"Are you sure?"

"Come on, I managed to do this on my own for what, like eighteen years?" Cody mumbled, wrenching the spoon away from Dawn's hand. "I'm not a baby." As he shakily moved his hand, the spoon fell into the porridge Chef had provided, causing some to splatter on the table and onto Cody.

Dawn pulled a teasing smile. "Are you sure?"

It had only been a single night since Cody had 'awoken'. His voice had been slowly coming back, and he was currently trying to regain movement and control in his arms and hands, a task far harder than it seemed. Applying the right amount of pressure, knowing how much pressure to apply, the worst part is when he occasionally notices a bone flexing in his wrist. Cody's mind drifts to 'how does that work' territory, and it just results in forgetting to use his hands automatically.

It's weird, not being in complete control of yourself.

The legs were still another issue, but if he could get this down he'd still be able to move about on his own, just with the chair. It'd be strenuous, and probably hurt like hell, but it'd be worth it in the end. Sure, Dawn's nice and all, but he wasn't a kid. Deep down, Cody still resented everything this chair symbolized, and above all that was his own loss of autonomy.

Looking around the cafeteria, he couldn't see anyone besides himself and Dawn, but he could feel the occasional withering look or aggressive glare coming from behind him. Probably Heather or Sierra, maybe Noah. Cody sighed, exaggerating the motion unintentionally, and causing Dawn to look at him quizzically.

"What do you think Chris is gonna do with us?" Cody asked, propping his head against his somewhat functional left hand. "He's still upset about that 'loophole' I found."

Last night, Gwen and Dawn had rushed Cody over to the confessional to get him to vote. The rules had been that Cody would be safe from elimination if he voted for someone, but the idea was that he had to break the tie and vote for Heather (or himself, Chris would later mention). Chris certainly hadn't expected Cody to vote for Sierra, and Cody had done so not out of any malicious nature, but rather to see what would happen.

Chris seemed pretty unimpressed, but allowed it to happen, saying the 'punishment' would be decided the next day. The rest of the night had been spent relearning how to use his body, which was a punishment in and of itself.

Cody leaned back in his chair, hands trying desperately to clasp onto the arms and push him back, before he looked over to Dawn. "Should we talk to the others? The only people I've actually talked to were… well, just you really."

"And Gwen." Dawn added.

"She barely talked to me. Probably still hates me." Cody mumbled, glancing away towards the window. It was impossible to tell what was happening in the world from this high up- for all he knew, it could be morning despite the darkness outside.

"You know that's not true." Dawn said, grasping Cody's face with her soft hands. Cody looked into Dawn's eyes and could see in full the girl who had helped him before, and was helping him now. The person who had helped save him.

"Sure, but I have done so many wrong things to her." Cody shook himself out of Dawn's grasp, and his gaze drifted towards the window again, eyes desperately searching for something beyond the clouds. "I don't deserve to talk to her."

"That's not true Cody." Dawn hummed, drifting across the table to sit on the bench adjacent to him. She folded her hands under her chin and looked at him, that dreamy look still in her eyes, as if she was the one who had been sleeping for a year. "People deserve to know they're valued, they shouldn't just lament their life."

"Can you really say I'm like other people after all this?" Cody let out a hollow laugh, and it only died when he caught Dawn's disapproving gaze.

"It doesn't matter what you've been through, or for how long." It was Dawn's turn to look away, gaze drifting out the window Cody had been looking through before. "We're all the same deep down."

"Ah, Cody and the senorita! " The first voice that had been willing to join the pair just happened to be the least genuine one in the game.

Cody twisted his head a bit, and could vaguely see Alejandro approaching, just glimpsing his long dark hair. "You're… Alejandro, right?" Cody pretended to not know who his murderer ( And his friend, his ally) was. "From the team Noah is on?"

"Yes, the very same." Alejandro played up a mock nod of sobriety, as if he actually cared about what he was going to discuss. "Noah has not taken your time on the show well, I'm sure you understand. Not everyone can go through what happened to him, and, ah, fully recover , you know?"

Cody grimaced at the memory of a boy in a full body cast, unable to move or speak. "I don't blame him."

Alejandro's eyes briefly flared up, before dimming again. Who knew what that guy was thinking.

"What did you want?" Dawn asked, remaining pleasantly neutral to this season's antagonist. Alejandro just smiled, his typical 'seductive' one- it was a genius move. Present a mask that could seduce, both romantically and delude even those not interested in that way to see him as friendly.

"Well, I fear Cody's time in the game may be short come the merge." Alejandro began, launching into an expected tirade. "I'm aware that your team has other, less valuable players, like Heather or that obnoxious senorita , Sierra. I'm merely proposing that once the merge happens, we could form a proper alliance, and go all the-"

"Way to the final three. Heard this one before." Cody droned, throwing a sideways glance to the Spanish manipulator. "You think you'd know I'm not good alliance material Alejandro. We played the same game."

Alejandro just chuckled, not one of his faux-friendly ones but a more malicious one, the type Cody would've heard on the radio during the race to Hawaii. "That's even better then. We both understand each other, we both know how to play this game perfectly . We help each other, and then let the finale be a true battle of wits, game master versus game master!" Alejnadro let the hunger in his words drip openly, as if he didn't desire just the money, but also a true challenge.

Cody recalled the Alejandro of the future he'd encountered, his words about how part of the game he played was just due to the situation. But, seeing this Alejandro, he knew a part of it came from the enjoyment, the feeling of outwitting everyone around you- it made Cody sick. It made him nostalgic too.

"Why don't we try actually getting to the merge first." Cody sighed, looking away from the boy, who gained a smug grin.

"Cody, you can't be-" Dawn started, but was interrupted by Alejandro.

"Perfect!" He cheered, grasping Cody's shoulder. "This will be something to truly remember, amigo. " He walked back into economy, Dawn's worried stare shifting to him, before going back to Cody.

"I thought you had learned Cody!" She berated him, genuine worry coming across her features.

"I did." Cody dryly stated, his eyes shifting towards the window once more, finally catching the body of the moon, shrouded by the clouds. "I know where Alejandro has been, and I know someone needs to stop him from ruining this game."

Nobody wanted to talk to Cody still, even over the few days between the Amazon and Paris. He was a social pariah, only able to talk to Dawn, though he'd get the occasional scoffs and insults thrown his way from obvious sources. Despite wanting to, he still didn't feel ready to talk to either Noah or Sierra. Noah because of the gravity of the situation, and Sierra because of his own lack of understanding.

Cody, perhaps to be deliberately annoying and draw some attention to himself, let out a loud "Aaaaah!" and leaned over, draping himself over the side of his chair. A few glances up, but nothing substantial. Nobody wanted to associate with him in this timeline.

"This suuuucks!" Cody rubbed his temples- despite all the maturing he'd done through the loops, he still had these types of thoughts, and he honestly didn't want to suppress them. So far, the only people willing to talk to him were Dawn, Alejandro, and occasionally Duncan- everyone else ignored him!

"Can you blame them?" The rational, mature part of his brain asked.

"Of course I can!" The immature boy he had been retorted.

Cody was about ready to just start wrestling his way into conversations, but thankfully something stopped him from doing that. Though, he was more thankful for the wheel locks and seatbelt on his chair more than anything, as the plane began to rapidly descend. He was surprised by how easy it was to forget that Izzy was absolutely insane .

As everyone else panicked and latched onto anything bolted down (or alternatively, Owen), Cody just considered the current state of the game.

"So, Alejandro has been working his way through Team Victory. We saved Bridgette, but it sounds like Alejandro managed to play that one off, and Harold plus DJ left… though DJ was probably thankful for that one." Cody did his best to ignore one of Heather's shoes flying past his head, still in deep thought. "We got Courtney eliminated… man that sucked. But, it's better than what happened before."

Cody sighed in a form of faux-defeatism. He hated that, that concession. Because he was too weak, he couldn't help Courtney much more than get her and Duncan to confront each other directly.

"Talk about a messiah complex, huh?" His immature side taunted. "Who cares! Let the cards fall where they may, it's not your responsibility to guide everyone's emotions and feelings! Have fun, take the million, and throw a massive party or something."

"I'm past that." Cody yawned. He really was, he could care less about getting a million or cheap TV fame, all it got him was a few months of popularity, followed by close to a year of public embarrassment. It wasn't too bad, sure, but he wouldn't seriously go back to that. A part of him missed the Drama Brothers though.

Looking over at Noah, who was latched onto Owen for dear life, Cody realized he missed a lot of things from his original life. Sure, the original timeline wasn't perfect, and he accepted this current one as his punishment but… he can't help but feel nostalgic, right?

Cody felt the plane begin to tilt once more, this time towards the side of Team Chris, and an idea came into Cody's mind. Unlatching his seatbelt, he waited before pushing out of his chair, allowing the momentum of his push and the angle of the plane, as well as all the turbulence, force his body to land right where he wanted it to be.

"Do you mind!" Noah shouted as Cody's head collided with his ribs. Cody could feel the heated glare that was leveled at him, and a childish smile crossed his lips.

"So~rry!" Cody looked up at Noah, and the taller boy merely continued to glare. Cody did his best to not let his face fall.

"Cody!" Dawn shouted from the other side, letting go of one of the plane's railings, and fell over to where Cody was, landing on top of Owen. "You didn't hurt yourself, right?"

Cody laughed. "Never better!"

He hoped that one day, Noah could at least shoot him an unimpressed stare instead.

"I'm telling you, he has to go next!" Sierra's frantic shoutings about Cody were almost nostalgic, if they weren't completely opposed to the shouting of the first timeline.

"Yes, I heard you the first time." Gwen sighed as she struggled to comfortably grip the statue piece in her arms. "Are you gonna like, help us Sierra?"

"Let her be." Heather said smugly, clutching the head of their statue. "I, for one, agree with her and so should you. Best to get rid of Cody before he becomes a real threat. You remember the Island, don't you?"

Gwen shrugged noncommittally. "I also remember what you did in the second season, Heather. " Cody could only wonder just what had happened in Action considering all the changes he'd made on the Island. But, a part of him was glad he wasn't around for it, mainly because an early elimination would be pretty pathetic.

"Well, you better vote for him!" Sierra crowed, flailing her arms around. Dawn could only shake her head behind Cody, while Cody worked up the energy to do something he hopefully wouldn't regret.

"Why do you hate me so much?" He asked, trying to sound as genuine as possible. He heard some ideas from Dawn, but he'd prefer confirmation from the horse's mouth in this case. Cody wanted to help everyone this time around, and he needed to know where they were coming from.

Just before Sierra could speak, Chris arrived, his typical plastered on smile and way too shiny hair blinding Cody briefly. "Sounds like a great idea Codester! Perhaps Sierra could tell us… in song! " The familiar ding rang out, and Sierra glowered uncharacteristically at the host, before complying.

The first time around, Sierra had sung an over the top song about heartbreak, so who knows what she'd sing this time around.

"I love Paris in the springtime!"

…huh?

"Je t'aime Paris in the fall!"

This was…

"It's the city of love in the summer!

But now it's just a bummer! 'Cause…

Cody broke my heart and chewed it up and spit it out…"

Cody felt sick to his stomach. It was the same song. Dawn had been right in her assertions that Sierra had merely been disappointed with his actions, but it was so much more than that, so much more!

He'd completely destroyed her heart. Sierra, the high spirited, joyful girl, the girl who could smile and laugh after completely destroying herself on international TV, somehow Cody had taken all of that away from her. He threw his head back in his chair, looking up at Dawn behind him, who could only offer a sympathetic glance and some words.

"You understood your own love, but it will be much harder to understand someone else's. Hatred born of love especially… you understand that personally, but her's is something completely different."

That's right. Sierra was like how he was on the island, her love twisted into hatred, but their situations had to be completely different! What about his actions caused this shift in her, caused this spiteful Sierra to take root here.

Eventually, Sierra ended her love song, and glared back at Cody. "Does that answer your question?"

Cody could only nod in a hollow fashion. He'd done so many things he would never be able to take back, and this was one of them.

The challenge progressed mostly the same as before, with Team Amazon squeaking out a win. Team Victory lost, and apparently Lindsey had run off to have fun in Paris during the challenge. Her elimination was expected, but at least she had a good time.

Cody evaluated the remaining players and thought about what he owed to them.

From Team Victory, LeShawna, Bridgette, and Ezekiel. He felt bad for what he did to Ezekiel back on the island, but there was little he could do for this team. He'd managed to change a lot already though, saving Bridgette and helping Ezekiel in not getting eliminated in the first challenge.

Team Chris had a different makeup, but a lot of core players were still there. For Owen and Izzy, Cody just wanted to be friends with them again. Alejandro was a threat to everyone here, so the best thing to do was to distract him or undermine him. If Alejandro started targeting Cody though… well, better him than someone else.

"Again with the messiah complex? You're creepy."

Noah was a completely different story. Cody would be lucky to have Noah revert to just not acknowledging his presence, any hopes of a friendship were completely ruined. Remembering the dumb conversations he'd have with Noah and Harold about time travel, about how dumb the whole idea was… it made Cody want to go back to sleep forever.

Team Amazon was the most different. For one, Duncan was here and Courtney wasn't. Duncan was an unexpected ally, but he was glad that they could find this common ground. To be honest, Cody had despised Duncan for so long, he was probably one of the players he genuinely hated… but that was all his shallow lust for Gwen.

Gwen as well, was someone Cody wanted to repay. He'd done so much wrong to her across every loop, and for whatever reason she had helped him, even pitied him in this timeline.

"Are you okay Cody?" Dawn yawned next to him, blinking sleep out of her eyes and looking over at the boy in question. Cody hadn't noticed it, but he had begun unconsciously crying, the warm tears trailing down his face.

"Y-yeah. Just thinking about what's gonna happen next."

"Sierra?"

"No, but…" Sierra was something he didn't want to think about right now. "It's everything. Don't worry."

Dawn looked put off by this, but complied, trying to go back to sleep. Cody cringed internally at what he'd done.

Dawn was another shocking addition to Team Amazon- honestly, their team was absurd. The others had a right to complain about the 'imbalance', especially now that Cody was awake. But, back to Dawn… Cody hated how he was treating her. He felt bad for uprooting her life so much, even if it had all been her choice. Felt bad for letting her take care of him the past year, and even now she is still doing it. It made him feel absolutely pathetic, and he wanted to simultaneously push the girl away and thank her for everything she'd done.

But, instead he was just ignoring her. The worst thing he could possibly do, make her feel unwanted or unappreciated. He knew the feeling well, and he felt suffocated by the guilt of passing that feeling onto someone else.

The last member of his team was Heather, but she always found a way to string things along to her tune. She was ironically, the sole bit of light here, the one constant he could always understand and not need to aggravate himself over.

"You alright?" A familiar voice whispered behind him. Cody could feel Dawn's gaze shift towards him, but he ignored it, instead trying to turn himself to face Gwen, though the best he could do was see some of her hair dangling in his periphery.

"Yeah. Uh, thanks, for everything. You know, back on the Playa, and here." Cody awkwardly said, and Gwen just giggled in response, circling his chair to face him. He'd almost forgotten how nice it was to see her smile- actually smile, the ones she reserved for her friends.

"That was ages ago man. Don't worry about it." She blew some hair out of her eyes and patted Cody on the shoulder. "Don't think too hard about this stuff. You've been tied down for a long while- literally. You should remember that you're important too."

"How did you-" Cody was cut off by Gwen's laughter again. He gave her a flustered glare, though one that lacked any real heat.

"I know you're worried about me, Sierra, heck, you were worried about Bridgette before. You're worried about a certain someone else too." Gwen's eyes shifted to Dawn, who was still in her sleeping position, though clearly awake. "But, you gotta remember you're valuable too."

"I'm… valuable, huh?" Cody mumbled in response. The loops had honestly made him consider his life to be less than that, trapped in an existence where nobody could understand you except a voice only you could hear. It was suffocatingly alone, and he could barely relate to anyone around him as it went on. His realization at the end, of how much he truly loved everyone there… did he really think himself to be less than everyone else?

"We should probably get some shut eye. You too Dawn." Gwen walked off to one of the first class seats ahead of them, and Cody could only watch her walk away, trying his best to etch her words into his mind.

Perhaps his assertions of maturity and immaturity had been ascribed too early.