I really have no idea how this chapter is going to turn out. XD Now that's what you call good planning. Here's hoping you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Do Not Own

Dedication: Any readers who have commented or favorited or put this story in their alerts. I'm really thankful that there are people out there who enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it, even though I don't get much time to anymore.

The game was an exact copy of Lyoko, the original Lyoko, before sections had started getting deleted. It was all there from the krabs to the kankrelats, not the smallest flaw to be seen. The group recoiled from the booth like it was poisoned.

"What the fuck is that?" Odd hissed as they huddled close in a forgotten corner of the game room.

"Did she make a new Xana too?" Yumi asked, sounding frightened.

"Everyone calm down." Jeremy took a deep breath as though to calm his own nerves. "The system seems to be operating merely as a copy. There doesn't appear to be a Xana figure at all within this Lyoko: all the monsters are on automatic respawn. As to what purpose this serves, I honestly have no idea."

"Let's go ask the bitch." Yumi said spitefully.

"Yumi, please, there's no need for that kind of language."

"Oh, I'm sorry Saint Ulrich. How callous of me to insult her when you and her are all fucking chummy."

Ulrich just rolled his eyes which caused Yumi to fume even more.

Jeremy cleared his throat, "that aside. I think it would be wise to go and question Serenity's intent." Yumi opened her mouth to say something snide but he continued without pausing. "It may be that this is completely innocent. We can't conclude malice or ill intent without evidence." With that he led the way out of the game room and headed for the dorm building, Aelita's hand clasped in his and the rest following behind.

Justin leaned back against Serenity's door his head banging gently against it with soft thumps. He was frustrated but there was no need to injure his intelligence over it. That wouldn't help matters at all.

Things had taken a turn for the worst with Serenity. Pierre had called him right after finding her almost sexually assaulting Dellarobbia. That wouldn't do. He had hoped that she would come out of the hypnotism with no side effects but it seemed that was too optimistic for the situation. They were going to have to reinstate her. It was going to be messy and she wasn't going to like it. Just like the first time. The suppressors were gone so it was their only option.

There was nothing he could do now except wait for Pierre to return with her. He had started out waiting inside her room with Yutaro but the silence was almost deafening as Yutaro meditated. He was forced to go outside for his own sanity. The thoughts spun around inside his head until they were jumbled and useless. The stress of the situation was getting to him. He hoped they were nearing the conclusion on this tale. Serenity wouldn't last much longer without serious interference. He just wanted to take her home and live quietly and safely together. But he didn't think that would ever really be an option. In the end he believed that it just wasn't fated for Serenity and him to have a peaceful life.

He had never had a feeling of being "home", that comfortable and safe feeling that everyone seemed to have somewhere. He was glad that at least in sacrificing himself Serenity would be able to have that. He wished that he hadn't caught her up in all of this. She was suffering. He saw it every day, though she tried not to let it show. It tore at his insides. All he wanted to do was protect her.

There was movement down the hall and he stopped his banging, hoping it would be Pierre only to find it was the regional troop of heroes, with Jeremy in the lead. They stopped in front of him and looked at him expectantly.

"Can I help you with something?" He said, leaning his head back and looking at the ceiling.

"Where is Serenity? We need to speak with her." Jeremy said.

"I'm afraid she's not available right now. You should come back later."

"Don't lie for her. Just let us through." Yumi said angrily

Justin shot a glare at her and she seemed to wilt, "she's not in any condition for visitors. Please come back tomorrow."

"What's wrong with her?" Odd asked, looking slightly guilty.

"She's sleeping."

Just then Pierre and Serenity came down the hallway. She leaned heavily on Pierre, looking very pale.

Justin pulled something oblong and metallic from his pocket, hiding it in his closed fist and strode forward to meet them. "Do you have her?" he asked Pierre, who nodded firmly.

Justin opened his hand and pressed the device within onto the exposed skin between Serenity's shirt and jeans, over her hip bone. She went limp immediately and Pierre swung her up gently into his arms.

"What the hell is going on here? What did you just do to her?" Ulrich asked angrily.

"There's no need to get all righteous on us. She just needs her medicine. She'll be fine. Now scram kiddies, its past your bedtime." Pierre said as he carried Serenity through the door to her room while Yutaro held it open. Justin followed and then Yutaro closed it in the gang's face with a sharp snap.

Serenity sat straight backed on the edge of her bed. Justin sat next to her with her hand in his lap, his thumb firmly over her wrist and his eyes on the clock on the wall. Yutaro and Pierre watched from their positions near her desk and against the door.

"How do you feel?" Justin murmured, eyes never leaving the clock as he counted her heartbeats.

"Fine." Serenity said, her face and voice calm.

"Any dizziness?"

"None at all."

"Nausea?"

"No. I feel fine, honestly." Justin felt her start and glanced up to find her looking confused as tears ran down her face.

She looked at him, panicked and he took her in his arms; her pulse was too erratic to get a good reading anyway. "It's alright. You don't have to fight it." He said softly in her ear, rubbing her back.

She let out a surprised sob, "what's happening to me?"

"Your brain needs some time to adjust to the new binds on it. Just breathe. You're going to be fine. I promise." He knew exactly what she was feeling and was glad that he was here to be with her. There had been no one to hold him when it was his mind getting restricted.

He slowly laid her back on the bed, catching a spare blanket thrown by Pierre who had taken it from the closet, and tucked it tightly around her. Her breathing was becoming more and more labored as she fought against her mental bonds. She would effectively kill herself if she kept this up.

Justin swept her hair away from her eyes. "You need to calm down. Just let your mind go. Concentrate on your breathing. Nothing else."

"I can't! It hurts! Please, make it stop!" She sobbed, her fingers gripping the blankets in a death grip as her eyes clamped tight against the mental agony tearing through her consciousness.

Justin put his hands firmly on her shoulders, "just relax." His mouth hardened into a thin line.

Pierre spoke up from his position near the door, "isn't there anything we can do?"

"If she doesn't do it herself we'll have the same problem as the last time. She'll come out of it before it's time." Justin snapped, "I don't want to have to do this again. The symptoms get worse every time. I don't know if she'll survive another session."

Serenity went very still on the bed, her breath caught in her throat. Her back arched on the bed and all of her muscled tensed, her mouth open in a silent scream as blood dripped from her eyes and nose.

"Christ," Justin cursed loudly as her fought to hold her writhing form to the bed. "Yutaro, get over here. Put her under!"

Yutaro rushed over and put his fingertips on both sides of her neck, then paused. He hesitated; looking at her distressed face.

"Yutaro, now." Justin growled from his strenuous position as he tried to hold down her kicking limbs.

Yutaro pressed his fingers into her neck firmly, withdrawing them as soon as she went limp. In a flash he found himself being pushed roughly against the bedroom wall next to the door.

Justin's face was livid, his teeth clenched and his eyes flashing. His grip on Yutaro's neck tightened fractionally with each passing second. "Don't ever question my orders again. You won't live to regret it." Justin hissed when Yutaro met his eyes.

Yutaro nodded firmly and said as best he could with his small amount of oxygen, "It won't happen again, Sergeant."

Justin released him and he slid down the wall into a crumbled heap. "See that it doesn't." He returned to Serenity's bed, where she now slept peacefully, and carefully sat at the foot, looking at her face, his mind not entirely present. "You two," Pierre and Yutaro straightened. "Take a walk. She'll be out for some time." They left without a word, closing the door quietly behind them.

Justin let his hands cover his face and sighed. If only he could follow his own orders.

It was surprisingly nice out for the beginning of March. There was only a light dusting of frost on the ground that left the vegetation crispy and the dirt rigid and unforgiving. The temperature maintained throughout the day was such that the frost never melted but nonetheless two students could be found lounging in the prickly grass of the quad with only light jackets. They had hats, scarves, and gloves as well to keep out the creeping cold.

Justin was stretched out on his back, one arm behind his head and the other wrapped around Serenity, who reclined against him, lazily tracing shapes on his chest with one finger.

Aelita could see them from her position near the gate. She was seeing Jeremy off. He was the last one of their group to leave for the four day weekend.

"I could stay." He offered for the billionth time.

"Don't be ridiculous. You never see your family; you need to spend some time with them."

"I don't want to leave you alone here."

"There are plenty of people around. I won't be lonely."

"You know that's not what I mean."

"Xana just attacked on Thursday. We have a couple days before he gets enough strength to do it again and even if he does manage it somehow before you get back; Yumi's right around the corner and Ulrich's only an hour away by plane. If it lasts long enough Odd can get on a plane too. You can be here in 30 minutes if anything goes wrong. Stop worrying."

"Come with me." Jeremy asked for the seventh time in the last 20 minutes; this time with renewed fervor. He grabbed her hands in his and looked her in the eye.

Aelita kissed him softly on the nose and then pushed him towards the car where his parents were waiting. "Someone has to stay, you know that. It makes sense that it's me. I have no family to spend time with." She said the last part so softly that she didn't think Jeremy could hear it.

He sighed loudly and his shoulders slumped in defeat. He climbed into the backseat of the car, pausing to say, "I'll call you as soon as I get there." She nodded and waved and smiled until he was out of sight, then let her face reflect how gloomy she really was.

She turned from the gate and walked back towards main campus, not sure exactly where she was headed. She slowed as she got closer to Serenity and Justin.

Serenity looked up at her as she paused beside them. "Poor Aelita, did they leave the princess alone in the castle to fight the dragon by herself. What horrible knights."

"They didn't have a choice. It's only four days. I can take care of myself." Aelita snapped with such conviction that Serenity just chuckled and said, "Okay."

Aelita restarted her march to nowhere and paused again when Justin spoke up. "We'll be around, if you get lonely." She could tell without looking that he was smirking.

She kept walking. She supposed she should have tried to get more information about Trap! out of Serenity but the gang had been trying for just over a week now and all they ever got for their efforts were cryptic answers about knowing its true purpose in due time. Which was entirely unhelpful. She ducked into the cafeteria, eager to escape the cold air.

Justin watched her walk away, back ramrod straight. She would come to them before the weekend was over; he was sure of it. He shifted under Serenity. "Are you cold?"

"I dunno." She said offhandedly, nuzzling into his chest and curling around him tighter.

"Give me your hand." He removed her glove and his own and pressed their fingers together. Hers were like ice. "Jesus, you're freezing. We're going inside. Come on." He replaced her glove and pulled her up, taking her hand in his and pulling her towards the dormitory. She followed him without complaint, moving gracefully next to him. "What do you want to do today?"

"Did you have something in mind?"

"I have to prepare for Saturday but I don't think it will take all of today."

She shifted her hand within his, "what's on Saturday?"

"We're looking at your chip, seeing if something can't be done about it."

"I remember you mentioning that. Why Saturday?"

"All the cards will be in place by then."

"I see."

They continued to the dormitory in silence, hands gripping tightly.

Aelita,

I'll be destroying Serenity's chip today. Since she now shares your virus I'm not sure how it will affect you and so request your presence for your own safety. 15:00 in the factory.

JT

The note had been pinned to one of her sweatshirts when she took her clothes out of the dryer. She had been putting off her laundry for a few weeks and with lack of anything better to do with another 2 days of lonely vacation looming in her future she set herself to the task. While she waited for her clothes to dry she had gone and gotten a drink in the cafeteria. She had only been gone for a few minutes, meaning they had to have been watching her to be able to slip in the note in that small period of absence.

She gnawed on her lip, a nervous habit she had picked up somewhere, certainly not something acquired in Lyoko, wondering if she should call Jeremy. He would call everyone else and they would all come racing back and stop Justin and the others from doing whatever they were doing. They didn't trust them. Aelita wasn't sure she much did either but it was hard to forget the long lonely nights on Lyoko spent in Serenity's comforting company, long after Jeremy had gone to bed. Serenity didn't deserve to have the constant threat of Xana's control hanging over her head, no one did.

They didn't have to tell her of their actions. It wouldn't affect what they were trying to accomplish if she remained oblivious. They obviously cared at least something for her, even if that was merely a shadow originating from her and Serenity's shared virus.

She stuffed her clothes into her laundry basket and tugged it back to her room without looking. Her phone rang as she reached for her keys.

"Hello?"

"Aelita, how are you? How's everything?"

Jeremy sounded worried. Aelita worried that he could somehow read her mind, even in his absence. "Everything is fine. I'm fine. Just doing some laundry. No movement from Xana whatsoever."

He let out a sigh. "I just got this feeling that something was wrong. I'm glad that you're ok."

She unlocked her door and then started haphazardly stuffing clothes into drawers, not bothering to fold anything. "You need to stop worrying before you make yourself sick." She laughed lightly. "I'm glad to hear your voice though. I miss you. How is your family? Are you enjoying your vacation?"

"I can't help worrying about you. You're my most special person." She could practically hear his blushing. "I miss you too. My family is fine…" He went on to tell a story about his father accidently knocking the chicken during dinner off the table with his elbow while telling a story and getting overly excited with his arm movements. She smiled softly.

She let him finish his retelling and then said softly, "Jeremy? I'm going to let you go now. I want to go get some food and then try to get Serenity alone to ask her about the game."

"Ok, I'll let you go eat. Be careful please. Maybe you should just wait until I get back."

"I'll be fine. I won't do anything to put myself into danger."

"I guess I can't stop you then. Alright well, goodbye Aelita."

"Goodbye Jeremy. Love you."

Again the blush. "L-love you too." She smiled again and then closed the phone.

She hated to lie to him but this was more important. She had faith in Serenity and if she trusted her brother and his friends than Aelita would too. She locked the door behind her and set off for the factory, not having much time.

Justin sat in the chair usually occupied by Jeremy. His hands flew across the keyboard as well as the touch screens that Yutaro had added specifically for his use, dragging things and tapping. Nobody said a word as he worked. Aelita sat, cross-legged in the corner, Serenity stood behind Justin, watching the screen and Pierre and Yutaro pulled wires out of a panel they had taken out of the wall, labeling them as they went. For the most part, Aelita's presence went unacknowledged, coming to attention only once, when she had first arrived and Justin had barked at her, without looking up from his work, "What's Jeremy's passcode?"

Yutaro and Pierre finished with the wires and Pierre moved to the elevator. Aelita caught sight of him pressing the scanner room button before the doors slammed shut.

Justin paused in his typing and used both hands on the touch screens for a moment. "Where are my notes?" He looked over his shoulder at Serenity.

She held out her arm, which was covered in ink.

"Ok," he said after a moment of examining. "That should be all I need from you. Prepare yourself."

She let Yutaro lead her over to sit against the wall under the open panel and remained completely relaxed as he knelt and unbuttoned her shirt, removing and folding it before placing it to the side. Aelita couldn't help but stare at the folded white men's button up, flicking her eyes between it and Serenity's exposed skin. Justin's scribbling continued all over both arms up over the shoulders and looked to continue over her back. Serenity just leaned peacefully against the wall with her eyes on Justin.

Yutaro crossed the room to pull a large medical kit from his bag and then knelt by Serenity once more. Her eyes opened and caught Aelita's. "Did you have something to ask me? Come here."

Aelita took one look at Yutaro donning rubber gloves and pulling a prepackaged scalpel from the kit, swallowed painfully and then went over to sit face Serenity.

Yutaro had her lean forward, away from him and then Aelita couldn't see what he was doing because it was blocked by Serenity's head. She didn't appear to be in pain but Aelita saw that when Yutaro drew away for a second that his fingers were stained with blood.

"Well, what was the question?" Serenity prompted and Aelita was sure she must have been numbed at some point because she didn't even flinch, her body remained perfectly relaxed.

"Why did you create that game? What is its purpose?"

Serenity smiled dreamily and the look was alien on her, turned her face into a stranger's. "You wouldn't have paid any attention to me otherwise."

Aelita was taken aback. "That's the only reason? – To get our attention?"

"It's for practice too, since I can't go on the real Lyoko anymore." She sighed. "And even though you wouldn't let Justin and the others help you we wanted to be ready. Hopefully that will change today though."

"You couldn't go on Lyoko? We're not here all the time, you could have managed."

"Xana would just take me again. The chip with the virus gives him complete control in Lyoko." She sighed and pouted and Aelita looked at her like she was crazy. "I'll be glad to be rid of it, it itches."

Yutaro chuckled darkly. "Liar."

She pouted further. "It does."

"You don't have any feeling back here. You wouldn't know if it did itch."

"It's a mental itch. Cause it's in my brain." She grinned and he rolled his eyes.

"I'm almost done back here. Once Pierre is ready I'll hook you up and Justin will take it from there."

Aelita quirked an eyebrow at her, "you don't have any feeling?"

Serenity hummed softly. "Yeah, the chip is paced right at the base of my skull near my spinal cord; they permanently killed the nerves back there to prevent residual pain and speed up healing time after the operation. That way my body wouldn't reject it as much. Here, listen." She tilted her head towards her shoulder and it made several loud popping noises. "I can't feel that at all."

"That sounds dangerous."

"It's safer than if they tried to do it now-a-days."

Aelita fell silent at that, confused.

"Serenity, control yourself," Justin said tersely through gritted teeth.

"Yessir," she said brightly.

"Okay, little shock coming." Yutaro said lowly as he carefully pulled wires apart and attached them to clamps.

Aelita gaped. "Is that really safe?"

Yutaro didn't look up from his fingers working. "Don't worry, these aren't power cables. She won't get electrocuted. Not enough to do any damage anyway."

Serenity rolled her eyes. "Where's Pierre? He's slow."

"And you're demanding and impatient," Pierre said loftily as he exited the newly arrived elevator. Yutaro swiftly finished wrapping the wires around the clamps and then bent to quickly attach them to Serenity. From where Aelita was sitting it looked like he was pushing them into the cut he'd made. She grimaced.

For her part, Serenity stayed still and relaxed, fingers twitching where her hands rested limply on her thighs. Pierre grabbed a large, black, plastic case with handles and dragged it over to where Serenity and Aelita were sitting. He pushed the latches on the case open and flung the lid back to reveal a myriad of glass-screened devices that looked to be for monitoring or measuring. He switched placed with Yutaro and started digging through the case. He pulled a pair of wire clippers from the depths and stuffed them into his back pocket then bent to keep rummaging. Yutaro rolled his bloodied gloves off in a professional, obviously practiced motion, threw them into the garbage and then took Aelita by the hand, drawing her off the floor and onto her feet.

"Please come to the other side of the room for this part. I will be monitoring your vitals to make sure this has no negative effect on you," he said, leading her away from Serenity and Pierre, to the opposite side of the room from Justin. Aelita let herself be lead, slightly speechless at hearing that amount of speech from the normally mute boy. She realized with a start that she had never heard his voice before today.

He sat her down on a plush cushion that seemed to be placed there for that purpose and took her wrist, looking at his wristwatch and obviously counting her heartbeats.

"Is everything set?" Justin said to the room, still typing and not looking up from the screens in front of him.

"Just waiting on you, boss," Pierre said from his spot, having attached one of the devices from the case to the bundle of wires near to the wall where they emerged from. He was tapping the glass impatiently and squinting at the reading.

"I have acquired a base sample of both subjects," Yutaro said.

"On three then." Justin sat back in the chair, cracking his neck and then his knuckles and then placing his fingers on the keyboard.

"One... Two... Three."

On three he hit a button and Aelita could hear Xana screeching in frustration in her head before a bright light overtook her sight and then doused her in overwhelming darkness.

When she woke her head was pillowed on Yutaro's lap and he had his fingers to her neck, counting her pulse out loud. She sat up quickly, brushing imaginary dust off the shoulder of her dress in embarrassment. Yutaro reached over and patted her head lightly. "You'll be just fine."

Pierre was cradling Serenity's limp form in his lap, her face pressed to his neck as Justin probed the wound at the base of her skull.

"Looks like a success. Only one way to tell for sure though. Get her to the scanners." He turned to Aelita. "You coming?" She nodded slowly. He walked over to the computer station and pulled Jeremy's book of codes from the hidden spot under the chair. He propped it open on the desk and started flipping through, scanning the pages.

"Hey! That's private," Aelita said, protesting.

He grinned at her, "If he didn't want me to read it then he should have hid it better." He paused, re-reading a code more closely then made a disproving noise. "Tsk, so sloppy."

Aelita sniffed. "Hmph, as if you could do any better."

The grin grew larger and even more chesire-like. "Of course I can. Who do you think has been replacing all the sectors you keep losing, huh?"

Her mouth dropped open in shock, "that was you?"

His grin slid off his face quickly and his brow furrowed into a frown. "Who in the hell did you think it was?"

"Xana..." She trailed off, an embarrassed flush burning her cheeks as he stared at her like she was the world's dumbest citizen.

His eyebrow lifted. "You're telling me that you're group automatically assumed my work was Xana just because they didn't know who it was?"

She didn't reply, just flushed darker.

He continued, "Even though Xana has made it clear that he wants to escape Lyoko into the internet by deleting all of the sectors. You assumed it was him even though the work was completely contrary to his clear set goals."

"We thought he needed the extra towers for something."

"Jesus Christ. Y'all are a whole new breed of naivety."

Pierre rolled his eyes. "Who the fuck cares what they thought? Lets just go already." He had Serenity's limp form slung over one shoulder and was already in the elevator. Yutaro was leaning impassively against the door, keeping it from closing.

"Fine fine." He pulled a pen from somewhere on his person and scratched out some code, then rewrote something in the margin. Grin firmly in place again he snapped the book shut and slid it back under the chair where he found it. He tapped a few windows forward and started some codes running on the touch screens then entered the elevator, pulling Aelita with him.

"While I've got you here, let's talk about your teams methods on Lyoko." The grin seemed forced and Aelita shuddered as the doors to the elevator snapped shut, sealing her in, with no where to run."I've got a few pointers for you."

Serenity reached for the knob on the door to Chem and suddenly the door slammed open, a sobbing Sissy with patches of burnt hair sticking up much shorter than the rest narrowly missing her as she ran down the hallway with her hands over her face, despite the teacher's protests. Demi poked her head out of the doorway and called down the hall, "I'm really sorry Sissy! I had no idea it would do that! I hope your hair is ok!"

She let the apologetic look on her face fall and grinned a little before catching sight of Serenity. "Oh, hullo there. Where've you been lately? Haven't seen you in forever!" She quickly pulled Serenity into a hug and then pulled her by the wrist into the classroom.

Serenity apologized to the teacher for being late as they passed and then allowed Demi to lead her over to their usual worktable. "I had to partner with Sissy." She made a face.

"Sorry. I've been... busy."

"That's ok. I figured you were working on the game thing you won and dealing with the aftermath. How awkward was that whole ordeal, seriously. I thought you were going to pass out from stage fright." She elbowed Serenity gently.

"It's been a lot of work." Serenity admitted. "But if the game sells well I should get some money so I suppose it'll be worth it." She shrugged and then quickly turned the conversation away from herself. "So, how's it going with Matt and everything?"

"Hm? Oh, I dunno. We weren't ever really super serious or anything and he's been super busy lately so we haven't been able to find time to hang out." She pouted. "Everybody's busy but me. I need to get more hobbies."

"Being busy isn't really that fun. Enjoy your free time."

"I suppose. Let's see, what did you miss?" She tapped her finger to her chin in contemplation. "Yumi and Ulrich broke up."

"For real this time?"

"I think so. It's lasted longer than any of their other fights before."

"You want them to be broken up so you can pursue Ulrich without guilt."

She smacked Serenity on the arm, blushing slightly. "Tact, you need to learn it."

"Such things are useless niceties. You're just mad because I'm right."

"I refuse to talk about this."

Serenity looked at the clock on the wall over the blackboard and sighed.

"Want to go to lunch together after this," Demi asked.

"I can't. I've got tons of work to make up." Serenity made sure to look apologetic.

"Well, make sure you do it all so we can hang out later this week."

"I'll try my best," Serenity promised, standing and filing out of the door with the other students as the bell rang.

"I'll see you later."

"Bye," Demi waved.

Serenity headed in the opposite direction of the rest of the students and slowly made her way to the factory.

Okay, this is more than 5k words now, so I'm posting it, even though I didn't get as far, plot-wise as I'd hoped to. I've already made you all wait more than a year so it's only fair. My general rule is to post at 5k so I'm sticking to it.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the plot/ fixing of plot holes I tried to sneak in. The next chapter will have even more plot and fixing of plot holes. It will definitely not be out until after November as I am once again attempting NaNoWriMo this year and so will have no time for this. I'll try not to let this sit for another year but no promises.

I look forward to seeing you all next time.

Thanks for reading and sticking with me.

Love, Katie