Hunter Moebius and I don't own Code Lyoko, Maximum Ride, or Kaitlyn Belpois. We do own our own OC's and the plot.

I felt as though I was going to have a heart attack. This was bad. Michael and Cadence were gonna kill me, and then Mark, Katie, Hector, and Beatrice were going to pick me off one piece at a time. What's worse is that they'd all be heartbroken. I couldn't breathe.

And all that screaming we were doing in the backseat finally got Georgina and Jeb's attention, the two's eyes widening in fear and worry, before she slowly pulled the van off to the side of the highway, turning on the emergency flashers as she did so.

I was so out of my mind with fear and worry that I couldn't feel the car coming to a stop, and pulling over. All I could think about was Jeremie. The scene of him being shot out of the side door by the wind continued playing in my mind, over and over again, as if my brain was tormenting me with it. All I wanted to know was where he went!

With the car now stopped, Jeb whirled around, his face and voice showing nearly as much worry as we collectively felt in the backseat. "What happened?! What's going on?!"

I couldn't speak, my speech clogging my throat. However, my hands revved into action, making various and rapid motions, +Jeremie shot out of the van!+

Jeb, for his part, could barely make heads or tails of my gestures. "Timmy fell down the well, and broke his solar plexus, Lassie?"

Had I not been as worried sick as I was, I probably would have facepalmed at that. Thankfully, however, mi novio was actually able to talk.

"Einstein just went flying out the side door!" he cried out in fear, his eyes opened wide.

+Yes! That!+

"WHAT?!" Jeb immediately threw the passenger door open, unbuckled himself in the time span of a few milliseconds, and started running back, along the side of the road, trying to see if he could find Jeremie.

The rest of us soon followed, throwing off our seatbelts and leaping out of the still-opened side door, following after Jeb.

"MAX!" William yelled.

"ON IT!" she replied, shooting down past us, instinctively knowing what had happened, and what she had to do.

Of course, no sooner had Max barreled down toward Jeremie as he continued to fall, the side door having flown open while we were running across a bumpy bridge, then something really amazing happened. And if I hadn't been as beside myself with fear as I was, I probably wouldn't have believed my own eyes.

Max continued zooming toward Einstein, executing a move I'd only ever seen Odd do with his overboard on Lyoko when the bird-winged girl noticed something fascinating… Jeremie had stopped falling.

What's more, he was now floating. Upward. Mysteriously.

Even the blond genius himself was amazed at what was going on. The look of fear that had gripped his face as he fell, fearing that his life was about to end, had been replaced with a wide-eyed expression of immense surprise, as even Max slowed her descent, wondering what exactly she was looking at.

Odd turned his attention toward me, noticing something incredibly scary. "Oh, no, look at Cat Girl."

In all the fear-ridden stupor, to see Einstein slowly float upward sent powerful waves of relief through my system. So powerful that I felt myself pitch backward, as though someone shot my forehead with a rubber bullet, and my vision blur and stir to black.

A good amount of time had passed before I finally opened my eyes again, to feel a strange, wet sensation against my forehead. It turned out to be none other than Odd, gently patting it with a wet washcloth. His eyes widened, and a grin slowly overtook his face, when he saw my eyes open.

"You're okay, Cat Girl…"

Of course, panic set in as soon as he said that. "Where's Jeremie?!"

And while I was still busy freaking out, mi novio's voice was calm and gentle, as he tried to get me to relax. "Don't worry, Cassidy. He's okay, and he's here with us. While you were having a date with the seat cushions, Georgina brought us to a rest stop. Princess hasn't let go of him at all since we all got back into the van."

With that, I slowly sat up, to see if I could see Jeremie, hoping the blond genius was unharmed and found Georgina gently checking everyone else over, to make sure nothing crazy had happened to them, emotionally or physically. She was looking at their arms, their sides, their backs, their bellies, and their faces, before moving onto Jeremie, who only had a few scratches on his arms and face.

As I watched, Jeb happened to walk over toward the van, delighted to see that I had come to.

"There's our sleeping beauty," he joked as he crawled in, and over to me. "How are you feeling, Cassidy?"

At first, my mental shield went up but seeing his kind eyes slowly lowered my defenses. "Absolutely terrified and traumatized!" I whimpered, tears welling in my eyes.

I felt Odd take me up in his warm arms, as a calming, reassuring, understanding look took hold of Jeb's features.

"I understand," he soothed, watching mi novio pull me into a warm, comforting snuggle. "But Jeremie's fine. He's got a few scratches on him, but he's still himself. Georgina's tending to his wounds right now, and you can go see him when you feel you're up to it."

This helped me to relax a bit more quickly, so Odd didn't keep me in his warm embrace for very long. Soon, he watched me climb out of the van, speed over toward Georgina and Jeremie at nearly the speed of sound, knock Einstein over, and pull him into the tightest hug I could muster, surprising both the blond genius and the former whitecoat.

"Cassidy, it's okay," Ulrich, who was sitting nearby, soothed, trying not to chuckle. "Jeremie's fine."

Of course, his words went in one ear, and right back out the other again. I really didn't care; I was just phenomenally overjoyed poor Einstein hadn't fallen to his doom, that I couldn't bring myself to let him out of my sight, let alone my grip. Even Jeremie seemed slightly happy to see me.

"Cassidy, I'm…" His voice was strained, but I could tell he was happy, "glad to see you…too… But could you let me breathe…please?"

I gently loosened my grip, but still kept him into my embrace, not even wanting to let go. "L-lo siento, Sr. Einstein…"

He took a deep breath, before finally wrapping his own arms around me, seeing as I probably wasn't going to let him up, anytime during this century. "It's okay… I'm just glad to still be alive… But if my wings weren't fully developed enough to be able to carry me, how did I mysteriously levitate up into Max's arms?"

My eyes widened, moving my head slightly to look into his face. "What?!"

"As I fell, I had closed my eyes, fearing that I was going to hit the ground and die, instantly. But as I was falling, I suddenly felt myself slow to a halt, and slowly begin to levitate upward. At first, I couldn't believe what was going on, and when I opened my eyes and saw Max flying down toward me, I could see the look on her face gave me the impression that something strange had happened. I know it couldn't have been my wings, as they still hadn't grown enough for me to be able to fly, but… I couldn't explain what was going on, and neither could Max… It was as if I just…floated up to her."

Slowly, I noticed Yumi, sitting alone for the moment, out of the corner of my eye, but something was a little strange. Some dandelions were floating in the air near her, almost arranging themselves into a weird pattern. Wait…are my eyes playing tricks on me?

For her part, Yumi seemed almost oblivious to what the flowers were doing. Her eyes were closed, her arms were folded, and she appeared to be hunched over as if she was incredibly confused, or something else. It wasn't until she heard my thoughts that she snapped out of whatever mood she was in.

Why? What do you think you—wait a minute… Cassidy, is that you?!

At this, she suddenly jolted upward, moments before the dandelions all mysteriously floated to the ground, near her. Her eyes quickly scanned the surrounding area, before stumbling upon me, as I laid atop Jeremie, arms wrapped around him, and a smile slowly grew upon her face.

"Cassidy, you're awake! That's great!" She stood up and walked over to me. "I hope you're gonna let Jeremie stand up, soon."

Still holding onto the resident genius, I pulled him to his feet, keeping a firm grip on him. "There."

"He's as happy to be alive," Yumi continued, gently dusting Jeremie off as much as she could with me having him in a cling, "as you are to have him alive. You should've seen Aelita, earlier. She was doing almost the same thing you were, just now."

"Speaking of, where is she?" I asked, looking around me from the front.

That's when I heard a soothing, gentle, feminine voice behind me. "I'm right here, Cassidy. And I'm glad to see you're awake."

"Well, when you are scared to the point of tearing every single follicle of hair out of your head, you end up fainting in relief," I giggled, keeping my grip tight on him. "I know you two love each other and all, but I'm still scared as hell, so I'm gonna hold onto Jeremie for a while."

The two geniuses shared a blush. Even though everyone in our group knew it was true, especially since they formally became boyfriend and girlfriend at some point between the assembly and XANA's weakening, the mention still had that effect on them, like an old habit that hadn't d—er, went away.

With his free hand, Jeremie gave the back of his head a gentle scratch. "Well… seeing as nearly everyone else, except Ulrich, Patrick, and William, have had a chance to snuggle, or even squeeze me, I guess it's only fair that you have a chance, too."

"That's right." Aelita nodded with a smile on her face, without a single trace of jealousy, or anger. "Besides, I understand completely. After Max got him back onto the bridge, I couldn't let go of him, either. It was only when Georgina wanted to check him and I over that I finally did."

"I—" I panted slightly, still feeling shaky.

I soon felt a hand gently, slowly, and soothingly rub my back, trying to calm me down. Looking over, I noticed it was coming from Yumi, who had a calming, disarming smile on her face. "It's okay, Cassidy. Jeremie's not going anywhere. And neither are we until everyone's calmed down."

I nodded, slowly relaxing, but keeping Jeremie in my arms. "I swear, Einstein! If—" My mind forced my words to stop. I couldn't let myself get angry at him. He wasn't in control of the situation, and I knew that. However, that didn't stop the tears welling in my eyes, poised to overflow like a waterfall. "I wouldn't have forgiven myself…"

This time, Jeremie wrapped his own arms around me once more and added his own soft, soothing back rubs to the one Yumi was giving me.

"Cassidy…" He began, speaking in a calmer voice, "if something had…happened to me…the last thing I would want you to do…is blame yourself. I know everyone else…would have been doing the same thing…but it wouldn't have been anyone's fault…except mine. I was the one who had my hand on the door handle… I wasn't trying to open it; I just wanted to rest my hand there… Just because you saw that in your vision…doesn't mean it's automatically your fault if it comes true… Yumi, Kaitlyn, and Aelita are right… You really need to stop blaming yourself for everything…"

I then felt a soft hand gently caress my sides through my shirt, and almost instantly, I felt some of the self-inflicted guilt begin to vanish. This alone immediately told me who it was.

"They're right, and you know it." It was Sister, who spoke in a very calm, soothing, disarming voice, as she softly rubbed my sides. "I don't like it when you do this to yourself, dear sister… we all felt terrible about what happened to Jeremie… but we can't blame ourselves…and look, he's alive, too! So let's just relax, and be glad he's still here with us, okay?"

I nodded, my mouth slowly turned upward. "I'm glad that he's alive, Sister. It scared me so much that when my relief tore through, I guess my body couldn't take it."

"Don't worry, it's okay." Her soothing voice continued. "Both him and you are okay, now. I've given everyone a hug, and a soft, gentle rub, and they all feel better, as well. I even had to snuggle Hunter, as he looked like he was about to lose it after you fainted."

"And she's done an excellent job as well," Georgina jumped in, her voice warm and encouraging. "She stopped him from overloading and everything."

And speaking of all things good; the boy in question happened to come walking over toward us, also looking quite relieved that I was okay, as well.

"Hey, Cassidy!" He said, somewhat excitedly. Sister was right; you could barely tell he nearly had an overload. "I'm glad to see you're doing better, and I see you found out Jeremie's doing great, as well."

"And now that you're feeling better," Georgina was next to speak, "would you mind if I checked you over, to make sure you haven't gotten any scratches?"

"That would sound great, Georgina," Jeremie smiled.

"Yeah," I agreed.

So that's what she did, after having me separate from Einstein for the check-over. A quick lift of my shirt part way showed absolutely nothing of the sort on my belly or lower back, and my upper back was all right as well. The lower parts of my legs were also fine, as was my neck and shoulders. However, there were a couple tiny little scratches on my arms, but nothing too crazy; in fact, they weren't even bleeding. With that, Georgina was certain I was just fine.

"You look good to me, Cassidy," she smiled, as she finished checking my left arm. "Just a few tiny scratches, but nothing too crazy. Those will go away on their own."

"That's great," I beamed, reaching over and reeling Jeremie back into my embrace.

"Cassidy…" Einstein had a slightly nervous grin on his face, yet spoke calmly and politely. "Just how long do you plan on using me as your teddy bear?"

"Considering that we nearly lost you a few moments ago, it might take a while," Yumi giggled. "After recovering from William suddenly using her nickname against her, she didn't let go of me for a day."

Jeremie let out a slightly uneasy chuckle, as well, his face unchanging. "Well, I… guess I could get used to it, for now."

"Hey, at least she's not yelling at you, Einstein," Kiwi quipped.

He looked down at Odd's diggity-dog. "Yeah… I guess you're right. After all, it could be worse."

"She could slap you in the face and scream worse profanity," Kaitlyn giggled.

That actually made Jeremie's uneasy smile slightly worse, as a nervous chuckle squeaked through his clenched teeth. "Yeah… that would definitely be worse."

"But I wouldn't dare slap Einstein, Kaitlyn. Uno, I don't think he'd like me doing that, y dos, it's not in my nature," I smiled.

"And thank heavens for that," Jeremie replied with a bit of relief. "I'm glad you're not that kind of girl. You're much more understanding than that."

"Yep. Plus I've seen the bruises on Odd's face when Magali and Claire both slapped him after he went steady on both of them without either of them knowing. I don't think it'd look good on you." I shuddered slightly, my grip tightening a small micron.

Even Einstein grimaced at that thought, shivering a tiny bit at nearly the same time I did. "And I've seen the kind of force you put behind those kinds of attacks. I'd rather not have to deal with that, either."

"Trust me, you've done nothing to make me do that to you. I mean, Odd tried to wake you up with that method," I smiled.

He rubbed the back of his head with a free hand, remembering what the monster had shown him. "Even that was painful. I'm just glad I woke up after the tenth slap. Otherwise, I probably would've had a sizable bruise on my cheek."

"And I watched that the second time." Yumi shook her head.

"I was amazed at what had happened to the two of you." Jeremie shuddered, thinking about the crows XANA had possessed, and how they had originally pecked at Yumi, but targeted me the second time around. "First Yumi, and then Cassidy. I didn't like to hear about it the first time, but actually seeing it for myself… I never want that to happen to either of you, ever."

"Trust me, that attack was horrible, but at least Johnny had helped us," I smiled.

That was when Odd came walking over. "So, Einstein's become your personal teddy bear, too, huh, Cat Girl?"

"Looks like it," Einstein sighed a bit, relieved that mi novio came in at the nick of time.

"Don't worry, Jeremie," Aelita soothed, walking up to her knight-in-glasses, and giving him a soft, soothing back rub through his brown turtleneck. "Once Cassidy feels better, she'll let you move around on your own. She's just worried that she almost lost you, just like me, and everyone else."

"I feel better that he's here, but all the same, it was terrifying," I admitted.

Better believe it, I heard mi novio think before he spoke. "Maybe Einstein just needed some fresh air, you know? There's not a lot of room in the back of that van, so he probably felt congested."

Sister soon walked up to the six of us, her arms folded. "Next time he wants to do that, he should have Georgina pull over, not try to kill himself! HMPH!"

She knew Odd was merely joking, as he usually did to ease tension or to cover up his own fears, pain, and other things, but she was still getting over Jeremie's near-death experience, just like the rest of us were, so it bounced right off.

I shivered, tightening my grip around Einstein even more, making him grimace.

"Uh… there's no need to worry about that…" he remarked, trying to contort his face into a sheepish grin. "I've… learned my lesson?"

I slightly loosened my grip, still fearful. I could hear Jeremie take a deep breath not long after, the blond slowly relaxing, now that he assumed I wasn't as tense as I was a few seconds ago.

"And don't you worry, dear sister. We're going to make sure he doesn't sit near that door ever again," Sister smiled, reaching for my shoulder and giving it a rub. Instantly, part of my trauma had vanished, causing me to relax like someone had flipped a switch in my brain.

I retracted my hands and arms from Jeremie, releasing the genius. "Thanks, Sister."

Now free from my grip, Einstein turned to face me, adopting a smile nearly instantly. "See, Cassidy? You don't have to worry one bit. I'm perfectly fine, aside from a few tiny scratches, but that's nothing Georgina and a few band-aids can't fix. But as I'm sure we both know, that's never going to happen again. So cheer up!"

I grinned. "Okay. I just felt so scared. Sure, Aelita or Franz could operate the Supercomputer, but no one is as fast as you are. And yes, Yumi, Ulrich, Odd, Patrick, William, Sister, Kaitlyn, and I have learned from you, but we—"

All of my praise seemed to have gone straight to Einstein's cheeks, as he lifted his hands into the air, showing me their palms, with a modest grin on his face. "If something happened to me, I'm sure we're all in more-than-capable hands. But you don't have to worry. You know as well as I do that XANA has tried tactics like those on us before, but that hasn't stopped us."

"I do, but we're still miles from Kadic. Heck, I don't even know where we are at the moment," I blinked.

"We actually haven't left California yet, Cassidy, sweetie," Georgina answered, softly running her fingers through my hair. "In a mile or two, we'll cross the state line into Arizona, but we'll only head out when you, Jeremie, and Aelita are entirely sure you're okay to keep riding."

"Aelita?" I purred.

My former first roommate blinked, looking a bit surprised to hear her name said in such a way, but quickly tossed the emotion. "I-I'm okay, Georgina. I'm ready to keep going."

"Jerrrremie?"

Einstein, strangely, found it funny to hear me purr his name. Maybe it was because I was feeling so much better, or that Georgina could relax anyone, no matter how tense they were. "I'm feeling much better as well."

I looked at her, my braid almost covering my left eye. "Then I feel betterrr, too…"

She smiled warmly at this. "That's wonderful! I'll go and tell the others that you're ready to go, and see if they are, as well. I won't be long." Gently pulling her fingers out of my hair, she gave me a soft kiss on my temple, before walking over to find the others.

The smile on my face grew even bigger, as a warm feeling of love completely enveloped me. "She has the magic touch…"

Hunter nodded, sprouting a similar-sized grin as Georgina walked past. "Yeah, she definitely does. She's such a warm, loving person… So caring, and so gentle. And her body rubs and massages are just amazing… So relaxing."

In a few seconds, Jeb walked over to join us. He grinned when he noticed the smile on my face.

"How are you feeling, Cassidy?" he decided to ask, anyway. "You look like you're doing better."

I brushed the braid behind my ear. "I am, Jeb. Sister helped with some of my emotions."

Hearing this, Sister grinned, closed her eyes, and folded her arms. "That's right! I couldn't let my dear sister feel terrible over what almost happened! All she needed was a soft shoulder rub, and all her worries just went right away!"

"I'm glad you're using your powers for good, Sissi," Jeb praised.

Yumi smiled as well, giggling a bit, before turning around. "I think we all are. And now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to go sit over here for a minute until everyone else is ready to go."

And with that, she walked back over to the bench she was sitting on, when I came out of the van, earlier. It only took her a few seconds, once she had sat down upon it, to close her eyes, and lean her head back. Strangely enough, a few moments after she did this, the dandelions in the grass near the bench she sat on, suddenly started to float into the air, again.

I immediately remembered the same thing happening earlier after I had gotten out of the van, to make Jeremie my personal teddy bear for the day. They were slowly moving around in a random pattern, and when I wondered what was going on in my mind, right after she replied, they fell back to the ground. Either the wind was playing tricks on them, or… could Yumi…?

Keeping my shield raised against Jeremie and most of the others, I thought to my geisha friend, a wider grin spreading across my face, Yumi… Jeremie... the dandelions… You're…telekinetic, just like your power on Lyoko.

At first, Yumi didn't seem to react, almost as if she didn't believe me.

Cassidy, what are you talking about? she replied in her mind, her voice sounding upbeat but slightly curious. We're not on Lyoko, and I only have telekinesis there. I don't understand.

You saved Jeremie! You are manipulating the flowers into an array of patterns, Yumi, I giggled in my mind, not even giving up. That's why Jeremie had floated to Max's arms.

The voice in her mind started to sound even more confused. But how could I have saved Jeremie? And what do you mean, I'm manipulating the flowers? I'm just sitting here, trying to relax.

It's gotta be a type of fear reflex when you saved him. You weren't thinking, Yumi. And if you open your eyes slightly…you'll see it. Trust me.

She began to take my word for it, knowing I wasn't someone to lie about that sort of thing. Slowly her eyes opened, darting all around her, before settling upon the dandelions. Her eyes immediately widened as she saw them moving around. "Huh?!" She called out in shock, as the dandelions gently floated back to the ground.

"See, Yumi?!" I giggled excitedly.

She fixed a skeptical gaze on me, raising an eyebrow in the process. "But how do you know that was me? What if someone else is doing it, and they're making it look like it's me?"

"It's only you, Yumi. I don't see anyone else doing it!" I felt as giddy as Hiroki in a video game store. "Plus Patrick and William are too far away to even do it."

Yumi still wasn't convinced, however. It seemed like she was trying to dodge the reality as much as she could. "It might not even be Patrick or William. It could even be Odd or Kaitlyn…or even Hunter!"

"Nope. Odd's eyes are open, Kaitlyn has her back turned and is playing with Kiwi right now, and Hunter's going over to the vending machines. The dandelions were floating over you. It can't be Jeremie because he was beside me the time I tackle-hugged him."

Folding her arms, and getting a slight look of anger, it seemed like Yumi still didn't believe me. "Well, okay, but I still don't understand why you think it's me who was doing that."

I sighed, starting to lose my steam. I had completely forgotten that sometimes Yumi was a bit stubborn in her maturity. "Why don't you believe me, Yumi? I saw those flowers float above you twice. And Jeremie couldn't have stopped himself on his own. I thought we had a sisterly bond, and I was your Savior."

She lowered her head, unfolding her arms with a sigh. "Yes… but… I just don't understand how I could have done that. This isn't Lyoko. We don't have special powers on Earth, and how—"

"Yumi Ishiyama! Have you forgotten that I have powers on Earth?!" I interrupted, feeling anger overtake my heart.

She quickly looked up, a grimace spreading across her features. I could tell she hadn't meant it like that, but my reaction, along with the fact that I called her by her full name, was what really struck her. But in a few seconds, she had contorted her face into a sheepish grin and raised her hands up to chest level, her palms facing me. "T-that's not what I meant," she chuckled nervously. "I-I-I mean… With everything else that's been going on… I'm just… I'm just… confused! That's all…"

Something caught my eye. Even though her own were open, the dandelions started floating around again next to her. A grin extinguished the fires of anger that threatened to hurt one of my best, close friends. "Maybe you should look just to your right. Hopefully now, you will believe me."

Her eyes slowly darted to her right. Seeing the flowers dancing in the air, Yumi gasped as they widened before her hands covered her face.

"Yumi, eres uno de los amigos más especiales que he tenido."

Slowly separating her fingers so her eyes could gaze through them, she found the dandelions were still doing their mystical dance in the air, held up only by her telekinesis. Even if she didn't understand it, even if she wanted to pretend it didn't exist, it was staring her in the eyes, and she couldn't avoid it. With a sigh, she pulled her hands away and tried her best to go with it, no matter what she felt.

To further prove this point, she took a dandelion from the air and gently placed it behind my left ear, between my braid and glasses. "And you're a special friend, too, Cassidy. Sorry I doubted you."

"It's okay, Yumi. I'm sorry for getting so miffed."

As we got to a slight pause, William walked over to us, looking a bit unsure. "I'm going to sit where Jeremie sat. I hope that's okay with everyone."

"At least you get the window seat, Ex-y," I beamed, relieved to hear that Jeremie wouldn't sit there anymore. "I don't think it will happen again."

Next, Georgina came over, with a smile on her face. "I figured it out. The van didn't lock all the way. It got the other side door, but it didn't with the one Jeremie shot out of. I'll make sure it locks before I get into drive."

"Ah. That's good that you found out the cause, Georgina," Yumi grinned.

Even Odd seemed excited about it. "You heard right. Now the van will be even more secure than before."

"No more people being the bird-kid cannonball," Max agreed.

"That'll help!" I nodded.

About a minute or so had passed before Jeb walked back toward us. "Everyone's ready to go. Let's load into the van."

Jeremie walked into the van first, taking the seat Kaitlyn sat in moments before. I took the one mi novio resided, then he slid in next to me. Aelita sat next to her knight-in-glasses and my other side, rubbing our hands. Hunter plopped down in the same place he had before. Yumi and Ulrich sat relatively in the same spot, with Samurai taking my original arrangement. Sam followed in short order, taking the seat where Aelita once sat. Kaitlyn and Patrick rested their rumps next to their cousin. Sister carried Kiwi in and sat next to Odd's other side. William entered last, sitting in the seat that Einstein did.

We all buckled our seatbelts as Jeb hopped in with Georgina and Ari. "Are you all ready?" he asked.

"Yes, Jeb," I giggled. "Hopefully this time, we'll all stay inside, where we belong. I don't want another accident."

"Me neither," Jeremie agreed.

A few seconds after he said that, I felt my foot tap rapidly on the floor of the van. "I'm gonna have to get used to this new sensation…"

Before anyone could react, my eyes clouded in front of me. Instead of something fearful, or at least comedic, it was really happy. In front of Kadic's gates, the faculty and students gathered around, Franz and Anthea near the front, waving a banner reading: Welcome Home, Lyoko Warriors! Behind them, I could make out the heads of our parents, and several more familiar faces.

Soon, the vision dissipated on its own, leaving behind a smile on my face in its wake. "Kadic will host a Welcome Home party!"

Odd's face immediately lit up. "Alright! A nice party for the conquering heroes!"

Aelita turned to me, looking both excited and curious. "Did you see who was going to be there?"

"I saw your parents, and everyone else's by extension, and Jim. I think I saw our band The Subdigitals, but I don't know if they'd be in Paris by the time we get back. We're going to be smooth sailing there soon," I giggled.

And my former first roommate couldn't help but feel excited, now that she knew part of what was waiting for us, back in France. "It'll be so wonderful to be back."

"You know it, Princess," Odd agreed.

"It'll be so glorious," Patrick smiled.

"Yes, it will," Kaitlyn nodded.

Sister closed her eyes as she grinned happily, having similar thoughts about our impending return as Aelita. "I can't wait to get back to Kadic, either. Daddy will be so happy, of course."

"We are still alive and well," Jeremie beamed.

"They haven't taken us out, yet," William chimed in, with a slightly ambitious grin on his face.

"Not even once," I agreed, a bit determined.

"And when we get back," Sam added, looking nearly as excited as William, "we're gonna be even bigger heroes!"

"Yeah!" Odd thrust a fist to the ceiling of the van.

"But I wonder why they invited the Subdigitals?" Ulrich mused, curious about why they had popped up in my vision.

"Maybe they want to throw us a concert. They were worried about us if they did release that press statement about us like France 24 News stated," I giggled.

"That's true," Yumi agreed, with a grin of her own. "They'll be just as glad to see us, like everyone else."

"Even Chris was shocked about the abduction," Jeremie noted.

"Yes, he was," I said.

"I don't think any of us were expecting that," Aelita mused, sounding slightly curious. "I thought that after the concert, that would be it, but to hear Chris say that was shocking."

"But Aelita, they want us on when we come of age, remember? I mean, sure, you are technically in your 20s, so you could if you wanted to, but Lyoko made aging nonexistent for you," I explained. "We have a contract that we will sign when we're ready. Dad still has it, as far as I remember."

She blinked, realizing I was right. "You're right. That could be something for us to do after we graduate. Unless we want to go to college, first."

"The Subdigitals has the tuition for us covered, so if we do go the college route first, then we'll be okay until after we get that out of the way," I smiled.

"You should write your own songs, Cat Girl!" Odd jumped in, giggling a bit. "We'll be okay, until after we get that out of the way! That was totally a rhyme!"

I felt my cheeks heat up, but a giggle leave my throat. "That was pretty cool. But then again, Kadic thinks we rule!"

Mi novio fell backward into his seat, laughing. "See?! That was perfect!"

"Those are some pretty good lyrics, Cass," William added to Odd's praises. "Maybe you could write a few songs for the Subdigitals now before you and Aelita start touring with them."

"Sometimes, my songwriting skills are somewhat left to be desired. I mean, the last time I wrote a song, I borrowed the rhythm of another song, and the lyrics didn't make any given sense. Starship did a better job at weaving their magic," I said modestly.

"Well, of course, you'd have to start somewhere," Jeremie suggested, interweaving his fingers together. "Even parody is an excellent starting point."

"True, but I haven't even written any songs in a long time. I've been more focused on longer stories."

"That's okay," Aelita replied, reassuringly. "It was just a thought. Besides, story writing works just as well."

"Yep. Besides, Jim likes my stories," I giggled, a sense of relief ricocheting through my system. "I'm still glad that he's alive."

Everyone else voiced his or her agreement. Most of us had somewhat fond memories of the burly gym teacher, notably Ulrich and I, but everyone felt better knowing that he was alive and that nothing crazy had happened to him when the whitecoats and Erasers invaded. Even Hunter, despite the fact that he only knew Jim through the monster, felt somewhat better knowing that he would be there when he started officially going to school at Kadic, although he felt quite intimidated by the man.

"I was so happy to hear his voice," I squealed in happiness, "both in the report and on Sister's phone."

Yumi nodded, a smile on her face. "That was great news. It's just like he said, anyway; 'it takes a lot more than that to take down your old pal Jimbo.'"

"I guess being abducted by Erasers—minus Ari—and whitecoats—minus Jeb and Georgina—is slightly better than being hunted down by trained-by-birth assassins," I grinned sheepishly.

"Geez, Cassidy, what have you been watching?!" Ulrich grimaced.

A rosy blush heated my cheeks. "I guess my imagination."

"Now, I told you that watching those late-night cartoons with Odd wasn't good for your mental health, Cassidy," Jeremie gently scolded me, pushing his glasses up over the bridge of his nose. "But it could have been worse; you could have been watching Hospital of Horrors."

My knees immediately shot to my chest. "Ugh… I don't like that show, remember, Einstein?!"

He slowly began to grimace, as he started to slightly backpedal. "That's why I said it could have been worse. I know how much you don't like that show. It amazes me that Odd thinks as highly of it as he does."

"Even Johnny watches that show, and he's younger than all of us."

Einstein's face went full-on surprised. "What?!"

"Even Johnny watches that show. Do you want me to sign it in ASL?" I blinked.

"No, no, that's fine," he replied, closing his eyes and adopting a sheepish grin, as he rubbed the back of his head. "I was just incredibly surprised by that. I guess it must be an acquired taste."

"Yep. But I didn't mind having him follow me around," I giggled.

Ulrich let out a slight, nervous chuckle as I mentioned that. He was sure everyone had to be thinking about why Johnny had followed me around, or even the fact that he followed Yumi around, the first time. He knew everyone knew that he sometimes let his jealousy get the better of him, but after what had happened, he started to get better with it.

"Ulrich, I told you that I hold no grudge against you for doing that," I smiled, reaching over and patting his shoulder.

Even though I meant well, he still couldn't help but grimace. "Yeah… uh… you're right…"

"Ulrich? Why do you feel guilty when I bring that up in a positive light? Is there something I can help with—?" I asked, removing my hand.

He shook his head. "It's fine."

"Ulrich, you can tell me. Don't make me sic Sister on you… She could heal that up in a jiffy," I giggled slightly.

Now he was waving his hands in front of his chest. "I told you, Cassidy, it's okay. It was just me being stupid, and we've dealt with it already. I don't need to talk about it, and I don't need Sissi to make it feel better. It's done."

"Oh, but I think you do, Ulrich dear…" A gentle, high-pitched voice, laced with slight ambition, pierced Samurai's right ear, moments before a soft hand perched itself upon his right shoulder, completely melting away any feelings of guilt he had about that day. Of course, that didn't stop him from trying to hide this, either. As he felt himself start to feel better, he closed his eyes and leaned his head forward.

"Thank you, Sister. Every time I paint that day in a positive light, he thinks it ruined me," I smiled.

"This was your plan?!" Patrick asked, feeling a bit surprised.

"Of course. Ulrich's always felt guilty over this whole 'Johnny following me' thing," I giggled.

"And since Sissi can heal emotional injuries," Jeremie added with a similar grin on his face, "no matter how much Ulrich thinks he's gotten over certain things, now we have the power to know for sure."

"And we can use it to our advantage, Jeremie, honey," Sister laughed.

"Yep," I nodded.

However, Ulrich folded his arms, looking displeased, even though he didn't really have a reason to do it. Apparently, the whole thing just caught him so completely off-guard, he didn't know how to react.

"I could tell that, like me, he had some guilt in him."

"At least, with Sissi's help," Aelita added, smiling warmly, "now the two of you are truly able to let go of any painful memories like those."

"Definitely," I agreed.

As we reached a quiet point in our conversation, Aelita and I happened to look over at Jeremie, who had turned to stare at the floor of the van, as if he was deep in thought. However, it wasn't like his thoughts were secret, either; all twelve of us knew he was thinking about how he mysteriously floated into Max's arms. It was so confusing, he had no idea how to explain it.

Using my mental shield like a private messaging system, I directed my thoughts to Yumi, Would you like to tell him or should I? He's bound to find out one way or another.

Yumi closed her eyes, her face slightly tensing up. I guess I should probably tell him… after all, I was the one who saved him, anyway.

Suddenly, a few gasps of surprise erupted from within the van, as everyone's eyes quickly shot toward her, incredibly surprised by what they had heard in their minds.

Grimacing, my geisha friend took a deep breath, eyes still closed, forgetting her thoughts weren't exactly secret anymore, without the proper shielding. She slowly opened her eyes, preparing herself to drop the bombshell.

"I guess it's about time I told everyone… Apparently, I was the one…who saved Jeremie."

Jeb found this just as surprising as everyone else, his own mind abuzz at the thought. So Yumi was the one who made Jeremie start floating… I guess those scientists did more to those twelve than I thought, before Max and her flock got there...

Strangely enough, he had only allowed me to read his thoughts. "It was probably out of a fear reflex. That's my theory, though," I blinked.

Jeremie looked over at me. "You're probably right, Cassidy. How else would she have activated her abilities, if she didn't even know she had them, in the first place?"

"That would be quite the conundrum. I think out of fear for you, she didn't think, but started hoping she could somehow save you if Max didn't," I started.

Odd smiled. "That's fantastic, Yumi! You're now a permanent member of the Daredevil Heroes Club, alongside Cat Girl and Einstein!"

My eyes widened slightly at what he said. "What do you mean by that? I—"

"Even if you don't think you did," mi novio jumped in, cutting me off, "you still saved Aelita's dad. That makes you a permanent member, too, if I ever saw one!"

"That's right!" Sister agreed with a big grin on her face. "My dear sister's a big hero, too!"

A blush heated my cheeks as I ducked my head slightly, a sheepish grin slicing through the bottom half of my face. "Uh… Thanks?"

"You know it's true!" Sister added with a nod.

"And that was wonderful, Yumi," Ulrich jumped in next, to my relief, slightly changing the subject as he smiled at his novia. "Whatever those whitecoats did to us after they gave us our wings really came in handy. I always said your telekinesis thing was really cool."

An amused smile grew upon her face. "And I still like your rich vocabulary, Ulrich."

Now Samurai's cheeks had gained a slight, rosy tint, as his eyes went south. "Um… well, uh… yeah… you're right."

Nearby, Hunter was staring at the carpeted floor of the van, still showing some surprise on his face. "Now I'm wondering what all the whitecoats did to us… first the wings, then everyone gets telepathy, Kiwi can talk… and now Yumi's got telekinesis, just like on Lyoko…"

"It's a bit obvious that almost nothing happened to me. I still have visions, can read minds, animal and human, and possibly have one-shot powers that come and go," I said.

Odd placed his hand upon my shoulder, a happy smile upon his features. "Oh, don't worry about it, Cat Girl. Maybe you'll get a new power when you're not expecting it."

"Maybe. So far, I'm practically normal with an air of mystery. I thought deactivating that weird tower would get rid of my powers. Instead, they stayed," I blinked.

"You wanted that weird tower on the Old Desert Replika," Jeremie interjected, turning a confused and surprised gaze in my direction, "to get rid of your psychic powers?"

"No, not that, Einstein. For that week while you were finding out the cause with Franz, I thought of possibilities for what would happen when it would be deactivated. One of them happened to be that. I was more worried that it would do that than ecstatic," I blushed.

"Well, it did take away a vision of what ended up happening to us, after we were kidnapped," he reminded me. "So in a sense, it did take something away from you. But at least you didn't have to worry about fainting, every single time someone else entered the tower, or so much as got close to it."

"That was weird." Just as I said that, I heard the locks around the van click. "I still don't know why that tower was connected to me."

"Well, given how XANA sometimes seems to have it in for you, personally," Jeb posed, turning around in his seat to face me, "it probably shouldn't surprise you. But the way he supposedly just sat back, and let you deactivate the tower, without so much as a Kankrelat challenging you, according to what you've told me, is really confusing. But maybe he had bigger plans, at that point?"

"I was locked in the tower, then…" My mind swirled from the memories that followed. It was as if that particular part of my brain had been blocked out, just from the experience, and the Replika's explosion, afterward.

"It still traumatizes her, Jeb," Aelita whispered, noting my reaction. "In a way, it bothers all of us."

Max and Ari's father grimaced. "I'm sorry I brought that up. Never mind that."

My arms wrapped tightly around mi novio, and I trembled as I had when I came out of the scanner room alive. In response, he wrapped his own arms around my quivering body, starting to give me a slow, soothing back rub as he embraced me warmly.

"There, there, Cat Girl," he cooed as he did so, "it's okay… Jeb didn't mean to make you remember that. It's all over, now… You'll never have to go through with anything like that ever again."

Backing Odd up, Aelita, Jeremie, Ulrich, Yumi, William, Sister, Patrick, and Kaitlyn all nodded, voicing their respective agreements at nearly the same time. This helped me to be sure that they wouldn't let anything like that happen. And I was sure Kiwi, Sam, and Hunter wouldn't let it happen, either, if they could help it.

Slowly, my mind hit all cylinders as my body finally calmed down. "Thanks, guys…"

Sam adopted an ambitious grin, as she looked over at me. "Besides, if XANA thinks he's gonna try to pull another one like that on you, he'll get what's coming to him!"

"Yes, he will!" Jeremie's tone darkened. "He hurt you so much psychologically and emotionally that you couldn't walk for a day."

"Thank goodness Mommy took her back to the hospital," Aelita smiled in relief.

"Yeah, thank goodness Dr. Chantal found that my legs recovered before my examination," I nodded.

"At least they didn't give you crutches," Odd jumped in, trying to lighten the mood, "or even a wheelchair… Can you imagine that? You'd be like Professor Xavier's long-lost daughter!"

"I would hate to imagine how the abduction would go down had I been in crutches or a wheelchair."

Jeremie shook his head, almost as if the thought nearly gave him a headache. "You'd have to be wheeled around at high-speed, and it probably would have been harder for all of us to get away, because we certainly weren't going to leave you behind. At least they carried all of us out, as if you weren't able to walk on your own, that would have been your best bet."

"And it would be even worse with crutches."

Now it was Sister's turn to shake her head, grimacing all the while. "No, that's a terrible idea! Why don't we think about something else? After all, we are out of there, all twelve of us can walk just fine, and we don't have to worry about those stupid, horrible whitecoats ever again!"

"Especially Reilly and Mandy!" Yumi agreed.

Ugh, just the thought of those two…that made me start to shudder, as I slowly curled myself into the fetal position, just from the terrible thoughts that suggestion gave me, and the nightmare about him. I was amazed I didn't come out from behind the seat belt.

I felt Odd wrap me in his warm embrace once more, snuggling me warmly. "No, no, Cat Girl… we'll never have to worry about them again, either… don't worry."

Gradually, my socked feet meeting the floor, I felt myself relax. "Sor—"

"No, I'm sorry, Cassidy." Yumi cut me off, looking at me, worriedly. "I should've known just mentioning their names would have set you off. I was just glad that we didn't have to worry about them, especially for your sake."

"Yeah, since one of them put a shunt in me the first day, and the other is implying that I'm Aelita's sister," I shot, the mystery swirling in my mind. "I hope that we get back to the Scanner Room soon. The mystery is still making me confused."

"Don't worry," Jeremie tried to reassure me. "The month will probably pass by quicker than you think. And then we'll be back at the Academy like nothing ever happened."

"Yeah, all except for our wings and powers," Yumi retorted. "Still, the month can't fly by fast enough."

"I don't even know if I've suddenly become Aelita's biological sister, just because a whitecoat put some of her DNA into me," I blinked. "This mystery is overwhelming me."

"But how could having her DNA injected into you automatically make you Aelita's sister?" Jeremie reasoned, trying to make sense of the entire predicament. "First of all, your biological mother is Debra McGuire, not Anthea Schaeffer. Second, just because you have one tiny little strand of pink hair, that just so happens to be the exact same shade as Aelita's, and Anthea's as well doesn't mean that you have to be related to them. What if the strand of pink hair is the full extent of the DNA injection?"

"In short, Cat Girl," Odd looked over at me, "translating" for Einstein, "having pink hair doesn't make you a Schaeffer sibling. Now, if all the hair on your head was pink…"

My mind went berserk, as I heard that. I knew he was only trying to be silly, but just the thought! Oh, I couldn't stand that thought… I recoiled from that idea and soon found myself in the fetal position, once more. Odd immediately grimaced as he saw this, letting out a fearful whine.

Jeremie glared at Odd. "Nice one, Odd… We got her calmed down for a few minutes…"

"Oh, no…" Odd lamented, before gently pulling me into his warm embrace once more. "I'm sorry, Cat Girl… I… I didn't mean it like that! I was just trying to be funny! C'mon, don't freak out, okay? Just relax…"

I wanted to, and I tried my best, but even my brain was starting to give out. But thankfully, Sister happened to lean over, and softly rub my back, through my shirt, with both of her hands. That was the magic spell I needed, right there.

"There you go, my dear sister…" she cooed. "Just relax for us…"

My feet felt the floor, and I turned my head as my ear leaned into Odd's chest, hearing his heart beating. "Thanks, Sister…"

"There you go, Cat Girl!" Odd started out sounding happy at first, turning his gaze toward Sister. "And that was great, Sissi! Thanks!"

"He's right. That really came in handy," Jeremie added, also sounding and looking grateful that Sister was able to help.

Then Odd's tone and face fell. "I'm sorry, Cassidy… I was just trying to be funny…"

"It's okay, but that time in the School still traumatizes me to a certain extent," I blinked. "I know it does to everyone else, too."

"You're right." I could tell Odd was walking on eggshells, especially since it was twice in a short span of time, that his and the others' words sent me spiraling. "We all had a bad experience. But that's all behind us, now. From this point forward, we're gonna have lots of fun, and get pampered like the real heroes we are!"

"And we will get back to Kadic, too. I miss some of our classmates. I called Milly and Tamiya last night before bed. We cried because we missed each other so much." My eyes burned, wanting to well with tears again.

Yumi was calm, and reassuring, seeming to understand where I was coming from. "I know how you feel… I miss a few of my classmates, too, like Maetina…"

"Yeah, she was great. She even was concerned for me when I did a little jig after William stomped off," I whimpered.

My geisha friend nodded. "She knew what had happened between the two of you. She's a really wonderful friend, and very helpful, too."

"Plus it was after the fifteenth of September, and I still had residual trauma," I sobbed.

Once more, Odd pulled me into his warm embrace, slowly and softly rubbing my back and sides, in an attempt to calm me down. At the same time, William leaned over, and softly stroked my leg, as he was too far away to embrace me like Odd did.

Gradually, my sobbing gave way to a sense of calmness. "I still miss Milly and Tamiya."

"I'm sure we all do," Jeremie replied, somewhat sympathetically, as I couldn't really tell how serious he was. "But I'm sure that, when we get back to Kadic, they'll want to do a big story on us, that will probably make the front page of the Kadic Herrald."

"I think it'll make more than just the front page," I giggled. "They're still trying to get the first issue done as far as I remember before this happened."

Ulrich was confused. "You mean, they're still working on writing a news story about the monster?!"

"We did agree on getting photos and individual and group interviews done. They have so many pictures, they are still getting them developed. I gave them my camera, too. They had almost half of them done before we were kidnapped," I explained.

"Then won't the story they'll want to write, when we tell them what happened," Aelita began to worry, "be too much for them, all at once?"

"They are making a big book, and they see it as a brilliant challenge. So far, they got the interviews transcribed, they're nearly there with the photos, and possibly at the end of this month, they'll start getting it published into copies for Kadic's students to read," I smiled. "To them, it's better than making small tabloid-like articles."

"I hope they made sure to get my good side," Odd added, trying not to make it sound like he was complaining, even though most of us knew he was. "If all they got of me was pictures of me running away from the Erasers, that's not gonna look very good."

"Odd, I meant what they got from us from the assembly. According to them, they were dutifully escorted by the whitecoats and Erasers to their very first class without complaint. They thought they were their bodyguards for some reason," I sighed slightly, a bit amazed at how picky mi novio was being, even though I knew it was something I should have expected. But I knew that Milly and Tamiya had gotten better at taking pictures, so the ten of us that were at the assembly were bound to look good, and hopefully good enough for Odd's picky tastes. But then again, the thought of Erasers and whitecoats trying to play nice and getting the others out of the way so they could focus on us… That alone was enough to give me the chills on a ninety-degree day.

"At least they were unharmed, right?" Yumi asked, sensing my distress.

"They were at Kadic, so that's more relieving than scary," I nodded, taking a deep breath. "I was so worried others were kidnapped with us without our knowledge that I asked about the others down the line, like Theo, Magali, or even Maetina, but all were unharmed. I even requested Hiroki, and it turns out that he was safe at Kadic. Holy mackerel, wouldn't you know the relief I felt when I heard his voice, too."

I guess my geisha friend assumed there was a bit too much relief, as she soon started giggling, possibly just at the thought of me worrying about her kid brother.

Aelita was smiling as well but was thinking about something else. "It's weird… you wonder if they had planned it, or just tried to take it as it happened."

"I think it was more planned. I just accidentally had us play into their hands or claws," I hypothesized.

"They'd probably had a long time to get ready," Jeremie added, building on my own theory, "so it would be shocking if their entire mission was played by ear. Still, it's astounding to think that nobody even thought twice about men in lab coats, or wolf-human hybrids, escorting them to their classes."

"And how do you explain the fact," Aelita queried, "that aside from the way they captured us, we weren't tossed around?"

"I think that the whitecoats thought that we were precious cargo, Aelita," I blinked, remembering how we ended up with beds, instead of dog cages. "I still feel the pain from the first and second consecutive time they sedated me at times."

"That could be it," she replied, staring at the carpeted floor of the van. "Even though I don't like the fact that we were kidnapped, at least we weren't bound, gagged, and lined up against a wall. Still, I'd rather not go through any of that, again."

"I'm so glad that we got away from those whitecoats. Otherwise, I'd kick their asses by this point," Kaitlyn growled.

"You have a point, Aelita, but they didn't go that far in the books. Kaitlyn, yes, I would have loved to kick Reilly…if—if he hadn't opened an emotional wound of mine," I blinked.

Aelita nodded, understandingly. "You're right. But that's all in the past, now. Let's try to leave that behind when we leave California."

"I'll try to push it behind me," I smiled.

"You should all try that," Georgina suggested, smiling warmly at all twelve of us. "Let's leave all of the negative, terrible feelings about your stay at the School behind you when we cross the state line into New Mexico. That way, you can all have a fresh start, and focus more on the trip back to France."

"Yeah," Jeremie sighed. "Alright."

"What if we see them again?" I asked.

"Why would we?" William folded his arms as he looked at me, seeming quite sure of himself. "You were there, in some form, when Max and her flock infiltrated the place. We left them in a really bad way. They'll probably still be recovering from that, so I doubt they'll actually try to chase us."

"True. I guess I'm overthinking again."

"Well, they could always come back, and find a way to come after us," Hunter suggested. "Like for instance, even though you guys supposedly slammed XANA, he could always come back, even if he won't be nearly as strong as he used to be, right away."

"Let's just relax for now. I'm still feeling waves after Jeremie's harrowing ordeal," I shuddered slightly.

Jeremie grimaced, squeezing his eyes shut as he found my shivers contagious. "Ughhh… don't remind me…"

"Oh, relax, you two!" Odd, however, felt more confident. "They fixed the side door, remember? We're just gonna have a safe ride, all the way to Maryland."

"Right," Yumi smiled, reaching over to ruffle my hair. "Just think about all the stops we're going to make, and the hotels, too. You're both going to be just fine."

Oh, could she just choose better words?! My mind brought to the forefront what happened before they put me on the chopper. I gritted my teeth and fought the tears. My being felt as though it was back in that increasingly flooding storm drain, but this time, no one drugged me, my claustrophobia was winning, and there was no exit or rescuer in sight.

Yumi gasped as she saw the look on my face, and tried to think of what might have caused it. She went through everything she had said, before gasping once more, and adopting a look of shame, as her mind recited the words "You're both going to be just fine." Oh, how could she have forgotten those words were like a trigger! She felt really terrible after that, as she stopped ruffling my hair, and started slowly and soothingly running her fingers through it like she did whenever she, Aelita and I would share a bath at her house, while she thoroughly soaked my hair. She mentally berated herself for being so careless as to forget how much those six words—or seven, as the case may be—really got to me.

"Cassidy…?" Jeremie asked, noticing my reaction and Yumi's change in action.

Yumi took a deep breath, the shame she felt overtaking her face and voice. "It was something I said to her… I told her something that reminded her of what the whitecoat said, before he sedated her, and put her into the chopper…!"

Odd put his hand on my shoulder, and softly rubbed it, probably thinking he was Sister as he tried to console me. "But Cat Girl, you're not going on another chopper ride. We'd never do that! We're just gonna stay in the van, remember?"

His words were like a switch, as though someone found a way to get me out of the waters before they engulfed me and filled my lungs. My mind cleared as I started to purr. "I really need therapy after this. I hope Mr. Klotz will help me instead of thinking I'm Emily."

"Emily hasn't been in to see him in a month, I'll have you know," Jeremie smiled. "I modified and gave her the Dream Barrier Destroyer program in the form of fully-functional MP3s. So she can have beautiful and intricate subconscious projections instead of horrendous ones that cause an emetic response from others."

Ulrich sent Einstein a confused look. "Could you say that in words?"

"Jeremie took the Dream Barrier Destroyer," Aelita began to "translate" Jeremie's words into plain English, "and made it into MP3 files for Emily that she could listen to when she goes to sleep. Now she'll have plenty of good dreams, and none of those really bad dreams she used to have."

"I knew Patrick's Enya CDs would come in handy, someday!" Odd quipped, grinning at the boy in question.

"But it's great that she can sleep better," I smiled. "I knew that it would come in handy for her. Remember when we were at the hospital?"

Jeremie, Aelita, Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, Sister, Patrick, and Kaitlyn nodded.

"You could say I took your advice," the blond genius added.

"It was merely a suggestion. Plus, I wasn't in a stable mindset back then because I had just woken up from my coma," I giggled.

"Regardless, it was a very good idea," Jeremie replied, my giggling making him grin, "and it really worked out well. According to Mr. Klotz, she hasn't had a single nightmare for nearly a month, now."

"That's good, and that's why she was more chipper that morning of our abduction. I didn't notice it at first and thought she was still plagued. But that was great, Einstein," I grinned.

"It was nothing special." The blond genius tried to be modest at first, before launching into another explanation. "All I did was turn the computer code into sine waves, capable of reprogramming the signals in her brain, and hid them in specific songs. Mainly tracks where multiple vocal and audio tracks are layered atop each other."

"You almost can't even tell," Aelita added, smiling. "It sounds just like a part of the song."

"I only wish it had worked more efficiently on me when I was always overwhelmed with the same used-to-be-sporadic nightmare." I adjusted my glasses.

Einstein copied my motion. "That's true. However, your nightmares were different than Emily's; yours were a sort of premonition as if your clairvoyance was giving you subliminal messages."

"True, but I should've spoken louder. Instead—"

"We've all dealt with that problem already," he interrupted, folding his arms. "That's all in the past, now. If another situation like that were to arise, we know the most efficient way to handle it."

"I haven't had another dream like that yet, so I think it's safe to say that we're in the clear for a while," I smiled.

The bespectacled blond grinned as his eyes widened, slightly, as the van's engine turned over. "That's fantastic!"

Even Odd looked happy about this. "Yeah! I wonder if maybe the Dream Barrier Destroyer got stuck within your brain, somewhere? That way, you can't have a nightmare, even if you watched Hospital of Horrors with me and Hiroki!"

"But, Odd, even a few nightmares went through a couple nights ago. Remember… the one I had a couple nights ago that I'd rather not talk about in front of everyone yet?" I prompted.

Mi novio slowly started to look a bit confused, moments before he instantly remembered, and his face shifted to a sheepish grin. "Oh yeah… that one…"

"Yes. I'm not even sure if it has any significance yet. I don't want to look too deep into it, though."

Ulrich placed the palm of his hand against the back of his head. "It must've been really bad, huh?"

"Terrifying."

Yumi reached over to softly rub my knee, once more.

"Don't worry," she soothed in a gentle tone, still looking a bit guilty from earlier, "you won't have to talk about it until you're ready. But I wouldn't dwell on it too much. Nightmares happen all the time, and they don't really mean anything."

"You have a point there, Yumi, but thanks to a few of them, and Franz Schaeffer's diary, Aelita was able to regain her identity," I noted.

"You're right about that," Jeremie agreed, just as we felt the van speed up, "but it still isn't a good idea to worry about it just yet. You've done enough worrying and distressing for one day."

"Or almost a couple weeks, Jeremie, darling," Sister came in. "My dear sister has been worrying and stressing since this whole abduction began."

"She's even worrying more than you, Einstein!" My wildcard jumped in, with a slight chuckle.

I raised a finger. "Well, when tú, tu novio, y tus amigos all get kidnapped, you start panicking about things here and there. I know that Georgina helped me calm down and relax here and there, but I still had anxiety about some things."

"I think it's safe to say we've all been worrying about this entire situation," the blond genius suggested, pushing his glasses up over the bridge of his nose. "But I think that maybe Yumi's right and that we should all just calm down, relax, and enjoy the ride. I'm sure the first hotel we stop at is going to have plenty of amenities, and take care of all of the rest of our worries, our nerves, and probably anything else."

"You're right," Aelita smiled. "Plus we're away from that place."

I nodded in agreement. "Yes…all thanks to Jeb, Georgina, Ari, and Max and her flock. At least they came in when they did."

"We're only sorry it took us as long as we did to get there," Jeb lamented, still glad that he helped to save us, nonetheless.

"We couldn't let those scientists do horrible, unspeakable things to you if we could help it," Georgina added, smiling warmly as she stared out the windshield.

"And that's why we're gonna make it up to you," Ari finished, giving a thumbs-up. "Not just this entire trip to Maryland, but every hotel we stay at, and every fast food joint we eat at. And even on your journey to France, too."

"Fantastic!" Odd cheered at the mention of "fast food joint."

"And that would be great, Ari. I'm not sure, but I think we'll need your assistance." I didn't know where I could have gotten that. I had a vision of how things would look at Kadic when we came back, but all I saw was the Subdigitals, and I just assumed they were gonna play a surprise concert for us, to welcome us home. I didn't have a vision of what would actually happen once we got there… Could I subconsciously know something that my mind doesn't even know about? Wait… it happened at the School… but I thought that was a one-time thing… did the whitecoats do something to my psychic powers?!

Nearby, I could hear Yumi thinking about the most tactful and gentle way to ask me where I had come up with that. I knew she was probably walking on pins and needles more so than the others, so she was anxious that even the tiniest thing, said with the best of intentions, had a chance of causing me to curl up into a ball, or explode with anger on her again.

"Ummm…" she began, "did you find out what would happen… when we get back to Kadic?"

"No, but I think my intuition is tingling as much as my powers are." I shook my head. "It's crazy, but at first, I thought my powers were intuition. It just ended up being false when Ulrich and Jeremie discovered that I was psychic in the scanner room."

"But you were right about one thing," Jeremie reminded me, with a smile on his face, threatening to burst out laughing like an active volcano. "You did point out that someone would be a giant purple cat on Lyoko; it just happened to be you, rather than Odd."

"And you almost knew that I'd become a samurai," Ulrich added, "and that happened without you having a vision."

"True. I guess it was a remnant from the first vision. I wasn't very experienced with my powers at first," I shrugged. "And any means of controlling them was almost impossible."

"But you got better at it," Aelita reassured me, smiling warmly. "Even now, it's just like the early days, when you first met us."

"Yeah, plus Jeremie gave me the idea that I should write them down in a journal like he would jot his thoughts in his diary," I smiled, giving Einstein a wink.

My winking caused his eyes to widen slightly, and a barely noticeable tint to fill his cheeks, but he smiled back, nonetheless. "And it definitely came in handy, didn't it?"

"Oh, yes, Jeremie. Plus I drew a lot of pictures. It's lucky my powers could remember a lot of details. Otherwise, Odd throwing three pages of my vision journal in the incinerator would have invoked major consequences," I said.

Mi novio grimaced, starting to worry that just that mere mention had set me off again. "I told you I was sorry! Besides, I only did it because I thought you had drawn pictures of Sissi's father, not Aelita's!"

"Well, you definitely were lucky that I was able to redraw those pictures from my powers' memory," I sighed.

"Yeah… you're right." He sighed as well, sounding a bit down. "That's why I didn't touch your vision journals again, after that. I don't even know half of what you draw in there, anyway."

"I thought you knew that my vision journals were public to the gang, Odd. Ulrich didn't know, even if he peeked in one of them that happened to coincide with the day that you and Kiwi were to become infused for an afternoon."

Everyone except Sam, Hunter, and Kiwi started looking at each other, passing unsure glances up and down the line, before Yumi finally spoke up.

"We thought they were just meant for you," she lamented, still sounding a bit guilty. "So aside from Odd those few times, and the one time Ulrich and Jeremie looked through one, we haven't really touched them. You never really told us we were allowed to."

"I left them out in the open in Aelita, Kaitlyn, and my old dorm room. They were even labeled 'Open if you are part of the gang,'" I said, disbelief spiking my heart. I knew that they meant well for my privacy, but the only time I would put my thoughts in was in the form of Post-it notes.

Jeremie raised an eyebrow. "I rarely even went into your old room… And even then… I must have missed that."

"I put it on blank white stickers with pink marker, Einstein," I giggled.

"Oh, no!" Ulrich's eyebrows and upper eyelids hit his hairline. "If that was like that the whole time… we would have known everything… but we rarely went in to visit you, Kaitlyn, and Princess…"

"True, but I didn't know that you valued my privacy over your curiosities, guys. Admirable on your parts, but my vision journals were like books you could read. I took a small leaf out of Jeremie's book with the little notes scattered around," I smiled.

"You mean you put little Post-it notes in with your regular entries?" Einstein's voice piqued in curiosity.

"Exactly."

"But let's not get all worked up over that again," Sister suddenly cut in, starting slightly loud at first, before dropping to a soothing, calming tone. "It's all taken care of, so we don't need to worry about it anymore."

"She's right, guys. It's in the past now," Kaitlyn agreed.

"Yeah, because we just passed into Arizona!" Georgina announced.

Just like that, everyone's eyes immediately shot toward the windows, as a big "Arizona: The Grand Canyon State Welcomes You" sign flew past us on the highway. Knowing that we had passed the California state line was almost like completely leaving behind the problems we had faced, for most of us. We were now in Arizona, and that meant that we could hopefully take a deep breath, and not have to worry about anything crazy happening between here and Las Cruces. And even though we had gotten away from the School, the Erasers, and the whitecoats, there was still a long road before us.