Just a quick recap Fanny is 12 going on 13 while Hoagie is 15. With that said and done I present to you Chapter 2!
A Time to Grow
Chapter-2
Unchildish Thoughts
2 years later.
#362 walked down one of the large corridors of the almost empty base as she rifled through some old mission documents. It had been pretty calm lately the battles of adult tyranny were becoming less and less, but #362 had a nagging feeling that somehow this was just the calm before the storm. But since missions seemed to be scarce at the moment she sent many operatives home for time off, just until the more heavy missions hit. Slowly she came to a stop in the middle of the large hallway, turning her head she gazed out the window to the large outer space her eyes fixed on the small blue planet known as earth. She needed a break to, but time was running out and she needed to find her replacement, her grip tightened crumpling the papers she held.
A loud crash could be heard coming from further off down the hallway causing the girl to quickly whip around, but her cause for alarm quickly blew over as she heard a strong irish accent screaming no doubt at some poor operative who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.
"Fanny." She said with a weak grin.
Hurrying further down the hallway she rounded a corner just in time to see a young boy thrown out a room slamming hard into the wall quickly getting up he dashed off before the mug that was thrown at him could make contact with his head, shattering to pieces as it to hit the wall.
"And don't come back here again unless you want another fist in your face, you cruddy boy!"
With a slight grin still on her face #362 tiptoed over to the open door cautiously poking her head in she called "#86?"
Looking in she found the red head laying flat on her face over her desk with her arms outstretched before her.
"Whaaaat?" she groaned out.
#362 smiled as she stood leaning against the doorframe, "Didn't I tell you to take some time off operative?"
Looking up and seeing #362 Fanny quickly stood up ignoring the piece of paper that stuck to her forehead "#-#362, mam' I-I didn't know it was you. I was just finishing up some last minute decommissioning reports I'll be done soon."
#362 waved off the excuse, "Don't worry about all the formality Fanny there's hardly anyone here. Um you have some paper stuck to your forehead…"
Fanny reached up and quickly discarded the offending piece of paper. "Uh my desk is really cluttered haven't had time to clean it actually… I haven't had time for much lately."
Rachel nodded "You've been really busy with the decommissioning lately; it's not healthy to bury yourself in work you know. When was the last time you took some time off?"
Fanny took a second before giving a half shrug, "I enjoy my job." She said in a mean sort of way.
Rachel turned to stare off at nothing her eyes dulling slightly, "Fanny?"
"Hmm?" asked said girl as she busied herself by staking papers together trying and failing to straighten out her desk.
"When are you scheduled for?"
Fanny stilled in her movements she didn't want to talk about this, biting her lip she quietly answered, "Two months from now."
Nodding slowly Rachel replied "Mine is in five months."
Fanny gave a small grin "Well you've still got a ways to go." She said trying to lighten the mood.
Rachel gave a frustrated sigh "Yeah but that's not nearly enough time to find a suitable replacement. Hmm maybe I should initiate another game of tag?"
Fanny smirked as she remembered the last time Rachel had ordered a game of tag, not really believing her words she said, "Yeah I'm sure that'll go great. But if you'll pardon me, #362, I do have a lot of paperwork to finish off so-"
"Oh no you don't, Fanny, the only thing you're about to do is go down to earth and get some much needed time off."
"But #362 I need to work, please it-it keeps my mind off of-"
"Fanny," Rachel sighed "You're not slowing time down by working your head off like this. Trust me the only thing you're doing is making yourself older faster. Please go, enjoy the little time you have left."
"But I-"
"That's an order #86. As of now you are officially off duty, go home."
Fanny sighed, there would be no use in arguing with her now an order was an order. Getting up she slowly made her way to the door but was stopped by Rachel's hesitant but questioning voice,
"By the way Fanny… how is Hoagie doing?"
Fanny felt herself tense up to the unexpected question, quickly she answered "Ho-how the heck should I know!?" Trying to make herself sound insulted by the question.
Rachel tried not to smirk at how quickly the red head became defensive, "I only ask because well, don't you both live in the same neighborhood?"
Fanny scowled "Yeah so?!"
This time Rachel did smirk "Calm down Fanny sheesh, it was just a question, If you got anymore upset I might have to assume that you-"
"He's fine okay! I mean I see him every once in a while around the neighborhood but that's it!"
Rachel gave Fanny a sad smile "Does it ever bother you that he doesn't remember?"
Fanny now turned fully to face Rachel "Of course not! Why would it!?"
Rachel's smile grew "Just a question." She said innocently as she passed by Fanny on her way out, she gave the girl a slight pat on the shoulder, "See you in a week." And with that she left leaving Fanny to her insecure thoughts, giggling along the way.
The flight back to earth was short, and before she knew it Fanny was walking down the familiar road that lead to her house. She dragged a small bag of belongings behind her since she wouldn't be on moon base for a while. Her frown deepened she wondered briefly if she should perhaps start cleaning out her whole office now, after all pretty soon she wouldn't even be going back…
She let her thoughts stop there, scowling she glared at the hard concrete beneath her tightening her hands into fists till they turned white. It wasn't fair after all she had done, this wasn't supposed to happen, not to her. Closing her eyes so as not to let the tears escape, she looked up to the red setting sun.
"Don't be stupid," she told herself, "You knew good and well this day would come."
Letting go of the bag she once carried she brought her arms up to hug herself. She could feel the changes her body was going through, the new yet unfamiliar curves and the two lumps that represented her budding breasts.
"What makes you so much better than every other kid you've chased down? You're nothing special you'll be decommissioned, you'll forget, and-and," at this she slowly let her arms fall to her sides "And in time…be forgotten…just like all the rest." She finished quietly to herself.
'You could run.' Said a small voice in the back of her mind.
Fanny furrowed her brow "I could." She whispered gently to herself. But she had seen it all too often, where would she go, who would help her, and how long would she have to run?
The voice spoke again, 'It would be easier for you, you know all the tactics the decommissioning committee uses having designed some of them yourself. They would never catch you.'
It was true, she did now all the tactics used, but somehow Fanny knew that in some point and time this train of thought ran through every operatives mind when they were this close to decommissioning. And as tempting as the thought seemed, she knew she couldn't do it, after all she was head of the decommissioning committee and to have to run from the ones who once looked up to you would be almost just as bad as decommissioning itself. She would not, could not run but she wanted to.
Leaning down she picked up her bag and slowly continued on her way home. The sun was almost completely out of sight, and it was getting darker.
"Mom I'm home!" Cried the red head as she entered the lighted house the sound of silver ware clinking together alerted her that she had walked in during dinner. Her stomach growled at the thought she couldn't remember when she had last eaten.
"Fanny dear come into the kitchen I have big news to tell you!" Came her mother's voice.
Dropping her bag next to the door she made her way to the kitchen.
"Yeah, what is-" then looking up at the sight before her she screamed "WHAT IN THE BLUE BLAZES IS THIS!?"
There sitting at the table was her father hidden behind a newspaper her two younger brothers who now stared at her for her sudden outburst, and her mother who stood holding a plate of whatever tonight's dinner was. But the reason for her outburst was the fact that #2 was also sitting at the table along with his parents and his younger brother (who was now secretly known for as 'The Tommy') along with his crazy grandmother.
Her outburst however didn't stop #2 from eating so in between mouthfuls he simply replied "Yo."
"My god if that kid gets any louder, she'll blow out the sound in my left ear as well!" yelled the grandmother.
"Wh-wh-why, nu-nu-numbe-" Then quickly catching herself the girl screamed "What the heck is going on!!!"
"Well you see dear, the Gilligans are having a little pest control problem, and I couldn't just let them go to those horrid motels, so I invited them to stay the weekend with us."
"What!!?"
"So rats huh?" Grunted Fanny's dad still hiding behind the newspaper.
"Oh yeah," answered Hoagie's dad "Swarms of them came outta nowhere bigger than the likes of which-"
"Daaaaad," Whined Tommy "I told you they weren't rats they were hamsters."
Fanny raised a brow 'Hamsters?'
"So Fanny you just gonna stand there all day with your mouth hanging open." Asked Hoagie with a mouth full of food.
"Shut it teenager I'll sit down whenever I'm good and ready to!!"
Whack!!!
Hoagie's grandmother glared at the girl who now supported a sore head "Stop with all the yelling you little munchkin!"
"Yeah Fanny, we've been waiting all this time for you to show up," said Hoagie then lighting up he said "I guess you could say we've been dinning to see you! Ha get it! Dinning cause we've been eat-"
Whack!!!
"And you," said the still glaring grandmother "I've told a thousand times enough with the lame jokes!!!"
"Huge rats I'm telling you for miles it seemed, I tried to fight them off with my bare hands-" Continued Hoagies dad, Fanny's Dad nodding every few seconds grunting "Uh huh…uh huh" still hidden behind his newspaper.
It was going to be a cold day in hell before Fanny let some imposter teenager stay under the same roof as her, especially since she didn't completely buy that whole rats story, turning to her mother she cried, "Mom are you off you're rocker they can't stay here!"
"Don't be rude honey I've already invited them to stay; besides it's not like it's that long so what exactly is the problem?"
"Yeah Fanny what's the problem?" Said Hoagie through a mouthful of food.
Fanny closed her eyes and inhaled deeply in a small attempt to keep her murderous thoughts of the teen at bay. She hated using her age as an excuse but Fanny felt that at this time it was necessary.
Clearing her throat and blushing slightly she said "In case you haven't noticed mom, I am a growing girl so don't you think it would be…improper to have a teenage boy in the house…"
At this Fanny's two younger brothers' laughed before singing "Fanny likes Hoagie, Fanny likes Hoagie"
Fanny's blush intensified as she turned to her brother's "Shut yer traps you brats!"
Standing suddenly Hoagie's mom spoke up "I have to agree with Fanny, I'm not sure having two teenagers under the same roof like this is such a good idea. I mean they both obviously have hormones coming out the wazoo."
"What the heck are you all making such a big fuss about," Said Hoagie's Grandmother "It's not like he's going to sneak into her room late at night and force her down."
"Nana!!" yelled Hoagies mother.
"Why would Hoagie hold her down?" Asked Fanny's youngest brother while Fanny's older kid brother and Tommy burst out laughing, Hoagie who was still eating nonstop seemed obvious to the whole thing. Fanny felt her mouth drop to the floor and she was positive her face was as red as her hair.
"But it wasn't until the rats started fighting us off with cans of sodas did I realize we were in trouble." Continued Hoagies dad.
"Oh come off it," said Fanny's dad "Seriously it's not like their gonna be home alone I'm sure as long as we're all here watching there won't be any problems. Right boy?" He asked menacingly. Hoagie finally stopped eating, gulping his food loudly, he grinned.
"You won't have to worry about me sir, I'm the perfect gentleman." He said before giving a loud belch. Fanny felt her eye twitch, but her brother's found this even more hilarious and soon a belching contest had broken out. With the two mothers yelling at them, Hoagie's grandmother complaining about the food, Hoagie's dad still telling the story of the army of rats, and her dad still hiding behind the newspaper grunting every once and a while Fanny found it upon herself to leave the scene with scowl upon her face.
She felt that the two idiotic families were sucking all the sanity out of her and she needed time to herself to think. Something about this whole situation was bothering her and she needed to find out what and quick.
Steam billowed out around her as Fanny opened the bathroom door, wrapped tightly in her pink rainbow monkey robe she walked quietly into the cool dark hallway. The shower had helped ease her stressful state but for some reason the thought that Hoagie was up to something wouldn't elude her. He was a teenager now and therefore couldn't be completely trusted, and if worse came to worse he could be working for farther. But if it came to that then…Fanny felt herself sadden slightly at the thought then quickly shaking her head she strengthened her resolve
'I'm still a KND operative after all; if it does turn out he's working for farther I'll dispose of him just like any other teen.'
Bringing her hand up to her doorknob she suddenly stilled in her movements a sound further off to the side of her caused her to quickly whip her head around. Two doors down the hallway was Hoagie's mom seemingly watching which room she was going to.
"Good night Fanny." She called.
Fanny held back her irritation and as politely as possible called back,
"You too Mrs. Gilligan."
Both girls gave a small fake laugh until Hoagie's mom completely closed the door to the guest bedroom. Then rolling her eyes Fanny proceeded into her own room,
'Instead of worrying about me she should be worrying about her own,' looking up as she closed her bedroom door she found none other than Hoagie Gilligan sitting at her computer desk randomly typing on her new laptop, 'son.' She finished the thought grimly.
Hearing the door click shut Hoagie turned to give Fanny a nonchalant look but did a quick double take when he noticed what she was wearing.
"Well, well this is a nice surprise." He said with a grin.
Fanny narrowed her eyes "What are you doing in here Gilligan?" she asked her voice dripping with malice.
Hoagie unfazed by her tone simply replied "MySpace."
"There's a computer downstairs." She said between clenched teeth.
"You're dad wouldn't let me on that computer, said it was for business or something." He said, his eyes trailing down to where her robe opened showing just the right amount of cleavage.
Quickly she brought her hand up to close the upper part of the offending robe, "Teenagers are disgusting." She said angrily fighting off the oncoming blush.
Giving her an innocent smile he replied, "Well you would know, aren't you turning thirteen soon?"
Fanny felt the corner of her mouth twitch, as a sudden wave of sadness hit, with all the craziness going on she had almost allowed herself to forget. Bringing her gaze to the floor she took a risk and asked, "Why are you here?"
Watching her closely Hoagie replied, "Didn't you hear my dad? Rat infestation."
She looked up to meet his gaze, "You're brother said they were hamsters."
He grinned "My brother says a lot."
"How did you know I'd be turning thirteen soon?"
"You've always been two years younger than me Fanny." He said simply.
Scowling she said, "You just have an answer for everything don't you Gilligan."
He only continued to watch her closely, his expression now serious, Fanny felt her checks heat up again, and suddenly she felt extremely nervous.
"Well there's that and…the way you carry yourself now…you just look so sad…you remind me of myself, right before my decommissioning."
Fanny's eyes widened "Y-you-"
Smirking he said, "You know I've missed these little talks between you and me…#86."
'I knew it!' she thought as she quickly turned and made a grab for the doorknob but she only got the door opened a few inches before it was slammed shut again. Looking up with a mixture of surprise and anger she found Hoagie towering over her with one hand firmly on the door.
"We're not done here just yet, Fanny."
She glared up at him, "Whatever you're planning, teenager, you won't get away with it!"
But Hoagie only seemed to find her threat amusing, as he grabbed a firm grip on her upper arm and pulled her away from the door. "You know the way you say the word 'teenager' almost makes it seem like you're not one." He said as he forced her to sit on her bed.
"That's cause I'm not!" She said in an offended tone, upset at how much stronger than her Hoagie had become over the past two years.
"Really?" he asked "Cause you sure are beginning to fill out like one." He easily dodged the pillow that was thrown at his head.
Fanny fumed as she watched him look out the window then down to her rainbow monkey alarm clock, he was waiting for something and he obviously needed her for whatever it was he was waiting for. She cursed herself for leaving all her KND equipment in her bag downstairs still sitting next to the front door. Sitting back down Hoagie resumed his typing on her laptop before mumbling "Won't be long now."
Scooting closer towards the door she said "I never thought I'd see the day when an operative from the infamous sector V would go bad."
He paused in his typing but then slowly resumed, "What makes you think I've gone bad? I still could be one of the good guys."
Still inching towards the door she said, "I've never meet a former operative, who somehow regained their memory, to be good. You teenagers are always out for revenge."
"Not all of us."
Ignoring his last remark she asked "So how much information did you give to father about the KND, hmm Gilligan, and was it worth it?"
Stopping his typing all together he asked "You really think I would do something like that Fanny?"
Narrowing her eyes she said "You teenagers are all the same." Before making a dash to the door, she swore she was just short of a teeny tiny inch from the doorknob before she was grabbed, once again, by the upper arm and forced roughly back.
"First of all, you can't really believe that all teenagers are evil since technically you are a teenager." He said as he once again forced her into a sitting position on the bed, but despite the obvious difference in strength Fanny angrily fought back.
"I am not a teen-"
"And second," He said grabbing hold of her wrists and forcing her flat on her back he finished "That was a very poor attempt at an escape."
Fanny scowled up at the smirking boy, but anger was quickly replaced by embarrassment as she realized the position they were in. She wore nothing more than her rainbow monkey robe, as she lay in bed with none other than Hoagie Gilligan straddling her, her blush deepened. Noticing her blush Hoagie smirked, "You know for someone who still thinks of themselves as a kid, you sure got some unchildish thoughts going through your mind right now."
Looking away from him she angrily said "You have no idea what I'm thinking Gilligan." She tried to keep her voice steady as hoagie made circular motions on her wrist with his thumb. "Sure I do," he said simply then bringing his mouth close to her ear he whispered in a husky voice "It's exactly the same thing I'm thinking."
An unfamiliar shiver ran up her spin as her entire face turned beet red, if anything Hoagie was right about one thing these were definitely thoughts no kid should have. She heard him chuckle before saying, "Looks like grams was right about me forcing you down tonight." She then turned to face him ready to make an insult about him and his insanely violent grandma, but found the words stuck in her throat, with his face only a breath away from hers. The action caught him by surprise to and for a second Fanny relished in the fact that he had slight blush on his face as well. As a subconscious nervous habit Fanny bit her lip out of nervousness, which instantly caught Hoagies attention, without even thinking about it he leaned in slowly.
Fanny's mind raced 'Oh my God he's going to kiss me! He's going to kiss me!' Her eyes widened as her heartbeat pounded loudly against her ribcage 'Wait a second this isn't good. He's the enemy what am I doing!? ' She felt his breath against her trembling lips, "H-hoagie…?" Even she knew that was a pathetic attempt to get his attention, but a distraction was given, nonetheless, in the form of catchy ringtone sounding from the back of his jeans pocket. He stilled in his movements and she held her breath, for a moment it seemed that he was just going to let the phone ring but then he pulled away with an irritated look on his face, pulling out his cell phone he snapped, "What!?"
Fanny listened intently to try to hear what the other speaker was saying but she couldn't make out a single word of it nor could she place the voice.
"Yeah I already told you I'm taking care of it." Said Hoagie as he climbed off Fanny, He walked to her room door and leaned against it so he could finish his conversation without worry that the red head would make another dash for the door. Though that was the last thing on Fanny's mind, sitting up she concentrated on calming her heart beat and getting her face back to its natural color.
"What!? Are you kidding me!?" Yelled Hoagie suddenly, causing Fanny to jump. Looking back at her alarm clock he said "But it wasn't set to go off for about another hour or so!" Fanny tried not to let it bother her that not only was there frustration in his voice but panic also.
"Don't worry we're headed there now." And with that he shut his cell phone close. Fanny's eyes narrowed "We?" she repeated.
Hoagie sighed running a hand through his unruly brown hair "Hurry up and get dressed Fanny we don't have a lot of time."
"What are you insane!? No way would I ever be a part of any type of evil scheme you've got going teenager so you can just forget it! Got it! "
"Fanny!" Hoagie yelled suddenly, catching the girl off guard "I'm only going to say this once I am not evil!"
Standing up and glaring angrily at the boy she yelled "Then what exactly are you!?"
He didn't flinch or back down from her like any other boy would do, and in a sense she had expected this after all he was the only boy she knew who ever stood up to her. But what she had not expected was what he said next,
"I'm an operative for an organization known as the Teens Next Door or in short the TND, an organization designed for teenagers to help aid the KND in their fight against adults! Our job is mainly undercover work to gain information on future adult attacks and put a stop to them before any harm can ever come to the KND! I wasn't evil back then, I'm not evil now, and nowhere in the future do I ever plan on being evil!"
Fanny stood completely still mouth agape and eyes wide for one rare moment she was at a loss for words.
Eeeeek! We're getting close to climax! Hurry up and review and Ill have the third and final chapter up asap!