So despite not updating in over a year, this story is still getting reviews, follows and favorites, which is awesome. All you readers: readers who've been around waiting, and newer readers who have also waited, have been so supportive and patient, and I thank you. So sit yourself down, maybe with your favorite beverage or snack, and let me tell you a story.
===...===
The backseat of the McKenzie car has always been small because the car itself is a tiny 1970's Toyota Corolla. Mrs. McKenzie says that the poor thing should be taken out back and shot, because despite Mr. McKenzie's best efforts at maintenance, the interior is held together with duct tape and is missing sun visors, knobs, and door panels. And it smells like burritos. Rachel remembers Hoagie glancing at it once and sucking a breath through his teeth the same way someone would at the sight of an old dog collapsing in the street. He offered to fix it up, but Hoagie never does vehicles in halves, and Rachel knows that her parents just need a car to get them around, not a car that shoots lasers and anti-aircraft missiles.
Maybe they can finally afford a new car now that Mr. McKenzie is working for Mr. Fulbright. And got that raise. Maybe. Perhaps they could get a car with a little more room. Rachel and Harvey shift in their seats in vain attempts to get more comfortable. Rachel's grown again within three weeks, hitting 5'8", Harvey's just had a growth spurt, and they have two bags of gear between them. In the front seat, Mrs. McKenzie sweeps a hand through Mr. McKenzie's hair. His bangs are long enough to fall over his forehead.
"Bob," she says. "Growing it out?"
"A little," Mr. McKenzie leans into his wife's hand and Harvey stifles a gag. Rachel just tugs the bill of a baseball cap low over her face.
"It looks nice," Mrs. McKenzie tugs on her husband's earlobe before lowering her hand back down to her lap. Harvey cranks a lever to roll the window down so he can stick his face out the car. "How long until we get there?"
"Not long now," Mr. McKenzie says. The highway they're on cuts through miles of farmland. Whiffs of cow manure waft into the car now and again. "I'm glad we're doing this. I know McKenzie's a Scottish name, but I've never made any attempt to learn about the culture."
Rachel scoots up, pushing her baseball cap back. "Fanny says it's a shame that we've got a Gaelic name, but aren't really Gaelic. She's trying to teach me the language."
"She said that, huh?" Mr. McKenzie asks. "Say something in Gaelic."
"Uh nah," Rachel says. "I'm not really good at it yet."
"So she's teaching you phrases you can't say in front of your parents?" Mrs. McKenzie asks with a coy smile. "How scandalous."
"Mom!" Rachel's blush threatens to rush down her neck. "It's...it's not..."
"Oh calm down, honey. I'm just teasing," Mrs. McKenzie says. She rubs sunblock on herself as Mr. McKenzie pulls into a wide dirt lot that serves as a parking lot. There are already lines of cars there in haphazard rows. Families and packs of friends make their way toward a line of tents in a field off in the distance. Some of them wear kilts, most wear regular western clothes. As soon as Mr. McKenzie turns off the car engine, Harvey gets out and runs off with his bag. Mrs. McKenzie sighs as she watches him go.
"Bob..."
"Yeah, I see him," Mr. McKenzie watches Harvey through the side view mirror. "He's probably on his way to meet Jeff's boys. They're here somewhere."
"Oh that's," But whatever Mrs. Mckenzie is about to say dies on her lips as her eyes widen in comprehension. "Bob, that means she's here."
"Who-oh," Mr. McKenzie finally tears his gaze away from the sideview mirror. "Oh."
"Mom, Dad, Mrs. Fulbright doesn't know I'm here." Rachel says. "She can't. If she does, she'll flip out. That's why you can't say my name when you see me in the Heavy Events."
"Yes we know, but..." Mrs. McKenzie falters for a moment. "'Mrs. Fulbright?' That's her name? I thought..."
"Yeah, me too," Rachel says. "But Fanny says her mom's too Catholic to get a legit divorce. So she's 'Mrs. Fulbright.'"
"Oh, she would be," Mrs. McKenzie says, unimpressed. She pushes a tube of sunblock into Rachel's hands. "Good luck. Put this on. Don't forget your ears. And the back of your neck."
"Yeah thanks. See you later!" Rachel stuffs the sunblock into her duffel bag and leaves the car.
The Sector V bus is different from when Rachel saw it last. It's always changing as Hoagie improves and experiments with engineering concepts and designs. Rachel suspects that there are actually two Sector V buses: one to drive around, and the other to upgrade, and when the upgrades are complete, Hoagie just swaps them out and keeps working. Today, the bus is sleeker than usual, more aerodynamic. Rachel realizes that she's looking at a private jet, but one without wings or jet engines. Giant, spray-painted koi fish swim on the outside of the black hull.
She knocks on the door and Hoagie answers. He's big enough to fill the entire doorway, and he takes a step back to make room.
"Rachel!" He smiles as he helps her in.
"Hey Hoagie," Rachel takes her baseball cap off so she can better look around. The layout inside is similar, but she can tell that it's been built to resemble the interior of the old bus. Materials are different. So are colors. Kuki, Wally, and Patton sit in the kitchen booth playing a Yipper card game. Abby sits in the cockpit with her feet on the dashboard. There's a pair of headphones wrapped around her ears and her eyes are closed. Rachel would have guessed her asleep if it weren't for the slight bob of Abby's head.
Patton and Wally try to explain the Yipper game to Kuki, who looks through the cards in the discard piles.
"So in the show, there are eight Yipper lands," Patton says. "And each land is dedicated to a type of Yipper element. There's a civilization in each land with a Master Yipper, and you travel through each land and beat the master of each civilization."
"But that doesn't happen in real life, does it?" Kuki asks.
"What, like you walk into a place and challenge the strongest dude there? Like at a gym?" Hoagie says. "I win at muscles, bye!"
Wally perks up at the sound of a challenge, but Patton laughs.
"What if each gym were dedicated to a specific muscle group?"
"Yeah, but they choose arbitrary muscles," Hoagie says. "People in one gym just walk around with really beefy neck muscles."
"Ear muscles," Patton says.
"Kegels," Hoagie tries not to smile as Patton erupts in hysterics. "Oh Zero, how would they test who has the strongest kegels? How would that happen?"
"You're all gross," Kuki giggles before she puts the cards back down on the table. She slides out of the booth and goes to Rachel with a smile and a hug.
"Did you grow again?" Kuki asks as she pulls away. Rachel smiles and shrugs apologetically. Kuki waves it away and her dark eyes make a sweep over Rachel's body. "Everything should still fit. Go change."
Rachel slides into the cramped bathroom and locks the door behind her. Outside the bathroom, Wally and Patton continue their Yipper game while Kuki looks at the cards.
"Man, if I were a Yipper master, it'd be for electricity," Patton says as he draws a card from his deck. "But the badge for it is - get this - the shocker."
Kuki slaps Patton's shoulder and Wally flushes bright red, but Hoagie chuckles and holds up a hand as if he's holding a button pin.
"Ugh, why is this badge a hand? I thought it was supposed to be for Electric Yippers?"
"And now I know why the TND doesn't allow operatives to play with the KND," Kuki sighs and takes a closer look at the artwork on a particular card.
A slender young man emerges from the bathroom with Rachel's duffel bag. He wears a plain black kilt and a loose t-shirt, and most of his hair is gathered in a short ponytail.
Kuki squeals and claps her hands, then rushes at him with some makeup brushes and foundation. "Lean down."
When the boy complies, Kuki fills in his eyebrows so they look thicker. A couple contours in the right place deepens his brow and broadens his nose. When she's done, she steps back, and the boy straightens up.
"Do I look okay?" he asks. His voice is a subtle low tenor and he seems thrown at the sound of it. He reaches up and touches what looks like a nicotine patch stuck over his throat. It's transparent and would have been unnoticeable if his hand didn't go to it.
"Leave it," Hoagie says. "You sound fine."
"You sound hot," Kuki stares at him, her mouth slightly open. Wally slaps his hand of cards down on the table and makes as if to get up, his face full of fury, but Patton puts a hand on his shoulder and makes him sit back down. Abby takes off her headphones and swivels around in her chair to face them.
"How do you feel?" Abby asks.
"Not bad, considering I haven't done something like this in years." He looks down at his kilt. "I've never packed before though."
Kuki giggles. "You get used to it."
Abby takes a small string-tie envelope from the glove compartment and hands it to the boy. He opens it and tips it over and a thin, leather mens wallet slides out onto his palm.
"Your legend," Abby says. The boy opens the wallet up and sees a high school ID and a few dollar bills in small denominations.
"Thor Grimmson," the boy looks up at all of them in slight annoyance. "Did any of you look at my personal files?"
"No," Hoagie says. "Fanny insisted on giving you that name. Why?"
"Nothing," Thor shuts the wallet and slides it into a pocket in his kilt. "Let's go."
===...===
The Highland Festival is filled with sound. Musicians wander through the booths with traditional instruments, young adults - already tipsy from Scottish whiskey and beer - shout at each other while they make nuisances of themselves, and children run through the crowds with toy weapons, pretending to fight. Sometimes they're accompanied by dogs. Thor and his friends take care not to get jostled by anyone.
Rows upon rows of party tents fit into the wide field, shielding the booths within from the strong sun. One row of tents is dedicated to clans; they're festooned with clan tartan cloth, pictures, and other heirlooms. Another row is full of food, whiskey, and beer, and yet another row serves as a fairground of sorts, where people play traditional games. The three biggest tents stand in different places throughout the venue, shielding wide stages from the sun. Two are dedicated to Highland dance competitions, and one is for musicians. Each tent has a wide space in front of it with tables and chairs set up for audiences.
The scent of food is inescapable. The teenagers breathe in the smell of barbeque, baked pies, soups, tarts.
"Aw man, you smell that?" Hoagie takes a deep breath and puts a hand on his stomach. "They're cooking barbeque somewhere."
Some of the people walking around carry half-eaten tri-tip, and pulled-pork sandwiches wrapped in foil. Others walk around with styrofoam cups of stew and soup.
"Zero, that smells delicious," Patton says. "We gotta get some of those."
Away from the tents and the far from the parked cars are the Heavy Events. There are bleachers set up so that people can watch, but anyone who wants a closer look can stand in roped off areas. The judges gather under a patio umbrella and walk around the official competition gear to make sure they haven't been tampered with. As Thor and the others make their way to the Heavy Events sign-in table, Kuki stays close to Abby's elbow. When she takes Abby's sleeve, Abby looks down at her in concern.
"What is it, baby?" she asks.
"I've never seen so many white people in one place before," Kuki whispers.
"Mmhmm," Abby winds Kuki's arm in hers and they fall into step with each other. "You said it, not me. At least we ain't in a country club."
"You mean where we'd have to wear pastel polo shirts?" Kuki asks, then shudders. "And...ugh, tie sweaters around our necks?"
"And khakis," Abby says. She can't help but smile when Kuki tightens her grip in horror. "Loafers too. Little sweatervests. We'd have boiled chicken breasts for lunch."
"Yeah, with white bread on mayo," Kuki curls her upper lip. "And have vanilla ice cream for dessert."
The two girls fall silent when a group of white people pass within earshot, then laugh after they're gone.
"Dude," Patton taps Thor's shoulders. "Don't look-don't look! Girls are following you."
"What?" Thor asks. Patton guffaws and slaps his back. "No! That's bad."
"I don't see what the big deal is," Wally says. "They're just stupid girls."
"That's awesome!" Patton says. "You should say hello."
"Hello nothing," Hoagie says from Thor's other side. "He's not ready for that."
"The hell he isn't," Patton leans in and whispers. "You don't gotta do much. They're in your 4. You just gotta turn and look. If you're gonna smile, be subtle about it. Then you wink, and then you turn back around and act as if you didn't do anything."
"That's stupid," Wally says, but Hoagie strokes his chin in thought.
"That's actually pretty doable."
"My man!" Patton punches Hoagie in the pec and Hoagie puts a hand over it in alarm and leans away.
"Pat, you touched my boob."
"Eh, I'll buy you dinner," Patton says. The three boys turn to Thor expectantly.
"Wh-uh," Thor sighs and puts his hands up in defeat. "Alright." He turns around and sees a group of girls huddling together around 15 feet behind them. They shriek a little when they realize he's watching them, but they don't run away.
Thor winks.
"Oh my God!" The girls scream, giggle, do some strange combination of both, and run off through the crowds. Patton guffaws.
"What?" Wally yells. "No bleedin' way."
"Ahem," Abby says. Thor and the boys look at her and find her with a reproving look on her face and her arm around Kuki's shoulder. Kuki stares determinedly at the ground, her face, ears, and neck a deep red.
"That wink went right through Numbuh Three," Abby says.
"Uh," Kuki's voice shakes. "Don't worry about it. I just...wow, you're great. Thank you."
Wally turns to Thor with a murderous look, but Hoagie elbows him in the ribs and points out towards an open collapsible pavilion set up at the foot of the temporary bleachers.
"You're not the only one who noticed that wink," Hoagie says. He's pointing at Fanny Fulbright, who sits with a group of girls their age in chairs under the pavilion. All of them are dressed in traditional dresses and one of them even has a small circlet on her head. Fanny stares at them with a scowl, her arms crossed.
Thor steps to the side so that he hides behind Hoagie, but Hoagie steps to the side too, revealing him. Thor can only give Fanny an apologetic shrug as Wally cackles.
"Sorry, man," Hoagie mutters.
"That's the last time I listen to you two," Thor mutters back. "I can't even go over and apologize now because Fanny and I aren't even supposed to know each other. She's supposed to approach m-...what?"
Thor trails off as he watches Fanny saunter towards one of the competitors; a tall, burly young man who everyone recognizes as one of the football players from their high school. Fanny flashes him a brilliant smile and starts talking to him, and as he talks back, she shoots them a shit-eating smirk.
"Aw what?" Thor keeps watching, helpless, as Hoagie, Wally, and Patton break down laughing around him. Even Abby looks away to hide a chuckle behind a cough.
"Shouldn't wink at other girls," Kuki says with a small smile.
"Yes, thank you, Kuki. I know that now." Thor says.
"So what now?" Wally asks. "You gonna go over there and beat him up?"
"No, Fanny's a big girl, she...she does whatever the hell she wants." Thor sighs and frowns at Fanny, who pulls herself away from the football player and makes her way back to the group of girls under the pavilion.
"But I will kick that guy's ass in this competition." Thor says. He and a few other teenage boys perk up at the sound of a horn.
"Lads!" the Referee shouts through a bullhorn. His accent is thick and coarse. "To the line!"
Everyone wishes Thor good luck as he jogs towards the Referee. There are 14 other boys gathered around the ref, all wearing kilts with different kinds of tartan patterns. Three of them are tiny waifs, and can't be older than 14 years old. Thor guesses he could flip them with only one arm. On the other hand, three other boys stand head and shoulders over anyone else.
They're solid young men. 17 years old and one year away from competing in the men's division. They're already musty smelling from standing out in the sun. One of them, a boy with curly blond hair and sideburns, looks at Thor and gives him a slight nod.
"Right," the Referee takes roll call off a clipboard and gives a large button pin with a number on it to each boy who answers. "Patrick O'Donnel. Richard Allaway. Craig Sutherland."
"Right here," the blond boy with sideburns raises his hand and receives a 3 pin. His accent is as thick as the referee's.
"You're a tall bastard, ain't ya?" the Referee says. "Where ya from?"
"Edinburgh," Craig says as he pins his button to the waistband of his kilt over his left hip. The other boys rush to follow his example.
"From Glasgow myself," the Referee shakes Craig's hand before moving on. "Joshua Armstrong."
"Here," the football player that Fanny talked to before raises his hand. The Referee goes through a few more names before he calls out, "Thor Grimmson."
"Here," Thor says. The Referee hands him an 8 pin.
"The hell kind of name is Thor Grimmson?" Josh asks. Everyone within earshot looks up at Josh, then at Thor.
Thor sighs. Hoagie, Patton, and Wally warned him that something like this might happen, and they role-played situations so that Thor would know what to do. "It's Scandinavian, you ignorant dick."
Josh steps right up to Thor, his hands clenched into fists. Thor sets his jaw and looks right up at him. Even though Kuki said he was tall enough to pass as a boy, he's still a few inches shorter than Josh. Before the two of them can do anything about it, however, the Referee and a couple other boys come between them.
"Och, break it up," the Referee says. "Christ almighty, Armstrong. Don't dish it out if you cannae take any."
"You alright, mate?" Craig says to Thor.
"Yeah, thanks," Thor says. They shake hands.
"Aye, that's good. You Norse too?" Craig says to Thor in a low voice as the Referee continues calling out names.
"Yeah," Thor says. "How long have you been in the US?"
"Too long," Craig says. "Only a couple months out here and I'm already homesick."
"Right, the Weight For Height," the referee gestures at a pole jump bar and two different weights with handles attached to them. "Toss it over the bar and you move on to the next round. At the end of each round, the pole moves up. We keep going until there's only one left."
===...===
The Princess of the Games isn't chosen by a board, or voted in; anyone who wants to become princess enters their name months ahead of time and begins fundraising for a specific cause that the Highland Festival Committee champions for that year. The one who raises the most amount of money gets to become princess.
This year's princess happens to be the daughter of Mr. Fulbright's top lawyer, Candace - or as she likes to be called - Candy. Fanny sits as far away as she can from her because Candy never passes up an opportunity to rub her nose in it. If Fanny cared enough to do something about it, she'd be rubbing Candy's nose in the dirt, but Fanny has better things to do with her time. Like watch Thor.
Even though Fanny sits a good distance away from the competition, she can still see the way Thor's shirtsleeves hug his defined deltoids and biceps. Zero have mercy, Fanny thinks to herself as she reminds herself to breathe.
Across the field, Craig stands underneath the bar with the weight sitting on the grass between his ankles. He does a little squat, grasps the handle of the weight with one hand, and pulls. After a few test swings, he throws the weight into the air with a loud grunt, then takes a step forward so the weight doesn't fall onto his head. The weight sails over the bar and lands with a thud in the grass behind him.
"Who is that?" Candy asks as all the girls around her give a polite golf clap.
"Craig Sutherland," one of the girls next to her says. "17, he's going to UC Berkeley this September."
"Shame. Long distance relationships never turn out well," Candy says.
Josh, the boy Fanny picked at random to talk to, throws his weight. The weight passes over the bar and the crowd cheers.
"What's his name?" Candy asks.
"Josh Armstrong," the girl next to her glances at Fanny. "16. He's a full-back on the varsity football team at McClintock High School."
"Do you know him, Fanny?" Candy asks. Fanny cringes at her patronizing tone. "You talked to him earlier."
"McClintock's a big school," Fanny says. "More than four thousand people. I haven't seen him before today. Why, Candy? You fancy him?"
"Eh," Candy waves it away. "Football players are a dime-a-dozen. Been there, done that."
"You deserve so much more, Candy," the one girl says. Candy smirks and Fanny turns away to hide her sigh.
Thor comes up to the weight. Instead of standing under the bar, he walks a little ways from it. He does a few spins to pick up momentum before he lets go, not unlike how one would throw a hammer at Track and Field. The weight sails over the bar too, and the crowd cheers again.
"Are they allowed to throw it like that?" Candy asks.
"Anything goes as long as they only use one hand to throw it," Fanny says. "The bigger guys, they have the upper-body strength to toss it from under the bar, but not everyone can do it that way."
Whatever he's doing, it's working," Candy says. "He's already in the top five. Sue, who is he?"
The girl sitting next to Candy squints at Thor. "I…I don't know," she says, disappointed. "The Referee called him Thor Grimmson, but I've never heard of that name before."
"How mysterious," Candy smirks and sits up in her chair. "Dibs," she says. "I'm gonna ask him out."
Fanny feels as if the bottom dropped out of her stomach.
===…===
Behind Fanny, a few rows up, sit the rest of the Fulbright family. Paddy and Shaunie wear kilts with Chattan tartan and Mr. Fulbright wears a deeper scowl than usual. Mrs. Fulbright glances at him and rolls her eyes.
"Och Jeff," She opens an umbrella to serve as shade. "We just sat down and you're already mopey. You can't go one hour without a cigar?"
"No."
"Bah," Mrs. Fulbright returns her attention to the competition. "The one in black," she says. "What did they announce him as?"
"Thor Grimmson. He's Norse." Paddy says.
"He's a bit scrawny, the poor dear." Mrs. Fulbright says. "Looks familiar though."
"He's, uh," Paddy and Shaunie share a nervous look. "He goes to Fanny's school?"
"Oh, probably saw him around there then." Mrs. Fulbright says. Before Paddy and Shaunie can sigh in relief, Mr. Fulbright stands up, waving his arms like a windmill.
"Bob!" He shouts. "Hey Bob, I didn't know you came to these things. Come sit with us."
Paddy and Shaunie follow their father's line of sight to Mr. and Mrs. McKenzie, who sit a few rows away from them and look back at them in dismay.
With an apologetic look at his wife (during which he looks remarkably like Rachel,) Mr. McKenzie stands up and leads her over to Mr. Fulbright.
===...===
Sector V sits in the stands with bottled water and tri-tip and pulled-pork sandwiches. Abby pops the lid back on her cup of beef stew and sets it beside her so that she can lift binoculars to her face.
"They're moving on to the next event," Abby says. "Thor's doing pretty good so far."
"Mmm, Numbuh 5," Kuki taps her shoulder. "Can I borrow that for a minute?"
"What is it, Numbuh 3?" Abby lowers her binoculars to find Kuki looking off somewhere at the foot of the bleachers instead of at the field.
"There's this boy I wanna get a closer look at," Kuki says. Wally turns his head so fast something in his neck cracks. Patton and Hoagie cringe at the sound.
"He's got fantastic cheekbones," Kuki says.
"Of course you'd notice a cute boy," Abby chuckles as she hands the binoculars over. "Where is he?"
"Right there," Kuki bites her lower lip as she looks through the binoculars, then holds it steady so that Abby can look too. "I think he's half Asian."
Abby silently agrees that the boy is at least half Asian – some kind of East Asian – but she doesn't have the artistic knowledge to form an opinion about his cheekbones. Judging by the muscle filling out his shirt, Abby guesses him to be at least 17 years old, 5'11", probably 175 pounds. Abby watches him for a few seconds before saying,
"That is Numbuh 206."
Everyone's smiles fall away quickly at that. Kuki looks mortified.
"Are you sure?" Patton asks. "I mean, Zero, why is he here?"
"He's half Scottish," Abby looks through the binoculars for a little bit longer before lowering them. "His real name's Duncan Kerr. He's probably just here to root for someone competing."
"Numbuh 5," Hoagie's leans in close so he can keep his voice low. "We gotta do something."
"We are not going after 206," Patton says. "Like…no. We can't."
"The hell we can't!" Wally says. "I say we get that guy."
"We can't just let him go," Hoagie says. "We don't know when we'll see him again."
"Numbuh 5, come on," Patton says, desperate. "This is 206. We should be retreating."
Abby looks at each of them for a few seconds, forming a plan. "Okay, here's the deal. Numbuh 2, you're going back to the bus and contacting TND command. Tell them we've spotted an undesirable. Wait for their instructions, let them know we can't bring him down without backup. Numbuh 3, you're staying here. Save our seats, keep an eye on Thor and Fanny. Numbuh 4, you and Numbuh 60 are tailing Numbuh 5. If something goes wrong, you execute an extraction plan for Numbuh 5, then for the team."
"Wait, why an extraction for you first?" Patton asks.
"Because while you are tailing Numbuh 5 to make sure nothing goes wrong, Numbuh 5 will be tailing 206." Numbuh 5 takes out an earpiece from a small case and puts it on. The rest of the team follows her lead with earpieces of their own.
===...===
It's hot in the Sector V bus. Hoagie cracks open another water bottle as he radios TND Command.
"Sector V to Command, do you copy?"
"Go ahead, Sector V," the radio pops a little and Hoagie makes a mental note to upgrade the radio transmitter.
"Sector V to Command, Code 5, Duncan Kerr, Numbuh 206. Please advise." Hoagie waits a few seconds before the radio crackles again.
"10-4, Sector V. Do not engage."
"Wait, but…."
"Do not engage, Sector V."
Hoagie drops the receiver back on its hook and leans back in his seat. After a few minutes, Abby's voice sounds through his earpiece.
"Talk to me, Numbuh 2."
"They're not sending reinforcements. We're on our own." Hoagie pauses. "I should be tailing you, Numbuh 5."
"You stay in the bus, Numbuh 2. If this goes bad, you're our ticket out of here."
"Yeah, but, how can I sit here and do nothing while you're following that psychopath?"
The line is quiet, then, "I love you too, baby."
"You guys like, need to get your own channel," Patton's voice sounds through Hoagie's earpiece and Hoagie's eyes widen. He can even hear Kuki's giggle. "Seriously."
"Just…shut up, Numbuh 60," Hoagie buries his face in his hands.
===…===
As Mr. McKenzie and Mr. Fulbright have small talk, Paddy watches Thor falls out of the Weight For Distance event at 5th place. Thor shakes his head as he goes back to a bench under a wide umbrella and Paddy makes some calculations.
"At least he's consistent," Paddy mutters to himself. He looks down when he feels a tug at his sleeve. It's Shaunie. "What is it?"
"Harvey," Shaunie points to the space between the slats of the bleachers where Harvey is. He's climbed up through the skeleton of the bleachers and found them.
"Dude," Paddy glances around to make sure nobody's looking, then he gives Harvey a subtle nod. Harvey nods back and disappears.
"You're going?" Shaunie asks.
"Yeah," Paddy slips on a one-shoulder backpack. "Watch the adults."
Paddy meets Harvey behind the bleachers. Harvey's already strapped on holsters and tactical gear, and looks more serious than usual.
"We got a mission," Harvey takes out his communicator and holds it so that the both of them can see. "Numbuh 83's at a family party and Numbuh 84's in...CLC? I think? What matters is that they can't come, so it's only the two of us. It should be easy enough though. We have to capture a KND Scientist that turned traitor. He's stole some files from the KND Deep Sea Labs and he's here to hand them off to some Teen Ninja."
"Intercept the Scientist, secure the package," Paddy says. "Got it. Who's the scientist?"
A familiar photo shows up on the screen of Harvey's phone. In it, a stocky boy in a labcoat stares suspiciously at the camera. He wears an intricate helmet stuck with kludged gadgets on his head. One of the gadgets, a monocle, is lowered over his eye. Paddy's mouth falls open.
"Numbuh 2x4? No way. Not him," Paddy shakes his head. "He's the head of R&D. Why would he turn traitor?"
"Too many suggested personal projects denied funding by Moonbase," Harvey says. "I haven't seen the list personally, but apparently you could use the file containing all of his rejections as a doorstopper. The Teen Ninjas tell him they'll give him all the stuff he wants. They just need the blueprints for whatever he wants to make."
"How can a smart person be so stupid?" Paddy asks. "They won't use his inventions to do good. Doesn't he care what's done with them?"
"I guess not," Harvey says. The two boys put in their earpieces and turn them on. "If we split up, we'll cover more ground."
"You take the tents," Paddy says. "I can cover the field here."
Harvey stares.
"Oh, uh," Paddy grimaces. "Sorry. You're team leader."
"Yeah," Harvey says, looking annoyed. "Go to the field."
After Harvey leaves, Paddy zips open his backpack and puts on his KND gear. He straps on a belt with gun holsters and grenades, then slides a couple MUSKETs into the holsters. There's a short wooden bat and a pair of brass knuckles still in the bag, but Paddy can't pull them out without getting a few extra looks that would blow his cover. He probably won't need them to subdue 2x4 anyway.
Instead of setting off on a search, he goes to the open pavilion at the bottom of the bleachers. His sister sits off to the side, hands on the arms of the chair as if she's about to get up, and she's in the middle of a heated discussion with the Princess of the Games, Candy. Paddy flushes red and is torn with horror at the sight of Fanny and Candy having an argument.
"You can't call dibs on him," Fanny says. "He's taken."
"By who? You?" Candy looks Fanny up and down and curls her lip. "Nice try. We all know how you feel about boys."
"And you're dating that one girl," Sue says.
"That's right!" Candy says as if suddenly remembering. "Very noble of you, Fanny. To pity-date the poor girl."
"She's not…poor," Fanny says, then cringes at the loss of conviction in her voice. Candy and Sue look askance at her.
"If you says so," Candy waves it away. "Anyways, I'm asking out Thor, and there's nothing you can do about it."
"You shouldn't be so petty, Fanny," Sue says with mock disappointment. "It makes you look bad."
"Thor can make his own decisions," Candy says. "And I think we all know who he'd pick." She leans over and whispers something in Sue's ear that makes the both of them giggle. Fanny rises out of her chair, her hands curled into fists, and Paddy catches her arm before she can cross the pavilion to Candy.
"Fanny," Paddy whispers. Fanny looks down at him, sighs, and lets him lead her away. Candy and Sue erupt in laughter again as they turn the corner out of sight.
"Och, I'm going to pummel her one day," Fanny says through clenched teeth. "Watch."
"Fanny, don't," Paddy says. Fanny scoffs and crosses her arms, but Paddy tugs at her elbow. "Please?"
"Ugh," Fanny's lip curls in disgust.
"Please. Come on, she's civilian," Paddy says. "Besides. I think we all know who Thor's really gonna choose."
"Yeah, okay fine," Fanny sighs and drops her arms. "I can't believe we didn't make a plan for this situation."
"Well, we didn't think something like this would happen," Paddy says.
"But how could we not know this would happen?" Fanny asks. "Boys crushed all over her while she was in the KND. And now," Fanny pauses and looks around for eavesdroppers. When she continues, her voice is lowered. "And now it turns out she makes a pretty hot boy too. Of course girls are going to crush on him. I mean," she looks out towards the field – where Thor gives a decent hammer throw – and bites her lower lip. "Just look at him."
"Okay first, never say that to me again," Paddy shuts his eyes tight and shakes his head to repress the sight of his sister gazing longingly her disguised girlfriend. "Second, why are you so…attracted to Thor? I thought you were a lesbian."
"Technically bisexual," Fanny says. She gestures to Paddy's KND gear. "I see you're here on business."
"Oh yeah," Paddy says. "Numbuh 363 and I are looking for Numbuh 2x4. He turned traitor and we need to arrest him before he turns KND secrets over to his Teen Ninja contact."
"Ugh, oh Zero," Fanny's brows scrunch together. "He's here? He's meeting the teen ninja here?"
"Yeah," Paddy says. "Harvey's handling the tents, and I'm handling the meadow. I could scour it myself, but you could do it in less time…without even moving from here!"
"And if he isn't here, you could cross this location off," Fanny says. Her green eyes flash in the sun as she lifts her face towards the bleachers. She grimaces at the sight of her parents sitting with the McKenzies, and smiles when she sees Kuki. Kuki's sitting by herself and looks back at her through binoculars. They wave to each other. After scanning for a few more seconds, Fanny freezes and her eyes widen.
"Did you find him?" Paddy asks.
"No," Fanny says. "But I see Nigel Uno."
"What?" Paddy looks in the direction Fanny looks. "Numbuh 1? Where?"
Nigel Uno sits by himself a little higher up than Kuki, wearing a red zip-up hoodie with the hood up against the sun. Fanny would have missed him altogether if it weren't for his trademark sunglasses…and scowl.
"Why is he here?" Fanny asks.
"To support Thor?" Paddy asks. Fanny shakes her head no.
"He doesn't know who he is," Fanny says. "He's a damn limey, there's absolutely no reason for him to be…."
But the answer comes to the both of them at the same time. They turn to each other and say,
"Numbuh 2x4!"
"But, why would the GKND send one of their operatives when the KND already have their operatives on the case?" Paddy asks.
"Och, probably because the GKND are a bunch of massive prats," Fanny says. "I can't say I miss having to deal with those wee bastards."
"But it's KND jurisdiction!" Paddy says, indignant. "They're muscling in on our territory!"
"To which they'd say, 'Earth is part of the galaxy,'" Fanny says. "And thus would be their jurisdiction."
"Uuuugh," Paddy groans. "There's no way we'll be able to close this case against Numbuh 1. He's Numbuh frickin' 1!"
"Och calm down," Fanny says. "Uno's only one person. And his eyes aren't as good as mine." Fanny takes a long sweep around the field and says, "2x4 isn't here."
"Cool," Paddy turns and runs off, shouting over his shoulder. "Call me if he shows up, okay?"
"Will do," Fanny says. She takes an earpiece out of the bodice of her dress and puts it on. "Kuki?" she asks.
"Moshi moshi," Kuki's voice comes with static through the earpiece. "The Caber Toss is next, are you excited?"
"Yeah!" Fanny says. "But I need to tell you: Numbuh 1 is here."
"What?"
"He's sitting behind you in the stands."
"No," Kuki says with a snort. "What? No...there's no way..."
Fanny walks back to the pavilion to find Candy's vacant throne. She turns around to see Candy and Sue walking out onto the field towards the competitors. Fanny scoffs and makes a move as if to follow, but then remembers that Thor doesn't need her to say 'no' to Candy. He'd just do it. And then Candy would get mad. So mad. Fanny smirks and takes another step when Kuki's voice sounds in her ear.
"You're serious?" Kuki asks. "Fanny, please. If this is another bad joke..."
Drat. Fanny will just have to settle for imagining Candy's dismay. Fanny turns back around and looks at Kuki and Nigel in the bleachers.
"I'm not having a laugh," Fanny says. "I promise. He's right there, just look."
Fanny watches Kuki look over her shoulder at Nigel and turn back. She does this quickly, and Nigel doesn't seem to notice. No one says anything for a good minute and Fanny's heart twists at what might be a sniffle.
"Kuki?"
"Why is he here?" Kuki asks, and Fanny wrinkles her nose at the pain in Kuki's voice. "Why didn't he tell us he was here?"
"I think he's here on GKND business," Fanny says. She tells Kuki about Paddy and Harvey's KND mission and the GKND's plan to interfere.
"Oh!" Kuki says. "I think I might know who 2x4's contact is. I saw him earlier today."
"Aye? Who?" Fanny asks.
"Numbuh 206. He's here looking for someone. Numbuh 5's tailing him right now."
A shiver runs up Fanny's spine and her arms break out in goosebumps.
"Fanny?"
"Oh," Fanny struggles to take a breath. Air stutters into her lungs...and out. "Oh."
"Hello?"
"Uh I'm...not ragging on Abby's skill or anything, but she needs to stop following 206 right now."
"Patton said that too," Kuki says. "I mean, we know he's dangerous, but it can't be that bad, can it?"
"Och well...how do I explain this?" Fanny pauses as the memory of 206's file flashes across her mind. "Yes. It can be that bad." Fanny turns and starts walking across the field towards the Games. "I know you're under orders, but get your team as far away from 206 as possible."
"What? Wait!"
Fanny glances back to see Kuki standing up in the bleachers and holding binoculars to her eyes so she can see Fanny.
"Where are you going?"
"To get Thor," Fanny says. "It's probably too late for you to retreat and you'll need backup."
===...===
Harvey finds Numbuh 2x4 getting two tri-tip sandwiches from a stand and almost didn't recognize him, because he looks so very different from his file photo. Numbuh 2x4 wears a light kilt and a t-shirt today, and his helmet has been replaced with a headband with a monocle attached to it. Over his shoulder hangs a small messenger bag.
Harvey followed Numbuh 2x4 for a full minute before feeling confident enough to confirm his identity, and by then, Numbuh 2x4 wandered into the Heavy Events Area.
"Numbuh 85," Harvey whispers as he tails Numbuh 2x4 through the crowd. "I found 2x4. He's headed to your area. I'll report details of the package when I see it."
===…===
Back in the bleachers, Kuki switches the frequency of her earpiece. "You guys," she says. "I don't think this is a good idea anymore."
"Thank you!" Patton whispers harshly. "Listen to her, Numbuh 5. Call this off."
"We can handle this," Wally says. "Don't you trust me, Numbuh 3?"
"Fanny flipped out. She's really scared for us," Kuki says. There's a pause, then,
"You told Fanny - who we're treating as a civilian today - about confidential TND business?" Abby asks. Kuki cringes and hurries to explain herself.
"It didn't start out that way! She called me first to tell me that Numbuh 1 was here." Kuki tells the rest of her team about Harvey and Paddy's KND mission and Fanny's theory about GKND interference.
"What?" Hoagie asks.
"What!" Wally asks.
"Ugh," Abby sighs in exasperation and Kuki imagines her pinching the bridge of her nose. "What a mess. Okay, new plan. Numbuh 2, radio HQ and give them the new details. This is no longer a capture mission; this is an intelligence mission. Everyone be on the lookout for Numbuhs 1, 2x4, 85, and 363. If they all doing their damn jobs properly, then you'll find them all when you find one of them. Do not engage. Wait for my signal."
"Hey," Paddy sits down on the bleachers next to Kuki. He picks up her binoculars and uses them to watch the Heavy Events. "Has Thor gone yet?"
"Aren't you...on a mission?" Kuki can't help but stare at the boy.
"Eh," Paddy shrugs. "Harvey's got it covered. Why is my sister on the field?"
===…===
"The Caber Toss," the Referee looks each and every boy in the eye and nods his head in approval. "Yer not just chucking logs, lads. When you throw that bleeding pole across the lawn, you're making a bridge for your clan to cross. The straighter the pole when it lands, the sturdier the bridge, the better your score."
"Don't worry about getting it straight," Thor remembers Paddy's advice in his head. (At this, Hoagie had laughed hard enough to cry and said, "Don't worry, she couldn't do anything straight if she tried." And he and Patton laughed and laughed until they couldn't breathe.)
"Just throw it hard enough to get it to flip over. Without it flipping end over end, it won't even count."
The pole the boys will be trying to toss is a 16 foot long monstrosity – 9 inches in diameter at one end and tapering down to 5 inches, weighing 112 pounds.
"Good luck, gents," the Referee says. "You'll need it." He calls up one of the boys who probably doesn't weigh more than the caber, and everyone steps back to watch.
"Hey," someone says. Thor and the rest of the boys turn and see Candy and Sue, who watch Thor. Craig scratches his sideburns and pretends to appear uninterested and Josh's eyes narrow.
"Hey," Thor says. "Can I help you?"
"You're cute," Candy smirks as she steps in closer and grabs Thor's hand. Thor begins screaming internally. Loud enough to block out what Candy says next. "And I think-wah wah wah-wah. Wah."
Then Candy pauses looks at him expectantly.
"Oh," Thor says. "That's…nice."
It must be the right response, because Candy and Sue giggle. Candy closes his hand around a slip of paper.
"My number," Candy says. She winks at him and she and Sue walk away.
"Wait," Thor calls after them and holds up the slip of paper. "I'm sorry," he says as he pushes the slip of paper back into her hand. "I can't accept it."
If he bothered to look, Thor would see Craig's eyebrows rise high enough to threaten to disappear into his hairline, and he would see Josh mouth expletives in disbelief.
"Excuse me?" Candy asks. Sue winces at her tone. "No one says no to me," Candy crushes the slip of paper in her fist and Sue takes her elbows to pull her away. "No!" She wrenches herself away and glares at Thor.
"Do you know who I am?" she asks.
"You're….not my type?" Thor guesses. Candy shrieks and stomps away, and Sue follows her.
"Jesus Christ, dude," Josh says. "Why'd you do that? She's gotta be like two years older than you."
"No, we're the sam-," Thor begins, but changes his mind. "How old do you think I am?"
Josh and Craig share a look.
"We thought you were 14, mate," Craig says.
Thor sighs. "I'm 16."
"Oh," but Josh and Craig just look even more dismayed. "Well…."
"Och, yer a wee one, aren't you?" Craig claps a hand on Thor's shoulder. "No worries, you're grow eventually."
Thor sighs again and Craig chuckles.
"Still," he says. "She was a fair thing." They pause when the Referee calls for Josh, to swaggers up to the caber and begins the delicate, frustrating process of hoisting the caber in his hands.
"If that's the case then," Craig asks, suddenly nervous. "Fancy a bite after this?"
"What?" Thor asks. He stares at Craig.
"What?" The both of them hear Fanny shriek from a distance.
"Och, dunnae make a big deal out of it. If you're not into it, just say so. No harm done, eh?"
"Oh," Relief floods through Thor. "Yeah no. You're cool, Craig, but…no thanks."
THUD.
Josh curses as the caber fails to turn end over end. The Referee shakes his head in sympathy.
"Maybe next time, lad," he says. "Sutherland! Your turn."
===…===
Abby sits down in an empty spot in the bleachers where she can easily watch Duncan Kerr. A little ways behind her sit Patton and Wally, who watch her in turn. Duncan seems unaware of her presence…for now. Even though Abby is a top-notch TND spy, she can't help but feel as though Duncan's already found her out, and is merely tolerating her.
"Just contacted HQ," Hoagie says over the earpiece. "They're very interested in what 2x4's handing over."
"Good," Abby whispers. "But we don't know where 2x4 is. And we need 2x4 to contact 206 to confirm his plans. It's all hearsay until we see it happening."
"2x4 just gave 206 a sandwich," Patton says. "Does that count?"
Abby looks and sure enough, 206 and 2x4 stand together with sandwiches in their hands. 206 practically dwarfs 2x4 with his height, and he takes out his wallet to pull a few bills to give to 2x4.
"Oh no," Abby sighs in disappointment. "Looks like 85 and 363 were right. Standby for visual confirmation of package."
"We...can't just go in and beat 'em up?" Wally asks.
"2x4's a smart kid," Abby says. "He could be handing over the plans, or he could be telling 206 where he hid the plans. We have to know if he's got the plans on him."
Twenty feet away from her, the two traitors unwrap their sandwiches and eat.
===…===
A few feet away, hidden from both Sector V and the two rogue agents, behind a row of porta-potties, Harvey readies his gun.
===…===
From his place behind a food stand, hidden from Sector V, the rogue agents, and Harvey, Nigel waits.
===…===
Thor wraps his left ring and middle fingers together with athletic tape, then wraps a couple more of his finger joints in tape to ready himself for the caber. When he's ready, he nods to the Referee, who lifts the far end of the caber and walks towards Thor. The far end of the caber goes further up into the air with every step the Referee makes, and soon he balances the caber on one end.
Thor steps in close and leans the caber against his shoulder. It's a solid, intimidating weight, and Thor takes a few deep breaths to steady himself. Bit by bit, he scoots down the caber until he's in a squat. He must pause with each scoot to keep the caber balanced.
After an eternity of this, Thor can finally dig his fingers between the curved end of the caber and the grass. The first time he did this, he almost crushed himself (and the people around him,) but Paddy drilled him enough times on the process so that he won't kill anyone. Thor takes a few breaths to ready himself and heaves, standing up, grasping the end of the caber and moving to counteract the dangerous swaying the caber does as a result all in a split second.
===…===
Mr. and Mrs. McKenzie shoot to their feet. Mrs. McKenzie puts her hands over her mouth to stifle a gasp and Mr. McKenzie clenches his hands.
"Oh my God," Mr. McKenzie says. "Sh…he's actually doing it."
"Poor dear," Mrs. Fulbright tuts. "Hope he doesn't hurt himself."
===…===
"Oooh!" Paddy lowers the binoculars so he can see with his own eyes. Kuki watches the spectacle with a dropped jaw. "Look, this is it!"
They watch as Thor successfully keeps the caber under control and takes three purposeful steps to gather momentum. Not too fast, or he'll lose control of the caber. Not too slowly, or he'll run out of energy. The top of the caber tips forward.
===…===
Abby, Harvey, and Nigel watch as 2x4 slips the messenger bag off his shoulder. He holds it out to 206, who smirks and reaches out to get it. Abby takes out her gun and readies it.
"Package confirmed, it is in the bag," Abby says. "Get ready, y'all. This is it."
===...===
AN: After pussyfooting around specifying an age for everyone, I've decided on making Rachel, Fanny and the rest of them 16. Yes, this would make Thaddeus a late bloomer. Yes, this would make Cree 18 and thus not in high school. I'm in the middle of combing this fic for inconsistencies, but I can't guarantee that I'll catch them all. Help if you like. It'd push the quality of this fic to a higher level.
Thanks for reading. I hope you liked it. Let me know what you think.
And hey...
Thanks.
