A/N: I have such bad writer's block right now. -sigh- I do have a ton of prompts stored up already, but if any readers want to drop some requests or ideas then feel free to do so in a review. Right now requests should be focused on the time before Aelita was first materialised since I'm working on events in chronological order through the series.

-The Princess and the Genius-

#4 Desperation

It all came down to this.

One activated tower and one warrior on Earth defending Kadic's students from XANA's latest attack. Two warriors on Lyoko caught in the trajectory of a Blok's freeze-beam, a small army of XANA monsters and one frightened pink-haired elfin girl. Jérémie sat in the supercomputer chair, drumming his fingers against the armrests in his frustration. Two Bloks, a Krabbe and a handful of Kankrelats... nothing the Lyoko fighters couldn't take care of on a good day, but Odd and Yumi just had to go and get frozen at the same time, didn't they? If only Ulrich were here!

Aelita's eyes widened in terror and she scrabbled backwards on hands and knees, entirely defenceless as a Kankrelat charged up its laser beam. She cast a glance to either side of her, but the geisha and the cat still had some time to go before they were able to move once more. Unfortunately for Aelita, that time might be all it took.

"Jérémie!" she cried out to the blond boy. She had faith in him; he would do something to save her. He had to.

Jérémie's hands flew to cover his eyes, hardly able to watch. Not for the first time, he felt that gut-wrenching terror that the girl he had come to know and love over the past few months could at any moment disappear forever in a cloud of virtual dust.

There was only one thing left to do.

Hold on, Aelita, he told her silently, before removing his headseat and hanging it over a corner of the monitor. With practised ease, his fingers skimmed over the keys and he launched an all-too-familiar programme.

Time seemed to crawl as he headed to the lift. Down one floor, and it released him into the scanner room.

Jérémie swallowed nervously as he gazed up at the tall cylindrical structures. It was all very well and good to run things behind the scenes, but the thought of making the trip himself left him with a unnerving sense of dread in his stomach, like his innards had turned into writhing snakes. It was an irrational fear, he told himself, and the trip to Lyoko was perfectly safe because he had entered the programme himself and he had seen his friends go dozens of times before.

And yet his heart hammered against his ribcage, a cold sweat broke out on his forehead, his hands shook.

I can't.

But Odd and Yumi were immobilised. Ulrich was out of the picture.

There was only him left.

And if he didn't act now, Aelita would be lost forever.

Jérémie swallowed the lump in his throat, curled his hands into fists at his sides and placed one foot into the scanner - for her - just as the Kankrelat's laser fired.

Suddenly there came a flurry of sound from the speakers in the ceiling above him; a cry of "Finally!", of firing laser arrows and of a clanging of laser beams deflecting from a spinning tessen fan as, freed at last, Yumi and Odd dove to Aelita's rescue in the nick of time.

Jérémie shoulders sagged in relief and he wiped the sweat from his brow. He was just climbing back into his computer chair as Aelita safely entered the tower.

"Good job Aelita," Jérémie said, just barely keeping the tremor out of his voice. "Now I hope you're all ready for a little trip into the past again."

"I was born ready! And, hey, did you disappear for a minute there Einstein?"

"Of course not Odd. I wouldn't leave you guys in your hour of need."

In the tower, Aelita keyed in the code LYOKO and smiled to herself. There was no doubt. He was Jérémie, and he was always there.

Whether in jest or not, Odd might suggest that Jérémie would leave, but she knew that he wouldn't.