Chapter 10: Reunited

"FERN!" Becky exclaimed, positively euphoric to see her friend back, alive and well. Being the first one to move, she immediately flew over to her and lifted her up off the ground, swirling her around in the air in her arms. "Oh, thank goodness you're okay! I can't begin to tell you how worried I was!" She quickly realized, though, that it was probably a good idea to keep her on the ground, given her condition and what she'd just been through. So she set her back down and cupped her face in her hands, allowing her to notice how disheveled and upset she looked. "Are you okay?! Are you hurt?!"

"I'm okay... My head hurts and I'm really thirsty and hungry, but I'm alright otherwise… It's just… I'm… I… I'm so happy to see you, Becky!" Fern replied, keeping her arms wrapped around Becky's middle as she began weeping uncontrollably, her tears falling from her eyes and dripping down onto the floor as she loudly bawled her eyes out.

"It's okay, Fern, it's okay. Let it out…" Becky cooed encouragingly. She gently lifted Fern back up into her arms so she was sat upright facing her, keeping one hand under her bottom while rubbing her back with her free one while Fern continued sobbing, her chin resting on Becky's shoulder, which then began absorbing the numerous tears. Thanks to her super strength, this wasn't at all difficult to do. She carried her over to the table, where the Cybersquad all looked on with a mixture of shock, elation and sympathy. It was one of the sweetest, most tender displays they had ever seen, without a doubt. "Think any of you guys could make coffee or tea or something?" she asked, glancing back and forth at each of them. "Maybe get some food and water for her, and something for her head? I have a feeling we're gonna be here a while longer."

"I'm on it," Inez replied without hesitation.

Digit nodded. "Me too," he said as he and Inez made their way to the kitchen area nearby.

Becky stood with Fern in her arms as they all waited for Inez and Digit to return, silently comforting her with the exception of a gentle shushing or reassurance here and there. Jackie and Matt watched silently, exchanging relieved glances periodically. They each knew the other was glad they had one less problem to solve now, although the battle was far from over.

Once it seemed that Fern had cried herself out, Becky had her sit down at one of the chairs and grabbed her a blanket, which she draped over her shoulders. Inez and Digit soon returned with the coffee and tea and half a dozen mugs, water and some of the leftover pizza for Fern, and an ice pack for her head.

"So… I guess you know my secret now, huh?" Becky asked, continuing to gently rub Fern's back as everyone sat down.

Fern finished a large gulp of water, grateful for something to quench her thirst as well as tea to soothe her throat, and met Becky's eyes. "Which one?"

"Oh! Well… both, I guess…" Becky replied self-consciously.

Fern nodded. "Yeah. Hacker told me them and how they were part of his plan…"

There was a long silence before Becky spoke again. "I didn't want you to find out this way… About liking you, that is. I don't know if I ever would have told you I'm WordGirl. My family doesn't even know."

"It's okay, Becky… It's not your fault," Fern assured, biting into her pizza.

"Well if I'd told you sooner, I would have felt at least a little better... We weren't sure we'd be able to find a way to save you, Fern. I was so worried I'd never get to see you again, that I'd never get to talk to you or hug you again... and I was going to tell you I like you myself, but now Hacker's taken that away from me…"

"...We can talk about it now, though," Fern pointed out with a small smile, the first that had been on her face since arriving. It touched her greatly knowing how much Becky cared for her. "In fact, there IS something I'd like to do…"

"What's that?" Becky asked.

Fern then did one of the boldest things she'd ever done, leaning in and hugging Becky as she placed a little kiss on her cheek. Less than an hour ago she thought she might never have the chance again to do such a thing, and she didn't want any more time to pass and risk anything else happening to stop her.

Becky's face turned beet red, and she was practically speechless. "Wha… Fern, I… What was that about?" she asked, her lips curving into a giddy smile.

"I like you too, Becky," Fern explained. "I began realizing it last week when we went to that restaurant together. I can never stop thinking about how happy you make me feel."

Becky was beyond overjoyed to hear this. Fern actually liked her back! "I feel the same way about you," Becky replied, pulling Fern into another embrace and snuggling her. "You do realize I'm never letting you out of my sight again, right?" she asked playfully.

Fern managed a small chuckle. "I know, I know, I figured. I definitely feel even more safe now. I mean, you're WordGirl!" she exclaimed. "That's so amazing! I can't believe I didn't realize it before!"

"Well I feel like kind of a lousy hero right now, in all honesty," Becky lamented.

"Oh please don't be hard on yourself, Becky. I told you already, it wasn't your fault I got kidnapped. It's not like either of us saw this coming."

"I guess not… but in any case, I promise I'm not letting my guard down this time," Becky declared, placing a hand on Fern's back. "I don't want anything to happen to you, Fern. I don't want you to have to go through anything like that again."

Fern smiled and rested her head on Becky's shoulder. "I know… I mean it when I say I feel safer with you, Becky… or WordGirl," she said, giggling.

"You WILL be safe this time, Fern, I swear," Becky promised firmly. "I won't let Hacker or anyone else hurt you ever again..."

The two girls sat together silently for a minute, grateful to be in each other's company again and to have revealed their feelings to each other. The others watched as they talked, Inez and Digit in particular getting rather dewy-eyed. "Aw, now that's… that's really sweet," Digit remarked, loudly blowing his nose.

"Definitely," Inez concurred, wiping her eyes.

Jackie noticed Inez's reaction to this and elbowed Matt's arm and whispered, "Take notes, Matt," to which he scoffed and turned his head away.

As much as Matt didn't want to interrupt, a question had been weighing heavily on his mind since Fern's sudden arrival. "Say, how DID you get here?" he asked, surprised it had taken this long for it to occur to anyone. "Did you escape? Did they let you go?"

"I… I think I should explain everything before I build up to that… um… I'm sorry, what're your names?"

"I'm Matt, and these are Jackie, Inez and Digit," Matt answered, gesturing to each of his Cybersquad members. Fern had been quite surprised to see a talking bird, but she couldn't find the energy to care much, considering the day she'd had.

"Nice to meet you," Fern said with a small nod before getting onto her story. "So... this afternoon, these two robots kidnapped me from my house. They came into my room and I tried to get out, but they caught me and knocked me out before I could."

Becky winced upon hearing this, finding the idea of someone hitting Fern in the head to be quite painful to picture.

"Buzz and Delete," Digit spoke up in practically a hiss. "Should've figured…"

"When I woke up I realized I'd been tied up and gagged, and then Hacker came in. I wouldn't have liked him under normal circumstances, but… I think being as helpless as I was made him seem a lot scarier."

"I'm sure it must've," Matt said understandingly.

"Then he told me his plan, how you're WordGirl and he was going to use me as leverage," Fern went on, turning to look at Becky. "It wasn't too long after that that he made that call, and then he mostly just left me in a little cell on the ship after that."

"Oh yeah, we've been in that one before," Jackie remarked.

"But how did you get out?" Matt repeated. "You didn't escape yourself, did you?"

Fern shook her head. "No. I tried, I guess, but the ropes were too tight. I actually got help from someone else." All were surprised to hear this, and they all asked who it was. "Just a moment," Fern said, standing up and walking over to the doorway, peeking her head around into the hall. "Okay! You can come in now," she said, motioning for an unseen person to enter. Becky and the Cybersquad all looked on and were astonished upon realizing the identity of Fern's savior.

"DELETE?!" the Cybersquad all cried, flabbergasted.

Becky hadn't been sure what this robot's name was specifically, but she recognized him immediately and shot up from her chair, with the others following suit. "YOU!" she shouted, pointing at him.

"M-me?" Delete said with confusion, nervously taking a step back as everyone at the table began approaching him with varying levels of anger apparent on their faces.

"Yes, you!" Becky replied as the gap between them grew smaller. "I saw you in the woods with that box, and I know Fern was in there! You have a lot of nerve showing your face here!"

"Guys, stop!" Fern protested, stepping in between them. "Delete is the one that saved me!"

The other kids and Digit all exchanged confused looks. "He did?" Matt asked, sounding unconvinced.

"Yes, he did! I swear on my life!" Fern insisted. "He came into my cell and untied me, took an escape pod from the ship, opened the portal and brought me here!"

"Don't worry, Fern, we trust you," Jackie assured before glaring sharply back at Delete. "It's HIM we don't trust."

"Exactly!" Digit chimed in, flying up and getting into Delete's face. "What's your motivation, huh? I bet this is all part of Hacker's plan! Once a bad guy, always a bad guy!"

It was here that Delete's panic was replaced with frustrated indignation. "You're one to talk, Digit. You used to work for Hacker too, you know!"

"WHAT?!" Becky and Fern cried, completely taken aback by this revelation.

Digit shirked away a bit, self-consciously scratching his head. This was a point he couldn't argue. "Well yeah… but I switched sides a long time ago, and I've never looked back! What's your point?"

"My point is that if you can change, why can't I?"

Digit exchanged glances with his three friends, unsure of what to say. As much as they didn't want to admit it, Delete wasn't exactly wrong.

As wary as Becky was about this situation, knowing that Digit used to be in Delete's place definitely caused her to reexamine the situation. Cautiously, she spoke up and said, "Well… He DID save Fern, guys… I don't see how that helps Hacker at all. And if Fern is willing to trust him, I think I'm willing to as well." She then met Delete's eyes and said firmly, "Just don't blow it."

Delete nodded understandingly. He wasn't expecting them to fully trust him right away, and he knew it would take time to get them to fully believe him.

Matt shrugged. "Well hey, if WordGirl of all people is willing to give him a shot, I'm game."

Inez glanced towards Jackie and Digit and remarked, "You know… if he's telling the truth, it could really be an advantage to us and give us a leg up on Hacker, having someone with us who worked for him so recently."

Jackie and Digit remained wary, although they had now become outnumbered, and Inez admittedly made a good point. So they reluctantly agreed, effectively giving Delete a trial run working for team Motherboard.

"Aw, thanks a lot, everyone. I promise you won't regret this," Delete said gratefully.

Becky half-smiled at Delete and hugged Fern. "Thank you for saving Fern, by the way. I guess we owe you a chance for that."

"It was nothin'," Delete replied bashfully. "I just realized I couldn't let him… do what he was gonna do to her."

Becky nodded, tightening her grip on Fern the slightest bit. She didn't want to know the details of what Hacker had planned, especially considering it was bad enough to convince one of his henchmen to help her escape. No doubt had been left in her mind that she was going to defend her until the bitter end. If Hacker wanted to try and take her again, he'd have to get through WordGirl first.

Fern coughed and sighed, breaking the short, relaxed silence that had set in. "Well… I guess we'd better get to planning if we want to find a way to beat Hacker, huh?"

"'We?'" Becky repeated, confused. "Oh no no no no no, the rest of us will do that. YOU'RE getting some sleep."

"What? But Becky, I don't want to just sit around here and be useless, I want to help!" Fern objected.

Becky frowned and shook her head. "No way. I'm not giving Hacker a chance to hurt you again, remember?"

"Oh come on, Becky, let her help," Matt interjected, stepping over and patting Fern's shoulder. "She seems like a smart girl, even if she IS smaller than even Nezzie over there, and that's saying something," he joked, to which Inez grunted irritably in response. "You said so yourself that she isn't helpless."

Fern smiled upon learning Becky had said that to them about her. "Come on, Becky - I want to help. I've always wanted to be involved in some big adventure, ever since I was a kid! This is my chance, and this time I'll be prepared! I'm sure I'll be safe with you by my side, and with these guys."

Becky pondered the idea. She didn't want to be overprotective and keep Fern from doing something she really wanted to do. Then again, though, she felt perfectly justified in being concerned for her safety, especially after all that had transpired that day. "I don't know, Fern… I'm worried. If you did this and something happened to you as a result, I'd feel awful beyond belief. These guys say they've been fighting Hacker for years, and I've been battling villains just as long, but you've never done anything like this!"

"Well… We all have to start somewhere, right?" Fern asked. "I would hate just sitting and doing nothing while knowing what's going on and what could happen." She was doing her best to explain her position, but it was plain to see how worried Becky was for her. "Hey," she spoke up after a moment, reaching down and caressed her gloved hand, massaging her palm with her thumb. "It's really sweet how concerned you are, Becky, and I appreciate it a lot… but please let me help. I'm sure I'll be safe with all of you."

Becky sighed in defeat, finally caving in. Fern really seemed to want to be a part of this, and she didn't want to be the one to stand in the way of something her crush really wanted. "Alright…" she relented, gently pulling Fern's arm, "but only if you get some sleep. I'm sure you're exhausted after everything you've been through today. We're gonna keep talking for awhile, and we'll give you an update when you wake up. Deal?"

Fern smiled and rolled her eyes. "Deal."

"Do you guys have a place where she can rest?" Becky asked, turning to look at Digit and the other kids.

"There should be a room down the hall there," Digit answered, pointing through the doorway.

Becky nodded and went with Fern to the room, helping her get settled once they found it. Meanwhile the kids, Digit and Delete sat down at the table. "Geez, we're never gonna get to sleep. Fern is lucky…" Matt moaned, rubbing his temples.

"I have to admit, I'm getting pretty tired too…" Jackie agreed, letting her head flop back.

"We're ALL tired, guys," Inez said, adjusting her glasses, "and I'd love to get some sleep, but we don't have time right now. We're just gonna have to power through it. We'll make a dozen pots of coffee if we have to. We can sleep when we beat Hacker. For all we know, he could start invading as soon as tomorrow morning, and we need to be prepared if that's what it comes to." She looked up at their newest team member and asked, "Do you have any idea what Hacker's planning to do, Delete?"

"He didn't give me that many details," Delete answered regretfully. "What I do know is that once he took care of WordGirl - or Becky, I guess - he was going to, well… get rid of you guys, too. Then he was going to invade the city after that. He probably would've tomorrow. But now since he doesn't have Fern for leverage anymore, I don't know for sure."

"I guess we should try to be prepared for the worst, then," Inez supposed, taking a swig of her coffee. "I don't see why he'd let that stop him from trying."

"I agree," Jackie concurred. "He may not have Fern anymore, but he's made it this far and I doubt he'd just give up."

It was then that Becky returned and sat back down. "Just finished getting Fern to bed. I can't tell you guys how relieved I feel. Fern is safe, and I have a much better feeling about our chances."

"Same here," Matt said, "but what are we going to do now?"

"Well, we're gonna have to come up with a plan to defeat Hacker," Inez clarified. "Let's try and make this as simple as possible - What is it exactly that makes him such a threat, and what can we do to take it out?"

"I guess if the Grim Wreaker was out of commission, he wouldn't be able to do much," Jackie remarked.

"That's true…" Inez agreed, tapping her chin.

"Is that the name of his ship?" Becky asked.

"Yeah, he's had it ever since we met him," Inez replied. "Do you think you'd be able to fight him while he's flying it?"

"I'll certainly do my best," Becky answered. "But is there something you guys could do at the same time to try and help take it down?"

"Maybe… Delete, can you think of any weaknesses the Wreaker might have?"

"Hmm…" Delete silently brainstormed a moment before getting an idea. "This is just an idea, but maybe if we could find the power magnetic booster battery, we could get it on the ground…"

The Cybersquad gasped with surprise, sharing excited glances. "The power magnetic booster battery! Of course! Delete, you're a genius!" Matt exclaimed.

"Really?" Delete asked, smiling.

"Absolutely! If we can find that thing, Hacker will be toast!"

"'Power magnetic booster battery?' Is that like the power source for the ship?" Becky asked.

"You bet! Every ship in Cyberspace has one," Digit answered. "The Wreaker definitely won't be able to run without it."

"We'll have to sneak onto the ship to get it," Jackie pointed out. "That won't be fun."

"Delete, do you think you'd be able to get us onto the ship, so we can look for it while Hacker takes off and goes into the city? Or do you maybe even have an idea where it is?" Inez asked.

"Sure, I can help get you on there. But I'm not totally sure where the battery is," Delete replied.

"That's okay, I'm certain we can find it," Inez assured. "I say we should take off and get back to the real world early in the morning. That way we'll hopefully have plenty of time to get aboard the ship and start looking."

"And I'll head back into town and try to be ready for when Hacker gets there," Becky added. "It occurred to me that Hacker still knows where Fern and I live, so I'm going to get my family and her parents to a safe place so Hacker can't track them down as well. I don't want what happened to Fern to happen to any of them."

"Of course not," Matt said understandingly. "And you think you'll be ready soon after that?"

"Definitely," Becky replied with a firm nod and a confident grin.

"Great - I'm starting to feel a bit better about this, guys," Jackie remarked, happy they finally seemed to be getting somewhere.

"Me too," Inez agreed. "Even if it's a loose plan, I'm glad we at least have something."

"So I guess what we'll do is wake Fern up in a few hours and tell her the plan," Becky supposed. "Then we'll go back to the real world and split up before the invasion starts. I think we have a chance, guys. We just might be able to beat Hacker yet."