CODE MODULE

Is he ever going to shut up?

Hoagie had been going out of his mind, listening to Numbuh 4 going on about Numbuh 3 for the past hour. He was beginning to wish he didn't have to share a room with this guy. It hadn't been so bad at first, Numbuh 4 had come off as being one of those strong-silent types that kept to themselves and usually made for good roommates since they didn't pester those around them with gossip, personal feelings or the many things going on in their heads. Numbuh 4 used to spend the day doing martial arts and listening to lectures on terrorist activity, sometimes he would actually laugh at the jokes that Numbuh 2 gave.
Now he was just ranting non-stop about this girl. It wasn't that Numbuh 2 wasn't glad that his friend felt so strongly for someone; he just didn't feel it was necessary that he too be involved in the affair.

What did Numbuh 3 do to him? Why's he so smitten, so energized, so annoying?

"…I mean she's smart, she's beautiful… my God is she beautiful! …and that giggle of hers could turn a cloudy sky blue and sunny…"

And suddenly Numbuh 4 just stopped.

HALLELUJAH! Numbuh 2 could hear a choir singing in his head.

"Numbuh 4, dude? Something wrong?"

"Yeah there's something wrong," Numbuh 4 sounded almost angry. "I've been going on and on about this girl for like an hour."

…1 hour and 27 minutes actually…

"Well obviously you feel something for her and you have some things to say."

"Yeah but it's just, that isn't really my style. I mean I'm usually pretty reserved about my feelings. And I've never felt things like this for a girl before. I mean I had a girlfriend while I was in Australia and a few during high school, but it was never much more than a friendship with some benefits. And I've certainly never fallen head-over-heals for a girl after a few weeks before."

"Well she's as you described her, smart, beautiful, funny and all that jazz. What's not to like?"

"It just doesn't seem quite natural. I mean she and I get along so well it's almost creepy. Like I know how she'll react to certain things and she can guess how I'll react to certain things, I mean what is that?"

A clue that you're thinking too much and should give it a rest already!

"I don't know Numbuh 4, but maybe you should tell her how that makes you feel."

"WHAT! I can't do that, then she'll think I'm…"

"…Weird." Said Numbuh 5 over in the room she shared with Numbuh 3. "That's all I can say girl, weird."

Numbuh 3 had been behaving much the same way as Numbuh 4, going on and on about how she felt and all the wonderful qualities he had. And Numbuh 5 had feelings very similar to those of Numbuh 2: ...please stop, give it a rest had been repeated in her head more times than she cared to remember.

"I just don't understand it Numbuh 5… I mean there's something about the two of us that just feels right. And it doesn't make sense. We only met a few weeks ago, but you'd think we were old friends reunited after a couple years separation. And also, it's like we're nothing alike:
He's morose and taciturn, I consider myself pretty pleasant and extroverted."

And talkative too… Abby thought

"He's really violent a lot of the time and I pride myself on being gentle. He wants to outdo and outshine everyone, he's boisterous, he's often rude and insensitive and… and what's really weird is, I like him that way."

"Well Numbuh 3 there's that saying that opposites attract. Just be careful you don't get hurt."

"What do you mean Numbuh 5?"

"Well come on Numbuh 3, let's be honest: do you really know him?"

"Sure I know him Numbuh 5, what kind of question is that? He and I are teammates and we both go to the same university, and... and…"

"Does he like dogs or cats? Is he the oldest, youngest or what rank in his family? Does he drink orange juice straight from the bottle and leave it uncapped? Does he cry at a romantic movie…"

"Numbuh 5 what are you talking about?"

"Just saying you know a few basic things about him, but you don't really know him on a deep, personal level. And it's not your fault, I mean the way we're directed by Base Command it's almost as if we aren't allowed to learn much of anything about each other. I know you like him Numbuh 3, (anyone with eyes or ears could tell that) but ask yourself, do you know him?"

Numbuh 3 opened her mouth to answer, but closed it again when she found she didn't know how to answer that. She cared a lot about this boy, more than infatuation or a schoolgirl crush. But she had to concede to Numbuh 5's logic – the fact was she didn't know this boy, even his name was a secret.

Numbuh 3 lay on her bunk bed and clutched one of the Rainbow Monkeys she had smuggled into her backpack when she had received the message from the DAFDTL. She held it tight to her chest and cried a few silent and bitter tears into her pillow, feeling an overwhelming sense of isolation and solitude. Numbuh 5 wasn't going to help her here, and though a part of her wanted to go seek Numbuh 4 for sympathy she knew it was a silly notion.

The fact was, she didn't know him.

She'd kissed him, cuddled with him, shared the embrace of two people in love, and all this without even knowing his name. Though he had some unique facets to him, he was still just a Numbuh to her, and it was when she realized this that she became aware that she too was just a Numbuh to him. He didn't say "Hi Kuki", "Nice job, Kuki", "You're really neat Kuki." No he called her Numbuh 3, she was a quantity, an impersonal Numbuh, and a small one at that. And she wanted for him to think of her as more. She wanted to be someone of quality rather than quantity, and knowing that she wasn't made her cry even more.

Why am I crying so much over this? She thought. Sure I'm emotional, sure I've cried many times before, but never so much for just one person. Why am I acting this way? I'll bet Numbuh 4 isn't behaving like this.

But he was. He wasn't outwardly crying, Wally had learned how to ignore physical pain and it had helped him equally in ignoring emotional pain as well, but he was lying on his bed with a grim expression, sad to think that he and Numbuh 3 were so distant. She was as much an enigma to him as he must have appeared to her, and it saddened him. He wanted to know this girl, he wanted to know her and be known by her with a name rather than a Numbuh. He didn't want their association with one another to end when next March came around and their job in the DAFDTL ended, he wanted to remain in contact, be her friend and see her around university after classes and on weekends. He wanted to be more than a friend if she liked him as he liked her.

Wally didn't want to keep wallowing in misery so he tried to find another way to keep himself occupied. And after focusing on romance and feelings he had come to notice a few things about the other members of the team that interested him. He decided to test his theory on his roommate:

"Hey Numbuh 2? That Numbuh 5 is pretty cool, huh?"

Hoagie sat up with a jolt. "I thought you were interested in Numbuh 3, or was that whole sermon just for kicks?"

"I didn't say I wasn't interested in Numbuh 3, I just think that Numbuh 5 is pretty cool and I was just curious if you thought so too... don't have to get all defensive."

"I'M NOT GETTING DEFENSIVE." Numbuh 2 checked himself. "But… uh, well I guess Numbuh 5 is… uh, pretty cool, yeah. I don't know she's pretty secretive."

With a mischievous grin, Numbuh 4 decided now was the time to rattle his friend's cage. "I think Numbuh 1 has a thing for her."

Numbuh 2 shot a startled glance at him. He had read enough spy and mystery novels to know that Numbuh 4 was trying to bait him, but he decided to go for it anyway.
"What do you mean?"

"Well just the way he looks at her whenever she and I are training, and how he always volunteers to help her get into her body armor or grappling harnesses. Remember yesterday after she and I finished our workout and she couldn't unzip her jumpsuit? He helped unzip her down to her shorts and sports bra, I saw him taking forever to stand up again and he had his eyes glued to her the whole time. Even Numbuh 3 commented on it afterwards about how he was staring."

Numbuh 2 was feeling his blood pressure rise, but aside from clenching his fists he did his best not to betray any of his hidden feelings to Numbuh 4. "Well I imagine he's just trying to be helpful. That's how he leads."

Numbuh 2 began to think back to the missions when he and Numbuh 1 were observing the team through their cameras and he remembered, out of the corner of his eye, Numbuh 1 had most often had his focus on Numbuh 5's camera. And he remembered Numbuh 1 always looked at Numbuh 4's camera when it faced Numbuh 5 during a fight. And then when they had been driving or flying to and from a mission area Numbuh 1 had always ask questions of Numbuh 5.

Hoagie had never had any really serious girlfriends, and his few crushes had never been very successful. Mostly he didn't think much about it, but he was still a guy and naturally thought about it from time to time. He felt something for Numbuh 5 sure, but he didn't think it was love. Nothing like what Numbuh 4 obviously felt for Numbuh 3. For him it was something kind of like brother and sister love, but it still had that possibility of deeper feeling and intimacy. And imagining Numbuh 1 having feelings for Numbuh 5 gave him a bit of heartache and feeling of inferiority and inadequacy. Why wasn't he good enough? Did she like Numbuh 1 more than him?

Numbuh 5 sat on her bed reading a magazine, Numbuh 3 hadn't moved since she first lay down on her bed and started crying, and aware that she had little strength in improving people's feelings, Numbuh 5 had decided to leave her alone.

ARE YOU'RE CO-WORKERS ATTRACTED TO YOU? was the title of the article she was reading. Normally she would just skip over something cheesy like that, but for some reason she stopped to give it a quick perusal. It mentioned how a man or woman could tell if someone in their workplace was coming onto them:

1) excessive attention
2) offers to assist, especially in any physical activity
3) invitations to events beyond the scope of the workplace

…and so on…

Numbuh 5 thought about that and how it had applied to her before. She'd served in several cafés over her college residence and she'd done some office work with files and orders at the hospital where her dad worked, and inevitably in all those places there had been someone, either a passerby or a regular employee that had made an advance at her, inviting her to drinks, asking her to for her number or trying some pathetic pick-up line. Even one of her female co-workers had once made advances to her.
She'd never been harassed as far as she was concerned, but it had come awfully close sometimes.

And for some reason she began to think of her current predicament and her relation to her peers on the team. Numbuh 3 certainly had been very respectful of personal space as soon as she learned the boundaries, and Numbuh 4 was very honorable and had never made her feel uncomfortable or made any insinuations at being attracted to her.

But what about Numbuh 1 and Numbuh 2?

Numbuh 1 was usually quite honorable like Numbuh 4 and very respectful, but what about all those times he had been watching her train with Numbuh 4, or when she had had difficulty getting suited up, and he had jumped at the chance to help her, once even unzipping her suit and seeing her in a minimal amount of clothing. He certainly hadn't been harassing her, but he'd shown no hesitancy in getting close to her physically.

And Numbuh 2? He'd been quite talkative around her, often talking about his job in the service, cracking stupid puns and jokes to get a laugh out of her, and often failing. Was he interested in her too? Was Abby reading too much into this? He'd never been indecent around her or harassed her, but what were his feelings? For that matter what were hers?

She certainly didn't dislike any of her teammates, sure Numbuh 4 could get on her case about her combat technique and Numbuh 3's girly-girl attitude sometimes clashed with Abby's more feminist principles and views, but there had certainly never been anything that had fostered dissent.

And Abby was not in opposition to Numbuh 2 being in the military, she didn't have any world peace ideals and understood his need to pay for college and help out in his family, but she did find Numbuh 1's occupation of teaching to be more humanitarian and in some ways more respectable. And Numbuh 2's personality left some things to be desired, particularly in his humor, but he wasn't the work-a-holic, control-freak that Numbuh 1 was. She liked both of them for who they were, and had respect for them and their individual expertise, but it didn't feel like anything more than that. Nothing romantic, although that was a norm with Abby. Importance had a distinct hierarchy 1) family, 2) career, 3) friends... and relationships were way down, near the bottom of that list.

As the four teammates sat on their respective beds in their gender-specific rooms a siren went off and red lights all around the complex started flashing. Numbuh 3 and Numbuh 5 shrieked, Numbuh 2 got up with composure, unfazed by the lights and noise since he had gotten used to such things in his service training and Numbuh 4 flew off his bed and crouched in a position ready to fight.

"DAFDTL Agents Two, Three, Four and Five report to the briefing room." Came Numbuh 1's voice over the loudspeaker.

The operatives filed into the briefing room, the adrenaline spike from the sirens was wearing off and they were settling down again. Numbuh 1 sat at the head of the table and passed out a set of folders to his teammates.

"We're going big time now you guys. Base Command said that this mission is Top-Priority and is going to need all of us at the top of our game to succeed."

Numbuh 4 had a simple reaction: "Sweet."

Numbuhs 2, 3 and 5 were a little shaken by this opening statement, but everyone was ready to be given their assignment.

"In each of your respective folders are the particulars of your part in the mission, but first, lets go over the basic tenets. Command says that the KND have a massive fortress of bunkers and ice-caves in the Arctic Circle…"

"Heh, maybe Global warming will take care of them before we do. Huh, get it, Global Warming?" cackled Numbuh 2.

Numbuh 3 was aghast: "Numbuh 2 you're right, we have to save those kids from Global Warming."

Numbuh 5 shook her head as she buried her face in her hands, "Man, you are hopeless."

"A'HEM! If I may continue… Command says that this is the KND's largest and most heavily guarded base, and we need to crack it, alone."

"All right, that's my kinda mission."

"Read over your assignment before you say anything more Numbuh 4. Now within that base is something called the Kids Next Door Code Module. It's a data storage device that contains information on all Kids Next Door Operatives past and present, as well as access codes to the Global Kids Next Door Infrastructure. Capturing this device and using it will allow Base Command to monitor Kids Next Door transmissions and intercept plans and missions specs for their whole organization. We capture that… (pointing to the picture of the Code Module on the screen)… and it's as good as putting a leash over the whole Kids Next Door Organization.
"This mission will be highly dangerous and we expect a fight with crack troops who will do anything to stop us from getting the Code Module. Make no mistake boys and girls this mission is as serious as it gets."

"Way to rally everyone's enthusiasm boss," was Numbuh 5's sarcastic response.

"O-oh… too cool. Come on what are we waiting for, we're all here, we're all ready so let's go now, come on guys let's go, let's go, let's go!" Numbuh 4's eyes were wide and he was so excited he was beginning to hyperventilate.

"Stow it Numbuh 4," Numbuh 2 replied, "take a look at the fine print in the mission specs, mission is tomorrow morning at 0700 hours."

"All that build-up for nothing…" and Numbuh 4 proceeded to spew profanities under his breath.

"Right, now I think that's all you need for now team. Read over your specs thoroughly, our success may be dependent upon it. If anyone has any questions I'll be in my cell and you can ask me, or you can try to ask Base Command, but they may not be around, they usually go out to tea at two o'clock. Dismissed."

And Numbuh 1 returned to his cell. The operatives began reading through their specs, Numbuh 2 with the methodical precision of a serviceman, Numbuh 3 with the diligence of a nurse, Numbuh 4 with the excitement and unrestrained emotion of a fighter, and Numbuh 5 with the reserve and calm that was naturally in her character. As they gazed over their individual assignments Numbuhs 2 and 5 took some deep breaths as the gravity of their assignments sunk in, Numbuh 3 was a little nervous after hearing the lecture from Numbuh 1 and Numbuh 4's grin just kept growing as he read.

As it went, Numbuh 1 would land with Numbuhs 3 and 4 and provide a diversion at the main entrance. Numbuhs 1 and 3 would draw enemy fire while Numbuh 4 would work to disrupt the Kids Next Door operatives by attacking them where he found the chance. While this was going on, Numbuh 5 would proceed through one of the ventilator shafts, take down the guards around the Code Module Safe, then with Numbuh 1's directions she'd enter the access codes to unlock the Safe and retrieve the Code Module. All this time Numbuh 2 would provide air support and try to take some of the heat off the Diversion Team by drawing some of the fire to his various decoy maneuvers.

It was a well-conceived plan, but there were many risks involved. If Numbuh 2's craft were disabled, the team would be trapped. If Numbuh 5 couldn't get passed the guards, the mission would be a failure. If she couldn't access the computer, the mission would be a failure. If the Code Module were in any way damaged it would be useless and the mission, a failure. Numbuh 2 and 5 were a little overwhelmed by these chances and were starting to grow a little apprehensive since so much hung on their performance, Numbuh 4 however was still excited about the chance to really cut loose with his fighting and have a real challenge. Numbuh 3 was a little scared, since now her job wasn't just to draw attention, but fire, bullets and more.

The team's greatest mission was about to take off…

Author's note: Sorry to leave you hanging, but the Arctic Base chapter will be a blast, and the rest of the story is gonna get even better... I promise... and thank you all for the reviews, keep 'em coming...