A/N: Ah, so I have returned. I've had COVID, so it's hard for me to update, plus I wanted to finish another chapter before releasing this one. This is a little on the shorter side, but bare with me. A bit of humor, absurdity, and angst all wrapped up in one.

Chapter 25- Half-Way Mark

Both Josée and Jacques grinned when Don announced them as the "King and Queen of Ridonculous Comebacks." Because really, this was their comeback; they could feel it. Sure, they had made an enemies list that had several teams on there already, but hey, this was a competition; redemption was a must. It was in Alberta, Canada.

"Two wins in a row, five overall," Jacques said in the interview proudly. "We're not just back, we're on fire."

"Golden fire," Josée corrected triumphantly. "And the competition's about to get burned." She and Jacques hissed on sync, imitating a sizzling noise. The producers smacked their own foreheads from embarrassment. When the interview finished, Josée went to the Don box alongside Jacques and read the travel tip: "Go to Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump."

Jacques scratched the side of his head. "Huh? Buffalo? Is that a place or a threat?"

"It's actually a bit of both," Don chimed in.

Josée redirected Jacques to the travel tip. "It's in Alberta. We have to fly to Lethridge, Alberta to receive our next travel tip."

Jacques nodded and called out, "Taxi!" and held his hand up. Soon enough, a taxi showed up to pick up Josée and Jacques. They slipped inside and shut the door and it drove away. The ride was silent for the first minute, until Jacques' soft voice cut in, in French: "So ah... is everything okay?"

Josée thought about it for a moment, then replied in French: "Yes. Why do you ask?"

"You didn't eat all your breakfast."

"Yes I did."

"No you didn't. I saw you cover your food with your napkin and throw it in the trash."

"Stalker," Josée spat, then glared at her partner. "I don't need you to look after me." Jacques gave her a knowing look. Josée sighed and shrugged. "I just wasn't that hungry. I'm allowed to not feel hungry, aren't I?"

"Of course you are, I'm just worried-"

"Well stop being worried."

It was silent for the rest of the ride, then they managed to grab the first flight.

Josée and Jacques liked to think that maybe they could have some peace and quiet for the rest of the flight, but unfortunately for the ice dancers, they found themselves in quite the predicament. Out of the five other teams that were on the same flight as them, they had a problem with four of the teams. The only exception was the Surfers; and Josée and Jacques heard them talk - they were pretty brain dead. Brody and Geoff were also close with the Cadets, so that was another issue.

As the ice dancers got on the flight, they ignored the cold looks they received from the Haters and Best Friends, as well as the neutral expressions from the Goths - truthfully, Josée and Jacques didn't know what they were thinking - the Surfers smiled at them, and one of the Cadets, MacArthur, had burst into a fit of snickering.

"What's so funny?" Josée challenged.

MacArthur didn't stop snickering and jerked her thumb to the Best Friends, who were sitting across from them. "Just thinking about how miss blondie told you off." Carrie didn't reply. In fact, she avoided Josée's eyes all together.

"Wait hold up," Stephanie piped up from a few seats down in amusement, "She did?"

"She did, it was fucking sick," MacArthur answered.

Josée ignored MacArthur, and locked her eyes on Carrie. "You're enjoying this aren't you?" Carrie didn't answer. Josée scoffed and shook her head in total disbelief.

MacArthur kept at it. "The cold bitch and the egotistical prick... I like that." Even Sanders snorted in amusement at that.

"Shut up, pig," Jacques sneered at her. "You're going to regret saying that."

"Bring it on, then."

"Uh, okay dudes..." Geoff chimed in, noticing the tension. "I think that we could all just try to be chill."

They were for the remainder of the flight; however the tension was still there. When they got off the flight after time passed, Josée noticed that Jacques was noticeably angrier than usual. "Jacques?" He didn't answer at first, instead he strapped into the pick-up that he and Josée were set to take to get to the next Don box. "Jacques..."

"I won't let that pig talk to you that way," Jacques spat in disdain. Josée raised a curious brow, then watched as Jacques floored the vehicle. "She is going to pay for it." Josée blinked at him; but then she looked ahead to see that the Cadets were in front of them. Jacques grinned madly and pressed on the gas, jamming the vehicle into theirs. Josée was shocked only for a moment, before grinning alongside him. The Cadets had turned back in alarm to meet their eyes. Jacques didn't stop there; he jammed into it again.

As Jacques drove past them, Josée yelled: "Eat our dust, wannabe coppers!"

"That's what they get for France," Jacques remarked, pressing on the gas even more. Then they burst into cackles. "Those stupid ugly pigs."

Josée giggled in amusement some more. "Hopefully we won't hear anymore from those bit-"

THUMP!

Josée and Jacques screamed synchronically as their vehicle was attacked from behind; it didn't take a genius to figure out who it was. Jacques lost control of the car and proceeded to shout in panic while Josée was just screeching. She looked behind her for a second to see that the Cadets had decided to chase them down. Jacques swerved to the side of the road, and-

CRASH!

"Ow..." Jacques groaned, struggling to get up. He turned over to see Josée with a light scratch on her cheek and gasped. "Chouchou, are you okay-"

"Jacques," Josée said desperately, glancing over the Cadets who looked highly amused.

"Chouchou?" MacArthur mocked. Sanders desperately tried to hide a grin of her own. "That's so funny. Oh my god that's so fucking funny-"

"Shut up, pig!" Josée shouted at the cadet, the heat rising in her cheeks. "You don't know anything." Before MacArthur could come up with some witty retort, Josée got up and yanked Jacques up and abandoned the crash scene.

After several minutes of running, Josée and Jacques spotted the Don box. Unfortunately for them, so had the Cadets. "There's the Don box!" Josée said, panting.

"Hustle!" MacArthur ordered Sanders. They had gotten the travel tip first. MacArthur turned to the ice dancers and smirked. "Ha! In your face!" Then she ran, along with Sanders. Josée and Jacques scowled at them before hitting the button to receive their travel tip; there was no time for witty retorts.

"What's the travel tip say?" Josée asked desperately. Then she saw Jacques' face sink while scanning it, she grew concerned. "Jacques, what is it?!"

"It's an All-in," Jacques told her, biting his lower lip. "Teammates must eat an entire pot of pork and beans. At the bottom of the pot is our next travel tip."

Josée's stomach dropped - literally. "Is there... is there another alternative?"

Jacques shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid not."

Josée let out a miserable sigh. "The things we do..." And she knew that this wasn't just affecting her. While yes, she struggled with food more than he did, it did not mean that Jacques never got apprehensive over food that he didn't know the exact details about. Sometimes he would have a little snack and feel okay with not knowing, but there were days where he couldn't handle it. She knew that he was going to be obsessive when this was over; hell, they both were screwed in this department. It would be likely that this would be a major setback.

They both got a table with a full pot.

Josée and Jacques shuddered.

The fact that all of this had to go into their bodies...

Upon seeing the other contestants struggle with the challenge, Jacques let out a weep while Josée groaned in disgust.

"There are worse things to choke down," Jacques remarked to the cameras.

Josée nodded, making a face. "Like a silver medal."

"WAH!" Josée and Jacques were startled to see Brody suddenly flying in the air and land behind the bar. "Ow..."

Josée and Jacques got back to the pot, and stared at it for a good minute. Jacques looked over to see his partner's breathing get a little shallow. The last thing Josée needed to do was to freak out on international television. "Josée, eyes on me..." he said quietly. He scooped up some beans with his spoon and swallowed it. He barely, just barely, managed to keep it down, though he thought he managed to display a convincing role of enjoying the food. "It isn't that bad." Josée eyed the dish with displeasure. Jacques thought about it for a moment, before trying another strategy. "Think of it as my maman's cooking. You love her cooking."

It was another tactic Jacques used as a last minute resort that always worked whenever Josée was slipping back into old habits. It was an awful and manipulative thing to do, but it worked. On the days where Josée was reluctant to eat, Jacques would ask his mother to invite Josée for dinner. She was a lot more comfortable eating with Jacques' family and would be less judged opposed to her own home.

Josée's breathing began to even out. "Okay..." She got herself a spoonful of beans; just looking at it made her feel sick. But she saw Jacques eating some of it, and if he was making an effort to combat his issues with foods, then she felt that maybe she could do the same. Josée put the beans in her mouth and chewed it very slowly, wincing at it.

But Jacques smiled encouragingly. "You're doing great, Josée. Keep going." Josée knew that she would want to bring all of this up. She desperately wanted to bring it all up after a spoonful. Nonetheless, Josée knew this was a competition and that some of it would have to involve eating. She took a few more spoonfuls with Jacques; if he was doing it, so could she. It was going great, up until Owen arrived. He let out so much gas that it shattered the windows. Everyone coughed and gagged, making it all the more unbearable.

"It's your mother's cooking," Josée tried to repeat herself, her cheeks puffing out as she stared at half full pot. "It's your mother's cooking..."

"Haha! Yeah!" MacArthur cheered. Josée and Jacques looked over to see Sanders cheer as well, holding the next travel tip. Josée and Jacques rushed through the beans as quickly as they could; they couldn't let the cadets get ahead of them. At this rate, they did not care of what their ranking would be, as long as it wasn't last.

Soon after, Josée and Jacques finished eating the beans after everyone else had. Their stomachs rumbled; not being used to consuming this much food. In Josée's case, she was used to hurling it back up immediately, but of course she couldn't do that. Instead, she grabbed the tip and ran with Jacques to the next challenge; the mechanical bull ride.

Which was occupied by MacArthur, who had completed it in the required eight seconds. She was sure to gloat in their direction, "Eight seconds! Nailed it! Ha!" then she ran off.

Josée and Jacques groaned collectively, her arms were crossed and his fists were clenched up. Then a cry of joy interrupted their frustration, which came from Kitty, who was now riding the mechanical bull happily and also did eight seconds of it. However other teams weren't so lucky. Noah, who was still in his catatonic state, looked like he wasn't going to be able to ride the bull. Josée smirked; perhaps she and Jacques had a chance after all. As for Dwayne, he was thrown off immediately.

Now it was Jacques' turn, and he looked confident enough. That was until the bull started to move. The moment it did, Jacques let out some ear piercing shrieks. Josée merely stared at him with a raised eyebrow. Well, it didn't matter if he was screeching, at least he stayed on for eight seconds.

"Are you finished?" Josée asked, after his sixth screech. Jacques quickly got off the bull and ran with Josée to the chill zone.

They arrived with desperate looks in their eyes, along with desperate smiles, waiting for the dreadful placement they got. "Jacques, Josée..." Don started off. Josée and Jacques were holding each other's hands. "You're seventh place." Josée jumped up excitedly; well, more in relief - seventh was embarrassing, but she was almost sure they were last.

Somehow, the Reality TV Pros hit a miracle. They were the next team to arrive, causing the Father & Son to get eliminated. Funnily enough, Dwayne had thought it was a non-elimination round - Josée and Jacques couldn't blame him, they had been having a lot of those lately - but was cut off by Don saying they were cut from the competition.

Josée and Jacques dodged a bullet.

Ever since eating those pork and beans, Josée and Jacques didn't feel right. It wasn't like Owen's case, who was probably stinking up a storm - it didn't feel right in a sense that they were destroying their olympian bodies, their bodies that they worked so hard to maintain and train. Sure, they were running everywhere so it was burning a lot of calories, but even as olympians they were mindful of what they ate.

"Can you believe..." Jacques started off in disdain, "MacArthur eats all this junk, but she can still run fast?"

Josée scoffed, shaking her head in utter disbelief. "I know. I will have the biggest tantrum if she wins this show... Those cadets are the worst..."

Beat.

"You almost told them about your maman back in Australia," Jacques remarked quietly.

Josée's head snapped up to meet her partner's eyes. She knew that he had wanted to bring that up since then. "...Well thankfully, I didn't," she snapped, though it was quiet. Then, Josée turned her attention to the television screen in the hotel room. Flipping to a news channel, she knew right then it was a big mistake.

"We're here with ice dancing olympic champions Leonardo DuBois and Olivia Simard to discuss the recent news of fellow figure skater Rachel Bouchard's death..."

"Fuck," Josée spat lowly, as she slumped down in regret as she listened on, while Jacques winced.

"Oh, it is terribly tragic!" Liv had emphasized dramatically. "Addiction has always been so hard for her, I mean, especially since she's surrounded by it. She wasn't exactly wealthy, you know..."

"But she was a good friend of ours!" added Leo. "Sometimes, you can't help it. We tried to help her-"

SMASH!

Josée couldn't bear it any longer and hurled the remote at the TV screen.

Jacques was appalled at Josée's drastic response; though he couldn't say he blamed her. He stared at her, expecting for the tears to flow from her cheeks and to sob over Rachel's death once more. She only shook her head defiantly when he tried to rub her back comfortingly. "Seventh place." Jacques still didn't know what to say. "Disgusting."

Jacques bit his lower lip. "Champions must preserve, non?"

Josée gave him a half-attempt at a smile, which he matched sadly. "Oui."

A large fart noise suddenly echoed throughout the halls, followed by a horrifyingly putrid smell.

Josée and Jacques exchanged a weirded out look. "What was that?" they asked each other at the same time.

"BRODY! GEOFF!"

Josée and Jacques exchanged another look; that sounded an awful lot like... Sanders?

Did Sanders even yell?

Neither ice dancers had any time to think about it as they jumped in surprise at their door being knocked on very frantically along with panicked whispering from the other side of the door. Jacques frowned and got up from the bed to answer it. The second Jacques opened it, Geoff and Brody burst into the room without permission with the intention to hide.

"WE WERE NEVER HERE!" Brody shouted, running into the closet.

"YEAH, DUDES, YOU DON'T KNOW US!" Geoff chimed in, crawling under the bed.

Josée and Jacques blinked slowly in bewilderment.

"Believe me, we wish we didn't..." Josée muttered under her breath. Unfortunately for the Surfers, the Cadets had showed up - with a very unamused looking Sanders and an indifferent MacArthur. The Cadets tried to step in, but Josée blocked their path. "Can we help you?"

"Not now," Sanders groaned irritably. "We saw the Surfers run in here!" She easily pushed Josée and Jacques to the side and ran into their hotel room, putting her hands on her hips. MacArthur followed, chuckling a little bit. Sanders glared at her partner. "I'm glad you find this funny, this is the fifth prank they've pulled!"

"It wasn't us this time!" Brody piped up from the closet.

"Dude, be quiet!" Geoff hissed desperately.

"Get out from under the bed and get out of the closet - MacArthur, stop laughing, this is no time for jokes!"

MacArthur wiped a tear from her eye. "It's a little funny! Get it, 'cause... you came out of the closet, I came out of the closet-"

"MacArthur-"

"Wait, wait, wait..." Brody started off, coming out of the closet to look at MacArthur. "You're both out of the closet as in, like... you're lesbians?"

MacArthur jerked her thumb in Sanders' direction. "Well, she is... I'm not."

Brody's eyes lit up. "So I still have a chance! Oh dude, thank god..."

"No... MacArthur and I are partners." Sanders cut in, crossing her arms. "So you can stop with these dumb pranks, it's not how you get a girl to like you."

Brody tilted his head to the side. "Ah, not gonna lie, I'm so confused..." To be frank, so was Jacques.

"It wasn't us this time, dudes!" Geoff insisted, getting out of from the bed with his hands up in defense. "It was probably Owen, he can really ripe one."

Josée and Jacques looked between the Cadets and the Surfers in total disbelief in how they got into this predicament.

"Ah..." Jacques started off, clearing his throat after a while of silence: "So can you do this somewhere else-"

"WHAT IS THAT SMELL?" Kitty shrieked from the halls. She, along with Emma, had shown up and barged themselves in Josée and Jacques' room. "It's coming from here?" Josée and Jacques merely stared at the Sisters joining the conversation.

"It's just the Surfers pulling another stupid prank," Sanders said, with a glare in their direction.

"It wasn't us!" Brody exclaimed.

Emma raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? I find that hard to believe. You've both pulled some spectacular stunts in the other hotel rooms."

"Oh they've bothered you too?"

"But we didn't do anything this time!" Geoff protested.

"God, that is disgusting!" Another contestant exclaimed, that voice belonging to Carrie. She had joined the conversation, along with her partner Devin. Josée and Jacques stared at not one, not two, but four teams that were now in their room. "I know the beans were bad, but whoever this is has had way too much!"

Josée's eye twitched at the Best Friends' presence. "Why are you... what is everyone doing here-"

"Who's stinking up the floor?" Devin asked the group, ignoring Josée's question. "Because it sure isn't us."

"It's probably a prank by the Surfers," said Emma.

"It's not us! Go talk to Owen!" Brody complained. Then, he turned to MacArthur. "By the way I'm really confused if you're available or not-"

"She's not!" Sanders hissed.

"But Devin is since Shelley dumped him!" MacArthur chimed in. Carrie gave her a disapproving frown.

"I'm going to win her back!" Devin proclaimed. "Also I'm not gay, but I support."

"Dude, I think you should give up she just doesn't seem that into you anymore," Geoff advised, causing Devin to gasp.

"It seemed like she never was in the first place," Carrie muttered under her breath.

"What?" Devin asked, blinking at his best friend.

"What?" Carrie replied innocently, smiling.

Devin frowned. "Nothing, I thought you said something."

Carrie chuckled nervously. "You must be hearing things!"

Jacques blinked at all the chaos that somehow ended up in his and Josée's room. "Can all of you uglies go somewhere else-"

"RYAN I SWEAR IT WASN'T ME!" Stephanie's voice screeched outside. "YOU'RE THE ONE THAT ATE MOST OF THE BEANS! IT'S PROBABLY YOU!"

"IT'S NOT ME!"

"THEN WHY WERE YOU IN THE BATHROOM FOR THIRTY MINUTES!"

"I WAS TAKING A SHOWER! IT'S NOT ME!"

"IS TOO!"

"IS NOT!"

"FINE, THEN LET'S GO ASK THE OTHERS!" Within seconds, Ryan and Stephanie stormed into Josée and Jacques' room unannounced with their arms crossed. "Oh! Look! Almost everyone's here!" Josée and Jacques counted the number of teams... the only ones that were missing were the Reality TV Pros and the... oh, the Goths had showed up too, except they were outside watching all the drama unfold. "So... has anyone been feeling the affects of the beans?"

"We think it's the Surfers pranking the Cadets with a stink bomb," Kitty filled them in.

"But it's not, dudes!" Geoff shrieked desperately. "Does anyone notice that Owen isn't here yet? It's probably him! Bro could really fart."

Josée tried to count down from twenty.

"Hey everybody!" Owen suddenly chimed in right on cue, along with Noah who looked like he was battling a migraine. They had just arrived on the scene, and upon arriving, all pairs of eyes went on him accusingly. Owen's giddy smile disappeared into a concerned frown. "Uh, what's going on?"

"DUDE, YOU STUNK UP THE WHOLE FLOOR!" Geoff declared.

Owen bit his lip. "THAT WASN'T ME, I PROMISE!"

"OH YEAH, BECAUSE YOU PROVED TO US HOW MUCH OF A FART YOU CAN GIVE US!" Brody fired back. Then, he turned to MacArthur again. "So, dude, are you really telling me that you aren't available because I was sure you were-"

"Yes, she's telling you!" Sanders snapped.

MacArthur chuckled at Brody. "I think you should try dating Devin, he's lonely."

"But Shelley and I are going to get back together!" Devin said firmly. "Also I said it twice, I'm not gay, but I support!"

"Wow, twice? That's so groundbreaking. Did you throw the first brick at Stonewall too?" Noah drawled sarcastically.

Devin blinked. "Why would I throw a brick at a stone wall?" He was met with blank stares. "Anyway, I'm going to get Shelley back!"

"Hopefully not."

"What was that, homie? You have to stop mumbling..."

Carrie blushed a little. "Oh nothing! Again, I think you're losing your hearing..."

"I can confirm it wasn't Owen," said Noah. "I can't promise it won't be later, though."

"I think it was Ryan but he just doesn't want to admit it!" Stephanie accused.

Ryan scowled. "I think it was you because you're so sensitive to beans!"

"Why are we arguing about this?" Emma said, matter-of-factly. "We know it was the Surfers pranking the Cadets-"

"Oh my god, it wasn't!" Brody yelled.

Josée and Jacques watched everyone bicker over the incident and stared at them in utter disbelief. They didn't care about who stunk up the floor; the question was...

What the hell were all the contestants doing in their room?

And just when Josée and Jacques thought that was the end of it, Don popped in: "I'm getting a noise complaint!" he shouted over all of the teams, ceasing their bickering. "If this is about the stink bomb, it was some teenagers that have nothing to do with the show. They're getting reprimanded now."

Silence.

"COULD EVERYONE GET THE HELL OUT OF OUR ROOM!?" Josée shouted, breaking the silence. Her anger had been boiling the entire time, and she finally lost it. "GET OUT!"

Everyone stared wide-eyed in shock; no one bothered to try and confront her head on. All of the contestants - with the exception of Josée and Jacques themselves - strolled out of the room without saying another word. Jacques looked over at Josée, who was breathing heavily and pacing back and forth furiously.

"Um..." Don started off, unsure of what to say. He stared at Josée, then he stared at Jacques. "Can I talk to you?" Jacques looked over at Josée, waiting for her to confirm that it was okay. Josée held her hands up signaling that she didn't care. Don leaned against the wall. "You guys are putting a lot of pressure on yourselves."

Josée and Jacques snapped their heads up and faced Don in astonishment.

"No we aren't," Jacques snapped. "Your producers are. Your stupid show is. We're fine."

Josée nodded firmly in agreement. "You have your stupid ratings, why do you care?"

Don looked between the ice dancers and shrugged. "I don't want to get sued when you both go into a mental breakdown."

"Figures you'd say that," Josée scoffed. "And we're not going to go into a mental breakdown." Jacques looked hesitant to agree.

"You know, when I was a kid, there was this girl I knew in my neighborhood..." Don began. Josée and Jacques blinked slowly; wondering why they hadn't yelled at Don to get out of their room yet. Nonetheless, Don continued: "She used to be nice. But she put a lot of pressure on herself to be the best academically. The best she could be. She would get... overexcited out how successful she was, but then it came crashing down. She has a lot of issues now because of it."

"What is the point of you telling us this?" Josée asked, like she didn't know.

Don shrugged. "Chill the fuck out before it kills you." Then he left the room.

Josée and Jacques hardly slept that night.

They were set to go to the Arctic Circle on these small planes that only fit two teams. Josée and Jacques were set to fly with Noah and Owen. Despite Josée and Jacques being told by Don to "chill the fuck out," they knew that they had to get an edge somehow in the competition. Seventh place was just unacceptable, especially when they had gotten two wins in a row, and five overall. They needed to get back on top again. So, that involved practicing their mind games.

"These tiny planes are safe, right buddy?" Owen asked Noah nervously.

Josée couldn't help but chime in, "I read somewhere that eighty-six percent of small planes crash."

She got the reaction she expected; which was Owen crushing Noah with an anxious hug.

"When you're an ice dancer, you either learn how to play mind games, or you learn how to say, 'I used to be an ice dancer,'" Josée said in the confessional, quoting something similar along the lines of what Liv had told her at the olympics. Jacques had a smug grin on his face.

Back on the plane, Noah glared at the ice dancers. "So they aren't wrong what they say about you," he remarked snidely. "You guys are assholes, and everyone else thinks so."

"This is a competition," Jacques replied coldly. "I don't know what you expected."

"You should hear the names they call you when the cameras are off," said Noah. "I mean, your common names off-camera are the Cold Bitch and the Egotistical Prick, but there are a lot more colorful names. If I said them the producers would get more pissed than they already are right now."

"If I were you," Jacques began harshly, "I would worry about your crumbling relationship with Emma." Josée smirked; knowing that Jacques was trying to get into his mind.

Noah cleared his throat, looked Josée and Jacques dead in the eyes, and said in a deadpan voice: "Owen won gold at the olympics."

Josée's smirk disappeared and was replaced with fury. She let out a scream and tried to lunge at Noah, but Jacques managed to hold her back.

Josée and Jacques managed to last the entire flight without killing Noah and Owen. It was a miracle; which was an understatement. The ice dancers rushed to the Don box and pulled out the travel tip. "It's a Botch-or-Watch," Josée read aloud, "Whoever didn't ride the bull in Alberta must find a ring somewhere hidden in the snow and toss one onto a narwhal. Once the task is finished, teams must ride a snowmobile east until they find the next Don box."

"Is there a boomerang attached to it?" Jacques asked.

Josée sighed. "Unfortunately not." She would've loved to have used it on the Cadets.

Now was not the time though to dwell on that. It was Josée's turn for the Botch-or-Watch challenge since she didn't ride the mechanical bull in Alberta. She had found several rings, but unfortunately, it proved to be much harder than she thought. The Haters had pulled ahead and were now into first place. Meanwhile, the Goths had caught Josée's eye - all Ennui had to do was hold out a ring and the narwhal showed up as he dropped it on the narwhal. The other contestants were amazed.

"I ringed a narwhal!" Owen cheered, with his arms up. "Let's go!"

Josée groaned; she was hoping that they would lose because of Noah's snarky comment from the flight. Hopefully they would get eliminated soon. She scanned the other teams that were left and spotted the Surfers - who had barged into her and Jacques' room yesterday and managed to get all of the contestants to join in. She smirked at Jacques, and he was smirking back as if he was reading her mind. Forget Noah and Owen, Geoff was doing so hilariously bad.

"There are only seven teams left to crush with the power of my mind," Josée said to the camera.

"Ding! Now serving, the Surfers," Jacques chimed in.

Back for the challenge, Josée and Jacques spotted Geoff panicking and rummaging through the snow. "Oh, hey! Are you two still here?" She scoffed in amusement. "I thought your partner was the weak link on your team, but maybe not!" After a few pathetic attempts from Geoff later, Josée managed to drop a ring onto a narwhal. "Yes!" She passed by the Surfers again and grinned maliciously, "Oh hey, good luck!" She got onto the back of the snowmobile while Jacques was in the front steering it. "I hope you don't lose your best friend because you're so bad at this."

And they drove off. On their way there, to the Ice Dancers' surprise, the Haters were going back to complete the first challenge.

"I guess the Goths boomeranged Ryan and Stephanie," Jacques remarked to the camera.

"I'm impressed," Josée added.

They were impressed; that's when they knew that the Goths were playing their cards right. They were strategic. They were incredibly smart. Josée was onto them; she knew she wasn't being paranoid, she had every right to be concerned about the Goths because they were more threatening than what others perceived them to be.

When the producers asked about the incident regarding messing with Geoff and Brody, Josée stated: "At the mind game olympics, I would most definitely take the gold."

They ran to the Don box and took out the next travel tip. "It's an All-in," Jacques said. "For this challenge, teams need to work together to saw blocks of snow and assemble them into an igloo. Once they get a thumbs up from a local, it's a foot race due east until they reach the chill zone."

Josée and Jacques rushed to work on the igloo challenge. Upon working on it, her eyes landed on the Surfers - who looked noticeably distressed. Josée smiled, because her words that she used on the Surfers had worked like she wanted to. Intentionally, she knew that by not specifying who was "so bad at this" and that they hoped they didn't lose their best friend, that they would think it was themselves that were the weak links, and not each other.

"One little push," Josée remarked to Jacques, grinning at him.

"The tension seed we planted has sprouted," Jacques said to the camera.

"Now it's time to make it KA-BLOOM!" Josée exclaimed excitedly beside him.

Back in the challenge, Josée walked over to Geoff in a friendly manner. Since these teams seem to relish in petty high school type of drama, Josée knew exactly what to do. She eyed Brody momentarily before leaning in, covering the side of her mouth so Brody wouldn't hear: "Listen, you need to pick it up." Geoff already looked apprehensive. "Brody told Jacques that you've been dragging him down."

Geoff gasped in fright. "Is he upset about the snowmobile too?"

"Very," Josée said, and she pranced away back to her igloo, leaving a confused Geoff behind her. Although Josée knew that stooping to their level didn't exactly make herself look good, but it was a competition, and mind games were needed. And in order to perform mind games, you sometimes had to go into a place you don't want to go.

It was a weakness; and where you find a weakness, you attack it.

...Besides, Josée thought, they... sort of deserved it, she figured. Had the Surfers not bothered them yesterday in the hotel, people wouldn't have barged in their room. It was just a precaution to make sure no one got too close with them. After all, who knows if the Surfers had something up their sleeves? Noah did state that everyone hated them and that they were referred to many ugly nicknames off-camera.

Josée and Jacques watched in amusement as Geoff rushed to build their igloo, saying that they were too far behind. Unfortunately for him - but fortunately for the ice dancers - the Surfers igloo toppled over due to him rushing to putting the pieces together. Brody and Geoff sulked in defeat and had to start again.

Wonderful.

Until it wasn't.

Josée and Jacques kept working while listening to their conversation.

"Aw, man... I don't want to be the reason we get sent home," Geoff said sadly.

"It's not your fault, it's mine!" Brody's voice cracked.

Geoff smiled and shrugged. "Maybe it's nobody's fault bro."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Maybe we just gotta chill on the stress and finish this igloo thing. We're not fault-ers, we're surfers, dude!"

"Yeah! We can do this!"

Were they sobbing?

Josée gasped and watched in total astonishment as the Surfers finished building their igloo.

"I can't believe how badly that backfired!" Josée said in the confessional, while Jacques facepalmed. She let out a furious growl. When they returned to their challenge, they picked up the pace when they saw the Surfers igloo get approved by the local. Josée waved her hands obnoxiously to get the locals attention. "Hey, hey! You! We're done!"

The local gave them the thumbs up, only to be trampled by Jacques' feet. The ice dancers were desperately trying to catch up to the Surfers, who looked back and noticed that they were on their tail. Unfortunately for the ice dancers, the Surfers were too far ahead and reached the chill zone first. Brody let out a sob of joy, and brought Don and Geoff into a group hug - it was involuntary on Don's part.

Josée and Jacques stepped onto the chill zone with glares.

Second place.

Silver.

Disgusting.

"Second place is pretty darn good," Don said, almost like he was trying to reassure them.

Josée was brought back to the conversation that he tried to have with them last night and grew furious. They were this close to getting the gold; and he looked like he was mocking them for getting less, even though his words said otherwise. She spotted the snowman beside him and stomped over to it.

"This is what I think of second place!" Josée proclaimed; then let her actions do the talking. She bit off the carrot nose of the snowman, punched it in its face directly causing the snow to tumble down, torn its branches off that resembled arms, and kicked its body. She heard Don's cries to stop hurting 'Chilly Billy' as he put it, which was music to her ears. She cackled as she stalked away, hearing Don weeping over the snowman.

In the interview, Josée stated: "The next team we choose to destroy won't be so lucky!"

"You know, it's really hard to root for you guys," Don said honestly after their interview finished.

Josée scoffed and crossed her arms. "Isn't it your job to remain impartial?"

"Yes. But you're making it difficult to like you."

"Whatever."

More teams began to arrive. Josée and Jacques watched gleefully from the sidelines, as there was one team out of the two that were left that had yet to show up to the chill zone; which was the Cadets. Before they could see who would make it to the finish line, the Surfers pulled them to the side.

"That wasn't cool dudes," Geoff told them, but then he smiled: "But I forgive you, 'cause the competition gets too crazy sometimes."

Beat.

Jacques snorted and crossed his arms. "I didn't realize we cared."

Josée blinked; slightly impressed by the cold demeanor he had that she usually had.

The cadets came in seventh place, meaning that the Haters were the last ones to arrive. That didn't matter, however, because it was another non-elimination round. Josée and Jacques scowled and rolled her eyes in disgust - another one? It seemed like they were having non-elimination episodes every other round!

The cameras were off, done for filming of the episode. They were told that they were flying to the nearest hotel they could find, which was not within the Arctic Circle. They were stopping in Yukon, Canada - one of the territories that border the Arctic Circle. Getting back was something else; and the Surfers must've told everyone what the ice dancers tried to do, because almost everyone was glaring at them on the plane ride. By the time they were at the hotel and everyone got their room numbers, MacArthur spoke up.

"You guys are the next ones to leave," she snapped.

"Bring it on," Jacques sneered. "I guarantee you pigs will go next."

MacArthur shook her head and let out a scoff. "Wow... you two really are assholes. I bet your parents don't even like you." Josée's head snapped up, her eyes flaring madly and her breathing starting to pick up, getting the attention of nearly everyone. Even MacArthur looked a little alarmed. "Uh..."

"Get the fuck away from me," Josée hissed, furiously low. She was really considering it...

"Why should I?" MacArthur challenged, frowning a little. "Are your parents mean to you or something?"

This time, Josée didn't consider a single thing. She charged forward and plowed into MacArthur, sending both of them to the ground, making the rest of the contestants gasp. Josée tried to land as many punches as she could across MacArthur's face, but MacArthur managed to block every single one of them. It didn't occur to Josée that MacArthur didn't try to fight back and hurt her, not once. All she did was protect herself from Josée's blows.

By the time Jacques managed to pull Josée off, MacArthur stood there in shock. "Just leave us the hell alone!" Josée screamed at the cadet. Jacques held her back and ushered her upstairs to their hotel room. Jacques shut the door behind them while Josée stormed over to the pillows and let out a muffled scream into it; soaking it with her tears.

"Josée..." Jacques was cut off with Josée lifting her head from the pillow and burying it in Jacques' chest, letting out another scream. Jacques' heart ached with sympathy and began to rub her back up and down. "That pig isn't worth it..."

"I hate those cadets, especially her!" Josée cried out. Everyone surely hated her and Jacques. And that was fine, because she hated them. At least Tom and Jen didn't hate them. Hell, she never thought she would admit to herself that she missed Tom and Jen.

Tom and Jen were friendly to them and offered to be their friends first. Yes, it seemed fake but at the same time – a part of it did feel genuine. Tom called her 'Tinkerbell' teasingly while she called him 'Twiggy.' It was a little inside joke she didn't realize she'd appreciate until now. Jen was very warm and did seem to look like she cared when Josèe had relapsed before she could say goodbye. Tom and Jen helped Jacques back in the hotel room in regards to how sexuality could be fluid and gave advice.

She wished they were back.

"I know, I know..." Jacques said softly, pulling Josée away from him briefly so he could kiss her forehead. He gave her a smile. "They'll get theirs, non?" It disappeared the moment more tears slipped out of Josée's eyes, burying her face into Jacques' chest again. "We'll make it, we'll win..."

As Josée's sobs turned into mere sniffles, it became very quiet.

But then, something different happened. Josée suddenly became still in his arms. "Josée?"

"Pathetic little baby," Josée mumbled, in an unusually higher tone of voice, a mocking one. Jacques frowned in confusion, and was about to interrupt until she kept at it: "Are you a baby? Crying... like a baby... you're pathetic..."

It was then it occurred to Jacques that she was not talking to him.

And she sounded an awful lot like someone he despised.

"Only babies beg," Josée continued quietly, "Only babies cry..."

Jacques became very, very nervous. He cleared his throat. "Josée..."

"Pathetic. Baby."

"Josée, please stop..." Jacques begged softly.

Josée did so; though it was likely that it wasn't because he ordered her to.

It became quiet.

Josée rested her head on Jacques' chest. Her eyes were still watery, fixated and staring at nothing. As he brought Josée closer to him, Jacques' mind wandered to the small conversation they had with Don in the hotel room in Alberta. When he mentioned a mental breakdown, was this what he meant? Jacques looked down to see Josée staring into space. He bit his lip apprehensively at the expression on her face. He knew that she was exhausted, he knew that she wasn't stable, and maybe Don was right. They were burning themselves out - especially her.

Jacques didn't care if the other teams suffered; in fact, he looked forward to their misery - but he didn't want to sabotage them next time, it was getting at her mentally.

Little did he know, it was affecting him, too.

But that wouldn't come to surface for a long, long time.