A/N: Hey, guys! I know this is a bit out of my element. I did a Decomm. one-shot agess ago, and that was a precursor to this. I was about to finish up the next chapter of my HP fic when I saw this in my Documents, and I realized I had yet to write the follow-up of my one-shot. I told you guys I would start a multi-chapter if I got positive enough response on the one-shot, and I still blush when I read your reviews, so here is the first chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it! Please review and tell me how I've done, this is a bit...different, from what I usually write so I may be a bit insecure about it. But I'm branching out! Haha! Anyway, to those of you who also ready my Harry Potter fic, I AM still writing. I've just been a bit delayed lately because Art schools require far too much stuff when you apply. Pesky, picky people. Hmph. You actually need talent. Who has that sort of thing these days? Just another note about this chapter: I'm sorry about how traitorously short this is. I just wanted to let you guys in on how the gang reacted when Numbah One told them about TND. :D READ ON! REVIEW! Loves to you all, I'm off to write for Caroline and Draco now to appease you Potterheads! Ciao!
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Kuki Sanban, Wallabee Beatles, Abigail Lincoln, Hogarth Pennywhistle Gillian, Jr., nor Nigel Uno. I do, however, own the plotlines and any original/extralike characters I mention or create later on. None of those in this one, though, so...Yeah.
Perhaps a nice round of background information would be nice at this point.
Nigel's association with the Galactic Kids Next Door had been a very brief affair. He had enjoyed the constant travel and meetings with interspace Sectors at first, but soon the novelty wore off and some serious interspace jet-lag had started to tear at his resolve. Soon, after only a month of harried correlation, Nigel filed for resignation and returned to the KND to enjoy the last few weeks before his and his friends' decommissionings.
Four days prior to the decommissionings of Hogarth Pennywhistle Gilligan, Jr., Kuki Sanban, Wallabee Beatles, Abigail Lincoln, and Nigel Uno, the TND contacted Nigel, and Nigel alone. Nigel had delayed telling his friends as much as he could, but with their limited time left together, Nigel had to tell them. He wouldn't have their last memories of him tainted by dishonesty.
Numbah Three had started crying once he'd mentioned their decommisionings, as she had taken to doing over the last few weeks. By the time he'd gotten to the TND's invitation, Kuki was sobbing uncontrollably into Wally's orange hoodie, her dramatics overlooked as her friends sat, stunned, in the treehouse they'd spent most of their childhood in.
"You're…You…Numbah One…You get to stay?" Hoagie had managed to choke out, his face tinted pink and blotchy all over from emotion. Nigel stood before him, silent, not trusting his mouth or mind to do as he pleased and keep perfectly composed. Hoagie hmphed somewhat petulantly, slouching in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest as he looked away from his best friend.
"The TND, Numbah One. That's an honor," Abigail had said softly, and Nigel had turned to her, studying her face. Her hat seemed to have been left forgotten on the couch cushion beside her, upturned and frayed as it had always been. Her eyes were downcast, and her expression was unreadable. Somehow, though, Nigel detected a hint of jealousy. Disdain. Contempt. A sharp pang of irrational guilt hit somewhere in the pit of Nigel's stomach and he shifted uncomfortably for the first time since breaking the news to his group.
"I suppose so," Nigel had managed to say, looking away from his friends, turning his back on them and staring out a window. He knew it wasn't the right thing to do. His friends would have taken the gesture as insulting, that he would turn his back to them at that pivotal moment in their lives, when they realized that one of their number would not be following their group as planned.
With a loud thud, Hoagie's sneaker fell to the floor and Nigel spun around on his heel, glaring at his friend and rubbing the back of his head. "Numbah Two," he hissed angrily, continuing his ministrations on his painfully throbbing head and kicking the sneaker over to its owner.
"You can't just leave us, Numbah One! Even going out, we're a team!" Hoagie yelled, his face regaining its red hue. He was standing from the couch now, his one socked foot uneven with his sneakered one, causing him to limp comically. Nigel didn't laugh.
"I…I know, Hoagie," Nigel said quietly, throwing up his hands frustratedly. "I can't decline this though. You know how the TND is. You heard about it from the operatives that talked to us last year. You can't even put in for decommissioning until a year in, and by then, I'd already be knee-deep in everything there and it would be pointless, and you guys would be gone!" Nigel was yelling by the end of his speech, and his last word seemed to echo throughout the halls of their treehouse.
"He's right," Wally said softly, leaning back on the couch. Kuki was still beside him, clutching his arm as if it were her lifeline in this troubling moment. Wally seemed not to notice Kuki for once, though, as he looked at Nigel. "It would be pointless. We know how you are, you take on your responsibility until everyone relies on you and you can't leave. If he tried putting in for decommissioning a year after joining, the TND would probably collapse from it."
This caused Nigel and hoagie to both snort in laughter, eliciting smiles from Abigail and Kuki. Wally just sat back again, smirking and looking self-satisfied, and allowed Kuki to clutch his arm again. "So, you're going Numbah One. No question about it. They need you."
There was another pregnant pause as the five tweens soaked in this information. "They need you." Abigail spoke this time, and Nigel was relieved to hear not an ounce of jealousy this time.
"They do." Kuki's voice was thin, whiny, but Nigel knew his friend meant it. For Kuki Sanban to willingly allow a friend to leave was a rare occasion. "And you'll love it for us, right?" Nigel smiled and nodded in response, before turning to the last, and most important, of his comrades.
Hoagie still looked properly brassed off, but his narrowed eyes relaxed and his frown slowly dissipated until he looked more or less resigned. He sighed deeply, but when he looked at his friend, he looked like somebody'd fired him up again. "You better make this worth it, Numbah One. Kick some ass."