Okay. Like I said, I'm deviating here. You'll probably be able to tell by the first paragraph. Thanks for reviewing, IllusionSign.

The flight was okay. Courtney had decided to go the quick route to making it clear that she and Duncan were finished, and then go to the ignoring. She'd simply slapped him hard and then walked away. I met her in the cargo hold again, and she told me "What I really wanted to do was dump Chef's airline food on his head and hit him where it hurts, but I figured I'd already humiliated myself enough."

"You're doing great." I told her kindly. "Just make like they don't exist for the rest of the game and you'll be fine."

After that, it was clear that Courtney now thought of us as friends. The cargo hold was a haven where no one else went (although I could have sworn I saw a red-eyed figure there at one point), so if I talked to Courtney in there, she could cry and no one would hear her. I was still as friendly as ever with Duncan (he didn't mean for Courtney to get as hurt as she did) and I wasn't ever going to break friends with Gwen (she clearly was ashamed of herself for kissing Duncan before he broke up with Courtney and although she was no longer friendly with Courtney, she clearly wished she could be), but Courtney needed support, and although Sierra and Heather were on her side, they weren't enough. Courtney confided to me that Sierra was too easily distracted, and after letting her cry for one night, Heather's focus was back on the game (I was impressed that Heather had been that nice at all – hey, take what you can get).

My biggest issue, though, was not with Courtney. Of course Alejandro was going to notice that I'd been avoiding him, and halfway through the flight, he said "Stephanie, may I speak with you for a few minutes, alone?"

"Okay." I said uneasily, following him out of the Economy class section and into the (now deserted) common area.

"You've been avoiding me, haven't you?" he said, straight to the point. "I don't understand why."

I kept my gaze to the floor and mumbled "I don't know. Maybe it was because you made Tyler tell Duncan and Gwen's secret. You heard their song – you knew something was going on, you knew it would hurt Courtney."

"But I wouldn't have done it if not for how close the game was." Alejandro said. "You had no problem when I caused DJ to be eliminated. I have nothing against Team Amazon, truly. I just wanted our team to win."

"By any means necessary." I said bitterly, finally looking back at him. "Every letter I've had from my friends and family warned me, but I didn't listen to them because I wanted to think the best of you." I scowled. "But how can I think the best of you with everything you've done this season?"

"Give me a chance to explain, please." Alejandro implored, his voice still level. "I came into this competition as a competitor, not a person. Emotions didn't matter because I was playing a game, and I'm still playing it. Everyone else on this plane is playing the game – but with varying levels of focus. Courtney is obviously letting herself be ruled by her emotions more than her desire to win." He sighed, when my face remained stony.

"Stephanie, I'm sorry." he tried.

"No, you're not." I snapped. "If you're going to say anything, tell the truth. Okay, fine, so the only reason you act the way you do is because you're playing a game. So, that would mean that the only reason you've been nice to anyone on our team was because it makes the game easier. So why try to gain my approval with your sneaky, totally unfair tactics? And don't tell me that it's because you like me, because my little sister's emails said you said the same thing to Bridgette."

"But that wouldn't be a lie." Alejandro said softly. "I like everyone on this plane, but I cannot let myself get close to any of them. That's why I may have caused Bridgette and Leshawna to be eliminated so early – besides that, I know perfectly well that Bridgette is in a relationship, and that Harold has been pining after Leshawna for seasons, and that she likes him back, to a degree." He looked me dead in the eye. "I do like you, Stephanie. Why wouldn't I? You're beautiful, smart, a talented artist, unafraid to speak your mind...and I'm not going to eliminate you for as long as we're on the same team. If I do cause you to be eliminated after the merge, I apologize in advance, but meanwhile, I hope we can remain friends." He touched my hand gently, and I didn't pull away.

"When you say you like me, you mean..." I mumured.

"More than the other contestants." Alejandro answered. "It would be best if I didn't say any more than that. My point is, everything I do that may be considered less than noble is simply in the nature of the game."

Finally, I couldn't take it. I smiled back. "Okay, I get you. I'll keep the game in mind from now on." And there I was, back to my crush on him. But still, in the darkest corners of my mind, I couldn't still like him the same way I had. And I didn't want to let him pull all the tricks he had previously.

After all that social stuff in the game, I thought the actual challenge would be all too easy. But let's be honest, we don't have that kind of luck. The plane started juddering in the early morning, when it was still dark, and Chris let us know via intercom that the "crew" was trying out some new equipment and that we were fine. "Snacks in the common area if you don't believe me and want a last meal."

And of course, everyone went there. Duncan greeted Gwen with a "Looking especially pasty this morning."

"That means so much, coming from a Cyclops." Gwen joked, referring to the black eye Cody's punch had delivered earlier.

Courtney was still watching them, scowling. Alejandro was suddenly beside her. "Unbelievable!" he said, and when Courtney turned to him, he said quickly "Forgive me, I'm simply offended on your behalf. Perhaps a little payback is in order. How would Duncan like it if you flirted with someone?"

I could see it coming, and said quickly "I don't think that would help. If Duncan was going to notice that, the "ex" in ex-girlfriend wouldn't be there. He probably wouldn't notice."

Courtney glanced from me to Alejandro, and finally spoke. "I don't know if that's such a good idea. That would make me worse than them, and I refuse to sink to their level. Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't think so."

I kept the smile off my face, having some clue of what Alejandro was up to when he suggested Courtney flirted, but I was pleased. I didn't care if it brought down Team Amazon's game or not – they had plenty of problems, enough to slow them down already.

I went to the confessional. "Okay, so it never hurt to slow down another team. But I haven't forgotten that this game is on TV. Does Alejandro want the audience to hate him, or has he forgotten everything he does is filmed?" I looked into the camera. "Bridgette, Leshawna, DJ. I'm sorry for what happened to you guys, and DJ, I'm sorry I let it happen to you."

But considering, after the power went out momentarily and after we finally landed, I found out that Alejandro used some of his powers for good reasons. Owen was screaming, even after we landed. Alejandro simply walked over to him and said "Three, two, one...and you're back!" He clicked his fingers, and Owen stopped.

"Oh, we landed already? I am so over my flying thing."

Duncan grinned at Alejandro. "Looks like I owe you five bucks."

I looked up at Alejandro. "What was that?"

"My uncle's a hypnotist. I've learnt a little of it." he said casually. "So I gave Owen a few...suggestions, and now he's not so worried about flying any more."

I had to admit, although I was still not entirely trusting of him, that made me relax a bit more around him. I still knew in the back of my mind that I couldn't trust him, but I didn't want to think that way any more. My crush had lessened, and for one second, while we left the plane, I wondered if he'd be able to make me fall any further.

Chris welcomed us to Area...52?

"Area 51 is where all the cool alien stuff happens." Gwen pointed out.

"The show's so broke we have to fake an area?" Duncan said.

"Nope, this really is Area 52." Chris answered. "Area 51 is right over there. We're just over the border. Well, all of us except Duncan." The forementioned got zapped by lasers, and most of us snickered, including Courtney. I might've been friends with Duncan, but hey, he survived.

"Thanks for the laser show, Colonel." Chris said into a radio, and the lasers disappeared. Our challenge was to get to Area 51, and bring back an intact working alien artifact in their infamous warehouse before sunrise. Team Amazon would go through one way, and we'd go the other, leaving the way the other team had come.

But we had to be careful, because Chris warned us about the rumours of what happened to trespassers. Usually, they'd lose their memories and go to an alien colony where they'd be enslaved, or eaten.

"Okay." Duncan said as we ran. "We should split up and search for points of entry. Owen and Stephie are with me."

No one argued, and we were near the building in no time.

The five of us looked out at the warehouse, and the few metres we had to go across to get to it. "Think it's safe to cross?" Tyler said.

A rabbit tried to cross, but it got zapped by a laser. We had to find a way to divert the lasers. Luckily, Duncan had a plan.

Each of us threw a rock as we ran, and the laser went for the rock instead. Duncan, Alejandro and I executed it perfectly. Tyler hit a cactus, but at least managed to do the trick. Owen just never threw the rock, and we saw him get zapped, land behind the electric fence, and get sucked up in a tube.

Tyler went to climb up the fence, not noticing the rest of us just walking through a gap. He must've been electrocuted hundreds of times by the time he got to the other side.

"Nicely done, Tyler!" Duncan and I said at the same time, laughing.

As we went into the building, we heard Gwen's voice. "Wicked! We beat Chris Is Really Really Really Really Hot here!"

Duncan pushed open the door as we walked in. "Think again, Pasty." I saw Courtney's face harden again as he called his new girlfriend that nickname, but she kept quiet.

Tyler told Team Amazon about how Owen had been taken away. "As far as I'm concerned," I added, "We need Owen as much as that artifact. I mean, Chris isn't going to count us winning if we don't come back as a whole team." I let my eyes flicker towards Alejandro, letting him know the words were for his benefit more than anything. I knew he'd just want to ditch Owen and run, but after what happened in the Amazon, I was sure that we couldn't win if we ditched a teammate. And besides the game, Owen would be so hurt. I couldn't let that happen to him!

Chris actually set off the alarms by hacking into the PA system and reminding us of our challenge. We had to split up.

The first person I bumped into was Gwen. "How are you holding up?" I whispered.

"Okay." Gwen admitted. "I miss having a friend on my team, though. Cody hasn't stopped being nice to me, but he's got Sierra to deal with, and on the way here, she was making paper dolls of me and ripping their heads off. Courtney just completely ignores me, and Heather clearly loves it that she's no longer the major target for elimination."

"Hang in there." I reassured her. "You can do this." As I spoke, I felt someone's presence behind me and turned.

It was Duncan. "Hey." I greeted him. "I'm just gonna...go...look for the artifact..." I ran off, just as the couple began talking.

I heard voices as I walked through the building. I recognized Tyler. "Never! Leave! A Man! Behind!" I could hear something slamming against something hard.

Next, I heard Alejandro's voice. "Tyler, there's no time! We need to find an artifact! It's not like one's just gonna fall out of the sky!" I heard another sound, and then "I stand corrected."

I arrived just in time to see Alejandro holding a cube, which started changing colours and then out of it came...

"Aliens!" Tyler screamed. "Don't probe me, bro!"

The alien simply reached out and smiled at Tyler. I ducked behind a box, not wanting the aliens to see me. Especially when that one electrocuted Tyler and the other one attached itself to Alejandro's face before electrocuting him.

Luckily, Duncan turned up just as I was trying to figure out what to do. He managed to squish the alien attacking Tyler, then I joined in on helping him pull the other one off Alejandro. We accidentally ended up opening a little pod in the middle of the room, and out came...

"Owen!" breathed Tyler. I burst out laughing at the big guy's appearance.

"What?" Owen asked. He paused. "Oh no! The aliens stole my memory! And styled my hair!"
"And made you look like the Joker!" I teased. His green hair, white face, messy red lips and grey circled-eyes were a total sight. "But you obviously remember your name. The aliens didn't steal your memory."

"Oh, but they did, Stephanie!" Owen cried hysterically, while Duncan was still trying to help Alejandro. "I can't even remember your name, or Tyler's name, or Duncan's name or Al's name or Chris or the Total Drama plane, or Mom's cheese cellar back home, or any of us!" He paused, and then calmed down. "Oh, wait a minute, I think I'm good." He looked over at our other teammates. "Oh, how you doing, Al?"

Alejandro didn't reply, and Owen asked again. "Al? Al? Al?"

Finally, Alejandro lost it with him. "Three, two, one and...revenge!"

Owen froze, then pulled his pants up to cover the top of his head, and started a certain dance, singing a stupid little song I'd known for years. "Take me out to the ball game, take me out with the crowd,

Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks, I don't care if I never come back..." He, too, got an alien to the face. The alien had been distracted from attacking Alejandro when it heard Owen singing, and it had been easy to throw it while it was staring at him like he was a psycho, rather than a hypnosis victim.

Finally, we pulled the alien off, and Tyler trapped it in a box. Alejandro brought a dizzy Owen back, who slurred "Did we won?" and dropped to the ground.

"Great!" scowled Alejandro. "Now we gotta carry him out!"

"I'll stick with the alien." Tyler offered.

We would've won, if Tyler hadn't hit a hidden mine. The alien wasn't intact, unlike Team Amazon, who had found the cube the aliens had come from. Actually, Courtney tried to lose by tripping Gwen, who had the cube, but Chris caught it and declared them the winners.

Tyler was voted off our team. He was too much of a klutz.

I am SO glad that episode is over. Let's get to somewhere Stephanie has been with her family before!