Hunter Moebius and I do not own Code Lyoko, Maximum Ride, or Kaitlyn Belpois. We do however own our OC's. We are also back to regular formatting.
A few seconds later, my eyes slowly opened, as if the muscles in my eyelids were pushing against small, invisible weights. At first, my vision was incredibly blurry, even with my glasses on, but I could make out a figure hovering over me, and I could feel something moving underneath me as if I was in a moving car of some sort. But I knew that I was in a van and that the blurry man in my sights had to be Jeb. He was certainly happy to see that I was awake.
"Hey, we've got a live one," he commented, smiling warmly at me. "You okay, kiddo?"
"N-not really… Like c-crazy ran me over w-with a steamroller—or worse… a MegaTank," I groaned.
Jeb chuckled. "Yeah, I understand. You'll feel that way for a little while. It's probably the serum I used still combatting the sedatives."
"It's great to h-hear that G-Georgina was on our s-side…" I muttered.
"Huh?" That startled him, as he gave me a surprised look. "Who told you that?"
"You did…J-Jeb…" I replied, incredibly groggy.
The surprise on Jeb's face slowly turned to confusion. "I don't know how I could have told you that. You've been asleep for the past two hours. Maybe you dreamed it up?"
"N-no… You told me w-while you carried me…to this van…"
He shook his head. "You've been sedated, Cassidy. Even if I had told you that, you were asleep, so you couldn't possibly have heard me say that to you. You're still kinda half-awake, you know."
"I kinda ov-oversaw you c-carry me…" I tried to reason with him, even though my groggy voice didn't really carry as much force as I wanted it to.
His eyes widened. "Y-you what?!"
"Sa-saw you carry me… in the air… Was with friends… J-Jeremie sa-said something a-about a 'c-corporeal distor-distort-distortion…'" My bigger vocabulary words came out at a sluggish pace.
"Are you absolutely sure you didn't just dream the whole thing up?" Jeb wasn't completely convinced. "I mean, maybe you had a feeling you were going to be saved, so your subconscious—"
"J-Jeb… T-they messed w-with A-Aelita's D-DNA… T-t-they g-gave us w-w-wings… O-one of th-them me-messed with m-my hair… My e-entity purred…" I kept trying to reason with him, hoping one of those things would convince him entirely.
His eyes zoomed straight to my wings, which had grown to the point that they were slowly starting to poke their way out of my hospital gown. They widened when he looked at my hair, noticing a pink streak contrasting my usual brown. That's when I could hear in his mind, How could she possibly know that?!
"H-had an out-of-b-bo-body ex-expe-experi-experience…" I tried to push the words out, feeling like I finally had him convinced.
Jeb was in disbelief, as his eyes returned to my face. "So, wait… you mean to tell me, that when the scientists put you to sleep and then started inserting avian DNA into your own, that you were somehow floating overhead, and saw the entire thing?"
"N-not alone… H-had friends…"
He looked out at the other eleven sleeping bodies. "A-all of you?!"
I nodded slowly. Geez, even my coma's grogginess was short. "T-took a while… b-but all came…"
He lowered his head, before cradling it with his free hand, as it swayed back and forth. "Maybe that really shouldn't surprise me… I mean, ten of you are the Lyoko Warriors, after all… you've had crazier experiences than this, I'm sure…"
"W-would r-read… t-table o-of contents… Bra-brain's h-hazed…" I replied, feeling like I wanted to fall back to sleep, like most of my body still was.
He held up his hand, its palm facing me. "That's okay. You can always tell me later. Besides, I've seen most of your gang's exploits, just like the other scientists. That's how we knew about most of you. Hunter and Samantha were the special cases, but Georgina told me everything Hunter told her, and Prisca told me all about Miss Knight so that filled in those blanks. You guys are getting quite a following, let me tell you."
"G-great… C-cold…" I shivered, slowly and subconsciously crossing my arms in front of my body.
Jeb looked around, before grabbing a blanket, and wrapping it around me. "I understand. But it'll be a lot warmer, once we get to Dr. Martinez's house. Trust me."
"Y-you and G-Ge-Georgina… m-mentioned—cl-clothes…" I looked him in the eyes.
He blinked, almost as if the surprise hadn't worn off, yet. "O-oh yeah, they're in the back, in a case. Georgina had them all washed. Do you want me to grab yours for you?"
"P-please…" I whimpered slightly. Sure, the blanket helped warm me up, but I was sure I'd feel a lot better, once I was dressed in my old outfit before Georgina put this hospital gown on me.
He nodded, and slowly crawled toward the back. "Sure. Let me get that for you."
In a manner of a few moments, he slowly crawled into the back of the van, retrieved my clothes from the case, and slowly crawled back over to me, before holding them out. "Here you are."
I attempted to get dressed on my own, but my body didn't seem to want to cooperate with me. My arms didn't want to go into the sleeves at first, and it took six tries before my legs would slide into my underwear, then my pants, let alone my socks. I eventually just stopped, with one arm half inside one of the sleeves on my shirt.
That was when Jeb bent down next to me. "Here, can I help?"
I nodded, feeling as tired as Odd when he came back from the factory with Brynja. "S-sorry…"
Jeb nodded, a smile slowly curving his mouth upward. "It's okay. The sedatives are still wearing off. Do you want them over your hospital gown, or should I take it off, first?"
"O-off…"
He nodded, before he gently removed what clothing I had tried to put on, and undid my hospital gown. Slowly and gently, yet with slight haste, as he didn't want me to freeze without any clothes on, he helped me into my outfit, one layer at a time.
Part of my groggy mind hoped my still-in-their-out-of-body-experience friends weren't pervertedly enjoying the show. I always got dressed alone at Kadic. Even when I roomed with Aelita, I always waited until she went to the showers to change, or whenever I went with her, I'd change in the stall, after my shower. If I had to do it in our room, she'd have her back to me, sometimes even changing her clothes at the exact same time. I didn't like anyone seeing me naked, except under special conditions.
First going for my underwear and bra, followed by my socks, pants, and then my shirt and shoes, Jeb had soon dressed me fully, before turning back to his original task of waking my still-sleeping friends. The case he had opened earlier lay next to where he sat as he dressed me, and another vial and syringe was pulled from it, as he got to work transferring the serum so he could wake his next target, Aelita.
It didn't take long for him to fill another syringe, and he slowly crawled through the moving van, before landing on his hands and knees in front of my former first roommate.
"Be c-careful, sh-she g-got s-stung w-when they m-messed with her D-D-DNA…" I slowly cautioned him, still out of it.
He looked back at me. "Can you remember which arm?"
"R-Right… T-they b-band-bandaged it…" I pointed out.
Turning his gaze back on Aelita, he surveyed both of her arms, before finding the band-aid in question. "Right. I'll just use her other arm, then. I hope she doesn't get worried, or angry at me."
"S-She understood… w-when y-you stung m-me t-to wake…" I tried to sound comforting, but my half-awake brain wouldn't let me.
He nodded, as he slowly brought the syringe to Aelita's unbandaged arm. "It's okay. Just try to rest, okay? I'll have your friends awake, soon."
That was easier done than said because not long after he told me that, I covered my clothed body with the blanket and snuggled the seat. I didn't fall back to sleep, but my brain still felt weird, regardless. I stared out the front window, seeing Max at the front of the vehicle in the air. Somehow, seeing her flying above us gave me a feeling of protection. She and her flock were watching out for us, and I loved the feeling that gave me.
A gentle sting in Aelita's unbandaged arm soon brought my former first roommate around, as I imagined my other friends as still-asleep entities, watching hers slowly disappear, before her eyes began to open, back in her own body.
"H-hi, Aelita…" I uttered, a feeling of gladness taking over my emotions, even if my brain felt slow.
I soon heard her gentle and soothing, yet groggy, voice fill the van. "Oh… C… Cassidy? I-is that… you?"
"Yes, Ae-Aelita… It's m-me…" I smiled slowly.
"I'm… glad you're… alright," she muttered, sounding happy, even if she was about as with it as I was. "It feels… strange… being back… in my… real body… again…"
Jeb made a grunt of surprise, as he looked at Aelita. "Ehh… you, too?!"
"T-told you, 'Had friends…'" I nodded, gradually feeling my body respond to me.
He quickly looked over at me, looking apologetic. "Okay, I'm sorry I ever doubted you. I've never had a single subject who was sedated for experiments, yet somehow managed to remember the whole thing."
Aelita slowly nodded. "It's… true. Every single… one of us… saw e...everything."
"Kiwi… talked," I smiled, feeling like giggling. However, the rest of my body wasn't ready for that just yet.
"T-to more than just you…?!" He looked over his shoulder at me.
"Yes… Kiwi, Sam… H-Hunter…" Aelita breathed.
Jeb shook his head in disbelief, letting out a confused chuckle as he covered his eyes and forehead with his hand. "Well, now I've seen everything…"
"H-help Aelita… g-get dressed… before she g-gets cold… please?" I asked him.
Lowering his hand, he looked at Aelita. "Do you want me to? Cassidy's kinda chilly, and she's worried you're probably gonna get cold, too, if you're not covered up."
She nodded, slowly. "Yes… that'd be… nice…"
He added a nod of his own, before crawling into the back, once more, and retrieving her clothes from the case he had taken mine from, earlier. Once he had crawled back, he gently eased Aelita into a sitting position, before gently untying her hospital gown, and removing it. In nearly the same time as he had taken to clothe me, he had slowly and gently helped my former first roommate get dressed, as well.
After bringing Aelita a blanket just in case, he crawled back over to his case, before withdrawing another serum and syringe. The next sting happened to Jeremie, the blond genius' body slowly opening its eyes a few seconds later.
"How do you f-feel?" I asked, my speech coming into normalcy.
"George fed Play-doh to the turtle…" he muttered, half-asleep.
That made me burst out laughing, proving to me that I was becoming more and more awake than I thought I had been. Aelita, while still mostly out of it, managed a few chuckles at her boyfriend's expense, even though I was sure she would've joined me for a roaring laugh, had she been more with it.
A few seconds later, Jeb crawled over to Jeremie, the blond genius' clothes in his hands, before he untied his hospital gown, took it off, and slowly and gently helped him into his regular clothes, not even giving his body the chance to cool off.
"Sure, Jeremie… Uncle George fed the turtle Play-doh…" I chuckled, still rolling with it.
"We were… all out of… the red kind…" Jeremie kept going, seeming completely oblivious. "...so he fed him… the blue kind… and I saw him, too…"
I couldn't stop laughing at that. Last time we said something like that to him, he acted like we were from another planet. But not this time! He was still a stone's throw away from the sandman.
Even Jeb found Jeremie's half-asleep ramblings quite funny, letting out a bit of a laugh of his own, as he turned back to his case of serums and syringes.
With another loaded syringe, he crawled over to Yumi, giving her arm as gentle of a sting as he could, which slowly brought her body around, just seven seconds later.
"Yumi," I smiled, slowly crawling up to her. "Are you okay?"
My geisha friend let out a slight moan, as she opened her eyes. "Uh… kinda… I feel like I've… slept in longer… than I wanted to…"
"It'll be okay. We're still in motion. Are the others doing okay?" I asked.
She tried to nod her head, which slowly moved up and down. "Yeah… they're all doing great… they're just waiting their turn… for Jeb to wake them up…"
This time, instead of Jeb, I gingerly helped her sit up and got her dressed, finding her outfit. "There you go, Yumi."
Yumi's mouth slowly curved upward into a grateful smile, before her eyes found that my body's hair had the same streak of pink as my essence. "You've still got… that pink streak… in your hair…"
"I know…" I frowned slightly. "I wish they hadn't messed with Aelita's DNA."
Yumi slowly wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into a warm hug, even though her movements had gradually decreased, as Jeb returned to his case, to load up another syringe.
"Don't… worry," she began, seemingly awake enough to think, even if her speech was still haltingly slurred. "There's much worse… things they could have… done to you. They could've… even combined others' DNA… with mine… or Ulrich's… or even Sissi's…"
"True, but I'm glad they hadn't… That female whitecoat who assigned me to the psycho who ratted us out… said I would be happy to be Aelita's sister," I blinked.
Jeb scratched his head. I could tell he was still quite surprised by the fact that we still knew everything that went on, but this was still somewhat unclear. "Tell me more."
So, we did. We told him everything that had happened while our bodies were unconscious, during our "out-of-body experience." Jeb listened, while working to wake Ulrich, Odd, Kiwi, William, and Sister, as Aelita and I explained how long it took before we saw each other's essences, Jeremie's explanation, Aelita's DNA, one of the whitecoats' fascination with my hair (and how my spirit reacted, to my chagrin), the comment about "what changes they had in store for me," and how another random whitecoat injected Aelita's DNA into my body, resulting in the pink streaks of hair that now made up my bangs, contrasting my natural brown hair quite obviously. Once he had awakened Sister, he was quite dumbfounded, to say the least.
"So, that's every single thing they did to you, before Max and her flock burst in, and started fighting the whitecoats?" he asked, trying to wrap his brain around everything.
"Right up to that point," Jeremie, now within his normal functions, nodded.
"I remember Nudge saying… some… wonderful things about me…" Aelita bashfully recalled, her cheeks gaining a bit of a rosy tint in the process.
"I guess it's a bit too soon to call you 'cute?'" I felt my cheeks heat up.
She turned to look at me, hers slowly becoming redder. "Well… umm…"
"Cassidy, be careful. You don't want to overdo it," Yumi warned, well with it by this point.
I turned to my former first roommate. "Sorry, Aelita. I—"
"Don't worry about it, Cassidy." She cut me off, closing her eyes with a disarming grin on her face. "I'm just not used to so much praise, all at once."
"So, in a way, you're just like me, too," I blinked. "I still pass out at too much praise."
"That's right," Ulrich remarked, having regained most of his bearings. "I still remember the day after the assembly, when Pricilla came up to you and started raving about how cool you were, in both of your Lyoko outfits. Odd and I had to carry you back to Lyoko HQ after that."
"I still say that it wasn't her fault. She thought I had most of my marbles back, when in reality, I didn't," I ascertained. "Most times, I still felt halfway close to reality."
"You just don't know how to be humble, like me!" Odd jumped in, quipping. "Trust me! When fans tell you how great you are, you gotta know the right way to do it!"
"I still don't know the right way yet," I giggled, glad to see that he was getting back his own motor control.
"If anything," Jeremie added, "you could show Odd the true meaning of the word 'humble,' Cassidy."
"Not likely, Einstein… We tried that once with a bet, and he blew it the next morning. And I still didn't like being roped into said bet and having to do the opposite of Odd." I gritted my teeth, turning to the guilty parties—mi novio and Samurai.
Odd raised his hands defensively. "Hey, I wasn't gonna let Ulrich drag me down alone, okay? Besides, I had to show him the real meaning of humility!"
"Like when you came out of the shower, the next morning?" Ulrich folded his arms, grinning malevolently at my wildcard. "Was that your 'humility,' mister 'Odd the Magnificent?'"
"Yeah!" mi novio shot back. "Now if only you had been humble enough to agree with me, rather than listening to Einstein talk with Cat Girl on his cell phone!"
"Hey, Jeremie needed to be warned, but I realized that it was too late," I blushed. "I tried to keep my visions out of the bathrooms."
"You couldn't have stopped me, anyway, Cat Girl!" Odd continued. "The door couldn't stop me, and Ulrich here couldn't stop me, either! Odd the Magnificent stops for nobody!"
A conniving smirk spread across my lips. "Oh…? Not even...this?" I crawled over to him, hearing Aelita giggle behind me, and planted my lips on his.
His eyes widened as my lips connected with his, before they slowly relaxed, along with the rest of his mostly-awake body. I knew that would get him. Always does.
Even Ulrich started laughing at the sight, falling backward onto the seat he was in. "Looks like Odd the Magnificent got stopped, after all!"
As Ulrich calmed down, Yumi suddenly began to get a mischievous grin on her face, which slowly softened into a calming smile, as she slid over toward her novio.
"By the way, Ulrich," she began, speaking in a soothing, calming tone, "I never told you how glad I was that we both got out of there alive."
Ulrich slowly sat up, returning Yumi's gaze, while his features contorted with confusion. "Uh… y-yeah, I-I'm glad we got out of there alive, too."
"I almost thought I'd never see you in your body again," Yumi leaned closer to him, slowly wrapping her arms around the boy, and pulling him into a warm snuggle, as her lips gently pressed against his, causing Samurai's eyes to widen, and a blush to slowly filter through his cheeks. This only lasted a moment, however, as he began to return his geisha girlfriend's embrace, just as she began to softly and soothingly rub his back, and I could tell it relaxed him just as much as I relaxed Odd, when I did that to him, during the premiere of his short film, Mandibles and Purple Mauve.
Speaking of my wildcard, it was now his turn to laugh himself silly, which he took with great pleasure, falling over on his seat just like Ulrich had done, clutching his stomach as he cackled. "FAAAANTASTIC!" he shouted.
Sister, in contrast to mi novio, thought the whole display was quite adorable since she had long given up on becoming Samurai's girlfriend, herself.
"Oh, that so beautiful!" she exclaimed with a warm smile of her own, clasping her hands together and interweaving her fingers.
"Maybe one day, you can experience the same thing, Sister," I smiled softly at her. "I can feel it."
Her grin got bigger, as she turned to look at me. "That would be wonderful! Do you know who the lucky guy is, dear sister?"
"Not yet, but my two lucky guesses are either William or Hervé," I replied.
She nodded, her excited smile not failing in the slightest. Whoever the lucky guy would be, I was sure she and he would be together for a good long time. Part of me knew how much Hervé thought of her, and the days leading up to XANA's weakening further reinforced this. However, there was always the possibility that William would be a good fit for her as well, as I knew that not only had dating me changed him, but his time as a prisoner of XANA had also modified his personality. I knew both of them would make the right girl happy, regardless.
Nearby, Jeremie sat on the end of the seat nearest to the side window, looking out up into the sky at the members of Max's flock.
"What a relief, that we're finally out of the School," he commented, relieved.
Jeb nodded in agreement as he sat at his case, filling another syringe with serum. "I'm glad we got to you in time. I'm only sorry we didn't come any sooner than we did."
"I'm sure we'll find a way to adjust," I muttered, still a bit frazzled by the thought of being "Aelita's sister," according to Mandy.
"You'll have to," Jeb replied. "Removing those wings will be an even crazier process than putting them on, but with the right clothes, nobody except the people you trust has to know you've got them."
I'd deal with keeping them. After all, getting them in the first place was crazy enough; I didn't even want to think about how crazy painful the removal procedure would be. "We're going to have to explain this to Mr. Delmas, and who knows how he'll take it. According to Jeremie, he didn't take it too well when I had a vision in his office."
He raised an eyebrow. "Maybe you might have to let me talk to him. If anything, I can try to soften the blow, but it's not like you and your friends are any different with those wings than you were without them."
"Plus, you weren't involved in the kidnapping," Aelita pointed out. "So you're not an accessory."
"That's true. Worst-case scenario, we'll have to work something out. But I doubt Jean-Pierre will kick you guys out of Kadic. Especially not since he knows everything you've been through, and will soon know what happened to you guys over these past two weeks."
"True. I just feel—" I was going to say responsible for everything even if I wasn't involved, but fought my tongue against it, considering that Sister and Yumi would probably give me another speech about how I shouldn't beat myself up for such things. "—traumatized by all that we've been through."
Jeb nodded sympathetically. "Tell you what, when we get to Dr. Martinez's, I'm sure Georgina will be more than happy to give you, and anyone else who wants one, another rubdown, relaxing massage, and invigorating bath."
"Since we're not being lured into a trap this time, yes. That would be perfect." My eyes suddenly widened, feeling a pain in my neck, even if I never rubbed it there. "Ow…"
Jeremie, Aelita, and Odd gasped when they heard my reaction. Even Ulrich and Yumi, who had long since separated, were surprised by this.
"Cassidy, are you okay?" Jeremie queried, worriedly.
"Did someone get you?" Aelita asked, next.
"No… my neck just hurts from that whitecoat's ambush," I moaned, bringing my fingers up to caress it.
"Here," Jeb jumped in, pulling a small container from the case he was working in, which looked like some sort of cream. "This'll dull the pain until the spot heals up."
He slowly untwisted the cap and removed it, before getting a small bit on his finger, and gently rubbing it all over the spot where it hurt.
"She really brought out the big guns. She even brought out the guy who sedated me to put me on the chopper," I whimpered slightly.
Jeb nodded, before looking out at the others. "Do any of you guys want a little bit of this, too? It'll soothe the spot where the scientists injected the sedative into you."
Jeremie, Aelita, Ulrich, Yumi, Odd, and Sister reacted positively to this suggestion, which led Jeb to place the syringe he held in his other hand back into his case, before crawling toward Sister, starting with her.
Kiwi yipped, suddenly clearing his throat. "And what am I, chopped liver snacks?!"
Odd's eyes widened when he heard that. He knew it sounded familiar, but he was baffled by the fact that he still heard it, even though he was back in his body. It even caught Ulrich, Yumi, Jeremie, Aelita, Sister, and I off-guard.
"Hey Cat Girl," his worried voice squeaked, "I thought Jeb woke us up! We're not still dreaming, are we?!"
"N-not in the slightest… I felt the cold cream on my neck, and the sting before he applied it…" I replied, my mind moments from freaking out over trying to explain what we had just heard.
"Then…" Jeremie's voice was shaky, "...did we just hear… Kiwi… talk to us?!"
"Yes, Einstein!" Kiwi grinned.
The blond genius brought his hands up, defensively, as he heard mi novio's dog actually reply to him like he had when we were all having our out-of-body experience. "But… but how?! And how do you know my nickname?!"
The puppy brought his hind leg up to scratch at a spot behind his ears. "The others called you that name so much, even around me, I learned it."
Odd's jaw dropped, moments before his open mouth curved at the edges. "Am I really… then… that's fantastic! All my training methods finally did pay off! Kiwi's talking!"
"No, I don't think that was you at all, Odd," Jeremie gently burst his bubble. "Something must've happened to him when the rest of us had our wing surgery."
"Wait… The whitecoats had injected Kiwi with something," Aelita interjected, suddenly remembering the dog's reactions when the whitecoats infused me with her DNA, and Kiwi with something else.
"And it hurt…" Kiwi whined.
"You're right!" Jeremie looked at his girlfriend with amazement at her point. "Both you and Odd had samples of your blood taken, and moments later, Cassidy and Kiwi were injected with something. We know Cassidy got a sample of your DNA, but what do you think they injected into Kiwi?"
"Maybe he got injected with the DNA of some kind of talking poodle!" Odd guessed, slowly grinning at his own suggestion.
I fell backward against my seat, laughing my head off. He got me good.
"Sure, Odd the talking poodle," Ulrich teased. "Now Kiwi will eat like a horse, and somehow still stay a scrawny little dog!"
"Hey! I am not scrawny! I'm svelte!" This time, that line wasn't said by mi novio. Instead, it was Kiwi.
The mischievous smile instantly vanished from Ulrich's face, as surprise washed over him. "Da—da—da—wha…?"
That sneak attack from my wildcard's diggity-dog made me burst out laughing even harder. I even clutched my sides, it was so funny.
Even Jeb chuckled at that. "I didn't see whose DNA they injected into your dog, but you can definitely tell he's yours, Odd."
"That's right!" Odd beamed, raising Kiwi up to eye-level. "That's my diggity-dog! Even he knows that we're svelte!"
In reply, the literal bird-dog licked his face lovingly. "Or esbelto/esbelta, right, Cassidy?"
I nodded, still in a fit of cackles. "E-Esbelta is f-for the girls…"
"He's even got your knowledge of Spanish as well," Jeb pointed out. "Fitting, since he used to talk to you telepathically, all the time."
"I know. She was always using it somewhere," Jeremie smiled. "She taught all of us, except for Sam and Hunter, how hablar español, so it's only natural that Kiwi picked it up, too."
"Sister has a long way to go, still," I noted, taking in a deep breath, stopping my laughing fit. "I was impressed that Patrick picked it up fast and learned more without me."
Sister nodded at this. "But I'm getting better at it, thanks to you, dear sister. Soon I'll be able to put sentences together!"
"Yep. And your conjugation is slowly improving, too," I grinned.
Moments after Sister had answered me, Jeb had softly rubbed some of the cream on the injection site on her neck, before crawling toward Ulrich, Yumi, Odd, Jeremie, Aelita, and then Kiwi, repeating the process for each. Once he had finished with this, he crawled back to his case, withdrew the syringe he had filled earlier, and crawled over to Hunter, first gently injecting him, before softly and slowly rubbing some cream on both the spot he poked and the spot the whitecoats had poked, earlier.
In a manner of several seconds, Hunter's eyes slowly opened.
"Uhh…" he groaned, sleepily. "I feel like I've… only had three… hours of sleep… hey, Jeb…"
"Welcome back to the land of the living, Hunter," Jeb grinned.
"Great to see you, Hunter," I smiled.
His mouth slowly curved into a grin, as he heard my voice. "Thanks… Cassidy… it's great to… see you, too… Man, that was… crazy…"
"Very wild ride, I have to admit," William nodded.
"You can… say that again…" Hunter mumbled, as I watched Ulrich crawl over toward him, before instinctively creeping into the back, getting Hunter's clothes out of the case, and easing back up to the front.
"Here, Hunter," Ulrich commented, as he began to gently untie his hospital gown, "let's get you dressed. Don't want you freezing in nothing but a hospital gown."
"Yeah…" he agreed, slowly extending his arms, as Ulrich took off the gown. "I'm already… feeling kinda cold… but I haven't… shivered yet…"
"Trust me, Hunter. You do not want to end up with my stature…" I felt my cheeks heat up.
I could tell he looked confused by what I had said, whether that was because he was still quite out of it, or because he really didn't understand what I meant, while Ulrich slid on his underwear and socks. "Huh…? What do you… mean by… that?"
"I get called scrawny or skinny, too," I said, turning my head to avoid seeing anything that would call for a breakdown.
"But you're not scrawny, Cat Girl!" Odd interjected. "Like Kiwi and me, you're svelte! Or esbelta!"
"That's true," Kiwi smirked.
Hunter slowly nodded, as Ulrich slowly slipped his black shirt, which was emblazoned with a glowing green power light logo, over his head. "It's okay… I'm pretty… skinny, too… but I'm not ashamed… of it."
"Rosa gives me extra portions," I muttered. "I just want to be treated like the rest of the student body… Not as though I'm privileged to the point of spoiling. I felt hot under the collar when Mrs. Hertz gave me extra credit when I correctly pointed out the anatomy of a horse. I'm just a girl who loves them."
"At least she gives you extra food," Ulrich quipped, slowly helping Hunter into his khaki cargo pants, one leg at a time. "Have you seen how Odd has to practically sing for his extra helpings?"
"And you're quite knowledgeable on that subject, you have to admit," Jeremie added. "Not many people know as much about horses as you do, Cassidy."
"I understand both stances, but sometimes, I wish I wasn't treated so special like that. I mean, I love having a hearty meal as much as Odd does, but sometimes I want just a tiny portion. Something to keep me going throughout the day, but I think Yolanda gave Rosa my health record," I sighed.
"If that's the case," Jeremie replied, "then maybe Yolanda sees something in you, and wants to try and help you. I don't think she'd ask Rosa to give you special treatment if you were merely five pounds underweight."
"I guess I'll have to check with her when I get back to Kadic," I sighed, but then blinked, realizing something. "Or maybe Jeb could check when I get to a bathroom scale."
"Dr. Martinez has one in her house," Jeb pointed out. "You can weigh yourself before Georgina bathes you."
"True. I just have forgotten how old I am. That coma messed my clocks up," I shook my head.
Suddenly, Jeremie's eyes widened, and I could tell he was thinking about that very subject. "Oh, no! That's right! While you were out, you slept right through your birthday! Oh, in all of our mourning about your coma, then excitement over you waking up, and the gigantic mess that happened after that, we must've completely forgot!"
"So where would that place me?" I blinked. "My last birthday we celebrated was my fourteenth."
"At fifteen and four months," Aelita replied.
"So, why don't we celebrate it, anyway?" Odd jumped in, getting excited at the thought. "When we get to Dr. Martinez's house, let Georgina give you an extra long rub, massage, bath, and whatever else you like. We'll pick up a cake, and everything!"
"That would be nice, Odd," I smiled at the prospect. "Plus, I think those two gifts Mrs. Mayer and Mrs. Hertz gave me were their way of saying Happy Birthday."
At least they're not trying to get me into the tub, I could hear Hunter think, as he grinned, Ulrich tying the boy's shoes, after having helped him into his jacket. "Yeah… that'd be great… we totally should. But I wonder what… we'd do for… presents…"
"Let my friends figure that out, Hunter. You've known me for a week and about two or three days. Not exactly enough time to get all my personality facets," I nodded. "But if you want to when you get with it, then let Yumi, Aelita, Odd, or any one of mis amigos help you out. They know me better, and I trust them to make their own decisions on what they want to get me."
My other friends voiced their agreement.
"That'd be a great idea!" Odd turned to look at me. "Just stick with Yumi, Ulrich, and I, Hunter. We'll help you pick something out that Cat Girl's gonna love!"
Hunter nodded, his smile slowly getting bigger. "Yeah, that… would be a… great idea… I think I've… still got some… cash on me… so that'd be great."
"I'll go, too!" Sister jumped in. "Thanks to the monster, I think I know exactly what I'll get my sister."
She then turned to Hunter. "And don't worry, Hunter, dear. If you're not awake enough by that time, I'm sure Georgina can help you with that, or I can.
Hunter slowly gritted his teeth, as he heard Sister reply. "Um… yeah, we'll… have to… see about that…"
"I'm just glad that we can celebrate something long overdue," I giggled.
"I agree," Jeremie added, letting out a bit of a chuckle at Hunter's and Sister's little routine. "Especially since we didn't get the chance to do it, initially."
"I think that realizing 'Oh, it's Cassidy's birthday—Oh… wait… she's still in her coma' would probably worsen the mood, and celebrating it would feel hollow," I added, shrugging.
Ulrich nodded in agreement. "There's no way we could've celebrated your birthday without you awake."
"Thanks for making sure I would be," I smiled.
"It wouldn't be your birthday without you," Yumi added with a grin, as she gave me a thumbs-up.
"That's for sure," Aelita agreed. "Especially after everything we've been through."
"Yeah. No way would we miss an opportunity like this," Odd smiled.
"You're going to have… the best… belated… birthday party… you've probably ever had," Hunter slowly began to grin.
"We should treat you like a princess!" Sister offered. "Maybe there's a spa near Dr. Martinez's house that we can all visit, and make sure you get pampered!"
"We'll have to see about that," Jeb added with a grin.
"But I know I'll definitely pamper you when we get there," Georgina smiled warmly, not taking her eyes off from the road.
"Georgina," I smiled. "I am so glad to see you."
"As am I," she grinned, warmly. "Hunter, too. I'm overjoyed that the both of you came out of there in one piece, wings notwithstanding."
"I'm really glad… to see you as well," I could tell Hunter was trying to give a big smile, and his cheek bones were slowly letting him. "I just hope that… we don't fall… out of contact… after all this is over with."
"I don't think we will," I shook my head. "If we get each other's number and email addresses, we could keep in contact."
"We'll definitely have to do that," she replied, seeming slightly excited at that thought. "That's one of the things the three of us should definitely do before we leave Dr. Martinez's."
"True. I just hope we don't end up in a chopper," I trembled.
"You won't if I have anything to say about it," Jeb reassured me. "We'll find a way to get you guys back to France, that doesn't involve flying."
Yumi loved that idea. "Oh, what a relief."
"That would be the greatest thing in the world," I nodded, the pink strand of hair flying in front of my face before I gently brushed it away with a free hand. "I've already flown enough times in this lifetime, and I don't even want to try using my wings."
"You don't have to right now, Cassidy," Jeb soothed. "And nobody will force you to use them. Only when you're ready, and not before."
With Jeb's reassurance, I settled down into my seat, as he returned to his case, loading up two more syringes with serum. Once they were loaded, he took each one in his right hand, grabbed his healing cream in another, and crawled over to Kaitlyn and Patrick. Jeremie's female cousin was first, getting a gentle poke with the first syringe, before Jeb softly rubbed a bit of cream on both that spot and the spot where the whitecoats had poked her, earlier. He then repeated each process for Patrick, both of them slowly coming around within five seconds of each other.
"That was… wild…" Patrick uttered in a half-asleep daze, barely able to keep his eyes open.
"I know, Patrick, trust me," I muttered.
While Patrick was at least coherent, Kaitlyn still needed a bit of help in that department. "Uh… Cassidy… is the puppy okay?"
Kiwi yipped, giggling. "Yes, Kaitlyn."
"Okay, good," Kaitlyn almost seemed unfazed by Kiwi's reply, at least at first. "I was afraid the… tyrannosaurus had… eaten my grilled cheese…"
"It has a large head and little arms," mi novio's puppy laughed.
"You're right…" Kaitlyn was still in a daze. "I don't know… what I was thinking…" She slowly allowed her eyes to close, for a few seconds.
Suddenly, Jeremie started counting, as if he knew something was coming. "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one…"
As though his counting was a cue, his female cousin's eyes snapped open, and she yelled, "DID KIWI JUST HAVE A FREAKING CONVERSATION WITH ME?!"
"Yes!" Nearly every conscious person, except for Patrick, replied in unison, before bursting into laughter. Patrick, instead, stared confused around the room, wondering why it was being treated as a joke.
"HOW the HELL did THAT happen?!" was her next surprised outburst.
"We came up with messing with DNA somewhere," I muttered, preparing my fingers to put into my ears in case she decided to shout again.
I could see Hunter doing the same, his teeth gritted.
"They did WHAT?!" That drove mine and Hunter's fingers into our own ears, Kaitlyn now seeming flabbergasted over the whole thing. Unfortunately, I could read lips, even if I was temporarily deaf. "First Aelita's and yours, and now Kiwi's?! URRRGHH! When I get my HANDS on those whitecoats, I'm gonna… I'm gonna…!"
Not only was I covering my ears, but I was also quite freaked out by the way Kaitlyn was acting. Thankfully, Aelita noticed this and crawled over to me, wrapping me in a warm, comforting embrace.
"It's okay, Cassidy," she whispered, cooing soothingly. "She'll calm down, soon."
I nodded, teeth unclenching somewhat.
"Hey, hey…" Jeb then tried to jump in, hoping to calm Kaitlyn. "Those scientists are done with. You won't have to worry about them, anymore. What's done is done, and while we can try to reverse some of their experiments, it might be a bit difficult, if not nearly impossible."
He glanced over at me, noticing I didn't like Kaitlyn's reaction and turned his attention back to her. "And please calm down. There's nothing we can do right now, anyway. Besides, you're scaring Cassidy and Hunter."
"Pl-please…" My voice was fragile as I pleaded, on the verge of tears.
She looked over at me, then at Hunter, who looked somewhat afraid as well, before taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Cassidy. I'm sorry, Hunter. It's just… everything that happened in the School just… it just drove me up a wall. Now I've got wings, just like the two of you, and all of our friends, Kiwi can talk, and you've got part of Aelita's DNA, Cassidy. It's like something out of Hospital of Horrors, almost. And I don't even watch that show!"
I took a deep, cleansing breath as well, pulled my fingers from my ears, and slowly calmed myself down. "I don't ei-either… I only watched a c-couple episodes, but got so scared I denounced the status of a, what did you call it, Odd?"
"A patient?" Odd prompted.
"A patient. Ugh… I still think Dr. Shrank is a saint compared to the School," I trembled.
"After what I've seen," Jeremie jumped in, "I'd be inclined to agree with you. I'm not fond of that show, either. It's way too unrealistic. But what those whitecoats did, in comparison to Dr. Shrank, feels even worse to me, as well."
Jeb nodded, even though I felt as though he didn't know what we were talking about. "That's why I do what I do. I don't want anyone to have to go through anything like what Max, Fang, and the others went through. Even though your treatment was slightly more gentle, and you had the luck of quite a few kind scientists, I still can't bring myself to let anyone go through anything like that, if I can help it. Only, sometimes help doesn't arrive as quickly as you might want it to."
"That is true…" I muttered, feeling so useless. "I couldn't even prevent it because the memory of the vision I had was erased."
"You had a vision of that?" Jeb was surprised, once again.
"Only of a whitecoat injecting me with some 'Precious DNA' and my subject number was twelve, next to Angel's." I lowered my head, feeling lower than dirt. "I couldn't even enact Plan 120 to save our skins."
"None of that is your fault, Cassidy," Jeb tried to reassure me. "Even if you had remembered, you didn't know when it was going to happen, or how. You were only given a small tidbit of information. And being too relaxed wasn't your fault, either. You were upset and tense. If anything, Georgina should've eased up a bit." He sounded almost as if he were about to chuckle after he said that last bit.
"It wasn't her fault either," Jeremie pointed out.
"You're right, Jeremie. She was only trying to help, and she did an excellent job, as always. I like to say she has a real knack for taking care of people and helping them relax. But regardless, nobody blames you for what happened back there, and you shouldn't blame yourself, either. If you don't forgive yourself, the scientists will have won, either way."
"I think William does. He said, 'You fell for it again!' and I did," I muttered.
William's eyes widened when he heard this. "Okay, okay. I admit that I probably should have chosen my words better, Cass, but I don't blame you. You were the only one of us who had come up with anything resembling a plan, and I wanted to try and snap you out of whatever deep relaxation Georgina had plunged you into. She must really have magic fingers, as I've never, ever seen you as relaxed as you were."
"I can't take all the credit. Yumi, Aelita, and Jeremie helped, too!" I argued. "I only had 119 badly flawed plans, and they helped me out."
"But those were 119 well-thought out plans, that just didn't work in that situation," Yumi interjected. "It's hard to come up with a working plan when your enemy knows everything about you."
"She's right," Aelita agreed. "All we did was offer suggestions."
"We had to start from somewhere," Jeremie was last to reply. "Even I couldn't have come up with that many plans, in the same amount of time it took you."
"I know, but each one seemed like it would end in disaster! Plan A—formerly Plan 1—would require a map of the ventilation system, of which we didn't have. We only had the map of Kadic's. Plus Erasers could have caught where we were, and we'd end up with our necks stung," I blinked. "And plan 116 would require the use of a laundry cart, and even then the slightest motion next to a whitecoat would put us in danger."
Before I could keep going, I felt Jeb place a hand on my shoulder. "Yes, but… it's okay. All that matters is that you're out of there, now, and you won't ever have to worry about going back there. So you can relax. Everything's fine, and I'm sure it's only bound to get better."
I nodded. I knew he was right on all counts.
Kiwi smiled. "Plus, hearing you come up with plans was a good thing."
While I listened to Kiwi reassure me as well, no matter how weird that might have seemed at first, Jeb was busy crawling into the back of the van, once more. Only this time, he re-emerged with a different container. Bringing it back over to the seats where we all sat, he opened the container, revealing a familiar sight: our cell phones.
"And now that we're free from that place," he commented, "I thought you all might like to have these back."
I squealed in joy, hugging mine to my chest. "Next inadvertent adventure, I will tape it to my chest and refuse to give it up!"
"I'll tape mine to my ankle!" Sister jumped in, gazing at her cell phone with glee. "No one will ever find it there!"
"Good plan, Sister." I kissed the screen to mine. Now neither of us would hopefully lose our phones if something as crazy as what we just went through happened again.
Taking hers from the pile, Aelita happily slid it into the left pocket on her dress. "I think we should all place our cell phones in a place where no one will know to look, besides us."
She then turned to Jeremie. "And as soon as we get back to Kadic, I'm going to not only tape your cell phone to your ankle, Jeremie, I'm going to find a place to tape your laptop, too. Just like Cassidy suggested." She winked at me.
"It was more threatened, but let's not split hairs," I giggled.
"Yeah, you don't wanna split hairs!" Odd shot back, comically. "Your next one might end up purple!"
While he tried to be funny, it freaked me out more than anything, as my cheeks heated up. Why couldn't he have commented on something else?!
"Odd…" Ulrich groaned. "She just calmed down."
I saw him visibly tense up, a worried look overtaking his features, before he quickly crawled over to me, and snuggled me. "I'm sorry, Cat Girl! I didn't mean it like that!"
Slowly, my breathing regulated. "I-it's okay… It's a t-trigger right now…"
Even Kiwi made his way over to my lap, crawling between his master and I, before climbing up between us, and gently licking my face. "Don't worry, Cassidy. I know my master didn't mean it! Let him give you a belly rub!"
Instead of asking for one, or waiting for mi novio to rub my belly himself, I just laughed. "Kiwi…"
Kiwi smiled even more, letting out a happy yip as he looked up at me.
"See? Even Kiwi knows how to make you feel better," my wildcard smiled.
"I guess so, Odd," I giggled.
But as I giggled, a question suddenly popped into my mind, in regards to my streak of pink hair: had they turned me into Aelita's sister, as Mandy had said when they injected that "precious DNA" into my body? And what exactly would that mean? I was a flesh-and-blood, albeit adopted, McGuire, and if they really did put some of Aelita's DNA into mine, how different would that make things? I wasn't becoming… part Schaeffer… was I?
"Cassidy?" Jeremie asked, noticing I was deep in thought.
I quickly snapped out of it with a blink, turning my attention to Einstein. "Yeah, Einstein?"
"You seem lost in thought," Aelita noted. "Are you okay?"
"I just… Something Mandy said is really screwing with my head like you wouldn't believe. It was during our out-of-body experience." I turned to her, as well.
It was like she immediately knew what I was talking about. "It was when Mandy said that you were going to become my sister, wasn't it?"
I nodded. "Do you think when we get back to Kadic, we could use the scanners to see if what Mandy said was true?"
"Of course you can," Jeremie answered for her, nodding with a comforting grin. "We'll do it first thing, as soon as we can."
"And even if it turns out to be true," Aelita then added, in her usual soothing, disarming tone, as she wrapped her arm around my back, "I wouldn't mind having you as a sister. I think we'd get along quite well."
"Thank you, Aelita," I smiled, resting my chin on her shoulder.
"My pleasure," she soothed, as I felt her hand begin to softly and soothingly rub my back.
"You two were already roommates," Yumi added, "before Mr. Delmas moved us all into Lyoko HQ. So you already know how the other acts."
"That's right. Cassidy wakes silently when she has a nightmare that doesn't involve XANA," Aelita noted. "Just a small gasp, a jolt from the covers, and then a quick trip to the bathroom."
I nodded. Yumi was right; she practically knew me to a T. "It's true. Aelita screams when she has hers, but I helped as much as possible."
"You definitely do," Hunter smiled, and I could tell he was finally more awake than he had been. "The way you two act around each other, it's almost harder to believe you aren't sisters already. You're like best friends, if not closer."
I gulped, my cheeks gaining a slight, rosy tint. "It kinda helps that I really um… wanted her as a roommate, hence the double-occupancy room?"
Even Aelita let out a slight sheepish giggle. "That's right. And I was overjoyed when I found out that I would be sharing a room with you. Even back before Jeremie had worked to first materialize me, I had also formed a bond with you, Cassidy; before I even knew what a 'best friend' was."
"But we're also best friends with Yumi," I winked, a smile growing on my features.
"Of course!" Aelita gave a warm grin, as well.
Yumi nodded, giving a thumbs-up as she smiled. "That's right!"
"I guess, in a way, it shouldn't be bothering me as much, but Mandy is still—I don't know…"
"She's a…Klorbag Varblernelk, then?" Jeremie grinned, trying to keep himself from chuckling. "Is that what you're trying to say?"
My eyes widened as a smile grew upon my face. "That's it!"
Ulrich looked as though he had been caught off-guard by Jeremie's random outburst. "A Glorba-what?"
"Tamaranean insult. It was used in Teen Titans' 'Forces of Nature' episode. I learned a couple words from Starfire as a result," I smirked at Samurai.
"Oh." That was all he could say in reply, before he fell over backward in his seat, laughing his head off. Apparently, he had to understand it to laugh at it.
Jeb chuckled as well. "You learn something new every day."
"Yeah," I laughed. "I still don't know what Yumi's father yelled at me in Japanese one time. Apparently, they were curses, but I still—"
The thought drove a slightly uneasy look to my geisha friend's face. "That's… essentially what he told you. He certainly didn't call you a Klorbag Varblernelk, if that's what you were thinking."
"'Wasn't even thinking that at all, Yumi. And I don't think I won your favor by having pronounced those words in the worst possible way," I smirked, her qualms contagious.
Yumi shook her head, the memory of that day a quite horrible one to her. "Don't worry about it. My father was dealt with that day, and he even apologized to you. He bowed pretty low to the ground, too. That means he really meant it."
"I must've been so emotionally messed up that day I mistook that as a sign for something else," I blinked. "I was glad that you rushed in and helped deal with him by double-teaming with your mother, even though my own pain was up."
She nodded. "Don't mention it. I wasn't going to let my father wreck you even further than you already had been."
"Yeah, he even let me sit where he generally resided at the breakfast table the next morning," I smiled.
"Mr. Ishiyama had been having troubles at work, off-and-on that week," Aelita recalled. "Apparently, one day he just couldn't take it."
"And he exploded in front of me while I had a painful emotional attack," I nodded. "It ended up colliding with a panic attack instead."
Yumi grimaced once more, before waving her hands back and forth in front of her chest. "Yes, but that's already been taken care of. Cassidy, you've recovered from that, so we don't need to worry about it anymore."
"True, plus he showed me he was petting Kiwi when he was at your place, when I hid behind you," I smiled.
Her face softened. "That's true. My father doesn't want any more bad blood between my family and yours. He's truly sorry about his outburst, and he promised me, and you, that he wouldn't do it again."
"Tell you the truth, I never really told my parents anything about that incident. It was more geared between him and me, and I didn't want them to say I couldn't be friends with you if your father was acting that way." I beamed.
Her lips slowly curved upward. "That's a relief. That might be for the best, anyway."
That was when Kiwi leaped onto my lap once more, and looked up at me, gently pressing his front paws against my belly to get closer to my face. "I think somebody's getting a bit too tense! Now would be a good time for a belly rub!"
Without even looking over at mi novio, much less waiting for me to ask him, he began to softly rub his front paws against my shirt, as his mouth hung open with his tongue to the side, giving his face a silly look. This whole entire thing made everyone else in the van start laughing.
And believe me when I say that laughter felt like the best medicine since we woke up in the vehicle.