A\N: So so so so so so sorry about the lack of updates! I promise I wasn't holding out on you guys! Between my college graduation, moving, and limited internet, I haven't had the chance. And sadly, this is one of the shorter chapters too! But thank you so much to everyone who has even looked at this story! You have no idea how much I appreciate it! Enjoy! Just 1 more chapter left!


The weight of the world tugged at William as the scanner door opened, revealing Yumi in the opposite scanner. There was so much that he wanted to say to the girl, but he would have to do that later. At that moment, he was so exhausted that he wasn't sure that he could string together a real sentence. He took a step out of the scanner and nearly collapsed to the ground. His hand shot out and he grabbed the scanner to hold him steady.

"Are you alright?" Yumi asked as she took a step toward him. Then another and another until she was beside him.

William nodded. "Just tired." It was all he could say. He felt Yumi's arm encircle his torso and pull his left arm across her shoulders.

"Here, let me help you." She said. William normally would have protested but he wasn't sure that he would be able to walk alone.

"Thanks," he said instead, grateful for her help. Physically the battle hadn't been any worse than any other time he had been on Lyoko; in fact in terms of physicality it had been slightly on the easier side. It was the mental warfare that seemed to take its toll on him, but he knew that he'd be alright.

The two of them hobbled into the elevator without any words being spoken, but this time William didn't find it awkward or unpleasant. For the first time in a while he enjoyed her company without the accompanying heartache. If all they could ever be was friends, well, he would gladly fill that role to her. Would that erase his love toward her? No. But it was that same love that would allow him to be there for her whenever she needed him. And, if one day she saw him as more than just a friend, well, he would be okay with that too.

They entered the elevator and Yumi hit the button. The elevator closed as they turned around to face the doors. William felt as though he'd be able to sleep for two weeks, and at that point in time he'd be willing to do just that.

"I wonder if we got there in time?" Yumi voiced her thoughts, breaking the silence and interrupting his own.

William then thought to the others – Ulrich and Aelita. XANA's mind manipulation had severely thrown them off course. If he had gotten more codes then wasn't he to blame? That voice…. "How could I have been so stupid?"

The elevator lurched as he spoke and he felt his knees shake, threatening to buckle underneath him. Yumi must have felt the shift because she pulled him so that he was putting more of his weight on her.

"Don't talk like that," she scolded him. "It's no one's fault but XANA's. He got into your head…that's what XANA does. Trust me, you aren't the first to fall victim to his mind games."

He had heard tales about some of the tricks that XANA had pulled with the group in order to split them up. Some of these tales were told to him by the group, some by XANA himself. It was true; XANA had a knack for getting inside their heads, twisting their thoughts and emotions until they were full of darkness. Wasn't that what XANA had just done to him?

Before he could formulate a response, the elevator stopped and the doors opened into the lab. Jeremie was still sitting in his computer chair, but it was turned so that he was facing them as they walked in. Yumi helped William walk inside, but he took back some of the burden of his own weight. Slowly his strength was returning to him.

"Are you alright William?" Jeremie asked. William just nodded in reply.

"Any word from the others?" Yumi asked, her voice rushed and definitely full of worry. William couldn't blame her; he really wanted to know the outcome as well.

"I just got off the phone with Odd," Jeremie said. "He hasn't seen them yet but he's going to go find them and find out."

"I hate not knowing," Yumi said as she helped William sit down on the edge of the holosphere system.

"Me too," Jeremie replied. William sat and stared at his feet. Though Yumi's words echoed in his brain, he just couldn't help but feel slightly responsible for what happened.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. It was sincere; he really was sorry for what had happened.

"It's not your fault William," Jeremie replied, echoing Yumi's own thoughts earlier. "No one's to blame but XANA. Listen, we understand. It has happened to us too. No one blames you for any of this and you most certainly shouldn't be blaming yourself."

"That's what I told him…" Yumi added as she sat down beside him. William glanced up at her and saw her flash him a small smile; a smile that said not to worry and that everything was going to be alright but he could see the worry it masked.

Jeremie's phone rang. William felt all his muscles tense.

"Odd? How are they?" Jeremie said into his mobile.

There was a pause as William and Yumi listened in nervous anticipation. The answer that he both wanted and was dreading to hear was being spoken at that very moment. What was the outcome going to be?

"Yes? Alright. I'll tell Yumi and William." Jeremie's face didn't betray any emotion as he hung up the phone. He looked down for a moment and took a deep breath. William felt his nerves intensify two-fold. That couldn't be good, could it? Just when William thought he couldn't handle the silence any longer, a smile broke out on Jeremie's face. "It's alright. The specter didn't touch either Aelita or Ulrich."

"Thanks goodness!" Yumi breathed a sigh of relief as William did the same. They were alright and XANA hadn't gotten any more powerful. They had saved their friends after all.

Jeremie jumped up out of his chair. "Come on. I want to talk to Odd. Did you know that he found a weakness in the specters? Their molecular structure is disturbed by the electromagnetic waves of the sound system at Kadic. I'd like to talk to him about what he did with that information."

"Really? Well that's certainly good to know," Yumi said as she stood and reached down to help William stand as well.

William grabbed her hand and let her help pull him up but didn't accept her help walking. He was already beginning to feel better and would be able to walk on his own, albeit slowly. "Huh…guess Odd's plan wasn't all that lame."

Beside him he heard Yumi chuckle as the three warriors made it back to the elevator. Jeremie hit the button as the elevator door closed behind them. With a quick glance around, William could see that they were just about as exhausted as he was. The day's events had taken their toll on everyone. Having two XANA attacks didn't help matters any. No one spoke as the elevator took them to the surface, back to the main floor of the factory.

"Oh no!" Yumi's voice broke the silence as they walked up the stairs, up to the top level of the factory and onto the bridge.

"What?" Jeremie asked, his voice full of concern. Obviously, after a mission like that, all three of them were still slightly on edge.

"William and I have class in fifteen minutes! We really shouldn't skip it if we can help it," came Yumi's reply.

William groaned. Just what he wanted to go to…math class. Talk about a subject that was liable to put him to sleep when he was at full energy. But Yumi was right, if they could avoid missing class, they really should. Who knew when they'd need to do skip in the future?

"Alright, we'll meet you after class," Jeremie said to the two of them.

Yumi nodded and turned toward William. "You up for a little exercise?"

"No," came his reply. "But do we have a choice?"

Yumi smiled at him as she took off running. "I'll race you." No fair, William thought. Not only was he exhausted, but he was competitive and she knew it. She knew he would take her up on that challenge. William's own speed picked up as he ran, but he trailed significantly behind her.

She made it to the sewer entrance with enough time to call back: "Hey, I thought you said you were faster than I was?" before she disappeared into the tunnel. Oh, so she's going to play that game, huh? Well, so be it!

He made it to the sewer's entrance only seconds after her just in time to see Yumi jump down off the ladder and take off running in the tunnels. She was laughing. "Keep up William!" she called, her voice echoing down the tunnels.

William's sides were already beginning to burn from the added exertion on his body, but the race was on and he would win it. Maybe. He quickly turned his body and climbed down the ladder as fast as he could, jumping off of it before getting to the last step. It probably wasn't the best idea since he was still so exhausted because the next thing he knew, he felt himself falling to the ground. There was no stopping himself and he fell sideways down on the concrete. "Ow!" he shouted but began to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. He lost the race and he knew it. There would be no way to catch up and, even if there was a chance, he wasn't sure that he could stop laughing about what he had just done.

He could hear Yumi's footsteps slow then stop before picking up again. Glancing up, he saw her running back toward him, concern on her face. "Are you hurt?" she asked as she stopped beside him and reached down to help him.

"Just my pride," William responded with a smirk. "Yeah, I'm alright. Nothing's broken. But I think this means that you won the race."

His sides were heaving as he gasped for oxygen. He wasn't out of shape by any means, just tired. William knew he was done racing. Luckily though it wouldn't take that long to get to class from where they were if they moved quickly enough.

"Perhaps we should just jog?" Yumi commented as she helped him to his feet. William nodded, but said nothing in reply. He was going to sleep so well that night. "Otherwise we're going to be late."

"Sure," William replied hoping that his body wouldn't give out on him completely. Much to his surprise and satisfaction, they made it to the other end of the sewer without anymore incidents and climbed the ladder into the fresh air. William breathed in deeply as he went first up the ladder and climbed out of the entrance. Yumi was behind him and in seconds they were jogging back toward the academy.

"Ishiyama! Dunbar!" Jim's voice echoed across the path in the woods a few yards away from the tunnel entrance. "You're going to be late for class!"

"Yeah Jim," Yumi replied as they continued to jog passed him. Was he doing Yoga again? "Just lost track of time as we were exercising. We're heading to class right now!"

"Great initiative! Keep up the good work!" Jim called behind them as they disappeared from view. William couldn't believe just how many times they ended up running into him the past couple of weeks. It was like he was in the woods every chance he could get.

The school came into view just as they heard a bell ring. Five minutes, they had five minutes to get to class. William knew they'd make it but barely. Within moments they were inside the school grounds and slowed down to a walk. Both were panting heavily and wanted to give themselves a second to catch their breath as they moved toward their classroom. Seconds before the bell rang, signifying the beginning of their class, Yumi and William walked inside and sat down at the back of the class.