A/N: Hey gang! Since I'm really into this story, I'm cranking out the
second chapter before I gotta go to sleep. Don't you just LOVE me? Don't
have much to say for this chapter, except thanks to for the quick reviews,
Melody Hoshi Sugar and Vtbots. You'll be happy to know that this IS the
chapter where the rest of the team meets this unknown teenager, Numbuh .19.
What's up with her? What's up with the decimal numbers? We'll find out in
THIS installment of- o wait, I haven't quite come up with a title for this
fic yet. O well, read and review and enjoy anyway!
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"Breakfast!" came the cheery call of an older female voice over the PA system. This time it only took around fifteen minutes for the five children to rouse themselves enough to make it to the kitchen. Once there, they were immediately wide-awake as they viewed the tantalizing banquet of breakfast foods carefully arranged on their very kitchen table. They were content to simply munch on leftovers from the previous day, or, if they were awake enough, pour a bowl of cereal or make some eggs. But this- THIS was, unexpected, to say the least.
"Dig in!" .19 said with a smile before turning back to the stove. She was cleaning the countertops with a damp rag, humming all the while. Each of the children cautiously lowered themselves in their respective chairs among the plates of eggs, pancakes, bacon, waffles, bagels, fruit, and any other imaginable morning fare. It was like being the guests of honor at a hotel buffet, and it was all the Kids Next Door could do to keep from drooling into their laps.
Eventually, .19 finished her chores and took a seat as well, "Hi," she properly greeted her new teammates, "I'm Numbuh .19, from the Teen Division. I can see you all weren't expecting me this early." She was answered by five dull stares, "Yeah, sorry about that. I'm an early riser," she said with a self-deprecating shrug, "what can I say? I suppose that's just one more reason I won't fit in well around here." She looked down at her plate, an air of sadness seeming to weigh down her shoulders, "But hey- don't let the food get cold, dig in."
The children looked from one another, gradually settling on Numbuh 1 for guidance. 1 also glanced around at them, and hesitantly took a bowl of scrambled eggs and spooned a pile onto his plate. The boy gingerly tasted the eggs, chewing them thoroughly, however unnecessary it may have been, and swallowing them. His eyebrows shot up from behind his sunglasses and in seconds he was eagerly shoveling the eggs into his mouth. The other four children smiled and each grabbed for a respective breakfast favorite and commenced chowing down. Numbuh .19 sat back in her chair and smiled slightly, watching her teammates readily consuming her food before taking any for herself.
"So," Numbuh 4 said through a mouthful of syrupy waffles. He had instantly felt much friendlier as .19's food settled into his stomach, "what's all this business with the Teen Division? None uh us've eva' 'eard of ya'."
"Yeah," 5 chimed in, "Wassup wid' dat? Yo' some kinda secret organization or sumthin'?"
.19 paused and looked up from her plate of pancakes, "Well," she said with a sigh, "Lemme put it this way," 1, 2, and 3 joined the conversation, watching .19, "If the entire Kids Next Door organization was a family, we're the uncle nobody talks about."* She returned to her food without another word.
The children were silent, processing this information. The uncle nobody talks about, none of them could pretend to not understand what she meant. Suddenly they weren't so hungry.
"Why?" Numbuh 3, who understood the least of the five, asked.
Numbuh .19 had to smile at the Asian girl's naiveté. Ah, to be ten again, "Because of the way we handle our end of things."
"And how exactly is that?" Numbuh 1 inquired with genuine curiosity, though tinged with suspicion.
"We don't run like the rest of the KND," .19 said, "That's why we use the decimals for our codenames. See, the whole reason IHQ doesn't like to talk about us," her face abruptly turned bitter, "barely acknowledge our existence, matter of fact," she smiled again, ridding herself of the unexpected pain that marred her features, "is because we work closely with the police."
"The police?" 2 asked. He, along with any other Kid Next Door, had mixed feelings about the police. He understood that they helped keep people safe, but they were adults nonetheless, and that made them untrustworthy.
"Yeah," .19 continued, "We don't just focus on the minor bad things done to kids by adults. See, when you get older, when you learn a bit and see a bit more of the world, you'll understand that there's way worse evil out there than, say, being forced to take piano lessons." 4 couldn't help an involuntary shudder, "The Teen Division deals with that kind of stuff, and it makes our grand and mighty leaders very nervous."
"Why would it make them nervous?" 1 pressed, "What could be so bad?"
.19 looked at Numbuh 1, her blue eyes full of sadness, "I can't tell you, and you have to find out by yourself,"she said, "It wouldn't be right of me to take away your innocence now, you're not ready. None of you are," she said before Numbuh 4 could protest, "Believe that the worst an adult can do to you is make you stay in school year-round, God forbid," she added, seeing the obvious discomfort such a horrible thought caused the ten year olds, "Just know that you don't have to worry about anything like what my operatives and I worry about, not yet."
Silence fell and the five children and one teenager continued to eat. Numbuh 1 was slightly thunderstruck at the thought of the kind of horrors .19 must have witnessed. What could possibly be so bad that just hearing it would strip 1 of his innocence?! His mind spun with possibilities, none of them even remotely close to the truth. But he didn't know that.
"But if what you do is so important," Numbuh 1 said, "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be with your own team, fighting whatever it is you people fight?"
"IHQ decided it would be best to integrate the Teen Division with the other Kid Next Door teams. Each team will get a Teen Division operative of their very own." Her voice had turned bitter again, "Actually, we're all the guinea pigs, the first to see if their idea will really work, so we'd better not screw it up, huh?" Numbuh 1 nodded his agreement, and the team finished their delicious breakfast.
:::
Numbuh 1 held a private meeting of only the senior Kids Next Door operatives, not in the common area as usual, but in his room. .19 wasn't invited.
"So," 1 said from atop his bed, "What do you all think of our new teammate?"
The other four were silent for a beat, all trying to put into words the emotions felt at the mention of her name, "She cooks good," 2 settled on.
"She don't seem too bad," Numbuh 4 added.
"Yeah, she's nice," 3 said with a warm grin.
5 shrugged indifferently, "Whatevuh'. Long as she stays outta Numbuh 5's space, she don't see no problem wid' keepin' her here."
"Overall, I agree," 1 said, "But nevertheless, I want a close watch kept on our new member for at least a few days, just to be sure she's not a spy. Numbuh 5, you're our resident stealth operative, I'm assigning you to keep an eye on .19 until further notice."
"Aw, man, c'mon!" 5 cried in protest, "Don't make Numbuh 5 babysit da teenager! She got bettuh' thangs to do wid' her time den spy on some borin' teenager."
"I'm sorry, Numbuh 5, but that wasn't a request- that was an order. You won't be on full duty, just maybe at night and when she leaves the treehouse. But I would like at least one of us to be around her at all hours, just in case. Are we all clear?" The team grumbled a bit but agreed that this was the best course of action. They broke up the meeting and went their separate ways, 5 deciding there was no time like the present and heading toward .19's room.
:::
"Yes?" 5 heard .19 answer from behind her T labeled door.
"'S Numbuh 5. Can I come in?"
"Sure." 5 pushed open the door to see .19 sitting cross-legged on her bed, although she couldn't really tell she was cross-legged because books and papers covered the teenager's entire lap and also a good portion of the bed itself.
"What ARE you doin', girl?" 5 nearly shouted as she stared at the spread of literature.
"Homework," .19 answered simply.
Numbuh 5 gapped, "Homework? HOMEWORK?! Girl, dat ain't homework, dat's da research it takes ta make an atomic bomb!"
.19 only laughed, "It's homework in high school."
"How old ARE you?" Numbuh 5 queried.
"Sixteen."
5 was aghast, "SIXTEEN?! Daaaamn, dat's old!" .19 laughed some more, "So," 5 continued, "You can drive, right?"
.19 nodded, "More or less, yeah, I can drive."
Numbuh 5 fell into a chair, feeling exhausted from the overload of information. She's in high school! You get THAT much homework in high school? She's SIXTEEN! She can drive... The last thought brought a sly grin to 5's face.
"You can drive..." she said slowly.
"Yeah, it's sorta why I'm here."
This pulled Numbuh 5 from her thoughts, "Huh?"
"Well, think of how many more places you can get in now, with me around. Not to sound conceited or anything," she said quickly, "But you'll all look a lot more credible with an adult- well, semi-adult to back you up. Real adults may hate us, but they'll trust us a helluva lot faster than a bunch of kids, it's just a fact."
Numbuh 5 nodded grudgingly, "Yeah, Numbuh 5 s'poses you right."
"Hey," .19 said after a moment, "You like magazines?"
5 looked up at the girl with a smile, "Does Numbuh 5 like magazines," she said with false-mocking, as if .19 should've been fully briefed on Numbuh 5's intense love for magazines, "Heck yeah, pass one of dose babies ovuh'!"
.19 smiled and, removing the books from her lap, bent over the side of her bed to pull two mags from the suitcase at the foot of the furniture, "I could use a break," she said, tossing one to Numbuh 5, "Enjoy your time in elementary school, cuz trig's a bitch."
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A/N: I think that's all I'm gonna put out for a bit, I'm getting sleepy. So, what do ya think of Numbuh .19? Does she work? Does she NEED some work? Review please and let me know!
*That line was borrowed (and slightly tampered with) from the incredible drama Conspiracy Theory. If you like Patrick Stewart, Mel Gibson (and tell me exactly who doesn't??), and/or Julia Roberts, check this flick out. I swear to God, it's all of their best work. Except maybe Patrick Stewart, and that's only cuz he kicked some dramatic ass in A Christmas Carol.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"Breakfast!" came the cheery call of an older female voice over the PA system. This time it only took around fifteen minutes for the five children to rouse themselves enough to make it to the kitchen. Once there, they were immediately wide-awake as they viewed the tantalizing banquet of breakfast foods carefully arranged on their very kitchen table. They were content to simply munch on leftovers from the previous day, or, if they were awake enough, pour a bowl of cereal or make some eggs. But this- THIS was, unexpected, to say the least.
"Dig in!" .19 said with a smile before turning back to the stove. She was cleaning the countertops with a damp rag, humming all the while. Each of the children cautiously lowered themselves in their respective chairs among the plates of eggs, pancakes, bacon, waffles, bagels, fruit, and any other imaginable morning fare. It was like being the guests of honor at a hotel buffet, and it was all the Kids Next Door could do to keep from drooling into their laps.
Eventually, .19 finished her chores and took a seat as well, "Hi," she properly greeted her new teammates, "I'm Numbuh .19, from the Teen Division. I can see you all weren't expecting me this early." She was answered by five dull stares, "Yeah, sorry about that. I'm an early riser," she said with a self-deprecating shrug, "what can I say? I suppose that's just one more reason I won't fit in well around here." She looked down at her plate, an air of sadness seeming to weigh down her shoulders, "But hey- don't let the food get cold, dig in."
The children looked from one another, gradually settling on Numbuh 1 for guidance. 1 also glanced around at them, and hesitantly took a bowl of scrambled eggs and spooned a pile onto his plate. The boy gingerly tasted the eggs, chewing them thoroughly, however unnecessary it may have been, and swallowing them. His eyebrows shot up from behind his sunglasses and in seconds he was eagerly shoveling the eggs into his mouth. The other four children smiled and each grabbed for a respective breakfast favorite and commenced chowing down. Numbuh .19 sat back in her chair and smiled slightly, watching her teammates readily consuming her food before taking any for herself.
"So," Numbuh 4 said through a mouthful of syrupy waffles. He had instantly felt much friendlier as .19's food settled into his stomach, "what's all this business with the Teen Division? None uh us've eva' 'eard of ya'."
"Yeah," 5 chimed in, "Wassup wid' dat? Yo' some kinda secret organization or sumthin'?"
.19 paused and looked up from her plate of pancakes, "Well," she said with a sigh, "Lemme put it this way," 1, 2, and 3 joined the conversation, watching .19, "If the entire Kids Next Door organization was a family, we're the uncle nobody talks about."* She returned to her food without another word.
The children were silent, processing this information. The uncle nobody talks about, none of them could pretend to not understand what she meant. Suddenly they weren't so hungry.
"Why?" Numbuh 3, who understood the least of the five, asked.
Numbuh .19 had to smile at the Asian girl's naiveté. Ah, to be ten again, "Because of the way we handle our end of things."
"And how exactly is that?" Numbuh 1 inquired with genuine curiosity, though tinged with suspicion.
"We don't run like the rest of the KND," .19 said, "That's why we use the decimals for our codenames. See, the whole reason IHQ doesn't like to talk about us," her face abruptly turned bitter, "barely acknowledge our existence, matter of fact," she smiled again, ridding herself of the unexpected pain that marred her features, "is because we work closely with the police."
"The police?" 2 asked. He, along with any other Kid Next Door, had mixed feelings about the police. He understood that they helped keep people safe, but they were adults nonetheless, and that made them untrustworthy.
"Yeah," .19 continued, "We don't just focus on the minor bad things done to kids by adults. See, when you get older, when you learn a bit and see a bit more of the world, you'll understand that there's way worse evil out there than, say, being forced to take piano lessons." 4 couldn't help an involuntary shudder, "The Teen Division deals with that kind of stuff, and it makes our grand and mighty leaders very nervous."
"Why would it make them nervous?" 1 pressed, "What could be so bad?"
.19 looked at Numbuh 1, her blue eyes full of sadness, "I can't tell you, and you have to find out by yourself,"she said, "It wouldn't be right of me to take away your innocence now, you're not ready. None of you are," she said before Numbuh 4 could protest, "Believe that the worst an adult can do to you is make you stay in school year-round, God forbid," she added, seeing the obvious discomfort such a horrible thought caused the ten year olds, "Just know that you don't have to worry about anything like what my operatives and I worry about, not yet."
Silence fell and the five children and one teenager continued to eat. Numbuh 1 was slightly thunderstruck at the thought of the kind of horrors .19 must have witnessed. What could possibly be so bad that just hearing it would strip 1 of his innocence?! His mind spun with possibilities, none of them even remotely close to the truth. But he didn't know that.
"But if what you do is so important," Numbuh 1 said, "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be with your own team, fighting whatever it is you people fight?"
"IHQ decided it would be best to integrate the Teen Division with the other Kid Next Door teams. Each team will get a Teen Division operative of their very own." Her voice had turned bitter again, "Actually, we're all the guinea pigs, the first to see if their idea will really work, so we'd better not screw it up, huh?" Numbuh 1 nodded his agreement, and the team finished their delicious breakfast.
:::
Numbuh 1 held a private meeting of only the senior Kids Next Door operatives, not in the common area as usual, but in his room. .19 wasn't invited.
"So," 1 said from atop his bed, "What do you all think of our new teammate?"
The other four were silent for a beat, all trying to put into words the emotions felt at the mention of her name, "She cooks good," 2 settled on.
"She don't seem too bad," Numbuh 4 added.
"Yeah, she's nice," 3 said with a warm grin.
5 shrugged indifferently, "Whatevuh'. Long as she stays outta Numbuh 5's space, she don't see no problem wid' keepin' her here."
"Overall, I agree," 1 said, "But nevertheless, I want a close watch kept on our new member for at least a few days, just to be sure she's not a spy. Numbuh 5, you're our resident stealth operative, I'm assigning you to keep an eye on .19 until further notice."
"Aw, man, c'mon!" 5 cried in protest, "Don't make Numbuh 5 babysit da teenager! She got bettuh' thangs to do wid' her time den spy on some borin' teenager."
"I'm sorry, Numbuh 5, but that wasn't a request- that was an order. You won't be on full duty, just maybe at night and when she leaves the treehouse. But I would like at least one of us to be around her at all hours, just in case. Are we all clear?" The team grumbled a bit but agreed that this was the best course of action. They broke up the meeting and went their separate ways, 5 deciding there was no time like the present and heading toward .19's room.
:::
"Yes?" 5 heard .19 answer from behind her T labeled door.
"'S Numbuh 5. Can I come in?"
"Sure." 5 pushed open the door to see .19 sitting cross-legged on her bed, although she couldn't really tell she was cross-legged because books and papers covered the teenager's entire lap and also a good portion of the bed itself.
"What ARE you doin', girl?" 5 nearly shouted as she stared at the spread of literature.
"Homework," .19 answered simply.
Numbuh 5 gapped, "Homework? HOMEWORK?! Girl, dat ain't homework, dat's da research it takes ta make an atomic bomb!"
.19 only laughed, "It's homework in high school."
"How old ARE you?" Numbuh 5 queried.
"Sixteen."
5 was aghast, "SIXTEEN?! Daaaamn, dat's old!" .19 laughed some more, "So," 5 continued, "You can drive, right?"
.19 nodded, "More or less, yeah, I can drive."
Numbuh 5 fell into a chair, feeling exhausted from the overload of information. She's in high school! You get THAT much homework in high school? She's SIXTEEN! She can drive... The last thought brought a sly grin to 5's face.
"You can drive..." she said slowly.
"Yeah, it's sorta why I'm here."
This pulled Numbuh 5 from her thoughts, "Huh?"
"Well, think of how many more places you can get in now, with me around. Not to sound conceited or anything," she said quickly, "But you'll all look a lot more credible with an adult- well, semi-adult to back you up. Real adults may hate us, but they'll trust us a helluva lot faster than a bunch of kids, it's just a fact."
Numbuh 5 nodded grudgingly, "Yeah, Numbuh 5 s'poses you right."
"Hey," .19 said after a moment, "You like magazines?"
5 looked up at the girl with a smile, "Does Numbuh 5 like magazines," she said with false-mocking, as if .19 should've been fully briefed on Numbuh 5's intense love for magazines, "Heck yeah, pass one of dose babies ovuh'!"
.19 smiled and, removing the books from her lap, bent over the side of her bed to pull two mags from the suitcase at the foot of the furniture, "I could use a break," she said, tossing one to Numbuh 5, "Enjoy your time in elementary school, cuz trig's a bitch."
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A/N: I think that's all I'm gonna put out for a bit, I'm getting sleepy. So, what do ya think of Numbuh .19? Does she work? Does she NEED some work? Review please and let me know!
*That line was borrowed (and slightly tampered with) from the incredible drama Conspiracy Theory. If you like Patrick Stewart, Mel Gibson (and tell me exactly who doesn't??), and/or Julia Roberts, check this flick out. I swear to God, it's all of their best work. Except maybe Patrick Stewart, and that's only cuz he kicked some dramatic ass in A Christmas Carol.
