Agent U's Partner: Chapter 4

Daycare Duty

Agents X and Elle stood at the entrance to a large carpeted room and gazed, dumbfounded, at its occupants. Inside there were at least 25 alien children! Their jaws had dropped when Zed had informed them that their new assignment would be to watch after these extraterrestrial tots until their parents had been through customs and found a living quarters. That could take a while.

Things were moving slowly in HQ due to the overwhelming amount of alien tourists that were visiting Earth for the summer. U and W hadn't minded it so much, U was used to being forced to take care of alien children and W really liked children anyways. She and U were putting a puzzle together in the center of the floor with a group of about 5 children. Other children were busy playing various board games and such in the other areas of the room.

Elle was watching a group of Tunwalik children playing a game similar to twister in a far corner of the room when a young pink alien tottled up to her and tugged her skirt.

"Yes?" Elle asked the child politely.

"I gotta go potty," came the innocent response. Elle glanced at X who was still standing next to her.

"Uh-uh, she's a girl. That's your department," he chuckled.

Elle sighed and took the little girl by the hand and led her down the hallway to the bathroom.

X turned back to the children and sighed. He'd have to 'participate' sooner or later. Might as well be now since Elle wasn't there to witness his embarrassment.

"I don't think that goes there," one alien boy said as he leaned over U's shoulder.

"Of course it does," U retorted, "This is precisely the space where Neptune's moon should be."

W laughed, "There you go again, being all straight laced and accurate. It's just a puzzle U, it doesn't have to be precise, the maker could have designed that piece to fit anywhere!"

"Oh yeah?" U replied handing W the piece, "Prove it."

"Fine." W glanced down at the partially assembled puzzle and placed the piece on the opposite side of the planet. It fit perfectly. "There, that was easy."

The little alien children began to laugh and U turned to W and sighed, "You win, again."

Agent W smiled and helped U up. "Oh c'mon Upton, you'll win one of these days."

U looked over at her in shock, "How did you find out my real name?!"

"Wasn't hard," she laughed, "there aren't that many names that begin with the letter U out there."

U shrugged and replied, "Well, don't call me that. My name's U now."

"Whatever," W continued, "I kinda like that name."

"Really?"

"Yeah it's cute….and unusual."

"So what was your real name?" he asked casually.

"Willa," she answered softly.

"Willa," U repeated to himself, "that's not such a bad name, it sounds nice."

"Yeah well, I don't mind if you call me that every now and then, as long as no one else is around. But don't tell anyone else okay?"

"Sure," U hesitated a moment, "and you can call me Upton, as long as no one else is around."

"Ok," W whispered as she pecked U on the cheek. U blushed and headed out the door so she wouldn't see. W smiled as he turned and waded around in the hallway. He was pretty cute and kinda sweet, once ya got to know him.

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Elle entered the room as U made his way out, was he blushing? She was surprised to find her partner sitting in the corner reading to a group of Yaltzee children. She smiled at the strange sight. At least it didn't seem like X was reading about the inferiority of the human species.

Elle decided to play dolls with the little alien girl that she had escorted to the bathroom a few minutes before. The dolls weren't human, but another strange species that Elle hadn't yet heard of.

"This one's name is Marie," the little girl said as she handed Elle a green doll with gray tentacles and picked out a yellow one with orange dreadlocks for herself. "They're getting ready for a tea party."

Elle laughed and then glanced up in X's direction. Her partner had momentarily stopped reading and was smiling over at her. Elle was a bit shocked but she returned the smile. She figured that even X couldn't stay grumpy around young children.

The agents continued to play with the children until suddenly there were sounds of arguing from the hallway. Agent W got up from her block building to see what the problem was. When she stepped out into the hall she saw Agent U in a heated conversation with some Koporpian tourists over yet another rulebook infringement.

Agent W sighed as she approached her partner, he didn't look like he was about to back off the annoyed tourists.

"The MIB Handbook clearly states that all garbage from the F14 galaxy is to be deposited in the specialized trash receptacle units down the hall!" he shouted.

The other two aliens just rolled their seven eyes and shouted something back in a VERY foreign tongue.

W stepped up behind U and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Aw c'mon U, give'em a break, they've probably been stuck in customs all day."

"That's no excuse for littering," U replied as he showed her the strange looking paper cup, "this material is NOT biodegradable within the Earth's atmosphere so it should be taken to the proper--"

"FINE!" W interrupted as she snatched the cup out of his hand and headed off down the hall, "Sorry about that, he's got a few neatness quirks." she told the Koporpians as she passed them.

Agent U stared after her then headed off in her direction. He couldn't believe it, she had such utter disregard for the rules, and yet, he was following her. He liked that sassy, rebellious attitude of hers and the way she seemed to get along with just about everyone. That in itself was something that he could never do.

"Wait up!" he called after his partner. W reluctantly slowed down and turned to face him, "Now what? Did they drop a napkin too?"

"Uh…no," U didn't really know why he'd bothered to follow her all the way down to the trash bins, he just had. "Um, why aren't you insisting that they do this?"

"It's called hospitality U, look it up." Agent W replied as she gestured to the handbook in his jacket pocket.

U made a move to whip the infamous handbook out so W quickly cut him off, "I bet you couldn't put that thing down for FIVE MINUTES!"

U looked at her defiantly, "Yes I could, I'm not as uptight as you think I am."

"You certainly seem to be, at least when you're sober." W laughed.

"What?!" U gasped, "Who told you--"

"Agent Jay mentioned a little karaoke incident at the Christmas party last year."

"Jay! That agent is a poor excuse for a--"

"Yeah I know," W interrupted. "So, if you're serious about being able to put that thing down for five minutes, maybe you could drop by my place tonight?"

U stood there, speechless. Had Agent W really just invited him to come to her room? This had to be some sort of weird dream! No one had ever liked U enough to spend two minutes in a conversation with him and now this young female agent was inviting him to her room?!

"U?"

"Huh…oh, um sure." the words escaped his mouth before he could hold them back. Too late now, he'd said yes.

"Cool, we could watch a movie or something, I'll make the popcorn, you bring the soda k?"

"Ok." U thought about the next question for a minute then decided to take a chance and ask it, "So is this like a…well you know a.."

"A date?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Really?!"

"Sure," she laughed.

"Great." U couldn't believe it, after all these years, he FINALLY had a date!

"C'mon partner," W chuckled, "we've gotta get back to the 'daycare center' before Elle and X start World War III in there with those kids!"

"Alright," came the quiet response.

W turned and started off down the hallway then paused when she heard a sudden outburst from U, "YES!!!!!" it sounded like.

She turned back around and shook her head as her partner eagerly trotted up next to her. They returned to the surprisingly peaceful room, both of them in a good mood and looking forward to that night.

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