Noah was beginning to despise his alarm clock with the passion of a thousand fiery suns. If he found whoever changed his alarm to 7:30, he would strangle them, or at least get Eva to, unless it was Izzy. She counted as a force of nature, and it's never worth fighting forces of nature. He was used to sleeping in till at least noon, and then spending the next few hours lounging around, pretty much still half asleep. But there was no getting around that blaring noise that woke him out of his peaceful, quiet sleep. Even if he could turn it off, Cody was woken up by even the slightest noise, and once Cody was up, he would bug Noah until he got up.

"Hey, hey Noah!" He heard his temporary roommate say, and felt his shoulder being poked. He groaned and turned around, covering his face with his pillow. "Come on, wake up!" Cody said, poking Noah harder.

"What in god's name is so important that you have to wake me up at the crack of dawn?" Noah groaned, sitting up and pushing his hair out of his eyes.

"There's someone knocking on the door!" Cody said nervously.

"And exactly why do I need to be involved in this?" Noah asked. "Open the door yourself."

"It might be Sierra!" Cody whimpered.

"I know it's not her." Noah groaned. "You'd already be kidnapped if it was Sierra. I don't have that many friends that come to my room, and none of them knock. Izzy drop-kicks the door, Eva shouts my name and pounds on the door, and Owen just barges in and tackle hugs me, so it can't be them either."

"Yeah, but what if it is her?" Cody whined.

"There's a very simple solution to this that doesn't require me being awake; just ask who it is." Noah looked extremely annoyed. "Who is it?" He yelled over to the door without getting up.

"It's Bridgette!" Bridgette called back, and Noah groaned with the realization that he was, in fact, going to have to get up.

"Just wait a second." Noah shook his head to get rid of the groggy half asleep feeling you get when you're rudely awakened at a ridiculously early hour. He got up out of bed, glared at Cody and opened the door and ushered Bridgette in. "Why are you here so early?"

"Because I have to get this done quickly." Bridgette looked around the room, and found the chair after a seconds glance, she sat down. "The meeting with the producers is at 2:00, so I have to get all of this done before 1:00."

"That doesn't mean you have to get here at 7 AM." Noah rolled his eyes, but looked resigned to his fate.

"Well, I don't know how long it will take." Bridgette said. "So I came as early as possible."

"I still don't get why you'd want to be up this early." Noah complained, rubbing his forehead and his eyes.

"What I don't get is what you're even going to tell us about Mike." Cody admitted as Noah pulled a huge textbook out of his suitcase, a bookmark stuck about fifty pages in. "I mean, we all already know he has MPD, and that's what his big secret was, wasn't it?" He asked.

"Yeah, but haven't you wondered how he developed it?" Noah asked.

"I don't know, I just kind of assumed it was a problem he'd... I don't know." Cody said nervously and Noah looked disbelieving. "Ok, so I didn't really think that hard about it, ok? It wasn't exactly high on my priorities!" He said defensively.

"I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and not call you an idiot." Noah rolled his eyes as Cody looked embarrassed.

"It's not like everyone in the world reads books all day like you do." Cody huffed.

"Can you two please stop bickering?" Bridgette asked as both of them froze, they were clearly about to start talking over each other if she hadn't intervened. "And, uh, no offense, but why are you telling Cody?" Bridgette asked nervously, looking apologetically at Cody, who didn't look hurt so much as he looked like he agreed with her. "I don't think he really needs to know."

"He doesn't," Noah admitted. "But he asked," Noah said calmly. "And I trust Cody. He's one of the three people on this show that I would trust with any kind of secret."

"Who's the third?" Cody asked.

"B, because he can't talk." Noah said. "So pretty much everything you tell him is never getting out... Is this really that important?" He asked.

"Sorry, I guess that wasn't really relevant." Cody laughed sheepishly. "So, uh, are you going to ever actually get to telling us about this?" He asked.

"Just hold on a second." Noah said, annoyed.

"So, why are you being so secretive?" Cody asked, earning a look from Bridgette. "What?"

"Because it's Mike's business?" Bridgette looked exasperated.

"I'm not always quick on the uptake, ok?" Cody continued looking embarrassed.

"There are a couple reasons, actually." Noah opened the textbook and flipped through the pages, not looking up at Cody. "One; It's something not only personal, but it's something I don't know the full story on. I'm not going to make assumptions about this, especially because of the other reason."

"What's the other reason?" Both Bridgette and Cody asked at the same time.

"Mike doesn't know I know." Noah said. "I don't think he's told anyone about it, and I don't want to let anyone know more than Mike would want them to know."

"That makes sense." Bridgette said. "He's never really been open about anything, and he seems to freak out pretty easily."

"Although I kind of wonder why you haven't told him you know..." Cody paused. "Whatever it is that you know." He finished his sentence awkwardly.

"Yeah, that would go over really well, I know it." Noah rolled his eyes. "'Hey Mike, I barely know you, but I wanted to just let you know that I know all of your secrets.'" He said sarcastically. "I don't want to look like Sierra, do I?"

"Good point." Cody shivered.

"Can you please just tell us already?" Bridgette asked. "All you're doing is stalling."

"...Fine, I'm sorry that I'm not some insane early riser like the two of you are." Noah groaned. "Just give me a second, ok?" He asked, collecting his thoughts.

"Ok, so why exactly does our date have to start a 7:30?" Trent was laughing nervously as Dawn smiled and simply put her head against his chest as they walked. He blushed a bright red and smiled down at her.

"I always get up early so I can watch the sunrise." Dawn smiled at him. "I wanted to wait until you woke up, but I just couldn't wait any longer."

"Ok, I guess." Trent laughed. "It's not like I don't like waking up early." He smiled. "I used to come out and do the same thing back in TDI." He sighed slightly.

"It's not your fault." Dawn reassured him, Trent looking slightly startled at her apparent reading of his mind, but quickly got over it.

"...Thanks." Trent said, shrugging off the slight oddity of her comment. "So what are we going to do?" He asked. "Not that I don't like just walking, but, you know..." He trailed off, not sure if he could finish the sentence without coming off as rude.

"I understand." Dawn smiled. "Sometimes the tranquility of nature is boring to you." She didn't look as happy when she said that, but she wasn't sad.

"Well, not boring, but..." Trent stopped himself. "I guess just a little quiet, that's all." He admitted.

"I never mind silence." Dawn said. "It's an amazing way to get in touch with nature."

"So, are we going to keep walking?" Trent asked, feeling embarrassed that he had asked the same question twice now.

"Actually, if you want, I can show you something really special." Dawn looked excited by whatever she wanted to show him. "But you have to close your eyes." She added after a second.

"Uh, not that I don't trust you, but why exactly do I have to close my eyes?" Trent asked.

"It's a surprise." Dawn explained. "I haven't showed anyone this, so it's going to be our secret!" She giggled.

"Well, ok." Trent smiled.

"Trust me, it's worth it!" Dawn reassured him, reaching up to cover his eyes, but she was too short. "Just keep your eyes closed, ok?" She laughed, Trent shrugging and covering his eyes with one hand, Dawn leading him with the other. Trent didn't look, but he could hear the rustling of the leaves and pushing aside of brambles as Dawn led him forward. There were dozens of small chirping noises and similar nature sounds that were just beginning for the day, and he had to admit, it was extremely calming, even if he couldn't see where he was going. The louder rustling of the leaves jolted him out of his serene daydreaming, but he realized quickly that it was probably just one of the many creatures on the island.

"So exactly where are you taking me?" Trent asked, resisting the urge to look, he noticed the ground getting steeper as they walked.

"It's my secret meditation spot." Dawn smiled, the ground getting even steeper, Trent found it hard to not stumble, but Dawn kept him up every time. "It's a beautiful view, trust me, it will be worth it." She helped him over another rock. "I'm sorry about making you cover your eyes, but I don't want anyone to know the way up here."

"Oh, I guess that's a good reason." Trent shrugged with the arm not covering his eyes. The higher they got, the less chirping and nature noises there were, and soon it was almost entirely quiet, except now he could hear the sound of water running nearby. As they kept walking the noise continued to get louder until they were right next to whatever the source of the noise was.

"You can open your eyes now." Just as he realized they had stopped, Dawn spoke up. She smiled at him as he uncovered his eyes. "We're on the highest point on the island!" She looked like she was going to explode with happiness.

"Wow!" Trent gaped, looking at the clearing around him, amazed. Dawn had taken him to the top of a mountain, a small waterfall bubbling down the cliffside, a tree growing over by a rock nearby, and he could see the entirety of the Playa from where he was standing. "How come no one's noticed this giant cliff?"

"...It's probably because no one really travels anywhere but the studio lot and the Playa." Dawn shrugged. "I've never seen anyone else come up here except Manitoba."

"I thought you said that no one knew the way up here?" Trent scratched his head, sitting down on the nearby rock.

"I said I didn't show anyone the way. Manitoba found his way up here by following where the water was flowing down from." Dawn said. "Mike was only at the Playa for a week, and Manitoba only came up here once, so I decided that letting him come up here to 'survey the land for treasure' wouldn't be terrible." She explained. "I made sure he didn't touch anything, and since Mike doesn't remember anything that Manitoba does unless Manitoba tells him..." She shrugged helplessly.

"I guess that makes sense..." Trent scratched his head. "So what's Manitoba Smith like, anyway?" He asked. "We never really saw that much on the show..."

"Manitoba is a very courageous explorer, but you already know that." Dawn giggled, sitting down on a rock nearby Trent, naturally settling into the lotus position. "He's... Well, he does really mean well, but he's not exactly with the times in terms of gender equality."

"I noticed." Trent laughed.

"He really believes women need to be protected. It's chivalrous in a way, or at least that's how he means it..." Dawn frown. "It does often come out as if he thinks we're stupid or weak, but it's just the way he is." She admitted. "He also communicates with animals almost as well as I can. Of course, he tends to err towards the more dangerous and deadly creatures. When he found his way up here, he'd already gotten a Black Widow on his hat."

"How'd he do it without getting bitten?" Trent's eyes were wide.

"I believe he simply has a way with them. I've communicated with many perfectly civil Black Widows, so I guess it's just a matter of knowing how to talk to them." She guessed. "But I don't think we came on this date to talk about Manitoba Smith, did we?" She giggled.

"I guess I just got distracted." Trent laughed. "It's just so quiet here, there's nothing to do but talk."

"Well, you'll have to ask the questions." Dawn smiled. "I already know all of your answers to most of the socially acceptable questions by reading your aura, so I don't think me asking the questions would be that helpful." She giggled, however, after a few seconds of awkward silence, she finally noticed that he was uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" She began, but Trent cut her off.

"It's ok, I know you didn't mean to weird me out." Trent smiled. "I'm just glad you noticed, last season you would have just kept talking about my past."

"I still don't exactly get why you have a problem with me knowing your secrets." Dawn frowned. "I've learned to keep from talking about it with other people, but since you already know all of your secrets, I have to admit I'm kind of confused on why you're uncomfortable." She looked guilty. "I know it's probably obvious to you..." She sighed.

"It's just... I don't mind that you can see my aura." Trent tried to explain. "I actually kind of think it's cool... but sometimes it gets kind of... I don't know, weird..." He fumbled. "Like, the fact that you know what color I'm thinking of right at this second, probably."

"Gamboge." Dawn admitted.

"Yeah, it's a little... uh..." Trent stumbled. "It's not exactly creepy... But..." He paused to think of analogy. "It's like if you went rooting around in my stuff and read my journal without my permission." He settled on what he was trying to say.

"I guess I understand... But I'm not able to stop seeing people's auras." Dawn said sadly. "It's sometimes hard, actually. Looking at all the people here denying their feelings, or worse, convinced that they won't be accepted for who they are... it's sad." She frowned. "I can't tell them that their objects of affection love them back because I know that they would be upset by the fact that I know." Dawn sighed.

"That sounds like it sucks." Trent said, moving closer to Dawn so she could lean on his shoulder.

"Not when you're here." Dawn smiled.

"Ok, I'm just going to ask you a few questions." Noah said, then sighed when he got bewildered looks. "I want to see if you can figure it out on your own." He explained.

"Why don't you just tell us?" Cody whined.

"Because I want to know that I'm not the only one who notices these things." Noah groaned.

"I guess if you want to." Cody shrugged, indifferent.

"Ok, so first, have either of you read the transcripts of the official interviews done for ROTI?" Noah asked, when he received blank looks, he rolled his eyes. "I should have known I was the only non-Sierra person who bothered." He groaned.

"Dude, why'd you read them in the first place?" Cody asked, snickering.

"I got really bored while Izzy and Eva were out hunting laser squirrels during ROTI and I ran out of psychology textbooks." Noah shrugged.

"So what is it about the interviews?" Bridgette looked interested.

"Well, I'm not insane, so I don't have them memorized like Sierra probably does;" Noah said, glaring when he mentioned Sierra's name. "But when asked about his happiest childhood memory, he said he couldn't remember any good ones." He explained.

"That's... I feel really bad for him." Bridgette frowned. "But I don't quite understand what you're getting at here."

"You'll see." Noah looked annoyed. "Just let me ask the questions and save all complaints for the end."

"Sorry." Bridgette apologized.

"Next, have you noticed that he has never discussed his family or his home life in any way, and changes the subject as soon as it is brought up?" Noah continued.

"That is weird." Cody said as he tried to think of an instance he had heard anything about it. "Maybe he just has a really boring family?"

"Maybe." Noah looked unconvinced. "Question three; have you noticed that pretty much every guy who bunked with him in either season has mentioned crying and screaming night terrors?" Noah asked, Bridgette paling over slightly as she started to realize what he was saying.

"...Yeah..." Cody frowned, still confused, but he was also starting to understand. "But how come you know all of this stuff?" Cody asked.

"I pay more attention than you seem to think I do." Noah looked annoyed at being interrupted again. "And during ROTI, didn't you notice how he avoided Dawn like she was a leper when he came to the Playa?"

"He did act really funny around Dawn." Cody said. "I think something really bad must have happened to him that he doesn't want Dawn telling us about..." He mused. "But after Mal appeared, I thought that was what he was trying to hide from everyone."

"You're getting warmer." Noah surprisingly wasn't smirking. "I think you might have something to add?" Noah looked at Bridgette, who had a horrified look on her face.

"Dawn said that he had a worse home life than Scott." Bridgette whimpered.

"I don't remember that..." Cody tried to remember what Bridgette was talking about.

"Remember when we started talking about Noah and his siblings?" Bridgette asked, and Cody nodded. "And then were discussing how crazy all the things Scott says about his life on the farm?" He nodded again. "Then we all agreed about how everyone at least had a better home life than Scott? And then Dawn said that there was someone else, and when we asked, she said 'It wouldn't be fair to Mike to tell you?'"

"I remember the first part, but I don't really remember her specifically saying Mike's name." Cody scratched his head.

"She cut herself off right before she finished her sentence." Bridgette said. "She said it wouldn't be fair to Mi-" She cut herself off, imitating Dawn. "Mike's the only one she could have meant."

"Oh..." Cody paled over as well. "That's... wow. I mean, Scott's family didn't even come to check on him when he was mauled by Fang." He bit his lip slightly. "My parents have forgotten my birthday for the last seven years and they'd still remember if I was in the hospital. You know, as long as they didn't have a meeting scheduled then." He added nervously.

"They've forgotten your birthday for seven years straight?" Bridgette gaped.

"That's what you're disturbed by?" Noah raised his eyebrows at her. "The fact that his parents would prioritize their meetings over their son being hospitalized is what's scaring me."

"Yeah, that's pretty awful, but forgetting his birthday for seven years?" Bridgette countered. "That's not just one instance of neglect, that's practically a lifetime of no birthdays!"

"Actually, Sierra's thrown me a birthday party for the last two years." Cody interrupted her. "It would be nice if she'd stop lacing the cake with that love me tea stuff, though. I'm like 90% sure I'm allergic to it." He twiddled his thumbs.

"Yeah, still!" Bridgette continued, ignoring Cody. "That means the last time he had a birthday party with his parents was when he was eleven!"

"You know I'm right here, right?" Cody interrupted the argument. "And I thought we were talking about Mike's parents, not mine!" He looked embarrassed and annoyed.

"You brought it up in the first place." Noah rolled his eyes. "If you don't want to talk about your family, you shouldn't mention them."

"Do you have to make a sarcastic comment about everything?" Cody glared at Noah, face flushing slightly. "It's really kind of annoying."

"Stop arguing!" Bridgette suddenly interrupted them. "Both of you, stop it!" She groaned. "You called me in here to tell me everything you know about Mike, and so far, you two have pretty much just bickered for the entire time!" She calmed down. "Sorry, sorry." She sighed.

"You're right." Cody sighed. "Continue, please." He looked at Noah.

"Ok, this is the last question before I let you figure it out." Noah began. "Dawn has constantly been telling us about how Mal used to be Mike's protector, right?"

"Yeah, and that still doesn't make much sense." Cody said, confused. "I mean, Mal hates Mike's guts."

"Well, yes, but have you thought about what Mal was protecting Mike from?" Noah asked.

"Not really." Cody said, but Bridgette looked like she had pieced it together.

"And putting that together with the other facts; what do you think I'm about to tell you?" Noah looked at Bridgette.

"He was... maybe he had an abusive home life?" Bridgette muttered softly, and her eyes widened when Noah nodded. "You're serious?"

"Yes." Noah said, keeping as emotionless as possible. "Basically, Disassociative Identity Disorder, or Multiple Personality Disorder is mainly believed to be caused when a child is put under extreme trauma, and they create other identities to take the pain and memories of the abuse away."

"...How long have you know this?" Cody asked quietly.

"Since he first said he had MPD." Noah admitted. "I didn't bring it up because it's not my business."

"Exactly how much attention did you even pay to Mike?" Cody looked vaguely jealous.

"Most of my attention is spent on keeping Izzy from setting fire to the hotel, blowing up the hotel, or setting the hotel on fire after blowing it up." Noah explained. "The remaining 25% is divided up into making sarcastic quips, keeping Owen from eating the poisonous mushrooms that he always manages to get his hands into, and studying psychology textbooks." He counted off on his fingers.

"Why psychology textbooks?" Cody asked.

"Hey, just because I'm lazy doesn't mean that I don't like researching for my future career." Noah rolled his eyes. "Maybe I'm crazy, but I actually have a plan for when we get out of this Sisyphean show."

"Sis-what?" Cody looked vaguely confused.

"Sisyphus." Noah clarified. "Greek mythos, the king who was sentenced to push a boulder up a hill for eternity, only to have it roll back down right when he gets to the top. It's a lot like this show; just when you think you've escaped it, Chris calls us up and drags us back to this hellhole." He explained as if it was first grade knowledge Cody had asked about.

"That is a lot like this show." Cody said.

"Is that really important?" Bridgette snapped. "You can't seriously tell me that you think discussing ancient mythology is more relevant to this than the fact that Mike was abused as a child and his psychotic alternate personality is trying to kill everyone!"

"She's got a point, I guess I just don't want to think about it." Cody said, saddened. "But I do have a question." He added.

"It's related to Mike, right?" Noah asked, and Cody nodded.

"If Mike's personalities were created to take bad memories away from Mike, why is Mal the only evil one?" Cody asked.

"...That, I don't know." Noah shrugged helplessly. "I have an idea about it, but it's only speculation." He paused. "I would guess that Mal is the oldest of the alters, judging by the other's reactions to his return, and I'd also guess that he took most of the memories." He suggested.

"That makes sense..." Bridgette said. "Do you know anything else about Mal?"

"I only know as much as you do." Noah said, shrugging again. "I don't think anyone knows anything about Mal. Cameron would be your best bet if you wanted to know about the other alters, but he didn't know about Mal either." He looked deep in thought. "Dawn would know about it, but she's dedicated herself to withholding information when it would be most convenient for everyone." He growled slightly.

"And I saw her walking off with Trent while I was on my way over." Bridgette added. "They really do make a cute couple." She smiled.

"Well then, it looks like you've hit a dead end." Noah said. "The only person who knew Mal existed besides Mike and Dawn is Duncan, and he's in jail." He explained.

"That's it!" Bridgette gasped.

"Oh god, I just gave you an idea, didn't I?" Noah groaned.

"Yep!" Bridgette had a determined look in her eyes, grinning. "I've got to go find Duncan!"

"Yeah, good luck with that." Noah suddenly pushed her out of the room.

"Wha-" Bridgette was confused as he shoved her out of his room.

"Have fun on your wonderful quest for someone to give a damn about safety, I'm sure that it'll work." He smiled and waved goodbye to her sarcastically, before closing the door in a massive change from his more quiet demeanor that he had held for the rest of the conversation.

"...Dude, you didn't have to shove her out of the room." Cody said, stunned slightly. Noah walked back over to his bed and collapsed back onto it, giving a half hearted groan that vaguely sounded like 'fuck you , let me sleep', exhausted by the whole ordeal. Cody just sighed at stood there in silence.

"Nine of spades." Dawn announced, eyes covered by her hands. Trent laughed as she uncovered her eyes. "Did I get it right?"

"You guessed it right again." Trent put the card he was holding down on the increasing pile of cards she had guessed correctly, the pile of incorrect guesses was significantly smaller (only three cards). "How do you do that without looking?"

"You broadcast your thoughts too loudly for me not hear you." Dawn giggled.

"Cheater." Trent laughed lightly. "How am I supposed to beat a psychic?"

"I could teach you how to hide your thoughts better." Dawn smiled. "If you wanted, obviously." She added.

"How are you supposed to do that?" Trent asked, looking really interested.

"Well, it's hard to explain..." Dawn frowned. "...Let's say that everyone broadcasts their own thoughts, and some people broadcast them louder than others, while some are mostly static." Dawn said. "Someone like Lindsay, for example, broadcasts her thoughts loudly because of her low mental defenses." She explained, drawing a small picture of Lindsay with a small circle around her head in the ground.

"That makes sense." Trent smiled slightly.

"Now, someone like Noah, who has mental barriers stronger than anyone I've ever seen, I can only read when he's thinking about them a lot." She drew a picture of Noah with a much larger bubble encompassing his whole stick figure body.

"So the smarter you are, the harder it is for you to read your mind?" Trent asked.

"Oh, no, it's not really intelligence that matters." Dawn said. "Lindsay's mental barriers are low because she trusts everyone around her, and she doesn't have anything to hide." She explained. "She also feels emotions very strongly, so even if her mental barriers were strong, they would still be louder than Noah's." She pointed back to Noah's picture. "Now, Noah's barriers are strong because he is very clinical and logical, so his emotions aren't as strongly broadcasted, and he naturally distrusts everyone around him. So I only hear his emotions when he's around a conduit."

"A conduit?" Trent asked.

"Someone he cares about deeply." Dawn explained, drawing a picture of Cody and Owen, both of their circles intercepting Noah's, making a Venn diagram. "When he's around them, his defenses lower because he feels safer around them." She pointed at Owen. "Owen makes him easier to hear because Noah thinks of him as a friend, but when he's around Cody, his thoughts become clearest because he harbors feelings for-" She suddenly stopped and widened her eyes as she realized what she had just said.

"I knew it!" Trent smirked. "I knew Noah liked Cody!"

"I wasn't suppose to tell you that!" Dawn looked frightened, wiping away the diagram. "I was just explaining it, and it came out! I shouldn't have betrayed his privacy!" She looked like she was going to bite her nails, but Trent quickly hugged her and smiled. "You won't tell anyone, right?" She asked him nervously.

"I'm not a jerk, Dawn, I won't tell anyone" Trent shrugged. "Plus, pretty much everyone just kind of assumed it already." He laughed slightly. "It's kind of obvious."

"You're not mad at me?" Dawn asked.

"Of course I'm not." Trent smiled. "You didn't mean to say it, and no one else heard you, so it's not-" There was a sudden rustling of leaves behind them that made Trent pause, and they both turned their heads around to find the source of the noise. Said source was no longer hiding behind a nearby bush, and was frozen like a child who had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "-Sierra?" He gaped.

"I was just... uh..." Sierra stumbled to form words properly. "I was...uh..." She paused to try and think of an excuse, Trent and Dawn dumbfounded. "I was searching the bush for berries!" She settled on that as an answer and nodded vigorously. "Yep, searching for berries!" She grinned falsely.

"Sierra..." Dawn tried to stay calm as she walked up to Sierra. "How long have you been here?" She kept her voice from raising.

"I followed you up here to videotape your date so I could create my Dawnt blog!" Sierra grinned. "But now I have to go strangle Noah, so if you'll just-" She kept her cheerful tone when she mentioned strangling Noah, but her expression was pure malice. Trent quickly grabbed her hand before she could run off. "-Hey!" Sierra tried to get her hand free. "I'm not really going to strangle him!"

"... I'm not sure I believe you." Trent narrowed his eyes. "You also interrupted my date." He looked annoyed.

"I thought Dawn knew I was here!" Sierra said. "She knows everything, so I figured if she didn't say anything, that meant I could watch!"

"...A lack of no does not mean yes." Dawn frowned. "I did not see you." She admitted. "As much as I can predict, I cannot see behind me, I don't have eyes in the back of my head." She looked embarrassed

"I thought you could hear my thoughts. " Sierra scratched her head.

"You operate on a different wavelength than most of the contestants. Izzy shares it as well." Dawn explained.

"I am perfectly sane, if that's what you're trying to suggest!" Sierra looked indignant. "Now let me go so I can castrate Noah!"

"Yeah, that's not going to happen." Trent frowned.

"Sierra, Noah has no intentions of pursuing a relationship with Cody." Dawn tried to reassure Sierra.

"But you said he-" Sierra began, but Dawn cut her off.

"I said that he had feelings for Cody, not that he would act on them." Dawn said, annoyed. "He does not wish to earn your wrath, so he has not done anything as of yet." Dawn stopped. "He also is not sure that Cody shares his feelings."

"But no one's allowed to love my Cody-kins but me!" Sierra whined.

"You can't stop someone's feelings." Dawn said. "No matter how hard you try, the only one who can change Noah's emotions is Noah himself."

"I can make him change his emotions!" Sierra growled. "I just have to make him decide, completely without coercion, that pursuing my hubbie will end in pain!" She giggled slightly maniacally.

"I mean this in the nicest way possible; you need help." Trent braced himself for the inevitable Sierra explosion, but she didn't say anything.

"Are you offering to help me?" Sierra grinned, apparently completely missing what Trent meant. "Because I could use an accomplice!"

"...Exactly how much of what I say do you hear?" Trent asked, confused.

"So are you going to help me or not?" Sierra asked.

"...Apparently, none of it." Trent sighed.

"Sierra, can you promise you won't harm Noah?" Dawn pleaded. "Talking with him would solve your problem better than coercing him with force."

"If I don't hurt him, can I use the video I've captured to make a Dawnt blog?" Sierra got a shifty look in her eyes and smirked.

"Can you let us finish our date in peace?" Trent asked.

"Ok!" Sierra grinned. "Can you let me take a picture of you two hugging before I go?" She clapped her hands.

"...Fine..." Trent sighed, and smiled nervously at Dawn, shrugging weakly, before Dawn hugged him. Sierra's camera flashed and she giggled happily.

"Ok, see you two!" Sierra grinned. "You two look so cute together! The Gwent shippers will throw a riot!" She started typing on her phone as quickly as she could and ran off.

"What are the chances that she's going to hurt Noah anyway?" Trent nervously asked Dawn as they watched Sierra leave.

"Very high." Dawn frowned.

"Should we... uh... warn him?" Trent asked. "I feel like maybe we should do something."

"We could, but it wouldn't stop Sierra." Dawn sighed. "Since we all have to be in the same room tonight at seven, they're going to have to talk then."

"...Good point." Trent said, wincing. "Poor guy." He added.

"You want to go where?!" Geoff was taking things pretty well, all things considered. Which of course, meant that his jaw hit the floor the second he heard what she said. They were sitting at a table in the cafeteria when she dropped the bombshell, and Geoff had dropped his fork in shock. Everyone in the room was intently listening in now. "I think I misheard you there, babe, cause I could swear I just heard you say that you want to visit Duncan in prison!" He stuck his finger in his ear and cleared it out.

"That's exactly what I said." Bridgette frowned.

"Oh good, because I-WHAT!?" Geoff laughed for a second before he realized she had confirmed his fear. "Are you dumping me for Duncan?" He gasped.

"No! Why would you think that?" Bridgette looked indignant.

"I don't know, it's just, that came out of nowhere, and you've kind of been weird lately, and-" Geoff looked sheepish and was quickly backpedaling.

"What do you mean, I've been weird?" Bridgette narrowed her eyes.

"Well you've been really frustrated all the time, and we don't make out nearly as much as we used to, and you don't talk to me about anything but the show!" Geoff said, and Bridgette huffed. "See? That's what I'm talking about!" He said, before realizing he was digging himself deeper. "I just wanna know what's up, Bridge." He looked worried. "You've been really upset, and I hate it when my babe is upset."

"Maybe it's her time of the month?" Harold offered from a couple tables back, before Leshawna slapped then shushed him.

"You know why I'm upset." Bridgette sighed, dropping her hostile act.

"Uh, sort of?" Geoff scratched the back of his head.

"It's just... This whole season has been a complete and utter mess." Bridgette groaned, pulling on her hair as she talked. "I mean, this show has never been safe, but it's starting to get terrifying. At least Chris is contractually obligated to keep us alive, but now that Mal's shown up, there's nothing keeping him from killing everyone." She looked extremely stressed. "Every time we watch, there's a part of me terrified that there's going to be a last minute dedication because Mal murdered Zoey!"

"Babe, that's not going to-" Geoff tried to comfort her, but she interrupted him.

"You don't know if it's not going to happen, Geoff!" Bridgette said, a little louder than was necessary. "You're not Dawn, and you don't know what's going to happen!"

"Yeah, I don't." Geoff admitted. "But you can't worry about stuff like that if you can't fix it."

"But I can fix it!" Bridgette shouted. "That's what I'm trying to tell you!"

"Well, if you can fix it, why are you worrying?" Geoff asked, smiling.

"Because if I fail, it'll be all my fault!" Bridgette said.

"Woah, wait up a sec." Geoff stopped. "You're saying you're trying your best to fix this, right?" He asked.

"Yes, but-" Bridgette got cut off.

"Well then, you can't do better than that, right?" Geoff smiled. "If you try really hard and still wipe out, you'll at least have tried. We all gotta do the best we can and we can't get all beat up because we aren't better." He leaned over and kissed Bridgette on the cheek.

"Thank you..." Bridgette sighed happily, finally perking up. "You know just how to make me feel better, babe." She grinned.

"It's what I do best." Geoff grinned back, and they kissed again for several long seconds. "Now that's the Bridgey-Bear I know." He laughed as they broke apart.

"...I'm still going to have to visit Duncan." Bridgette frowned, looking guilty at bringing this up right after their make out session.

"Oh come on!" Geoff whined. "Why do you even need to visit him?"

"He's the only person who knows anything about Mal." Bridgette explained. "I need to know everything, and Dawn is out with Trent, and even if she wasn't, I don't want to pressure her into revealing more than she wants to."

"...But how are you going to get to him?" Geoff asked. "Dude's in prison, and you have to like, set up visits in advance, right?"

"That's where I need help." Bridgette sighed. "I need a way to get there, and I figured two heads are better than one, right?"

"Well, I don't know if I can help you, babe." Geoff shrugged. "It's not that I don't want to, but you're a lot smarter than me, so I can't really help you."

"Thanks for trying." Bridgette smiled, before she heard a small trumpeting noise behind her that was slowly turning into a triumphant chorus of cacophonous horns and kazoos. "Izzy's right behind me, isn't she?" She didn't turn around, but Geoff nodded and she sighed in defeat. "What do you want?"

"I heard you say you needed to get into prison!" Izzy grinned, catapulting herself onto Geoff's shoulders, only balancing for a second before both of them crashed to the ground, but not before she could put on Geoff's hat. "Damnit!" She groaned.

"What the hell was that?" Geoff grabbed his hat from Izzy and got up.

"I thought you would be stronger!" Izzy pouted. "I guess it only works when you have enough counterbalancing weight..." She hummed in thought.

"Izzy, what do you want?" Bridgette sighed.

"I already told you, silly!" Izzy giggled. "I'm here to get you into the slammer! Now, are you looking for a felony level stint in the clink or are we talking basic misdemeanors?"

"...I don't actually want to jail." Bridgette said, annoyed. "I just need to talk to Duncan within the next three hours."

"I can do that too!" Izzy grinned. "Izzy knows all the ways to get in and out of prison! The RCMP totally tried to lock me up when I was all 'Brainzilla super smart'." She rolled her eyes around in her head as she said that, derping. "But then Geoffy boy over here said he was gonna interview me and I realized 'Deified excrement, Chiroptera-Homo, I must abandon with great haste! My planetoid is requiring of my assistance!' So I left and came to the studios!" She giggled.

"...Can anyone translate that?" Geoff looked over at Harold.

"I believe she is trying to say 'Holy shit, Batman, I have to go now, my planet needs me!" Harold explained. "The first is a reference to the 1966 to 1968 Batman television series, wherein Robin would exclaim 'Holy _, Batman!'" He continued rambling. "Homo is the designated word for all humanoids, and Chiroptera is the genus for Bats. Ergo, Batman." He looked smug. "And the line 'My planet needs me' stems from a Simpsons epi-" Harold was shushed by Leshawna.

"Honey, we weren't asking for the full origin of all the wacky crap Izzy says." Leshawna frowned.

"So can you or can you not get me to see Duncan?" Bridgette ignored Harold and Leshawna's bickering.

"Sure can do!" Izzy grinned, saluting

"Babe, are you sure asking Izzy is, you know, safe?" Geoff whispered in Bridgette's ear nervously.

"Not really..." Bridgette admitted.

"I promise there will be no more than two guard dog related injuries!" Izzy crossed her heart. "Squirrel Scouts honor!"

"That's not a thi-" Harold called over, but Leshawna dragged him out of the cafeteria.

"Harold's wrong. It's totally a thing, they just disbanded after a mysterious lab accident classified by the government where they accidentally created me while trying to create the ultimate human weapon!" Izzy giggled maniacally, somehow saying the entire sentence in one breath and before Bridgette could ask, she was whisked out of the cafeteria, being dragged behind the insane redhead.

"So, what now?" Trent asked the little pixie girl who had decided to rest her head on his chest.

"I don't know." Dawn shrugged. "I guess we could talk some more."

"Yeah." Trent smiled. "Want to sit back down?" He pointed over at the tree Sierra had been hiding under. "The tree would make good shade."

"Sure." Dawn lifted her head and walked over to the tree with him, they both sat down next to each other. "You know, there's something I wanted to know about you, actually." Dawn turned to him.

"I thought you knew everything about me already." Trent said, confused.

"Well, it's hard to explain." Dawn frowned. "I know your most basic emotions and memories because they shape your aura, and I can see what you've done recently because it's fresh on your mind, but..." She paused to think of a good example. "For example, I can't see what you had for breakfast three days ago from just looking at you, because your aura doesn't focus on that."

"So you know what I had for breakfast yesterday just from looking at me?" Trent looked simultaneously impressed and slightly weirded out.

"Not from a glance, but..." Dawn focused her eyes on his chest for about five seconds, he noticed her eyes glowing green slightly as she did so. "Pancakes with strawberry syrup and one waffle!" She smiled and clapped. "Am I right?"

"...Yes." Trent tried his best not to be creeped out, he knew she was just trying to impress him. "But, uh, don't do that again, if you don't mind."

"Oh, ok." Dawn frowned. "So, can you tell me something?" She asked.

"Sure." Trent shrugged. "I'll ask a question too if it makes you feel better."

"That would be nice." Dawn smiled. "So, I've noticed that the handprint on your shirt has-" She began, pointed at Trent's chest, but he interrupted her.

"-It has five fingers?" Trent finished, chuckling as Dawn nodded. "I know, it's weird." He laughed. "It was a misprint, I think." He pulled at his collar. "I found it at a bargain bin and I just had to pick it up, and it's been my thing for like, two years. I chose it as my outfit for Total Drama and it just stuck." He explained.

"That's fascinating." Dawn smiled. "Why do you think it has an extra finger?"

"I have no idea." Trent shrugged. "Same reason we say high-five?"

"...Don't bring that up to Noah." Dawn looked serious for a second.

"Does this have anything to do with his weird obsession with how we haven't died yet?" Trent asked, slightly concerned by her sudden serious.

"Yes." Dawn frowned. "Now, you wanted to ask me something?" She snapped back to her happy expression.

"Yeah, uh, do you know that your eyes glow green when you look at my aura?" Trent asked nervously.

"You can see that?" Dawn looked shocked. "No one's ever seen it before..." She looked perplexed.

"It seems pretty obvious..." Trent said as Dawn's eyes glowed again, clearly searching her own aura. "Like, right now."

"... This has never happened before." Dawn frowned. "I don't know if it's just visible now or if it's unique to you... It's... I might have... rubbed off on you." She looked sheepish at her choice of words as she twiddled her fingers.

"...Exactly how much rubbing off are we talking here? I'm not gonna start seeing the future or anything, am I?" Trent asked. "Because that actually could be pretty cool." He admitted.

"... I don't know." Dawn frowned. "You're not mad at me, are you?"

"Not really." Trent shrugged. "Unless your powers come with some crazy side effects, I don't mind seeing glowy eyes. You actually look really pretty with them." He smiled at her, and she blushed.

"I guess there's only one way to find out if it's something only you can see." Dawn said, but she blushed and grinned slightly mischievously. "Want to go watch Jo and Brick?" She giggled.

"...How would that prove anything?" Trent looked confused.

"If you can see auras, or can sense when I can see them, we should go somewhere where the emotions are clearest." Dawn smiled. "So if we want to have the best chance to see auras, we'd be best off watching them."

"Isn't that an invasion of privacy?" Trent asked.

"We're not following them around." Dawn looked hurt at the suggestion. "I simply meant sitting down at the pool and having our date there. If Jo and Brick are going to be there as well, that's just a happy coincidence."

"...You're more devious than you think you are, you know that?" Trent smirked.

"I know." Dawn smiled mischievously.

"Can you please let go of my arm!?" Bridgette pleaded with Izzy, trying to pry her hand away as she was being dragged behind her, for the last few minutes Izzy had dragged her everywhere. She couldn't really tell, but she was fairly sure that they had gone in a circle. "I can walk on my own!"

"Oh, you're still here?" Izzy looked surprised and skidded to a halt. "I totally forgot about you!" She laughed and let go of her arm. "I'm so used to carrying Owen around that I couldn't even feel you!"

"...Ok..." Bridgette tried to catch her breath and not argue with Izzy. "Just... Remember?" She coughed out. "Prison?"

"Ooh yeah, that's where I've been running to!" Izzy clapped her hands. "Follow me!" She suddenly dived into a nearby bush and motioned for Bridgette to follow her.

"Uh, that's a bush, Izzy." Bridgette winced as she noticed the thorns digging into Izzy's arms.

"It's not the bush I want you to get into!" Izzy huffed as if Bridgette was being the unreasonable one. "It's the secret underground tunnels!" She rolled her eyes and got out of the bush, pulling the branches aside so Bridgette could see the hole under it.

"...You dug this?" Bridgette looked down the hole. It looked like it went down at least twenty feet and possibly more.

"Oh no, these are just offshoots of the mine!" Izzy grinned. "The mutant gophers were super industrious, you know!" She giggled. "They have tunnels connecting us to the main island!"

"...I don't know whether I'm scared or impressed." Bridgette frowned. "So the mutant gophers tunneled under the prison where Duncan is being held? Exactly how close is the prison, anyway?"

"In gopher miles? Seventeen." Izzy said, not really answering her question.

"Can you convert gopher miles into kilometers?" Bridgette asked, exasperated.

"Of course I can't!" Izzy scoffed. "The gophers use the American system of measurement, the primitive weirdos." She giggled and snorted. "It's a totally backwards society ever since Zeke stopped ruling over them! The gophers can't function under a democracy at all."

"...I'm just going to keep from exploding and try not to question this." Bridgette rubbed her forehead to get rid of the questions. "So you can get to the prison from here?"

"Yep!" Izzy grinned and pulled a flashlight out of her bra. "I've got a flashlight because apparently you normal humans can't see in the dark." She scoffed again. "God, I wish the Squirrel Scoutmasters had sacrificed at least another kid so I could have a friend with night vision built in. Noah and Eva are great, but they just can't work in the dark."

"Don't question it, just roll with it." Bridgette insisted to herself. "Are there any mutant gophers left?" She asked nervously.

"...Hmm..." Izzy paused. "I'm at least 93.141592653589% sure that there aren't any." She smiled. "Are you convinced that it's safe now, Nanny?" She put her hands on her hips.

"Well-" Bridgette didn't have time to finish her sentence before Izzy grabbed her hand and pulled her into the hole. "-AGH!" She screamed as they fell for a good two seconds, Izzy landing on top of Bridgette despite jumping before her.

"I didn't want you to get cold feet." Izzy helped Bridgette up. "I know you have to talk to Duncan about Mal and I know you can't give up now!" She grinned.

"That's... surprisingly helpful of you." Bridgette looked surprised. "Thanks."

"Oh no problem. Just keep the flashlight on you, ok?" Izzy whispered conspiratorially. "Zeke's afraid of them."

"Wait..." Bridgette's eyes widened. "You brought me down here and Ezekiel's here?" She tried not to scream.

"Oh no way!" Izzy waved her arms. "The tunnels got cut off by all those bombs Chris planted!" She looked genuinely surprised that Bridgette thought that. "That was just an interesting fact!" She protested. "You really thought I'd bring you down here if Zeke was here?" She looked hurt. "I'm not insane."

"Well, um..." Bridgette didn't know how she could properly respond to Izzy's statement. She was fairly certain Izzy was insane, but she couldn't say that. "I was just checking?" She offered nervously.

"Good enough for me!" Izzy grinned and pointed down a tunnel. "Follow me and we'll be there in no time!"

"I don't understand why they keep ignoring the fact that they made out on the floor in front of everyone." Trent admitted as he watched Jo and Brick blushing heavily on opposite sides of a bench, trying not to look each other in the eyes.

"Denial is a powerful thing." Dawn frowned. "They both yearn for each other, but their pride won't let them be together... Well, mostly Jo's pride."

"Yeah, she's more stubborn than anyone I've ever met." Trent laughed. "So, are you gonna read their auras?"

"Yes." Dawn's eyes glowed a more subtle blue as she stared at them. "Oh my, something's about to happen!" She shushed Trent, smiling widely.

"..." Jo coughed suddenly, attracting Brick's attention.

"Jo, are you ok?" Brick asked nervously.

"Jesus fuck, Brick, you don't have to ask whether I'm ok every time I cough!" Jo groaned, Brick looking sheepish. "I was trying to get your attention!"

"Oh." Brick fiddled with his fingers. "Why didn't you just say so?"

"I didn't." Jo rolled her eyes. "So can you let me speak?" She smirked as Brick nodded. "You owe me for that incident we had a couple days ago." She was frowning and trying her hardest not to blush, but her cheeks refused to change from their ruddy red coloring. As Trent watched, he could see her eyes flash pink as she talked.

"Oh, that." Brick turned a similar shade of red, the same flash of pink emanating from his eyes.. "I thought you said that didn't happen-"

"It didn't." Jo growled. "But, if it did, you would owe me." She blushed. "I need you to promise me that if Dawn turns out to be right about the balloons, uh..." She clammed up. "I want to tell you..." She looked tongue-tied for the first time ever. "That you-that I-that... Shut up."

"I didn't say anythin-" Brick began, but Jo cut him off again.

"I... You... I... Sort of..." Jo kept stammering before letting out a groan and pulling her hoodie over her head. "I'm going for a jog, don't follow!" She practically screamed at him as she pulled out an Ipod from her pockets and stormed off.

"...Wow." Trent gaped. "That was..." He struggled to find a word. "Do you think she really wants him to not follow her, or-"

"Follow her." Dawn suddenly spoke up, causing Brick to look her way, blushing heavily as he realized she was watching.

"Uh, how long have you been-" Brick began.

"No time for that!" Dawn frowned. "Go follow her and avert destiny's grip!"

"I have no idea what that means, but, if it's that important..." Brick saluted. "Yes ma'am!" He grinned as he ran after Jo.

"I thought you said you weren't going to interfere." Trent smirked at Dawn.

"Oh, he was going to follow her anyway." Dawn smirked as well. "I just sped him up a little and saved him about a minute of running."

"And that part about destiny's grip?" Trent looked amused.

"Destiny isn't gripping them any tighter than normal." Dawn shrugged. "I just don't like seeing them fight needlessly."

"So, you see those glowing eyes everywhere?" Trent asked. "You know, just glowing weird colors?"

"Yes." Dawn smiled. "It doesn't bother you once you get used to it."

"Any way to get rid of it?" Trent asked nervously.

"Just stop focusing on reading them. You're not in tune with them, so it should fix the problem." Dawn explained, waiting as Trent rubbed his eyes. "Fixed it?"

"Yeah." Trent looked relieved as the glowing in Dawn's eyes subsided. "Wow, that's both cool and weird." He smiled.

"You really do get used to it, though." Dawn said. "And of course, it's useful."

"Yeah, it would be." Trent said. "I'm just cool with being normal, though."

"I like you just the way you are." Dawn concurred, sipping slowly from a cup of tea that Trent wasn't sure was there a few seconds ago.

"So how much longer does this tunnel go on?" Bridgette asked nervously as she watched her flashlight flicker slightly, running out of batteries.

"Oh, we're right underneath..." Izzy suddenly tapped one of the walls and heard a hollow echo from the other side. "Cellblock D." She concluded.

"And where is Duncan?" Bridgette looked relieved that they were almost done with the dank and dark travel through the caves. It was surprisingly uneventful and boring, besides Izzy's lecture on the economic stability of the gopher democracy versus Zeke's monarchy, which she had tuned out after about five minutes. It was amusing at first, but it ended up being a legitimate discussion of politics, and while normally Bridgette was interested, she didn't care about what the gophers used as currency (the answer turned out to be rocks.).

"Uh, give me a second." Izzy suddenly knocked down the wall she had tapped on, and scurried out of sight. "HEY JACK!" Izzy screamed from wherever she was. "Where's the green haired pretty boy lodged up!?" She asked, Bridgette unable to hear the answer, Izzy came back down grinning wildly. "Jack says he's being held about three yards down." She laughed.

"... Do you do this often?" Bridgette looked shocked.

"Oh yeah, like, me and Jack have been visiting for like, two years! It started with this letter exchange program with the mental hospital I was staying at before I signed up at Total Drama, where we would write to prisoners every week, and we really hit it off!" Izzy clapped happily. "Once I found out the tunnels led under the prison, I stopped sending him letters and just started visiting him live!"

"Izzy, isn't that dangerous?" Bridgette looked nervous. "Hasn't he asked to follow you out of the tunnels?"

"He's not dangerous, Bridgette!" Izzy giggled. "He's like my big brother, except he's doing ten years for stabbing his ex girlfriend! So, actually, pretty much exactly like my brother!" She swooned, before giggling again. "And he's afraid of being buried alive, so he's waiting for me to smuggle a knife or two so he can break out the old fashioned way!" She paused, before whispering conspiratorially in Bridgette's ear. "I'm not actually gonna give him them."

"Oh thank god." Bridgette sighed in relief.

"I mean, he gets out in just two years, I don't want him to blow it." Izzy laughed. "He's terrible with stabbing weapons anyway. I did mention he failed at killing his ex? I'm pretty sure I did, anyway."

"...Please tell Noah about this." Bridgette frowned.

"So he can come meet Jack too?" Izzy looked excited. "Oh my god, it'll be great!"

"...Yes." Bridgette decided that the best answer would be lying. "Can we please get over to Duncan's cell?"

"Sure!" Izzy started tapping obsessively on the walls and listening for the echo. She led them down several feet before gasping when the echo came back. "We're here!" She grinned.

"How can you be sure?" Bridgette asked, confused. She was beginning to deeply regret asking Izzy for help. She was covered in mud and dust, standing in a dark gopher tunnel carrying a broken flashlight under a prison. She shouldn't have expected any different from Izzy, but for some reason, she had.

"Well, for one, he said it was about three yards that way, so it's on one of these sides." Izzy explained, oddly logical and sound of mind. "And this tunnel smells like hair gel and cheap cologne, and there's only one guy who wears that much cologne in prison, and that guy is Duncan." She continued. "Ergo; this tunnel leads to Duncan."

"... You first." Bridgette insisted.

"We'll go together." Izzy smiled. "I can totally protect you if we end up in a prison riot. I like you, so I don't want you riddled with stab wounds." She tried to reassure Bridgette, but it wasn't exactly soothing to be told she'd get stabbed.

"Ok..." Bridgette said nervously as Izzy helped her climb up the tunnel, Izzy holding her steady from the floor. She reached a ceiling of concrete, but Izzy's thumbs up told her that it wasn't going to stay. She nervously pressed on it and found it yielded to her touch, she pushed it aside and looked around at her surroundings. Duncan somehow had not noticed her (and she found that Izzy was right). "Duncan!" She said nervously, startling Duncan and making him whip his head around in fright. Duncan honestly looked exactly the same as he did on the show, with a less clean shave and a spikier Mohawk, but otherwise identical.

"...Bridgette?" Duncan gaped as she climbed out of the hole. "You-what?" He stopped himself. "Ok, I didn't take any of the pruno that Carlos was making and I didn't take any of other stuff he was offering-" He tried to think of what could have caused him to hallucinate.

"I'm real, Duncan." Bridgette looked annoyed. "I have to talk to you."

"You..." Duncan still looked stunned. "Just... What?" He settled on simply gaping as Bridgette sat down on his cot. "What are you doing here? How did you even-"

"Hi!" Izzy's head popped out of the hole and she waved. "How's prison treating you?"

"It's better than I expected, honestly." Duncan shrugged, shaking off the stunned expression. "I think the only reason Juvy was worse was Mal."

"You're taking this surprisingly well." Bridgette tried not to smirk.

"At this point I'm just rolling with the punches." Duncan admitted. "It's weird, but it beats sitting here and carving shit into the walls."

"Izzy brought me here through that tunnel." Bridgette pointed to the hole in the corner.

"Too bad I don't fit down that thing." Duncan groaned. sizing up the hole and realizing that Bridgette only barely squeezed through. "I'm getting bored with this crappy place."

"I'm not breaking you out." Bridgette frowned. "You're serving time for arson like you deserve."

"Aww, come on, it was awesome." Duncan chuckled.

"It was awesome!" Izzy grinned, before Bridgette shot her a glare. "I'll be down here when you're ready, Bridgette!" She laughed nervously and popped back out, pulling the cement back into place.

"Please, I need to talk to you." Bridgette changed from her annoyed stance and looked pleadingly at Duncan.

"You know that you can arrange for a visit legally, right?" Duncan looked bemused. "Not that I don't like inviting girls into my bedroom or anything, but I didn't think you would be the type for prison break ins."

"I don't have time for an official visit." Bridgette said. "I only have a few hours and I had to see you today."

"What's the big deal here?" Duncan actually looked worried. "Oh, and don't worry. The security cameras for this hallway got busted during yesterday's riot." He pointed up at the ceiling, where Bridgette noticed the camera's light wasn't on.

"I didn't think about that." Bridgette admitted. "The big deal is related to the show-"

"Oh man, seriously?" Duncan groaned. "I'm already the pretty boy from TV, I don't need-"

"This is important." Bridgette huffed.

"Sorry, sorry." Duncan groaned. "So, give me the details at least; is Gwen still in the game? Courtney still a bitch? Who's been voted off since I've been gone?" He genuinely looked interested.

"In order; yes, I don't know how to answer that, and Cameron and Alejandro." Bridgette explained quickly.

"Alejandro's out already?" Duncan looked surprised. "I would have pegged him for a finalist again. And Red's still there?"

"Yes, she is, and that's part of what I need to talk to you about." Bridgette tried to cut right to the point, but Duncan asked another question.

"If Gwen ends up getting kicked off, can you tell her to call me?" Duncan asked. "I miss my babe, and-"

"I can tell her, but I can't promise she'll want to see you." Bridgette cut him off. "Now, are you going to let me finish?" She looked annoyed.

"Jeez, you've got a stick-" Duncan began, but Bridgette growled again.

"I don't have time for this, Duncan." She said sharply. "Listen to me carefully; Mal is still in the game and in control, and he's tried to kill everyone on the show. He broke Alejandro's wrist and he tried to crush Cameron to death with a boulder. If we don't do something about him, he's going to succeed sooner or later." She stated, not breaking eye contact as she explained this.

"Oh man, Mal..." Duncan whistled softly. "That's bad. I wasn't kidding when I called him bad news-" He began.

"I know." Bridgette said. "Sierra showed us his criminal record. He's... He wants to kill Zoey and he's going to if I don't stop him."

"Bridgette, I'm gonna be honest, you're not gonna stop him." Duncan said solemnly. "If Mal wants someone dead, they end up in the hospital."

"That's why I need to talk to you." Bridgette said. "You're the only one who knows Mal. Cameron didn't know who he was and Dawn won't tell us about him. I need you."

"So I'm your only hope?" Duncan said, surprised. "Really?"

"Yes really." Bridgette groaned. "Please for god's sake, focus!" She hissed, trying not to bite her lip and failing miserably.

"I'm sorry. Jesus, are you on your period or something?" Duncan looked annoyed.

"Wh-why do people keep asking that?" Bridgette was about to continue arguing, but she looked more confused than angry right at that moment.

"I don't know, maybe it's the fact that you're acting like Courtney did when she was PMS'ing like crazy." Duncan rolled his eyes.

"Focus!" Bridgette hissed again. "I need you to tell me everything you know about Mal and I'm not leaving until you do."

"Ok, ok, calm down Tigress!" Duncan backed up. "Now, when you say everything-"

"Everything. Every rumor you heard, every interaction you've had with him. I really do mean everything." Bridgette was already losing her patience again.

"Why do you even need to know?" Duncan asked.

"I'm meeting the producers in... what time is it?" Bridgette asked him nervously.

"I'd say about 11:45, judging by that clock over there." Duncan rolled his eyes.

"I have an hour and fifteen minutes to learn everything I can about Mal and I need fifteen of those to travel back from the tunnel, so I need that information right now." She snapped after she calculated the time. "Start talking. When did you first meet Mal?"

"I met Mal on my first day in Juvy." Duncan began his story. "It wasn't like I didn't see it coming. I knew sooner or later I would end up there." Duncan smirked. "I'm not going to make up some bullshit about being framed, or the cops having it out for me..." He paused for a second. "Heh, that one might be the case, but it ain't cause I don't deserve it." He laughed, and then when Bridgette gave him a confused look, he explained. "The thing is, Bridgette; my parents are cops, my grandparents are cops, my cousins are cops, and I bet if you could travel back in time, you would find out that the first ever kid in my family had a wad crammed into their ass at birth. That's how deep being a snitch runs in the family."

"Get to the point." Bridgette tapped her foot

"Sorry, sorry. I was just painting the scenery. What did I do?" He didn't wait for Bridgette to respond before continuing. "I may have pulled something that the newspaper called 'The Happy Nude-Year Stunt'." Duncan smirked again, snickering.

"...Seriously?" Bridgette didn't look surprised in the slightest.

"Yeah, it was awesome." Duncan ignored her. "The only not awesome part was that my dad was the one called in to deal with it." He frowned. "I have to say, getting caught by your dad directly is a lot worse than having the cops call up your dad, because at least my dad gets a lecture too." He looked a little too pleased by this. "When they called my dad, it was always 'How can my best employee raise such a failure of a son!' not 'How did I raise such a failure!' it's the subtle shift of blame that really stings." He said, trying to look sarcastic

"Have your parents called since you've been in jail?" Bridgette got sidetracked slightly.

"Nope." Duncan stretched his arms. "I don't really give a shit, though. I'm used to being ignored by them. Hell, it's what convinced me to pull all those stunts in the first place."

"You were an attention hog, I get it." Bridgette snapped.

"Anyway, I first met Mal during lunch." Duncan continued his story. "Dude was just sitting there in the corner, doing nothing. He was like a year younger than I was, and, you've seen how much of a skinny twig he is." He said. "He looked like some innocent shmuck until I sat down and looked him in the eyes. He almost made me piss my pants just doing that." He shuddered.

"Really?" Bridgette tried not to smirk. "You were scared?"

"But I didn't run away." Duncan said, a little too defensive. "I figured he wasn't that big a deal. Everyone was leaving him alone, so I could make him my lackey, or I could join in on whatever everyone was doing to him." He shrugged, trying look cool. "I only realized later that it was the other way around. No one had done anything to him, but everyone knew to stay the fuck away from him."

"So how'd you find out?" Bridgette asked.

"I tried talking to him." Duncan said. "And slowly I started getting this sneaking suspicion that there was something really fucked up with him." He shuddered again. "It went a little something like this..."

"Hey, is this spot taken?" Duncan asked as he sat down next to the younger inmate. He didn't respond to him, but didn't tell him to go away, so Duncan figured he was home free. He could tell that whoever this kid was, he was definitely younger and a lot scrawnier. He practically looked like a stick with a head on top. His hair was covering one of his eyes and there were dark bags under them. "Hey, you awake?" He asked again, and this time the kid turned to face him. He felt chills go down his spine when he locked eyes with him. The kid's eyes weren't normal, but Duncan couldn't put down just what was wrong with them. He shook the feeling off and tried not to look intimidated; the kid had to be at least a year younger than him and he was tiny, there was no reason that he should be frightened of him. "I asked if this spot was taken."

"...You want to sit next to me?" Duncan got another shock when he heard him speak; his voice was deep and reverberating. It was almost comically mismatched with his body, but there was something intimidating about it. The kid looked surprised that Duncan was wanting to sit next to him, and Duncan got the feeling that everyone avoided him.

"Yeah, I mean, there's no other seats." Duncan lied. He had seen a bunch of other spots in the lunchroom, but all of them were next to people he wasn't ready to associate with yet. He knew he had to pick wisely, he didn't want to end up with a lame crowd. So the loner was the best choice, if he could get the kid to be his friend, or even better, his lackey, he'd be better off than being alone. And if he couldn't, he could just back off. "What's your name?" He tried to break the tension between the two, the silence around him becoming more and more obvious as he spoke. All other activity in the cafeteria seemed to have ceased. Duncan would have looked around to check, but he couldn't break eye contact with the kid.

"Mal." Mal said bluntly, looking annoyed at Duncan's pleasantries.

"What kind of name is that?" Duncan scoffed, before suddenly realizing his mistake. Mal was practically burning a hole in his head with the glare he was giving Duncan.

"Mine." Mal said simply, before changing his demeanor heavily. "It's a pretty stupid name, isn't it?" He laughed awkwardly. It wasn't a natural laugh, Duncan could tell. He wasn't sure if it was forced out to try to seem normal or if he was being sarcastic.

"It's not that bad." Duncan decided to play it safe, smirking. "It's short for Malcolm?"

"...I guess it could be." Mal looked amused by the suggestion. The smile was much more real than the forced laugh he had tried, but it was almost malicious without him saying anything.

"Do you know why everyone's avoiding you?" Duncan asked, trying to shift the conversation away from Mal's name. He was doing all he could not to start backing away as he spoke.

"Oh, lots of reasons." Mal chuckled darkly and flashing a much more evil grin, Duncan deciding to back up slightly.

"..." Duncan struggled to break the silence as he finally looked around and saw that everyone else in the cafeteria was staring at them, fearful. "That's... uh..."

"Now, I've told you my name..." Mal studied his nails intently before leaning in uncomfortably close to Duncan. "You tell me yours." He grinned as Duncan winced and backed up slightly.

"My names Duncan." Duncan suddenly got his confidence back, trying to scare Mal off slightly. Unfortunately, all this seemed to do was amuse him, as he laughed at his attempt. "I might be new here, but let me tell you something." Duncan was getting more annoyed by the second as he realized just who he was talking to. This kid wasn't scary, well, he was, but Duncan knew he could beat the crap out of him if he wanted to. He wasn't going to let Mal's voice intimidate him. "I like my personal space. You get me?" He growled.

"You like personal space?" Mal smirked, and Duncan got that same chill down his spine as he did when he first locked eyes with him. "Well, that's funny. So do I." Mal got in even closer, enough that Duncan could feel Mal breathing on his neck. "...But do you know what I like more?" He grinned even bigger.

"I'm straight!" Duncan backed up slightly, making Mal laugh again.

"Oh, that's not what I like." Mal rolled his eyes. "I already despise you." He said, earning a growl from Duncan. "Let me tell you something, Duncan." Mal narrowed his eyes. "I will make your life miserable if you don't do everything I say. From this day forward, I own you, and if you step out of line, I will not hesitate to break you." He hissed the last part.

"Woah, wait a minute." Duncan jumped up. "I don't take orders from anyone!" He growled.

"Oh, I'm sure you don't." Mal smirked, and he got a dangerous glint in his eyes as he spoke, reaching for one of the cafeteria knives. Before he could continue, several of the other inmates broke the silence, grabbing Duncan and pulling him away from Mal, Mal just barely missing Duncan with the utensil. Mal didn't seem fazed by this, and started laughing again. "That's right, run away." He sat back down and returned to his untouched food as if nothing had happened.

"Wait a second." Bridgette interrupted his story. "He tried to stab you?"

"Yep." Duncan said nonchalantly. "If those three hadn't pulled me away, I'd have a real neat scar about right here." He pointed to his chest. "Could have been cool, actually."

"No, I mean that no one stopped him?" Bridgette groaned as Duncan missed the point. "There weren't any guards there to stop him?"

"I don't know." Duncan shrugged helplessly. "I think all the guards were just as scared shitless of Mal as we were."

"He never got punished?" Bridgette looked indignant.

"No. Can I finish?" Duncan rolled his eyes as Bridgette nodded. "I don't want to get caught with you." He said, annoyed.

"Dude, did he just try to stab me?" Duncan asked the nearest of his saviors, wide eyed and genuinely shocked. "Did he just try to fucking stab me!?" He repeated, what had just happened sinking in.

"That... was Mal." The oldest shuddered, looking to be at least sixteen, but he was just as scared as Duncan was.

"No fucking duh, that was Mal!" Duncan said, voice high pitched and angry as hell. "Who the hell is he?"

"He's... He runs things around here." The kid sat down at the table and motioned for him to sit down. "He's-"

"He's psycho!" One of the other two that had pulled him aside interrupted, frazzled. "He's a nutcase!"

"He knows that already, Felix." The oldest looked annoyed. "Everyone knows that."

"Well he didn't, or he wouldn't have sat next to the fucker!" Felix tried not to yell.

"He's... Felix is right about that." The older sighed. "Newbie's always fuck with Mal."

"Felix did on his first day." The third spoke up.

"How was I supposed to know that he was psycho, Tom?" Felix glared.

"What's wrong with him?" Duncan asked, trying not to look frightened. "I mean-"

"Nobody knows." The only one who hadn't been named spoke up. "My names Paul, before you ask." He said quickly. "I've been here since before Mal showed up about three or four months ago, and even I don't know what the fuck is up with him."

"How come there aren't guards coming and kicking the crap out of him?" Duncan asked. "Don't they have those?"

"The guards around here are scared of him too." Paul said.

"Why?" Duncan looked surprised. "I mean, he's crazy, but he's like a twig! Shit, if he didn't have a knife, I could totally beat him up!" Duncan bragged.

"No, you couldn't." Paul said, annoyed. "Mal's stronger than he looks. And I mean way stronger."

"I heard he broke a guys wrist for speaking up while he was whistling." Tom said conspiratorially.

"Heard?" Felix scoffed. "I saw the guy beat up my friend a couple days ago and I haven't seen him since."

"I noticed that Isaac was missing this week." Tom said, looking surprised. "You're kidding me, what the hell did he do? Everyone knows not to fuck with Mal!" He whispered, both of them ignoring Duncan.

"Mal started it." Felix looked slightly defensive. "He just started whaling on him for no reason!"

"I heard he sleeps hanging from the ceiling, like a bat." Tom added.

"Bullshit." Felix looked annoyed. "I don't buy it, even from him."

"I swear, I'm not kidding. The last guy who bunked in the next cell over totally saw it. You know, before he ended up breaking an arm." Tom said, completely serious.

"Stop building him up, you two." Paul groaned. "All the twerp needs to know is that he needs to stay the fuck away from Mal."

"I think I got it." Duncan looked nervous but was clearly trying to hide it.

"And that's how I met Mal." Duncan concluded. "And my friends from Juvy, actually." He got an odd look on his face. "I wonder what happened to them. I haven't seen them since I got out on parole to get on the show..."

"Wow..." Bridgette said softly. "He tried to stab you within five minutes of face to face contact?" She asked.

"Yep. And that was probably the least terrifying encounter you could have with him." Duncan said. "I listened to my friends and stayed away from Mal, but that doesn't mean I didn't see him do some pretty nasty things." He shuddered slightly. "And that hanging from the ceiling thing turned out to be true. I still can't believe that shit."

"Why would he do that?" Bridgette looked incredulous.

"I think it was mostly to freak us all out." Duncan said. "I can't imagine that would be comfortable. I'm sure he got down the second everyone stopped looking."

"So, you saw him do what, exactly?" Bridgette asked nervously. "I mean, if stabbing someone is the nicest thing he could do, what was the worst?"

"The worst I've seen him do?" Duncan whistled softly as he tried to think of something. "There are just so many to chose from." He said. "There's all the times he broke guys wrists just for looking at him wrong, but that happened too often to be the worst of it."

"How could-" Bridgette began but stopped herself. "You can't think of anything else?"

"Here's the thing about Mal, Bridge, there were so many stories about what he did and who he did it to that I couldn't tell you what's bullshit and what's fact." Duncan explained. "There are stories about how he got a guy to commit suicide, there's stories of him writing stuff on the cafeteria walls in blood, there's a couple guys with scars that spell out 'I own you' that swear Mal did it, there's just no way of knowing what he actually did." He continued. "I mean, obviously the I own you stuff had to be Mal, there's no one else it could have been, but no one could prove it, cause he did it during the night if he did it at all. That's when the craziest stuff happened, the stuff people don't know whether it was real or all in their heads."

"...Wow..." Bridgette just looked shocked. "Do you believe in the stories?"

"The guy people said Mal got to commit suicide disappeared and an ambulance came by at the same time that Mal was missing, so yeah, I'd buy that." Duncan said, before pausing again. "The cafeteria walls thing is probably bullshit though. Not because he wouldn't, but because he was more of a personal guy. He'd paint it in your cell, and the blood thing is complete bullshit." He laughed. "The scars on one of those guys are there, so I have so assume he weren't lying, unless the others tried to give themselves the scars for attention, yes." He finished. "So mostly, yeah, I believe he really did all that."

"How do you know the blood part is not true?" Bridgette asked.

"Well, for one, I've never seen someone bleed enough to paint the walls with it." Duncan said. "And I've seen a lot of bleeding, trust me." He actually laughed slightly. "Second, blood smells pretty bad, third, he wasn't hauled off to the nuthouse, and fourth, blood is really hard to get off of walls, so someone would have noticed."

"...How do you-no, not important." Bridgette was about to ask, but she realized that questioning it would just lead to pain. "I've got time for a couple more anecdotes, so if you could elaborate on that part about the person Mal.." Bridgette stopped her cold demeanor as she realized what she was saying. "He... He got someone to... to-"

"I said he probably did it, not that we know he did it." Duncan looked startled by her sudden crying. "Stop freaking out, it was years ago!" He was utterly failing to calm her down. "I... if you keep crying someone's going to hear!"

"I-I just..." Bridgette tried to compose herself. "I was just so focused on getting this done that I didn't think about it..."

"It sucks, but it happened." Duncan frowned. "The dude was a real asshole, but he didn't deserve to die. Get shanked, maybe, but not die." He didn't laugh at his own joke because he knew it would upset Bridgette further.

"...What did he do?" Bridgette asked.

"Well, he would push around all the littler-" Duncan began.

"I meant Mal." Bridgette looked frustrated.

"Oh, yeah, that makes more sense." Duncan looked slightly sheepish. "I already said that I don't really know what's fact or rumor, but..." He paused. "I don't know what that guy did to piss Mal off, but Mal hated him. I mean, more than Mal hated everyone."

"...I honestly can't imagine that." Bridgette's eyes widened as she tried to imagine it.

"It was absolutely pants crapping levels of terrifying to see Mal talk about the guy." Duncan shivered. "He just talked about all the horrible things he wanted to do to him, it was like, batshit crazy torture porn." Duncan tried not to shiver again. "And that was just talking about the guy. If you even brought him up he'd threaten to snap your head off."

"That's..." Bridgette looked shocked. "Wow... What do you think he did to get Mal to hate him?"

"I have no idea." Duncan said, shrugging again. "I mean, he was an asshole, but Mal didn't give a fuck about what people did to each other, so I don't know." He said. "The guy came in about a month after Mal showed up from what I heard." Duncan explained. "Since I wasn't there, I don't know what went down, but people say from the first time he showed up in the cafeteria, Mal was already fucking with him. I heard one guy say that Mal tripped him, another guy said he kicked him in the balls and threw him to the floor, yet another guy said he started speaking in some weird language, got into a fistfight with him and dodged every punch thrown at him."

"Which do you think happened?" Bridgette looked morbidly fascinated.

"Honestly, probably all of them." Duncan said. "If I had to guess how it went; kicked him in the balls, tripped him, fistfight, speaking in tongues." He listed off on his fingers.

"Probably Russian." Bridgette deduced.

"...Oh yeah, that Russian chick." Duncan's eyes widened. "What was her name? Sweat-llama?"

"Svetlana." Bridgette wasn't impressed, glaring.

"Sorry, sorry." Duncan said. "Anyway, one day he just disappeared, after this really brutal session of torment. And no one saw him again."

"That's... Wow." Bridgette said.

"Yeah. Any reason you're being so testy?" Duncan asked.

"I just don't have time to be messing around." She glared at him.

"You've certainly been swinging moods like crazy..." Duncan mused. "... Geoff knock you up?" Duncan actually seemed to consider this a completely rational possibility.

"I..." Bridgette stammered as her face flushed over. "Wha-no!" She gaped. "Why would you- we use condoms!"

"Sorry, sorry, just running down the options here." Duncan shrugged.

"Tha-ugh, not important!" Bridgette gave up on that line of conversation. "Look, what happened to Mal in the end?"

"...I have no idea." Duncan said, giving a sigh. "I don't think anyone knows, really. One day he just showed up to lunch and tried to stab a guy, and the next time the guards come and get him, and we never saw him again."

"Thats... that's it?" Bridgette asked, nervous.

"Yep. Then, the next day, there was an ambulance here and that's all I know. Most of us just figured he finally got carted off to the nuthouse." Duncan said.

"...That's... You're not telling me everything, are you?" She narrowed her eyes.

"So I left out the more crazy bits, sue me! I tried to stay the fuck away from him, so I don't have that much on him." Duncan looked defensive. "I just don't think you want to hear about him carving words into the guys that didn't obey him, right?"

"..l...I've got to go. We've used up most of our time." Bridgette looked at the clock nervously, trying to end the conversation.

"Wait, wait!" Duncan stopped her from getting up.

"What? Bridgette asked.

"What's happening with the show?" He asked, looking embarrassed. "Gwen, is she still safe?"

"As safe as she can be." Bridgette said.

"Courtney?" Duncan asked.

"Dating Scott." Bridgette cut him off.

"You're kidding me." Duncan gaped. "Courtney's with that dirt farmer?"

"Yes, and they're happy." Bridgette looked annoyed.

"I mean... Scott?" Duncan still looked stunned.

"Yes, that's what I said." Bridgette said. "Now, I have to go, ok?" Bridgette frowned. "I'll tell Gwen to call you." She ended with a smile, and pulled the cement away from the tunnel. "I'm ready to go, I-AGH!" Bridgette was suddenly pulled down by Izzy and the cement cover was sealed back up almost as fast as it was opened.

"...Scott and Courtney..." Duncan shrugged. "Eh, I guess I was just the best she was gonna get."

"So, what's your favorite color?" Trent asked, trying awkwardly to make small talk. He didn't want to focus on her supernatural side, that felt a little superficial. He had been focusing on that for most of the time, and he didn't like seeming like he only cared about her powers.

"Green." Dawn smiled. "Any shade of green, really. It's the color of nature." She said. "I like the blue of the water as well, but the greens are so vibrant."

"That's a lot more complicated than my explanation for liking green." Trent laughed. "I just like it, that's all."

"It reminds you of your grandfather, doesn't it?" Dawn smiled. "Oh... I guess I shouldn't have brought that up... I'm sorry."

"It's ok..." Trent said. "I just don't want you saying something that will end up getting someone hurt..." He winced. "Like... Noah."

"...What?" Both of them froze as they realized that Noah was sitting on a nearby pool table, and had heard them.

"Uhh..." Trent stammered nervously.

"What did you say about me?" Noah looked legitimately frightened. "And how is it going to get me hurt?"

"You... should probably hide." Trent spoke up as he and Dawn shared glances.

"...Why?" Noah raised his eyebrows.

"...Dawn..." Trent began. "Completely by accident, I need to stress..." He continued awkwardly. "She may have accidentally, completely unknowingly, told Sierra about how you're crushing on Cody."

"...What." Noah dropped the book that was in his hands. "You... You... I... What?" He looked like he was going to explode. "How?!"

"We were going on our date when Dawn was trying to explain how she reads minds and she brought up you and accidentally mentioned that you like Cody and it turned out Sierra was taping the date for her blog and-" Trent said everything very quickly as Noah grew more and more annoyed as he talked, Dawn hiding behind Trent slightly.

"What were you doing talking about me anyway?" Noah asked, rubbing his forehead as he tried to stay calm.

"She brought up that you're really hard to read unless you're around a conduit, which is-" Trent tried to explain.

"I know what a conduit is." Noah interrupted again, foot tapping impatiently..

"-And she brought up two examples, Owen because he's your friend and Cody because, well..." Trent trailed off. "And so you should probably go find Owen and hide behind him." He finished.

"You didn't stop her?" Noah said, frustrated and angry. "You didn't think to keep her from leaving?"

"We were kind of focused on the date." Trent looked sheepish. "In retrospect I get what you're saying."

"I... We're going to continue this conversation when I'm not being chased by a lunatic." Noah was about to explode again before deciding that now was not the time. "You have one job, Dawn, and that's to tell me exactly where Owen is and the fastest way to get to him." Noah turned to Dawn.

"Izzy's room, take the backdoor and knock, don't enter. Izzy will have gotten back from prison by now and will be celebrating with Owen." Dawn said quickly. "Wait until he says you can come in. Sierra is searching the library and won't check Izzy's room until after she checks Eva's room, and Eva will probably stop her for a while. Afterwards she'll check Owen's room and after that, you, Izzy and Owen will have already be long gone." She said quickly

"I won't question any of that because it's not important right now." Noah looked like he wanted to ask, but quickly shook his head. "I'll be back and you will have to explain yourself, not Trent, you." He made one last remark to Dawn before he tore off, heading straight inside the Playa.

"...I really messed things up, didn't I?" Dawn frowned.

"You didn't mean to..." Trent settled on not lying. "But you kinda did." He immediately realized this wasn't a path worth pursuing. "But you're going to try to make up for it, right?" Dawn nodded. "That's all you can do now. You said it and you can't go back on it, but you can make it better."

"Thanks." Dawn smiled ruefully. "I guess this wasn't the best date..." She frowned.

"Are you kidding?" Trent grinned. "I haven't had this much fun in a while." He laughed.

"But we accidentally set in motion irreversible changes to fate..." Dawn frowned.

"Yeah, but we do that just by existing." Trent shrugged.

"You're right." Dawn smiled. "I'm glad we decided to go on this date..." She blushed heavily and looked down. "I've never actually been on one before..." She mumbled.

"Really?" Trent looked surprised. "This was your first date ever?"

"...It's been a great first date." Dawn sighed happily.

"It's not over, is it?" Trent looked saddened.

"Not unless you want it to be." Dawn said. "Do you want to... uh..." She suddenly stammered as she spoke. "Perhaps we could..." Her voice became inaudible again as she turned a deep shade of pink.

"I can't hear you." Trent said, confused.

"Would you maybe like to... " Dawn paused again before taking a deep breath. "I was wondering if it was acceptable to kiss at this point to end the date?" She said all of that in one breath, looking like she wanted to hide in her sweater.

"...Do you want to?" Trent was blushing as well.

"...Maybe?" Dawn smiled before retreating further into her sweater, her face now bright red. "Yes..." She whispered.

"...So... uh..." Trent looked awkwardly at his hands. "How should we-" He was about to ask, but he was interrupted by Dawn, who kissed him forcefully... or as forcefully as Dawn could, which wasn't much more than a sudden surprise. Both of them were blushing bright red and Dawn was unsure of herself, but she relaxed slowly before pulling away, leaving a little of her purple lipstick on his lips. "-Wow." He was completely dumbstruck and there was silence for a couple seconds as he adjusted to what had just happened.

"...Did I do it wrong?" Dawn looked worried. "I wasn't really sure whether I should have waited for you or if I was supposed to go first so I just decided to go for it." She shrunk into her sweater again.

"No, you did fine." Trent said smiling goofily. "I just.. I wasn't quite expecting it."

"Geoff, we need to go, now." It was like a tornado, one second, Geoff was tanning by the pool, and the next he was whisked off his feet by his girlfriend, who was absolutely coated in grime and dirt. He barely had time to realize that she was there before he was being dragged along by Bridgette.

"Wha-?" Geoff began, but Bridgette cut him off.

"We don't have time to explain." Bridgette said sharply.

"Can you at least tell me why you're covered in dirt?" Geoff asked. "And maybe let go of my arm?"

"Oh, sorry..." Bridgette sighed and stopped gripping him. "I had to take the gopher tunnels with Izzy, and... Izzy." She looked sheepish.

"...Oooh." Geoff understood completely and nodded. "Did you manage to get what you needed to know?"

"And then some." Bridgette rubbed her arm nervously. "We need to get to the studio. I don't want to be late."

"Sure, babe." Geoff smiled, before pausing. "You ok?"

"Sort of?..." Bridgette frowned. "Just... I found out a lot that I needed to know, but... after this is done I think I'm going to lie down..." She said.

"Ok, but if you need anything, I'm always there for you, you know?" Geoff said worriedly. "Now, come on, we've gotta get to the studio." He grinned, pulling out a set of car keys. "And guess who has keys to the golf cart out back?" He waved the keys around. "This guy!" He pointed at himself.

"How did you get them?" Bridgette asked.

"I won it from Izzy!" Geoff grinned. "She said if Jo and Brick made out, she'd let me borrow it for a week! And they did!" He smiled and shook the keys again. "She tricked it out with these sweet rockets and I bet they could get us there in ten minutes, max!" He whooped.

"...And you thought it was crazy that I was letting Izzy take me to jail." Bridgette sighed. "Where did she even get that?"

"I dunno..." Geoff said. "I saw it out back during last season and I've been wanting to try it out for like, forever!" He laughed.

"I guess if I went down a dark tunnel with only Izzy to guide me, I can deal with a golf cart..." Bridgette sighed, but paused. "Wait, what kind of rockets are we talking about here, exactly?"

"She called them JATO rockets." Geoff shrugged. "I have no clue what that means."

"It stands for Jet Assisted Take Off." Harold piped up from over by Leshawna. "JATO'S are a type of assisted take-off for helping overloaded aircraft into the air by providing additional thrust in the form of small rockets."

"Ok, so... that doesn't really help, but thanks anyway." Bridgette thanked Harold, who gave a thumbs up.

"You're welcome!" Harold called back.

"My chariot awaits?" Bridgette smiled at Geoff, and he grabbed her by the arm.

"I think that means let's go?" Geoff asked, and Bridgette nodded. "Then your chariot awaits!" Geoff grabbed her hand and began walking down to the parking lot.

Today just wasn't Noah's day. Actually, if he was honest, it was shaping up to be just not his week. Or maybe just not his life. What had he done to deserve this? Was this punishment for telling Bridgette about Mike? Was it punishing him for questioning it yesterday? Why was life so dead set on making him miserable? Whatever it was, he was doomed. He was knocking on Owen's door because of the advice of a psychic that was the whole reason he was being chased by an insane fangirl who was no doubt dead set on strangling him. "Life, what did I do to you?" He mumbled angrily at no one in particular. He only had one second to wait for his answer as Owen slammed the door straight into him.

"Who-" Owen asked, but he was interrupted as he heard Noah groan. "-Oh-ohmygosh I'm so sorry!" Owen helped Noah up. "I didn't mean to!" He brushed Noah off, accidentally ruffling his hair.

"..Thanks." Noah growled, trying his hardest not to be annoyed. "Look, I don't have time to explain, but-"

"Ooh my gosh Noah!" Izzy suddenly popped up from the top of the doorframe, somehow hanging off the ceiling. "Hi!"

"I'm sorry Izzy, but I don't have time for the delightful shenanigans we normally go through." Noah said, scared. "I need you two to help me hide right now!" He tried to keep his normally calm demeanor going but it was getting hard to take in stride.

"Got it!" Izzy saluted and fell down from the ceiling, revealing that she was wearing no shirt, only a bra. " We'll protect you from the alien monsters!" She grabbed him, not giving Noah time to think about what she was saying.

"Who are you hiding from?" Owen asked as Izzy suddenly pulled out a tape measure and began sizing Noah up.

"Sierra." Noah said quickly. "Look, I don't know what you're doing, Izzy, but I really need to go, now." He slapped away Izzy's tape measure when she started sizing up his head.

"Ooooh!" Izzy whistled. "Sheesh, what took her so long?"

"Focus!" Noah growled.

"Sorry for being curious." Izzy rolled her eyes and stuffed the tap measure back into her bra.

"Look, hide first, answer questions later!" Noah hissed.

"Ok then!" Izzy clapped and Noah got chills down his spine. "Follow me!" She dashed off, leaving Noah and Owen in her dust.

"Uh, not that I don't trust you, Izz', but... Where are we going?" Owen rushed after his girlfriend, slightly out of breath from the effort required to keep up with her.

"Izzy's secret lair on top of the hotel!" Izzy grinned. "I figure that since there's only one entrance there, we can guard it better!" She explained.

"That's... surprisingly lucid..." Noah gaped at her. "Besides the secret lair stuff, that plan sounds completely sane."

"Sometimes I get boring." Izzy shrugged. "To the Batcave!" She grinned, dragging Noah and Owen by their collars with no effort at all, shoving them into the elevator and jumping in just as the doors shut. "We'll take the secret entrance!" She laughed.

"This is an elevator, Izzy." Noah groaned. "It's completely public."

"But Izzy knows how to press the buttons in a way that makes it so we don't have to stop at the floors!" Owen explained. "It's really really cool!"

"Yep, you press this button and this button like this!" Izzy pressed two of the buttons and clapped. "I think it's like, for people in emergency situations, but Sierra's totally an emergency so it's okay." She giggled.

"I'm actually really impressed." Noah admitted. "You have a useful skill that doesn't involve explosives." He said. "I didn't know you had any."

"Hey, uh, I'm still really confused." Owen waved to get the other two's attention. "What's going on? I know that we need to hide Noah, but I don't know why?" He asked.

"Ugh..." Noah groaned as he realized he was going to have to actually explain himself. "I... I have... I may-" He felt like a complete bumbling moron as he stumbled over his words and found himself unable to spit it out.

"-He loves Cody and Sierra found out and now she's gonna kill him!" Izzy blurted out, earning a glare from Noah.

"Well, I guess if you want to put it that way." Noah looked mortified by her sudden outbirst.

"...Wait... so... Sierra didn't know already?" Owen asked.

"...What do you mean by that?" Noah's eye twitched.

"...Uh, sorry." Owen looked down. "But I thought everyone already knew..." He twiddled his fingers.

"..." Noah's eyes twitched as he tried not to snap. "Are...you...kidding... me?!" Noah growled.

"It's pretty obvious." Izzy grinned cheekily. "I mean, you snuggled him in the first season-"

"While I was asleep!" Noah groaned.

"Oh, and then while we were on the bus you snuggled him again!" Izzy's grin got bigger. "That time both of you were awake."

"...Gah..." Noah rubbed his temples.

"And then there's the fact that you hang out with him like 24/7 whenever Sierra's not around." Izzy began counting on her fingers. "And whenever she is around you get all clingy with Cody." She added. "And then you offer to let him sleep in the same bed with him and you blush whenever we bring it up."

"...Yeah." Owen shrugged helplessly.

"...Ok, so everyone thought I was gay and I was never told that?" Noah looked frustrated.

"Well... yeah?..." Owen looked embarrassed, but was interrupted by the doors to the elevator opening with a ding.

"I... Really?" Noah looked stuck for words. "And you all came to this conclusion how?" He walked out of the elevator and sat down immediately.

"I dunno..." Owen said nervously. "I think everyone just assumed it after the ear kissing thing." He looked down, not meeting Noah's eyes.

"I'm never going to live that down, am I?" Noah felt like facepalming, but he knew it wouldn't get him anywhere.

"Ooh, and I figured it out when I offered to strip nude for that one plan and you were literally the only guy there that didn't want to see it!" Izzy grinned.

"...I liked that plan." Owen giggled, blushing.

"And that...You do know there are many different reasons to not want to see a girl nude, many of which have nothing to do with sexual orientation, right?" Noah looked like he was going to collapse.

"...There are?" Izzy looked genuinely nonplussed. "Seriously?"

"One; perhaps I had a girlfriend and didn't want to see someone who wasn't her naked." Noah began, sighing. "Two; maybe I just don't want you to get hauled off to jail for indecent exposure?" He held up a second finger. "Three; maybe I don't think my best friend would like it if I saw his girlfriend naked?"

"I'm your best friend?" Owen's eyes sparkled as tears welled up in his eyes. "You're my best friend too!" He grabbed Noah in a bone crushing hug.

"Gah-Owen!" Noah choked. "Breathe-need-air!" He coughed out the important bits and Owen got the message, loosening up but not letting go.

"I'm sorry, but... I was just so happy!" Owen said.

"Time and place, time and place!" Noah struggled out of Owen's much looser grip.

"Sorry." Owen looked embarrassed. "So you don't have a crush on Cody?"

"...I didn't say that." Noah coughed. "I was just saying that assuming I'm gay because I don't want to see Izzy nude is really stupid."

"So are you gay?" Owen scratched his head.

"Yes." Noah sighed."But apparently it's common knowledge."

"...So... you like Cody?" Owen continued.

"Yeah." Noah admitted.

"Ok then..." Owen shrugged. "Want to play Uno?" He asked, pulling some cards out of his pocket.

"...Do you keep that around just for occasions like this?" Noah asked.

"You never know when there's going to be a card emergency. Or when you get bored." Owen grinned. "So, you wanna?" He asked.

"Deal me out." Noah smirked.

"Dos!" Izzy shouted out. "I win!"

"...Do you even know how to play this game?" Noah asked.

"No idea!" Izzy grinned.

"Do you think this is safe?" Bridgette asked, looking over the rocket powered golf cart nervously.

"No idea!" Geoff grinned. "That's what makes it fun!" He clicked the keys and the engine revved up. "We have to get there somehow, right?" He got into the driver's seat and patted the passenger's side. When Bridgette got in he turned the keys and shrugged. "Ready?" He asked.

"...There aren't any seatbelts." Bridgette looked nervously around her seat for any sign of them.

"Golf carts don't normally come with seatbelts." Geoff shrugged. "Just grab onto that handle and hold on tight!" He pointed to a handle on the top of the car, and Bridgette felt a tingle inside of her stomach as she realized she had made a huge mistake. She had barely gotten a grip on it when Geoff pushed the gas pedal and sent them careening forward at what had to be at least fifty miles per hour. "Whoohoo!" Geoff whooped, raising his fist up. "This is way cooler than I thought it would be!" He laughed.

"Oooh-ohohoh!" Bridgette looked like she was going to throw up, terrified. "Can you slow down?" She asked him.

"No can do, babe!" Geoff shouted over the wind. "This is as slow as it goes!" He looked sympathetic. "Looks like Izzy put a barf bag on the floor for emergencies, though!" He pointed to the floor, where, indeed, Izzy had taped a small barf bag with the words 'in case of Bridgette' scribbled on it.

"...She wrote my name on it?" Bridgette grabbed the bag nervously, trying to quell the motion sickness coursing through her stomach.

"Your guess is as good as mine!" Geoff said, confused. "It's Izzy, who knows why she does anything!"

"Point... urp... Taken..." Bridgette kept her lunch from escaping her, gripping the handle as tightly as she could as they made a hard left. "Can you take the turns a little better?" She pleaded nervously.

"Trying as hard as I can!" Geoff said, turning left again. "This thing takes turns like it's a schoolbus or something!" He complained.

"Remind me again how you know what a schoolbus turns like?" Bridgette asked, trying to focus on anything but the road ahead of her.

"Long story short, it was a great party!" Geoff laughed. "Also cost the school a crapton of money, but man it was worth it!"

"Someday I'm going to ask about that, but-" Bridgette was about to continue when another hard turn sent her to her barf bag, heaving. "-urp!" She looked mortified that she had had to actually use the barf bag Izzy had put there. She couldn't help but feel like it made her seem weak.

"Woah, you ok, Bridge?" Geoff glanced over to her. "We're like a minute away from there, do you need me to stop?" He asked, but she shook her head. "It's ok, Babe. We've all been there. You drink too much of the spiked punch and you spend the next day with a wicked hangover barfing into the toilet." He seemed oblivious to the fact that this was making Bridgette even more uncomfortable. "Man, that was an awesome party." He sighed as he remembered.

"That's... great." Bridgette moaned, keeping her eyes closed shut.

"It was!" Geoff sounded like he was completely oblivious to her sarcasm. "Uh, I'm gonna be hitting the brakes in about five seconds, so hold on tight!" He said, just before doing so, almost sending Bridgette headfirst into the dashboard, if he had not warned her first.

"Gah!" She cried out, reorienting herself and checking her surroundings. They were indeed at the studio, but a quick look behind revealed several feet of skidmarks as they had to brake. "...The producers won't mind that we ruined their parking lot, will they?" She asked, giggling.

"Who cares?" Geoff laughed. "It's the producers, they're a bunch of jerks anyway. Ruining their parking lot is basically a bonus!" He grinned and helped Bridgette out of the cart.

"I know, but..." Bridgette tried not to smile. "I guess it's ok." She giggled, before pausing. "Do you know what time it is?"

"Uh..." Geoff looked around for a clock. "I don't know, but I bet they have a clock inside." He shrugged, and they both walked into the reception office, just as they had a few days prior. "There!" He pointed at the clock. "Hey, look, we're thirty minutes early! Sweet!" He fist pumped.

"...Huh." Bridgette looked surprised. "I guess the rocket cart wasn't totally insane and terrifying... Ok, both of those still apply, but at least we got here?" She settled on shrugging, then looked around at the reception office, it was almost exactly the same as it was the last time she was here, which, considering it was only three days ago, wasn't surprising. What was surprising was that there was someone else besides the eternally bored receptionist in the room. She was an average looking woman with her hair tied up in a short ponytail, and she looked pissed.

"You don't understand." She said, trying to keep her cool, but it was pretty clear from her tone of voice that she was angry. "I'm Mike's thera-"

"You're the kids therapist and you want to get him off the show before the freako kills someone." The receptionist looked utterly and completely uncaring about the conversation.

"Mike is not a freak." The woman tried not to explode on the receptionist, but she was still hissing every word.

"Yeah, whatever." The receptionist scoffed. "I'm going to be honest, I'm not sorry in the slightest, but we cannot take Mike off the show, no matter what the circumstances."

"The circumstances are that Mal will kill someone if no one stops him!" The woman continued.

"What part of 'no matter what the circumstances' do you not get, lady?" The receptionist was getting more and more annoyed, although with her deadpan voice it was almost imperceptible. "They can't allow contestants to just leave willy-nilly. They're contractually bound, so the only way Mike's leaving the island is through that toilet..." She paused and started filing her nails. "Or if Chris gets bored. Or if the RCMP has a warrant for his arrest."

"But-" The woman was about to continue arguing, but the receptionist interrupted her.

"Look, lady, I only get paid ten dollars an hour, so I can assure you I am not paid enough to be willing to put up with this." The receptionist growled. "Leave a complaint with our department, make an appointment next week, whatever, I don't care, but I can't be bothered to speak with you otherwise. I haven't had my smoke break today, and therefore I am not in the mood." She turned around and refused to respond to the woman further.

"Hey, it looks like someone else has got the same idea as you, Bridge!" Geoff grinned at Bridgette, who already looked like she was going up to talk to her.

"Excuse me?" Bridgette tentatively walked up to the woman, smiling.

"Hello?" The woman turned around.

"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation." Bridgette smiled. "I'm Bridgette, I competed in the first three seasons." She said, outstretching her hand for a handshake.

"...I'm Dr. Bloom." The woman shook Bridgette's hand as well. "I'm... Well, you heard." She looked slightly sheepish.

"I heard everything." Bridgette said. "I'm here for the same reasons."

"...I don't think you'll get very far with her." Dr. Bloom looked over at the receptionist with clear contempt in her eyes.

"I want you to know I can hear you! " The receptionist called over to them. "And I still don't care!" She added.

"She was a jerk last time we were here too." Geoff butted into the conversation. "Name's Geoff, competed in the first two seasons and I'm pretty much the master of parties." He grinned and shook her hand hard, making Dr. Bloom wince.

"I've watched the show." Dr. Bloom smiled despite the situation. "So you've already tried to get Mal off the show?" She asked.

"Well, we scheduled an appointment three days ago." Bridgette looked nervous. "We've just been watching and... Mal needs to be stopped." She got a serious look on her face. "I can't just sit back and let this go on."

"You're very resourceful." Dr. Bloom looked impressed. "You've already secured a meeting with the producers?" Dr. Bloom asked again.

"Yes. That's why we're here." Bridgette smiled. "In twenty-five minutes we'll be speaking with them. We got here early."

"What do you plan to tell them?" Dr. Bloom asked. "How much do you know about Mal? Just what you've seen in the show?" She sat down on a waiting chair and crossed her legs.

"I've learned a lot more." Bridgette winced. "I know about how Mike developed DID in the first place."

"DI-what?" Geoff looked confused.

"He doesn't know." Bridgette looked sheepish. "Geoff, sweetie, this is kind of a private conversation..." She frowned. "Is there any way you could wait out in the golf cart until I come get you?" She asked.

"Yeah, I was getting kind of confused and bored..." Geoff said, kissing Bridgette before waving. "Just come whenever you want, I still have a lot of buttons on that thing to figure out." He grinned at the keys.

"Try not to break anything!" Bridgette called after him.

"Mike told you about his disorder?" Dr. Bloom looked shocked.

"No, actually..." Bridgette looked down so she wasn't looking the doctor in the eyes. "Noah was the one who figured it out. He reads a lot of psychology textbooks and he told me about it because he knew I was going to be meeting with the producers." She explained.

"Oh..." Dr. Bloom pursed her lips, unsure of how to react. "Well, while I am impressed Noah figured it out on his own, I think my word would rank above his."

"Fair." Bridgette admitted. "I think you would definitely be better at this than me."

"Well, if you're already talking to the producers, I'm going to have to insist you take me with you." Dr. Bloom said. "We both want to help Mike, so we have a common goal. I need access to the producers, you need someone they'll actually listen to, so I think it would be in both of our best interests." She smiled. "Sorry, I got a little... forced there." She laughed awkwardly.

"I understand." Bridgette laughed.

"Now...How many other people know?" Dr. Bloom asked nervously.

"I think Noah, Cody, Dawn and I are the only ones." Bridgette said. "Noah told Cody because..." She frowned. "I... I don't know... I don't really like to assume, but..."

"Noah is the Indian boy who kissed Cody, correct?" Dr. Bloom asked. "I... didn't really watch the show before Mike competed."

"Yes..." Bridgette smiled. "I think he might have told Cody just because Cody asked and he... yeah..." She trailed off. "And Dawn knows... I think she knows more than anyone else, maybe even more than Mike knows about himself." Bridgette said. "She... she's really psychic. I didn't believe it was true at first, but... she is."

"Dawn..." Dr. Bloom said, thinking. "She was rather odd, with her aura reading. I thought she might have just been reading the other campers diaries or somehow getting the knowledge."

"... I thought that too." Bridgette admitted. "But... she knows stuff. She..." Bridgette tried to think of an example. "She's gotten better at predictions. She'll tell you to take five steps to the left and five seconds later something will crash into the spot where you were." She said.

"Fascinating..." Dr. Bloom tried to pull a pencil out, but realized she didn't have one ready, and looked embarrassed by that.

"She just makes vaguely creepy comments about how Mal resents Mike and wants to kill Zoey just to see Mike's reaction..." Bridgette rubbed her arm and winced as she said the last part.

"I would be lying if I said I was shocked by that assessment." Dr. Bloom nodded. "It's fairly accurate, if what I've dealt with."

"And I talked to Duncan to find out more about how Mal was in Juvy." Bridgette finished.

"You've talked to Duncan? I thought he was in prison." Dr. Bloom looked confused.

"He is." Bridgette said.

"...What?" Dr. Bloom looked utterly lost.

"Izzy." Bridgette said simply.

"I'm going to assume that's an adequate explanation and not question it any further." Dr. Bloom tried to remain composed.

"It's easier that way." Bridgette smiled.

"So..." Dr. Bloom awkwardly paused, trying to change the subject. "You've managed to get this far along, so I'm assuming you have a plan for the meeting itself, correct?" She got a more formal and professional look on her face.

"... I would be lying if I didn't sort of expect to not get this far." Bridgette blushed.

"Why don't you check in with the receptionist as a start?" Dr. Bloom asked. "Don't want to upset her fragile ego." She whispered and they both smirked.

"You're probably right." Bridgette said. "I'll be right back." She nodded and got up, walking over to the receptionist, who was filing her nails again.

"What do you want?" The lady groaned.

"I'm here for my appointment with the producers?" Bridgette looked exasperated.

"You're gonna have to narrow that down for me, sweetie." The receptionist rolled her eyes.

"The one for today? The one that I scheduled literally three days ago with you?" Bridgette continued.

"You must be mistaken." The receptionist smirked. "Appointments can only be scheduled a week in advance."

"...But... But... You were the one who told me you could schedule an appointment for today!" Bridgette growled.

"I have no recollection of that occurring." The receptionist's grin got even wider. "Unless you can provide some evidence, I'm going to have to assume that you're lying."

"But-you-but-you-WHAT?!" Bridgette snapped, babbling like a moron. "How can you-what?" She backed up and walked back over to Dr. Bloom

"Are you ok?" Dr. Bloom looked concerned. "Take a deep breath in, then out." She instructed firmly, Bridgette doing so.

"But-I-but-gah!" Bridgette stammered. "What just happened?" She gaped. "I don't understand...I was here three days ago and she was perfectly happy to accept my reservation!" She growled.

"...Are you sure?" Dr. Bloom asked. "Did you perhaps forget to finish the process?"

"I don't know!" Bridgette said loudly. "All she did was say there was an opening in three days and typed something down and said the schedule was set!" She explained.

"Then she's got it on record." Dr. Bloom frowned. "Excuse me?" She walked back up to the receptionist. "May I ask what's scheduled for today at 2 PM?" She asked her politely.

"A meeting." The woman said.

"With who?" Dr. Bloom pressed.

"That's confidential information." The receptionist smirked again. "I couldn't possibly tell you." She shrugged.

"Is there anything that would change your mind?" Dr. Bloom pleaded.

"Are you trying to bribe me?" The receptionist asked.

"Possibly." Dr. Bloom said.

"Oh, there's nothing I want that you could give me." The receptionist smirked. "I would have told you if you hadn't asked that... ok, no I wouldn't have." She cackled at her own joke. "But I don't like you. So even if you had something I wanted, I wouldn't tell you." She said.

"You don't even know what I-" Dr. Bloom tried to keep calm, but she was starting to get annoyed.

"I know that I'm no longer listening to you." The receptionist growled.

"But-" Dr. Bloom began again.

"Not listening." The receptionist turned around and put her feet on her desk.

"This-This-I'll be back!" Dr. Bloom insisted as she realized this was getting nowhere fast. "This isn't over."

"Oh how I wish it was." The receptionist muttered to herself, rolling her eyes.

"I'm shocked you two are taking this so well, honestly." Noah set down a yellow card and grinned as both Izzy and Owen groaned.

"Why wouldn't we?" Owen asked as he pulled several cards out before he got a yellow one. "I mean, you're awesome!" He laughed.

"I don't know, I just pictured something a little different." Noah shrugged. "Well, actually, I pictured never telling you, but that's a bust."

"You can tell me anything!" Izzy grinned as she put down a blue card.

"No, not really." Noah said. "Also, you have to put down a card with a matching color or number."

"It matches!" Izzy said, annoyed. "That's a six, this is a six, give me the jackpot!" She growled, pointing at her card.

"That's a nine." Noah corrected her. "See the little bar?"

"That's just that weird little accent that you put on Spanish words!" Izzy insisted.

"That's called a tilde, and numbers don't have tildes." Noah said. "The little bar tells you whether it's a six or nine. Nines have the bar under the tail and sixes have the bar under the circle." He explained carefully as if he was talking to a five year old.

"... Gimme a second." Izzy said, grabbing the card and turning around. When she turned around, there was a sharpied underline on the nine. "Now can I put it on the pile?"

"...No." Noah groaned. "And now you've ruined Owen's cards."

"Don't worry, all my cards are..." Owen paused. "You know, covered in plastic?" He was stuck on the name.

"Laminated?" Noah suggested.

"Yeah, that." Owen smiled. "I have all of them like that because sometimes I put stuff in my pocket that get them covered in peanut butter."

"If I wasn't used to this I probably would be disgusted." Noah groaned, putting down a card. "But honestly I'm kind of impressed at the foresight there."

"Thanks!" Owen smiled obliviously as he did the same.

"What were we talking about?" Izzy asked, putting down a wildcard. "Oh, yeah! Why would you think you can't tell me your secrets! We're friends!" She looked actually a little hurt as she said this. "Oh, and... Red!" She added sheepishly when she realized she had to call a color out.

"So you're telling me that you wouldn't start waving rainbow flags whenever I walk in the room and catcalling whenever I talk to Cody?" Noah raised his eyebrows, putting another card down.

"..." Izzy made a deflating noise as she sheepishly put two flags back into her bra. "Ok, so nix the pride flags?"

"Nix the bringing it up ever." Noah groaned.

"...I guess..." Izzy frowned. "But can I keep the flags?"

"I don't even know where you got those." Noah said.

"I picked them up on the way back from prison!" Izzy giggled.

"...What have you been doing today?" Noah gaped.

"I helped Bridgette break into prison via the secret mole tunnels that the mutant mole rats built underneath both islands!" Izzy clapped.

"...I'm sorry I even asked." Noah's eye twitched. "Your turn, Owen." Noah said as Owen put down a matching card

"Uno!" Owen grinned as he realized he only had one left.

"Dos!" Izzy called out again, putting down another card.

"I thought we went over that already." Noah rolled his eyes, putting down a card. "There is no point in the game where you have to say dos."

"There's no place where it says I can't!" Izzy grinned.

"...Fair." Noah shrugged.

"I win!" Owen called out happily as he put down his last card, fist pumping. "Woohoo!"

"Congratulations." Noah clapped sarcastically. "You've beaten me at a children's card game. Surely no greater victory has ever been had." He rolled his eyes.

"Aw, come on, don't feel bad." Owen was, as always, completely oblivious to Noah's sarcasm.

"I can assure you that while on the outside I look utterly heartbroken," Noah's deadpan expression didn't change in the slightest. "On the inside I don't care."

"...Are you doing that sarcasm thing you told me about?" Owen paused.

"No." Noah tried to put as much sarcasm as he could into his sentence. "I am completely and entirely serious when I say I don't care."

"...You're doing it again." Owen scratched his head.

"Am I? I hadn't noticed." Noah couldn't stop himself. "Before you ask, that last part was definitely sarcasm." Owen lowered his hand as Noah said that.

"You know I'm not good with that stuff." Owen frowned.

"I'm sorry." Noah rolled his eyes, but it wasn't with the normal contempt or indifference.

"So, what are you gonna do about Sierra?" Izzy suddenly blurted out, startling Noah slightly.

"Almost forgot about that!" Owen laughed. "Man, that game of Uno took my mind off the whole thing!" He chuckled. "You know, the whole 'Sierra's gonna kill Noah for having a crush on Cody'?" He said.

"She's not going to kill me." Noah said shakily.

"She did go after Heather with a fracking drill because of a crappy photoshop job." Izzy said helpfully. "She might find one of those really loose lamps that Courtney chased Harold around with in the first season!" She added.

"...Who are you and what have you done with Izzy?" Noah looked suspicious. "You just said two sentences that were helpful, sane and completely void of impossibilities."

"Oh, you caught me!" Izzy gasped. "I'm really a space alien! There never was an Izzy in the first place! I've fooled you for three years and now I must return to my home planet!"

"My mistake, it's you." Noah said, frustrated.

"...So you replaced Izzy?" Owen looked worried. "Are we still dating?" He added.

"She's lying, Owen." Noah rolled his eyes.

"...So what are we gonna do about Sierra?" Owen asked.

"...I have no idea." Noah groaned. "I'm doomed."

"That woman is evil." Dr. Bloom growled, glaring at the receptionist.

"Agreed." Bridgette nodded.

"Why doesn't she understand how dangerous Mal is?" Dr. Bloom frowned.

"I don't know." Bridgette said. "I think as long as she's safe she's ok with all the terrible things she's allowing to happen."

"She's rude, but I don't think you need to say it that way." Dr. Bloom said, raising her eyebrows. "It is her job." She said. "Sometimes people do things they don't approve of because they can't afford to lose their job."

"...I guess..." Bridgette sighed. "But that doesn't change the fact that she's being a jerk." She said.

"True." Dr. Bloom said. "We need a plan." She frowned.

"And you need to plan it somewhere where I can't hear everything you're saying!" The receptionist smirked as both of them looked startled as they realized she had heard them talking.

"Want to go outside and plan in the golf cart?" Bridgette asked Dr. Bloom.

"...Golf cart?" Dr. Bloom blinked.

"Rocket powered golf cart." Bridgette nodded.

"...That just raises further questions." Dr. Bloom said. "Is it safe?" She added.

"...Relatively." Bridgette mumbled. "When it's not in motion, anyway."

"...You're not being very reassuring, just so you know." Dr. Bloom smiled weakly, getting up and opening the door. "Well, come on, then?"

"We'll be back." Bridgette said ominously to the receptionist as she walked out, the receptionist rolling her eyes again.

"...What... is... that?" Dr. Bloom had stopped in her tracks, Bridgette bumping into her. She pointed at the golf cart, which no longer resembled one, it looked more like a hodgepodge of lights, lasers, and loud dubstep music.

"GEOFF!" Bridgette yelled at her boyfriend, straining to be heard over the obnoxious deep bass tones.

"Oh, hey babe!" Geoff turned off the music and waved. "I thought you were going to call me!" He looked slightly confused.

"What did you do to the cart?" Bridgette gaped at the modifications that had happened. It honestly looked like someone had asked their five year old to draw a battlewagon and then added guns.

"I just started pressing random buttons and this stuff popped out!" Geoff looked absolutely thrilled. "This thing comes with a flamethrower and laser beams!" He grinned. "Wanna see?" He was about to press a button before Bridgette and Dr. Bloom stopped him.

"NO!" Both of them said.

"Ok, ok, jeez, it's not that big a deal!" Geoff pressed another button and most of the ridiculous add ons retracted.

"...Where did you even get this?" Dr. Bloom looked stunned.

"Izzy." Bridgette said again.

"You keep saying that as if it's an answer to my question." Dr. Bloom said, annoyed.

"It's the best answer I have." Bridgette admitted. "We got it from Izzy. Why is it a battle wagon? Because Izzy made it that way. Why did she make it that way? Because she's Izzy. Every question leads to another, so it's just easier to shrug and accept it."

"...I'd push further, but we have more important things to do." Dr. Bloom sighed. "We need to get past the receptionist!"

"Couldn't you just, like, walk past her?" Geoff asked. "You scheduled an appointment, so just walk in." He said simply.

"If we did that, she could kick us out and we'd have no chance of getting in after that." Bridgette explained. "We need to get her to let us in."

"Have you tried bribing her?" Geoff asked. "That's how I got into clubs when I was 15. I'm sure it would work on her."

"...Dr. Bloom offered, but she refused." Bridgette frowned.

"Bummer." Geoff frowned. "Usually bouncers go for the money."

"Well, she didn't let me finish the offer, so I never got to negotiate." Dr. Bloom added. "She cut me off before I could even ask what she would be willing to trade."

"And we kind of got off on the wrong foot." Bridgette looked sheepish. "We got a little confrontational."

"Never piss off the bouncer, babe. First lesson of sneaking in anywhere." Geoff said. "Or is 'don't get caught' the first rule?" He mused. "Huh, I've got to write that down sometime."

"Focus." Bridgette said, impatient.

"Sorry, babe, so, you were saying?" Geoff apologized.

"We could try again, but offer money. She did say she only gets paid ten dollars an hour." Dr. Bloom offered helpfully. "She would be more receptive to our deal if we actually get to offer something.

"There's only one problem. I don't have any money."Bridgette stuck her hands in her pockets and frowned again.

"I do." Dr. Bloom said, pulling her wallet out of her pocket. "I was going to use it for the cab ride home, but this is more important."

"We could drop you off at a bus stop, you know." Geoff said. "I saw one on the way."

"...That would be nice." Dr. Bloom smiled. "Thank you."

"Just, uh... This thing has a low speed of fifty miles an hour." Geoff winced. "You ok with that?"

"I've driven in slow cars before. I own one." Dr. Bloom smiled.

"No, I mean that you can't get it to go below fifty miles an hour." Geoff corrected her.

"How..." Dr. Bloom realized what she was about to ask and stopped. "Are there seatbelts?"

"Nope." Bridgette said. "I asked that too. The only safety precaution this thing had was a barf bag, and..." She trailed off. "That's gone."

"...It's worth it if we can save Mike." Dr. Bloom looked determined.

"I'm beginning to think you two don't have any faith in my driving." Geoff grumbled. "I got you here safe, didn't I?"

"We're sorry." Bridgette smiled and kissed Geoff on the cheek. "We just want to be safe, it's not anything you did, babe. The golf cart's just... completely insane and unsafe."

"Ok, that's true..." Geoff smiled, unsure.

"I think you should go first." Dr. Bloom said. "I got on her bad side, I think it would be better if you tried."

"I don't think she has a bad side." Bridgette said. "More like a bad side and a worse side."

"Fair." Dr. Bloom laughed slightly. "Let's go, then." She smiled.

"Am I coming to the meeting?" Geoff interrupted. "I just wanna check, cause it seems like you two have got it covered without me."

"I think you'd rather play with the golf cart than sit through a meeting with the producers." Bridgette said.

"Yeah, you're right." Geoff laughed nervously. "Are you cool with that?"

"Of course I am!" Bridgette assured him.

"Bridgette, if we don't hurry, we'll be late." Dr. Bloom said, trying not to look impatient.

"Sorry." Bridgette apologized. "See you, babe." Bridgette waved goodbye before following Dr. Bloom back into the office.

"Ok, so there are two options here." Noah said, more to himself than his friends. "Run away and hide, in which case Sierra will tell Cody and he'll never want to speak to me again..." He put one finger up. "And telling Cody myself, in which, he'll probably still never want to speak to me again ."

"I think you're being silly." Owen smiled. "Cody's your friend! When has telling your friend you have a crush on them ever gone wrong?"

"...If I didn't know you better I would be annoyed with your sarcasm." Noah said.

"You know I don't understand that stuff!" Owen scratched his head.

"And that's why I'm not mad." Noah nodded.

"Noah, no jokes here, tell him." Izzy suddenly looked serious. "If you don't tell him yourself, Sierra will. And Sierra's loco in the coco! She's probably gonna give him the wrong ideas!"

"...You continue to amaze me with your lack of your usual antics." Noah raised his eyebrows, impressed.

"Secret Cupids always are serious about love." Izzy nodded solemnly. "I've waited two years for this moment."

"...You've been plotting since the episode?" Noah said.

"Of course!" Izzy grinned.

"I don't know why I didn't just assume that." Noah groaned.

"I don't know why either!" Izzy laughed. "I'm pretty predictable; I wake up, blow up stuff, work on my battle wagon/golf cart, make out with Owen, visit prison, blow up stuff again, set fire to something, do variations of the other things, communicate with my home planet, go to sleep." She giggled..

"Yeah, that's totally predictable." Noah rolled his eyes.

"My favorite part is the making out." Owen giggled sophomorically.

"Secret Cupid says you need to tell Cody right now." Izzy insisted, lifting Noah to his feet. "If Noah doesn't go on his own, Secret Cupid will drag you there herself."

"I'm going, I'm going." Noah began to walk over, before Izzy jumped in front of the exit. "I thought you said that you wanted me to go!"

"I'm coming with you!" Izzy insisted.

"Yeah, no." Noah tried to push her aside, but she stood firm.

"If you run into Sierra, you think you can defend yourself on your own?" Izzy frowned. "She's gonna tear you apart!"

"You continue to make intelligent and sane points. You're starting to make me worried." Noah said sarcastically. "Come on then. We'll be back, Owen." He said to Owen, who nodded and saluted as if he was Brick.

"I'll be at the minibar!" Owen grinned. "Have fun!"

"Ooh, where do you think he is?" Izzy clapped, following Noah into the elevator. "I bet he's talking with his alien clones!"

"It's a testament to how screwed up my life is that I know you aren't making that up." Noah groaned as he pushed the button.

"Noah, you forgot to press two buttons at once!" Izzy whined. "Now it's going to stop at every floor along the way!"

"That's the point, Izzy." Noah looked annoyed. "Look, if anyone comes in, we can ask them if they've seen Cody, alright?"

"But I thought this was a Secret Cupid job." Izzy said. "We wander around aimlessly and by sheer coincidence we bump into Cody and you accidentally kiss again!" She grinned.

"No. Just. No." Noah shook his head. "The plan is to find Cody before Sierra does. And I don't want you doing anything to mess it up!" He snapped, clearly fed up.

"Noah, are you infected with some kind of rage inducing bug that turns you into a giant jerk?" Izzy asked, Noah's eye twitching. "Do they have those? Do you think that's why Heather and Jo are so mean? Ooh, what if they-"

"They don't!" Noah said sharply. "I'm just tired of dealing with you! I like you, Izzy, I really do, but do you have any idea how hard it is to deal with you?" He didn't let her finish. "I don't have time for these crazy antics!"

"Well-" Izzy was about to say something, but the elevator dinged as it passed a floor. "Wow, these elevators take forever to go down." She said.

"Probably rigged." Noah commented, just as the door opened and they found themselves staring awkwardly at Alejandro and Heather, who pulled out of their embrace, embarrassed. "...Uh..." Neither of them could think of anything to say.

"..." Heather blushed and the silence as they walked into the elevator. "We were, uh, we-"

"There is no reason to hide it now, Mi Amor." Alejandro got a devious look in his eyes and he smirked. "Heather and I have finally settled our differences and we are together." He grinned as Heather sputtered in shock as he said that, as if she wasn't expecting him to say it.

"Took you long enough!" Izzy laughed. "Hey, have either of you seen Cody?" She asked. "Noah's-" She paused as Noah raised his eyebrows and tried not to glare. "-I mean, have you seen Cody?"

"Why would I care where that dweeb is?" Heather snapped. "I have better things to do with my time than monitor your little geekfriend, Noah." She rolled her eyes as Alejandro winked at her as she said the word 'do'.

"Geekfriend?" Noah asked flatly.

"Figure it out yourself." Heather snapped, the elevator stopping at the next floor. "Jeez, what took this thing so long?" She asked as the elevator doors opened and she grabbed Alejandro by his good arm, the other still in the cast. "Come on, we need to talk." She said, annoyed but blushing as Alejandro kept the smug smirk on his face.

"Ten bucks says talk means make out after yelling at him for five seconds." Izzy called just loud enough for Heather to hear, only seconds to spare as Heather turned around just as the doors closed. "Yeah, that's totally gonna happen." She grinned.

"...I have no comment." Noah said, smirking slightly. "I'm keeping that for the blackmail material."

"I think the elevator's speeding up." Izzy said as there was another ding. "Isn't it weird that there are only two of these in the whole hotel? Do you think someone kidnapped them?"

"I bet it's entirely Chris's idea. Only two elevators means that everyone is forced to take the elevator with another person." Noah suggested. "Cramped elevators are always uncomfortable." He continued. "Uncomfortable people are better for ratings. He probably wants us to go all 'Lord of the Flies' and fight each other for dominance." He snarked.

"...Wanna fight each other for dominance?" Izzy said, after a short pause where Noah realized his mistake.

"No, not in the slightest-" Noah was about to continue, but another ding was heard as the doors quickly opened. Standing right in front of them was Katie, her chubby twin mysteriously absent. There was only a second of awkward silence before Katie got in. "-Hello." Noah said awkwardly.

"Hi!" Katie grinned. "What'cha doing?" She asked perkily.

"We're on a quest to find Cody!" Izzy grinned, and Katie gasped.

"Oh my gosh I knew it!" Katie grinned. "Noah does have a crush on Cody!"

"How is it that everyone assumes that and yet no one has mentioned it?" Noah looked exasperated. "I mean, really? Really?"

"It's ok, Noah!" Katie smiled. "I told Sadie you did and now she'll totally have to believe me!"

"I-I-Ugh." Noah groaned, broken. "Have you seen him?" He asked, shaking his head to clear his thoughts.

"Oh yeah, I have!" Katie nodded quickly. "He was headed to the pool!"

"Are you kidding me?" Noah gaped at her, before gritting his teeth. "That was where I started off! He was heading there in the first place?"

"Look at the bright side, Nono!" Izzy grinned. "Katie's heading down there too! And now we can take the express lane!" Izzy pushed Katie aside just as she was about to press the button, instead pressing the same buttons as she did the first time.

"Heeey!" Katie squealed. "What was that for?"

"Izzy found a way to make the elevator go to whatever floor you like without stopping for passengers." Noah explained.

"Oooh, that is so fetch!" Katie giggled.

"No one has ever said fetch besides you and Sadie." Noah growled.

"It's our little in joke, obviously." Katie rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't understand a boy getting it."

"Ooh, I get it, like picklefishlips!" Izzy laughed. "Me and Noah say that all the time and no one ever gets it!"

"I have not, nor will I ever say picklefishlips." Noah said.

"You just did!" Izzy booped his nose. "Now it's a thing!"

"Ok...?" Katie looked weirded out, rushing out the door as soon as it opened. "Have fun finding Cody!" She called back quickly.

"...What are the odds that she tells everyone on the Playa?" Noah asked Izzy.

"Twenty halves and three quarters percent." Izzy nodded sagely.

"Every once and a while I mistake your ramblings for actual coherent thought." Noah said. "But then you open your mouth again and the feeling passes."

"You might wanna get that checked out." Izzy smiled as both of them walked out of the elevator and turned the corner.

"I should, shouldn't I?" Noah smirked.

"Hey-" Izzy stopped in her tracks, pointing ahead. "Noah, look!"

"What is i-" Noah turned back to look at her, right before he slammed right into someone. As he looked at the unlucky victim of his clumsiness, he recognized a brunette, gap toothed smile. "Fuck." Noah groaned.

This was going to be harder than he thought.

"This is going to be harder than I thought.." Bridgette said to Dr. Bloom. She had only walked up to the counter, and the receptionist didn't even let her speak before turning away from her.

"Let me try." Dr. Bloom said. "We've got to be fast, I'm fairly sure there's not much time left." She smiled as Bridgette nodded. She walked up to the receptionist.

"I don't care what you're about to say." The receptionist rolled her eyes.

"What if I... made the offer with a little more incentive?" Dr. Bloom pulled out her wallet.

"What are you offering?" The receptionist turned around almost as soon as the wallet exited Dr. Bloom's purse.

"Twenty dollars." Dr. Bloom interrupted her.

"Thirty." The receptionist countered.

"Twenty and two packs of cigarettes tomorrow." Dr. Bloom said, pushing over the twenty.

"Deal." The receptionist grinned as she snatched the money from Dr. Bloom's hands. "Bridgette's appointment is in five minutes."

"...That was disappointingly easy." Bridgette said after Dr. Bloom returned.

"Disappointingly easy is much better than frustratingly difficult." Dr. Bloom smiled. "Easy wins are much better than impossible challenges."

"Yeah, you're right, but a little part of me was hoping for some kind of mission impossible type charade." Bridgette looked sheepish.

"I suppose that would be fun in theory." Dr. Bloom smiled. "But could you really have pulled it off within five minutes?"

"No..." Bridgette frowned. "I guess it was pretty silly." She laughed.

"It's ok, everyone has silly thoughts." Dr. Bloom laughed as well. "Excuse me, one last thing?" She asked the receptionist.

"Make it quick." The receptionist was filing her nails.

"Where is the producers meeting room?" Dr. Bloom asked.

"Floor five, six doors down on the right hand side." The receptionist said. "If you don't bring me the smokes by tomorrow, I will find you and I will make your life hell." She growled.

"I will." Dr. Bloom assured her as she put her wallet back into her purse and walked down to the corridor, waiting for Bridgette to follow. "We're in." She grinned.

"Ok, I'll leave most of the Mal stuff to you, but I have some things to ask about as well." Bridgette said. "I have it in good confidence that the final challenge will put the voted off contestants into balloons that will come undone and send them flying off into the sky. I'm going to stop that."

"...If I hadn't watched the show I would have disbelieved you." Dr. Bloom said, both of them getting into the elevator. "Fifth floor, here we come."

"What do you think is up with the receptionist?" Bridgette asked as they waited for the elevator to carry them up. "She's so... callous."

"She's probably been desensitized to the pleas of others." Dr. Bloom suggested."This show has hurt a lot of people, and I would wager she gets people pleading for help fairly often. Eventually you just get worn down. It's why doctors and nurses working in administrative positions tend to be less than friendly. It's not that they hate you, it's just that they deal with so much pain and suffering that they have to stop caring or they'll go crazy..." She trailed off. "Or she could just be a jerk." She smiled lightly.

"I guess you have a point." Bridgette said. "Or she could be both." She smirked as well, just as the elevator doors dinged open. "Are you... ready?" She tried not to look scared.

"I'm more prepared than I was before." Dr. Bloom said. "I'll let you start and introduce me. They already know you."

"...O-ok." Bridgette steeled herself as they reached the door to the meeting room. She gulped. How was it possible that this was the most terrifying thing to her that had happened all day, when she had not hours earlier dived into a deep, dank, poorly lit tunnel with a pyromaniac on the FBI's most wanted list, to break into a prison. Retrospectively, her life was getting weirder by the day. "I'm prepared as I'll ever be." She assured herself, opening the door slowly.

"Oh, hello, Bridgette." She suddenly found herself staring down the entire board of producers, including the one who she had seen during the second episode. "We were expecting you one minute earlier." He narrowed his eyes.

"I would have been here sooner if your receptionist hadn't made us bribe her to even admit I had an appointment." Bridgette glared slightly.

"...We'll have a talk with Tanya." The producer frowned. "Who's that behind you?" He asked, staring at Dr. Bloom, Bridgette stepping aside to let her walk up.

"My name is Dr. Nadia Bloom." Dr. Bloom said. "I am Mike's therapist and I have come to object to the continued lack of action against Mal."

"Well we didn't realize you would be bringing along a professional." The producer raised his eyebrows, ignoring Nadia. "Some prior warning would have been prudent."

"I... I picked her up along the way." Bridgette said sheepishly.

"I was in the office attempting to get a meeting with you either way. Bridgette asked me to come along." Nadia said simply.

"Well, this meeting already isn't a normal one, why don't we just let everyone join in. One big party in here like we don't have anything better to do." The producer groaned.

"Uh, sir-" One of the other producers began.

"That was sarcasm!" The main producer growled.

"Sorry, sir..." The other producer sighed.

"What do you want, Bridgette? Tanya didn't brief us on your grievances." The producer turned back to Bridgette.

"I have it in good confidence that Chris is going to be using the previous competitors in a challenge that will endanger them." Bridgette said

"...That's the show's description." The producer rolled his eyes. "Chris tortures you for his and our amusement and profit."

"... You know, as soon as I said that I realized who I was talking to." Bridgette groaned.

"So exactly why should we put a stop to this challenge exactly?" The producer asked, clearly sarcastic and annoyed.

"..." Bridgette paused as she realized she was drawing a blank. She just couldn't think of a reason that would convince them. All they cared about was ratings... and that's when it hit her. "Ok, let me put it into words that you'll understand; If twelve out of fourteen contestants are dead, what will the ratings be for the fans of these contestants?" She felt a little sick saying it that way, but she had their attention.

"Hmm..." One of the more minor producers looked convinced, but she said nothing.

"Lindsay has a lot of male fans. All of whom would turn off if you didn't keep her around. Sam, well, Dakota's not going to be happy if he's gone, and you know she's strong." Bridgette continued. "Jo and Brick have a significant fanbase and may or may not have kissed on the floor recently." Several other producers perked up slightly. "Consider the ratings you could exploit from that. If Jo isn't around, you can't. Heather and Alejandro as well, both as a couple and separately, they both have a huge fanbase. They both cause extreme drama, with each other and every contestant." She added. "Sierra is the most connected to the fans. She runs over 30 fanblogs for every aspect of the show and she keeps the fanbase centered." She continued. "If you let Chris do this challenge, the show will likely lose more ratings from fans than the danger would raise the ratings." She concluded, the silence almost deafening. Most of the producers were either gaping or scribbling in their own notes. She felt like there was a spotlight shining down on her as she stood there, waiting for them to speak.

"...Exactly what is this challenge that Chris wants to do?" The producer broke the silence, steepling his fingers.

"He plans to trap all of the All Stars contestants in hot air balloons that will come untied and start floating off into the sun if we don't stop him." Bridgette said.

"Do you know why he's supposedly doing it?" The producer asked again, the other producers nodding or discussing quietly with each other about what she was saying.

"I..." Bridgette faltered. "I don't have the full information on why he'll be doing it, but I know he will." She finished. Dr. Bloom gave her a small smile and thumbs up, trying to stay out of it.

"And exactly what proof do you have that this is in fact going to happen?" The producer narrowed his eyes.

"...This is the part where you're going to stop believing me." Bridgette said.

"Oh, I assure you, we're not convinced in the first place." The producer scoffed and most of them laughed a little.

"I found out from Dawn." Bridgette said, and everyone in the room looked incredulous.

"Dawn. You've come all the way here because of what a psychic girl told you? Really?" The producer scoffed.

"I know." Bridgette said. "But I can't risk the chance that she's right. If I didn't stop Chris and I could have, I don't know what I'd do."

"So, what, we call Chris and tell him to stop a challenge that he might not be doing on secondhand information from a psychic?" He asked again.

"Do you have anything to waste on it?" Bridgette said. "Just ask him."

"Well, if we do, you're going to be the one asking." He said. "I'm not making an ass out of myself if this is all completely bull."

"I can deal with that." Bridgette nodded. "But before we do, I think you should talk with Dr. Bloom." She looked over at Nadia, who stepped forward slightly.

"I suppose if we have to." The producer shrugged and the rest of them gave a defeated sigh.

"So, you're Mike's therapist?" One of the other producers spoke up.

"Yes, that's what I said." Nadia tried not to look annoyed at him. "I trust you understand just how dangerous Mal is?"

"Dr. Bloom, you are aware that during the first season there was a legitimate escaped psychopath with a chainsaw running around, that we have brought back onto the show several times?" One of the other producers spoke up. "What makes Mal more dangerous than him?"

"The chainsaw killer is irrelevant." Dr. Bloom frowned. "What matters is that you know where Mal is and are endangering people right now. Whether or not you've put them in danger before isn't the issue here."

"We have no legal responsibility for the actions of our contestants as long as they were not provided tools for their mischief by our company." One of the people in the back spoke up.

"This isn't about legal responsibility, it's about you consistently allowing Mal to continue wreaking havoc on the island." Dr. Bloom stressed again. "You can't seriously tell me you don't realize how dangerous he is, can you?"

"He's a crazy psycho, what of it?" The main producer spoke up again. "We let Chris host our show"

"He's attempted to murder people several times already!" Nadia growled. "He broke Alejandro's wrist with his bare hands! Mal has only failed due to sheer dumb luck, and if you don't stop him, I'm sure he'll eventually succeed!" She said, getting more upset by the second.

"He's not our responsibility." The producer insisted. "There's nothing you can do to convince us to take him off the air. Since he appeared, viewers have nearly doubled and the ratings have gone through the roof! Mal is a fan favorite, we've already got hundreds of fan letters for him."

"Who would write a fan letter for Mal?" Bridgette gaped. "He's a psychopath!"

"An attractive psychopath with a deep voice and charming way of speaking. He's huge with the girls. Even more than Alejandro, surprisingly. We've been monitoring the internet and he's the biggest trend on the TD forums." The producer grinned. "He's the best thing that's happened to the show since... ever."

"You can't be seriously telling me that you're willing to let Mal kill the others for ratings?!" Nadia shouted. "I... I... How can you be this casual about it?"

"Simple. It's not our problem." The producer smirked.

"..." Dr. Bloom growled, trying to stop herself from exploding. "And there's nothing that could convince you to stop?"

"Short of suing, no." The producer said. "And suing is such a long and complicated process. The show would be over by the time we'd be in court." He smirked

"I'm going to." Dr. Bloom growled. "I don't care how long it takes."

"Yes, well, that's not what this meeting is about. You've aired your grievances." The producer said. "And therefore, we are done. Fill out the form, and Tanya will give you the standard package for first timers if you want to sue."

"I will." Dr. Bloom said. "Bridgette?" She turned to her cohort. "I believe I'm not of use for this meeting, since clearly the producers won't listen to reason."

"You know we're all standing right here, in earshot, right?" One of the meeker producers spoke up.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you any." Dr. Bloom said, ignoring the producer. "I'm more used to negotiating with people who actually care about safety." She glared over at the main producer, who shrugged, not caring in the least.

"Trust me, the only reason they're listening to me is because of the Aftermath show. I've had the most experience with them." Bridgette smiled. "It sounds like you're on the right path, at least."

"We'll regroup at the... whatever we should call that thing that vaguely resembles a golf cart." Dr. Bloom and Bridgette both laughed slightly as Dr. Bloom left.

"Ok, now that you've had a touching goodbye, are we actually going to watch you humiliate yoursel-" The other producer suddenly changed his tune after a small cough from the main one "-I mean, call Chris?"

"..." Noah was staring incredulously at Cody as he helped him up, unable to say anything.

"You ok, dude?" Cody asked him. "You just slammed into me out of nowhere."

"I was too busy keeping Izzy from doing something insane to focus on where I was going." Noah said, not entirely lying.

"Noaaah!" Izzy popped up behind him. "Aren't you going to say something?" She grinned madly, vibrating with excitement.

"She's acting... Izzier than normal." Cody said, backing up slightly. "What's up with her?"

"Noah has something to tell you!" Izzy giggled as she continued to jump up and down over and over. "Come on, Noah! Tell him tell him tell him tell him!"

"...Do you actually have something to tell me or is Izzy being... Izzy?" Cody asked, scratching his head in confusion.

"Uh..." Noah found himself unable to speak, although he wasn't blushing or babbling like a moron, luckily. He felt like his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth in a desperate attempt to keep him from making an ass out of himself. "Yes, I have to tell you something." He said, keeping calm.

"What's with the weird silence?" Cody asked. "Did you eat one of those weird candies Sierra was offering me earlier?" He said. "Cause I'm not entirely sure those weren't poisonous."

"No." Noah said, still stuck. He felt like a complete idiot as he stood there.

"If you don't tell him I will!" Izzy said, grinning. "And I really really want to tell him!"

"Tell me what?" Cody looked completely oblivious. "Dude, if you don't tell me, she's gonna tell me and I don't think she's gonna say what you want her to, whatever it is."

"Ok." Noah said. "But I'm not doing it in the middle of the hallway." He looked around.

"Where do you want to go, then?" Cody still looked utterly lost.

"Where's the nearest room with a door that's locked?" Noah looked around. "I don't hang out at the pool that much, so I don't really know." He admitted.

"I think there are some unused hotel rooms over there, but no one has the-" Cody began, but Izzy suddenly pulled out a giant ring of keys from her hair. "-I'm going to guess those are keys to the rooms." He deadpanned.

"Yep!" Izzy grinned. "You two crazy cats get to it! I'll be outside the door and I'm not letting you out until Noah tells you!" She said as she pushed them straight into a nearby room that she had somehow already had unlocked, slamming the door and leaving the two in pitch black darkness.

"Really?" Noah shouted. "Was that really necessary?"

"Yes!" Izzy shouted back.

"Ok, I'm going to find the lights." Noah said, fumbling around the room, frustrated at Izzy's sudden insanity... well, suddenly worse than normal. He found it quickly and turned the light on. Fortunately, the room wasn't anything out of the ordinary, although he couldn't say that was a surprise.

"So why exactly is she locking us up in a room?" Cody asked. "I mean, besides being Izzy."

"She thinks she's helping." Noah groaned. "She's decided that I need to tell you that I have feelings for you." He said, realizing only seconds after he said it that he had accidentally spilled it. He didn't try to take it back, though. It was what he was going to say anyway, so the method didn't matter.

"Wait... seriously?" Cody looked shocked, but tried not to show it.

"Yes." Noah said simply.

"...Wow." Cody looked slightly lost in thought. "I mean... that's... huh." He was stuck for words. "...How long?"

"Aren't you... I don't know, weirded out?" Noah asked, incredulous that his reaction was so low-key.

"...Noah. I've been inside Area 51. I've met a clone of myself that came out of a pod. I've dealt with Sierra for over a year. This is nothing." Cody said, reassuringly. "I mean, it's kind of awkward and confusing, but..." He trailed off, fiddling with his fingers. "I mean, it's just... weird."

"Trust me. I deal with Izzy all day. I'm weird by association." They both shared a small awkward chuckle before the silence swallowed the room again.

"...So..." Cody coughed. "... When? Why?"

"I guess it was your irresistible charm and wit." Noah rolled his eyes. "I mean, how suave is it when you trip over your own feet every five minutes?" He snickered. "...I don't know. I certainly can't think of any logical reasons for it. You're not especially attractive or charming or anything, and you've already established you're interested in girls. So I can't explain it." He smirked slightly as Cody looked embarrassed at the comments on his attractiveness. "And I figured it out around the time that TDA started. I started hanging around you and it just happened. And that's how I ended up losing my mind."

"Do you even have an off switch for sarcasm?" Cody asked, amused.

"No, I don't." Noah smirked. "It's a gift and a curse. Mostly the latter."

"You really do kind of bring it on yourself." Cody said. "And you didn't answer my question."

"You've caught me." Noah threw up his hands in mock defense. "I figured that the sarcasm would make you forget to ask. You've beaten my cunning diversion." He rolled his eyes.

"I'm waiting." Cody said, trying not to smile at his joke.

"When I really figured out was that one time... you know, the Celebrity Manhunt Special..." Noah trailed off. He hated how mind-numbingly idiotic he was sounding. He prided himself on not being caught up in emotional bullshit, but hormones were insane and stupid.

"...Yeah." Cody blushed slightly.

"I just... I don't even remember how it happened." Noah groaned. "We were sitting there and then the next thing I knew, my head was on your lap. I thought you'd throw me off." He blushed as he realized he was being stupid.

"I don't know why I didn't." Cody said, blushing, but it wasn't clear whether it was from embarrassment or affection. "It was... weird. I just let you."

"MAKE OUT ALREADY!" Izzy shouted from the other side of the door as both Cody and Noah froze and turned a bright shade of red.

"NO!" Noah yelled back.

"...Izzy, we're not going to make out." Cody called over.

"I'm not letting you two out until one of you kisses the other!" Izzy said. "Or at least finish your conversation about your girly crushes!" She added seconds later.

"Fine!" Noah called back.

"...So why are you telling me?" Cody tried to ignore the embarrassment that was making the back of his neck burn.

"I didn't even want to tell you," Noah groaned. "My plan was to just ignore it and keep being friends with you."

"So why did you?" Cody asked, confused. "You know, tell me?" He added, trying to make it clearer.

"Because I couldn't stop myself from a heartfelt confession of love." Noah rolled his eyes again. "Sierra found out." He explained.

"You know, you and Sierra were fighting a lot." Cody looked thoughtful. "I guess that kind of explains it."

"We weren't fighting that much." Noah looked defensive.

"Dude, I don't think you have held a full conversation with her without making a sarcastic comment about her sanity." Cody laughed slightly.

"She's a goldmine, what can I say?" Noah smirked. "I mean, Izzy's crazy, but the sarcastic comments get old, they're all some variation of 'what is even the hell?'." He looked at the door as if Izzy was able to see right through it.

"Thinking about it, how did I not notice this already?" Cody said incredulously.

"I'm just a master of sarcasm and emotionlessness." Noah smirked. "Either that, or you're just an oblivious idiot." He said, wincing as Cody gave him another light punch.

"You're a jerk." Cody said, pouting slightly.

"So we were actually doing something?" Noah said again.

"Yeah, I guess we were." Cody looked awkward again. "So Sierra found out? How are you not... you know..." He trailed off.

"A bloody smear on the pavement?" Noah said. "I have literally been hiding up on the roof for the last hour with Izzy and Owen." He laughed. "I'm hoping Eva will hold her up for a while. At least Sierra doesn't know these doors are unlocked."

"I think she can smell me. Like one of those tracking dogs, you know?" Cody laughed, but Noah didn't.

"I'm only not laughing because it's entirely plausible she is." Noah said, and Cody nodded.

"GET ON WITH IT!" Izzy called back. "I'M GETTING BORED AND I HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM!" She whined.

"What are we even supposed to do?" Cody asked. "How do you deal with her on a daily basis?" He whispered to Noah, who shrugged.

"Make out or something, I don't know, just do something romantic and actually talk about your feelings instead of joking!" Izzy shouted. "I want to see kissing or something!"

"...Uh... no." Noah said. "I'm not really in the mood to make out. Also, I've made a vow to never do anything you tell me to after the incident." He added.

"...So what do we do?" Cody asked. "What am I supposed to do?" He turned to Noah.

"Why don't we just pretend this never happened?" Noah asked.

"Normally, I would say yes, but... I don't know... I just have no idea." Cody said, tapping his fingers on the bed stand.

"Could we start with getting Sierra to not kill me?" Noah suggested. "We can have a girly heart to heart again later when I'm not in danger of being killed by a crazy fangirl." He shuddered.

"She's not that bad." Cody said, raising his eyebrow.

"She came after Heather with a fracking drill over a bad photoshop job of her resting on your shoulders." Noah said flatly. "She totally would."

"She's better now..." Cody tried to say, but Noah's unimpressed look made him falter. "Ok, she's actually kind of worse."

"You think?" Noah scoffed. "She thinks Cameron is you. Cameron. She mistakes a scrawny black kid with giant glasses and hoodie for you. She's gone insane."

"...Yeah. I need to do something about her." Cody rubbed his arm. "I need to figure out how to politely say 'I am never going to date you and you terrify me'."

"The bitter part of me is telling you to just outright say that, but I'm not sure Sierra wouldn't murder you over that." Noah said. "Now let's get out of here so we don't have to spend all day trapped in a room." Cody nodded as they both got up, both of them extremely awkward and blushing.

"Ok." Bridgette gulped and steeling herself.

"You're doing the talking." The producer said, dialing a number and putting it on speaker, before handing the phone over to Bridgette. "We don't want to look like idiots, but we're fine if you do."

"Are you going to use the video screen?" Bridgette gulped, staring at the TV on the wall that had only just now caught her attention.

"Yeah. Just talk into the phone. We couldn't afford the microphone set so it's just the phone." The meek producer spoke up helpfully.

"Thanks." Bridgette said, genuinely thankful. After seconds of dial tone, the screen flickered to life with Chris on the screen, filing his nails before he dropped the file in shock.

"Bridgette?" Chris gaped in shock as he recognized her. "Wha-"

"We need to talk." Bridgette folded her arms.

"How are you... I mean... what?" Chris stammered slightly.

"I need to talk to you about something important." Bridgette said sternly, keeping a firm face.

"Look, if this is about the interns, I'm telling you, it's not my fault! We used up all the flour and syrup on the food challenge, and someone ate all the ice cream in our freezer!" He whined, glaring off camera.

"My bad!" Chef called back.

"Chris." She growled, getting his focus again. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh... good!" Chris chuckled, grinning.

"Wait... what happened to the interns?" Bridgette paused, realizing what he was saying.

"Nothing!" Chris insisted. "They're fine!" He laughed. "I mean, relatively." He looked down. "They're still alive, anyway." He amended himself a second later.

"...What did you do to them?" Bridgette hissed.

"I'm telling you, nothing!" Chris said defensively. "I just kind of forgot to feed them... for the entire time they've been here. It's actually pretty funny." He chuckled evilly.

"Ugh." Bridgette groaned. "Listen to me; I need to talk about something else.

"What do you want? I'm in the middle of a challenge right now!" He said angrily.

"We need to talk about your plans for the finale." Bridgette said sharply. "The balloon one."

"How the-how did you find out about that?" Chris asked, incredulous. "I mean... I only ordered the balloons this morning!"

"That's not important." Bridgette said. "I'm here to tell you that the producers have changed their minds on allowing the challenge to proceed."

"How does that happen?" Chris looked annoyed. "Who told you? I didn't even tell the producers yet!" He asked accusatorily. "Was it one of the interns? Because-"

"Dawn." Bridgette said simply.

"Damnit, I knew getting a psychic on the show was going to go wrong eventu-." Chris cursed, as a sudden small fiery explosion interrupted him. "Hey, INTERN!" He called off-screen. "Go see what was up with that!" He waited for a second as some low moans of pain came from where Bridgette presumed the intern was. "I don't care if you can't move, do it or you won't get the sundae!" He said, and a defeated sigh told Bridgette everything she needed to know. "Ugh, interns. You forget to feed them for a week and suddenly they're 'too tired to move'." He mocked them with a whiny voice. "They're lucky they're the only ones we have." He growled.

"Chris. Focus." Bridgette growled.

"I told you, the balloons are completely safe as long as we tie them down!" Chris assured her. "You know, as long as the finalists miss them. Or in Cameron's case, in a bubble." He said. "And the toxic waste isn't radioactive this time. Had enough trouble with radiation last year." He grunted slightly. "It's just pure old chemical weapons grade acid. And I'm at least 20% sure that the lava is safe for human contact." He added.

"...What is this challenge even going to be?" She asked nervously.

"Picture it; three tier volcano, each level is its own hazard. Get to the top to get the million!" Chris grinned. "And the first level is filled with acid, the second with lava and the third with a guest appearance by Scott's favorite shark!" He cackled maniacally.

"Chris, you can't kill anyone this time!" Bridgette shouted.

"Sure I can, it's in their contracts!" Chris grinned.

"Chris." The main producer rudely grabbed the phone back from Bridgette. "We've assessed the danger and we think it would be best if you made the challenge... less dangerous."

"Whhhhy?" Chris turned on maximum whininess as he pouted angrily. "It's gonna be awesome!"

"Because if you kill everyone we won't have any contestants left!" The producer groaned. "Normally we'd let you do some insane things, but we can't just let you put them in balloons!"

"Why not? It's gonna be so brutal!" Chris protested.

"Because if you put them in balloons, we can't even see them die. If we're going to put them in danger we need to be able to have it all recorded on camera." The producer grinned maliciously. "And the volcano is nixed too. At least the acid and lava." He added.

"But... come on!" Chris groaned. "I already bought all the acid and the balloons will be coming in tomorrow? What am I supposed to do with them?"

"We don't care. Just fix the goddamned challenge, Chris." The producer growled flatly.

"Fiiine." Chris said dramatically. "Is that all? I have pain and suffering I'm missing over here!" He gestured somewhere unseen.

"Wait, one last thing!" Bridgette grabbed the phone from the producer. "Mal is a psychotic attempted murderer-" She was cut off.

"I know! It's awesome, right?" Chris looked excited. "Finally there's a psycho killer on the show and I don't even have to warn anyone!" He laughed happily.

"Chris!" Bridgette groaned. "You can't be serious that you want to keep Mal on the show, can you?" She asked, even though she knew the answer.

"...Well, he did trash the hotel where I'm orphaned without any of the basic necessities! The toilet paper is only five ply! That's basically sandpaper!" Chris got on a slight tangent before coughing and stopping. "But I don't like having it trashed because it's my house whether or not it's basically a dump. But I'm gonna show him! Even if he or Zoey win a night, I'm not letting him back in." He laughed. "Problem solved."

"No, problem not-" Bridgette began.

"Problem solved." Chris insisted. "Now, I've got to go get to the finish line before whoever wins wins!" He said quickly. "Chef, we've gotta go, now!" He said as the connection fizzled out.

"...Well... I have no idea what just happened." Bridgette said, stunned slightly. "I think I won... maybe?" She asked.

"Well, if you're done, can we end this?" The producer looked extremely bored.

"...I guess I don't have anything left to say." Bridgette felt like she wasn't done, but she didn't have anything else to do. "I thank you for your time." She said, although she didn't feel like thanking them.

"Ok, ok, just... go." The producer groaned. "I swear, next time we're going to get new contestants. Then we won't have to deal with all this fan loyalty shit." He commented to the other producers as Bridgette closed the door.

When Bridgette returned to the front office, she saw Nadia, still angrily filling out her forms, using her pencil as if she was trying to stab the paper. "Hey, Nadia." Bridgette said, shocking Nadia into snapping her pencil."Sorry about that." She said as she sat down next to her.

"I carry more than one pencil." Nadia said reassuringly. "This form is the devil. Or at least written by one." She held up the large stack of paper and grimaced at it. "Luckily I think I can finish this and mail it in." She smiled, getting up and forcing the mammoth of a form into her purse.

"Keep that thing closed shut." Bridgette said. "Just a bit of advice, I think Geoff's underestimating its lowest possible speed. I'd put it at 80 miles an hour."

"I'll be fine. I'm tough." Nadia smiled.

"Have a nice day, or whatever." Tanya commented. "Please go away and bring me smokes tomorrow. The rules have changed." She added.

"I will." Nadia rolled her eyes as she and Bridgette walked out into the parking lot.

"Hey, you're back!" Geoff grinned, getting out of the battle wagon, which seemed to have grown several new additions to its bizarre structure, a chainsaw and a lance jutting out at awkward angles, juxtaposed against the previous ridiculous lasers and flamethrowers. "I thought you two had ditched me or something." He admitted.

"We're sorry, babe." Bridgette smiled at her boyfriend. "Now get rid of the crazy stuff and let's go home before someone calls the cops about this thing." She smiled as she got into the battle wagon, the weapons already retracting. She motioned for Dr. Bloom to sit beside her, and Geoff got into the driver's seat.

"So how'd it go?" Geoff asked, stalling.

"Well, I have a fifty page form to fill out to sue the show." Dr. Bloom said, opening her purse so Geoff could see the forms.

"Wow." Geoff looked at the page. "That's a lot of really fancy words." He gaped.

"And I got the producers to call Chris and we talked it out.' Bridgette said, surprising Dr. Bloom and Geoff.

"How did you do that?" Dr. Bloom asked, incredulous. "Chris is a..." She tried to keep calm. "Well, he's a... soulless monster." She couldn't stop herself.

"Agreed." Bridgette nodded. "But he said fine. And while normally I would question that, Chris listens to the producers. He might complain, but generally, he does." She frowned. "So I think we won."

"Dude, Babe, that's so cool!" Geoff grinned. "High five!" He raised his hand and Bridgette did so.

"...You know, I've been wondering..." Bridgette said suddenly. "How come we say high five?"

"...What do you mean?" Geoff looked at his hand. "Seems pretty simple."

"...Geoff, we have four fingers." Bridgette said. "So why do we say high five?"

"...That's... huh." Geoff blinked. "Man, that's trippy. You got an answer, doc'?" Geoff looked at Dr. Bloom, who shrugged as well.

"I've never thought about it." Dr. Bloom said. "I don't really think it matters." She added.

"True." Geoff said, turning the key in the golf cart. "So, you got that purse zipped up?" He asked Dr. Bloom, who quickly tightened her purse's straps and zippers before clasping it around her waist.

"I'm ready." Dr. Bloom nodded, clutching at the seat, prepared for anything.

"You ready, Bridge'?" Geoff turned to his girlfriend, who nodded as well.

"Get ready to see if this thing can get us to a bus stop in five minutes or less!" Geoff grinned as he slammed his foot into the pedal, sending them rocketing forth at speeds that no human should reasonably consider going at.

The answer was yes.

AN;... I don't know if I have the strength to do a authors note for this. I'm just so ashamed of myself for taking so long that I'm terrified to even post this. My stomach hurts and I feel like vomiting just from the sheer terror of posting this. I'm terrified that I rushed this even though it's 30,000 words. I'm terrified that this is terrible. I'm afraid of hate. I'm afraid of all the people I've disappointed by taking so long. There's no excuse for how long this took. Sure, a week or two was simply my life happening in ways that made it impossible for me to work on it, but it's been, what, three months? Either way, I apologize. I'm sorry to the fans on tumblr who I got annoyed at for asking about how long it would take. I'm sorry for the people who have been patient. And of course, I'm sorry that I feel terrible about this, because I know none of you want me to be miserable. So, with that out of the way... Happy birthday, Mom. My family knows how long it's taken and how nervous I am, so they've decided that no matter how rushed, I have to post it. Apparently it's my mom's birthday present/blackmail. So if it's rushed... well, at least I continued it.
Today's questions for everyone! In order of events; Who exactly was it who set Noah's clock to 7:30? (Either Cody or Izzy) Will Cody keep quiet about Mike's secret? (Yes, probably) What exactly happened to him that gave him his disorder? (I don't plan to write it, I don't have enough experience and I'm not going to dive into topics I'm not comfortable with) Exactly how much does Noah know, and did he tell them everything? (Hmm...) Manitoba and Dawn interaction in ROTI? (Expect it) Is Dawnt the cutest pairing in the history of ever? (yes) Cody's parents are fucking awful, aren't they? (seriously they've forgotten his birthday so often that he himself forgets, that's fucked up.) Exactly how much pain is Noah in for? (a lot) Why does Dawn not have a goddamn filter on what she says? (hint; it's called isolation and obliviousness) For that matter, how deep does Trent's new connection with Dawn and her abilities go? (To be explored in the sequel) Is Bridgette on her period and would that explain her testiness? (I'm not saying either way, it's irrelevant) What the hell is Izzy's backstory, anyway, and is she lying about the Squirrel Scouts? (...It's sad that I have no idea, and I wrote it) How long has Izzy spent in those tunnels? (probably a week or two of combined hours) Will these tunnels ever come into play during the finale? (GODDAMNIT I GAVE IT AWAY) Why does she have tunnels under every cell? (I have no idea) Why is Duncan so fucking calm about the secret tunnels? (The appearance of Izzy kind of tells you that asking questions will have no good answer) Whatever happened to Mal? (I'm keeping that secret till someday) What did he do to the kid that is rumored to have committed suicide? (He didn't.) Why hasn't Duncan called his old Juvy buddies? (Lack of time and forgetting) Did he really carve things into another guy? (Once that I can confirm. It was... well, that's another story for another time.) Should I draw Dawnt's first kiss? Where did Izzy get that golf cart? How fast can it go? What other things are hiding in it? Will Dr. Bloom succeed with her lawsuit? Will Chris listen to the producers for once? (sadly we all know the answer to this one...) Will Cody and Noah ever figure out what they feel about each other? (probably?.. they're boys, so it might not, but... IDK) Will Cody ever get to tell Sierra that he's not interested? And finally, one you've all been asking, something I want to nip in the bud; Will I do Pahkitew Island?...Yes I will, after the ROTI prequel.
Please don't hate it i've already almost had a mental breakdown over clicking submit I don't think me and my anxiety disorder can handle criticism right now.