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Kids Next Door Mission...

Operation: F.O.R.G.E.T.

Fragments

Of

Recovery

Gradually

Enable

Team

Chapter 33- Three-sixty-who?

Abby yawned.

'Well, I'd better get to sleep now,' she said, leaning back on her pillow.

It was about 1:30am, about an hour before Rachel's call to Nigel, and she was still video chatting to Hoagie.

'Yeah, I guess so,' he replied, sounding just a little bit disappointed.

'I'll give you your present tomorrow!' Abby said with a smirk, knowing that would cheer him up.

'Really? Yes!' He instantly perked up again.

'Alright, I need to sleep now. Goodnight, Hoags! Merry Christmas!'

'Merry Christmas to you too, Abby.

Abby hung up, layed down and pulled her blanket up as high as it would go. It was cold, really cold.

She thought about how priceless Hoagie's face was going to be when he unwrapped his present. She had looked far and wide for the perfect thing to get him, and when this little thing walked in, she immediately knew that it was perfect.

Her mind wandered onto the events of the days before that night. Everything since Hoagie's antidote had proven itself effective. They had decided that they could at least wait until after Christmas day before they went out on their big massive mission of figuring out how to turn everyone back. But they had a plan, one that would involve an attempt to gather all the turned operatives in one place.

Whether or not it would work, she didn't know, but it was still worth a shot.

And so, as her thoughts grew fuzzier and sleep grew nearer, she smiled. Everything would be fine from then on. T.H.A.T.T. worked perfectly on the turned operatives, and as soon as they put it to use, the whole nightmare of Chemical Z2A would be over.

~(*)~

Pfft, some merry Christmas this is...

Dr. Colter sat alone, cold, uncomfortable in his hard stone cell. He'd been here for weeks, seething, trying to think of a way out. He had plans, oh, he had plans, but he wasn't going to put them into action just yet, no. He had to wait for juuust the right time. And he knew exactly when.

Until then, he was just stuck sitting inside this stupid Arctic prison, with nothing but a thin cotton blanket to keep him warm, while the stupid little snot nosed prison-guards were all warm by the fire, talking about leaving soon to get home for Christmas.

There were less kids around here than there should have been, that was one thing that Colter could be satisfied with. The KND had to be seriously lacking in numbuhs to have cut down on the guarding department.

That was a pro.

But the one big con; being stuck in this dump until he was sure he could escape undetected, seemed to overtake all the others.

All the Doctor could do now was sit and wait, and try not to let his temper get the better of him as he attempted to block out the imprisoned Teen Ninjas in the next cell.

'Ohmygosh, I can't believe Josh asked Jenny out.'

'I know, right? I hope they don't turn into, like, a thing.'

'No way! I mean, he's a jock and she's in the math team. It's like, against the rules of love!'

'Oh, hang on, got another text coming through.'

Deep breaths, deep breaths...

~(*)~

Nigel had a hard time getting back to sleep after his talk with Rachel. His mind was split in two; one wanting to let everything spill out and tell Rachel about what she used to be, the other maintaining the position that he couldn't.

Back and forth the argument went, just from one side to the other, sometimes one side would be winning, sometimes the other side would win, but it wouldn't stay like that for long.

It was hours before he finally drifted off, and even then, it felt like only a few seconds before his mother appeared over him, waking him up on Christmas morning.

That had happened to him twice already.

'Good morning, Nigel! Merry Christmas!'

Nigel just groaned, deeply.

'Morning,' he managed.

'Guess what?'

He was not really in the mood for guessing games right now, instead focussing all his remaining energy on the one action of sitting up on the side of his bed.

'What.' He put it bluntly.

'It snowed!' His mother replied excitedly, pulling up his shade to reveal a street that was lined with white.

Nigel woke up a little more after that view, mainly because his mother had opened the window, and that snowy breeze was freezing. He made himself get up and slip on a jacket and head downstairs.

The sight of the christmas tree seemed so much fuller than it had last night. There was something about that image that just felt complete now that there were presents and packages and stuffed stockings on the fireplace.

'Yes!' Nigel yelled, running over to where his little pile of presents was. He had a minor childhood flashback, and got a small rush of that feeling you got as a kid, entering the lounge room to find the cookies eaten, the milk glass emptied, and the end of the reindeers' carrot out on the doorstep.

Nigel began to open his presents, which were really great; a new laptop (yay!), a few books, some new clothes, and a new CD player.

After that, they had their traditional Christmas breakfast; Nigel's mother's pancakes, drowning in maple syrup.

Next up was the family Christmas. In the car the Unos got, off to Monty's mother's house.

Nigel looked out the window as they drove,at all the snow, at all the children playing with new toys and laughing and smiling. He thought of Rachel, and what he was going to say when they met up later that evening. He had never come to a full decision, so he wasn't even sure whether he wanted her to find out yet.

If he didn't, though, he had better start thinking of excuses.