Author's Notes: As I promised, here is this week's second chapter. I know Chad's a bit young to be dating Cree but look at Demi and Ashton! Anyway, I figured she's about a year older than him and that's not the biggest deal ever. What's more, it's dead funny. Well, I think so, at least. I hope you do too! Please read and review.

connection re-established

Numbuh Five slammed the door as she entered the house. The light in the kitchen was on but the rest of the house was dark. Except for the faint hum of the refrigerator, it was silent. In the center of the room there was a round-top wood table and in the center of that table, there was a large plate of palm-sized sugar cookies. Numbuh Five also noticed a folded note sticking out from under the plate. She grabbed the note.

'Abby and Cree', it read, 'Your mother had to fly out to Paris for a conference with the delegates and the reps and the laws...' Numbuh Five rolled her eyes and read on. 'I'm in the ER until seven. If you need me, page my beeper. Your lunches are in the fridge. Cree, don't be on the phone all night. Abby, mind your sister. No fighting! Love, Dad.'

Numbuh Five crumpled the note and took a cookie. She had hoped that for once, her mother would be around. Or even Dad. He was a doctor, after all. Maybe he could figure out what was wrong with her. If he was home, that is. Which he wasn't. But according to the note, Cree was. The quiet in the house was deceptive. Stealthily, Numbuh Five crept up the stairs. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

"No, I miss you more…no, I miss--Chad? Hold on a second. It's my bratty little sister." Cree sent Numbuh Five a spiky look. "What do you want?"

Numbuh Five smirked. "Well, Numbuh Five doesn't want to keep you from telling your boyfriend how much you miss him." She leaned against the doorframe. "Go ahead. I'll wait."

Cree glowered, then picked up the phone from her lap. "I'll call you back, okay? Yeah, okay." Her face broke into a silly grin. "Uh huh? Uh huh. Mmmm-mwah!"

Numbuh Five gagged as she watcher her sister kiss the telephone and set it down on the receiver. Then Cree's eyes turned to her.

"What do you want?"

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't have to be," Numbuh Five began, defiant. Cree narrowed her eyes. Numbuh Five averted her glare. "But there's nobody else I can talk to."

Eyes still narrowed, Cree beckoned her sister to come closer. "What about?"

Numbuh Five took a deep breath. "There's something wrong with me."

Cree smiled. "Oh, I know that. But what do you mean?"

Numbuh Five swallowed. "You know how Dad says that if you lose a lot of blood, you'll die?"

Cree nodded.

"Well, I think I'm going to die."

For a moment, concern flashed across Cree's face. "You're not…wait a minute. Abby, are you…this blood…does it come from…down there?"

Too embarrassed to reply, Numbuh Five nodded.

"And does your stomach sometimes hurt and you have headaches and you feel all snarky?"

Numbuh Five nodded again.

Cree burst into laughter. "God, kids are so stupid!"

Numbuh Five was instantly angry. "Aw, forget this! Forget Numbuh Five even said anything." She turned to stalk out of the room.

"No, wait!" Cree gasped through her laughter. "I'm sorry. Abby…you have your period."

Numbuh Five stopped. "What?"

Cree smirked. "Oh, our little Abigail is growing up! You're not a kid anymore, Abby."

"No!"

"Oh, come on. It's not the end of the world. It's just, like this thing that happens one week out of the month. It's how you become a woman."

A coldness seized Numbuh Five's heart. "No," she said, whispered, if only to calm and console herself.

"Abby, it's not that big a deal. It's not like getting your first bra." Cree patted Numbuh Five's shoulder. "It happens to everybody. Well, not boys, but…"

Numbuh Five noticed her sister's hand on her shoulder. Normally, they didn't touch each other, unless they were in combat. She looked up at Cree. "You too?"

"Huh?" Cree blinked. "Oh yeah. It happened when I was twelve too. That's why I left—that's why I stopped hanging out with my goofy, immature childhood friends."

"You mean, that's why you joined the adults?" Numbuh Five shrugged Cree's hand away and fixed her with a cold glare.

"No, that was after--" Cree stopped. "Whatever. If you ask me, you'd do better to ditch your stupid friends anyway."

"Numbuh Five's friends are not stupid!"

Cree quirked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, okay, Numbuh Four ain't the brightest bulb but…"

"How are your little toddler-pals anyway? Out on another 'secret mission'?"

"Naw, not that I would tell you if they were. Numbuh Three went to the arcade with Numbuh Four for his birthday."

"For his birthday," Cree parroted with a smirk.

Numbuh Five glared before she continued. "And Numbuh One's with Numbuh Two on a date--"

"Together?" Cree grinned.

"Naw, it's—you can just wipe that smile off your face. Numbuh One's with Lizzie Divine, you know…"

"Yeah, poor kid."

Numbuh Five sent her sister another withering look. "Yeah, and Numbuh Two…he's going out with Numbuh 78, apparently."

"Hoagie P. Gilligan has a girlfriend? Unbelievable!" Cree chuckled. "Numbuh 78, huh? Guess Hoagie's hot for chocolate." She cackled. Numbuh Five was glaring so hard her eyes were starting to feel the strain. Cree flashed her sister a wicked smile. "Funny though. I always thought he had a thing for you."

Numbuh Five frowned. "Yeah right. Everybody, including you, knows that Numbuh Two had a crush on you."

"Yeah, but I always thought it was transference."

Numbuh Five's frown softened. She sighed. "You know, Numbuh Five thought so too."

It made sense. It would've been too weird for Numbuh Two to have a crush on his teammate so he'd transferred it to her sister. Okay, maybe it meant that Numbuh Five was a little conceited for thinking that way. Though she'd never admit it, Numbuh Five sometimes thought her sister was cool too. Even though Numbuh Five had never liked Numbuh Two that way, imagining that he had a secret crush on her made her feel special somehow. But now, she knew that he didn't. And strangely enough, it felt like she'd lost something.

Cree noticed that her little sister was lost in her thoughts, so she touched her shoulder again. "Don't worry about Hoagie. There'll be someone else. Wait until you get to Middle School!" Cree ignored Numbuh Five's grimace. "And here's some big sister advice. When you have your period, never wear white. Don't do any handstands. And always have one of these." Cree reached under her bed and handed Numbuh Five a plastic packet.

Numbuh Five read the package. "What's this?"

"Just put one in your underwear whenever you go to the bathroom during your period. They're for the blood…they're like…like band-aids. For down there."

Numbuh Five raised her eyebrows but tucked the packet under her arm.

"Now, get out of my room!"

Meanwhile, a lens retracted from its perch on Cree's windowsill. Numbuh One and Numbuh Two were crouched, hidden in a bush on the side of Numbuh Five's house.

"Did you see what it said?" asked the leader.

"Yeah, but I think we're going to need the L.U.N.C.H.B.O.C.K.S. for this." Numbuh Two scratched his head. "Unless you know what PADS means."

transmission interrupted