A/N: Okay, if you do not read Operation: FORGET, you can skip this A/N. If you do;
I AM SORRY.
I LOST MY LAPTOP.
I SPENT A THREE-AND-A-HALF WEEKS FREAKING OUT OVER IT.
THEN I FOUND IT AND A GOT WRITER'S BLOCK.
THESE THINGS MAKE THIS THE WORST SCHOOL HOLIDAYS EVER.
Please, please pretty pleasetake this as an apology? I tried to make it as good as possible, just to say I'M SO CRUDDY SORRY AND I FEEL HORRIBLE.
Disclaimer: Do not own KND, do not own characters.
Voicemail
~A Hoagie and Abby One-shot~
By Numbuh 25-KND
~(*)~
August 15th, 2011
August fifteenth, and it was Hoagie's birthday. His thirteenth birthday, to be precise. It was a dark day for everyone, needless to say. They had even received a message from Numbuh 1 himself, way out there in space, one that resulted in tears for all of them, especially Numbuh 2.
From the moment that Sector V had woken up, there was a sort of eerie, gloomy silence over the the entire treehouse. It seemed as though even the birds and the crickets outside had given up on their usual ambiance. Hoagie had dragged himself out of bed, and not said a word for a long time afterward.
Abby, as well, was depressed, though she tried to hide it, to maintain her 'in control' attitude. She and Hoagie had been together for almost a year now. Tears kept coming to her eyes in the middle of any conversation that they half-heartedly tried to maintain, and she and Hoagie spent a lot of that day just sitting against each other, not even talking, just trying to drill the memory of each other into their minds, too grimly aware that today would be the last day that they would know each other as they knew each other now.
There was a huge gathering at Moonbase, needless to say. Operatives came from all over the globe to farewell Numbuh 2. There was a sort of 'reception' beforehand, and Hoagie, who had somehow adopted a demeanour exactly the opposite of that morning's, and instead of trying in vain to hold back tears, he began joking and laughing and smiling, cracking bad puns and terrible lines to everybody else there, as if trying to forget what was about to happen, trying to forget the fact that he was about to lose everything. Nobody was sure of how to react to this, so they laughed along with him, albeit a little awkwardly.
The reception had gone on for hours, and it had been put off for the whole day, but it could not be put off forever. At some point, it had to be done.
It was almost six o'clock when everyone finally realised that it was time.
They were sitting around the table, in the middle of the decommissioning arena, Sector V. All with heads bowed, all in pain from trying to fend off tears, a hard, stinging lump in their throats.
'I- well... I guess this is goodbye, then,' Numbuh 2 started, feeling his voice go hoarse through all his emotion. The charade of his old, joking self had evaporated the minute that the announcement had gone out, the smile on his face shrinking until it ceased to exsist.
Abby immediately burst into tears, and buried herself in Hoagie's shoulder, unable to keep up her cover any longer. Just seeing her like this, so different from the in control girl she always was, seemed to bring a new, unnatural feeling into the pit of Sector V's stomachs.
'W-we'll miss you, Numbuh 2,' Kuki said. Her words, as well, were trembling.
'Hey, remember that time you turned yourself into a teenager, and went on a date with Cree?' Wally prodded, trying to get his teammate and best friend to perk up at least a bit; he just didn't want him to be decommissioned in this state of despair.
'Ha, yeah...'
'And when you saved the first grade's bunny from Heinrich...uhm, I mean Henrietta?'
'Mm-hmm.'
'Hey Hoags?' Abby began, in a small, emotional voice.
'Yeah?'
'Remember that time in the treehouse, when that kid's kite got stuck up the tree, and you were so determined to get it down? Just because you thought it would impress me?' She recounted. Hoagie had tried for hours to dislodge that kite from the branch it was stuck in, but it had held fast. In fact, it was still up there at that very moment.
Hoagie just nodded, not saying a word.
'Well, I just want you to know that you could have tried a thousand more times, and you could have failed a thousand more times. I don't care. I still love you.'
Hoagie's eyes closed at that moment. He tried to remember this. Tried to burn this image into his mind. Abby, with her head on his shoulder, and Kuki, still trying to hold some sort of reassuring smile through her blurry eyes, and Wally sitting across from him, attempting not to cry, but not succeeding. They were all there. He thought that maybe if he drilled it hard enough into his mind, he just might be able to keep that image, even if he did not remember what it meant.
Maybe.
'Uh, Numbuh 2? It's- uhm, time to blow out the candles,' Numbuh 86 said, approaching the group with Hoagie's cake, all set with thirteen candles. Even Fanny had taken the day off of being so uptight about boys. It was sad to lose Numbuh 2, even if he was a boy.
Hoagie took a deep, shaky breath, and, closing his eyes to keep out the tears, he waited one more second, hesitated for just one extra moment, to take in everything that he had been a part of for the last eight years; from the time he signed up at age five, to that very moment.
And then, he blew out the candles.
The end of all of it.
At that moment, it was like the entire arena of operatives let out a sort of 'this is it' sigh, letting go of that one breath they were holding onto.
Hoagie stood up, his face solemn, his eyes still closed. It had to be done. Couldn't be put off any longer.
'Goodbye, Numbuh 2,' Kuki whispered.
'No,' Hoagie said, keeping his voice gentle but firm.
'No. Not goodbye. Just... see you soon.'
And with that, he was lead over to the decommissioning chamber, where Numbuh 86 was standing, with her head drooped, despite her less than affectionate feelings towards Hoagie.
'Guess it's time, huh Numbuh 86?' Hoagie said, trying with all he had in him to be strong.
'Oh, just shut up and...,' Fanny sighed, seemed to give up the act.
'We're gonna miss you, Numbuh 2.'
And then, there was nothing left to do, but step into the chamber.
'Wait!' The voice was unmistakeable. Hoagie turned around to see Abby standing there, looking at him through glazed, tear-reddened eyes.
'I...' It was all very tense. There were people watching, and nobody there had ever seen Numbuh 5 so distraught.
Sensing they should be alone, Numbuh 3 went and opened the door that lead out into the hall, silently gesturing for them to go through. They did, somewhat awkwardly, and Kuki shut the door behind them.
The two of them just looked at each other for a moment, unsure of how to start this agonising conversation.
'Hoagie, I- I just needed to say goodbye, one last time,' she finally said. A tear escaped her eye, carved a path down her cheek.
Hoagie took her drooping head in one of his hands, and raised it until she was looking him in the eye.
'It'll be okay, Abby,' he said softly. His eyes were also tearing up as well, and in turn, his goggles were fogging up. So, he took them off.
Abby sighed, shaking her head sadly, hopelessly.
'It's never going to be the same, you know. There'll always be something missing.'
'Don't worry. I promise, everything will be fine. You'll still see me around.'
'But you won't even know who I am! It's going to kill me, seeing you not have a clue about me or any of us, while I'm still loving you!'
Hoagie wasn't sure what to say to that. He didn't even want to imagine what it would be like to look at the one he loved, and have them not remember a thing about you.
They stood, in silence, once more.
After a time, Hoagie spoke again.
'I swear, even if I don't remember anything about all our times together, I will always love you. No matter what. It wasn't the memories that made me love you, Abby. It was you. And as long as you are still you, I will never stop loving you.'
It was just too much. Abby burst into tears, once more. She clutched Hoagie around the waist, buried her head in his shoulder. Hoagie returned the hug just as tight.
They parted, and kissed, one last time. All they could think was if they were ever going to feel this way again, to be so in love that for all the moments like these, nothing else would exist. They never wanted the moment to end. Both of them wished, over and over, that time would somehow stop, just for a moment, just for them, but no, time rolls on, no matter how hard you wish.
'I love you, Hoagie,' Abby whispered.
'I love you too, Abby,' Hoagie managed to squeeze out.
Then Hoagie, just a little part of his usual self shining through, said;
'If we ever end up meeting again, could you please be the one to ask me out? Because I'm never going to be able to work up the courage to ask you.'
Abby laughed sadly, a small, reverent smile appearing on her lips.
'Of course,' she replied.
And after they finally parted, all they could do was turn to that door again, and get the horrible deed done.
Abby couldn't watch it happen. She had her eyes covered and her head on Kuki's shoulder while the bright lights flashed, and one last cry from Hoagie echoed throughout the room.
Only a short time later, it was over.
Two people entered the decommissioning chamber that day; Hoagie P. Gilligan Junior, and Numbuh 2 of the Kids Next Door.
Only one made it out.
'Ugh, where am I? Who are all you kids?' Hoagie Gilligan asked grogilly, stumbling out of the chamber.
Wally stepped forward, since Abby was sure she wouldn't be able to handle talking to him without bursting into tears again.
'Come on Hoagie, I'll take you home,' he said sadly, taking his hand almost carefully and beginning to lead him out the door.
And once they were gone, once Hoagie had left the Moonbase for the last time, Numbuh 86 stepped forward, cleared her throat;
'Kids Next Door,' she called to everyone in the decommisioning arena.
'Dismissed!'
And with that, Abby and Kuki picked themselves up, and walked out of the room.
It was the only thing they could do.
~(*)~
What a weird day... Hoagie thought to himself, as he lay on his bed that night. Well, you couldn't really call it a 'day'. All he remembered was waking up in this strange place filled with kids, then being lead back to his house, late that evening. Just weird. Nothing made sense. This little, short kid had taken him out to this sort of minibus-looking thing, and after a ten-minute trip, he was back at his door.
Hmm... I'll figure it out later.
Hoagie reached to his bedside table, and in boredom, looking for something to occupy him, picked up his phone. He looked through the text messages, call logs, to see if he could jog his memory of what had happened over the past few days, because his recollection had apparantly vanished as well.
All the messages were pretty much just ones from his mother, asking him things about when he'd be home and what he wanted for dinner. But then, he noticed a call from a different number, one that he'd missed. There was a voicemail message attached to it.
Hoagie, curious to find out who this was, pressed the 'listen' button and held the receiver to his ear.
'Hey Hoags! It's me. Just ringing to ask if we're still on for Friday. Me and the others wanna know if you're good to sleep over at Numbuh 4's place Friday night. We're all gonna be there, and it'd be awesome if you could make it too. Okay, that's all. Love you baby! Bye.'
...
Hoagie was left dumbfounded. Nothing in that entire message made any sense to Hoagie. And yet, it felt so natural, so normal. The voice, he liked the voice. It was cool and sweet and nice to listen to.
The automated message after the voicemail asked Hoagie if he wanted to keep or delete the message.
Hoagie sat there for a while, not doing anything.
His logical mind was telling him to delete the message; he didn't know this girl. It was probably just a wrong number.
But everything else inside him was telling him to keep it, keep it, keep it.
She had called him 'Hoags', she had told him she loved him. Whoever she was, she seemed so sure. It couldn't have been a wrong number.
He pressed a button.
Message Saved.
Hoagie had no idea what had happened that day.
He had lost all memory from days, months, years before that day.
He was confused, tired, and inexplicably depressed.
He wasn't sure about much at that moment.
But there was one thing he did know.
The girl in that message loved him, and somehow, somehow, he knew that he loved her too.
~(*)~
A/N: Did you like it? Was it too much? Please review and tell me!
Op. FORGET readers;
PLEASE tell me that will sort-of satisfy you until I can get my STUPID mind to pick up the slack?
PLEASE! I'M SORRY! BLAME THE UNIVERSE for being so cold and cruel and unforgiving.
And also, blame black holes.
The black holes did it.
Signed, (an EXTREMELY sorry, and willing to do ANYTHING to make it up to you,)
-Numbuh 25