A/N: Uuuhm, I think when I tried to update last time, it only posted half of what I wanted to post. This chapter was meant to be 13 pages long, but I think now it's going to be split into two chapters, because of my STUPID LITTLE LAPTOP! ...I need a new laptop...

READ ON TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS!

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Kids Next Door Mission...

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

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Chapter 34- Three-sixty-who? Pt. 2

Nigel was still in the car, still stressing, still trying to calm down.

Truth or lies?

Serious or friendly?

How was he meant to do this?

Maybe he'd just have to wing it. But that didn't fit. Nigel Uno never 'winged it'. He always had a plan, a rational sequence of action, but he just couldn't think of one right now.

Come on, he thought, I need a Christmas miracle...

~(*)~

Abby yawned, stretched her arms out above her head. A pretty good night's sleep, even with the late-night video chat to Hoagie.

She shivered as she tossed off the covers, feeling the cold reach all the way through her. She grabbed a dressing gown from the end of her bed and slipped in on, heading over to her window to open it up, where she got a pleasant surprise.

The snow made a crunching noise as the opening window pushed it off the sill. The street below was freshly dusted with a clean, pure white.

She was about to begin downstairs when she noticed the message light on her phone flashing.

Strange, she thought, who would text me on Christmas morining?

She unlocked her phone. The message was from Rachel, from four o'clock that morning.

Abby wondered what it could be, thinking that maybe her friend just had trouble getting to sleep and texted her to say merry Christmas just to pass the time?

She opened it, and really didn't expect what she saw.

Abby why didn't you tell me? What is going on with you and Kuki and those other boys? I need to know!

I honestly thought that we were good enough friends that you would have told me this, but...

It stopped that adruptly.

Abby was shocked. Rachel usually never displayed the slightest bit of anger when she spoke or wrote, but this message seemed even hostile.

What did she know?

And how?

Abby put her phone down. There was no use trying to come up with a reply, she wouldn't be able to. There were too many questions, and Rachel seemed to want too many answers. Abby would have to talk to the others before she said anything she might regret.

For the moment, all she could do was try not to stress about it too much, otherwise it might ruin her Christmas. So, she left her room and made her way downstairs.

~(*)~

'Kuki, Kuki, Kuki!'

'Mmph, Mushi... get off me.'

'But it's Christmas, and you have to get up before I drag you out of that bed and down the stairs myself!'

Mushi was jumping on Kuki's bed.

Kuki just moaned again, pulling the pillow out from under her head and using it to cover her ears.

It didn't stay there long.

Mushi ripped it off in one motion, letting it tumble off the bed, where it lay discarded on the far side of the room.

Kuki responded by sinking under her blanket, but surprise surprise, that also left the bed in a matter of seconds.

'Okay, fine, I'm up, I'm up...' Kuki mumbled, picking herself up as if she weighed a million tonnes.

She began to follow Mushi down the stairs, before realising that her phone was also flashing.

Kuki, I want to know why you were out there that morning, with Nigel and Abby, and why I wasn't there. What were you doing? Please tell me! I need to know.

Oh, no. Kuki's first thought was how did she know? and the second was I need to tell someone. But then, she thought, she wouldn't want to disturb their Christmas morning with something to worry about. Maybe she'd just keep it to herself until a better time.

She left her thoughts and returned to find Mushi pulling her by the sleeve of her flannelette pyjamas down the stairs.

10 hours later

Nigel's mind was going at a million miles an hour.

He had been at his grandmother's house all day, and the whole 'coming up with an excuse' thing has slipped his mind completely. He had absolutely nothing. Not a clue on what he was meant to say, how he was meant to tackle this situation. Now, he was walking towards the park, slowly, trying to buy himself some time, on his way to meet Rachel. His hands were balled in his pockets, he was shivering slightly. Oh gosh, he thought, hitting his forehead with his palm, as if that would make him think better,

what am I going to do?

Rachel's mind was going at a million and one miles an hour. She had been with her family all day, and the whole 'meeting with Nigel thing' had almost slipped her mind.

She walked fairly tensely, not sure what to expect from this meeting.

She regretted sending those texts to Abby and Kuki that morning. She had been confused, slightly angry, and most of all, hungry for answers.

Before she knew it, and seemingly much quicker than usual, Rachel was at the park. Then, her heartbeat really intensified.

She sat down on the nearest park bench. Her quickened breat was causing a mist in front of her.

She watched the kids, outside, playing in the snow with sleds and snowballs and imprints of angels on the ground.

And then, there was a shadow beside her.

'Uhm, hi Rachel.'

She jumped.

'Oh! Oh, hey Nigel.'

Silence.

Nigel sat down on the edge of the seat.

More silence.

'Okay, so Rachel...' Nigel began, tapering off at the end, as if unsure whether he wanted to push out the next sentence.

Rachel looked at him expectantly.

'You see, I...' Nigel was avoiding eye contact with Rachel, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

'Go on...' Rachel spurred. Her curiousity was growing. If it was this big a deal, she had to know.

'Can we go somewhere more private?' Nigel finally said, casting a glance left and right, seemingly put off by the fact that there were people around. Rachel looked at him, not quite sure what she should say. But then, Nigel seemed to somehow gain control again, and simply said;

'Come on, if I'm going to tell you what I was going, we have to go somewhere else.'

He got up and moved away, and Rachel obediently followed.

And what do you know, five mintues later, they were at the very place that started this whole thing.

The two of them stood behind the house, too nervous and tense to lean on the wall or sit on the narrow concrete siding.

'So, what were you going to tell me?' Rachel said.

'Okay, I'll start like this. What was your childhood like, Rachel?' Nigel began, this time seeming more sure of himself.

Rachel was a little thrown off by the statement. What did that have to do with Nigel and Abby and Kuki's little 'club' in the tree that hid just around the corner.

She was thrown off, as well, because she had no real answer to that question. She had no idea what her childhood was like. She tried to fib her way through the question.

'Uh, pretty normal, I guess.'

Apparently, Rachel was a horrible liar, as the only response she got from Nigel was one raised eyebrow; that look that said 'I want the truth.'

Rachel sighed.

'Alright, alright. I don't remember anything from before I turned thirteen.' She confessed.

'That's alright, Rachel,' Nigel reassured, much to Rachel's surprise.

'What? How is it alright? I have no recollection of anything from when I was a kid; no birthdays, no friends, no nothing.'

Rachel sat down against the side of the house.

'It's alright because I wasn't able to remember anything before my thirteenth birthday either.'

While Nigel joined her sitting on the concrete, Rachel gave him yet another weird look.

'What do you mean wasn't? You mean you can now?'

Nigel sighed.

'It's complicated. But, something happened to me when I turned thirteen, something that happened to you, too. And for me, a little while ago, the thing that was done... kind of... un-did.'

Rachel opened her mouth, as if she was about to speak, but nothing came out. All she could do was sit there and wait for Nigel to continue talking.

'You see, Rachel, when we were kids, we were in this sort of club. And this club was set up to kind of help kids when they were being... being disadvantaged.'

Nigel had to choose his words carefully. He had come to at least one conclusion; if he had come this far, he may as well go the whole way.

Like it or not, Numbuh 362 was coming back.

Now, he just had to do it carefully and gently.

'Oookaay...' Rachel said slowly, signalling that she was ready to hear more.

'And, when you turn thirteen, you aren't really a kid anymore, so you are kind of, decommissioned from the club,'

Suddenly, Rachel's head was pounding.

From the inside.

'Wha... wh...' was all she could seem to murmer, holding her head in her hands.

Then, something came to her.

And the words started again.

'Nigel?'

'Uh, yeah?'

'When I look at the moon, sometimes, I think I'm somehow thinking about something that I don't really understand. It's like, like someone has walked into my head and put these little, isolated thoughts in there, and then forgotten to put in the explanations or the meaning of the thoughts.

Does that, maybe, have anything to do with this?'

Nigel sat there, for a minute, open-mouthed, unsure of what to say. Presently, he simply nodded, no words, just a simple, little, nod.

'Rachel,' he said finally.

'Yes?'

'I'm going to try something on you now, to see if maybe I can get those thoughts to make sense. I'm going to say some things that you won't understand at first, but in the end, hopefully it's all going to work out.'

Now it was Rachel's turn to sit open mouthed and muted, just going over and over and over Nigel's last sentence. Feelings filled her up inside, among them anticipation, longing, anxiety and straight out fear.

'And when I try this, you might feel some strange things. But I want you to just let them go, okay? Don't fight them, just let them do what they want to do. It'll be easier for you if you just leave them be.'

The battle in Rachel's mind subsided. She wanted to know what was going on here, especially since she was apparently somehow involved as well.

This was a chance she was just going to have to take.

'Okay,' she breathed, barely audible.

'Go.'

Nigel took a deep breath, as if his next words would take twice as much air as usual.

'Numbuh 362, this is Numbuh 1, reporting for duty!'

Boom, another sharp pound on the inside of Rachel's mind.

'Numbuh 362, we need to refuel, we'll be stopping at moonbase shortly.'

Rachel tried to speak, but almost ended up gagging. She remembered what Nigel had said; just let it go.

'Numbuh 362, it's meatball sandwitch day, you wanna go grab some lunch?'

Rachel buried her head in her knees, trying to cope with the violent sways and bouts of nausea she was getting now.

What was going on now? What was Nigel doing? Effecting her so much with words she didn't even understand?

'Numbuh 362, I'm afraid Numbuh 86 and Numbuh 60 have done a bit of damage on the bridge in another one of their 'games.'

Lights now began to appear before Rachel's eyes. She was fading, losing consciousness.

What was this?

She should have been scared, should have been trying to run, even though she couldn't, not now, but she was strangely calm, almost willing to let herself go, as Nigel had asked.

It only took one more.

'So, why don't you want to be it any more, Rachel?'

She was out cold in the next seven seconds.

~(*)~

It was getting dark when Rachel finally woke up, in a room she vaguely recognised. It was big, open, with a couch and a large TV screen.

It took her a few seconds to realise what had happened, and a few more to realise that there was someone sitting next to her, looking at her intently.

'N-Numbuh 1?' she stuttered, pushing herself up on one elbow.

'Numbuh 362! It worked! You're back!'

Rachel frowned, and then, it clicked. She remembered what had happened.

And she remembered everything before that.

She gasped about as loud as she had ever gasped before, and threw herself off the couch and onto her feet.

'Oh my gosh, Nigel, Numbuh 1! I- I remember! Everything- everything's back!

'I'm back! Nigel, I'm back!'

~(*)~

A/N: OOOOOH! BAM! Numbuh 362 is back again!

That's pretty much it from me for now, I'll see you later! ;)

R&R, as always!

-Numbuh 25 over and out