"How was the dentist?" Stanford asked sarcastically as Agura exited the Tangler.

"Fan-friggin'-tastic." She replied, with equal sarcasm. "I have to get my wisdom teeth pulled."

"Ooh." Sherman winced.

"Eh. I had mine pulled; it wasn't too bad!" AJ said cheerfully.

"AJ, you didn't think it was "too bad" when we were skiing and your pole hit you in the…" Vert stopped, blushing a little. "Well, you have better pain tolerance than most people. Anyway, when are you getting them pulled?" He asked Agura.

"Next Saturday." She sighed.

"Surgery? On a Saturday? That's got to be illegal!" AJ exclaimed.

"I wish." Agura moaned.

"Want someone to come with you?" Vert offered.

"I'll be fine." Agura said instantly.

"Sorry, Agura, but Vert makes a good point. You won't be able to drive after the operation." Sherman reminded her.

"I can just get a cab or something." She insisted.

"All the way out here? After a surgery? I think we'd all feel more comfortable if I just went with you." Vert said.

"Alright." She said, folding her arms across her chest.

"What's the matter, Agura? Don't want Vert to say your swollen, malformed jaw?" Stanford taunted.

"Says the guy who quarantined himself in his room for two days straight until his hair product arrived in the mail?" Agura fired back, causing snickers and setting Spinner up for his favorite line.

"BURN!"

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"Ready?" Vert asked as he and Agura entered the dentist's office. She nodded stiffly.

"Name?" A plump, nasally-toned woman at the front desk asked.

"Ibaden?" Agura replied, and the secretary tapped a few keys.

"Sit over there. Dr. Culter will be with you shortly." Agura shrugged at Vert, and he sat next to her. She seemed oddly on edge, clinging to the seat and tapping her foot nervously.

"It's just a surgery, Agura." He comforted, putting a hand on top of hers.

"Yeah, I know." She said, then leaned in. "Truth is, I'm sort of…scared of the dentist." She admitted, surprising Vert. The girl who considering smashing Sark a way to relax and could take down even Kyburi in hand-to-hand combat was afraid of the dentist?

"I know, it's stupid." She said, seeing the look on his face.

"No, it's not stupid." He shook his head. "Have you seen some of the things Spinner's scared of? He still thinks TelleTubbies is a conspiracy to corrupt children into thinking babies live on the sun." She gave a small grin, and he continued. "And while we're being honest, you're not the only one with fears." She cocked her head at him.

"What do you mean by that, Mr. Wheeler?" She said, nudging him.

"Agura Ibaden?" A neat-looking man in scrubs called, and she stood up. Vert squeezed her hand.

"You'll be fine." He mouthed, and the man gestured her into a room. He came out a few minutes later.

"Are you a friend of hers?" He asked, and Vert nodded. "The procedure should last about an hour if all goes well. Your friend will probably be a little confused from the anesthetic and in pain. I've prescribed this medication for her; the directions are in the bag and you can call if you have any problems. The area will be swollen for a few days, and she'll need to stick with soft foods. If all goes well, we'll see you in about an hour." The doctor nodded curtly, then left. Vert set the painkillers down next to him and picked up a magazine.

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"Agura Ibaden?" After an hour and a half, Vert finally stood up. As the clocked ticked past an hour, he had gotten more and more nervous.

"How'd it go?" He asked the doctor.

"We didn't have too many problems, but we were having some issues with the equipment and it took longer than expected. We had to administer another dose of anesthetic." The surgeon replied.

"Is that bad?" Vert asked as he was lead into another room.

"No, but she'll definitely be dazed. I would take it slow until the anesthetic wears off." Dr. Culter said as they entered the room. Agura was lying on a cot, her torso propped up.

"Hiiiiii…." She slurred, clearly still affected by the drugs.

"Hey." Vert smiled, sitting in the chair next to her. "How'd it go?" He asked slowly.

"It was weird…they gave me a shot, in…in my arm, and…I fell asleep, because I got tired, and there were-there were all these people…all these blue people!" She said, blinking.

"No, Agura, they were just wearing blue clothes." Vert explained, containing his laughter (and urge to make a Youtube video).

"Oh…O-okay." She said. "I'm hungry. Ca…can I have some…some…" She lost her train of thought, delirious.

"Some food?" Vert suggested.

"Yeah!" She exclaimed. "I want some food. Ca-can you get me some food?"

"Sorry, not for another few hours." Vert shook his head.

"Whhhhhhyyyyyy?" She whined, limply waving her arms in complaint.

"Because the doctor says you can't eat yet." Vert reminded her gently. She folded her arms crossly.

"But I wanna eat nooooowwwwww!" Vert held in another laugh. He felt like he was dealing with his younger brother.

"Tell you what. Let's go back to the Hub, and maybe we can eat something then." He said in that kindergarten-teacher tone of voice.

"Oh…okay." She said.

"Can you stand?" Vert asked, and she slowly sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the cot and wobbling. Vert reached an arm out, steadying her, but she wriggled out.

"I can do it!" She cried, independent as ever.

"I'm just helping. What if you fall?" Vert reminded her, and she huffed as he reached an arm around her shoulder, and out the other on her waist. "Okay, now just go slow." He instructed as she shakily made her way out of the room.

"Thanks Doc!" Vert called, and the surgeon raised his hand in acknowledgement. By the time they made it out of the office, Agura was willingly supporting herself against him as she stumbled across the parking lot.

"Okay, we're here." Vert said, opening the borrowed Reverb.

"How…how do I g…get in there?" Agura stared blankly at the open roof in front of her, and the side of the car standing between it. Vert was about to explain, but he decided against it.

"I'll help you." He said, picking her up bridal-style and swinging her over the side and into the seat.

"Yay…" She murmured tiredly, leaning her head back against the seat and closing her eyes as he got in beside her. After a few minutes of silence, Vert figured she had dozed off.

"V…Ver…V-"

"Yeah, Agura?" He asked, and she giggled.

"I…I really…I…" She began, reaching for a lock of his blonde hair and twirling it. "I love you." She murmured. Trying to hide his shock, Vert turned to her.

"Oh really?" He asked, trying to tell if it was the drugs talking.

"Mhm…This much!" She cried, flinging her arms out.

"Okay, why don't you try to get some sleep?" Vert suggested, trying to change the subject.

"Okay…" Agura sighed happily, leaning her head on his shoulder and snuggling her body into the seat. Vert felt her breathing become steadier as she fell asleep on his shoulder, and wondered if the "I love you" had been an anesthetized babble or secret truth. Still pondering the behavior of his second-in-command, Vert pulled into the Hub.

"How'd it go?" Sherman, the only person present besides Sage, asked.

"Good. They had to give her extra anesthesia though, so she's pretty out of it." Vert responded. "Hey, can you help me lift her out and get her in bed? I don't wanna wake her up."

"Sure." Sherman shrugged, and together they easily lifted out the ATV driver.

"Oh." Her eyelids fluttered, and she looked up at the Cortez, who was carrying her. "Hi Sherman." She said lazily.

"Hi Agura. How do you feel?" He asked slowly.

"My…my teeth hurt!" She moaned. "An…and Vert wouldn't give me food, becau…because he's mean." She giggled, stumbling through the words.

"Agura, the doctor said you couldn't-"

"I don't like the doctor!" She cried. "He…he hurt me with a…a pokey thing." She showed them the Band-Aid on the inside of her elbow from the IV.

"Well, I'm sure he didn't mean to." Sherman comforted as they entered her room. the Cortez gently laid her down on the bed. "Night Agura."

"Bye Sherman…" She yawned, waving weakly.

"Okay, why don't you take a nap, and then you can have something to eat?" Vert suggested, reaching for a blanket at the end of the bed. "Night." He said, pulling it over her.

"Wait!" She stopped him, sitting up and leaning closer. "I love you."

Vert was surprised as her lips brushed against his, and without thinking he welcomed the soft kiss. Returning it, he then felt like he was using her in her delirious state, and pulled away to mocha puppy-dog eyes.

"Goodnight, Agura." He turned to go, but as a brave afterthought planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Love you too."