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

Was there ever an experience that ended up leaking into your subconsciousness like a broken pipe? Something so strong that nothing could stop it? And any attempt to take back control was ripped from your hands?

Well, despite the soothing rub from Georgina that plunged me deep into dreamland… that's exactly what happened. It's anyone's guess how something so gentle and relaxing couldn't stave off something terrible like what I dreamed of that night.

I felt as though I was falling through the air, only to be stopped by a hard impact. My eyes widened as I slowly realized where my dream landed me.

The floor and ceiling had been covered with black and white tiles, forming a checkerboard pattern, separated and bookended by blank, slate gray walls. I looked up to find a big, long chalkboard returning my gaze, hanging from a dark green wall, and framed on both sides by menacing statues.

I struggled to move when it hit me: I was in one of the specially designed chairs the Teen Titans were in. It was made of wood, with its arms and back molded into the shape of an abstract lion, and its legs as coils, which immediately wrapped themselves around my ankles. My arms and hands were atop those of the abstract lion, right down to the hidden cuffs and round, balled fist at the end. I was locked in pretty tight. But I wasn't a superhero. My powers were minimal compared to those of Starfire or Raven; why was I in this predicament?

Suddenly, the chalkboard sprang to life, as white, chalk-like outlines began to appear as if the board knew how to draw upon itself. In a matter of seconds, a face started to take form, but not that of Mad Mod, who I expected; instead… it was someone familiar. Someone equally as evil, if not unhinged.

I tried to close my eyes and take back control, when two tiny wooden hands, connected to the top of the chair, grabbed onto my eyelids and forced them open.

His lips moved on the chalkboard, the face being more than just a drawing. "Now how do you expect to learn anything if you won't sit still and listen?"

"Reilly!" I growled, the ambient light in the room reflecting off my gritted teeth. "You won't get away with haunting my every dream like this!"

"Oh, tut, tut, Cassidy!" His chalkboard caricature smiled evilly. "You and your friends escaped before we got started, but maybe we should head back to basics for you."

The sides of my lips pulled back like a curtain, revealing my rear teeth, almost like a victim of indoctrination looking at another, unrelated indoctrinator using children to draw out the hero of the story. "We are not lab rats, Reilly! You can't keep torturing us like this!"

"Oh, you think I'm haunting everybody?" He chuckled slyly. "No. Just you…"

If my eyes hadn't already been forced open, they would have widened even further. "Whaaat?!"

"You see, your friends have been lying to you. They do blame you for everything you did. The kidnapping, the vortex…"

My scowl morphed into a frown of guilt, but it only lasted for a brief second, as I quickly remembered that my friends had conviction in their voices when they told me it wasn't my fault that my powers unleashed the monster.

"No!" I shot back, refusing to let him get the upper hand. "They're not! And that is the real fact! You don't know them!"

His outline began to move back and forth across the chalkboard, giving the impression that he was pacing. "Oh, Cassidy, have you forgotten that they kept the vortex and your coma a secret, until a month and a quarter after the fact?"

I threw it back at him, growling like a Thunderbird's engine being revved. "I wasn't in the right mindset back then! My friends were right about my sensibilities then just like they are now!"

"Are they now?" He raised his brows, almost as though he was trying to throw me into doubt, before a grin, almost as though mi ex novio was taunting me into climbing the rock wall while I had vertigo, flitted across his face. "Maybe I could shed some light on the matter."

As if the phenomenon was at his beck and call, a pink, purple, black, and white vortex mysteriously appeared in the center of the room, one that would have made my eight friends break the sound barrier with their screams of fear. Strangely, however, the sounds of swirling air were absent, as virtual manifestations of Jeremie, Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, Aelita, Patrick, and Kaitlyn watched the vortex in awe.

"My friends…" I whispered, unable to reach out before my voice gradually rose into a shout. "Aelita! Jeremie! Odd! Yumi! Ulrich! Patrick! Kaitlyn!"

A new voice, one that was shrill, and high-pitched, entered the void. "This is your fault!"

Even though I was practically alone, and the only one who "kept me company" was a chalkboard drawing, my chair mysteriously spun around to face Sister.

"Sister!" I cried out. "What do you mean? This is so confusing!"

"You heard me!" Sister bellowed out, her eyes metaphorically cutting slits into my body. "It's all your fault! You're the one who unleashed this mess on us! Thanks to you, my dear Ulrich and I ended up sedated by hospital security, while trying to save your worthless life!"

"B-but…"

Then, another entered the void; this time, it was none other than Ulrich. Strangely, just like Sissi, he also seemed quite upset.

"If it hadn't been for you," he growled at me, folding his arms, "Yumi and I wouldn't have been held down by hospital security, either, just because you wouldn't wake up, and we would have saved Lyoko! But nooooo! You had to go and freeze as though a Blok shot an ice ray at you! I can't believe you think you're a Lyoko Warrior!"

"U-Ulrich…" My words came out as though he had sucker-punched me instead.

And it was only about to get worse.

The next one to appear was his beloved novia, Yumi. Like the two that came before her, her expression wasn't nice in the slightest. As she balled her hands into fists, I watched her scowl at me.

"You go ahead and freeze up, okay?!" Her words were like thorns that pricked every inch of my body. "We'll just stay over here and fight like you should be doing! After all, that's all you're good for, isn't it?! We take out XANA, while you sit back, and crumble into a million pieces! And it's all because you had to go and fall into the Digital Sea, that one time! Don't you think you would know not to shove a MegaTank when you're that close to a pit?! Maybe we should have left you permanently virtualized!"

My words died in my throat as the chair released my eyelids. Freed from that, I turned my head, only to see Odd, mi novio, with his back turned. To my slight relief, he said nothing… at least at first.

But even that didn't last long, and his seething words began to dice what was left of my constitution. "You know something, Cat Girl? I've been counting every single time I've had to save your ungrateful self, and I don't think I've ever had to count that high! I don't even think I have as many laser arrows as that! And to think, I actually loved you! Maybe it wasn't William who was unfaithful… we should've left you alone in front of the administration building, with everyone just pointing and laughing at you! Yeah! That's what you deserved!"

"Un-ungrateful? U-unfaithful…?" I shook my head. Where did he get those words from?

"Maybe you shouldn't have become my roommate!" The next voice appeared to be Aelita, who looked even angrier than she had when Jeremie tried to tell her that her father was nowhere to be found on Lyoko. "Then I might've actually gotten some peace and quiet every night! I wouldn't have had to deal with your stupid, inane visions! Always 'oh, Aelita, you're going to get captured by the Schyphozoa,' or 'oh, Aelita, XANA has it in for you,' or even my favorite, 'oh, Aelita, XANA's going to pretend to be Franz Hopper, your father!' Maybe I should have let the Schyphozoa take my memory! Then I wouldn't have had to deal with YOU!"

"B-bu-but, Aelita—"

"Don't you dare talk to her!" Walking up beside her, Jeremie wore a scowl, almost mirroring the one that he did when we fought. "You have absolutely no right to address my beautiful princess! That right was taken away from you when you told the entire world OUR SECRET! We trusted you, Cassidy René McGuire! All eight of us did! And you let all of us down! Thanks to you, the whitecoats were able to localize us, and kidnap us! Do you know what this means?! Do you have any idea what this all means?! We're going to launch a Return to the Past, and this time, you will NEVER enter our timeline, EVER AGAIN!"

My head immediately jerked to the left, as I gazed into the dark abyss that the others had mysteriously walked in through. No sooner had Jeremie finished his sentence, then the void brightened up, revealing what looked to be the lab from the factory. It looked nearly identical, right down to the elevator door. Even the holomap bowl was alive with a map of all five sectors.

However, the most interesting part was the supercomputer itself, and who appeared to be sitting in front of it. It was a bearded man in a white lab coat, whom I recognized right away.

"Franz! Oh, thank goodness. You've gotta find a way to—"

Before I could finish my plea for help, he swiveled the motorized chair around so he could face me, with an angry look on his face, that was easy to spot, despite his glasses, and the fact that his facial hair had swallowed most of the lower half of his face.

"Silence!" he bellowed, his voice reminding me of a great lion. "I believe the only thing I'll be doing, is taking care of the Return to the Past. You, my dear, have been a thorn in our side, since you helped Jeremie discover the supercomputer. They've led you to believe that you've been a great help, with your so-called psychic abilities, and how you've saved them from their own self-created problems… but we all know better. Nothing has been the same ever since your arrival. Many things have changed, and none have done so for the better. Even my dear angel has had to pay the ultimate price, all because you had disappeared into the Celestial Dome when your help was needed most! You, yes you, are fortunate that I happened to be there, to revive her, before even more terrible things befell her, and Lyoko, all because YOU FREED XANA!"

A mixture of surprise, fear, disgust, upset, and disappointment kept my face held taut, as Aelita's father whirled himself back around to face the supercomputer, unleashing his hands upon its keyboard.

"And now we're going to fix the problem: YOU! We're going to make sure that you never have the chance to disgrace us with your presence EVER AGAIN!"

As he continued to type, I heard Jeremie's angry words from behind my chair:

"So goodbye, and good riddance!"

At that moment, all of the nightmare characters slowly began to approach me, circling around me, coming ever closer. Within their eyes I could see terror, as if they truly meant business, and wanted nothing more than to do away with me, figuring it would erase all of their problems.

"N-no… pl-please… D-don't…"

As my "friends" neared ever closer, Reilly's chalk likeness disappeared from the chalkboard, before a chalk sketch of the Return to the Past program, looking exactly like it did on the supercomputer, appeared in his place, as a timer began to count down to October 9th, 2004. My eyes widened as I read this horrifying date: it was the day I first met Jeremie! From the way things appeared, they indeed were going to erase me from their timeline permanently, by changing the sequences of events that happened that day, so I never met the blond genius I've come to know, respect, and adore.

Yet, just as they were inches from my body…

Something—or should I say, someone—shattered my nightmare to pieces.

"Cassidy? Wake up…" It was a calm, gentle, soothing voice, one that almost sounded like a soft back rub. I knew it all too well: it was my former first roommate, Aelita.

Unfortunately, instead of silently shooting from my covers, I screamed, launched myself out of the suite's bed, and rocketed straight into a nearby wall. For a moment, after landing on the floor, my vision swirled around, and I shook my head. "Ugh…"

"Cassidy? Are you okay?" Aelita initially looked worried but managed to find some humor in the situation. "It looks like Odd installed the ejector bed in the wrong spot."

"I think this guy owes me five Sickles…" I pointed in the wall's general direction, my hand and finger shaking from the impact.

"Five sickles and a blade sharpener!" Odd jumped in, walking over by me. "Oh well, I guess I'll have to turn it back a bit. You took quite the hit there, Cat Girl."

"S-sorry…" I whispered, my body unexpectedly tensing up.

Before I could raise myself to my feet, I felt a pair of gentle hands land upon my shoulders, which happened to belong to Yumi. She bore a slightly surprised look as she glanced into my eyes. "Cassidy, are you okay?"

"Bad dream, really scary…" I muttered, shaking like a leaf.

Next to Yumi, Kiwi came leisurely walking up, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. "Looks to me like you could use a belly rub this time, Cassidy!"

I nodded, still really spooked.

And the next voice I heard didn't help things any. Interestingly, our banter had managed to wake Sister, who wasn't all that happy.

"Ooh…! WHO WAS THAT SCREAMING?! And WHO'S the dork that WHACKED the wall, while I was trying to get my BEAUTY SLEEP?!" she gave an angry yell, as she stormed out of her bed, glaring at the five of us.

Of course, no sooner had her eyes beheld me, then her attitude softened up nearly instantly like someone had flipped a switch in her brain, as she ran to my side. "Oh, my dear sister! Are you alright? Did somebody wake you up the wrong way?"

I shook my head, but instead, tears fell down my face, scared she would hurt me the way her nightmare form did to me, my body totally tensed up.

As my hands covered my eyes, I heard a worried squeak leave her lips, before she embraced me in a warm, soothing cuddle. "Oh, there, there… don't cry, sister dear… did I make you upset?"

"She had a bad nightmare, Sissi," Aelita soothed, trying to set the peace. "I was getting up to go to the bathroom when I saw her getting tangled up in her bedsheets."

"Ohhh…" Sister's voice was filled with concern, as she began to softly and slowly rub my back, comfortingly.

Before any of us could make the next move or sentence, a knock came at our door.

"Who is it?" Odd sang, trying to sound as though he was lightening the mood.

A light chuckle emanated from behind the door. "Good ole reliable Ulrich to the rescue."

"And Hunter and Jeremie," a half-masculine, half-feminine voice came in next. "Can we come in?"

Aelita giggled slightly. "Of course, Jeremie." She got up and opened the door, letting Einstein, a shaken Hunter, and Samurai in.

Upon first sight, Jeremie let out a sigh of relief. "We heard screaming and a huge bang. Is everyone okay?"

"Just one of us had a nightmare," Odd reported, pointing over to me, still crying. "And she's still shaken up by it. I barely got within two feet of her, and she started to tighten up. My feet haven't started smelling again, have they?"

Ulrich shook his head. "Nah. Besides, we didn't smell anything over in our room so it couldn't have been."

I lifted my head, my eyes beholding the Einstein of our group, and sobbed harder into Sister's nightshirt. "Please d-don't wipe m-my memory! And d-don't m-make F-Franz d-d-do it..."

Looks of shock and surprise overtook Jeremie's and Hunter's faces, while the black-haired boy began to slowly step backward.

"Do what?" Einstein uttered, confused about what I had just said. "Wipe your memory? Why on Earth would we do that?"

"I-I…"

"Did you have a Reilly nightmare?" Odd asked me, trying to understand while keeping my other one a secret.

I set my jaw, nodding into Sister's chest. He made you, Franz, Jeremie, Aelita, Ulrich, Yumi, and Sister… OH, WHAT IN GOD'S NAME HAVE I DONE?!

Please calm down, dear sister… Sister replied in her mind, as she continued to softly and slowly rub my back. You were having a nightmare. None of it was real, and it's all over now.

Slowly, the tension in my body was released, helping to calm my tears a bit as I looked to Jeremie, water streaming down my face. "S-sorry, J-J—Eins—"

"Don't worry, Cassidy," Jeremie soothed in reply, adopting a warm, calming smile. "You were having a nightmare. Whatever you think we did in your nightmare, we would never, ever do to you, or anyone else, with the exception of XANA. So relax."

My body began to calm down further before I glanced over at Hunter. It was then that I remembered how much of a problem he would have, whenever someone talked about sad things or painful memories. He probably hated this just as much, and it only made me feel worse. "H-Hunter? I-I didn't… mean t-to…"

Hunter raised a hand into the air, slowly starting to smile calmly. "No, no, you're fine… that isn't you; that's me. This sort of thing is just kinda hard for me to handle, sometimes… it's got nothing to do with you, so don't worry."

A tiny smile sprouted on my face. "Thanks." But as fast as it came, it vanished. "I'm s-so sorry, Sister…"

"Huh?!" Sister was a bit surprised at first, but as she continued her soft, slow and gentle rub of my back, she realized what was going on. "It's okay. I was just a bit surprised. But it's not your fault. You're okay, now, and that's all that matters."

"Y-Yumi? Aelita?"

"Try to relax, okay, Cassidy?" Yumi soothed, hers and Aelita's faces gaining warm, calming smiles. "Whatever happened in your dream will never happen to you. You know us better than that."

"She's right," Aelita agreed, reaching over to help Sister rub my back. "You're a wonderful person, and we would never do anything like that."

A deep breath entered my lungs as I looked at Ulrich. Samurai?

Ulrich merely nodded, a calm, determined smile gracing his features. Yumi and Aelita said everything I was gonna say.

"Thanks, guys…" I whispered when someone entered the doorway.

"Okay, who decided to throw a guitar?" It was William, who looked about as with it as I had once been.

"Uh… no guitars were thrown in the making of this fanfic?" Odd quipped.

Jeremie rolled his eyes. "Odd, would you stop trying to break the fourth wall? This is real life, you know."

But both Einstein and Ninja-Cat Boy had worked their magic, as I started throwing my head back and laughing.

Odd merely threw Jeremie a playful look. "Hey, it got Winged Cat Girl laughing, didn't it?"

"It is better than her getting scared of Jeremie for no good reason, Odd, honey," Sister pointed out.

"Yeah," Hunter nodded, taking a deep breath. "I can deal with this much more easily than I can that other thing."

"I guess I did another good job, didn't I?" William smiled, having become more lucid.

Ulrich folded his arms, raising an eyebrow as he glanced at mi ex novio. "You sure did, William… only this time, the only thing we have to free you from is your half-awake sermons!"

Yumi found herself chuckling at her boyfriend's wisecrack. "Yeah, right… and I guess most of us are awake… but does anybody know what time it is?"

Aelita turned her head at the analog clock on the nightstand, sounding as innocent as she did when she woke Sister up at too early in the morning. "Uh, two o'clock in the morning?"

"Only two?" Sister stole a quick glance at the clock, as well. "My dear sister beat you, Aelita, honey."

A pang of deep shame filtered into my heart, ceasing my laughing fit immediately. "Oh, Sister, I'm so sorry! I didn't—"

She gave me a warm, calming smile, as she rested her hands on my shoulders, once more. "Don't even think about it, sister dear. You didn't ruin anything, especially not my beauty sleep. I can always start over."

In moments, Jeb, Max, and Ari appeared in the doorway. The father of the two looked a bit askew. "Is everyone okay?"

"Just a nightmare," I answered, feeling sheepish. Now we have at least a few from each suite.

"Would you like me to call Georgina?"

"No. She drove all day, but that could give me an idea to get myself a shower. It might help," I shrugged.

"Are you sure?" Hunter asked.

"I'm going to be fine, Hunter. I just need to relax. It's not as though I'm close to the factory at this time of night anyway."

Ulrich looked at him. "That's true. I can trust her."

Raising all my mental shields, I thought, keeping a smile on my face, hiding my true facial expression, Like you all trusted me with the secret of Lyoko, and I blew that up like it was nothing.

After a few twists of both taps, soothing, warm water began to burst forth from all three showerheads, of which there were two on opposing sides, and one in the middle, within the glass shower enclosure that was big enough to hold three, if not four. I had soon stepped inside, closing the glass door behind myself, and entered the beckoning sprays, the only place where I could think in absolute silence. Everyone else was outside the bathroom, and even if Sister had wanted to join me, whether to wash me or help me relax, this was something I needed to do by myself. Sooner or later, they were all bound to go back to sleep, and that was all I needed.

As the warm water caressed my hair, the only thing that filled my mind, even with my mental shields raised to the max, was my dream. A dream where everyone hated me and wanted me gone.

They said they had forgiven me. They told me that the monster wasn't my fault.

But somehow that all felt like it wasn't enough. Something, deep within me, kept telling me they were lying. I had shouted their secret to the heavens, and people in different continents, let alone different universes, had heard it. What I did was like what Sister had done in the alternate timeline, only on an infinitely grander scale. But she had only told her father, Yolanda, and Jim; I not only told them, but the rest of the school, the rest of the country, and the rest of the universe. And yet they didn't kick me out.

Of course, who was to say they weren't waiting until we got back to France, back to Kadic, where this entire mess started, to do just that?

No matter what they told me, that's what all this was... my fault.

It was my fault that we had been kidnapped, Jim had been knocked out, the teachers had probably been done in the same way, and my eleven friends and I had been airlifted over thousands of miles away, to a completely different continent, to undergo tests. Because of me, every single one of us had a pair of bird wings growing out of our backs, like we were some strange, bird-human hybrids. If we hadn't been taken out of there when we were, they were bound to do more to us, than just inject Aelita's DNA into me.

We would still be back in France, enjoying the fruits of our labor, but only within our own little group, if that hadn't happened. And it was all thanks to me.

"Oh, but it's not your fault," they've told me. "You weren't in control of yourself." But if it hadn't been me, who else would have done it? Who had the psychic abilities, before everyone else mysteriously got the ability to read minds? Me. Who told the entire universe about the supercomputer, Lyoko, Aelita's past, and XANA? Me. Who's probably going to have more than just a team of whitecoats and Erasers on their tail? Me.

It was all me. That was all it ever was.

As much as it might have pained me to realize it, as more tears began to fall from my eyes, before being washed away by the gentle rains... Reilly was right.

But they were my friends, weren't they? They had stuck with me, and I them, through all of this craziness, even before we weakened XANA. They had always been there for me, when I fell into the Digital Sea on multiple occasions, when Kiwi's DNA was mysteriously fused with my own, when Odd and I had two clones made of each of us, each with different facets of our individual personalities...

...but what if that had all been a ruse?

Everything could have been on a hair trigger, without me even realizing it. Accidentally press the blue button, instead of the green one, and they slice my head off. I felt as though I had to walk on eggshells around them on a few occasions... maybe it was more often than I thought.

Are any of them really my friends? Sister pretended to care about me, but how do I know her behavior is really genuine? She hadn't honestly given up on Ulrich, and I was sure of it. He might have become Yumi's boyfriend, but since they rarely showed each other affection, beyond the usual smiles, blushes and very rare hugs, she probably thought he was still available, and she was just doing that to avoid something worse.

Yumi might act like a big sister, but for all I knew, she might think I was worse than her little brother, Hiroki. After all, he would tell on her plenty of times, to their parents... so of course, she would lose all control, the moment I tell them... "it's not my fault," huh?

Ulrich liked to try and protect me like I'm something to be protected... but that was Aelita. Aelita was the only one who can actually do something useful, while on Lyoko. What could I do? Fall into the Digital Sea? Get them all in trouble? Freeze when my XANAfied ex-novio came onto the scene?

And Jeremie? Sure, he had gotten me out of computer-related jams, and even helped me with my schoolwork on many an occasion, but he probably felt as though he was indebted to me, somehow. I told him all about the supercomputer, the factory, and Aelita, back when everyone thought she was just an artificial intelligence. How many times have I screwed up around him? I was sure he really enjoyed separating Kiwi's DNA from my own, or merging Tracy and Chessy back into my body, along with Alexx and Hunterr into Odd's. Nobody could tell me, with a straight face, that Jeremie performed each of those actions with a smile on his face, and a song in his heart. I wouldn't believe it, because I know it wasn't true.

Then there's Odd... oh, sure, he had made me laugh on multiple occasions, been there for me when things have been really crazy, like when William broke up with me... but he never had any special reason for doing that, did he? I was just there. I thought his jokes were funny. I softened Ulrich up to his arrival. But did I really deserve any of his love, if that was even what it was, or special attention?

I couldn't have. After everything I did... William was right to break up with me.

I didn't really need anyone. After all, I was only there to set them up to fail, wasn't I?

I was sure Patrick and Kaitlyn think so well of their cousin's friend, don't they? When they saw the monster in the sky, I was willing to bet that all they could think of, was, "wow, she's such a terrible person..."

What about Sam? She had started going to Kadic as a boarder, shortly after this mess began... I was sure she's so glad to be living close to the boy she originally wanted, the one I stole from her...

She'd probably be delighted to have him for herself, now... after everything I did, he won't want me anymore... I got him and his dog turned into bird-men... Kiwi can even talk, and read minds, all thanks to me...

Has William ever forgiven me for not stopping the Schyphozoa from possessing him, and letting XANA exact his will upon my poor ex novio? I couldn't blame him if he didn't. XANA should have possessed me, instead.

I'd probably be a much bigger help to him, than the others. At least then, I'd know how the others honestly felt about me.

I even know how much of my fault it is, when the whitecoats also resort to picking random people up off the street... I'm so, so, so sorry, Hunter... you're into this mess, all because of my stupidity...

The dread, doubt and terror completely consumed me, until I found myself sobbing into my arms, which were pressed up against the glass wall, as the water continued to fall all around me. Ulrich might have trusted me to not try anything rash, but I was sure they had even better plans for me, at some point.

I assumed that I had to enjoy this trip for as long as it lasted because once we were back in France, I could say goodbye to everything else...

Maybe they should just leave me in North Platte, Nebraska. They didn't really need me.

All they had to do was drop the façade, and that was it. They could keep it up for as long as they wanted to, but in the end, they were really only hurting themselves.

I knew how they all thought about me. They didn't have mental shields like I did. None of them were going to come into the bathroom while I was in here, and see me like this. They knew I hated that.

But either way, I knew at some point, I'd have to put on my best "I'm fine" face, turn off the water, and step out of here. Yet, I knew they'd never know the difference. Their gazes couldn't penetrate me.

However, the longer I stood there, venting my frustrations into the surrounding streams, and the rising steam, I began to feel a slight bit of calmness. It was as if there was a gigantic, octopus-like monster that had given me a very tight hug with its tentacles, and I had finally managed to get the stupid thing off from me…

...or had I?

"Are you feeling better?" Yumi asked as I walked out of the bathroom, fifteen, almost twenty minutes later, almost in the same outfit as before.

"Not all the way, but I'm getting there," I answered. "A lot is still on my mind."

Even if that shower had started to make me feel better, it wasn't like I could just walk up to Yumi, and tell her what was on my mind, could I? I mean, sure, I thought of her as a big sister—and so did the rest of the gang, and maybe Hunter would, at some point—but how would she take something like 'you all hate me, don't you?', especially if it was just out of nowhere?

Part of me still believed something crazy was going on. I wasn't as depressed as I was before I washed myself, but some of the lingering effects were still there. Not even three showerheads could erase that, as much as part of me wanted them to.

But… if they really were feeling that way toward me… isn't two or three years a long time to keep up a charade like that? Given everything they've done… that was why I was more indecisive than I think I've ever been in my life.

While this was going on, I could see Yumi getting slightly worried. She, like most of the others, knew what I was capable of. The attempted Digital Sea jump came way out of left field, but now she and the others were ready for another one. When I had "a lot on my mind," it could almost be incredibly disastrous, and that's just the worst-case scenario.

I could tell Odd was glancing over toward me, as well. If anyone was going to prove to me that this was all a game, despite his acting skills, it would have to be mi novio. That look of worry on his face had to be a trick. After all we've been through, how do I know his well-timed appearances and rescues weren't "because he just happened to be in the neighborhood?"

And Ulrich… sure, he's concerned, too… but maybe he's more concerned for Yumi's well-being, especially if I decide to lash out at her. I don't look anything like my geisha friend. My hair's longer and colored brown with a pink streak, I wear glasses, and I'm definitely not as tall as she is. So it certainly wasn't a case of mistaken identity, any of those times he came to save me. He keeps his emotions and pain bottled up inside himself, so he's nearly as much of an enigma as I can be.

Of course, before I could try to think about the girl that could soon become another of my flesh-and-blood sisters, Yumi spoke up once more, possibly noticing I was taking my time coming up with a reply.

"Well, if you want to, you can always tell us about it," she offered her voice a mixture of concern, fear, and worry.

Well, she did ask for it...

Looking her in the eyes, I finally worked up the courage to ask, "Do you all secretly hate me?"

A series of gasps found their way to my ears, from all over the room. Surprise was a gentle way of putting it; most of them were flabbergasted that I had asked such a question. It was this part that made my nerves flare up. The last thing I wanted, was the angst-fueled tirade I had just spent nearly thirty minutes trying to wash off from my bare skin to actually be right.

However, Yumi's eyes, which had widened from her surprise, soon narrowed once more, with her eyebrows following them down. "I think the steam really got to you. What was in that shower?"

"Nothing, Yumi. My nightmare's really messing with me so hard, I don't know what to think," I confessed.

"Well, then, tell us," Ulrich inquired, getting slightly curious. "Maybe we can be of some help."

So that's exactly what I did. Going through painstaking detail from start to finish, I told them everything that I could recall, right down to each thing that was said, doing my best impression of each voice. Once I had reached the Return to the Past, everyone had found a reason to be dumbfounded.

Odd shook out of his stupefaction first. "Wow, Cat Girl. I knew Reilly drove you bananas, but this? Are you sure he didn't sting you with anything more when we had our out-of… whatever?"

"Remember? We saw that he wasn't around! I'm wondering if he somehow did something when I was passed out after the mazes," I blinked.

"I can't even remember that," Ulrich lamented, rubbing the back of his head, sheepishly. "But I've told you what I think about you, and your powers, and things like that. I don't get why you think I'm lying."

"Me neither. I couldn't even take back control when the chair released my eyelids. As soon as the nightmare-version of Yumi got done, I was shredded." I squeezed my eyes shut, scared of what her sweeter version would do.

Initially, she wasn't pleased, as my continually bringing this subject up made me sound like a broken record, but when she saw my reaction to Ulrich's reply, her expression softened. So instead, she walked closer to me, and gently placed her hand on my left shoulder.

"Cassidy," she soothed, a warm, calming smile on her face, "no matter how many times we have to tell you, you should know that we're your friends, and we're for you. We don't say that to get you off our backs; we mean it."

"That's right," mi novio agreed. "And it's like I said in that bubble after you and Einstein came to the rescue: friendship isn't approximative. It's double zero!"

"I think, since you always seem to take the blame for circumstances beyond your control," Jeremie offered as an explanation, "it, in turn, travels into your subconscious, which causes your nightmares to reflect your self-inflicted, inner turmoil."

"I guess that makes sense. My last nightmare didn't even carry the force of a gigantic wrecking Kolossus at my feet," I said, turning to the genius.

"You never told us about your last nightmare," Sister replied, getting slightly intrigued, while still remaining worried. "But I'm not playing around, either! Would I call you my sister, if I wanted to shove your head into the nearest trash can? I love you, and I care about you. I could never hate you, especially not now! In the past, a few months before the monster had been unleashed, when you weren't feeling well, I couldn't—"

Before she could finish her sentence, I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her. "And I love you, too." I rested my head on her shoulder.

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Would you like to call my father?" Aelita asked. "He might want to hear about this."

I nodded at her, my shields lowering. "That could work. I'm sure he's got some words to say."

Aelita calmly handed me her phone, the phone number already dialed, and ringing through to the other end. Placing it against my ear, I merely had to wait two rings, before her father, Franz Schaeffer, answered. I had explained everything to him, from start to finish, and was soothingly reassured that he would never do such a thing. None of the others held such animosity toward me, and he certainly didn't, either. It was so refreshing to hear this, as we ended the call not long after, and I returned the pink phone to its owner.

"He's so soothing, Aelita," I smiled.

She nodded, one of her usual warm, disarming smiles gracing her face. "Thanks! And I agree; he's very soothing. I love him a lot."

"Now we got that out of the way, do you think you would like to sleep, dear sister?" Sister asked.

It was as if her reminder had flipped a switch, as I felt my eyes droop, and a yawn escape my lips before I nodded in reply. I was exhausted, but my terrible mood from earlier had masked this. With it out of the way, I could go back to doing what I had been doing before it so rudely interrupted me.

"Good, but! You are not sleeping alone, dear sister! I can't believe you thought that would be a good idea! You are coming to my bed and sleeping there," my dear sister replied next, folding her arms as she stared at me.

I was in no state to object, or even refuse that. So I walked with her to her bed.

"And I'll sleep on your other side," Aelita added, walking behind the two of us. "With the both of us, it's bound to cancel out any nightmares you might have."

I nodded. "Thanks, Aelita." Sis…

"My pleasure," she smiled, warmly. "And anyway, you know that everything your nightmare version of me told you was a lie. I would never hate you, or feel that way toward you."

"And do you really think I would tell you not to talk to Aelita anymore?" Jeremie prodded gently. "That's totally ridiculous."

Giggling tiredly, I teased, "I guess I would have to say something."

"Something!" Aelita chimed in, a slight laugh of her own escaping her mouth.

Jeremie rolled his eyes in Aelita's direction, bemusedly. "Really?"

"Come on, Lyoko Warriors. Let's get us some sleep," Yumi insisted.

"Yeah, I've had enough of nightmares for one night," Hunter yawned, making his way toward the door. "You remembered the keycard, didn't you, Ulrich?"

Samurai nodded, flicking it out in his hand, moments before following him.

"We've got a big day ahead of us, tomorrow," Jeremie replied, with a yawn of his own, as he tagged behind the brown-haired boy. "Night, ladies!"

"Good night, Jeremie," Aelita smiled.

After the three had stepped out and closed the door behind themselves, Max, Jeb, and Ari made their way toward the door, next.

"Looks like everything's under control here," Max and Ari's father commented, as he reached the door, and pulled it open. "Guess we'll be heading back to our beds, as well. Good night, everyone."

"Good night, Jeb…" I yawned.

Those three soon left as well, as William walked over to the door, which Max had held open for him.

"Try not to throw any more guitars," he joked, as he placed his own hand against the door, allowing Max to follow behind Ari and Jeb.

"I'm sure we don't need a disclaimer about harming them," Yumi bantered after the rebellious boy.

Once William had left, and the door was closed behind him, Sister turned her attention to me. "Let's have you lay down, first, dear sister. Then, Aelita and I can get in on both sides of you."

I flopped into the middle of the bed. "I'm sorry to have scared you guys."

"Oh, don't sweat it, Cat Girl," Odd smiled, as he approached his own bed. "Believe me, I've seen worse. How about waking up at 3 in the morning, after a marathon of Hospital of Horrors, to hearing Ulrich snore like a grizzly bear?"

"I have done that before," I deadpanned. "You let me bunk with you two one time?"

"How could I forget that!" In reality, it only took Odd a few seconds to recall that. "That was after our second Forest Replika mission."

"Yep," I yawned. "Buenas noches, mi novio."

"Buenas noches, mi novia," he repeated back to me, swapping the noun's gender appropriately, as he climbed into his own bed, while still keeping his eyes on me.

Kiwi hopped onto the bed I resided on, licking my face once, before going to join his owner. "Good night, Cassidy. I hope you have plenty of pleasant dreams this time around."

"Thanks, Kiwi," I smiled.

As Odd's winged diggity-dog laid down next to his owner, Aelita turned her attention to me. "Shall Sissi and I rub your back? It'll help you fall back to sleep faster."

"And you need the best sleep you can get, dear sister!" Sister added, smiling warmly at me. "We'll make sure you can't help but fall into beautiful, wonderful dreams!"

"Yeah," I nodded. "I can't believe I had that stupid nightmare."

"You really need to stop blaming yourself for things that are out of your control," Yumi commented, sitting on her bed in her night clothes, facing me. "Besides, it's over with. It's not like you're going to have it twice in the same night, or even the same week."

"I've had a period of recurring nightmares before, but I'm sure it's nothing like that," I agreed.

Once I had slid under the covers, between Sister and Aelita, I felt the two girls start softly and slowly rubbing my back in circles of varying sizes, almost immediately.

"And Cassidy," Aelita soothingly cooed into my ear, "we stayed with you in the hospital during your coma. If we ever thought about leaving you behind, we certainly wouldn't have been able to fight hospital security to keep the doctors from cutting off your life support."

"That's true, Aelita, darling," Sister agreed before turning to address me. "Do you really think we'd be your closest, truest friends if we let you die?"

I sighed in relaxation, greatly enjoying the tender touches from my "sisters," as they administered one of the most relaxing back rubs I had ever felt. "No. You were right. I still remember the medical bracelets you all wore."

"It wouldn't have been right," Aelita explained, "if we had let you suffer alone."

"Weren't you all..." a yawn interrupted my thought in mid-sentence, "...in shock at first…?"

"Well, of course, we were," Sister replied, starting to look a bit solemn, "which made it a lot easier for the paramedics to bring us along with you. But after a few weeks to a month, we were good as new."

"At least you all helped. How did you d-draw up the plans…?"

"It was all Patrick's idea," Aelita replied, starting to smile. "Everyone else offered him a few ideas, but he was the one who put the final plans together."

"I heard Odd over there tried to make an alicorn barricade?" I rested against the pillows.

"He wanted to," Sister replied, nearly giggling as she thought about it, "but it would've looked stupid. Not to mention it wouldn't have done a thing against the hospital's security guards. They certainly weren't alicorns."

"Well, Ulrich said they didn't have enough beds." Another yawn came out of my mouth.

"He's right; that was one of the reasons why we didn't arrange the beds that way," Aelita recalled.

"Ah, well, you all did a wonderful job, despite...the darkest moment in your history," I tried to remain tactful, feeling fingers rub my wings through my nightshirt.

Sister nodded, having gently flipped herself onto her back to reach my wings, while Aelita continued her soothing, gentle strokes of my back. "Thank you… but maybe that's enough thinking about our hospital stay for one night? You should be thinking happy thoughts, dear sister. I think you've already had enough trauma for one night."

"Yeah, you're right, Sister. I know it was a massive shock at first, but seeing F-Franz and Anthea in our hospital room was a deep relief for me," I sighed happily, a wave of relaxation rising to wash over me.

Even Aelita found my happiness contagious, while still managing to keep her words tactful. "It was a wonderful feeling for me, as well."

"After a week, I started getting used to the fact that your father and mother were back in your life again. I felt a bit…what would be the most appropriate word here…?"

"Overjoyed?" Aelita began to throw words out, almost like a human thesaurus. "Enthused? Enthralled? Phantasmagoric? Fantastic?"

"Phantasmagoric—like seeing ghosts, almost, but I knew that they were real." The wave washed over me, almost making me shut my eyes.

"My father told me that Franz was once the science teacher," Sister recalled, something having reminded her of the conversation, "before Mrs. Hertz took over. I almost didn't believe it at first, until I saw him myself."

"Yeah… I—" I felt my consciousness slip away, the conversation lulling me into a sweet, soothing slumber.

After that, I had a wonderful dream. My wings had fully grown, and I was able to take to the skies, with all the grace of a beautiful bird, just like Max and her flock. As I zoomed through the air, I felt not one shred of fear, or worry. I was seeing the world from a bird's eye view and had nothing but excitement for it. I felt my wings carry me all over, to places I had only read about in books, with my friends, as well as Max and her flock, following right behind me. It was indeed a wonderful feeling.

However, it wasn't long before someone was shaking my shoulders. "Wake up, Cassidy. Otherwise, Jeremie might ask Aelita dating advice for a computer chip…"

I shot up. "ARE YOU NUTS?! Jeremie's in love with Aelita."

This was soon greeted with laughter, from none other than Ulrich. I should have seen it coming, as him and I had pulled similar tricks to wake Einstein before. But I never expected him to pull such a stupid stunt to wake me up!

"Ulrich… you know we should only do those to a deeply sleeping, or a catatonic, Jeremie…" I whined playfully.

"Who said he gets to have all the fun?" Ulrich retorted, slowly calming down. "I knew you wouldn't be expecting that, so it was perfect."

"Ugh, I forget that my mind-reading powers shut off as soon as I fall asleep," I giggled. "And Nickelback might make an addicting song called 'For the River' one day."

"You'd have to wait until 'How You Remind Me' falls off the charts," he quipped, his face still bearing a mischievous grin. "Anyway, did you sleep well?"

"As a matter of fact, my dream was lovely after that disaster. It was very 'sky high,' if you ask me," I smiled.

About a moment later, the door to the suite opened, revealing Odd and Kiwi, who were returning from a walk. My wildcard adopted a wide grin when he saw me. "Ah! ¡Buenos días, novia!"

"Buenos días, Novio," I beamed. "¡Buenos días, Kiwi!"

"Morning, Cassidy," Kiwi woofed.

"You must have slept better than last night," he continued, walking over to my bed. "I saw how Sissi and Aelita were rubbing your back. I hope the spa massages look that good!"

"Maybe. I guess I shouldn't be sleeping alone from now on," I blinked.

"Oh, c'mon, Cat Girl!" mi novio interjected. "That was just one nightmare. It's not like you're gonna have dreams that bad all the time!"

"He's right," Ulrich agreed, walking over by his original roommate. "I'm sure they won't mind sleeping with you more often, but I bet you'll dream just fine, even without them, if need be."

"I guess you have a point, Ulrich, but I think I might get these the more I sleep alone or without stuffed animals," I hugged my knees to my chest.

"Then just bring Hippity with you," Ulrich suggested, drawing a parallel between myself and my former first roommate. "Aelita always keeps Mister Pück with her, so you can always hang onto Hippity."

"And my ponies, too?"

"Well, sure!" Odd replied, blinking out of slight surprise when he remembered where they were. "You might wanna bring them in, though. They're still out in Dr. Martinez's van."

"Yeah, and I'm sure Sister wants me to sleep beside her again. She seemed adamant last night," I nodded.

Before either boy could reply, the door opened once more. In walked Yumi, carrying a styrofoam cup of hot chocolate in each hand. "Ohayou, Cassidy, Ulrich, Odd and Kiwi. I was just at the vending machine. They've got hot chocolate."

She then offered the second cup she was holding to me. "Here, Cassidy, I got this for you."

"Domo arigatou, Yumi," I did my best, but I didn't know if I even did that right, taking the cup in my hand and drinking it gratefully.

"Dou itashimashite," she replied with a smile before I heard an extra tidbit in my mind. She must have seen it on my face. You were right. You could also say 'arigatou gozaimashita,' which means 'thank you for doing that.'

A blush heated my cheeks up. "I always forget that one…"

Yumi's smile faded, slightly, as she noticed my blush. "Don't worry, Cassidy. You did fine. You'll learn Japanese in no time."

"True. I guess I went with what Styx taught me," I shrugged, a smile still gracing my features.

A giggle escaped the geisha's lips, knowing all too well I meant Mr. Roboto. She knew there was a tiny bit of Japanese in it, besides thanking the Roboto, such as at the beginning of the song, but still giggled at the reference anyway.

"At least I know that domo is 'very much,' now."

Yumi nodded, before changing the subject. "You're right. And did you sleep better after what happened?"

"Oh, most definitely! My dreams 'soared to new heights,' if you get my point," I winked.

A smile graced my geisha friend's features, before her eyes darted toward my wings, still contained in my nightshirt as if she was trying to pick up some sort of clue. "Something about flying?"

"Yep. It was so nice. We met up with Max and her flock, and we all flew, Yumi." A giggle escaped my throat. "No one was scared."

"No one should be, anyway," Ulrich concurred, even though most of us could tell why he had said that. "And once our wings grow out for real, we can all give it a try."

"Yep. It felt so real. No Rei—" I caught Odd's eye and backtracked. "I mean, no bad guys trying to break me or anyone I love, no hurtful words to send me into a crisis, no scary events, just real air."

Ulrich noticed my sudden change in tact, and glanced over at Yumi, before his eyes befell Odd, taking a wild guess as to why it happened. "Why did you do that?"

"You know what talking about that one whitecoat does to her, good buddy," Odd retorted, folding his arms. "And I don't even want to talk about the other one."

"What other—" It only took my geisha friend a few seconds to realize who exactly mi novio meant, causing her eyes to widen as she stopped. "Ohhh… right."

"Her," I nodded. "She's baited the hook, and I'm not sure if the bait is a filthy lie or not."

"Don't worry about that, Cassidy," Ulrich reassured me, adding a calm grin. "This month is gonna go by like that, and we'll be back in France, and at the factory, before Kiwi learns a new trick."

The next person to step through the door into our suite was Jeremie. His "temporary" laptop was perched underneath his right arm as he walked in, and he soon approached us, bearing one of his usual neutral smiles.

"Good morning," he began. "You sound better this morning, Cassidy."

"Yep. A better dream hit me after Aelita and Sister gave me a nice massage," I smiled. "Speaking of, where are they?"

"Last I heard," Einstein answered, "they were walking around the lobby, localizing the place. But they'll probably return in about—"

Well, speak of the angels; it just so happened that both Sister and Aelita came walking through the door, almost the moment Jeremie mentioned that.

"Speak of all things good," Einstein quipped, as if his words were a prayer cue, turning his head to smile warmly at his pink-haired princess. "Good morning, Aelita! Sissi!"

"Morning, Jeremie," Aelita beamed, before turning her attention toward me. "Morning, Cassidy."

"Buenos días, Aelita," I nodded. "Good morning, Sister!"

"Good morning, dear sister!" Sister chimed in, sounding as though she was walking on air. "And good morning to you, Ulrich dear, Odd sweetheart, Aelita darling, Yumi dear, and Jeremie honey! Oh, it's such a wonderful day, and our hotel is so big and perfect! After we visit the spa, we've got to have a look around, and see all the things we can do here, before we leave tomorrow!"

"That's good, Sister; I'm glad we can go in today," I giggled.

"I guess it'll be nice to relax, after everything we've been through," Ulrich commented, still keeping a bit of a grin on his face.

"That's great because I could really go for a full-body massage."

We all glanced over at the door, the direction of the voice, to find that Patrick was the next to walk in, Kaitlyn in tow. "Good morning, everyone."

"Morning, you two," I grinned. "The Belpois Clan is complete."

"You're right," Jeremie agreed, smiling at his two cousins. "Good morning, Patrick and Kaitlyn. Did both of you sleep well?"

"Oh, we slept fine, Jeremie," Kaitlyn answered. "My dreams were sweet."

"Mine, too," Patrick agreed. "I dreamed of fighting on Lyoko in a more appropriate outfit."

"I'm telling ya, Patrick, I'm working on it," Einstein smirked.

I raised a finger. "And I dreamt I was flying."

"Oh, that must've been great, Cassidy," Kaitlyn grinned.

"By the way, where's Hunter?" I asked.

"He's still sleeping," Einstein lamented. "Apparently he woke up a few hours earlier, after having a nightmare of his own, so he's really tired."

"It's better than having him being cranky," the female cousin of Jeremie shrugged. "I don't think I want to hear him on a bad day."

"Yeah," I agreed but felt there was a lie in the blond genius's words. Hunter didn't have a bad dream. Wasn't that me?

"Well, he'd better wake up, soon!" Sister commented, still looking mostly happy. "He's gonna miss out on the spa if he stays in bed for too long!"

"You see, Sissi, he's a heavy sleeper. It would take the threat of an activated tower to get him awake," Jeremie shrugged, taking care to not break his computer. "And I don't have that sound byte recorded on my new laptop yet."

"He's worse than you, good buddy!" Odd quipped, sending a mischievous grin toward his original roommate. "But in any event, let's not wait any longer." He then walked over toward one of the dressers, upon which a phone sat. "Let's order room service now, that way the food will be here, by the time everyone else wakes up. And if Hunter's still asleep by then, we'll just have to save some for him!"

My stomach growled in response. Thanks for reminding mi estómago, Odd.

He merely gave me one of his Cheshire Cat-style grins, as he closed his eyes, before reaching for the phone. De nada, mi novia.

I giggled. He's still got it.

Ulrich folded his arms, adding his own grin into the mix. "You act as though he lost it."

That sent me over the edge of laughter, as I doubled up, clutching my stomach with both arms as I cackled my head off. Ulrich didn't always send me into fits of laughter, but when he did, they often rivaled what Odd was capable of.

"And a wonderful laughing fit to start the day!" Sister added with a giggle, watching me rock back and forth. "They say laughter is the best medicine, after all!"

"It sure is," Yumi agreed.

As I continued, the others almost finding my laughter contagious, mi ex novio entered the suite, with a smile on his face. "Hey, anybody seen that guitar from last night? I wanted to jam out a bit, this morning."

That sent me laughing harder, to the point where I was trying to catch my breath.

Seeing my laughing fit nearly turning into a choking fit, Yumi quickly walked over behind me and started to softly and slowly rub my back, with both hands.

"There, Cassidy… just take a deep breath," she commented in a somewhat calm voice. "There you go…"

I took in a deep breath, slowly finding my bearings. "H-holy cow…"

"Don't worry…" my geisha friend's voice dropped to a soothing coo. "You've had a good laugh, and now it's time to relax."

"What do you mean, William, a guitar?" Kaitlyn asked, as I finally calmed down.

Turning his head to face William, thereby hiding it from my view, Jeremie's features bore a grimace, worried that the rebellious black-haired boy might blow their entire setup.

"Uh… I deliriously walked over here thinking someone threw a guitar… and I found I was wrong. I was just acting silly," William lied.

That calmed Einstein down. Without thinking anything, his face morphed into the look he would make if he were to breathe a sigh of relief. He undoubtedly saved the parties involved from that jam. No point in making me feel even worse, again, especially not after we spent a good few minutes reassuring me that my bad dream was a lie.

"Okay, William… That was a weird thing you thought," Patrick grinned.

"I know? It was so killer…" William tried to put on the best grin he could muster. "I was dreaming that I had a front-row seat to a Subdigitals concert, and I thought Benoit's guitar flew out of his hand, in-between songs."

"Ben's got a more controlled grip than that," I noted. "He wouldn't give up one of his guitars for the world."

Nearby, Odd was speaking on the phone, holding a piece of paper in his opposite hand as he glanced at it. He turned to look over at Jeremie, Ulrich, Aelita, Sister, Yumi, and I, just as Sam entered the suite.

"What does everyone want for breakfast?" he called out, holding up the piece of paper, which turned out to be a room service menu.

"Ooh, a ham and cheese omelet," I chimed in, "and bacon on the side, please."

He repeated the order into the phone, before turning his gaze, and the menu, on Ulrich. "What about you, good buddy?"

Ulrich decided what he wanted to eat, and not long afterward, everyone who was in the room had given Odd their orders, which he relayed to the person at the front desk. In a few moments, he had hung up the phone, and placed the menu down next to it, on the dresser.

"They'll have it all up to this room in about 15 minutes," he announced to our group.

"Awesome," Ulrich exclaimed.

Feeling Samurai had answered for himself as well, Jeremie turned his attention to Sister. "Sissi, when you and Aelita were walking around the hotel, earlier… how many places did you see?"

"Oh, lots of beautiful, wonderful places, Jeremie dear," Sister smiled. "Besides the spa, they've also got a swimming pool, a hot tub, a tennis court, and a restaurant, too!"

"That is wonderful. Maybe after my treatments, I could go for a hot tub soak," I grinned. "Been quite a while. And Jim doesn't allow anyone near the hot tub next to the pool."

"Oh, no hot tub for me," Jeremie commented, his face unchanging. "I'd rather go back up to my suite, and keep an eye out for XANA."

"That's okay, Jeremie dear. No one is forcing you. My dear sister just wants to soak. It's not like she's inviting anyone else to join her," Sister nodded, bearing a warm smile, almost like mine.

"I might join you, Cassidy," Aelita offered, finding my grin contagious.

"That would be great, Sis," I found myself saying before I could stop.

Nearby, Odd raised an eyebrow, looking a bit surprised. "Uhhh… isn't it kinda early for that? We don't even know if Aelita's DNA actually did anything, besides the streak of hair."

My cheeks heated up. "Did I—uh—gah—duh?"

"Uh-oh…" Ulrich started to tense up, fearing what I might do in reply to Odd's comment.

"I—" I tried to force the knot out of my vocal chords, to stop myself from falling into "Vowel Rehearsal Syndrome," but found little success.

"Cassidy?" Aelita chirped, getting a little bit concerned.

I stopped talking but turned my head in her direction, my gaze regarding her.

She gently placed her hands upon my shoulders, showing me a half-worried smile. "It's okay… we could always pretend to be sisters, too… just like you and Sissi?"

I tried to smile, still reminded of Mandy's words.

Her hands then snaked down my back, before pulling me into her warm embrace. "Just relax… calm down… it was an accident, that's all…"

"Please, dear sister," Sister chimed in, walking closer to me. "It might help not to think about it."

"R-r-r-right…" I squeaked, managing to rake the knot out of my tongue and vocal chords. "I guess I overshot it and spoke without thinking."

"You had a lot of things on your mind," Aelita soothed, giving my back a few gentle rubs with her hands. "It's nothing serious."

"Yeah," Odd agreed, approaching the three of us. "Maybe you were thinking about Sissi, while you were looking at Aelita!"

"True," I smiled.

"And it's too bad Jim won't let us step into the hot tub at the pool," Yumi jumped in, trying to change the subject. "You don't ever see him in it."

"That is such a shame, Yumi, dear. I never brought it up with my father at all because I never think about it," Sister added.

"Well, I'm gonna hit the restaurant, after my spa!" Odd announced, grinning. "After all those massages, Vichy showers, steam rooms, and body scrubs, I'm bound to work up an appetite!"

"I'm going to avoid the saunas or steam rooms, and anything involving wraps," I blinked.

"Don't worry, dear sister," Sister commented with a proud grin on her face. "I made sure you wouldn't have to go through anything that reminded you of a XANA attack you lived through. But I am very proud of you for speaking up! You need to do that a lot more often!"

"I guess I'm still a bit silent when I should shout it out a little," I said, my cheeks heating in modesty.

Ulrich placed his hand upon my right shoulder. "It's okay. Just remember that there's a wide line between modesty… and Odd."

Odd nodded before his eyes widened and he turned to his original roommate. "HEY! Ulrich, you should be glad we're not on Lyoko right now, or I would let you have it! LASER—"

"Not so loud…" I interrupted. "Hunter's still asleep."

"Right," mi novio replied, quickly realizing he had forgotten about him. "Laser arrow…"

"But maybe I'll spend some time in the hot tub, after my massage and steam bath," Ulrich commented, not really talking to anyone in particular. "I wonder if I should go for a body shampoo, before that?"

"It's up to you, Ulrich," Yumi smiled at her novio. "I might do that before I step into the hot tub. That way, it'll be more like an onsen bath. Only, I'll probably have to wear a swimsuit into the hot tub."

"Good thing we went to Walmart, huh, Ulrich?" Odd quipped.

Samurai gained a bit of a smirk. "Yeah. Guess that came in handy, after all."

I nodded before my mind switched to a topic. "I hope that the hotel guests don't see us as um…" Gritting my teeth, I didn't want to end up ruining the mood.

"You're right…" Jeremie's voice dropped in pitch, slightly. "And since most of our spa treatments will require us to be naked… that might become a bit of a challenge."

Then he looked up, almost as if he found what he thought was a silver lining. "But maybe the spa staff has seen more interesting creatures show up for a Vichy shower?"

That was before a new voice came into the din. "Or Jeb already ran ahead and helped them understand your situation."

I looked over and saw a black-clad figure, taller than William, standing in the doorway. "Oh, hi, Fang. And that's a relief."

"Hi, everyone," he nodded nonchalantly before setting his dark eyes upon me. "You alright?"

"Better than ever," I copied the motion, a smile gracing my features.

"That's good. Max and the others are doing some reconnaissance, making sure no Erasers or whitecoats want to bring anyone back to The School," Max's lover said, returning his gaze on the rest of us. "No one wants to go back there. And from your reactions, you guys don't, either."

"You're right, Fang," Aelita agreed, a solemn look crossing her face.

"We don't," Yumi added.

Kaitlyn crossed her arms over her chest. "If I get dragged back there, I'm not going to go quietly; I'm going to be kicking ass and not taking any survivors!"

"None of us will have to go back," Jeremie interjected, with an air of authority, as if he was absolutely sure of himself. "With protectors such as Max, Fang, and the others, how could they possibly drag us back?"

"You're right, Jeremie," I agreed, my heart giving a skip when he spoke that way.

"They've kept us safe for this long," Ulrich chimed in, folding his arms. "I bet we can make it all the way to Baltimore, without seeing a single Eraser or whitecoat."

"Let's hope we don't mess this up," Odd lamented, feeling a bit unsure.

"I would hate to be captured again," I shivered.

"We're not going to be captured again, sister dear," Sister stepped in, with the same amount of authority Jeremie gave his words, as she placed her hand upon my shoulder. "You've got nothing to worry about, except which spa treatment to go for, first!"

"Yeah, you're right, Sister." I took in a deep breath, wrapping my arms around her.

She returned the warm embrace, snuggling me warmly. "And since you like Georgina's wipes and washes so much, I thought you might like a body shampoo, too!"

I nodded. "Thank you."

"I might just go for an extra-long massage," Jeremie noted since we had returned to that subject. "I don't really like the idea of sweating like crazy, and I'm not sure what a body scrub would feel like."

"I'm sure you'd laugh once the scrub hits your ticklish areas. Once it hit mine back in France, I started laughing," I giggled, finding the popped-up memories of him getting tickled, whether on purpose by his beloved or on accident by Yumi, hilarious.

"I don't think I have any ticklish areas," he interjected, rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh… Einstein…" I sang, getting very conspiring, as I kicked off the bedsheets, tackled him, slipping off his converse sneakers and tickling the bottoms of his feet.

Once my fingers wiggled against his soles, the blond genius felt an uncontrollable urge to burst out laughing, completely erasing the surprise of getting knocked onto the bed. "Okay! Okay! I give up!"

I smiled, letting up. "See?"

Einstein gave me a playful glare. "I'll just make sure they don't scrub the bottoms of my feet."

Kaitlyn smirked. "Three out of six girls tickling you, cuz? You must have great friends."

He slowly slipped his feet back into his shoes, tying their laces, before sliding back off the bed. "I'm just trying to make sure the other three don't get that idea."

"I'm sure that Sam's got more tact than that," I smiled.

"Nah, I'm sure I'll get my turn, someday," Sam commented with a sly grin, as she approached the others with her arms folded.

Odd giggled a bit. "Sure, if Kaitlyn and Sissi don't do it first!"

"Oh, I won't do that, Odd, dear," Sister smiled. "I wouldn't dream of tickling poor Jeremie against his will!"

"So out of the three, Sister won't do that to you, Einstein," I smirked.

His half-serious, half-playful glare didn't change. "That's a relief, I guess… but how do I know you're not just going to give me an extra tickle, to compensate?"

"I don't think I'd do it twice in one day, Jeremie," I giggled. "I rarely give repeat performances."

And with that brief sentence, a slight tinge of worry wiggled into my heart. Even though it was random, and I struggled to discover how it had anything to do with tickling Jeremie… part of me worried if the monster was going to come back. After all, I couldn't precisely remember what caused it to come on in the first place, aside from the loss of my voice… but what if there was more to it than that? I know I was one to worry a lot, and sometimes worry about anything and everything… but this felt almost as if it had some merit to it. If we could figure out what caused it to come on, the first time… could we stop it from happening again? Or, what if we can't? I didn't want to slip into another coma and then get slated for death once more.

There was a slight change in my facial expression, but it was enough to tip Yumi off, as she walked closer to me, and lowered her voice to a whisper. "You're not worried about the spa, or anyone from the School showing up, are you?"

"Uh… Yeah. Mainly the whitecoats and Erasers invading and taking us back to that place," I lied, raising my mental shields quickly and showing a smile. "I really don't want my neck stung again."

Even if I tried to hide it, Yumi wasn't stupid. I don't know if it was the momentary switch in tactic, that smile I tried to give her, or me not raising my mental shields fast enough, but from the unamused look her face assumed, I could tell she didn't fall for it.

"There's something else, isn't there?" she pressed, still keeping her voice low.

"Can we talk in private?" I asked, trying to keep Kaitlyn from figuring out the pieces of the puzzle.

"Sure," she replied, the look on her face turning calm. "Out in the hallway?"

I nodded. "Sounds good."