A / N : Uhm, this one's a bit of an action plot, and a bit dark at first, but mostly confusing-emotional-type angsty fluff later as it progresses. Obviously, I'm currently on the whole love/hate passion trip, and then this pairing caught my eye as I was watching old episodes of Codename KND. No flaming please, if you don't like the idea of Numbuh Five/Heinrich, then just don't read. Slight Numbuh Five/Numbuh Two as well, especially at the end… Maybe you can ignore that and you'll see Numbuh Five/Numbuh One if you squint, if you prefer it… hope you like it! :D
"Really, liebchen, do you actually zink you'd be able to get away?"
Abigail Lincoln, commonly known as Numbuh Five, jumped at the sound of the smug voice, and stopped her pointless struggling. She twisted herself around with difficulty, courtesy of the odd, heavy restraints holding her hostage in a corner of the room. A dark figure slunk out of the shadows towards her, like a cliché nightmare; Abby stared intently at her captor, feeling vaguely dismayed as whoever it was moved into the soft moonlight shining through the high windows.
She was the designated spy of the Kids Next Door, after all; she was supposed to be the one who crept around in the shadows, never to be caught, the eternal intruder in the night – but here she was, having been ambushed and knocked out almost as soon as she stumbled across this strange little hut in the middle of the woods.
"How long have you been standin' there? And what are you – a monk? Reveal yourself!"
The hooded figure standing before Numbuh Five raised his arms slowly to unveil his face, and Abby groaned at the all-too-familiar sight. She couldn't really say she was surprised, seeing as the small hut they were in seemed to be made out of assorted candies, the rope wrapped around her arms and waist were thick licorice, and the chains restraining her were some kind of hard candy.
She had tried to bite her way out of the manacles around her wrists, but the candy was hard enough to break her teeth, and she had hurriedly stopped. Still, she had been rather dazed from being hit on the back of her head, and the chain of events had transpired so quickly, she really hadn't had time to think about–
"Heinrich von Marzipan." Numbuh Five stared at the smirking boy before her as she uttered his name. Although he was hidden behind his long, black cloak, she could tell that the chubby boy had lost some of his fat. Even his pale face looked much more angular than when she had seen it last, and he was slightly taller, his flaxen hair longer – Heinrich was maturing into a young man, and surprisingly, not in a bad way. Abby looked upon him with mixed emotions, the strongest one being sadness; she knew he was not supposed to be maturing like this.
She also knew that he unjustly blamed her for it, for everything.
"Well, Abigail, how do you like your prison? It iz quite ze masterpiece, no?" Heinrich spun slowly around, hands outstretched towards the shadowy walls in general. "Of course, you cannot exactly see it in zis dark." He stopped, then moved closer to the wall Abby was chained to, carefully keeping a discreet eye on the clever, dark-skinned spy.
"But zhen, it was not made to be seen, exactly, was it?"
Heinrich drew out a little pocketknife from somewhere in the folds of his dark cloak, and carved out a bit of the wall. He held the piece closer to Abby's face so she could inspect it, and Abby saw that it was milk chocolate. Satisfied that she had seen what he wanted her to see, Heinrich then withdrew his hand, and popped the bit of chocolate-wall into his mouth. Abby watched as he exaggerated enjoying the chocolate, torn between scorn, disgust and – maybe just a little bit of longing for a piece too, darn him. Heinrich's narrowed blue eyes never moved from her face, as he waited for disappointment to flash across it, but she kept up her decidedly uncaring demeanor.
He walked briskly back to stand right in front of her, his straight blonde hair gleaming in the dim light, his monocle flashing at certain angles. He should have known better than to bother trying to torture his precious Abigail with a tiny piece of chocolate; but no matter, he had much bigger things in mind that were sure to break her eventually. She couldn't keep her famous cool forever, not with the things he had in store for her – and when he was done with her, he would be sure to devour every last delightful piece of her pride.
"Heiny, isn't it past your bedtime already?" Numbuh Five jabbed at him. She nearly winced as soon as the words were out of her mouth, not because she was goading her captor, but because she usually had smarter, more insulting things to say when he got on her nerves. For some reason, her heart wasn't quite in it this time – she supposed she was tired of this stupid feud with someone she had once shared so many happy moments with. How could he be so continually stupid as to keep blaming her for everything anyway? He always brought disaster down on his own head.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Abigail, haff you learnt nothing so far?" Heinrich tutted, playing with his little pocketknife as he drew threateningly closer to Abby. She tried not to flinch as he stopped barely inches away from her, and the small blade was moving right in front of her face. Her big, dark eyes darted between Heinrich's stare and the dancing blade, as she dared not look away from that stupid knife.
She knew Heinrich would never really stab her; his hatred of her was more of the boiling-in-hot-custard kind. However, he did seem particularly sinister tonight, and she shuddered slightly as she realized that she didn't doubt he might give her a cut or two if he was really inclined to.
Heinrich had not missed the little shudder that ran through his insolent Abigail. The sight sent a slight thrill up his own spine, and he repressed a wicked grin. He was close enough to see her slanted eyes under that red cap of hers, and the way they kept moving from his face to the blade. He was also close enough to notice other little things he had missed before – like how Abigail's face had changed a little, how the rest of her had changed as well, starting to fill out more into that huge, oversized blue T-shirt in a lovely way. Her long legs weren't so skinny anymore, having gained a nice shape, and although she still had that cap and her long braid, Abigail had never looked more… tempting. Growing up suited her, Heinrich decided.
Once again, Heinrich felt the insistent urge to give in to his fond feelings of Abby, nearly as strong as his fury and resentment at her. Something inside him craved the smile and approval of his former close friend, as countless times before he had tried to best her, and failed on every count; but he ignored the longing to be by her side, and continued to be against her. Regaining control over those annoying sentimental emotions, he noted her changes again, in a different light – how dare she grow up without him? How dare she move on to possess that which he will now never have?
He stepped away from Abby, pocketing his knife. Numbuh Five quietly heaved a sigh of relief; perhaps it was best she kept her sarcastic comments to herself for the time being. She watched, almost nervously (Numbuh Five never got nervous, after all) as Heinrich gazed up at the windows unseeingly. What could Heiny be thinking up now? She wondered wearily.
/
"What do you mean you've lost sight of the Delightful Dorks? You were supposed to keep an eye on them to make sure they didn't go anywhere near our tree house!" Nigel Uno yelled into the communicator on his wristband. He hit his palm against his forehead in irritation; trust inattentive Numbuh Three and irresponsible Numbuh Four to lose sight of their mission.
"Shhhh! Numbuh One! We're supposed to be quiet!" Hoagie P. Gilligan lumbered back through the shrubs in front of Nigel, looking slightly panicky. "You don't want to wake the whole forest up!"
Numbuh One looked at Numbuh Two disbelievingly; what were they going to wake up? A rabbit? They were in the lighter part of the woods, near the edge where hardly much wildlife was seen. Then again, he reminded himself, they were on a reconnaissance and possible rescue mission; such circumstances naturally called for silence. For the hundredth time that night, he wished Numbuh Five was there with him. Staying silent was something that came naturally to her when it was called for, and she had a way of making the others shut up during such situations – Numbuh One included.
"Alright, Numbuh Two," Nigel grumbled. "Let's just get on with our mission, okay?" He followed Numbuh Two into the greenery around them, ducking beneath low branches and avoiding the nasty-looking plants that could have been poisonous. He reconnected with Numbuh Four on his communicator, and quietly said, "You two better have set up every alarm in the tree house. We know those Delightful Dorks were planning some sort of sneak attack today, and I will not have them think the Kids Next Door are just sitting ducks. Have Numbuh Three guard the tree house, and as for you, Numbuh Four – find them!"
Numbuh Two kept walking ahead, scouting out the area around him, ignoring Numbuh One. He didn't want to show it, but he had a really bad feeling about Numbuh Five – her constant status reports had ended half an hour ago, and she had been silent ever since. Every time they had tried to reach her, the only thing they could hear was static. Finally, Numbuh One had decided that the two of them would go out and see if Numbuh Five needed backup, for whatever she may have encountered on her reconnaissance mission… despite their knowledge that the Delightful Children from Down the Lane were planning to ambush them tonight on their way back from some fancy gala they had attended. It was a risk they'd have to take, he'd said.
Numbuh Two had readily agreed – he couldn't help the strange foreboding in the pit of his stomach about Numbuh Five. He was worried about her.
The two boys scanned the forest, following a trail indicated by a tracker in Numbuh Two's hand. The little green lines and flashing dots were a great help to Numbuh Two as he navigated, Numbuh One making sure nothing snuck up on them. Suddenly, Numbuh Two halted – something had shown up on the grid of his tracker, although it was further off into the woods. Something that looked like – some sort of shelter? It was indicated that there were possible signs of life inside, and Numbuh Two stared at the information thoughtfully – could Numbuh Five be in there?
"Uhh, Numbuh One," Hoagie's uncertain blue eyes, hidden behind his yellow goggles, met Nigel's serious brown ones. Numbuh One had removed his shades, they only hampered his eyesight since it was already so dark. Hoagie stared at Nigel in surprise for a split moment, he was so used to seeing the shades on. He suddenly realized that they should have brought a couple of B.O.N.G.O.S.K.O.P.E.s along to help with seeing in the dark. "I think I've found a possible location for Numbuh Five's whereabouts."
"Well done, Numbuh Two. Is it far from here? Let me see." Numbuh One moved forward to scrutinize the tracker in Hoagie's hand.
"It's… I think it's somewhere in the middle of the forest. Might take us a while to get there…"
Numbuh One silently stared at the green grid of the tracker, noting the flashing question mark on a green square in one corner, symbolizing possible sign of life in some sort of manmade structure. He wondered if Numbuh Five was in there, and if she was okay… it wasn't like her to be so unresponsive for so long on a mission. He looked up to regard Numbuh Two for a moment.
"Let's go."
/
"Numbuh Five does not like where this is goin'…" Abby muttered to herself.
Heinrich had left her alone in the dark room earlier, without saying another word. She had yelled after him to come to his senses and let her go, but to no avail. Now she had been stuck in those stupid candy restraints for what felt like forever, occasionally licking and nibbling at the manacles – they tasted like candy cane. She figured she might be able to nibble away until she was free, but she knew it would take too long, and she had a feeling time was not on her side where Heinrich was concerned. If only she could reach the gadget she kept under her cap…
Then the strange noises had started – at first Abby had lifted her head, listening intently as she heard what sounded unmistakably like some sort of construction work. She had started ignoring it as she nibbled at those stupid cuffs, but the noises had shifted to something screechy, and it was making her antsy. What was he doing out there? Numbuh Five wasn't sure she wanted to know.
Abby sighed… she wondered if Numbuh One had decided to come get her, after she had stopped reporting back. She had woken up after being ambushed, to discover that her communicator watch had been smashed; all she could get now was faint static. She was sure that her teammates would have suspected something amiss, but how long until those suspicions were aroused? Once again, it was a matter of time. Plus, she knew they were expecting trouble from those Delightful geeks from down the street.
The black-haired girl squirmed restlessly, trying once again to get out of the licorice ropes – she felt so cramped, having been tied up so tightly. When that didn't change her hopeless situation, she let out a frustrated yell. Numbuh Five was sick and tired of this – emphasis on the tired. She was pretty sure it was past her bedtime, as if she wasn't already in enough trouble. She was also annoyed that her back was covered in chocolate from when she had been leaning against the wall behind her, and the smell of chocolate was overwhelming her senses.
She stilled as she heard a doorknob turn somewhere in the shadowy corners of the room. So Heinrich had decided to come back and grace her with his presence again, had he? If Numbuh Five had been free to move, she would definitely have given that jerk a piece of her mind… physically.
Sure enough, the same cloaked figure crept into her sight, hood down, sleeves rolled up. Heinrich looked at an irate Abigail, his features set in grim satisfaction. It rather pleased him to see her agitated, if only a little. Her usually calm, unruffled attitude always did make him want to unsettle her.
"Enjoying your solitude, Mein Fräulein?" He inquired, as he got closer. "I thought I heard you yelling… but you haff been so nice and quiet until now, Abigail. Are you getting tired?"
Abby stared back at Heinrich coldly. There was no way Numbuh Five was going to play his stupid condescending games. After silently conveying how much she would love to kick his butt at the moment, Abby turned her face obstinately away, sulking. Heinrich sighed, and he sounded strangely conflicted.
"Now, now, Abigail… you must haff known zat zis was coming. Perhaps now you will understand how much I haff lost, the past five years." Heinrich moved closer, his voice getting softer and graver. "It is a curse zat took away ze best of me, Abigail." His face stopped three inches away from hers, but still she refused to look at him. "My life will never be normal again. You haff no idea what it is like…"
Abby shifted uncomfortably, sensing Heinrich's stare locked on her face; he was much, much too close to her. She could feel a little of his warm breath on her right cheek, and she turned her gaze downwards to the floor. What was he expecting her to say – that she was sorry? Abigail Lincoln was not one to make cheap, constant apologies after the one she had apologized to had made it clear that she would never be forgiven without some major pain on her part.
Suddenly, one of Heinrich's gloved hands came into her line of sight briefly, covered in something pink, before she felt his fingers below her chin. Gently but firmly, his sticky grip lifted her face upwards, forcing her coal-black eyes to meet his icy-blue ones. Abby's thoughts jumbled up and she found herself unable to glance away, although she really wanted to. She was trapped within his gaze – the gaze of a childhood friend, whose eyes now seemed as alien to her as they were familiar. She found herself wishing that she had never gone on this stupid reconnaissance trip, never left the tree house to explore the forest due to claims of kids' missing possessions.
Because Abigail Lincoln could feel herself melting inside, like a bar of chocolate in one of Heinrich's greedy, gloved hands. And that was not cool.
"Abigail." Heinrich's thickly accented voice was low and filled with something Abby couldn't quite identify. Their faces were now so close that Abby could not quite think of anything else besides the eyes she was still staring helplessly into. No, she thought to herself, Numbuh Five does not feel what she thinks she's feeling… it's weird and wrong and –
Abby automatically tilted her face up to meet the lips that came crashing down on hers, allowing her arch enemy to claim her mouth and invade her senses.
/
Hoagie groaned in resignation. Numbuh One had just finished going through the plan they'd be using to storm the weird little hut in the clearing in front of them, though they weren't feeling up to it. Numbuh One and Numbuh Two had traipsed through the forest vigilantly until they had finally found the shelter indicated on Numbuh Two's tracker. Quietly surveying their surroundings, it wasn't long before Numbuh Two had discovered bits of what looked to be missing parts of a communicator watch, and then he stumbled across Numbuh Five's S.C.A.M.P.P. ray gun. Something had obviously happened there to Numbuh Five, and the two boys were no longer going to waste any more time in finding out what.
"Alright Numbuh Two, remember the plan – we don't want anything to go wrong before we get to Numbuh Five."
Numbuh Two nodded, suddenly determined not to let his exhaustion get in the way. "Got it, Numbuh One."
The two boys parted ways as Numbuh One took off to creep around the hut, looking for the most unguarded way in, and Numbuh Two proceeded to climb one of the closest trees, perched on a large branch as he watched Numbuh One's sneaky movements. Hoagie took out a small, wooden remote from one of his pockets, and typed in a few commands, followed by the current coordinates of his location.
Somewhere beyond the forest, far away in a large and complex-looking tree house, a portion of the top block was being transformed into a platform, and an aero-runway was created, allowing the aircraft rolling on the runway to gather speed and take off into the sky. A little long-haired Japanese girl in an overlarge green sweater and black tights stared up at the retreating aircraft in concern, but her attention was quickly diverted when she heard a shout from an orange-clad figure running towards her beyond the parameters of the tree house.
Numbuh Two trusted that the S.T.A.N.K., their getaway vehicle for the night, was on its way towards him right at this moment. He then brought out a little package that he soon unraveled into a large, automated net. Grimly, he waited, fingering Numbuh Five's S.C.A.M.P.P. gun. Numbuh One's words from earlier replayed in his head, "A lair made out of candy? Hmm… this whole thing reeks of Numbuh Five's crazy rival, Heinrich! When will that guy ever leave her alone? Okay, Numbuh Two, this is what we'll…"
The rest of Nigel's words faded off as Hoagie wondered the same thing Numbuh One had voiced earlier… when would that insane candy hunter finally leave Abby alone?
His grip on Numbuh Five's ray gun tightened. If she was hurt, he was going to damage Heinrich in so many ways…
Numbuh One spied the little strings of licorice and the bubble gum mines strategically located all over the place, ready to set off some sort of booby trap or blow up once triggered. He calculated the odds and figured out a route that should avoid all the traps and get him safely in without alerting anyone inside. The bald twelve-year-old took a deep breath, then jumped out from behind the small tree he had been hiding behind, and took off running towards the large candy cane entrance.
Barely stopping, Numbuh One swerved to avoid the jellybeans that shot out of a pillar towards him. He ran around the bubble gum mines, and jumped over all the licorice booby traps, following the route he had painstakingly created in his mind. Soon, he had navigated his way into the brightly lit hall beyond the candy cane doors, and he moved carefully forward. Looking around in surprise, Nigel thought that maybe this place wasn't as small as he had previously assumed. He took out his black shades, and put them on out of habit.
He contacted Numbuh Two on his wristband communicator. "I'm in," he said in an undertone, hiding himself behind a pillar, although there was nobody else in sight. "Proceed with phase two."
"Roger that, Numbuh One." Outside, Numbuh Two finished setting up the net, then fired a grappling hook onto the roof off the hut. He swung himself up onto the gingerbread roof, Numbuh Five's gun in his hand. As he stood up, a lone figure on the top of a structure made out of sweets, he spied the S.T.A.N.K. aircraft speeding its way towards him in the distance.
He smiled, but it quickly turned into a frown as he felt his foot sinking into the gingerbread. Changing his stance, Numbuh Two was suddenly reminded of that old fairy tale he'd heard as a little child – what was it called? He thought for a moment before it came back to him… oh yeah, Hansel and Gretel. Weren't they also trapped in a candy-house, in the middle of a forest? He winced as he remembered the storyline, and imagined poor Abby as Gretel, caged and facing a huge oven. Numbuh Two had a feeling that Heinrich wasn't exactly planning to play the part of Hansel, either…
Inside, Numbuh One crept into the next room, a dimly-lit large space dominated by a big, strange-looking contraption. Numbuh One eyed the invention warily, wondering what its purpose could possibly be – he had a feeling the answer wouldn't exactly be pleasant. It seemed to be partially made out of candy, like the building he was now in. He moved around it, searching the area for any signs of movement; to not have encountered Heinrich so far seemed to be too good to be true.
As Numbuh One looked around at the mess of assorted things around the huge contraption in the centre of the room, he spied a dark, slightly open door in a corner. He approached it cautiously, hiding behind pillars or ducking behind wooden crates, until he was merely a few steps away. He squinted at it – the door was definitely ajar, and seemed to be made out of some kind of chocolate. Rolling his eyes, Numbuh One quietly moved forward and placed a small button-like object on the wall next to the door. He pressed the red centre of the button, activating it.
Above him, Numbuh Two suddenly heard a low beeping from his tracker. After pressing a few buttons, he was able to see a grid outlining the structure he was standing on, and a flashing red light indicating where Numbuh One had activated the tracking device. He could see Numbuh One's flashing green dot next to the red of the tracking device, and – he stared at the grid, drinking in the two flashing green dots that were apparently in the adjoining room. Heinrich was with Abby, and there wasn't much distance between them, from the looks of it – Numbuh Two really hoped that he wasn't torturing her. He set off, hurrying to get to the part of the roof that was directly above the flashing red light.
Slowly, Numbuh One crept forward with a strange foreboding settling over him suddenly. He hadn't seen Heinrich yet, which probably meant he was with Numbuh Five. Numbuh One gritted his teeth – that chubby narcissist had better not have done anything to her, he thought darkly. He was rather concerned that he couldn't even hear anyone speaking, or any sound that indicated interaction from within the dark room with the chocolate door. Noiselessly, Numbuh One pulled out a G.U.M.Z.O.O.K.A. from behind him, holding the gun at the ready as he drew closer to the doorframe and peered into the darkness beyond.
/
Abby pulled away for air, gasping and shaking her head as if that would clear her very confused mind. Her face was burning and her lips tasted like strawberry-flavoured hot sauce, courtesy of Heinrich's mouth. She slumped backwards against the wall behind her, chest heaving with strange, conflicting emotions, and mind reeling from shock.
Did Heinrich von Marzipan just do what Numbuh Five thinks he did? Numbuh Five wondered through her confusion.
She looked up at the villain who had just kissed her. Heinrich's face was flushed, his pale skin a deep pink, his blonde hair mussed up and messy. He was breathing heavily and staring at Abigail, blue eyes wide, monocle dangling off his ear; he was as speechless as she was.
For a moment, the two rivals regarded each other in silence, the only sound in the room being their ragged breathing.
Then Numbuh Five finally decided that she had had enough of staring into those frozen eyes. "Numbuh Five thinks you've gone crazy," she declared, looking away. "…well, crazier than usual anyway."
Heinrich shut his eyes, trying to regain his composure. He had not expected himself to slip up like that, and to actually have kissed Abigail! He wasn't sure if he was more devastated at what he just did, or more ecstatic. He focused on the taste of her in his mouth – she tasted like bitter chocolate, he realized. He let out a low, shaky laugh, and Abby's dark eyes snapped back to his face in surprise.
"You taste like dark chocolate." Heinrich simply stared at Abby, and moved closer towards her, making her lean away from him nervously. Had Heinrich lost his mind? Surely he wasn't going to try kissing her again!
The thought of it made Abby want to gag… but no, she felt herself tense up in excitement, felt her heart rate speeding up again, found herself thinking dizzyingly of that strawberry taste. Those weren't signs of horrific disgust! Those were signs of… desire, Abby realized, but she just couldn't quite summon up enough repulsion within herself at the revelation. Perhaps it was because Heinrich tasted so much better than he looked?
"You smell like chocolate, Abigail…" he said very softly, pressing up against her, even as she tried to force herself further into the wall behind her. Heinrich's gloved hands stretched out on either side of her, palm up against the chocolate wall behind her. He ran his fingers of one hand against the wall, scraping some of it off, then ran those same fingers down the side of Abby's restrained arm, making her shiver.
"You look like chocolate…," the blonde whispered with his heavy accent, as he surveyed her smooth dark skin. He brought his face closer to hers again, and Abby's lips parted in anticipation, without her realizing. The sight of it sent a thrill throughout Heinrich.
"You taste like it, Mein Gott." The end of his sentence was rather muffled as he pressed his lips against hers again, his gloved hands gripping her arms. He elicited a moan from her as he stuck his tongue into her mouth, and the sound excited him; he worked his lips furiously against hers, wanting to hear it again. Part of Numbuh Five was screaming at herself in perfect horror and rage, but she was so overcome by the strange, pleasant sensations of the kiss that she managed to ignore that part.
Finally, they broke apart again, breathing even more ragged than before. Abby kept gasping, and Heinrich had moved away a little, trying to get a grip on himself. He had never kissed a girl before; although he knew he had always been fond of Abigail, he was also supposed to hate her. He had kidnapped her and was about to exact his revenge! Where exactly had everything starting going so wrong?
He didn't notice the expression that flitted suddenly across Abby's face, as she stared past him, openmouthed and slumped against the wall. He didn't hear the movement right behind him, as a lean figure shot quickly forward out of the shadows.
/
Numbuh One had crept into the darkened room, straining his eyes to see better. He had spotted the back of Heinrich's head, and he seemed to be wearing some sort of black, hooded cloak. He was kneeling on the floor in a circle of faint moonlight shining through a couple of windows above, and Numbuh One realized that he had Numbuh Five cornered, both his hands holding her arms tightly. But then… there was something odd about the scene that lay before him, the way Heinrich's head was positioned, and –
Numbuh One stepped back slightly, recoiling in shock and horror as he finally registered what he was seeing.
/
Abby could hardly imagine what her face must have looked like when she saw Nigel sprint out of the darkness, G.U.M.Z.O.O.K.A. in hand. She thought for sure that her expression would give her away, but Heinrich wasn't really paying attention, in fact he seemed to be avoiding looking at her. A bad mistake, on his part; by the time he'd finally caught the sound of footsteps behind him, Numbuh One had hit him on the back of his head with the gun. Abby gasped at the near brutality of it, as the chubby blonde fell to the floor, unconscious.
For a moment, Numbuh Five and Numbuh One were silent, staring at Heinrich's still form, then at each other. It wasn't like Numbuh One to use the gumball gun like that instead of just firing it, but then as Abby realized the rescue she had been hoping for was finally happening, she pushed aside all her messy emotions and straightened her back, wriggling against the rope.
"Well, don't just stand there, Numbuh One, help Numbuh Five out of these stupid things!"
Numbuh One snapped back to reality, quickly pushing aside the memory of tough Numbuh Five being kissed by her arch nemesis; but he didn't forget. He crouched down to cut through the licorice with a little penknife, releasing Numbuh Five to move her arms freely, but ran into a little trouble when it came to the manacles. Numbuh Five's hands shot upwards to remove something from underneath her red cap – a laser-pen. Pointing it carefully away from her skin, she uncapped it and pressed the end of the pen; a red laser beam shot out instead of ink, cutting clean through the manacles around her wrists and ankles.
"Finally!" Abby's voice sounded pleased, but there was a tinge of uncertainty in it. She capped the pen and replaced it in its hiding place. After what had just happened, and the fact that Nigel had witnessed some of it – she really hoped he hadn't witnessed much – where did she go from there?
An awkward silence settled over them as Numbuh Five got up, working out her cramps and brushing herself off, flicking bits of chocolate off her skin and her large blue T-shirt. She deliberately avoided Nigel's eyes, and Numbuh One rubbed the back of his neck nervously, staring at the unconscious Heinrich. He had removed his shades again before entering the strange, chocolate dungeon, and Abby could see his eyes fixed on Heinrich with a look of utter confusion and disgust. She sighed, as she wondered what Numbuh One would think of Heinrich if he ever got his stupid curse lifted.
"Well," Numbuh One seemed to break out of his reverie at the sound of her sigh, "I suppose we ought to signal Numbuh Two to break through the roof now – he's got our getaway plane. We thought we may have needed the quick escape, see… I wasn't counting on this to be so easy." He jabbed his thumb towards the limp form on the floor.
"Yeah, I guess we better go… before Heiny here wakes up." She glanced at what Numbuh One had pointed at, then looked away quickly. Numbuh One stared at her.
"Uhm, Abby," he said, using her nickname, "I don't suppose you want to take him as our prisoner…"
"Nah, let's just leave him here, Numbuh One…" Numbuh Five said uneasily, and when she looked at her friend, she thought she saw a slight gleam of understanding in his eyes.
"Right. Well, let's go then… I bet Numbuh Three and Numbuh Four must be pretty worried about us, that is if they aren't being tortured by the Delightful Dorks…"
Numbuh Five took hold of Nigel's sleeve suddenly as he turned around. He looked back at her questioningly. "Numbuh One… can you not tell anyone about what… you saw? It's kinda…" she paused, struggling for words, "It's something I'm not sure how to handle just yet."
"Don't worry, Numbuh Five… I won't tell a soul." Nigel smiled at her slightly. "But I must ask… did he do anything to you? All I saw when I came in was him… k-k-kissing…" Nigel couldn't quite finish the sentence. After taking a breath, he tried again. "I mean, nothing else happened, right?"
He looked at her worriedly and Numbuh Five found herself suddenly laughing. She couldn't believe all this was happening to her. Shaking her head, she assured her friend, "No, Numbuh One… I can promise you nothing else happened beyond the ki-" Abby stopped. "The k-kissing," she finished, voice low.
"Well, alright, Numbuh Five." Numbuh One quietly sighed in relief. "Let's just forget about that for now and get out of here."
"You got that right, man. Let's go!" Numbuh Five sprinted towards the direction she had seen Nigel appear earlier, quickly followed by Numbuh One. They entered the room with the weird contraption in the centre, and Numbuh Five took a few seconds to get her eyes adjusted to light again. Then she walked around a little, gaping at the machine – what had Heinrich originally planned to do with her?
Numbuh One was speaking into his communicator, standing a good way away from the doorway to the dungeon. "… and you can get us out of here now, Numbuh Two." He listened to Hoagie for a while before sighing. "Yes, she's alright, no, she's not injured… just move on to phase three, Numbuh Two! Then you can see for yourself."
Abby came back towards Nigel as she heard the blast echoing around the room, the candied walls shaking slightly. Numbuh Two had blasted a hole in the ceiling, and she could see his face, partly covered by his goggles, as he let down a rope ladder for the two KND members to climb. "Come on, you guys!"
Quickly climbing up to the shaky gingerbread roof after Numbuh One, Abby managed to see the S.T.A.N.K. aircraft hovering near the roof, and the dark night sky beyond it (she hoped it wasn't too late in the night) before she was grabbed into a bone-crushing hug.
"Numbuh Five!" Numbuh Two yelled happily. "You're okay! I was so worried, and then I thought about the huge oven and-"
"Give her some breathing room, Numbuh Two," Nigel said, smiling as he put his shades back on again. Numbuh Five shook her head slightly as Numbuh Two let her go with an "Oops, sorry…". She had no idea what a huge oven had to do with anything, but right now all she wanted to do was get the heck out of there.
"Come on, you guys, let's get outta here!" She jumped into one of the seats in the S.T.A.N.K. as Hoagie got into the cockpit and Nigel climbed in after Numbuh Five. Just as the aircraft took off into the night, Abby thought she heard a distant yell of rage from somewhere below them, but she couldn't be sure over the whirring of the S.T.A.N.K.'s engines. As they zoomed away from the clearing, Numbuh One and Numbuh Five looked back at the crumbling gingerbread roof – it was falling in, unable to hold after Numbuh Two had blasted a huge hole through one side of it.
Numbuh Five wasn't too worried about Heinrich, though. He was the master of escaping places that were caving in, after all… especially if those places were made out of edible stuff. As Numbuh Two navigated them back to the KND Tree House, and Numbuh One contacted Numbuh Four on his communicator, Numbuh Five stared out at the night sky outside, dotted with stars, and glimpsed the moon above them. She looked away, knowing that the moon had been watching the events that unfolded in that stupid chocolate dungeon. Good thing the KND Moon Base was way too far away for any of the operatives there to have seen anything.
She licked her lips, tasting that faint strawberry taste… it symbolized to her the passion of being torn between love and hate, right and wrong. The memory of those soft lips kissing her roughly, made Numbuh Five feel weak in the knees, despite those lips belonging to her hateful rival. Thankful that she was sitting at the moment, Numbuh Five slumped in her seat, allowing herself to be slightly uncool for once. She realized that she was growing up, and growing up all too fast; it would be only slightly more than half a year until her decommissioning.
Heinrich's unexpected kiss, his display of – Numbuh Five shuddered – raging hormones, and his enticement of her own hormones, was a reminder of how soon Numbuh Five and her friends would soon be teenagers. Numbuh Five thought of her future self, on that fateful birthday; then she saw the faces of Nigel, Kuki, Wally and – last but most certainly not least – Hoagie.
She shifted her gaze from outside to stare at the back of Numbuh Two's head, noticing the wisps of auburn hair loose and flying despite his brown hat. She remembered what he had looked like when he had turned himself temporarily into a teenager, and dated her older sister, Cree (Abby shuddered again at the memory). Numbuh Two had been so much taller, and had lost all that baby fat, looking pretty damn good for a teenager. He had lost the stupid hat, his reddish-brown hair cut in a way that emphasized his cute face. Of course, however he had managed to assume his future self's body, Hoagie had soon turned back into the kid that he was, in front of Cree much to his dismay. Abby nearly laughed out loud at the memory of it.
Well, at least Numbuh Five knew how one of them would look like as a teenager. If Numbuh Two was going to grow up into that, then maybe the future wasn't as disastrous a place as she thought. She looked at the night sky again as the aircraft passed over a familiar neighbourhood below them. Sighing, she turned to see Numbuh One looking at her with concern, but when she smiled at him, he smiled back, reassured. Numbuh Five was so glad she had her friends by her side.
Maybe someday - Abby thought of that strawberry taste again – she would have Henrietta von Marzipan on her side again too.
A/N: I intend to write another (maybe) one-shot about Abigail / Henrietta when they're teenagers (and not cursed). Writing about any sort of hormonal kiss between two twelve-year-olds was not the easiest thing for me to do, and I really hope it didn't come off as too adult, without diminishing any of the passion. In any case, I'm looking forward to writing about two older, hormone-ridden teenagers :D 'Til then, cheers!