EDIT: Sorry for the reupload, guys. There were a few errors I had to fix. Nothing's changed except for some teeny things... :P But back to the author's notes.

Anyway, just so you know, Ron was NOT a parody of 6teen's Ron the Rent-a-cop… I just choose the worst name ever for him XC But you can imagine 6teen Ron if you like XD

Well, a lot happens in this chapter. I hope you enjoy! *coughandreviewcough*

The orange-suited Killer Bears came to a halt, taking a breather after running for so long. The sirens that started blaring after their escape had faded away, barely audible now. As they continued to pant, Candace sat on the ground and wiped her forehead off with the sleeve of her jumpsuit. "What's the game plan, Duncan?"

"First of all," Duncan started, not looking the least bit tired. He was used to situations like this… "I just want to say that you were awesome with the lasers back there, Candace. I would have been proud to call you my cell mate back in my Juvie days… Second of all, we're doing pretty good so far."

"Pretty well," Courtney corrected.

"Thanks, Grammar Nazi," Duncan muttered. "Anyway, we've made some decent time, with how many of us there are." He looked at their surroundings. They had stopped in a pretty open area, with not many trees surrounding them. "We're going to have to be quieter in places like this with less cover. It's okay to talk in the parts of the woods with more trees and stuff to hide us. Point is, we can't let Chris' men find us."

"Who are his 'men,' anyway?" Owen asked.

"Heck if I know," Duncan responded, shrugging. "He never told us, did he? But that's beside the point." His eyes widened as he realized something. "Oh, man! Our tracks! They'll be able to follow those and catch us for sure…"

"No worries," Selena piped up, holding up a tree branch full of dirt-covered leaves. "I got it covered."

Duncan looked back to see that his sister had been dragging the tree branch behind her, smoothing out the path they had sprinted on. The path looked smooth, but not too smooth.

"Nice one," Duncan complimented, smirking. "I've taught you good." He looked over to his girlfriend, his smirk still firm on his face.

Courtney pouted. "You did that just to bug me, didn't you?"

"You bet, babe." He winked at her smugly and waved to his teammates to keep going. "We can slow down, but just try not to talk loudly."

"Oh, yeah! We're gonna win!" Owen cheered, pumping his fists in the air. "Killer Bears rule! WOO HOO!"

His cheer echoed through the woods and his team gave him a glare. "Oops." Owen sheepishly grinned and whispered, "I mean… Killer Bears rule. Woo hoo." He shook his fist lightly and started walking again, the others following.

*T*S*R*

LeShawna panted, being one of the first member of the Rabid Wolves to stop and take a breather after all that running. "Phew… Now what?"

"Now we have to keep going," Izzy explained, scooping up some mud from the ground. "We have to be stealthy, making sure that Chris' lackeys don't catch any of us." She smeared some of the mud on her cheeks and forehead and added, "We'll should disguise ourselves first…" Yanking a few twigs off of a nearby tree, she stuck them in her hair.

"You know, I might have actually taken Izzy seriously…" LeShawna confessed. "But when she started rubbing muck all over herself, I knew that white girl wasn't the best person to take advice from."

"Mud?" Marilee cocked an eyebrow. "It may be good for your skin, but it's bad for your rep when you're on international television…" She leaned against a tree, more so on her backside than the rest of her. "Whoa, this is a really rough tree…" She scratched her butt against it a few times, then leaped away, yelping. "Ouch! I could feel that right through my clothes!"

She glared at the others as they laughed at her once again, not realizing what was so darn funny. She faced them, revealing to the camera that her still-bare butt was now very red from the bark rubbing on it.

Giggling like crazy, Izzy, still covered in mud and twigs, said, "I don't think young Marilee needs to worry about mud ruining her reputation! And people say my skull is thick!" She tapped her chin and added, "I guess it kind of is, though. Especially after they put that metal plate in it. You wanna see the scar?"

"Look, I don't care what kind of drugs you giggling cuckoo birds are on right now," Marilee irritably told them. "Just pull yourselves together and let's keep going." She walked, leading the group, and muttered, "Still wish you'd let me in on the joke…"

"Hm…" Keith tapped his chin, a sly smirk on his face. "Pros of telling Marilee about the seat of her pants being singed off… She'd probably be so grateful to me for saving her from further embarrassment, she'd make out with me." His smile disappeared. "Cons… She might get ticked off at me for not telling her sooner and rip my face off…" He shrugged, grinning once again. "Either way, the results will be interesting."

"Does anybody even know where we're going?" Marilee asked, looking at the unfamiliar trees.

"You're the one leading us," Jovie pointed out. "We thought you knew."

"It's cool, guys," Geoff said. "I remember this trail from when we had to por-whatever our canoes across this place last year. We're going in the right direction."

Marilee gestured toward the path in front of her. "Be my guest and take the lead then. Maybe if you guys are in front of me, I won't have to hear your giggling… I just wish I knew what the joke was…"

Keith sighed, deciding to be the bigger person, unlike the rest of the team. "Marilee, you should know that-"

"Did I say you could talk?" Marilee snapped as she walked past Keith, still upset at him about their kiss.

Keith sighed and, after she was out of ear-shot, muttered, "Can't say I didn't try…"

*T*S*R*

Since the Bears were out in a more open space, they had opted not to talk to each other for a while. Duncan, being the most experienced with escaping these types of situations, was leading the group, guiding them along the path they had chosen to take.

It was starting to get darker outside, which meant it was getting colder. Gwen rubbed her arms, shivering quite a lot. Their jumpsuits may have had long sleeves and pant legs, but they were not made of very thick material.

Trent noticed how cold she seemed to be and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer to himself. Gwen sighed lightly, resting her head in the nook of his neck.

Grace glared up at Gwen as she separated from Trent and kept walking. Grace, behind Trent and in front of Gwen, suddenly tripped and landed in a mud puddle. She silently growled at her bad luck, especially when Gwen let out a silent chuckle, but stopped and thought about it for a second, smirking. She stood back up, started sniffling and ran up to Trent, yanking on his orange jumpsuit leg.

Trent stopped and looked down. "Whoa, how'd you get so muddy?"

Grace wiped some dirt off her cheek and whimpered, "I-I-I was just walking and..." She jabbed a finger at Gwen, who had also stopped and finished, "Gw-Gwen pushed me down!"

Trent looked from Gwen to Grace again and laughed. "Grace, I highly doubt Gwen would do that. You probably just tripped on a tree root or something."

"No, she did! I felt her kick me in the back!" she protested.

"Gwen, did you kick Grace down?" Trent asked his girlfriend, not because he actually believed she would do something like that, but because he thought hearing the answer from Gwen would convince her that she really had just tripped.

"I can honestly say I didn't," Gwen smugly said, trying her best to look like she wasn't amused at Grace's half-baked plan failing.

Trent looked down at Grace and asked, "See? C'mon, we have to catch up with the others…" He kept walking, Gwen following, but not before giving Grace a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

Grace, a muddy mess, started following them, quietly grumbling to herself.

Grace shook some mud off her arm and sighed, "I hate Gwen even more now than I did before. And I didn't know that was possible. Gah, why can't Trent see what a big, dumb, stupid head she is?"

*T*S*R*

Ron observed the black and white-striped campers on the monitor, grinning to himself. "Excellent. I've got them right where I want them…" He got out of his tower and took the path he saw the Rabid Wolves go down.

He had gotten several yards from them, when he noticed something. "Why is that young lady's bum showing?" He shook his head in disgust. "Girls these days. Their apparel gets more and more immodest…" He quickened his pace, catching up with them more and more. He was going unnoticed until he accidentally stepped on a twig. Marilee perked up and turned around, but Ron was quick footed and ducked into a nearby bush before she could see him.

Keith looked back at Marilee, not because he was curious as to why she stopped, but because he wanted to tell her something. "Marilee?"

The blonde turned around to look at him in a very non-friendly manner. "What?"

Keith tried to get the words to come out, but couldn't bring himself to. He simply sighed, unzipped his jumpsuit and started pulling it down. Before Marilee could object, which is what it looked like she was about to do, Keith pulled off the white, long-sleeved t-shirt he was wearing underneath, handed it to her, and zipped back up. "Tie this around your waist."

"What?" Marilee observed the shirt, then looked back up at him. "Why?"

"I'm sorry that I, or none of us, for that matter, didn't tell you this before, but… It's just that… During the laser thing…" Keith, not sure of how to put it, leaned toward Marilee and whispered something into her ear.

Marilee, wide-eyed, said nothing as she tied the sleeves of the shirt together to cover her exposure.

"Wow," Keith muttered, looking surprised. "I was expecting her to scream like a banshee after finding out…"

Marilee silently sat in the Confession Can for a while, staring blankly into space. "Stay calm, Marilee… Stay- AAAAHHHHH!!"

Marilee looked back up at him, her expression a mixture of frustration and gratitude. "Thank you," she mumbled, sounding like a little kid who was being forced to thank her grandmother for a tacky Christmas sweater.

Keith only smirked at her humility. "No problem, milady."

"Milady?" Marilee had a ton of comments about the use of that word, but choose not to. They speed walked up to their group and were luckily able to catch up. Unknown to them, Ron had been quietly following them, moving from tree to tree.

The perfect moment struck, and Ron popped out from behind a fir, paintball gun in tow. "Put your hands where I can see 'em, scumbags!"

The entire Rabid Wolves team spun around, screaming at the sight of him. However, none of them obeyed his orders and made a mad dash away from the retired officer.

Ron snarled as he raced after them, firing at will. He mostly hit a couple of bushes and the ground, but a grunt assured him that he had finally hit one of the campers.

Marilee looked back to see which member of their team they had lost. "Keith!" she shrieked, running over and kneeling over him. She inspected the red spot on his back, relieved to see that it was just paint. It was a foolish choice to go back to help him, however, as it gave Ron the perfect opportunity to hit her right in the back, making her fall on her stomach.

Their teammates turned around to look at the two wounded teens, worry in their eyes. Marilee managed to prop herself up with one arm and dramatically reached out to her comrades with the other. "Go on without us! Save yourselves!" she called out.

The remaining Rabid Wolves looked at each other, shrugged and scurried off without another passing glance.

Marilee suddenly looked angry and her dramatic hand dropped. "Hey, get back here! I didn't mean that! I was just being theatrical!"

Ron approached the two and yanked them up by the collars of their jumpsuits, muttering something about getting the others later. Keith, finally speaking up, stuttered, "W-w-who are you?"

Ron looked the two over and grinned. "I'm your worst nightmare…"

*T*S*R*

"So what did you and Geoff do last night?" Owen asked his sister as they made their way through the darker areas in the forest they were trekking through.

Candace shrugged. "We just hung out by the lake and talked, I guess."

"Did you guys hold hands?"

She giggled and said, "Well, a little."

"Did you two make out?"

"Owen!" Candace screamed, blushing like crazy. "That is so not something I want to discuss with you!"

Poor Owen's eyes got big and watery, making Candace's heart melt. "Ooooh, I can't stay mad at you, big guy!" Candace gave him a one-armed hug, since giving him a full hug while walking would be very difficult. Heck, with their size difference, even her one armed hug was difficult.

"… So… Am I going to be an uncle anytime soon?"

"OWEN!"

Candace, looking more stressed than she had ever looked before, gripped her head and didn't even look up at the camera. "Look… I love Owen. I do. He's such a great brother… But he can just be so nosy." She looked up and crossed her arms. "He's just curious, I suppose. But a little too curious, you know?" She sighed and shook her head. "I mean, Duncan was nosy about Selena's love life because he wanted to protect her. Owen wants to know about mine because he's… Owen."

"Yo, Kim Possible," Duncan yelled over his shoulder to Candace. "Would you stop yelling? We're running from the fuzz, not playing freeze tag."

"Oooh, that sounds fun," Zoey commented, stopping in her tracks. "Let's do that instead!" She spun around and pushed Grace, who fell into another puddle of mud. "Heeeey!" Zoey whined. "You were supposed to freeze!"

Duncan rolled his eyes and said, "Never mind. Let's just keep going…"

*T*S*R*

Marilee, slung over one of Ron's shoulder, took a sniff and flinched, covering her nose. "Bleh. Ever heard of deodorant, old man?"

"You shut your mouth!" Ron barked at her. "How dare you disrespect a Mounted Officer like that!"

Ron took a look around the Confession Can, then sniffed his pits. "Whoa…" He cringed. "Guess she had the right to disrespect me… Maybe I should have asked her about this newfangled 'deodorant' stuff…"

"I thought you were retired," Keith mumbled, slung onto the other shoulder. "And why are you carrying us? We're capable of walking, you know."

"You will both be silent or else!" Ron snarled at them, making his way toward a small shack. "You are the two rudest maggots I have ever had to deal with…"

"Rude?" Marilee scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Please. I may be sassy… All little bold, perhaps…" She sighed and muttered, "And I can occasionally be a bit of a… female dog… But I'm not rude."

Ron kicked the door open and tossed the two teens in, not caring about their cries of pain. "You will stay in here until the challenge is over. Don't bother trying to escape. It would be useless." With that, he slammed the door and left the two in partial darkness.

*T*S*R*

"Are we there yet?"

"No, Zoey," Selena told her, looking tired.

"Are we there, now?"

"NO, Zoey," Duncan told her, looking even more tired than Selena, not to mention irritated, since that was, like, the twentieth time she had asked that.

"… Are we-"

"Does it look like we're there? DOES IT?" Duncan snapped, making a few birds fly out of their trees in fright.

Zoey, shocked by her brother's angry response, started tearing up and ran through a bush into a separate path, loudly sobbing.

"Zoey!" Courtney called out after her. Scowling, she slapped Duncan on the arm. "How could you just yell at her like that?"

Duncan, rubbing his sore arm, responded, "I didn't mean to make her cry, but… Well, did you want to hear her ask that about fifty thousand more times?"

Courtney's expression softened and she admitted, "Well, no… But still, you could have handled that better. Now she's run off to who knows where!" She sighed and started toward the alternate path Zoey had taken. "I guess I'll go find her."

"I'll come with you," Selena told her, catching up with her. "I want to make sure Zoey doesn't get hurt, either. And, you know, safety in numbers. After all, you're the most valuable member of the team, and losing you would be a great shame. You're also the prettiest." She gave her a big, toothy smile.

Courtney cocked an eyebrow, but shrugged and shoved the bush aside for her. "Okay… Let's get going, then."

Courtney tapped her chin, looking up at the ceiling of the Confession Can, deep in thought. "At first, I wasn't sure what to make of Selena's newfound kindness toward me. Trickery? Sucking up so I won't vote her off?" Courtney shrugged, smiling lightly. "But, heck, she's actually being sort of pleasant, so I'll take it."

*T*S*R*

"So… Um…" Keith struggled to think of something to talk about. Marilee glaring at him as she sat across from him on the cold, hard floor of the shack only made him more blank-minded. "You know… Maybe we could take this opportunity to get to know each other better… It's not like we have anything better to do, since we're-"

"Shut up," Marilee growled, crossing her legs Indian style. "It's your fault we're in here in the first place."

Keith suddenly looked angry and retorted, "You didn't have to stop and check on me, you know."

Her eyes widened, realizing that he had a point. "Well… I… Um… Your mom!"

"Oooooh, good one!" Keith sarcastically told her, clapping his hands.

Marilee's lips pinched into a pout and she turned her face away from him. "I would have checked up on anybody. I'm not completely heartless, you know."

"Riiiiight…."

She looked back him, eyes narrowed. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Marilee, face it." Keith crossed his arms over his chest and smirked. "You are not that caring of a girl. You'd only help someone who meant something to you. You would have helped Geoff, because he's your brother and you love him. You would have helped Selena or Jovie, because they're your friends. That means you have got to like me at least a little bit."

"No, no, no!" she whined, pounding her fists on the ground. "Do not, do not, do NOT!"

"Wow… That was mature."

"Just shut it already!" Marilee crossed her arms again, turning away from him again. "I don't like you like that. I don't want to like you like that. You don't want to like me like that, so why are you fighting so hard to?"

Keith's expression softened and he scooted closer to her, though her back was still to him. "Who ever said I didn't?"

Marilee shrugged. "Why would you?"

"Lots of reasons."

Marilee turned around and looked at him, truly shocked. "R-really?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Does that surprise you?"

Looking down at her feet, she admitted, "Yes." She turned around, pulling her knees into her chest, still avoiding looking at him. "Look, I know I'm sort of…"

"Harsh?" Keith suggested. "Temperamental? Bee-otchy?"

Marilee looked up to glare at him. "I was going to say 'mean' or 'bossy'… But I guess those things are true, too…" She sighed, pulling her knees even closer to herself. "Most guys back home don't really like me… I really… I don't know why I act like this… I just sort of do…"

"That's one of the things I like about you." Keith placed a hand on her shoulder, making her look up at him once more. "You say you're mean, I just say you don't bull crap people. You say you're bossy, well… You just like to take charge and get things done the way you believe they should be done. And your way is probably better than any way I could ever come up with." Both let small smiles creep on their faces and he continued, "And when you put your mind to something, Mar, you could do almost anything. That thing with the lasers a while back? Awesome! Even though that one came back to bite you in the bu-" He stopped mid-sentence. "Oops. Almost made a pun. I know you hate those."

Marilee smiled. "Aww, you remembered my pun rant from last Thursday!"

Keith nodded. "Yeah. So, anyway, you're being too hard on yourself, Mar. So you've got some bad qualities. Who doesn't? That doesn't mean every guy on Earth is banned from liking you." He leaned in and whispered, "And last time I checked, liking me was not illegal, either."

Marilee couldn't help but giggle, lightly slapping him in a friendly manner. "I'm sorry I keep getting so freaked out around you. Guess I just have trouble admitting… when I like someone."

Keith met her gaze and smiled. "You mean that?"

"Only if you meant what you said about liking me."

He nodded, his sandy blonde hair bobbing along with every nod.

They silently smiled at each other for a second, until Marilee broke the silence by telling him, "My favorite color is purple."

"What?"

"My favorite color. It's purple."

He tried to contemplate what she was talking about, but remembered his suggestion from earlier about them getting to know each other better. Guess she was up for it now.

"Mine's blue." He grinned. "Just like your eyes."

*T*S*R*

"Zoey! Zoey!"

"Where are you, Zoey?"

Courtney sighed, looking back at Selena. "I don't think we're getting anywhere with this tactic…"

What was your first clue, brainiac? Selena nodded and, instead of saying what she was thinking, said, "You're right. What should we do?"

"Maybe we could find Chris or Chef," Courtney suggested, rifling through a random bush in search of the sad little girl. "They might be watching over us with hidden cameras, so they might have seen where she went."

That's a great idea, Courtney! You're so intelligent. No wonder you were a CIT. "What, and cost the team two points by getting caught? That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard!"

Courtney popped up from the bush and cocked an eyebrow at the blonde.

Selena thought over what she said and covered her mouth. "Oops. Mixed up my thoughts and actual words…"

A high-pitched scream interrupted the awkward moment, but made both girls' hearts race. "Zoey!" They both ran toward the source of the scream, even more nervous when they saw that Chef was holding Zoey, dripping wet in red paint. He had a paintball gun in the other hand.

He noticed the two girls and pointed the gun at the closest target, which was Courtney. "No, don't!" Selena yelled, running in front of Courtney in order to protect her. "Courtney's too amazing and CITish to lose this! Shoot me, instead!"

Courtney would have been filled with gratitude for this heroic act. She would have been, if it hadn't been for the fact that when Chef was getting ready to shoot at Selena, she yelled, "Oh, screw this! Shoot her!" and shoved her in front of Chef's gun.

As Chef started shooting, Courtney grabbed Selena to keep her from running. "If I'm going down, you're going down, too, sister!" Eventually, both were splattered with red paint.

Selena bit her lip and guiltily shrugged. "Sorry, Zackie. Guess I still have a thing or two to learn about being nicer to Courtney. Pushing her in front of an armed Chef Hatchet was not my shining moment in niceness history…"

Chef carried the three to a shack, one different than the one Marilee and Keith had been tossed into, and slammed the door behind him once they were inside.

"I knew you didn't really like me now!" Courtney snapped, standing up and wiping dust off her orange jumpsuit. "You were just trying to manipulate me, weren't you?"

Selena stood up, too, fluffing her blonde and pink hair and rolling her teal blue eyes. "Please, you're giving me waaay too much credit. I'm not exactly a master strategist."

"I'll say." Courtney put her hands on her hips and smirked. "A master strategist would at least know how to tie their shoes, Miss Velcro." She pointed to her boots, where it was visibly seen that they were held together with two Velcro strips.

"I can totally tie my shoes!" Selena protested, arms crossed angrily. "Velcro's just easier, that's all. Don't believe me? Just get me a sneaker and-" She snapped and screamed, "GAH, I can't believe Duncan told her that!"

"Whatever. I wasn't doing it for you or Duncan or the competition or whatever. I was doing it for Zack."

"What does Zack have to do with this?"

"Before he left, he asked me to be nicer to you…" She looked the other girl over and scoffed, "Frankly, I wish he would have asked me to shave Chef's back instead."

"What's your grudge against me?" Courtney demanded. "What have I ever done to you?"

"You know perfectly well what you did! You-"

"Guys!" Zoey, who had been silently and fearfully watching the two quarrel up until that point, piped up. "Please don't fight!"

Courtney and Selena exchanged a glance, realizing they weren't setting the best example for the little girl. "Fine," they both sighed at the same time, moving to different corners of the shack.

But they both knew very well that they were far from fine.

*T*S*R*

"You're kidding me. That's how you got that scar on your leg?" Keith asked, pointing to Marilee's covered right calf.

She nodded and giggled, "Yes, okay? I fell off a trampoline and landed on a lawn gnome. How did you think I got it?"

"I thought you took on some burly bikers," Keith jokingly suggested. "And won, of course."

With another giggle, she lightly slapped him. "Please, I couldn't even take down LeShawna. Okay, your turn."

"Um… I already told you my birthday, right?"

"Yeah, October 19th. I don't think I've told you mine yet."

"Spill, then."

"… December 24th."

"… No, seriously, when is it?"

"That is it!"

"No way. You were born on Christmas Eve?"

"Yes. Why would I lie about my own birthday?" she rhetorically asked. "Yeah, I was born on Christmas Eve. My mom calls me her 'Christmas Miracle,'" she admitted with a laugh. "I open my birthday gifts on the twenty fourth and open my Christmas presents the next morning. It's awesome." She smiled and added, "Oh, and when I was little, instead of a plate of cookies, I left Santa a slice of birthday cake…" Twirling a strand of blonde hair, she said, "Okay, you're up."

Keith fiddled with the zipper of his jumpsuit and looked up at her. "Um… Okay. Let's dig a little deeper, shall we?"

"Okay."

"I've never really told anyone what I'm getting ready to tell you before, so feel special… I was supposed to have a twin sister, but she died in the womb." Marilee's face softened and he added, "Her name was going to be Megan…"

"Oh, Keith… That's so sad…"

"Yeah…"

Marilee looked around the dinky shack, like she was expecting someone to come bursting in, but nobody did, so she turned back to him. "Okay, here's something I've never told anybody about before… Well, Geoff knows, but he was there, so I didn't actually have to tell him. And I told my therapist Charlie, but that's what he gets paid to do, so… Yeah." She shrugged and continued, "Anyway, my aunt Linda bought me this beautiful silk dress for, like, no reason."

Keith cocked an eyebrow. "I thought you only wore stuff you made yourself."

"I make exceptions for really nice stuff, and this was a really nice dress. I was planning on wearing it to Geoff's birthday party, since it was only a few weeks away from then. The only problem was that it was a few sizes too small and she didn't give me the receipt, so I couldn't exchange it. I kind of wanted to lose weight anyway, and that seemed like a good incentive." Marilee traced a circle on the floor with her finger, not looking at him. "Well… I did something to lose some weight that I'm not too proud of."

Keith looked truly shocked. "Whoa. Did you, like, starve yourself? You weren't really …anorexic, were you?"

"No…" Marilee looked pretty ashamed, still not taking her eyes off her finger as she admitted, "The other one…"

Keith looked even more shocked, but said nothing as she continued, "Well… Geoff found me… 'dieting' one afternoon." Tears brimmed in her eyes. "I've never seen him so freaked out…" Keith scooted over to her and wrapped an arm around her, to keep her from crying. "He dragged me out of the bathroom, force fed me a second lunch and then made me sit at the kitchen table with him until our mom got home, so he could keep an eye on me… Then he told her and they watched me like hawks…" She wiped her eyes, cuddling closer to him. "I said such awful things to him that night. Awful for my standards, even. But now I'm just so grateful that he cared enough to help me like that. Who knows what would have happened if he didn't…"

"Geoff's a great guy," Keith agreed, nodding and pulling her even closer.

"He is… And so are you." She gave him a small glance and smiled. "You know, it actually feels good to talk to somebody about this stuff."

"What about Charlie?" Keith asked with a smirk.

"Charlie never lets me cuddle him." Both laughed, and Marilee wrapped her arms around him. "I've never had this much fun with a guy before, Keith. I've also never been so open about stuff like that… You're not as bad as I thought you were."

"Back atcha, babe."

Normally, Marilee would have slapped him for calling her such a thing, but somehow it just felt… right.

"Marilee?"

"Yeah?"

"…There's something else I need to tell you."

"Uh huh?"

"This morning, when I spilled my orange juice on you… I did that on purpose to get back at you for being so harsh to me…"

He braced himself, expecting her to throttle him. However, all she did was crack up laughing, making him laugh, too.

"Ha ha! Oh, Keith… You are definitely better than I thought you would be."

"Want to know something else, Mar?"

"What?"

"You were my first kiss."

She smiled and told him, "You were mine."

"Can I be your second?"

Marilee made an exaggerated thinking face, then broke out in a huge smile and nodded. "And I promise not to kick you in the shin this time…"

*T*S*R*

Ron smirked, two Killer Bears drenched in paint tucked under each arm.

"Why are you carrying us, Mister Smelly Man?" Grace asked.

"Yeah, we do know how to walk, you know," Gwen looked up at him, very annoyed.

Ron shook his head. "You kids complain a lot, you know that?"

"You'd complain, too, if you were downwind of some smelly old cop's BO."

All Ron did was throw them into the shack they had arrived at, slammed the door shut and walked off, bumping into Chef.

"What do you think you're doing?" Chef demanded. "I'm supposed to be taking care of the Bear maggots!"

"Cool your jets, soldier," Ron commanded. "You were not doing an adequate enough job. You may retire for the night."

"Hey, guys," Chris greeted the seething Chef and forceful Ron, blowing his freshly manicured nails dry and admiring the glossy, clear polish. "How's the bounty hunt going?"

"You ain't the boss of me!" Chef yelled, completely ignoring Chris. "I'm gonna keep shooting these little punks as much as I darn well please!"

"That was not a suggestion. That was an order!" Ron barked back. "I'm in control now! I make the rules! I am going to take these good for nothing scumbags down one by one, especially Izzy O'Hannigan. Their heads shall all rest on my mantle by this time tomorrow!"

Chris and Chef exchanged a freaked out glance while the retired RCMP officer cackled wildly, running off with his paintball gun. "Uh…" Chris stared at him blankly as he sprinted off. "Dude, don't you think he's overreacting a little? It's just a TV show…"

*T*S*R*

Duncan sighed, looking back at his remaining teammates. They had already lost most of their team to either Chef or Ron and their paintball skills. The only ones left with him were Candace, Owen, Trent and Heather, and they were all glaring at him. They were still miffed about his behavior toward Zoey previously.

"C'mon, stop looking at me like that! I didn't mean to make the kid cry!" Duncan yelled, clearly aggravated.

"You didn't have to be such a jerk, though," Trent told him.

"Yeah," Cody agreed. "She's just a little kid, man."

"You really owe her an apology," Heather said, nodding.

"Like I'm going to take advice from the girl with more enemies than Marilee has shoes," Duncan scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Heather glared at him, but crossed her arms, choosing not to say anything. He did sort of have a point…

"Leave her alone, Duncan," Candace said, sticking up for her friend and patting her on the back. "She's changed. And she has a point. You really should apologize."

"Who said I wasn't going to?" Duncan asked. "I do have a little bit of a soul, you know."

"You do?" Owen gasped, genuinely surprised.

Duncan frowned and he pulled back a nearby tree branch, hitting Owen in the face with it.

"How many times do I have to say I didn't mean to upset her?" Duncan asked, irritated. "Sheesh, a guy makes his four year old sister cry and he's suddenly the next Hitler…"

Suddenly, Ron jumped out of a bush and landed in front of the teens, two huge and threatening paintball guns in his hands.

"AAHH!" Owen screamed, hiding behind the inadequate shield that was Candace. "He didn't have those big guns when he shot Grace and Gwen!"

"That's right, Tubbs," Ron said, with a wicked grin. "These babies will make taking you all down much easier…" The teens screamed and headed in the other direction, Ron chasing after them.

The team had somehow reached a dead end. When Ron reached them, Duncan did the first thing he could think of and shoved Owen in front of the retired cop's shot.

The big teen clutched his paint soaked chest in pain, collapsing in front of them like the shot had been deadly. He rolled toward the back of the group in pain and Candace kneeled next to him, looking very worried. "Owen!" She hugged him and he motioned for her to come closer to his mouth. Neither noticed that Cody had also been recently shot.

"Candace, I need to tell you something… In case I don't make it."

Cody, covered in red paint, bit his lip awkwardly, then asked the camera, "He does realize that that was all just pretend, right?"

Tears were building up in her dark brown eyes. "Yes, big brother?" She was so blinded by her tears that she couldn't even see Trent and Heather being shot down.

"If the baby you and Geoff are having is a boy, name it… Owen." With that, he collapsed, tongue stuck out dramatically.

Candace's tears vanished and her lips puckered into a pout. She screamed at him, "I'm NOT pregnant!" A red flash passed right behind her head, making her yelp. Both she and Duncan bolted past Ron as he was scooping up Heather.

The retired cop growled, but shook his head and muttered, "I'll get those two later…" He had gathered up the first three captured teens, but when he walked over to the unconscious Owen, he frowned deeply, looking nervous.

"… I might have to make a second trip…"

*T*S*R*

Ron had dropped the three lighter Killer Bears in their shack, making a second trip for Owen, who he had to wake up. He was far too heavy to carry…

After walking away from the shack, he had crossed paths with the Rabid Wolves. He only managed to catch three this time; Geoff, DJ and Jovie.

"Why does she get to be carried there?" Geoff whined, walking alongside DJ and Ron, who had Jovie thrown over his shoulder. "My feet hurt! I wanna be carried, too!"

Ron muttered, "First you moan and groan about being carried, now you throw a fit when I don't carry you… You kids are so hard to please…"

He dropped them off at the door of their imprisonment shack, setting Jovie down. "Get inside, now! I have some untended business to take care of…" He bolted off, leaving the teens confused.

"He's crazy," DJ muttered.

"You said it, boy," Jovie agreed. Grabbing the door handle, she wondered out loud, "I wonder if Keith and Marilee have killed each other yet…" She flung the door open and got her answer.

Keith and Marilee were sitting on the floor of the smelly shack, sharing a small, yet deep kiss. Neither knew of their teammate's presences.

The three couldn't help but laugh, which brought their presence to the new couple's attention. They separated and blankly stared at the chuckling teens for a second. Marilee, acting very out of character, shrugged, and went back to kissing Keith.

This made the laughter cease. "She isn't going to spaz out?" DJ asked the two standing next to him.

"Aw, man," Geoff said with a pout. "Now it's just gross."

Yes, that's right everybody. Marilee CAN be nice! *gasp*

And yes, Marilee was bulimic. I wanted to be vague, but... yeah. She wasn't for dangerously long. Just several days. But still, even that can be unhealty. Statistics say that an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 Canadian women aged 13 to 40 have anorexia nervosa and twice as many have bulimia. I think a girl at my school that I didn't really know had anorexia. If you know somebody with an eating disorder, do what Geoff did. Get them some help.

Sorry to be all after-school special on you. But that's a serious issue.

On a lighter note, I love how this chapter turned out. Hope you guys did, too! Part three and the ceremony should be out soon!