Code: Wings 3 point 0

by Teen-Lyokofan7777

The vortex. Thanks to its mystery, the whole world knew about their secret. But what if it didn't stop there...? What if it alerted others from other universes to their existence? One mystery could give them the ride of their lives... literally. Cover by cutewolf1233 on deviantART.

22. Cassidy Enters Her Summer Home

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

I still couldn't believe it; I was actually on the way to my grandparents' house, where I had spent quite a few years and summers of my life, before going to school at Kadic in France. It was only about a hundred miles from where we were, and the gap was closing ever so slightly, with each mile Georgina drove down the road.

With each side road we passed, and the closer we got, I could feel the excitement building even more within me, my heart beating wildly in my chest, my smile stretching my lips out so far, that it threatened to rip my face in half…

But that was when I slammed into a wall. A metaphorical wall; one that felt like the Kolossus, and nearly fell on top of me, after I slammed into it.

My mental shields flared up almost immediately, stopping my friends from reading my mind, as what had popped into it was so gargantuan, and so unexpected, my heart nearly stopped.

What were my grandparents going to say about our wings, and the strand of pink hair above my forehead?!

I had never really given that much thought, until this very moment. They were used to me looking like a normal human being, one who had also been told she looked like her mother, except for her eyes; no wings, hair all one color, and definitely not with powers she still didn't completely have under control. I looked almost completely different than the girl that left for Boulogne-Billancourt three years ago.

And this realization slowly turned most of the excitement that was welling up inside my being into worry. Could I let them see me like this? Should I let them see me like this? Would the mere sight of bird-like wings, with feathers colored brown, pink, and purple, that shot out of slits in the back of my shirt, and the strand of pink hair in my bangs send them into a tizzy? All signs seemed to be pointing to "yes", no matter what the rest of me thought, and I could just hear them, in my mind… who are you, and what have you done with Cassidy McGuire, our granddaughter?!

It was this that answered the question to "how quickly can you destroy an ever growing, ballooning smile", a question I wasn't really asking, but somehow got the answer to, anyway. I couldn't let them see me, or any of us like this. It had the makings of a nightmare, and I didn't wanna be the flame that lit the trail of gunpowder, leading straight into an Earth-shattering kaboom.

And it wasn't long before Sister, Odd, and a few of the others noticed my sudden, metaphorical brake pedal slam, as my lips reversed course in a hurry.

"Are you okay, dear sister?" Sister was the first to jump in, her eyebrows rising in fear.

"I'm…worried," I admitted.

Just like I figured, Sister, Odd, and a few of the others were slightly surprised at me. After all, I was going to my summer home! I was going to see my grandparents again, who were going to be absolutely over the moon to see me! What in the hay could I possibly be worried about?!

"Again?!" My wildcard summed up most of the thoughts in the van with that one word, trying to make light of the situation and make me feel silly for worrying so much. "They're gonna be really happy to see you! To see all of us! What about that could possibly make you worried?"

"Look at me, Novio, and tell me what has changed about me," I challenged softly, his attempts not working.

"Umm…" Whether he was being silly, or genuinely curious, Odd began to look me up and down, trying to find what exactly was different about me. "Well, you've got two feet, two legs, a torso and waist that's just as svelte as mine, two arms, two hands, two beautiful wings—"

"Exactly," I stopped him there with a sigh and a raised finger, having heard what I wanted him to say, "and the fact that my hair looks like a sign of teenage rebellion, according to most middle school or high school movies and cartoons. Worse yet, this strand is permanent."

Aelita tried her hand, next, hoping she could try to make a counterpoint as she adopted a warm, calming smile.

"Honestly, Cassidy," she soothed, her voice sounding like it would snuggle me, if she physically didn't, "I think you're worrying too much. Your grandparents should love you anyway, even if you don't look like you did when you left. I think they'll be much more happy to see you."

"Yeah, true, but it still worries me a little. I never dreamed of a permanent pink strand of hair on my head, but then again, my good dreams were blocked for months on end."

"What are you talking about?" Jeremie interjected, the last part of my last sentence jumping out at him. "I thought we already used the Dream Barrier Destroyer to get rid of that. It couldn't have come back, could it?"

"It seemed to have dissolved on its own after the monster had been unleashed, remember?" I looked into Jeremie's eyes. "As I awoke from my coma, I felt something crumble in my brain, and it hasn't come back since. Heck, it dissolving was the best thing ever. I felt really giddy and a little bit healthier when I dreamt happily for the first time in a long time."

"Yeah, that's right," the blond genius agreed with a nod. "You said that yourself, the day you woke up from your coma. But you didn't know if that was actually true or not, until much later."

"Good point. I did dream happily that night. For some reason, it involved some ridiculous moments that I never would think of. Like, for example, you were wearing, for some nombre de mi novio reason, a pink one-piece bathing suit, frolicking in flowers with Aelita, who was somehow singing heavy metal songs—I may like Metallica, but even I know that she likes techno better than that. Yumi was wearing that silly outfit that Odd switched out with me, but she seemed to enjoy it. And she kissed Ulrich, who was somehow Gryffindor Seeker, and he won the Quidditch match. Kiwi was speaking Spanish like Papi on The Proud Family, but it was in reverse, and his actions were, too," I giggled, just imagining the hilarious sound of his impromptu laughter playing backward in my mind. "So if he were to chase his tail, it would look like he was going counter-clockwise."

The back of the van suddenly went silent, as everyone was stunned by my dream for a few seconds, but it only took a moment to sink in, as one by one, they all burst out laughing. Even Hunter, William, Kiwi, and Sam, who hadn't been there, couldn't help but laugh at my recollection.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who wore pink," Kaitlyn chuckled.

Odd laughed even harder as he heard this, clutching his stomach with both hands. "A pink swimsuit, Einstein?! Were you and Princess studying for a ballet? I hear Swan Lake is coming back!"

"Even if it were a ballet, Odd, where would heavy metal rock be necessary to the plot?" Jeremie countered.

Although he was quite quick on his feet, in this situation, Odd was faster.

"Because, it was performed by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, that's why!" mi novio came back, pointing his index finger at the bespectacled blond, looking like he was seconds from launching into another fit of giggles.

"And the headliners would have been you two kissing lovebirds," William jumped in, grinning slyly as he looked at Ulrich and Yumi.

This made Samurai start to blush, as he glanced down at the floor of the van, while my geisha friend merely folded her arms, giving the black-haired rebellious boy the same sort of mischievous glare she'd give her brother Hiroki on occasions when he pranked her.

After a good thirty seconds or more, Ulrich tried to change the subject, still feeling slightly uncomfortable about William's quip, and what he had done in my dream.

"I uh—like how you put me on the Quidditch team, and how I won the match, but what do you mean, I'm a Gryffindor?" He came in, not making contact with my eyes.

"Well, the saying goes, Ulrich, that Gryffindors are brave at heart," I shrugged.

"And if anyone's brave at heart," Sister jumped in, clasping her hands together in front of her chest, "it's my darling Ulrich, dear! I don't think I've ever seen you not be brave!"

It seemed as though nobody wanted Ulrich to raise his gaze up from the floor, as his blush only intensified when Sister said that.

"Well… uh… um…" he breathed, finding he couldn't even form a coherent sentence at that point.

"Hey, let's give my anata some air, huh?" Yumi giggled.

"And me speaking Spanish in reverse, while going in that direction, Mother Wolf Cassidy?" Kiwi asked me, tilting his head as though cocking a brow. "What did you eat at that human vet?"

"Nothing!" his master chuckled, still grinning. "She didn't have anything to eat until the next morning!"

"I was still kinda out of sorts that I didn't even feel hungry until that time," I admitted.

"And that behavior is perfectly normal," Jeremie reassured me with a smile, as if he had put the "pink bathing suit" debacle behind him already. "Your body was still re-adjusting."

"I didn't know what had happened to me that day, but I was glad to make you all happy again," I smiled.

"Of course," Aelita added her own grin, the events of that night still fresh on her mind. "We were more than happy to have you back."

"After all, you are a part of our team, Cassidy," Einstein smiled.

I nodded, Aelita's and her boyfriend's words leaving me feeling quite glad. "Thanks, guys."

But that was short lived; there was still a more pressing matter at hand… even if I was the only one who saw it that way. "But what should we do about my hair? I mean, keeping in my wings? No pressure. But mi pelo is another matter altogether."

Odd placed his hand against his chin, trying to think of something as he looked me up and down once or twice. I could tell he thought I was being ridiculous, but being the novio fantástico he was, he decided to go along with it, anyway.

"Let's see," he finally spoke after a few moments of thought. "If you wanna hide your wings, maybe we could get some loose-fitting clothes, so it doesn't feel so bad to hold them in. As for your hair… mmmmmm—how about a long, brown wig? Certainly there's gotta be some store that sells something like that."

Ulrich shook his head, feeling pessimistic. "Nah, that'll never work, Odd. Her grandparents are bound to see right through it, or it won't come down far enough to hide it."

"You could just cut it off," Patrick spoke up, looking hopeful.

"Patrick, that is worse than Jeremie's clone flirting with Yumi, and that even happened once—and ugh… my own clone was worse," I shot him down, grimacing slightly as I buried my head in my hands. Thanks to Milly and Tamiya, I had a chance to see what my clone had done to Ulrich. It might have been just a single pickup line (one that could come out of Odd's mouth, not my own), but it still dug several inches of dirt and shame over me.

"Oh, don't get so carried away, Cassidy," Aelita soothed, reaching over to softly rub my shoulder. "Neither you, nor Jeremie knew your clones were going to turn out that way. And I don't think anybody thinks anything of it, anyway."

There were a few random, scattered chuckles throughout the back of the van, but I knew they weren't at my expense. Everyone in this van knew what I was talking about, and while it was only a memory, it wasn't a very happy one.

But Sister pulled me and everyone else back to reality, with something she was incredibly certain would work.

"I've got it!" she called out, raising her index finger and pulling us from our silly memories. "Why don't we buy a can of hair dye and use that to spray paint my dear sister's bangs! Nobody will ever notice a thing!"

I gasped, feeling my inner thoughts go "Eureka! Bingo!" "Sister, that may be the best idea you have had since you came up with the idea to save my life."

"It's settled, then!" she giggled, assuming everyone in the van had come to an agreement. "Oh, Georgina, darling! Could we make a quick pit-stop before we reach my dear sister's grandparents' house? We all need a slight wardrobe change."

Of course, we really hadn't; some of my friends still thought it was a bad idea.

"Hang on," Jeremie jumped in, still feeling unsure about the whole thing. "I still say your grandparents are going to be more overjoyed to see you, than caring about the fact that their granddaughter doesn't look exactly the same way she did when she left. I would assume it would come with the territory."

"Jeremie's right," Hunter agreed, also sounding unhopeful. "I really think we should just go there, just as we are, and let them see us like this. If they, for some weird reason, don't like the way we look…"

He then turned his head to the right, and took a deep breath before he kept going, "…then we can dress up, hide our wings, and act like our first meeting was a joke."

I gritted my teeth, letting out a worried breath. "But what if they really don't like the way we look, Hunter?!"

The black-haired programmer soon found my worries contagious, as he started to grimace.

"I really don't wanna… think that way…" I could hear the hesitation in his voice, and knew he was starting to worry about it more and more, now. "But… if they really do act that way…"

"That's what I'm afraid of. I don't know if they'll act like the stereotypical grandparents who think one change or more in their granddaughter is teenage rebellion."

The blond genius took a deep breath, before turning his attention to me. "It seems that we have no other choice, against some of our better judgment. Might as well give it a shot and hope it doesn't blow up in our faces."

"And this is her grandparents we're talking about," Aelita jumped in, agreeing with her boyfriend. "We should make sure that they'll be happy to see her, in a way that keeps her happy, too. We can take the extra clothing off later."

Up in the driver's seat, Georgina wasn't totally convinced, either, as like quite a few of my friends, she thought the plan was terrible, regardless of the fact that the entire back end felt that they should go along with it anyway. But, like Aelita had reasoned, if this would make me feel better, even if it was just temporary, it was the option they would have to take, like it or not.

"Sounds like it's settled, then," the sandy blond spoke up, trying her best to put her own skepticism behind herself. "We could hit a Walmart to find that type of hair dye."

"And can I finally get that sketchpad and notebook?" I asked her. "My visions might hit me up again and I would love to write and draw it down. It was the only thing keeping my original visions at bay for a while before my powers weakened and the monster appeared. My head is still cycling the Welcome Back party in my brain, as though it's a washing machine in a laundromat."

"Yes, sweetie," she smiled. "I think you need the chance to draw your visions, like you used to do. It's so much better than just keeping them locked inside you."

"Thanks, Georgina. Before Jeremie suggested keeping my vision journals, I'd get repeat visions like crazy. Sometimes I had to break away from talking to Ulrich, for example, and have a vision of the same thing I had the previous day—of Aelita finally making it out of the scanner. It kept making me think it was going to happen the next day, even if it wasn't until later. It drove me stir crazy, and nearly maniacal at times. Thankfully, Einstein had a lovely idea," I nodded to our local genius.

Jeremie grinned, with a matching slight rosy tint on each of his cheeks. "Well… it was obvious that you seemed calmer when you were writing things down, so I figured that would help you."

"And it did. Once I started to jot things down and draw pictures that came up, my visions started to straighten out," I smiled. "If it weren't for you, I think I would've needed to have my mail forwarded to a mental ward."

"You mean, again?" mi novio joked, chortling slightly. "They've still got leftover letters from the last time you were there!"

"The only letters that I'm missing are G, B, Q, M, T, and L," I cut in, giggling.

He started chuckling a bit more, as well. "At least you've got the only three letters you'll ever need… O, D, and another D!"

I immediately fell backward into my seat, laughing so hard I thought my head was going to pop off. A few of the others around us started laughing as well, mainly from hearing Odd and I go back and forth.

"Way to go, Odd the Cheerleader," Ulrich quipped, still in his fit of chuckles.

And Odd was still loaded, as he turned a gigantic grin on his original roommate. "Hey, that's Odd the Magnificent Cheerleader to you!"

"Now he just needs a uniform!" Jeremie threw in, seconds from joining in the laughter for himself.

"All the same, I don't think I'd trust him with my baton, Jeremie—" Sister tried to add another rebuttal, but couldn't finish, soon starting to giggle anew.

"And for pom-poms," Kaitlyn was next in the long line of silly quips, "why don't we just get him a couple of wigs!"

"Yeah! Two different colors, and one for each hand!" Sam added, agreeing with Jeremie's and Patrick's bespectacled cousin.

"I don't think he'd like to be the top of the pyramid, though," I came back in, taking in a deep breath. "That one other day I didn't go to Lyoko as I thought I might have done so, he and Sister almost got—uh… never mind… I gotta um… keep that wig crooked?"

"Apparently like the barkeeper does, and besides, it's for the best, anyway," Jeremie added, glancing over at me with a bit of surprise on his face. "But I still don't understand why you were strapped in a wheelchair, Cassidy."

"All I remember was running into Yolanda while trying to get to the factory, then I thought, stupidly, 'Oh, it's Yolanda. Maybe she's unaffected.' Then I looked into her eyes, and all of a sudden it was almost like the memory of the Hermitage's storm drain all over again, except with a bit more fear than normal. When I came to, I was strapped to a wheelchair, half-in and half-out of lucidity, while seeing Sister and mi novio getting roughly shoved by Dad and Jim, respectively, to the edge of the science building."

"Then I'm glad I got to the tower when I did," Aelita remarked with an air of reassurance in her voice.

"I'm always happy when you get to the tower on time, Aelita."

A slight soft pink blush tinted my former first roommate's cheeks. "Well… at least I had Ulrich and Yumi to help me get there. I couldn't have done it without them."

"And I couldn't have done it without all that meatballs and gravy! Wasn't it delicious, Cat Girl?" Odd quipped, remembering his meal break when things got crazy.

"Yeah, I was there, remember? I do have to say, it was lacking in the gravy department, that time. It was also the same day Dad put me on academic leave," I noted.

"He did?!" Hunter yelped, eyes widening in shock. "You got very lucky, Cassidy. I don't think I can do that. Those fainting spells must've done a number on you."

"They were the by-product of having a heaping nightmare problem on board," I blinked. "After William flirted with me in the Desert Sector, and after having a bad dream about him in the lab, before the Skid was born, I ended up with that used-to-be-sporadic nightmare every night afterward. Even my friends got annoyed with it, not that I blame them; I was annoyed with getting them myself. Soon it affected everything I did, starting with blacking out in the hallways or just anywhere, and then moving onto making me look like the true daughter of Hegbert Sullivan."

"Hey, it's okay, you hear?" Yumi calmly cut in, flashing me a calming, soothing smile. "It's over now. So, don't worry about it, huh?"

"That's true. Thanks, Yumi," I smiled, majorly appreciative of her words. Come to think about it, I was happy that she came in to help me when this whole debacle began in the first place. I don't know what I would have done without her.

The rest of the van ride into North Platte, and toward the Walmart parking lot was mostly quiet. I spent a majority of the time trying to calm myself, knowing that what we were about to do would fix things, should my worst fears involving my grandparents come true. Besides, it's not like they knew we had been given bird DNA, I had been given Aelita's DNA, and Kiwi Odd's, right?

Georgina soon pulled into the Walmart parking lot and turned off the van, while the others and I wasted no time unlocking the doors and getting out. If we were going to make it look like the whitecoats' "science projects" never happened, we would need baggy jackets to hide our wings, for starters; this meant our Walmart run started with a trip into the clothing department.

Going up to one of the racks, Sister immediately pulled a hooded sweatshirt off from one by its hanger and looked it over.

"Sissi! That shade of green doesn't go with your brown eyes!" Kaitlyn scolded, wondering what exactly the Principal's daughter had in mind, but taking a guess anyway.

She scoffed. "I picked this for Hunter! He loves green, right, dear sister?"

I nodded. "Green eyes, green power-light logo—"

"So it's perfect!"

Next, I grabbed a pink jacket with purple stripes, trying hard to figure out my own fashion sense. Fashion and I never really gotten along; neither did makeup, aside from nail polish. This is why I was glad that nobody, not even Sister, pressured me into wearing any.

Sister soon joined me, noticing the outfit I was holding, and tried to make a good impression. "Sister dear, I don't think stripes would go very well with your pants."

"True, since Odd's pants don't have stripes. I keep forgetting," I giggled sheepishly, putting the jacket back on the rack.

The former snob's hands worked their way across the rack, soon finding another hanger nearby, and pulled it off to reveal a similar jacket, only in a slightly darker shade of pink, and without the contrasting stripes. "How about this?"

"Hm… Yeah, that works!" I smiled, nodding.

On a rack not far from the one Sister, Kaitlyn and I were in front of, Yumi had sifted through a few hangers, before pulling out a black leather jacket that seemed to strike her fancy.

"Wow, Yumi," I nodded. "Perfect!"

Yumi grinned at my reply, feeling satisfied with her choice. "You're right; it does look great."

Aelita was next, soon coming across a pink hoodie with puff balls on its drawstrings, bearing a resemblance to the outfit she used to wear before we took a dive in the Skid for the first time, and the only time she wore it again was on our field trip to the lake. "What do you think, Cassidy?"

I looked it over. "Hm… It looks an awful lot like the outfit that you used to wear after you, Yumi, and I went clothes shopping that one day before we discovered the Tarantulas. It's perfect!"

"That's why I chose it," Aelita agreed with a giggle, glancing at it once more. "I've probably worn the outfit that looks like this, more than I have the outfit I'm wearing now, so I figured it was only natural. Thanks, Cassidy."

I couldn't help but giggle, either, but still managed to say, "You're welcome."

Just then, someone new came our way: it was William, also clad in a black leather jacket, holding a sketchpad in one hand, and a notebook in the other, complete with brand new ball-point pens, number 2 pencils, and a multi-shade set of colored pencils, surprising me slightly that he had gone to that length to help me.

"Wow, Ex-y, thanks. You really outdid yourself," I blinked, the surprise leaking into my voice as I almost started to feel a familiar pang within my heart, something I hadn't felt in a long time.

Of course, just as quickly as it came on, I fought to bury it, as I was still in a relationship with Odd, and wasn't about to forsake him for the slightly rebellious ex-boyfriend that stood in front of me, bearing gifts. But that didn't stop Ex-y from finding some way around it.

"I owe you, Cass, remember?" he asked, tone lowering to lamentation and an apologetic look on his face. "The trouble I made you and Yumi go through at Kadic, the flirting I did on Lyoko under XANA's control, yelling at you inside that room in The School, everywhere."

It was like he knew exactly what buttons to press, and I felt almost like a certain Céline Dion song for a brief moment. While I had banished it, it felt like it all wanted to come back to me again. I was back in the Core Chamber again, and I could feel my entire body want to freeze (minus my tail, which would be thrashing like crazy), my brain wanting to bug up and fry my other senses, and all sorts of other feelings William had invoked within me...but I couldn't! I couldn't let that happen again!

I quickly closed my eyes, and shook my head vigorously a few times, hoping to regain some semblance of control, before looking up at William once again, my defenses trying to take over.

"Uh… um…" I took a deep breath, hoping the cooling air would relax my heart. "R-right. I guess I s—should remember th-that…"

Once again, Sister was quick on the draw, and I soon felt her warm, comforting arms surround me, causing the feelings my body was provoking in response to William's actions to slowly and completely dissolve.

"Now, if that isn't a forgiving thing he did, my dear sister," she cooed to me while I was in her embrace, "then I don't know what is!"

I nodded, a smile rearranging my features. "Thanks, Sister. I guess my feelings got tied into a knot when it hit."

She gave my sides a few soft, gentle rubs before she pulled away. "Don't mention it! Now we can find that hair dye that'll match your shade."

The walk to the cosmetics area wasn't very long, and Sister was soon rummaging through the section with various shades of brown. I didn't think it would take very long, as I figured she'd take to this like she did the nail polish in her makeup kit. But it was while I watched her scrutinize four or five different cans of brown paint, that something really interesting happened.

"No way! Cassidy?!" a familiar voice entered my ears. "Is that you?"

I turned around, seeing Nancy, one of my grandparents' friends, pushing a shopping cart.

"Holy cow, it's been so long, hasn't it?" she smiled.

I nodded, scratching the back of my neck. "It has been a few years, Nancy. How are Carlene and Mama Mary?"

"Oh, they're fine. They are at home with Rey and Sarah. Remember them?"

"How can I forget those chihuahuas?" I smiled. "Little Sarah was so shy, but she would come around after a while."

As I chatted with Nancy, so ecstatic to see one of my relatives' friends again, I almost forgot Sister was nearby, up until she turned away from the hair dye cans, and gently reminded me of her presence.

"And who is this wonderful person, my dear sister?" she queried, a warm, inviting gaze stretching her face.

This caught me slightly off-guard, but I rebounded quickly. "Sissi, I mean, Sister, this is Nancy, one of my grandparents' friends. She and I had such wonderful memories together when I would stay here for the summer," I giggled. "Nancy, this is Sissi. We became sisters through our friendship."

"Well, this must be the lovely Sissi Delmas the news reported. Are you and the others okay?" Nancy asked.

Sister closed her eyes, her grin widening in happiness from Nancy's comment.

"Yeah, we're all fine. The others are around here somewhere," I nodded. "We've been through a whirlwind of an adventure so far. It's great to see some familiar places, and faces."

"It can be hard to be somewhere you never been," Nancy agreed, walking away from her cart, making her way toward me, and wrapping her arms around me. "I'm so glad you are safe."

"Me, too, Nance," I sighed, happy in the embrace.

Then she got to a question I really hoped she wouldn't ask. "Do your grandparents know you are here?"

My smile sank a bit, as I felt a strange feeling inside myself. That was why we had come in here, in the first place. "Not yet. I, well we, want to surprise them."

"Well, don't leave them hanging too long, Cassidy. It would leave them devastated if you were to suddenly show up in North Platte and then not say as much as a 'hello,'" she advised.

"This is one of our stops, anyway, Nancy. No way would I do that to them. That would be so rude," I shook my head, getting my confidence back.

"That's great! You are such a good granddaughter, Cassidy." She smiled, breaking the embrace and turning away. "I better get going. I have my own dogs to feed. It was so nice to see you again after that incident almost a couple years back. I was looking forward to giving you gifts that Christmas."

"And I got them, don't worry, Nancy. Anyway, I'm staying here for a week, so this isn't going to waste," I nodded. "And William and I are on better terms now."

"I thought I saw you with him, but I didn't want to assume that it was you," she smiled. "See you later."

"See you, Nancy," I said, waving my hand back and forth as she walked away to her cart, before heading toward the checkout lanes.

As we watched her disappear, Sister turned her head back toward me, looking a bit uneasy as she raised an eyebrow. One of Nancy's comments made her curious, and she hoped she wasn't about to step onto a live landmine by bringing it up. "Um… what 'incident' was she talking about, dear sister?"

"She must be referring to the torn up air tickets," I shrugged. "She did say 'almost a couple years back,' possibly thinking about what happened in the beginning of summer vacation. But that was about a year ago, at most."

The words "summer vacation" triggered a few memories in Sister's mind. According to the vortex, I had been given seven plane tickets to Albion, Illinois, by William, Jeremie, Aelita, Odd, Ulrich and Yumi for my birthday, and we had all planned to go there over summer vacation. We also entrusted William with them, so nothing happened to them. It was going to be the best summer vacation ever… until William broke up with me. Out of anger, he absolutely shredded the tickets, leaving all of us stranded in Boulogne-Billancourt.

"Oooohhh…" Grimacing, she let out a slight, disconcerting moan as she recalled the event.

"Yeah…" I found her expression contagious. "It still stings, but at least, albeit unconventionally—because heck no to the techno, even though I love the genre, it wasn't conventional at all—we are here, in Nebraska."

She couldn't help but giggle at that, which cheered her right up. "You're right. We did make it here after all, even if it took you a few years."

Turning back to the cans of hair dye, Sister gave one last glance at the different shades of brown on the rack behind her, before finally grabbing one.

"There!" she exclaimed, holding the can near my face, with part of the label colored in a shade of brown that she was absolutely certain matched my natural hair color. "Just a few sprays of this, and nobody will ever know a thing!"

"Perfect," I smiled. "Muy bien, Hermana. Translation: Very good, Sister."

Seeing an opportunity, her eyes widened slightly.

"Oh, is it time for a Spanish lesson, too?" she joked in such a way that made it seem obvious, before giggling as she smiled at me ambitiously.

I couldn't help but giggle at that, as well. "Who knows?"

As the two of us giggled, mi novio walked up to us, holding a strange-looking vest in one hand, and a hanger with a purple jacket in the other. A grin soon spread to his face as he watched us, waiting for the right moment to jump in.

"I leave you girls alone for two minutes, and you get into a tickling match?!" He quipped, resisting the urge to laugh at his own joke. "But then again, with everything else I've seen in this store, that's nothing!"

"Oh, it's nothing, Odd. Sister just found the hair dye that matched my shade," I smiled, taking in a deep breath.

"Faaaaan-tastic!" he smiled.

"Anyway, what's that?" I quickly spotted the vest in Odd's hand, not long after I calmed down completely.

He looked at it. "Oh, this is for Kiwi. To hide his wings and the stripe, for example."

"Ah, that's right," I nodded. "It seemed a bit weird, but now that makes total sense."

"You're right!" Sister agreed with a nod, surveying it further. "And it looks like it's soft enough that it won't hurt him, either!"

"It would make perfect sense," another voice piped up.

It only took me a second to realize who that voice belonged to. Glancing down, I saw none other than Total standing at my feet, locking eyes with me.

I grinned sheepishly at his reply. "Oops, sorry, Total. Your name came from the cage in the Institute of Higher Living in New York. I loved that part where Angel essentially used the Bambi eyes on Fang so he could say she could keep you. However, how did you get in?"

He scoffed. "We are practically celebrities here. And I really wanted to find some Fanta."

My wildcard raised an eyebrow in confusion, picking up on something right away. "Aren't dogs sensitive to caffeine?"

"Not me. I had it before, and it doesn't affect me at all."

That was when Ulrich and Yumi came walking up, each carrying a clothes hanger. My geisha friend still had her leather jacket, while Samurai bore a light jacket which looked an awful lot like the outfit he used to wear, as well; the only difference was the sleeves were somewhat longer, but it was slightly hard to tell.

"Hi, Ulrich," I greeted, my eyes going straight to the garment. "I like the jacket you picked. It is perfect."

"Thanks, Cassidy," he replied with a smile.

"Anyway, how are Jeremie, Sam, Kaitlyn, Patrick, and Hunter doing?"

"Sam found a black, long-sleeved shirt she likes," Yumi spoke up. "It even has the Subdigitals' logo that glows in the dark. She's waiting near the books."

And speak of three of the angels, the cousins of Einstein came up, almost sandwiching the genius himself, each of them holding different clothing items on hangers. Yet, when I got a good look at what was attached to the hanger in Jeremie's hand, I pursed my lips and tried not to wince, while also fighting back my brain's want to run my mouth, despite my fashion sense not being the best.

He had settled on a red, white, and blue plaid, button-up dress shirt that seemed big enough to conceal his wings, but I couldn't help but think that everyone would be more focused on the outfit itself, to the exclusion of everything else. Of course, if that was what he was going for, then he had nailed it, but while he had shown that he had some sense of fashion—our outfits on Lyoko, for example—this was just not going to work. I had to stand up and be somewhat honest with him and myself, even if my heart would hate to break his.

Yet, my shyness, and fear of insulting the bespectacled blond genius by questioning his clothing choices allowed Sister to step in first, with the gentle reasoning I wanted to have if I had spoken up first.

"Uh… Jeremie, sweetie…" Her tone was apologetic, yet skeptical. "Do you think that'll work? I mean, we are talking comfy casual, not lumberjack business casual."

"Yeah, Einstein, that shirt won't do you any favors," Ulrich agreed.

"And it makes you a bit too…um…" I winced, the last word struggling past my lips, "t-ta-tac-tack-tacky."

Taking my friends' suggestions into consideration, he looked down at the shirt on the hanger in his hand and gave it a bit more scrutiny. Part of him didn't think it looked as bad as the others and I thought it did. He probably could wear plaid quite well, no matter what anyone else thought. After all, the point of these outfits was to draw others' eyes and attention away from our wings, wasn't it? That shirt seemed to wear an alarm system that shouted, "We're all weird!"

Yet, at the same time, he always considered everything his friends told him, even if he thought we were nuts, crazy, out of our minds, or anything like that at first. It was this that the other part of him wanted him to remember. After all, how often did he design something, and quite a few of his friends thought it looked terrible, through varying levels of tactfulness? This was almost the same situation. Did he want people to look at him, or did he want people to run the risk of seeing his wings, by looking at his outfit? Weren't we supposed to blend in like normal people, rather than stick out?

This last bit resonated with him the most, as he glanced back up at me, an unsure look on his face. "Maybe you're right. I-I probably would look weird in this. But what do I do now?"

"Luckily for you, you have two fantastic fashion advisors, Jeremie," I smiled, pointing to his female cousin and Sister.

"Cassidy's right." Kaitlyn sent a smile her cousin's way, as she gestured to him. "C'mon, cuz, let's go find you something more sensible, and not so stripey."

Following the similarly bespectacled girl, she led Jeremie back into the boys' section, and after nearly a minute of searching, the two settled upon a blue jacket, and just like the outfits the others had chosen, this one also looked similar to the outfit he used to wear, before, in his case, he decided on a brown turtleneck and khaki pants with an electric blue stripe running down each pant leg.

With everyone having chosen or given an outfit, we all headed to the front checkout lanes not long after Kaitlyn brought her blond genius cousin back with her. Then it was back into the van with our purchases, and off to the hotel that Jeb and Georgina had chosen for our stay in North Platte, as there were far too many of us to stay with my grandparents.

Our hotel happened to be on the street that connected to the one my grandparents lived on, right in the middle of the attractions downtown. As usual, five suites were booked, we got a good look at the various amenities, including the spa, the swimming pool, and the restaurant, with some of us already making plans for after the visit to my grandparents, and then we all split up to go into our respective suites.

In what was fast becoming a trend, Sister, Aelita, Odd, Kiwi and Jeremie stayed in one suite with me, Ulrich, Yumi, Georgina, and Hunter stayed in another, Max and her flock took the third one, Jeb, Ari, and Sam went into the fourth, and Patrick, William, and Kaitlyn took the fifth.

Once inside our respective suites, while the others wasted no time unpacking what belongings they did have, Odd helping me with my ponies and Hippity, Sister went for the bag that contained my new jacket, and can of hair dye, and pulled out the latter, while I retrieved the notebook and sketchpad that William had picked out for me.

"Ready to do this, dear sister?" she then asked me, about to lead me into the bathroom of our suite.

I nodded, placing them on the bed. "Time to make things perfect."

Putting her arm around my back, the two of us then walked into the somewhat spacious bathroom, closing the door behind ourselves. Inside, Sister had me strip down to my birthday suit and remove my glasses, while she looked at the instructions on the dye can. After all, my hair was pretty long anyway. After reading the instructions, she popped the lid open, placed a hand over my eyes, and started spraying the pink hair strand. It took about five, maybe ten minutes, but soon you couldn't even tell I had a strand of pink hair, and the can still had enough in it for another round if needed. It was a perfect match.

"And this dye is washable, so if you need to, we can wash it out later, okay, Cassidy, sweetheart?" Sister reassured me, washing her hands and arms.

"Sounds good, Sister," I smiled, reaching for and replacing my glasses, then starting on my clothes.

A few minutes passed as we waited for the dye to dry, after which I put on my sports bra and shirt. It was not long after that, when all of a sudden, Sister and I heard a loud yelp coming from our room.

"ODD, MASTER, that's way too tight!" Kiwi yelled from behind the door.

It didn't take long for Sister to pull open the door to the bathroom, where we found Odd grimacing at his pet, who was now wearing the vest he had bought him at Walmart, and not looking very happy about it.

"Oh, Kiwi, buddy, I'm so sorry!" Odd moaned, reaching down to adjust the straps that held it on. "Here. Let me loosen that vest up."

"Thanks, Odd, Master," he grinned, feeling the squeeze slowly disappear.

In a few seconds, Odd had loosened the straps to the point where Kiwi could feel the vest holding his wings in, but not in a way that made him feel like he was getting a hug from a boa constrictor.

"Now that is better," the puppy panted happily.

With Kiwi satisfied with his vest, Jeremie slowly pulled on the jacket that had been bought for him, having removed the sales tags from it, Aelita's, Odd's, Sister's and mine, while the former snob and I were in the bathroom. Once he had pulled it fully over his upper half, I got a good look at it.

"Now that is a good look on you, Jeremie," I smiled. "Definitely reminds me of when we first met."

He chuckled a bit at that. "How could I forget! Without you, I would've called Aelita 'Maya', or even 'Artificial Intelligence.'"

"Well, Jeremie, I think the latter name would have been rude, and the former just didn't make any sense with my powers," I giggled.

"But I'm glad you did," Aelita jumped in with a cute smile on her face, looking almost like she might giggle as well. "Otherwise, I would've remembered my name the first time I placed my hand onto the interface in the activated tower. It was nice to know it beforehand."

"Yeah, it was," Jeremie and I chorused, which caused a fit of laughs to escape my throat after we did that.

Hearing me laugh, Odd started chuckling a bit as well. "What's so funny, Cat Girl?"

"It—it's the f—first…time…we did t—that in a l—long time…" I squeezed out in between cackles.

Aelita rolled her eyes, before closing them and gently shaking her head, smirking amusedly. "You laugh at the craziest things."

"Yeah, but who else would laugh at Odd the Magnificent?" mi novio brought up.

I took in a deep breath, thinning out the thickness of the laughter. "Well, no one else would, silly." Then a small thought hit me. "But thanks for helping me through that stupid bet Ulrich and Odd put me through, Jeremie."

"No problem," Jeremie replied, before folding his arms. "They had no right to drag you into a bet, and not give you any choice in the matter. You didn't even have to abide by it. You didn't agree to anything; they made up the terms on their own."

"Well, I know Nickelback sang 'Put your girlfriend in the bet to make it good,' but I know that I wasn't even 'staring at [Ulrich] like no girlfriend should,'" I nodded.

"Hey, that's from Daredevil!" Odd blinked.

"That was when Matt, dressed as the vigilante, was chasing a freed rapist. It only played in the bar that had the battle in it. And I loved every second of the movie," I grinned. "Not my first Marvel movie, X-Men was my start, but it was definitely a great one. It even introduced me to Evanescence."

That seemed to be a code word to Odd, as soon he began to sing their most famous hit; at least he had the vocal range for it.

"Hooooow can you seeee into my—" And he would have gotten farther, if I hadn't slapped my hand over his mouth, stopping him instantly.

"Seriously, Novio?" I play-scolded, uncovering his mouth somewhere. "I swear 'Hello' is better, and I'm still trying to get my hands to work together so I can play that one on piano in the Kadic Talent Show in the upcoming year. My right hand is great at cooperation, but my left is like 'How do I play the lower register while the right hand is doing its own thing?'"

As I finished my sentence, I didn't notice Aelita walking up behind me, until she stopped by my side, and placed her hand on my back.

"I could help you with that," she commented, grinning warmly at me. "It's like my father always says, 'it's just like math.' And it's really not as hard as all that."

"I mean, I can do a good remix and sing, but my hands seem to hate the piano," I smiled, tucking in my feathers. "So some tips might be useful."

"Yeah!" Odd slipped on his purple jacket, making sure his wings were safely tucked underneath, in such a way that they didn't feel uncomfortable. "With Princess teaching you, it'll be a piece of cake!"

I put my hands through the armholes in my jacket. "Yeah."

"If we do end up coming back here to change, Odd, Master, do you think we can take this vest off?" Kiwi asked. "I kinda feel like a service dog."

"And service animals aren't to be touched," I nodded, seeing where Kiwi was coming from.

"Sure we can," Odd commented with a grin, reaching down to gently pet his diggity-dog on the head. "You won't have to wear that any longer than you have to."

"Don't worry, Kiwi. I'm sure that if that part happens, you can run free without it," I reassured.

"Thanks, Odd, Master, and Mother Wolf Cassidy," Kiwi nodded.

"Now, remember, leave the talking to us, Kiwi, darling," Sister advised him.

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am," the puppy wagged his tail, almost as though in salute. Odd and Jeremie couldn't help but laugh at his pose, finding it quite hilarious.

"If we gave him to the Army, I'd bet the general will be so confused," Einstein chortled.

"He'd say 'drop and give me 20'," my wildcard added with a huge grin on his face, "and Kiwi would say, 'but I've already dropped!'"

"Oh, brother," a muffled voice chuckled from behind the door that led out of our suite, moments before it opened to reveal Yumi, who rolled her eyes as she walked in.

"Well, my brother Ted would make jokes all the time," Kiwi grinned, looking up at my geisha friend. "Mostly about squirrels. My sisters would try to shut him up, though."

"Well, how many siblings did you have, Kiwi?" I suddenly entered the conversation, quite surprised. Kiwi actually had siblings? As in, brothers and sisters?! I didn't even know that, and I was supposed to be the psychic!

"Well, we were three sisters, and three brothers, apparently. However, Jenkins somehow disappeared before I got to know him," he replied. "Jenny, Mickaela, and Xena were nice."

"So, what was your name, before I named you 'Kiwi'?" Odd jumped in next, just as curious as I.

"Well, my mother would call me Roland, like 'Sir Roland,' but 'Kiwi' is much better, Odd, Master."

Everyone else within the suite nodded, and some even voiced their agreement. Kiwi was a much better name, and it wasn't just because we were all used to calling mi novio's diggity-dog that already.

"I think Kiwi is better over Roland any day," I nodded.

"Yep!" Kiwi yipped. "I don't know what I'd done if Odd, Master gave me that name. I mean, I don't know what my mother was thinking."

"Well, my mother said she named me 'Odd' because I was the only boy, other than my dad, in a family with five other sisters," Odd noted, trying to find a parallel as a grin grew on his face. "There's Adele, Pauline, Louise, Marie and Elizabeth—not related to Sissi, of course—and then there's me, Odd the Great, the Brave, the Magnificent!"

"I love your name, Odd," I smiled. "Not many people are named that way. There's an Odd Thomas, though, but I think your mother got inspired there."

Odd smiled even wider when he heard that, and wrapped his arms around me, giving me a gentle kiss on the neck, which made me shiver slightly and then giggle.

Nearby, I could see Yumi giggling cutely at what Odd was doing, moments before she gave us a gentle reminder as she cleared her throat.

"I hate to interrupt your little love fest," she commented playfully without losing her grin, "but we should probably get going to your summer house, soon, Cassidy."

"Ready, Cat Girl?" he asked me, raising his head up toward my face.

"Well, I have my jacket on, and my strand is perfectly brown," I smiled. "Yes."

With Jeremie, Aelita and Sister donning their jackets not long after, the six of us filed out of my suite, and headed into the hotel lobby to wait for the others. One by one the others joined us, minus the Flock and Ari—they wanted to rest, big time, and I didn't blame them— and all wearing the jackets they picked out. Just glancing over at all of my friends, I almost couldn't even tell we had been experimented on at The School in California and given wings. Our disguises seemed perfect, right down to every strand of my hair looking quite uniform.

The twelve of us then left the hotel and compiled back into the van, with Georgina and Jeb not far behind. It was finally time to go see my grandparents and hope that they didn't suspect a thing. We were going to at least try to act normal, so they didn't think anything crazy had happened to us. For all I knew, they just thought there were twelve lost kids, including myself. They probably didn't even know why we had been abducted, or what had happened to us, and that's what I was banking on.

The ride to my summer house, the home where my grandparents lived was a ten-minute drive, as the hotel where we were staying wasn't far; they had the privilege of being on a road that ran smack-dab through the center of a large area that contained most of the amenities that North Platte had to offer, which made it easy to stay within reach. Naturally, some things were within walking distance, something the three of us did quite often when I was younger.

It wasn't long before the van rolled into the driveway of my summer home.

"Let's roll," I giggled, taking off my seatbelt after Georgina shut off the engine. "Showtime, at last!"

Taking his seatbelt off not long after, Odd couldn't help but chuckle at my enthusiasm. "Now that's the Cat Girl we all know and love! Yeah!"

Georgina soon triggered the electronic locks, and I slid the side door open as if I was itching to get out. And I was; before me was the summer home I had known for years; the lush green grass, semi-spacious backyard, flower garden in the front, near the porch, and the red fire marshal truck my grandfather liked to drive on business trips. It was just as I had left it.

"Here I am and here I go," I exclaimed, almost jumping out of the van.

The others followed behind, almost a bit too leisurely for my taste, as I walked up a series of at least four wooden steps that led up to the front deck, getting more and more excited the higher I went, almost as if a flame was burning brighter and brighter within me. Here I was, back at my grandparents' house! I hadn't seen them in what seemed like ages, and everything else seemed exactly the same as I had left it. I could just smell my grandmother's cookies, the candles in the other room, the smell of the sheets on the bed in my room, whenever I would stay there… the nostalgia and happiness threatened to rip me apart. I couldn't wait to get in there!

I soon reached the front door, nearly having to control myself before I ripped the screen door off in excitement. There was one more barrier holding me back, before the incredible sweetness of what awaited me inside exploded out and engulfed me. Once it was open, I rolled my right wrist, hand loosely clenched in a fist. This was it. I raised it and knocked on the door a couple times.

Just waiting for someone to come to the door and knowing it would either be my grandmother or grandfather, I could feel my heart practically wanting to leap out of my chest. This was the moment I had worked up to, but it was also here where my two trains of thought—the one that was absolutely sure our disguises were going to fool them, assuming they hadn't seen any pictures of us on the news, if there even were any; and the one that just "knew" that they'd see right through my painted strand of hair, and the clothes that concealed our wings—threatened to collide, and make one big explosion.

But this time, I was able to keep something of a clear head, to talk some reason into myself. Hey, you're gonna be fine. This is your moment, I reassured myself in my mind, lowering my heart rate by a few beats.

It was only a few seconds before the front door opened, just enough for me to pull my hand away and let it fall to my side, and a slender graying brown-haired woman stood in the doorway, bearing a look of confused surprise as she looked at me.

"Grandma Penny?" I asked, my voice growing more and more excited with each syllable.

"Cassidy!" her look of surprise morphed into excitement, as she embraced me in a warm hug. "It's so great to see you! Such a wonderful surprise. We almost thought Domino's was here, but we didn't order any pizza."

I giggled, returning the gesture as I rested my head on her shoulder. "I don't think the pizza would have survived the journey."

She chuckled at this, as she kept the embrace. "Let me guess, you brought your boyfriend Odd."

If I wasn't dating him, my stomach would have clenched. "Yep. Along with my other friends."

"I'm so glad everyone's safe. If you need a place to stay for the night, I could clear up your old room."

"It's fine. We're going to stay at a hotel. We are here for a week," I smiled, before gently pulling away from her, at nearly the same time she pulled away from me. "I've always wanted to show everyone North Platte, anyway."

"Well, that's quite alright, Cassidy. I'll let Grandpa Jake know. He's at the church right now," she grinned.

"That's great!"

"Would you all like to come inside? We can watch TV or something to pass the time," she asked, having looked over my shoulder.

The rest of my friends immediately nodded at that, with some even verbalizing anything from a "yes, please!" to a simple "sure!"

So with that, we all followed Grandma Penny inside, and were immediately greeted with the warm, mouth-watering, inviting smell of chocolate-chip cookies, coming from the kitchen. Naturally, as we all walked over to the kitchen table, Odd raced closer to the front of the line, sitting down on one of the wool-lined chairs, as did Aelita, Sister, Kaitlyn, and I, while the others stood, not being able to find chairs of their own.

"Everything okay over at France? That kidnapping really caught us all by surprise," Grandma asked, looking at the oven timer.

"Yeah. As far as we know, Mr. Delmas and the other teachers are okay," Kaitlyn nodded.

"As well as the other students," Jeremie added with his own nod of agreement. "It seems that our captors were only trying to target us, while doing as little damage as possible to everyone else."

"That's great. At least you all are fine. Being smuggled here must've been very hard on you," Grandma said, sounding quite relieved.

"It definitely has, Grandma," I nodded. "The jet lag was minimal, compared to being kidnapped."

"No kidding," Ulrich quipped.

"It was worrying, too," Aelita added, with worry in her voice. "I wasn't sure what they were going to do to us, until we got there."

"Well, you're away from that awful—wherever you were," she smiled gently, going up to her and rubbing her back.

"That is true," Yumi agreed with a nod. "Thanks to the help of Jeb and Georgina, we were able to get away."

"And that was great, both of you," Grandma smiled, before glancing over at Max and Ari's father. "I'm sure you'll take care of them while getting back to France."

"They're definitely in good hands," Jeb replied, his voice reassuring. "We've gotten them this far just fine, and we're certainly not going to let anything happen to them on their way back."

"Especially since we're halfway across the United States now," I piped in.

That surprised Grandma Penny slightly, as she raised an eyebrow. "Wait one second. Are you telling me that they took you to California?"

"Yes, but we escaped and are here now, right?" I smiled calmly, hoping that would mitigate her fears.

It did; her eyebrow returned to its normal position above her eye, as she allowed herself to relax. Obviously, if we had come this far, what was another thousand miles or more, especially since to them, we didn't look like we had come away from it with any scratches, scars, or scrapes?

"Yes, you're right, Cassidy." We could also hear the worry in her voice disappear, as well.

"And we are spending a week here," I nodded. "So we are going to be peachy."

I had wonderful timing, too; not long after I had finished my sentence, a high-pitched beeping noise filled the air. My grandma immediately recognized it, and went over to the oven, grabbing a pair of oven mitts off the nearby counter.

"I decided to make these out of worry for you," she commented as she opened the oven with a smile, pulling two cookie sheets out of it, and placing them upon the counter, near where she had retrieved the mitts, moments before. "I know these are your favorites. I'm glad you came over."

"Ooh… those look tasty," Odd and I chorused, the spiky blond giggling excitedly as well.

"Wait until they cool down, you two," Yumi, not Grandma, told us.

"And may we take some cookies back to the hotel with us, Grandma?" I asked. "We might as well have something to snack on if we need to."

That was only half the truth; while I did want to take some cookies back to the hotel, they wouldn't just be for my friends and I. Ever since that one incident where she got shot in the shoulder and wing by a random bully harassing Ella, Max had discovered her love of chocolate chip cookies from Dr. Martinez. When she went to New York, she tried someone else's cookies, but decided that while they weren't bad, they didn't taste as good as the ones the veterinarian made. With that in mind, I thought it would be nice to give Max a little something to enjoy.

"Of course, honey," she chirped, grabbing a metal tin from the tiny walk-in pantry. "I can always make more if you want them."

"Thanks, Grandma."

My grandmother brought the tin over to the counter and had nearly placed it near the two trays of cooling cookies, all while getting ready to open her mouth to reply, when who would come walking in, but my grandfather Jake. It only took him a couple seconds to notice me and the gigantic crowd of kids nearby, and he immediately went over to envelop me in a warm hug.

"Grandpa Jake!" I exclaimed happily as I hugged him back.

"I'm almost willing to bet that you followed your nose, Sugar," he teased, jokingly guessing that the cookies were what brought me to him and my grandma.

"Well, if I had a nose like that," I giggled, "I'd probably use it for more important stuff."

Grandpa Jake folded his arms and laughed heartily, before reaching over to rub my back. "Well, you do have ways of finding the right page in a book, so maybe a good sense of smell would be the next best thing."

His gaze then found the other eleven, giving them the same warm smile he had given me. "And these must be all of your friends. Great to finally meet you at last. Cassidy wrote all about you in her emails to us."

"Well, not all of them. I met Hunter almost two weeks ago," I pointed out, extending my hand toward the black-haired boy, just in case they weren't sure who I was talking about. "I wasn't close to internet access, so I couldn't tell you."

"That's perfectly fine, Cassidy," Grandma reassured me with a matching smile.

"We also saw what happened in your adventures on Lyoko. I knew our daughter and son-in-law were raising an extraordinary daughter," Grandpa beamed with pride as he pictured it within his mind.

My cheeks gained a very noticeable pink tint at this. "W-well, it's n-not every day that your granddaughter suddenly gains some crazy powers so-somehow."

"They are not crazy, Cassidy. We don't know what caused them, but you don't have to hide them," Grandma consoled me, her words causing a pang in my heart. "We went back into our ancestry, but nobody in our family, not even on your biological father's side, has anything related to this. You're a very special girl. And we are so proud of you."

I tried to keep a straight face, and not show any sign of weakness when she said that. But between that, and the reassurance that hiding our wings and my hair strand was probably a pointless gesture in the first place, it was taking a good bit of my strength to stop myself from blowing the entire gig at that moment.

"T-thanks." I squeezed out, trying to make it seem like I was still stuttering from their earlier praise.

"You're welcome, Sugar," Grandpa smiled, seeming unfazed by my reply, much to my relief. "I still can't believe that you managed that many… What did you call them? … MegaTankies?"

"Close, MegaTanks," Ulrich corrected gently.

"MegaTanks. And that was a great feat. I swear, I almost wanted to go to France myself, but I had to be in Kearney that week for business," he commented, his smile unchanging.

"And I remember that concert you did with Aelita," Grandma remembered next, imagining the entire set-up, right down to the outfits she and I wore. "That was incredible. I hope you get me some CDs of that so I can give some of them to your cousins."

"I will, Grandma," I nodded, trying hard to keep an excited grin on my face. "They are still working on the English release."

"That's great. Your cousins Andrew and Eli will love to hear their cousin sing."

As I thought of my next reply, I was distracted by a soft sensation against my legs. Looking down, I found another friend had come to greet me; it was a dark brown Maine Coon cat, softly rubbing his body up against my leg, looking up at me with its beautiful green eyes, offering a friendly meow once I noticed him.

"Thunder! Oh, Thunder!" I exclaimed, reaching down to stroke his soft, blackish-brown fur with a free hand.

"Aw…" Sister and Kaitlyn chorused in admiration for the cat, especially how cute and cuddly he looked, and the way he lovingly embraced me.

"And you thought you didn't have access to him," Odd teased, grinning ambitiously at me.

"Well, I was homesick, too, sometimes," I shot back, still petting my kitty.

"We always wanted to bring her to see him," Jeremie smiled.

Yumi knelt beside my cat, letting him smell her hands. "We knew how much she missed him."

"And you all are here, now," Grandma smiled, watching the cat nuzzle Yumi's hands, after he sniffed them. "And she's glad."

While I softly caressed Thunder's soft, warm fur, I began to realize how wonderful everything seemed to be going. My grandfather arrived, neither he nor my grandmother suspected a thing, didn't question Kiwi's vest, or anything like that. As far as they knew, we didn't look too different from how we looked, before the whitecoats and Erasers kidnapped us. In fact, we were normal.

Everything was going perfectly smooth.

As smooth as butter, in fact.

Yeah, this is probably one of those points where someone would drop in, saying or asking those "famous last words", about how nothing could possibly go wrong. In fact, usually it's around this time where things horribly screw up, isn't it? I'm sure you're probably expecting that. I mean, our jackets, sweatshirts and hoodies weren't getting ripped out by our wings, in a desperate attempt to free themselves from being cramped, nobody was about to come in, trip on the floor and spray water into my face, washing the dye out of my hair instantly, no strange beasts were dropping in and taking us back to California, and nobody had managed to step on Kiwi's paws, triggering something other than a painful yip.

So, as far as things go, nothing really could go wrong, right?

Right?

Okay, go ahead and start laughing. You know I'm just stalling for time, right? You're probably thinking, "go on, Cassidy. Something, or someone, screwed up royally, and blew your cover. Tell us who or what it was!" aren't you?

…

...okay, fine. You win. Yes, things were going well, but all that was about to change. After all, you know how well you can hold a ruse until someone drops the stick.

"So this is Thunder."

And who was the lucky winner this time? Why, it was none other than the wonderful diggity-dog who belonged to my darling novio: Kiwi.

At that moment, it was as if time had suddenly frozen in the kitchen. My friends and I were in complete disbelief, hoping we hadn't heard what we thought we did. Kiwi knew he was supposed to keep quiet! Dogs don't normally talk, no matter how much Odd wanted to teach him, before we were taken to The School! This had the potential to blow our cover wide open, and it probably already had!

To make matters worse, and to further drive home the fact that he had opened his mouth, Kiwi quickly slapped his paws against it in defense, worrying us further, as this was another thing pets didn't normally do, and almost made things even worse than they already had the chance of becoming. Internally, I panicked. There was no way my grandparents were going to just gloss this one over as some sort of party trick, let alone pretend to ignore it. They were smarter than that.

Grandma's and Grandpa's eyebrows hit the ceiling as my jaw went in the opposite direction. In my mind, I could hear the chorus to Styx's "Renegade" play on. In a way, the jig was up, the news was out, and now it was time to come clean, because my grandparents had found out the truth. Nice going, Kiwi. We were doing fine up to this point.

Hey! it slipped, alright?! I heard Kiwi protest to me in my mind. I'm sorry.

"Do my ears deceive me, or did that dog just speak plain English?" Grandpa finally broke the silence, making sure he wasn't going crazy.

"Uh…" I tittered, unable to figure out an excuse.

Trying to fight the sheepish smile that was threatening to take over his mouth, Odd quickly thought of something that Sam had once considered when this trip began.

"It's my ventriloquist act!" he managed to throw out, putting on his best, somewhat believable smile. "I always love making my dog sound like he's talking. Cool, huh?!"

"Odd, there's no point now! Plus your Adam's Apple didn't move!" I took in a deep breath, trying to steady myself. "Grandma Penny, Grandpa Jake, our captors, um…"

Watching me flounder in attempt to tell the truth as tactfully as I could, Jeb decided to step in, calmly walking up to my grandparents.

"Mrs. Stromitis, when we found Cassidy and the others, something had happened," Max and Ari's father calmly tried to explain, hoping this didn't worry them further. "When they were kidnapped from Kadic Academy in France, their kidnappers had plans for them, but we made sure that we saved them, before any harm could be done. They're still themselves, but they also have additional… abilities."

"Just when you think the news had a bad joke on one of its reports," Grandpa Jake commented, almost in disbelief.

"But it was true that they were in Denver yesterday," Grandma reminded him, trying to take all of this in for herself, as well.

"We were," I nodded, with a look of slight worry. "It was a tough battle to be in, to be honest."

"But if that's true, then where's that strand of pink hair?" Grandpa asked, a bit intrigued.

Georgina calmly piped up, gaining my grandparents' attention. "She worried about how you might react to seeing one strand of her hair a different color than the rest, or compare it to a highlight, or think it was teenage rebellion. It's there, but it's been dyed a similar color to her natural hair. Thankfully it comes out quite easily, so we're just going to pop back to our hotel really quickly, wash it off, and we'll show you when we get back. Our hotel has a big tub."

My grandparents' eyebrows raised slightly, as Georgina gently placed her hand behind my back, and led me toward the front door in the living room. As we neared closer, Sister began to walk after us.

"I'm coming, too!" she called out, catching up to, and walking beside me. "That way, I can give emotional support."

So that's what we did. A short drive back to the hotel later, the three of us went up into my suite, and into the bathroom. Sister and I wasted no time pulling our clothes off, breathing slight sighs of relief as our wings were able to stretch out freely once more—I guessed the Flock had more practice with keeping their wings folded in for long periods of time, yet our wings were still growing majestically—while Georgina pulled off her outer clothing, down to the swimsuit she often wore in place of underwear. Once I was down to just my underwear, and were pulling them down my legs, I began to wonder if the scab on my back had fully healed. Sure enough, before I could ask someone to have a look at it, I heard Sister let out a gasp, which both reminded me that she hadn't yet seen the scab on my back, and that it was indeed the same as it had been. Hopefully it would heal more after a few more days, even though I began to wonder if spending more time like this, or at the very least topless, would help it heal faster.

The wonderful thing about this hotel's bathrooms, however, was that the floors were covered with very soft carpeting, making Georgina's usual bed of towels almost unnecessary, as Sister and I could just lie naked atop the soft carpet while she wiped and massaged our bodies. Once the three of us were ready, Georgina started the large bathtub filling with soothingly warm water, adding in bubble bath as it filled, before holding two washcloths under the stream from the tap, soaking them completely, and then wringing them out.

Kneeling down between the two of us, one warm, soaking wet washcloth was softly placed upon each of our chests, as Georgina began to slowly, very soothingly, gently and thoroughly wipe every inch of skin on our bare bodies, from our heads to our toes. This would be the first step in helping me relax, something both of the other girls knew I needed at that moment. While the bath itself would probably be the most relaxing part, having a soft, warm, wet washcloth softly and soothingly rubbed across every inch of your bare body was a wonderful way to begin such a ritual.

The full-body wipe took about twenty minutes, after which Georgina turned off the taps on the bathtub, before giving both Sister and I full-body massages, only one at a time, so she could focus both hands on each of us, compared to her skill at wiping both of our bodies simultaneously. It was things like these that made the former whitecoat feel like a travelling masseuse and nurse, and someone we almost felt we didn't deserve, because of how wonderfully she treated us, both at The School, and as we continued on our trip across the United States.

Two massages later, the three of us hopped into the soothingly warm bubble bath, with me sitting in the center, bookended by Georgina and Sister once more, as the former whitecoat soaked two new washcloths, lathered them up incredibly thoroughly with soap, and handed one to Sister, while keeping one for herself. It was when the incredibly soothing, incredibly gentle, very relaxing, incredibly soft and very thorough head-to-toe wash began, that something interesting happened.

It started with Georgina beginning to wash my back half, in her usual gentle, incredibly soothing and thorough style, which would have relaxed me greatly if I wasn't already mentally sweating bullets at the thought of how my grandparents were going to react, once they saw my hair, everyone's wings and even Kiwi's purple stripe, along with me wondering why Sister hadn't started washing my front half, until she donned a happy grin while holding her soap-caked washcloth, as she looked me in the eyes.

"Why don't we play a little game, sister dear!" she started with a giggle, placing her free hand against the washcloth she was holding. "You tell me everything you're worried about your grandparents doing when they see us in almost all of our glory, and I'll wash them off you!"

At first, I almost thought she was just being cute, as she had the cutest ways of cheering us up. But then again, I'm not sure if she even knew how much truth was in what she was saying, at that moment.

"What if they reject me?" I muttered, gritting my teeth.

Slowly, Sister placed her incredibly soapy washcloth against the middle of my chest, and began to softly, slowly, very soothingly, very gently and very thoroughly wash the area, as well as all around it.

"They won't reject you," she soothed as she did this, the tone of her voice matching the feeling of her washcloth's motions against my bare skin. "That's going right down the drain this instant! They've known you for how many years?"

"Um… since I was born?"

"And have they ever come close to rejecting or disowning you before?" she pressed, gently.

"Well, no, but—"

At that moment, while Sister continued to wash my chest, my eyes suddenly widened, at about the same time hers closed, as I could feel something within me. I knew this feeling well, as this was the sort of feeling I'd get when Sister hugged me, particularly after I had a nightmare, or started feeling sorry for myself. But that was the thing; Sister wasn't hugging me; she was washing me! I mean, obviously it couldn't have been Georgina, even if her very gentle, incredibly soothing, invigorating and relaxing body wipes, rubs and washes felt like they eased away your troubles, so it had to have been Sister. After all, she was the one who got the soothing, healing powers while we were all being experimented on. Georgina was still a human, like we used to be.

I began to feel myself calm down, even more so than I would from just a normal hug, until the fear of rejection or being disowned by my grandparents no longer existed.

Of course, Sister, who was completely oblivious to what was going on within me, kept right on washing my upper body, moving on to my shoulders and neck, after having caked my chest in suds.

"No buts, sister dear!" she interjected without opening her eyes.

There was something really crazy going on, and I knew it, even if I felt like I was the only one who did. Sister couldn't feel these abilities working, or leaving her body, especially without any clothing covering it, could she? If she could, she was probably hiding it quite well.

With one idea having been figuratively washed off from my mind, other ones began to pop up, just as Sister gently lifted my right arm, and began to softly, slowly and soothingly wash its entire length, from my shoulder blade to the tips of my fingers, making sure not to miss a single skin cell. At the same time, I felt Georgina's fingers working their usual magic in my hair, spending a minute or two focusing on the dyed strand first, before making their way back to the rest of my long hair, covering it in suds.

"I am also worried about them wanting me to clip off my wings when they see them," I shivered, despite the warm water.

That got Sister to open up her eyes and adopt a concerned look. "But they're part of us, now. You don't see people clipping the wings off from birds just because they feel like it, do you?"

"Well, no. However, they do take away the tips of feathers so the birds wouldn't fly, depending on several factors. I think Mrs. Hertz taught us about this at one point," I pointed out.

"You're right…" Sister briefly looked down at the incredibly soapy water that surrounded herself, myself and Georgina, before returning her gaze toward me. "But they don't seem like the kind of people that would make you hurt yourself. Why would they be afraid of you flying away?"

It was then that the magical power returned, starting to calm me more and more, as Sister began to wash up and down my right side, from my hip to my underarm, being very gentle, yet thorough.

"You're right, Sister. I guess I got a bit carried away there," I smiled.

Her smile came back as well, calm and soothing. "It's okay, dear sister. We've never had to deal with these sorts of things before. All you have to do is relax, stop worrying about what your grandparents are gonna say or do when we go back, and just let Georgina and I wash every inch of your beautiful body and wings, until they shine!"

Now it was my turn to glance down at the soapy water below, only behind closed eyelids, and with my cheeks gaining a rosy tint. It was the compliments that got me, this time. "Uh, yeah, Sister… I um… Thanks…"

"Don't mention it!" the principal's daughter replied sweetly, as she slowly, softly, gently, soothingly and thoroughly washed every inch of my belly, going down to the lowest part of my waist. "Now, doesn't this washcloth feel so nice and soft? It's like a spa bath, with your wonderful skin getting the attention it deserves! None of that harsh scrubbing, or anything like that! Not for you, not for me, not for any of the other girls, or even the boys! That's why I'm gonna make sure to bathe and shower with everyone when they do, so their skin can get soothingly and thoroughly washed, just like yours! Maybe even Hunter would actually share a bath with me, if I can find the right soap to wash him with! I don't understand why he says certain soaps make his whole body feel so slimy. Getting every inch of your body washed feels great!"

As Sister continued talking about pampering during a bath, I felt Georgina gently pull her washcloth away from my back half, having soothingly and thoroughly washed every inch of it, and reach behind herself to grab the removable shower head, which would let her rinse every single bit of soap off from my body, hair, and wings. It made it fun to see the bubble bath get even more bubbly and thick, once all the soap was rinsed off from me. It almost made me want to give Sister a really soothing, really relaxing and really gentle head-to-wing-to-toe wash after I had been rinsed off, since I was incredibly sure it was her powers that calmed me, even if she was one of the softest, gentlest and most thorough body washers I had ever bathed with.

Once every inch of my body and wings had been soothingly, gently and thoroughly washed, I had been completely rinsed off, and then both Sister and I were given full-body rinse-wipes with the washcloths we had used in the bath, we all sat on the carpeted bathroom floor, Georgina taking the hairbrush Aelita used on me yesterday, and brushing each strand. However, I had at least one more thing burning in my heart.

"I can't believe I thought about those two inane things! That was so stupid of me," I vented, as Georgina brushed my hair. "I stupidly worry about nothing and look where it gets me!"

"I thought Sissi washed those off from you in the bath, like she said she was going to?" Georgina soothed reassuringly, bringing her free hand down to softly rub my bare back. "You've never had to tell your grandparents that some crazy scientists gave you wings, and someone else's DNA before, so you probably didn't know how they were going to react."

"She did take those two things away. I'm just peeved that I made such a big deal out of this," I sighed, feeling ridiculous.

"Then why don't we stop ourselves from making a bigger deal out of it?" Sister calmly suggested, crawling over on her hands and knees, and then placing her hands atop my bare shoulders. "All of that went down the drain, when Georgina pulled the plug. Why don't we leave them there? It's all taken care of now. Your beautiful body, wings and mind are all fresh and clean. You can relax! And you really should!"

I knew she was right, and despite the fact that she wasn't hugging me—even though a tiny part of me wondered if her hugging me right then, while both of us were still naked, would supercharge her powers, just like what I was sure happened while she was washing me—already my mind was slowly calming down, and I felt my body starting to loosen up as well.

"Sorry, Sister," I lamented, taking a deep breath. "I guess I was angry at myself for no reason."

"We know you worry too much, dear sister," she continued in a happy voice, as she started to gently rub my shoulders. "But beating yourself up over things you can't go back, and change doesn't help you at all. What we need to do is find a way to build up your self-esteem… and maybe going back to your grandparents' house and giving them a little show-and-tell is a great way to do it!"

While it felt better to have had every inch of my body wiped, massaged, washed and rinse-wiped, along with my hair cleansed of that brown dye that matched my natural hair color a bit too well, I knew I still had to show my grandparents what the whitecoats had done to me. My friends probably could get away from this almost completely unscathed, but because I was family, I was bound to get something for this thing that happened to me, that I had no control over, and couldn't stop no matter how hard I tried. They probably wouldn't even take the whole "one of them has it out for me, and injected me with Aelita's DNA, which is why my hair looks different in the front" thing seriously, even if that was the truth.

After we got dressed, the ride back to my grandparents' house was a quiet one, with Sister just gazing longingly and reassuringly at me from the seat Jeb normally sat in, trying to get me to see that I was worrying too much about the whole thing. Maybe she was right, but I knew my grandparents better than she did.

We pulled back into their driveway, and after a few seconds of mental preparation, I slowly climbed out of the van, feeling much less energetic or excited than I did earlier. But I still knew I had to tell them regardless, because it would have been really ridiculous of me to have just left my grandparents, and the rest of my friends just standing there, while I dashed off to do something else after my bath.

Up the steps we went, finding the front door open, with only the screen door standing between Sister, Georgina, and I, and everyone else. As I grabbed the door handle and pulled it open, I could hear mi novio finishing a joke, moments before everyone's attention turned on me, like there was a gigantic neon spotlight shining down on me from up above. Whether I liked it or not, it was showtime.

"...and then," Odd finished, just as the others turned to look at the three of us as we slowly walked in, "she wanted to know if it was gonna come out of the printer!"

Immediately, Grandma Penny and Grandpa Jake burst out laughing, at almost the same time as Odd, who still found it funny, no matter how many times he told it. It seemed to put them in a really good mood, as I took a deep breath, timing it well as their gazes moved to something else for a few quick moments, so when they did look back at me, I would hopefully find the courage Sister and Georgina washed every inch of my body, wings, and hair with, considering the news I was about to share.

"Oh, Cassidy, I know you told us Odd was funny in your letters, but that was hilarious," Grandma Penny smiled as she calmed down.

"Yeah. He is. That's why he's my boyfriend," I adopted a grin, standing next to him.

Of course… once the subject of the joke was over, I heard something Sister was expecting, but I wasn't.

"And wow, would you look at that! Your hair is beautiful, Cassidy," Grandpa complimented, causing my eyes to widen.

The blush from earlier in the hotel suite's bathroom came back, as well. "And um… that's not all, Grandpa. Well, you see…"

It was "moment-of-truth" time. My hands slowly went to the zipper of my jacket, as I fought to stop my worries from sabotaging my efforts. In a few seconds it was off from me, and I could immediately feel relief from the pressure against my wings that my jacket had put upon them. Taking looks from side to side, making sure I wasn't about to smash my grandmother's prized pictures, I slowly allowed my wings to unfurl themselves completely, garnering amazed gasps from my grandparents.

Taking the hint, my other friends began carefully undoing their own jackets, and pulling any hooded sweatshirts over their heads, until their own wings were freed, each of them bearing anywhere from looks of fear and uncertainty, to proud, excited looks. One by one, pairs of wings of different sizes and colors, none of which were big enough to carry any of us, yet, spread out in my grandparents' living room, filling it with wonderful bursts of color, and giving the impression that a flock of birds had taken flight before Grandma Penny's and Grandpa Jake's eyes.

"Our captors did this. Not just to me, but to everybody, except for Jeb and Georgina. No harm came to them." I bent over and started to undo the straps to Kiwi's vest, slowly revealing the purple stripe on his back, and his wings. "Even Kiwi has them."

My grandparents took a few moments to look over everyone's wings, with looks of amazement on their faces. It was then that my heart began to pound more fiercely within my chest, and my nerves began to tense up. We were presenting ourselves to them, showing them everything that the whitecoats had given us, against our will. Even if we were all fully dressed, we were essentially exposing ourselves to them, hoping their reactions would actually be in our favor, and not what I feared they would do most.

I kept my eyes on Grandpa Jake. I was mostly afraid that he would start slowly stepping away, or running into another room to take a breather, and clear his head. That would tell me everything I needed to know. Grandma Penny was much better at keeping a calm, level head than he was, so if he went crazy, then I'd know we had as big of a problem on our hands as I feared.

But, strangely… he didn't. He just stared at everyone's wings for a few more seconds, and then he finally opened his mouth to speak.

"Well, I'm impressed."

I blinked, nearly having to catch myself on the arm of the couch. Did he…? He wasn't angry at me in the slightest…? Did I really just hear that?!

"R-really?" I squeaked out, fearfully asking for clarification.

"They are beautiful wings, Cassidy," Grandma told me, a warm smile taking over the lower part of her face.

"Are you sure we don't look like we escaped from a freak show?" I asked, making sure I wasn't hallucinating anything, and my ears weren't playing tricks on me. The last thing I wanted was my previously-erased fears to be right.

Seeing how tense I was, Grandma Penny scooped me up in her arms, being careful not to snare my wings as she wrapped them around me. "No, definitely not, Dear. This happened to you and the others against your will. You have nothing to be ashamed or afraid of here."

From behind my grandmother, I could see Sister giving me the peace sign, closing one eye as she grinned, and I could hear her say to me in my mind, there, you see? You didn't have anything to worry about, sister dear!

"Alright, so I overreacted," I admitted, returning Grandma Penny's soothing gesture, not even realizing she had no idea who I was talking to.

"It's okay, Sweetie," Jeb reassured. "It's natural to worry about how your relatives would react to new things."

I stayed in my grandmother's warm, calming embrace for what seemed like hours, even though it really hadn't been, just relaxing, and coming to grips with the fact that I really didn't have anything to worry about.

Then my stomach decided to intervene. At first, I thought it was Odd's, as he couldn't go two hours without a big meal, but not only did I hear the growl, I could feel a slight sensation within my belly, which was the dead giveaway.

Grandma Penny gently pulled back, leaving me within arm's length, as her arms slowly lowered to her sides, while she gave me a warm grin.

"Sounds like someone's hungry," she commented, looking like she was about to laugh. "Why don't we order up some KFC, to celebrate you coming back, and everything being okay, all things considered?"

Lowering my own arms to my sides, my mouth began to water at that thought. "That sounds heavenly…"

"Wow, it's just like before," Ulrich jumped in with a sly smile, as he glanced over at me. "Five hours without food, and you turn into your boyfriend."

Even though a few of my friends wanted to scold him for that dumb comment, I couldn't help but laugh, knowing exactly what "before" was. "You got me, Ulrich!"

Ulrich merely chuckled a bit, shrugging his shoulders out of modesty, before calming down.

After a good twenty minutes, Georgina and Grandma Penny came back from their trip to KFC, bringing plenty of food for everyone, and even some extras for Odd, and we all sat down to eat. The food was incredible, just like I came to expect from KFC, including the mashed potatoes and gravy. Of course, the main thing on everyone's plate was the fried chicken, and I was thankful that my grandmother and the former whitecoat had brought plenty to go around, even for people with mammoth appetites like a certain wildcard I'm quite fond of.

"Ah… that really hit the spot, Mrs. Penny," Odd grinned.

"And there is always more if you want to get more," she giggled.

She might as well have just looked mi novio in the eyes when she said that, as he immediately shot up out of his seat, at this offer. "Yes, ma'am!"

"He's a keeper," Grandpa Jake chuckled, watching Odd walk back into the kitchen with Grandma Penny.

"As long as he doesn't eat you out of house and home," Ulrich quipped with a sly grin on his face.

"Of course not," I beamed, looking like I was about to start laughing. "My mom's side of the familia is always making something or ordering out—church functions, birthday parties, and more—so Odd is probably perfecto here."

The room then got quiet for a few seconds, before Grandpa Jake decided to change the subject.

"So, how long have you had them?"

"The wings? I'd say about a week or so," I blinked, getting a bit more serious as I gave each wing a quick glance. "They're not big enough to carry us yet, but they are growing."

"Well, make sure you don't break them, Sugar. They look fragile, right now. So how long are you going to stay?"

"We're going to stay for an entire week," I answered, the smile returning to my face.

"Well, that's very nice," Grandpa smiled, delighted to hear this as Grandma Penny came back from the kitchen. "We missed you."

I blinked, feelings of homesickness flooding through me, which made me feel even happier to be back, even if it would only be for a week. "I missed you, too. Being in France is nice, better since things got complicated, but I have missed you."

"And I bet your mom and dad would love seeing you, Cassidy," Grandma Penny nodded. "Are you planning on visiting them?"

I scoffed, a smile regrowing. "As if I'd pass Illinois without seeing them! I'd rather be locked in a dark room for a week than do that to them."

"Well, that's good," she grinned proudly. "I'm so glad you are considerate."

"Me, too."

"And Cassidy's done wonderfully over the past few months," Aelita jumped in, grinning warmly and cutely at my grandparents. "She's even had the chance to deactivate a tower on her own, when we came across a really strange Replika on the Internet. She's a natural at it."

"That must've been exciting to do," Grandpa Jake patted my back, unknowingly hitting my scab.

My grandfather's touch sent a few stabbing pains through my back, which combined with the strange feelings I got, from remembering how I got back to Earth after I deactivated the tower, caused a wince to overtake my face for a few seconds, which I was sure to hide from him and my grandmother. "Uh… ye-yeah! It was a, um… very thrilling adventure."

"It was a month after she came out of her coma," Yumi added, raising her right index finger.

I gritted my teeth even more, fearing a different kind of pain from this, mainly with how Grandma and Grandpa would react…

But interestingly, they didn't gasp, or even freak out, like I thought they would.

"Well, your parents already told us that you had fallen, but we couldn't find the time to come out to see if we could break the spell," Grandpa admitted, blinking. "We put you on a prayer chain for a long time."

"It did take a while for me to wake up," I nodded, remembering what I had been told about the length of time.

"Three months," Kaitlyn chimed in.

"But we are glad that you woke up, Cassidy," Grandma smiled with relief. "When the principal told our daughter and son-in-law the good news, we were delighted and happy."

"We tried to pool our resources to go to that big ceremony for all of us, but we came up so short," Grandpa blinked, looking slightly remorseful. "We hope you can forgive us."

I glanced at my grandfather with a sly grin on my face; of course I was going to forgive them! "What kinda granddaughter did you raise?! I will always forgive you and my parents. You're my family! And you don't turn away from family!"

"That's right," Aelita agreed, with a grin and a nod.

"I'm glad to hear that from both of you," Grandpa Jake smiled as well, finding Aelita's contagious.

"And I'm just so happy to finally get to see you again," I beamed, feeling myself fill up with excitement at the mere thought.

"So are we," Grandma Penny exhumed, joining the smile party with a warm one of her own.

"It wasn't very traditional, I have to admit, but we are reunited now."

"Yeah, because being smuggled here is the last thing we'd want you to go through." Grandpa Jake ruffled my hair. "But don't worry, Sugar. You are here, and that's all that matters."

"That really is the most important thing," Jeremie nodded, fully in agreement.

"She missed you two," Yumi pointed out. "She almost screamed when she got your late Christmas gifts. They really made her happy."

"Oh, yes, that day of the contest. Jake here was horrified when he saw that happen. He called me from his hotel room when it was over, asking, 'Did I just see our granddaughter in that jet?!' He almost had a heart attack," Grandma Penny recalled, looking slightly worried just from the mere thought.

And she wasn't the only one; the memories that brought up were probably twice as bad for me as they were for her, and I couldn't help but grit my teeth, and look away for a few seconds.

"Uh… I'm glad to be alive?" I offered a nervous grin as I finished my sentence, trying to keep myself together.

"Good thing, too," Grandpa Jake nodded, wrapping me up in another hug.

While I enjoyed my grandfather's warm, soothing embrace once more, nearby, one member of our group was getting a bit uneasy with the current subject.

"It's very good," Hunter admitted, trying to hide this. "Umm… why don't we talk about something else?"

"Sure, um… we didn't get to know your name, Sweetie," Grandma Penny smiled.

"Oh, this is Hunter Moebius. He was going to be enrolled at Kadic when this whole rigmarole began, Grandma," I introduced him, looking in the black-haired boy's direction as I spoke. "He's new."

"Oh, it's great to meet you, Hunter," she greeted him with a warm smile. "I'm so glad that you made friends with our granddaughter and her friends."

He returned the gesture, adding a nod in the process. "Me, too. Ever since I saw the monster, these guys have all been my heroes. That's the reason why I came to Paris in the first place; I really wanted to go to school with them and be their friends. They're so cool."

"Monster?!" Grandpa Jake jumped in, looking quite surprised that Hunter used that word to describe it. "Don't you mean—"

"Um… Jake, that one word you're about to say might scare or harm your granddaughter," Ulrich tried to cut him off tactfully, fearing the next word that was liable to come out of his mouth.

"You mean the vort—"

"STOP!" Jeremie shouted first, as a round of "NO!" started flying into the airwaves. All of my friends' eyes immediately zoomed toward me, worried that even hearing the first syllable would drive me up a wall.

It nearly did; I could nearly feel a fainting spell coming on, and the want to just drop to the ground, thinking about all of the pain, fear, anguish, and a million other things it caused not only me, but each of my friends, as well. My eyes almost rolled into the back of my head, and my skin almost started to clam up. This was why everyone calls it "the monster!"

Grandma let out a gasp of surprise as I almost fell into Grandpa's arms, like I had been shot in the forehead with a rubber bullet. He quickly helped me up to my feet, before Grandma gently helped me over to the couch, and laid me down upon it. At the same time, Georgina quickly headed back outside and to the van, coming back moments later with a white washcloth, which she took into the kitchen.

"I see why you call it that, now," Grandpa Jake shook his head. "No wonder…"

"It's a touchy subject with her," Kaitlyn said somberly, as the rest of my friends gathered around me.

"She's still not completely over the whole thing, yet," Yumi lamented, nodding in agreement. "Even thinking about it scares her."

At that moment, Georgina came back with the cold washcloth, gently pressing it against my forehead. "Cassidy, dear, just breathe and relax. You're okay…"

It took five minutes, but I soon relaxed, and my eyes slowly opened, gazing up at all of my friends and grandparents with worry and fear.

"I-I'm so sorry…" I uttered, my voice sounding almost like I had just woken up from sleep.

"No, Sugar, it's me who should apologize," Grandpa Jake jumped in, looking more worried than I was. "I had no idea that it scared you that much."

"It does, but I don't blame you, Grandpa. I didn't have any time to tell you about it. There was so much going on at the time, like the spa treatment afterward, then we had an assembly, and we severely weakened XANA."

Hearing me explain all of this reversed Grandpa Jake's frown, causing him to well up with pride for mine and my friends' actions. "Well, I'll be…"

"Yeah, but his silence is getting so loud, Jeremie's thinking about wearing earplugs," Odd joked, pretending to stick his index fingers into his ears.

"And my father hasn't found any activated towers since we talked on the phone," Aelita noted, trying not to sound worried, even though she was in-between.

"No news is good news, right?" Grandma asked, taking her turn in wiping my arm.

"Uh… well, it is, and at the same time, it isn't," I said, slowly rising to a sitting position. "It is making us a bit uneasy at times. We don't know when he'll attack us next. In a way, we are nervous and on edge because of the silence."

"Well, you weakened him severely, right?" Grandpa queried, making sure he understood.

"That's right," Aelita replied warmly, nodding her head.

"So, that means that he's probably still gathering his strength."

"We even managed to knock away a lot of Replikas," William added, looking quite proud of himself.

That gave my grandmother a warm grin, as well. "And that's great, too."

"That's true, but we are still on guard. XANA is nothing to sneeze or laugh at," Yumi replied, sounding slightly neutral.

"Even Odd, for all his jokes, knows he's a threat," I nodded, looking in mi novio's general direction.

"You mean, he was a threat," my wildcard jested as he raised his right index finger into the air. "At his level, I don't think he's gonna be threatening anybody right away."

"You all are right," Grandpa agreed, gaining more of an understanding.

"But wouldn't it be nice if you relaxed a bit?" Grandma jumped in, thinking about our health and well-being.

"Well, we do try," Sister offered, looking calm. "It's just sometimes we have a few other things to deal with, that get in the way. But we have had many chances to relax, and even while we're here in North Platte, we're bound to have more."

"Yeah, like some fun," I agreed, starting to smile more. "We are planning this around Nebraskaland Days."

"Good thing you came when you did, then. You came in perfectly," Grandma smiled. "Of course, we'll have to get more cash to spend for the rodeo—"

But Jeb quickly and politely cut in, raising his left hand. "That won't be necessary. We've got plenty of our own money, that we've been using to get these guys from California to here, so we can easily cover that, and then some."

"That's great." Grandma's smile grew bigger at this.

"It's better than that: Cassidy knew about the rodeo," Odd added, raising his arms upward, diagonally.

"Well, of course she would. She loved the rodeo since she was a kid," Grandpa chuckled.

"Admittedly, that's one of the things I missed about being in America, but XANA had kept me busy," I beamed.

Grandma found my smile contagious, as she moved the washcloth to my other arm, gently soaking it to help me stay awake. "Well, you helped Aelita so many times. I'm glad you kept her safe."

"She can't take all the credit," Jeremie spoke up, pushing his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose. "It was a group effort, really. Nearly everyone in this room worked to help Aelita, even after we materialized her."

"Of course I can't, Jeremie," I shook my head. "It's a 'we did it' thing more than an 'I did it' thing."

"Cassidy's definitely not one to hog the spotlight," Yumi admitted, confirming it to my grandparents more than making a statement.

"And I'd rather keep it that way," I smiled.

"Speaking of 'I'd rather,' how's that Jim teacher of yours," Grandpa asked.

It only took Aelita a few milliseconds to get my grandfather's joke, and she soon started laughing, not even the slightest bit surprised that someone noticed the similarity.

"He's fine, Grandpa. He even tried to stand up for us when this thing happened," I nodded, almost about to start chuckling, myself.

"That's good." Grandma was happy to know this, as well.

"He got sedated, but he's okay now. Yumi and I each talked to him over the phone in California," I smiled.

Grandpa Jake shook his head, almost in disbelief. "You all have been through a lot."

"No kidding." I let out a tired sigh, further proving his point. "It's been such a long journey so far, and we're just halfway through the country."

"And who knows how much longer it'll take," Patrick added, "before we reach that cruise liner, that's going to be at a port in Baltimore, MD…"

"I'm sure that everybody in Kadic will welcome you all back with open arms," Grandma commented.

"Oh, they will," I nodded, before starting to feel slightly self-conscious as a thought hit me, even if didn't concern the fact that everyone knew about our secret. "I, um… had a vision that the whole of Kadic's students, alumni, most of—if not all—our parents, and even the Subdigitals are gonna throw a Welcome Home party in our honor?"

Grandma looked both shocked and impressed at this. "You did? Oh, that's so awesome, sweetheart."

"Oh, it was a wonderful vision. I could see—"

WHAAAT?! Did she just act like it was nothing?! Did I just hear that right?! Now I was shocked… almost as though someone turned up the electricity!

"W-what?"

"Sugar, remember what we said about your powers," Grandpa reminded me, seeing how I was reacting.

Oh, yeah… wait a minute…

I let myself start to calm down a bit, as the reality started to sink in a bit more. "R-right… I guess it does take some getting used to. I keep forgetting that you know that I have them now. I guess I got a bit worried because I had zero ideas about how you would have reacted if I had told you about it in the past."

"Oh, honey," Grandma cooed reassuringly. "It's okay. You're still our granddaughter."

"And we wouldn't do anything to hurt you, Cassidy," Grandpa smiled, softly rubbing my shoulder. "You're special. And you've been using your powers for the greater good."

That was when Kaitlyn decided to crack a joke. "'"Greater good?!" I am your wife! I'm the greatest good y'all are ever gonna get!'"

Even Kiwi burst out laughing at that one. There wasn't any more tension in the air after that, trust me.

"Well, this has to be one of the most entertaining and interesting days of our lives," Grandma chortled, rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah," I smiled, taking in a deep breath. "It was great. Good job, Kaitlyn."

"You even jumped in before Odd could," Ulrich chuckled.

"Hey! It's not about winning," she protested, still smiling.

"And she can joke, too," Odd grinned. "Even a comedian as talented as Odd the Great, the Brave, the Magnificent won't stand in anyone else's way when they want to do one!"

"At least you know you've gotta give up the spotlight sometimes, Odd," Jeremie flung at him, grinning.

"He still has rad skating skills, though," Sam smiled, folding her arms.

"I still am astonished you were able to fit an entire bike into the sewers, Cassidy," Grandma came in, swerving the subject a hair.

"Well, we brought it in through the boiler room, after I ended up failing on both a scooter and a skateboard, and we kept it that way," I said.

"I'm glad you didn't use Father Mike's bike," she smiled.

"Of course not. I only use his bike when I want to go to the knitting place, or to the mall."

"She once went to the mall with it… and nearly knocked me over before she got on," Yumi giggled.

"I almost thought someone poured coffee in Cassidy's cereal," Sam remarked, with a giggle of her own.

This immediately brought a hilarious memory to Ulrich's mind, which he couldn't help but bring up. "Oh, we have seen her on caffeine, but I've never seen anybody race throughout the whole entire campus without breaking a sweat before."

"You know, if you hadn't dared her to drink one of those energy drinks, she never would have done that," Jeremie half-reprimanded, finding it to be a fond memory now.

"I still don't know how I ended up with a couple of Mrs. Hertz's mice in my pockets, but they enjoyed the company while it lasted," I snickered, grinning slyly. "I'm glad that she didn't give me detention for that."

"When did that happen?" Aelita asked curiously, rubbing the side of her head.

"I think it was after she had me join her for knitting." I casually replied, before blinking as I considered her gesture, remembering the side she rubbed before she became a patient at the hospital. "Are you okay, Aelita?"

She blinked, not sure what I meant at first, before pulling her hand away. "Yes, I'm fine. I thought I felt something in my scalp, that's all."

"Well, you all did have a long trip after you had a big battle. So if you guys are tired, you can go back to the hotel to take a nap, if you want," Grandpa suggested.

Yumi nodded, looking slightly apologetic. "That's probably a great idea. We're sorry we have to leave so soon."

"Oh, don't be sorry, dear," Grandma soothed, smiling reassuringly at my geisha friend. "Like you said, we have a week to be with each other."

So, after goodbyes and dozens upon dozens of hugs, nearly all around, we got back into the van and headed back to our hotel for a well-deserved nap. Once we got there, each of us headed into our respective suites, with some of us wasting no time changing into pajamas and such. Sister, Aelita, Jeremie, Odd, and I took turns in the bathroom, getting our clothes changed, before we all climbed into each of our beds. Just like before, I laid in the middle of one bed, with Sister and Aelita on opposite sides of me, Odd next to Sister, and Jeremie next to Aelita. The bed was incredibly comfy, and it, in tandem with the soft sheets that covered us, seemed to just want to snuggle all five of us, and if Kiwi ever ended up laying under the covers with us, he'd know how good it felt, as well.

Once we were all in position, Sister and Aelita began to softly, slowly, and soothingly massage my back, all around where my wings connected to my shoulder blades, being very gentle as they rubbed. I was already slightly tired by the time I was in my pajamas—being almost forced to relive the nightmare that was the monster took it right out of me—and climbing into our bed, but with their soft rubs, I could feel what was left of my energy slowly fading away, until my eyelids slowly lowered themselves down in front of my eyes. There was no need for the conversations we normally held; everything was understood. It was just straight into bed, straight to sleep, and recharge for later that day, if not the next.

Besides… there was more time for fun and games in the week to come.