Before Miracolina could speak again, Abby put her hands over her mouth. Whatever this malnourished, dehydrated, abused and(most likely) delirious teenager was saying, her team didn't need to hear it. No telling what the Delightful Children had told her.

"Later," Number 5 whispered. She looked over at Number 3, who was fiddling around in a medical cabinet and hadn't been listening to what the older girl was saying.

Trying to get the muffled words out, Miracolina bit down on Number 5's hand.

"Oww!" Number 5 took a step back, pulling her hand away.

"Don't tell me shhh, I said stop Nigel Uno! Stop Nigel Uno! Did you hear me!? You're his friends and you've got to do something and! ..."

Number 3 inserted something in Miracolina's IV that made her very sleepy. "Goodnight!" Number 3 chirped brightly. Once Miracolina closed her eyes, Number 3 tucked a Rainbow Monkey next to her so she wouldn't be alone if she woke up while Sector V wasn't around.

"How long is she going to be out?" Number 5 asked softly. Number 3 glanced at the unconscious teenager and her smile faded. She could stay cheerful for a patient, but she was worried and exhausted from the mission. "Around 9 hours. Do you think Number 1's okay?"

"Yeah, is he?"

Number 5 looked up and saw the three boys (two human and one skunk kit) crowding around the doorway to Scamper's small med bay.

Number 5 put on her most convincing smile. "Yeah, Number 1's cool. You guys should know better than to listen to anyone who's been the Delightful Children's "guest" for a couple of hours. No telling what they've put into her head."

That seemed to satisfy Number 2 and Number 4, but Bradley wanted to be held. He tried to climb onto the gurney, but Abby was pretty sure waking up to a skunk in her face twice in one day wouldn't help the patient, so she let Kuki take Bradley with her.

As for Abby, she stayed with the sleeping girl for the remainder of the flight. The truth was, this girl didn't seem crazy. Even after whatever happened to her at the Delightful Mansion, she seemed all there...

She would talk to the girl, alone. If something was really wrong with Number 1, the guys were on a need to know basis. Whatever was wrong, they didn't need to know... at least not yet.

The flight back to Sector V's treehouse was a quick one. What had started out as a clear sunny day had turned into a rainy mess. Water poured down the windows and thunder crashed somewhere in the sky.

While Miracolina was wheeled down into the Treehouse's infirmary, Number 5 collected the camera and bug remote from Number 4 before he too retired to the Infirmary to get his hand looked at. She meant to just drop it off with Numbuh 2, but he was frantically turning all his pockets inside out.

"I don't have it, I don't have it…" He didn't notice Numbuh 5 until she tapped him on the shoulder. He let out a yelp and stumbled backwards. "Number 5! I'm sorry—"

"Don't have what?" She had never seen him look so pale.

"I left the flash drive."

It took Abby hours to convince him not to go on a solo mission back to the mansion to retrieve his flash drive.

"It's not worth it. We have the bug in the kitchen. If there's anything that we need to know about, we'll hear about it."

"But we could have learned so much! And our secondary mission was to—"

"I know, find out what Father was doing with the Rainbow Monkeys, but…"

Number 5 got very quiet for a few minutes. "Listen..."

She stood up and looked down the hall for any eavesdroppers. (That was the one problem with being friends with secret agents.) Once she'd made sure nobody else was around, she sat back down.

"You better not tell a single soul, but something's up. Something bad. First the Delightful Children start wearing those white robes , then Father gets mixed up with Rainbow Monkeys and— that stuff in the lab..."

Both of them shuddered at that memory and Number 5 had to put her hands behind her back. She knew her hands were shaking, she was shaking, just remembering what SHE did.

"Number 5 thinks there's a connection, and that girl we rescued has more answers than any thumb drive could ever give us."

"But what about Number 1?" Hoagie asked worriedly. Number 5 decided to let him in on her plan.

"I don't know, so I'm going to interview her when she wakes up."

Without warning, Number 5 pulled Hoagie a few inches closer by the straps of his pilot's googles. "Not. A. Word."

It was around 2:30 AM when Miracolina began to stir. She had been tranqed before TOO MANY TIMES, and this was very similar to that. Only this time she woke up once again with a little umber girl's hands pressed tightly against her mouth. Did she not learn the first time?

Miracolina bit her hand again, but the girl kept her hands pressed tightly despite the pain.

"Quietly." she hissed through gritted teeth as she removed her hands, which had two rows of red marks, one of them oozing blood. Miracolina was about to scream again when the girl cut her off.

"I'm worried about Number 1... but the others… they can't know, not yet."

Miracolina gave Abby a death glare, "Worried about him? Your bald friend is fine. It's the rest of us who should be worried." Before Abby could ask for any more information, the doors to the med bay opened. It was Monty and Jennifer Uno. Number 2 was trying to block their path, but Monty, in all regards, was the bigger man.

"I tried to stop them." Number 2 said sheepishly. Number 5 clenched her fist hard, making the pain from the bite worse.

"Number 5 told you not to tell anybody! And you went ahead and told his parents?" Number 2 grimaced.

As if some morbid funeral procession, the entirety of Sector V came into the med bay(well, all expect Numbuh 6 and the hamsters, that is. The little skunk went home 3 hours ago and the hamsters were busy powering the treehouse.)

"What's going on?" Monty questioned as calmly as possible. His wife was talking to Number 3, asking her about her patient. Number 5 had her head in her hands. This wasn't what she planned for. She wanted to ask him what in Zero's name he was thinking, but Number Zero himself was standing right in the room. What the heck did Numbuh 2 tell him to make him come up here so fast? How much did he tell? Memories of the lab overwhelmed her, and before she knew it her hands were shaking again.

Miracolina was silent in the hospital bed. These must be the boy's parents, they had to be. They spoke with the same British accent and they had the boy's head shape and ears. Everybody in the room was talking at the same time.

Jennifer's eyes began to water, and she broke down crying.

"You promised not to tell anybody!" Abby said, trying to swat Hoagie with her hat.

"Why didn't you tell me ? I'm second-in-command!" Wally demanded angrily. He was trailing after Abby, who was still chasing Hoagie.

Kuki was right next to Mrs. Uno and they were crying together, soaking Kuki's giant green sweater in tears.

Monty walked through all the chaos over to Miracolina's bed and took the seat where Abby was sitting just a few minutes ago.

He patiently looked down at his watch and waited a full minute before giving a sharp whistle.

"Please! Everybody just settle down a moment, please."

Miracolina, who had been watching the events unfold with a certain detached amusement, was shocked at the command the boy's father had over the situation. He had a gentle voice, but it was still full of strength.

"I'm sure this girl—pardon me, I didn't quite get your name?"

"Miracolina." she answered, still groggy from the sedative. She was half expecting what was coming next and had the words halfway from her head to her mouth, but she still felt strangely heavy. The boy's father nodded.

"Oh. Do you go by Mira or…?"

"It's Miracolina." she answered flatly. He didn't seem offended at all.

"Oh yes, quite right, quite right. So if you wouldn't mind, is Number 1–Nigel Uno, our son… is he okay?"

Miracolina took a deep breath and for a moment this man and woman reminded her a lot of her own parents . "He's alive, but …he needs help. We all need help. It's a long story."

Mrs. Uno calmed down and Number 3 patted her shoulder gently. Standing up to move next to her husband, she gave Miracolina an understanding nod. She was trying her best but even with her tears partially gone she was a mother worried for her little boy .

"We'd best hear it, then. Come on kids, gather round. Story time." Monty Uno bellowed .

Number 5 felt disoriented. Her team was gathered around a teenager's bed at the order of an adult—even if it was Number Zero. Everything was different suddenly. The girl—Miracolina—started to tell her story and Number 5 hung on to every word.

"My world is the same as yours in a lot of ways, but well... different, it's still very different from yours. For one thing, there's this thing called unwinding..."

ERR0R/O99.44%/—/

/TRANSMISSION INTERRUPTED/—...