Late August

Frugal Living

... we'd like to thank you for your time, but the position has already been filled.

Aelita exited out of her email with a sigh. It turned out that the jobs available for a quantum physicist were few and far between, and it seemed like her young age wasn't doing her any favors either. Knowing that Jeremy was very unhappy at his job she even applied to out of state, and even positions abroad... but no prospects yet. She glanced over at the sketch of her and the other Lyoko Warriors that Odd had drawn for Jeremy that they kept on their end-table, years before for his birthday. She felt a twinge of sadness at not being able to see her friends for the Lyoko Warriors' reunion coming up.

She sighed again as a rumble of hunger suddenly emanated from her belly. The clock on the corner of her computer screen informed her that she should start on dinner if she wanted to have it done around the time that Jeremy got home.

Rummaging through the cupboards, she pulled out a couple cans of tuna, a bag of rice, and a few more ingredients to make a simple casserole. She had nothing against tuna, but since it was cheap they'd had it twice that week already and she was starting to get tired of it.

Almost an hour later, dinner was baking in the oven. Aelita was on the couch with her laptop submitting another resume when she heard the apartment door unlocking. The door swung open quickly and Jeremy hurried through, hastily closing it behind himself. Aelita dropped her laptop next to her and practically leapt off the couch and to her fiancé.

"Jeremy, what's wrong!?" She asked fervently. He took a deep breath before answering.

"Dr. Schmidt was outside..." Aelita's heart sank.

"What was he doing?" She asked quickly.

"Just... looking at the door. He seemed lost in thought," he replied. "I started to approach him, but when he saw me he left in a hurry."

"So he's gone now?" The young woman asked.

"For now at least," replied Jeremy. He pulled his fiancé into a quick hug and headed toward the bedroom to change. Aelita followed.

"I don't think we can just ignore this..." she trailed off.

"I know. but it's not like he's doing anything illegal, so we can't just call the police on him." Aelita paused for a moment. Despite her nerves, she couldn't keep a small smile from creeping to her face as she watched her soon-to-be husband change, but once he finished replacing his work clothes with a t-shirt and sweatpants she refocused on the problem at hand.

"Yeah. I think it'd be better if we avoided that sort of attention as much as possible too." Added Aelita with a sigh. The identification papers that Jeremy had fabricated for her, combined with some skillful hacking, had been good enough for her to get a legitimate U.S. passport and student Visa, but pushing their luck unnecessarily was something they both wanted to avoid.

"This is America, do you think we should try to... buy a gun or something?" Suggested Jeremy hesitantly, making his fiancé flinch and pale noticeably.

"I don't think I'd be able to use one on another person..." muttered Aelita. "Besides, neither one of us knows how to use one, and aren't they kind of expensive?" She argued.

"Yeah, I guess not then," he conceded. "How about pepper spray then?" Aelita still didn't like it, but it certainly seemed much better than the lethality of a firearm!

"Ok, I think that would be a bit better." She replied. "I just hope that he happened to know my father, and that's it."

"Me too." The two of them walked out into the kitchen. Jeremy put his nose in the air and sniffed.

"Dinner smells good, what is it?" He asked curiously.

"It's just tuna and rice casserole." Jeremy's face fell for the briefest of moments before he put a smile back on. Aelita couldn't blame him for starting to get tired of tuna either. She hoped that she'd be able to find some packages cheap dark-meat chicken or something the next time she went to the store.

"Well, it smells delicious." The tall blond leaned over and kissed his fiancé on the cheek, making her smile. "I'll get the table ready."

"Thank you Jeremy."

"How was work today?" Asked Aelita once they had started dinner.

"Oh, you know. I hoped that Dr. Lowell would cool it once we were technically colleagues, instead of the mentor/mentee... unfortunately he seems to have gotten even worse," replied Jeremy, sighing before taking another bite of casserole.

"I'm sorry, Jeremy."

"Paul once said that Dr. Lowell saw me as a threat." Aelita groaned as Jeremy continued. "I'm starting to think he was right... now more than ever..." The two of them ate quietly for a few minutes until Jeremy broke the silence again. "How was your day?" He asked, causing the young woman to frown.

"I got another email turning me down." It was Jeremy's turn to frown. "I submitted another couple of resumes, but honestly I don't really want to talk about it now."

"Ok." The young couple continued eating quietly until dinner was almost over, but just as they finished eating Aelita had an idea.

"Jeremy, I think we should tell the others about Dr. Schmidt," she blurted, startling Jeremy.

"I'm not opposed to that, but wouldn't that just make them worry? It's not like they can do anything from the other side of the world." Aelita just grinned

"That's not true." Jeremy eyed his fiance curiously. "I was thinking that we could make sure that Ulrich and Yumi know how to execute a Return Trip. They do live pretty close to the factory after all. If something does end up happening, we'll have to make sure that we tell one of them before anything too bad can happen, then we can plan accordingly!" Jeremy sprouted a wide grin.

"That's a great idea! You're a genius Aelita!" Jeremy took Aelita's small hand in his and gave it a light squeeze while beaming at her.

"I'll try to get hold of them tomorrow while you're at work."

"And I'll grab a couple pepper sprays on my way home."

The two of them got up and started clearing the table. Once all the dishes had made their way to the kitchen, Jeremy put his hand on Aelita's shoulder and gently turned her toward himself.

"I love you, Aelita. We're going to be alright." He kissed her forehead. In return she pulled his face down and kissed his lips, letting it linger for just long enough to show that she meant it.

"I love you too, Jeremy." Turning to the sink she added, "I'll get dishes today."

"But you made dinner, so it's my turn to clean up," he protested, genuinely wanting to be helpful.

"And you're the one going to the job with a supervisor you can't stand," argued Aelita, giving her reluctant fiance a gentle shove toward the door. "I've got this." He turned back for a moment. "Yes, I'm sure," Aelita insisted before he could say anything.

"Ok. I'll work on making instructions for the Return to the Past ready for Ulrich and Yumi."

"That sounds like a good idea, and I'll translate it into layman's terms when I get out!" She exclaimed, causing both of them to laugh.

Jeremy walked out, and Aelita turned back toward the sink. Now that they had a plan in place, both of them felt a bit more at ease about Dr. Schmidt. Now if only she could find a job, then they'd be set...

A/N: I actually got this one out in a decent time! It took me a while to decide what to put in this chapter and what to leave for the next one. In any case, I hope you continue enjoying the story!