Author's Notes: It's been forever since I've updated, I know… darn job! Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this installment. Some questions get answered, some more get raised…please tell me what you think!

connection re-established

Numbuh Three used the edge of a tongue depressor to part Numbuh Five's hair so that she could apply an antiseptic ointment to the wounds on her scalp. Two scraped elbows and a nasty bump on the head—Numbuh One'd said something about a cushion, or a cussion, or something. One of those bad things that happened when a person hit their head. He wanted to know when Numbuh Five woke up. Numbuh Three screwed the top onto the jar of ointment. Since they'd brought her to med-lab nearly an hour ago, Numbuh Five hadn't stirred. She was breathing okay. Numbuh Three made sure to watch the rise and fall of her shoulders. And ooh, she looked so pretty with her hair down! A bit of Rainbow Monkey Berry Lip Balm and…no, no, now was not the time for a makeover, Numbuh Three scolded herself. She was just trying not to think of sad things. Like what would happen if Numbuh Five didn't wake up soon.

"Numbuh Five," she whispered, pushing away a crinkly lock of hair that had fallen across Numbuh Five's eye, "please wake up. I only really know first aid. I don't know what to do…and if you don't wake up, I'll have to call 911 and Numbuh One'll get really mad…" she paused, hoping to see indignance, consciousness, something on Numbuh Five's face. She looked peaceful. And eerily still. "There's…there was something I was going to ask you about and I was going to make you promise not to tell but you can't promise if you're not awake so you better wake up."

"All right," came Numbuh Five's voice, gruff and thready. "I promise. Lay it on me."

"Numbuh Five!" Numbuh Three squealed and hugged her friend's prone body. "Are you okay?"

"Why is that everybody's favorite question?" Numbuh Five pushed up with her palms, wincing, and turned herself over. "What's this secret?"

"Oh, it's nothing. No big deal. Let me go get Numbuh One and tell him you're okay."

"Wait." Numbuh Five grabbed her arm before she could hop up from the bed. "You don't have to. Numbuh Five's fine."

"But he said to make sure to get him as soon as you woke up."

"Yeah, but you know Numbuh One. He probably wanted to make sure I filled out a req form for the M.A.R.B.L.E. he gave me."

"I don't know, he seemed really worried and grumbly…"

"All right, all right." Numbuh Five sighed. "Could it wait a minute, though? I, uh, Numbuh Five's gotta take a trip to the little girl's room for a sec."

"Oh yeah. There's something…something else I was going to ask you."

"Yeah?"

Numbuh Three looked at her friend's face. "You…you got your period, didn't you?"

Numbuh Five froze. "How did you…how can…can you tell?

Numbuh Three shook her head emphatically. "No, no. It's just, my mom already told me about the monthlies and that's what she called it, 'becoming a woman.' When the Delightful Children from Down the Lane yelled that at you, I remembered, and I remembered the other night, and…I figured it out." She looked sheepish.

Numbuh Five was silent for a long moment. "No one can know," she said quietly. "If anybody else figures it out…becoming a woman…that's worse than becoming a teenager, they'll—"

"No, it's not the same thing! My mom said it's how your body matures and girls mature sooner than boys do, but it doesn't make you any different. You're still a kid. You're still one of us."

Numbuh Five was briefly hit by a pang of sadness. Why hadn't her mother told her about any of this? She shook her head. "You don't…you're not…"

"No. Not yet." Numbuh Three could read her friend's sad eyes but she didn't know what to say. "My mom said even girls younger than 11 have had it happen, though, and I'm sure it'll happen to me some time and—"

"Please—just don't say anything about it. Okay?"

"Okay." She watched Numbuh Five get up and slowly move toward the door. "No wait. There's one more thing I want to say about it."

She turned around. "What?"

"How come…how come the Delightful Children from Down the Lane knew about it before you told me?"

Numbuh Five stared blankly for a moment. She hadn't told anyone…all of a sudden, her head was pounding again. She practically kicked the door open as she stormed out of the med-lab.

"Well, that sucked." Numbuh Four plopped down onto the couch, frowning. "What a bunch of jerks. If I didn't know any better I'd think they wanted us to destroy their dumb robot, but that's too dumb even for those Delightful dorks. Right, Numbuh One?"

"I think we might have to take her to the hospital." Numbuh One was pacing.

"The cruddy hos—? Wait, you're kidding right?" Numbuh Four jumped up. "I mean, you do remember what happened the last time we went there right?" He turned to Numbuh Two. "Did he hit his head too, and I just didn't see it?"

"Look, this is serious," Numbuh One snapped, his voice rising suddenly. He cleared his throat and he continued, "so unfortunately, we may not have a choice."

"It was just an accident!"

"Was it?" Numbuh Two, who had been strangely quiet, was sitting on the arm of the couch.

Numbuh Four whirled to face Numbuh Two. "You think those cruddy dorks meant for her to fall?"

"Maybe they didn't." Numbuh Two cast a pointed glance at the leader.

"But they said something!" He seized the idea, eager to blame the Delightful Children for something. "What was it they said? 'Congratulations on become a foreman? What's a foreman? What kind of cruddiness is—"

"Whatever it was, it's not our priority right now."

"Maybe it was fallman! 'Congratulations on becoming a fallman!' Or, 'Congratulations on becoming a fall, man!' Yeah! Those cruddy jerks! But why would they call Numbuh Five a man—"

"Numbuh Four!" Numbuh One shouted, just as Numbuh Two muttered "Give it a rest." He looked back and forth between the two of them. Numbuh Two was cynical and Numbuh One was agitated. Something wasn't right.

There was a loud bang of wood against wood and everyone's eyes shot to the med-lab door. Numbuh Five was charging toward the common room with that look on her face that Numbuh Three sometimes got, the flaming eyes, as Numbuh Four had come to think of it. That should have told him something but he was just happy to see her up. "Numbuh Five! Are you…hey, where are you going?"

"To my house." She didn't stop.

transmission interrupted