full disclosure: i had this written for like a year but i couldn't decide which direction i wanted to take with it and im still conflicted.. uhh... oopsies...

also suicide tw

"Alright, team. Our next step in our secret mission is to break into the villain hideout and do some digging."

Wally sighed. He was hoping Nigel's short attention span would save them from dealing with the enemy, but he was never that lucky. He'd already alerted Rachel of what they had done, but so far they hadn't done anything to warrant Rachel stepping in.

Or Wally to do something stupid to stop them.

For once in his life, he had no idea what to do to stop his sector. He couldn't purposefully put them all at risk - that was way too dangerous. He couldn't manage to convince them that this was a bad idea. He was stuck.

Rachel told him that he'd think of something when the time came. But he wasn't so sure.

He knew the man they were after too well - his name was Julius Garsan. The crimes he commited were unspeakable to the point where Wally appeared to have blocked them from his memory. All he could remember was Lyla's death.

Part of him wanted to get revenge. Part of him wanted to go along with Sector V, and take revenge.

Rule three: Self defense only.

That rule was meant to protect the sector. They would never fight without being attacked first. Usually he had no disagreements with that rule.

This was the one time he wanted to break a sector rule.

"Numbuh 4!"

He woke up from his wandering mind. "Huh?"

"You're back in this sector. Act like it!"

"Sorry," he mumbled.

He remembered holding a very similar meeting before their last mission. He made the plans - they were attempting to do something very similar. He'd come up with the plans that ended in his best friend's death.

They knew Garsan had dangerous weapons that no one could legally hold. They knew he was planning on using them at some point. The local police didn't seem to care, so it was up to them.

They just didn't expect him to use them on them.

Wally felt panic rising in his chest again. This was exactly what ended in Lyla's death. He could see the gruesome end every time he closed his eyes.

He couldn't do this.

He couldn't.

"Numbuh 4! Pay attention!"

"Sorry." He sighed and tried to pay attention.

He was trained to deal with stuff like this. Why couldn't he forget what happened?

They flew back to the area and exited their vehicle.

"It looks empty," Nigel said. "I think the coast is clear."

"Or maybe he just has the lights off," Wally tried to say.

"Maybe he's taking a nap," Abby suggested. "Which means we need to be super careful."

Wally felt the panic rising again. This is the spot he tried to infiltrate so many years ago. He didn't know why Garsan set off the alarms on the Moon Base after all these years, but it couldn't be good.

He had an old earpiece in his ear - one of the few pieces of technology he had leftover from Sector XX. It was impossible to see without directly looking into someone's ear. But the part he needed most was the alarm - touching a spot behind the ear would trip alarms. He'd set the alarms to go straight to Rachel, and he was about to use it.

He reached one hand behind him to his back, where he was hiding a weapon, and put the other up to his ear, prepared to push it.

"Let's go, team," Nigel said.

Wally knew he had to do something absolutely idiotic.

So he purposely tripped on a tree branch while simultaneously tripping the alarm.

"Ow!" he hissed.

Hoagie snickered. "Nice job."

He tried to pull himself up, but pretended to be unable to put weight on his right foot. "Ow," he muttered again, attempting to shake it off.

"Seriously? You've been back for a day and you've already gotten injured on the field?" Nigel shook his head. "You're impossible."

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Wally responded, faking a limp as he hobbled to a tree to lean on. "Just rolled my ankle or something. It'll be fine."

"Numbuh 3, take him back to the ship and check his ankle." Nigel shook his head again. "Unbelievable."

Just then, he heard a beeping on his communicator. He pulled it up to his ear. "Numbuh 362, sir!"

"Numbuh 1, we have an emergency situation for you. The Delightful Children are planning an attack on a playground, and planning to age up all the children there. You need to get there immediately!"

"On it, Numbuh 362 sir!" He turned to his teammates. "This will have to wait. We have more pressing issues to deal with."

Wally breathed a huge sigh of relief. But the relief didn't last long.

The fact that the Galactic Kids Next Door wanted Nigel and asked him questions about his loyalty left a bad taste in his mouth. And knowing that their existence was proven, and that they knew about his past with Sector XX, combined into something that he knew could end poorly.

But it wasn't like he was about to discuss it with anyone.

He slowly walked into the Treehouse a day later. He was unpleasantly surprised to find Lizzie there. She was, quite possibly, the most obnoxious person he'd ever met.

"Nigieeeeee," she whined. He had the oddest urge to throw anything he could find at her.

"Lizzie, I'm sorry, we just have a mission that's important."

"What about me?" she whined. Her eyes filled with tears. Wally waited for the impending explosion.

"After, I promise."

"You promised we would go to the movies today!"

"I know, but this is just more important-"

"More important than me?! I'm your girlfriend!"

"I know, I know, I just-"

"Numbuh 1, just take her to the movies. This isn't even a mission we're supposed to go on." Abby rolled her eyes.

Nigel sighed. "Fine… what are you doing?!"

In Lizzie's emotional state, she banged on the control panel of the computer, deleting the coordinates.

"The coordinates! They're gone! Numbuh 2, do you remember how to get there?"

Hoagie nervously giggled. "Um, no?"

Nigel was furious. He looked like he was about to blow his top off. And then the weirdest thing happened - Lizzie turned to Wally and winked at him while the rest of them were focusing on getting Nigel to not explode.

He raised an eyebrow in response. Did that actually happen? Was he hallucinating now?

"Oh no, I'm so sorry Nigie! I don't know what I did!" She burst into tears. "I was just upset and-"

"Just go," he yelled. He saw Wally closest to the door and told him to lead her out of the Treehouse.

Wally was still unsure if she had actually winked at him or not. She was an idiot, right? And he wasn't about to bring that up. What if he was actually hallucinating it?

"What, don't I get a thank you?" Lizzie asked.

He stopped in his tracks. "What?"

"Deleting the coordinates. That's what you wanted, right?"

He slowly nodded. "How did you-"

"You should know by now that there's more to the Kids Next Door than meets the eye."

He narrowed his eyes. "What are you implying?"

"We're on the same team, Numbuh 4. Just remember that." With that, she let herself out of the treehouse.

He wanted to run after her, but he knew that would be even more suspicious. Had she really been hiding under a cover this whole time? How had he not picked it up?

He sighed and returned to the others, where Nigel was barely getting calmed down by some violent video games.

"What was that all about?" Wally asked, playing the idiot.

"Lizzie deleted our coordinates," Nigel grumbled.

"She didn't mean to," Kuki interjected. "She looked really, really sorry about it."

"Yeah, Numbuh 1," Hoagie agreed. "She doesn't know how to work that thing. She didn't know what she was doing."

Wally sighed and sat down on the couch next to Kuki. Lizzie wasn't even a member of the Kids Next Door. Last he checked, she'd never even considered joining.

"Wally, do you want to play Rainbow Monkeys with me?"

He turned to look at Kuki, who was staring at him with a hopeful look.

"Nope," he responded bluntly.

"Don't be a jerk, Numbuh 4," Abby chastised as Kuki's eyes started tearing up.

"Sorry," he mumbled. He really wasn't good enough to be back on duty. Maybe Rachel would take him off now that his primary mission had been destroyed so quickly.

Lizzie had apparently begged for forgiveness by the time school started, and Nigel accepted her apology. He got over it fairly quickly.

Wally eyed Lizzie suspiciously during lunch. He didn't outright stare at her, but he was looking for any clues. Whoever she was and whatever she was doing, she was good at it. He could detect a suspicious person or a liar from a mile away. So why couldn't he detect her?

And who was she really? And what was she doing?

Logically he pieced together that she knew about the Kids Next Door and was only dating Nigel because he was an easy in. But how and why?

He snuck into the computer room in the Treehouse that afternoon and did a few broad searches. There was nothing in the entire Code Module. Who was she?

Something was building up, and he didn't like it at all.

It was then that he noticed something weird.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could swear that he could see Numbuh 74.239, along with some other kid wearing a suit.

The first couple of times, he brushed it off as a trick of the light; some sort of mirage. But then it started happening over and over.

Was he hallucinating? Was this his inevitable breaking point?

He messaged the sender that had contacted him before his meeting with Numbuh 74.239 a few days prior. "Quick question, have you been watching us?"

"No."

And then he knew he'd lost it.

"I have lost my Goddamn mind."

Janet closed her locker. "I'm glad you've come to terms with it."

"I'm serious." At his pleading and panicky tone, Janet turned around to face him. "I swear, I've been seeing people watching me and my sector."

"Anyone in particular?"

"Numbuh 74.239 and some other guy. And I messaged Numbuh 74.239 and he said he wasn't watching me. Oh, did I tell you about the weird meeting I had with him? It was really-"

"Shut up," she hissed. "Did it ever occur to you that he's lying to you?"

"Maybe, but I don't know why he would. Things are weird, and I can't tell if I'm legitimately crazy or if things around me are crazy. Hey, where's Triple Six?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. He hasn't been in for a few days. Probably sick or something. But you should see a therapist."

"Hell no."

"I'm serious. You're right. You've lost your damn mind."

"Okay, maybe I have," he conceded. "Just don't tell Rachel."

She glared at him.

"Please?"

Janet sighed. "Fine."

"Thanks. By the way, do you know much about Lizzie Devine?"

"Nigel Uno's annoying-ass girlfriend? Unfortunately."

"Is there something… weird about her?"

"Other than being annoying? Nope."

"Hm. I've got to go. If Rachel asks, I'm not crazy."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He weaved through the halls down to his first class and slammed his bag on the floor next to Abby.

"You look… weird."

"No I don't," he retorted.

Abby's eyebrows scrunched up. "Wally, seriously. Are you okay?"

"What? I'm fine." He took his seat next to her.

The bell rang, and the morning announcements came. It was the same old stuff. He spaced out until he heard the tone drop. "Unfortunately, we have some devastating news today. One of our seventh graders, Jeremy Harris, has taken his own life."

Wally felt his stomach drop.

Numbuh 667 was gone.