the question for her.

I pulled my knees to my chest. "I hate this."

Sister immediately looked over at Kaitlyn. "You probably shouldn't have told her where we were!"

"Hey!" Kaitlyn shot back. "I thought we weren't keeping secrets from her anymore, huh!"

"Plus, she shot through our blissful inattention plan as though it was a target after my blurt-out," Sam pointed out.

"HEY!" Patrick and I shouted again. "It doesn't matter. We're in this same situation juntos."

That helped me to relax, even though I still looked somewhat angry. "Plus I'm tired of all the fighting entre nosotros."

Aelita nodded in agreement, a determined look crossing her features. "So am I. I think we should all stay calm, and take things as they come."

"Aelita's right, ladies," Ulrich nodded.

That quieted things down. For a few minutes after that, the only sounds we could hear were those of the chopper's blades and rotors spinning. The way they vibrated the floor, if you weren't as afraid of flying as I was, you could lay on your back, and it would probably lull you to sleep. But I knew none of us wanted to do that. We were more concerned about where we were headed, and what they were going to do to all of us, once we got there.

It was another minute or two, before I broke the silence, if you could call it that.

"I just wish this was some sick dream that we're somehow incepted in. Say some bully did it and he or she could get expelled, but this is too real to me," I grumbled.

"I'd love to be back in our room right now, too," Sister nodded. "I could be giving you, Aelita, Yumi, Sam, and Kaitlyn make-overs right about now!"

"And I could be walking my Kiwi right now, after my shower, of course. And we could all go down to breakfast and enjoy some of Rosa's oatmeal today," Odd moaned. "Then we could have lunch with her meatballs and gravy."

"That was a satisfying little snack when your parents came to town," I whimpered hungrily. "It was a shame that XANA was still attacking."

"I wish I could have had my laptop. I could try to connect to the Supercomputer and launch a return trip…" Jeremie frowned.

"But wouldn't the old 'Return trips make XANA stronger' rule apply again?" Ulrich asked.

"No, Franz designed a program that counters that rule. He'll have to find a better way to get us," he ascertained.

"And after what we did to him," Odd grinned, "it's gonna take him a while!"

"Definitely," I nodded, still laying on the floor.

Suddenly, I realized something. What if we had phone service out here? One of us could easily call for help, and have someone waiting by the time we landed! That would be perfect! Now if only I had my phone…

As I reached into my pocket, however, I got a shock; it wasn't there. My eyes widened as I felt around, hoping that maybe it had fallen through a hole in my pocket… but it hadn't, and there wasn't.

"They confiscated our mobiles, dear sister," Sister moaned. "I'm so sorry. I tried to save yours."

"Your father gave me that phone. Now what?!" My face tensed up as I started to panic, once more.

"Wait... wait…" I could hear Hunter try to calm me. "Maybe they're… just hiding them, someplace? I mean, they've… gotta be around here somewhere… and if not here… then maybe wherever we're… gonna land?"

"B-but my parents! The police! We need to get away from here," I trembled.

"And we're going to," Yumi tried to soothe me, giving a similar attempt with a soft, gentle shoulder rub. "We can't do it now, but we'll figure out a way, once we land. I'm sure of it."

"I sure hope so." I let her soft shoulder rubbing relax me, as I slowly calmed down.

"It's like in Snorkeling Combat 2," Odd quipped, "when Lance was waiting for the exterminators to walk off from the dock, before he grabbed their feet, and pulled them into the water! We just gotta wait for the whitecoats and Erasers to turn their backs, and then we knock them over!"

All that did was make me tense up further. "Odd, Novio, I don't think that that will work…"

"It worked in the movie," his voice fell, before bouncing back up again. "I know! All we need is some rope! We can tie up their feet, and then it'll be like they're in a sack race! They can't catch us if they have to hop after us!"

I know Odd was trying to calm me down, or get me excited, but it wasn't working! It was only making me even more scared than I was before!

"Odd… I think you're scaring her even worse," Ulrich warned.

"We'll… think of something?" Hunter suggested, even though he didn't sound very sure of himself.

Since that didn't help me calm down any further, Yumi decided to try something that would. She began to softly rub both of my shoulders, before slowly rubbing down my arms, going back and forth in a very gentle, soothing caress. That definitely hit the spot.

"I think we should stop scaring Cassidy for now. She's getting way too tense, and if she overloads again, I don't think any of us will be very happy," Yumi whispered.

"Plus, we don't want the whitecoats over here," Odd worried.

"Why don't we all try to stay calm, and relax?" Aelita suggested. "There's not really much we can do right now, and getting worked up isn't going to make the chopper fly any faster."

"Yeah… that'd be nice…" Hunter folded his arms as if he was cold. "How do you guys manage to stay calm… whenever you think you're… in danger?"

"Trust me," Ulrich remarked, glancing over at him. "It's not easy, but after a while, you just sorta get used to it."

"It took me a while," Aelita commented, "and even I still get surprised at times on Lyoko, but I've mostly gotten over it. I guess it's just something that comes with experience. And I'm sure that the more you hang out with us, the more it'll come to you, as well."

He rubbed his arms a bit, giving a bit of a sigh. "Yeah, you're probably right. I just… never thought I'd ever get… thrust into a situation like… this, you know?"

I nodded, trying my hardest to stay awake, even though Yumi was keeping me quite relaxed. "Me neither. I thought we were going to have our first day back at Kadic…but then…it ended up like this…"

"We'll still have our first day back," Sister tried to encourage me, "it just might take a bit longer than usual. I don't think they're going to do anything until they find us."

My eyelids struggled to keep open. Man, Yumi, why is your touch so soft and gentle? I wished she'd go over and rub Hunter, instead. He was about as tense as I was, and I didn't think he'd mind falling asleep. "I just hope you're right… Do you think we'll see that tomato win?"

That one almost caught Ulrich off-guard. "Dah— uh… yeah. He'll even beat the, uh… eggplants' star player, with his, uh… ripening power."

"Uh-oh," Odd suddenly interjected, "something tells me Cat Girl's getting a bit too relaxed there, Yumi!"

One glance downward told Yumi that he was right. "Oh!" She added with a chuckle. "You okay there, Cassidy?"

"I think the tomato needs to go south to join the soldiers with their pie war…" I mumbled, half-drowsed.

"I think she's getting a bit sleepy," Hunter commented, a slight grin forming on his features. "Didn't she say she wanted to stay awake, though?"

Yumi nodded. "I guess I pressed on a nerve point."

He gritted his teeth a bit. "That might do it…"

His eyes then scanned the other occupants of the chopper, looking a bit unsure. "Should we try to wake her up a bit, or…?"

"I think I have an idea. That monster showed me something I never had the chance to use," Odd grinned, clearing his throat. "Princess and Einstein, won't you cover your ears?"

Aelita and Jeremie responded by pressing their index fingers into their ears, Jeremie with an "I don't like where this is going" look on his face.

"Cat Girl, it's hideous, Aelita's ran away with Hervé!" mi novio cried.

Immediately, I shot up. "Huh?!" Did he just say what I think he just said?!

"There you are, Cat Girl!" Odd tried to keep himself from laughing. "I had to do something! You were getting a bit too relaxed!"

Everyone except Aelita and Jeremie burst out laughing, with Hunter chuckling slightly, feeling a bit better about the whole situation. He didn't fully understand the joke, but hearing the others laugh gave him the want to join in.

"But at least you're awake, now," the black-haired, green-clad boy commented.

"I guess I got somewhat out of it," I muttered.

Odd gestured to the two to pull their fingers out of their ears. "It's over."

"Yeah, we can see that, Odd," Jeremie growled.

I shivered slightly, but more out of cold than fear. "I'm so glad I'm wearing a pink sweater."

"Me, too, Cassidy," Kaitlyn smiled.

Patrick stretched his legs. "Besides, we need to make the most of this situation while we can."

"Yeah, you're right," Hunter agreed, laying backward, and stretching his arms and legs as well. "We'll be here for a while."

"So, who knows any good car games?" Odd randomly suggested. "What about 'I Spy'?"

"What car games, and we would only be seeing nothing but ocean forever," Ulrich sighed.

"I think I know one of them, considering we played before," I suggested.

Jeremie was sure he knew where I was headed. "90 Second Alphabet? That's a car game?"

"I've played with my Grandparents on long trips before. Otherwise there's another Alphabet game, but the problem is that we aren't even on the road. So we can't do that one," I nodded.

"Why's that?" Ulrich asked.

"It involves finding words around trucks, signs, license plates, and more, but unfortunately, that ain't happening," I deadpanned.

"What about other helicopters?" Odd joked. "Or airplanes?"

That made my heart squeeze in panic. What did he just say?!

"Odd… That would involve her looking out the window," Yumi reminded him, a tiny tinge of anger in her voice.

I nodded, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. There was no way I was ever doing that!

"O-Okay, bad idea," he backed off, grimacing in fear.

"What about that 90 Second Alphabet game?" my ex suggested, hoping to change the subject.

"That sounds like a better idea," I quickly said.

So that's what we did. And we really got into it, too. Before long, we had forgotten how much time we actually spent playing, and the sky still light outside didn't help me any. However, a slight draft entered the air, generating shivers from all of us.

"S-Something t-tells me we-we just hit Gr-Greenland…" Jeremie couldn't help keep his teeth from chattering.

I really hoped he was wrong. I was nowhere near as warm on the inside as some of the others were, so the thought of flying over Greenland… why couldn't it have been Iceland? The climate would be much warmer, the people—oh, wait… on second thought, I could deal with Greenland.

As I continued to shiver, I suddenly felt Yumi gather me up into her arms, and hug me close to herself, in an effort to keep me warm. William soon crawled over to me, and began softly rubbing my legs, hoping that would keep the rest of me warm, as well.

Hunter started rubbing his arms, trying to stop his own teeth from chattering. Even though he was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, I was sure he hadn't counted on being flown over Greenland, either. I watched Aelita warmly embrace Jeremie, Sam come over to cuddle Odd, and Ulrich crawl over with Yumi, William and I, with Patrick and Kaitlyn trying to keep themselves warm, before Hunter crawled over between Jeremie, Aelita, Yumi, William, Ulrich and I, trying to find a place where he could keep warm, as well.

"I-I guess n-next is C-Canada?" Aelita whimpered slightly.

"O-once we-we get p-past Quebec and O-Ontario… we s-should be ge-getting warmer…" Jeremie trembled.

When Einstein mentioned Quebec, I instantly thought of the time Jim, Jeremie, and I were trapped in that cave, as part of Jim's commando camp. And that reminded me of Jim's condition, and that I still hoped he was okay.

"H-how about we p-pack s-some wa-warm clothes with us, t-too…" Sister moaned, in mention of one of our previous conversations.

"It's not l-l-like we leave K-K-Kadic, thinking that we're gonna sk-ski off the top of M-Mount Everest," Ulrich quipped, trying to get warm while sitting between Yumi and William, his novia reaching over to embrace him with her other arm, as well.

"M-m-maybe we should start… being pr-pr-prepared… for a-anything," Hunter suggested, his arms crossed in front of himself, his hands rubbing them furiously as he found a place on Yumi's other side.

"Y-y-y-y-yes…" I stuttered, my body threatening to seize on me if I didn't find a warm spot.

I could still feel Yumi cuddling me against her body with her free arm, trying to keep me warm, as William essentially hugged my legs, wrapping part of his jacket around them. Hopefully we'd get out of this cold spell soon.

It was a couple more hours than we'd hoped, but thankfully, the whitecoats turned on the heat for us, allowing us to speak without stuttering. Soon we were away from the coldness of Ontario, and into a semi-warmer climate in Manitoba.

Once the cabin had warmed up fully, Aelita reluctantly broke her warm embrace with her knight in glasses, before crawling over to the window, out of curiosity. Her face lit up with wonder as she gazed at the terrain below.

"And to think I picked that country at random while I was on Lyoko with that link inside me," she warmly smiled to herself.

"It worked out great," Odd commented, "because in Canada, they speak both French and English, so you couldn't have picked a better country, Princess!"

"Plus, I thought it was great," I smiled.

Aelita flashed me a beam. "Thanks, Cassidy!"

"De nada, Aelita," I grinned. "Or, as they say in French, and I'm still learning, de rien." And I was sure I said that with the wrong inflection.

"Next up is…" Yumi declared, almost timidly, "the United States."

Looking at my geisha friend, I gulped. "You know, normally, I'd be super-duper triple-meter excited about being in my país de origen, but since we're kidnapped and everything, I feel more… um…"

"You're more freaked out," Yumi guessed. "I understand; we all do."

"I-I think Hunter is the same way...right?" I turned to him.

Instead, he was confused, scratching his head. "Uhh… I'm the same way with what?"

I gasped. Oops. "Sorry, um… I speak Spanish. País de origen means 'home country,' where you originate or are born from. Your home country, my home country, and Kaitlyn's is in the United States. Yumi's is Kyoto, Japan, and so on. What I meant was, normally you'd be super duper happy to be home, but the whole kidnapping um…"

Ulrich quickly jumped in. "Right, what Cassidy means is, normally you'd be happy to be flying over your home country, but not when you've been kidnapped. This is your home country, too, right, Hunter?"

His eyes widened, now that it made sense. "Oh… yeah! Yeah, I'm from the US, as well. Maryland, to be exact."

I nodded. I hoped that things wouldn't get worse from here. We were already getting into warmer climates, and while that was a nice refreshing change from being hugged by my best, closest friends to keep me warm—not that I mind being hugged at all—it was also a sign that we would be landing, soon. Sure, I would have loved to see California up close, but knowing what would happen once we got there was not what I had in mind.