Area 51.

It was odd to be at this point in the game considering how much changed. No Courtney meant the song would be different at least, but also the whole relationship had changed anyways. Duncan was single, and Gwen…

Cody touched his lips in thought. That warm, loving kiss, the kind he'd never truly felt before, the kind he'd always wanted. Always desired. God, that's a sick way of thinking about it, huh? But it was true, it was true that he always desperately loved Gwen, that he spent a whole series of loops simply studying her just to make her love him.

But he never wanted that. He only wanted a deeper love, one that he didn't have to force on other people, and after what he had done to Gwen…

"I can't love you." Cody stated, looking solemnly at his own reflection. He cringed and ruffled his hands in his hair, moaning in annoyance. "Gah! That line is so bad! So melodramatic, it'd just make me look like an idiot! Rejecting my biggest crush like that, I'm so stupid!"

The biggest hurdle though was being on the other end of rejection. Being the one to let someone's hopes down gently, to put everything behind oneself and move on. If only this had happened years ago, Cody would've gladly said yes! He would've done more than that, he would've gotten down on his hands and knees to thank her!

But, that wasn't who he was now. Perhaps that was never who he was. That was the 'Codemeister' - Forma Horndog. A shameful, outright embarrassing part of his past, but part of it nonetheless. A part that he didn't want to go back to anymore, and sadly the person he was now just wasn't in love with Gwen in that way.

"I'm not that into you." Cody tried to look cool in the mirror, but instead came out looking just the way he didn't want to look. Like himself. "Ah, come on! That's like calling her ugly and repulsive at the same time! There has to be a better way to say this."

While the statement was true now, it was still absolutely insulting. Even if Gwen got the message, couldn't he phrase it differently? Maybe in a much nicer way?

"I'm in love with someone else." Cody blurted out unexpectedly. He really hadn't meant to say that, but somehow, that felt right. Looking at himself in the mirror one last time, he thought about the phrase, about who that 'someone else' could be. He knew who it was. But he didn't want to admit it.

"I'll figure this out later."

So, Area 51 wasn't going too great. Owen was captured, Alejandro and Noah both ran off on their own, and the Amazons were nowhere to be seen. Joy.

Cody didn't particularly care for this challenge. He was more keen to just be walking around again on his own two feet, rather than being pushed around or having to lug around extra limbs. Man, using a walker at… how old was he again? Eh, it didn't matter.

Cody took a right through the maze-like facility, and arrived at a familiar room.

"Probably shouldn't put my finger on that this time." He commented dryly, looking at the familiar banana shaped pod. Honestly, he was pretty curious about it. Sure, aliens and clones were pretty mundane compared to time travel, but for him time travel had become mundane , and this stuff was all still fresh.

Hopefully he didn't get abducted by aliens and clones for a few years to ruin that too.

The sharp, stinging pain in his finger was just as bad as ever. Sure, stuffing it in his mouth would probably… definitely be a nice point to mock him with when the show was over, but come on. It hurt! A lot!

Cody tilted his head, expecting the clone once more, only to be met with something familiar, yet completely unexpected, his eyes widening as it began to talk to him.

"So, you and Cody finally resolved your issues yet?" Alejandro snarked as he and Noah made their way around the facility. Noah was at least still searching for Owen, but it was clear Alejandro didn't care either way- in fact, it seemed like he'd prefer Owen to be gone.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I don't think Cody and I will ever resolve our issues." Noah spat out, distinctly more annoyed at Alejandro than the boy in question. "You don't just 'resolve' getting nearly eaten alive by a bear."

"Too true, mi amigo. " Noah hated that. The sprinkles of Spanish to appear more familiar , to appear more understanding. It reminded Noah of how Cody acted during the first season, trying to charm his way to victory, ultimately failing halfway through. Alejandro was a… Wait.

Alejandro?

The glow of the campfire illuminated Cody's face in the moment. Noah could only look at it with pure resentment seeping through his features, though he doubted the boy would notice. He looked about ready to pass out, but he'd say his fear before that happened.

"What about you Cody?" Noah's voice burned with irritation, but again, Cody either deliberately chose not to notice, or he was so tired that he completely failed to. He was so tired in fact, that he didn't even say a fear, just a name.

"Alejandro."

"You okay, amigo?" The question was for once, completely genuine, but Noah couldn't help but think.

How did he- no, why did he forget something as significant as that? Sure, he never saw the face of Cody's fear, but the body shape was somewhat similar to Alejandro's, and Cody's personality was like a warped version of his. What the hell was happening?

"Yeah, fine." Noah said, returning to move in pace with the taller boy. Alejandro just shrugged and continued through the facility, the pair not bringing up the topic again. But, Noah continued to wonder, just what connection did Cody and Alejandro truly have?

And why did he forget all about it?

"Cody hasn't talked to me in a while." Gwen sighed, leaning against a pile of boxes. Her accompaniment this time was Dawn, Duncan had chosen to run off on his own while Heather… well, she didn't really have friends to help her besides Sierra. So, those two were a team. "Have you heard much from him?"

Dawn truthfully hadn't. The more Cody was able to move on his own, the more he used that ability to distance himself. Not like when he had emotionally and mentally distanced himself from others as a form of protection, but rather this seemed to be out of fear. His aura around others fluctuated constantly, and what happened in Greece…

"I don't see him as much, now that he doesn't need me to push him around." She sighed, gazing up at the metallic roof. The sky, blocked off by the construction of man, a sight that made her feel nostalgic in some ways, and made her despair in others. "He keeps changing, perhaps too fast for all of us."

"Yeah… whatever that means." Gwen laughed, sliding against the boxes until she was sitting on the floor. Neither felt the rush to find an item right now, but neither felt a particularly strong urge to keep themselves in the game. Besides, Gwen assumed Dawn and Duncan would at least not vote for her if worse came to worse. "He's changed a lot though. Didn't think I'd like that little asshole after everything on the island."

"Me too." Dawn said.

Gwen looked over at the girl confused, before her face became awash in understanding. "Don't tell me, you're… I'm such an idiot!" Gwen smacked her head, much to the other girl's surprise. Gwen just smiled at her, continuing her comments. "I just- I should've known, really! I thought I was really in tune with all of this, but, gah!"

Dawn couldn't help but giggle as the goth stumbled over her words in an attempt to explain herself. It didn't change the fact of the matter though.

"Don't worry. If Cody likes you… let him come to you." She smiled, remembering the embarrassing love Cody held for the girl. "If I told him how I felt, I…"

"You think he'd only like you because of all you've done, right?" Gwen's comments were spot on.

"That's why I can't say anything. I just have to wait."

"Well, if it isn't Mister Time Traveler." The girl giggled as she stepped out of the pod, looking just as she did in Greece. Cody stumbled back a few steps, shock evident on his face. This… wasn't possible. The girl had changed what was supposed to happen in such a way that he could barely wrap his mind around it. Just inserting herself into a place where someone- some thing else should be.

Her visage was still repulsive to Cody. He took note of her chestnut brown hair and dress, but every time she grinned he had to look away. She exuded this malevolence that he couldn't stand anymore, that he absolutely hated.

"Oh, you hate it? Isn't that a shame, after you shared so much of it before!" She cheered, stepping closer to Cody, who was now backed up against a pile of metallic boxes. "There's pathetic, whiny, whimpering Cody , the loser who couldn't get the girl, couldn't get the money, and couldn't even live . What happened to all that anger? All that hate, that revenge, that drama!"

Her piercing laugh caused Cody to cringe, but he still wanted to fight back. "Why would you care what I do with my life?"

"Oh come on!" Another obnoxious laugh. "Your life was the delicious cheese curds atop my poutine! All that suffering and anguish, it was so delicious !" Cody's eyes widened further as she spoke, relished in his past misery. "How about when you kept getting pushed down into those muddy traps? Or all those times you had a bear maul you? Or when you had a bear maul someone else ! Eh? Eh?" Another shrill, high pitched laugh at his expense.

"All of that was a mistake! It always was." Cody stated, doing his best to glare at the girl while his eyes instinctively avoided her face. He couldn't fully understand why he was so determined to do so, but there was no use arguing with his body right now. "Dawn helped me understand that, so leave me alone."

"Oh, the cheater. " The girl growled, stomping her foot childishly. "If she didn't interfere, I would've had all of your angst and pain forever! I would've watched as you gave everyone around you what they deserved, before seeing you get sent back to do it all over again! It was such a perfect system!"

Cody caught onto the implication in her words quickly, doing his best to glare at the girl. "Wait, do you mean… all the time travel, that was because of you?" He spoke softly, but there was a small edge to his voice. Cody never truly sounded dramatic really, he always had a boyish tone to his voice, but here he knew he sounded older- perhaps closer to his true age.

"Of course!" She laughed, pointing at Cody. "Look at your face! You're so angry right now, trying to be genuine and everything when really you just want to hide behind something stronger! What are you even going to do-"

Cody had barely even registered the punch he'd thrown out until he realized he was several feet forward, and the girl was sprawled against the floor, a large bruise on her cheek. He almost felt a bit bad when she started crying, but that feeling dissipated when she exploded into a pile of good. Just like the alien clone he'd seen before.

"So, that's my true enemy."

Team Amazon ended up snagging a win due to Team Chris not having Owen when they crossed the finish line. Perhaps this was a set in stone part of fate- there will always be a challenge where they lose partly because Owen was left behind.

Owen hadn't been recovered in time, so the elimination ceremony became more of a going away party. Whatever had happened to him in there apparently messed with his head enough that he needed to see an actual psychiatrist and not just Chef with his flimsy degrees in well… everything.

Cody rubbed his fist in thought, not focused so much on the elimination, but on the girl. The girl who had been his unknown tormentor this whole time, and the girl who he couldn't even bear to look in the face. Why did she hate him? Sure, she talked like he was entertainment, but it was clear she targeted him for a reason. Just what was it?

"Cody." A surprising voice came from his side, and Cody turned to see Noah. The two hadn't spoken since their sing-off in Greece, but their relationship hadn't worsened any. They were merely… amicable now. "Let's go to the cargo hold."

Cody didn't feel the need to ask any questions of his former friend, so he just followed along. The two descended into the bowels of the plane, past all the, quite frankly, awful economy decor, and into a familiar room filled with various luggages that belonged to nobody they knew. Cody looked at Noah expectantly, and the conversation began.

"Why did you and Alejandro never mention that you knew each other?"

Cody couldn't help it. He laughed, probably the most he had laughed since… Well, it'd been a long time. That was the question? All this anticipation and build up to something so completely unexpected, yet so utterly pedestrian to Cody that he couldn't help it.

"Come on dude, answer the question." Cody finished wheezing, looking at Noah's annoyed face. There was almost no malice behind it. That was a nice start.

"It's not the same Alejandro man." Cody used the excuse he'd decided on should anyone end up asking. Come on, the odds of Alejandro and Cody knowing each other prior to this season were astronomical! Heck, it literally required time travel for it to happen.

"I don't buy that." Noah shook his head and continued. "The way you acted in the first season, I felt something familiar here. It only took me a while to realize that had been Alejandro and the way he acted. The guy you fought for your fear challenge had a similar build to Alejandro. Finally, there's one last thing I can confirm." He smirked, looking at Cody as if he had struck the nail right on its head. "You've mentioned him before. In your sleep, on the island."

"But… we had different cabins?" Cody's eyes widened as he dawned in realization. Did Noah remember? No, if he did, this confrontation would be a lot different, he seemed to just have a weird blurring of memories that made him supremely confident in his thesis.

"Listen man, it was a different guy. I've never seen this other Alejandro before, and there was no way we could've agreed to keep this a secret- I was unconscious the whole time." Cody sighed, feigning annoyance, before strutting out of the cargo hold, leaving a smug Noah in his wake.

Cody smiled at the image. Certainly it was a step up from how Noah used to look at him, at least.