MISSION: SECTOR V

Author's Note - I hadn't originally planned for this chapter to include much romance, but it being Valentine's Day, I guess I got infected with the spirit. Hope you all enjoy it. I'm quite proud of this chapter...

Numbuhs 3 and 5 were moving back and forth on a long strip of the Training Room floor, dressed in full white fencing panoply. Numbuh 4 was simply dumbfounded: "You can't be serious guys: fencing?"

The two girls halted the bout and Numbuh 5 took off her mask. "Yes Fencing, Numbuh 4," she retorted.

"I won't deny, I'm bored too, but I can't believe you guys are wasting your time with that. You just keep moving back and forth. I mean come on Numbuh 5, you know no real fight is so... linear."

Numbuh 3, who had insisted on trying it since she was a very proficient fencer, came to the rescue of her friend and her favorite sport: "It's not about fighting Numbuh 4, it's about anticipating and reacting to your opponent, not forcing them around. Maybe you should try it."

"Try that? You gotta be kidding..."

"Yeah well you know I think it'd help." Numbuh 5 stated. "The only kind of style you ever use in a fight is aggressive and overpowering, and fencing could easily bypass a heavy attack like yours and give you a nice little cut." And she demonstrated by flicking the tip of her blade at his chest, which he brushed off with annoyance. "Come on Numbuh 4, you should try practicing a bit of this, it keeps you focused on your opponent's moves. And it teaches you how to retreat from an attack."

"The only person who should need to retreat from a fight is the one that can't handle it." Numbuh 4 brazenly declared.

"Huh," Numbuh 5 snorted. The fencing bout with Numbuh 3 hadn't satisfied her desire for fighting, so she decided to start up a duel of words with Numbuh 4. "And what if you meet an opponent like you who doesn't want to retreat? Just keeps fighting and fighting. Then what do you do?"

"Try something he's not expecting and win by surprise of course." Numbuh 4 answered.

"And what if she tries that before you do and you're not ready for it? If you can't retreat and you're busy trying to find a way to get around her defense how're you going to avoid gettin' beat or slashed?"

Numbuh 4 faltered in his speech as he tried to counter that argument, but of course he couldn't deny something so logical. For a moment he considered pointing out that his opponent might not be a girl, but he realized that that was a pretty weak comeback so he didn't say it. Numbuh 3 however didn't want to see either of her friends' feelings getting hurt, so she intervened before he made a complete fool of himself.

"Come on Numbuh 4, I'll do a few bouts with you. Better you try to fight an enemy your not used to and learn that strategy now than wait for the real world and learn the hard way."

Numbuh 4 brightened upon hearing this, and it did not go unnoticed by Numbuh 5. She smiled mischievously as she walked off the strip, removing her helmet and glove. She was about the same size as Numbuh 4, so she handed them to him, then unzipped her jacket and gave him that as well, and her underarm protector. She decided not to give him her pants since he was wearing his Kung Fu pants and they would provide him with all the flexibility he'd need. As she gave him her sword, making sure to check that he was holding it properly, she whispered out of the side of her mouth so only he would hear her:

"Remember to try and retreat if you see her parrying your attack, she can move like a lightning bolt on the repost."

"Can't I just knock her foil out of the way?"

"Trust me, her blade will dodge anything you try to throw. Oh, and... be gentle with her." She gave him a mock face of pleading and a quick little wink. Numbuh 4 felt his face burning up. He tried to put his helmet on before Numbuh 3 could see his face, but Numbuh 5 stopped him.

"Well you know you can't put that on before you bow to your opponent." And she tilted her head in the direction of Numbuh 3 where she stood on the strip. Numbuh 5 chuckled and gave Numbuh 4 a reassuring pat on the shoulder as she headed for the locker room.

Numbuh 4 walked onto the strip, gave a quick bow, trying to avoid Numbuh 3's eyes and put on his helmet before she could catch a glance of his beet-red face. She bowed much more cordially with an elegant twisting of her blade before she fitted her helmet over her head. Numbuh 4 was already sweating and he hadn't even started the fight. Were his feelings really that obvious? Did Numbuh 3 know he felt that way? Obviously she knew he liked her quite a lot, but did she know it was more than that? If Numbuh 5 could tell just by his behavior...

Numbuh 3 placed her helmet over her head and settled into her en-guarde position with her left hand held out limply behind her. She felt excited, not only getting to do something physical, but something physical with Numbuh 4 and she felt herself blush under her mask at that thought. She was a little curious about what Numbuh 5 had told him when she whispered in his ear before he entered the strip.

Probably tips on how to beat me. Thanks Numbuh 5... she thought. But a little strange, as soon as Numbuh 5 had finished talking, Numbuh 4 had started turning red and struggled to cover it up with his helmet. ...Why'd he turn so red? Is he embarrassed about something?

The two started fighting, Numbuh 4 would often lunge forward with heavy steps, coming through with immense power, and then Numbuh 3 would lightly parry and repost to his chest. After she had scored five points and Numbuh 4 was starting to bash his helmet to wake himself and keep focus she began to think maybe it was hurting him to be losing so much. She tried to lighten up and move a little slower, giving him a chance to get a few points. Despite slowing considerably, Numbuh 4 was moving too heavy to get inside Numbuh 3's target zone and was further frustrated by her uncanny ability to parry his attack and repost to his chest.

After another ten minutes in which Numbuh 4 was only able to land two blows, and only because Numbuh 3 essentially let him, he started to move a little faster and started to get into the flow of retreating after making an attack and parrying an attack without forcing the blade so much. Numbuh 3 quickened her pace and eventually the two opponents went into a long bout that lasted several minutes where both kept advancing and retreating, only tapping one another's blades and no one daring to make a lunge. Numbuh 4 was the first to get aggravated by this stalemate and took the initiative to attempt a full lunge at Numbuh 3. She backed up easily, then countered, but he was just able to recover before she could land a blow as she had so many times previously.

Then when Numbuh 3 made a lunge, Numbuh 4 decided not to retreat and use his larger physical frame to stop her advance. A simple and effective move for some other style of fighting, but not akin to the finesse of fencing. The result was the crossing of blades, the tangling of feet, and both fencers falling over, Numbuh 3 landing on top of Numbuh 4. Both were relieved that none of their other teammates had been watching as they figured it must've looked pretty ridiculous.

They both started laughing, and Numbuh 4 slid off his mask to signal a temporary end to the bout. Numbuh 3 followed step. Her long hair cascaded out from her helmet like a waterfall and fell around her shoulders. Numbuh 4 found it very seductive.

"Um... sorry." She said through her giggling.

"No it was... it was my fault." He was still chuckling, but tripping over his words as he tried to speak. "I thought I could get away without, uh... without retreating and... and uh..."

Numbuh 4 stopped there as the nature of his physical juxtaposition had made itself fully apparent to him. He and Numbuh 3 were both winded from the intensity of the bout and dripping with sweat. He gazed into her eyes and felt her deep, steady breathing on his face, and the hard breastplate she wore as it pressed into his chest. Her innocent, girlish smile started to disappear, and the more serious and mature expresson of a young woman took its place as she lowered her face to the point where their noses almost touched. Their breathing quickened ever so slightly as they both sensed each other's proximity, but for a few moments neither dared even budge.

Numbuh 4 knew that it would be more difficult for him to move first since he'd have to curl his neck forward and wouldn't be able to hold for very long, but he did it anyway; drawing in air through his nose rather noisely as he locked lips with his opponent and slid his ungloved left hand up her arm and around her back. Rather than retreat or hold steady where she was, Numbuh 3 slid her ungloved hand around Numbuh 4's head and slowly lowered him to the floor as she returned and deepened the kiss. She slid one leg over his body and straddled his midsection as she brought her now empty glove hand around the other side of his head and held him tight to her face as she drew the sweet pleasure from his lips. He countered by sliding his other arm around her back and held her with gentle firmness.

Any misgivings that Numbuh 3 and Numbuh 4 had had about the idea of being something more than friends diminished right there on the practice floor. While he held her back and shoulders she gingerly craddled his head and neck, and both kept their eyes shut and relaxed.

It was amazing really... two people who'd only known each other a couple of months and had exchanged very little talk with one another, now held each other as lovers. Romeo and Juliet couldn't have given a more convincing spectacle of young love.

Neither of the them wanted that moment of near heavenly bliss to end, but regrettably, Numbuh 1 had some other plans for the day and his voice on the intercom brought the romantic interlude to a screeching halt.

"Attention DAFDTL Operatives 2, 3, 4 and 5, report to the briefing room, new mission specs have just come in from Base Command."

After the team had entered and settled into their seats, Numbuh 4, who was a little annoyed at the timing of the meeting and what it had interrupted, took the liberty of asking Numbuh 1 a very impertinent question, "So, where have our oh-so-wise directors decided to send us now?"

"Probably back to school and studies if you don't watch the attitude Numbuh 4." Numbuh 1 warned him. "We have a mid/high-level assignment today crew. We're headed to Cleveland to take care of a Kids Next Door stronghold that's been harassing the community for months now. Base Command says it's something of a personal score to be settled."

"A Kids Next Door stronghold in Cleveland?" Numbuh 3 was shocked.

"Indeed Numbuh 3. And it's equipped with some of the most high tech weapons and defense systems in the whole Kids Next Door arsenal. Not to mention it's manned by five of the organization's top operatives. It'll be our biggest mission since the Arctic Base, but it shouldn't be as delicate, we're not supposed to retrieve anything vital on this mission…"

Most everyone let out a sigh of relief. Numbuh 2 because he wouldn't have to be so careful with his equipment, Numbuh 3 since she wouldn't have to keep up such a long distraction and Numbuh 5 since she wouldn't have so much responsibility weighing on her shoulders. The only one who looked disappointed was Numbuh 4.

"Man, they spoiled us with that mission for the Code Module. How do they expect us to have any fun if we don't get anything at least as important as the Arctic Base mission? Ever since we stole that Code Module everything just turned dull, boring, low level and all the rest of it. We haven't had a good challenge for weeks now."

"Be careful what you wish for Numbuh 4, sometimes you get more of it than you can handle." Numbuh 2 cautioned.

"And in either case we aren't doing this mission for the fun of it Numbuh 4, we're doing it so we can protect the children of Cleveland from the influences and pressures of those Kids Next Door and their whole oppressive organization. I think that that's more important than our enjoyment in the mission. Anyway the job is simple… neutralize the defenses, disarm the enemy operatives, and then give the go ahead to some other DAFDTL agents to cut down the Treehouse and airlift it away."

"Do any of us have special mission specifications for this one?" asked Numbuh 5.

"Well the basic parameters are as I just stated Numbuh 5. Naturally we'll all be in our regular designations: Numbuh 4 will be in charge of leading the fight, Numbuh 3 will be responsible for distracting the operatives and defenses, and you will be responsible for lending aid to Numbuh 4 and hacking into their computer system and disabling the Treehouse's defenses. And so for that you have a few codes to remember… Base Command found them on the Code Module."

And Numbuh 1 slid a folder across the table and into Numbuh 5's hands.

"You should be able to commit all of those to memory on the flight there... oh and as usual, Numbuh 2 and I will direct you from the surveillance van, and in the event of something unexpected or disastrous, we'll provide direct aid."

"Sounds pretty straightforward," replied Numbuh 3. Everyone was surprised that their most peaceable, conflict avoiding operative was OK with the mission. After several weeks it seemed the responsibility had begun to grow on her.

"Well then, everyone get suited up and I'll see you on the runway in about, uh… half an hour." Numbuh 1 concluded.

"Hey one more thing," Numbuh 2 asked. "Did Base Command mention why we're going after this base in particular? I mean on all our other missions it was either to get us into the mode of working as a team or to isolate a really big threat or gather information, why are they sending us to take care of just five kids in Cleveland?"

"Like I said Numbuh 2, they told me it's a score to be settled."

"Huh, and the higher-up fat cats are making it our problem. Typical." Numbuh 5 muttered under her breath, but she smiled a bit. She was excited to be the only one trusted with a special assignment.

Numbuh 1 took his leave and entered his room while the others each went their separate ways to prepare for the mission. His room was significantly different from the others, 'the benefits and responsibilities of a leader' was how he viewed it. The room had a single bed in one corner, with a small nightstand and a desk beside it with a simple halogen lamp and a laptop. It looked an awful lot like his freshman dorm room, but it was just the corner and comprised only about a quarter of his overall room.

The walls all around his room flickered with the images from security footage of the base and the airport above, as well as surveillance images of DAFDTL satellites spying on Kids Next Door bases and activities from space all over the world.

Most of the rest of the domicile was taken up by a wooden table, covered with photos of Kids Next Door operatives and facilities, and strewn with documents about Kids Next Door procedures and identities of operatives all over the world. These last documents had mostly come in the last few days since Base Command had locked up the Code Module and only provided him with information as he necessitated it.

Numbuh 1 and the rest of his team had no direct access to the Code Module. He wasn't sure, but it seemed Base Command was as keen as keeping him and his team from accessing the device as they were about keeping the Kids Next Door from seizing it back. And why that was he could not discern, despite his uncanny ability to see things from other people's point of view. But he took it to mean that the secrets on the Code Module were too important to be so freely available... especially to part-time operatives. He reminded himself, We're just here until March.

Nigel sat down at his great table of documents and looked up at the flickering walls, watching planes landing on the runway above, the Kids Next Door operatives laying low and not making much of a stir in their Treehouses. He unconsciously found his gaze going back to the Training Room video feed. He'd made no mention of it, but he'd seen Numbuh 3 and Numbuh 4 in their little tryst and the passionate embrace in which the two lovers had locked themselves. He actually hadn't planned on having the team meeting for another ten minutes, but the fierceness of their cuddling and kissing had prompted him to stop them before it went any further. Afterall they were shortly about to go on a mission.

Still, that's probably going to need some addessing later. He thought.

...then something else caught his eye.

Numbuh 5 was walking down the residence corridor, shoulder to shoulder with Numbuh 2. Not for the first time Nigel found it difficult to take his eyes of Numbuh 5 and focus on his duties and responsibilities.

He'd been feeling strange being in Numbuh 5's presence these past several weeks. He thought of her as being very physically attractive, a little shrewd at times, but overall pleasing company. Strange but he often found himself looking for ways to help her or talk with her, or even just be close to her. And in so doing he had also noticed that Numbuh 2 was quick to call his attention back to his duties and away from her.

Does he like her and want me to back off? For that matter do I like Numbuh 5 in that way?

Nigel was not a particularly apt man in the ways of women and romance. He had had one rather serious relationship while in middle school with a rather controlling girlfriend named Lizzie. Most people found her rather annoying, but he had enjoyed her company and her steadfast commitment to him, despite the fact that she was often a little overbearing in nature (one of the few things they shared in common). He had respected Lizzie, mostly because she was the one person that could really bring out his soft-side, and at times her overbearing nature made her something of a 'worthy-adversary', and this had made the relationship stable as far as it's longevity, but not particularly strong or close for the majority of the time.

Nigel hadn't had any serious relationship since then, he had always been on the lookout for a girl that was able to in someways, control him as Lizzie had. Not that he liked to be controlled, but he was so used to being in control of others and overseeing the doings of others he kind of liked having someone to take care of him.

Is that why I like Numbuh 5? Cause she reminds me of Lizzie? Cause I think of her as being a kind of 'worthy adversary'?

Though Nigel couldn't make much sense of his own feelings, he knew he was feeling something as he watched Numbuh 5 walk side-by-side with Numbuh 2. Was it envy?

Grrr… Why am I wasting my time thinking about these things? He snapped at himself. We're in the middle of a war with terrorist children and I'm bothering away my time with thoughts and feelings about romance and inter-team relationships? Come on Nigel, GET A GRIP MAN!

He turned away from the monitor and proceeded to gather his equipment for the mission to the Cleveland Treehouse. Sector V was what he had read in the printout from Base Command. Strange but it sounded very familiar.

Sector V: Where have I heard that before… he pondered.

Hoagie had parted from Numbuh 5 at her room and gone to the hangar and started packing weapons, tools and a plethora of surveillance and communication technology that he was sure would be needed for this mission.

He'd failed in his attempt to evoke a laugh out of her at one of his jokes, but nonetheless he'd enjoyed their short sojourn. It made him feel …close.

I wonder what the guys back home would think if they could see me now?

Indeed, two months ago he had been the mild-mannered Hoagie Gilligan, an ROTC student serving in the Air Force, working his way through school and trying for a degree in Criminal Justice. He'd been into Private Eye novels, chilidogs and even old Erector sets from the local hobby shop. And though he still enjoyed all those things it was hard to picture the two different lives being lived by the same person.

But this life here feels so right… why's that? He wondered.

Kuki was now in the room she shared with Numbuh 5 and had begun to suit up in her black and green combat suit.

She had intended to suit up in the locker room that was just off of the Weapons Storage Locker since most of the gear she used was stored there. But Numbuh 4 had gotten there first and started to strip out of his street clothes and into his combat suit.

She had walked in on him after he had taken off his shirt and jeans. He had changed into an athletic supporter before she opened the door, so his privacy hadn't been completely compromised, but it had nonetheless been a rather awkward moment for both of them. She had entered without knocking, and when she saw him, pale, muscular and half naked, she'd lost hold of her conscious self and just stood staring at him for a good space of time. He too had frozen upon seeing her enter and had failed to react for some time as well.

Then, after what seemed ages of shocked and embarrassed staring, Kuki blinked her eyes, turned and left.

When she got back to her own room her heart was pounding in her throat and she felt as though her lungs were sliding down into her abdominal cavity. Over the past couple of weeks she had toyed with her own little fantasies of seeing Numbuh 4 in such a revealing state, and after what the two of them had just done in the training room, that fantasy had grown more perceptible than ever. But her walking in and seeing him had been so unexpected, and though it would have been a bit awkward regardless of the original pretext, she wished she had done something other than freeze, stare and then leave without a word. What she would've said she wasn't sure:

But better to say at least something than just walk away as though he weren't worth even apologizing too. She condemned herself.

The truth was Kuki didn't feel sorry at all for seeing him, she had enjoyed it, but still she wished she had said she was sorry, if only for the social convention of being polite. She wanted to go grab her Rainbow Monkey from under her pillow and cuddle with it for a few minutes, but at that moment, Numbuh 5 entered the room and she decided to finish suiting up and try to forget about what happened.

But she knew she couldn't.

After having had Numbuh 3 walk in on him and then turn around and leave without a word, Wally felt many things. Embarrassed by his state of appearance before her, incensed by her silence and in some ways hurt by it as well. But then what had he expected her to say or do?

Oh Numbuh 4! You're so hot, I want you so badly…
"Get real moron." He vocally berated himself for his somewhat perverse thoughts.

But why was it that awkward?
...Because it was more than just any girl walking in on any guy. It was Numbuh 3 walking in on me.
Yeah so? Why does that make any difference?
...What were the two of us doing just before the briefing?

Though Wally still felt there was plenty more to be examined as far as what had happened in that situation he let his internal argument slide as he continued to dress himself. He knew he had a lot of responsibility to his teammates. Despite his subordinate role in the team's hierarchy he was technically responsible for their overall protection. Any fight for one of his teammates was a fight for him as well and he would have to help and protect them all, regardless of the risk to himself.

Come on there mate you're not just a lazy college student anymore. You're Numbuh 4, and you're a "combat leader" now boyo, keep your head in the game or it might leave without you. And in a fight like this it might do that in more ways than one.

Wally finished strapping on his black, orange-striped body armor, took his black, orange striped gloves in his hands without putting them on, and proceeded to the hangar; a little nervous about how he was going to deal with sitting next to Numbuh 3 on the flight. He expected a great deal of awkwardness lay ahead.

When Abby had gone back to her room, Numbuh 2 had proceeded to walk alongside her. Nothing unusual about that since their rooms were in the same corridor and the corridor led straight to the hangar anyway, but she couldn't help but remind herself of that reflection she had made of herself and her teammates all those weeks ago. And the fact that she had left her feelings for Numbuh 2 somewhat open-ended came to the forefront of her thoughts.

As Numbuh 2 had walked with her he had made a clear effort to elicit many things. For one he'd tried to get a rise out of her when he cracked a joke about Cleveland and how he planned 'cleave' the 'land' beneath the Kids Next Door Treehouse. A pretty stupid pun that was typical of Numbuh 2.

As they walked, Numbuh 2 somewhat deviated from his straight course and rubbed his shoulder up against hers. Besides her very powerful 'woman's intuition', Abby knew it was an intentional advance by the fact that Numbuh 2 was a military serviceman and was naturally able to walk a perfect line, due to his training. He would've only bumped into her (or more to the point, massaged her shoulder with his own) if it had been intentional.

At first Abby didn't know how to react. Normally if it were any of the many guys that hit on her at school she would've side-stepped a little to create a wider space between her and them so they would know she didn't want to be touched. But instead she sensed herself taking a step in the opposite direction, towards him! And before she really knew what she was doing, she gave a little push back. It was very subtle and whether or not he took it to heart she was unaware. Regardless, she took it to mean that as far as she was concerned, this man didn't put her off and she wasn't afraid to flirt a little.

When she parted from Numbuh 2 and went to her room she opened the door and found Numbuh 3 was staring at the wall blankly as she was dressing into her uniform; her characteristic smile replaced by a look of melancholy and seeming regret. Abby knew instantly that her friend was having something of a dilemma and though she felt something of an almost sisterly attachment to Numbuh 3 and wanted to comfort her, she decided to just go about preparing herself for the mission and wait for Numbuh 3 to speak.

But she didn't.

As the sun slowly rose, and began creeping past the skyscrapers, casting its rays on the runway, the DAFDTL Commanders themselves emerged as one, five-bodied individual out on the airstrip to bid goodbye to the team as they set off on their flight to Cleveland. It was one of the few times that Numbuhs 1 through 5 had seen the DAFDTL Commanders since they first arrived two months ago, and this was the first time the DAFDTL had ever come out of the base to bid the team goodbye, good luck or good anything.

"As Numbuh 1 made clear in your briefing, this mission is of great importance to us as something of a score to be settled. Rest assured these terrorists, though few in number are crack operatives and will require your expertise to neutralize."

"Ha, now you're talking," was Numbuh 4's reply.

"Well then, Numbuh 1… good hunting."

Numbuh 1 out of the desire to appear cordial gave a small salute to his superiors before they turned and left the runway. Though he didn't have any qualms about having them as his superiors, sometimes Nigel felt that there was something odd about them. Almost something evil and twisted. I mean how do five people (who don't look anything alike) move with such synchronized coordination. They certainly weren't quintuplets, a couple of them looked to be at least a few years older than a couple others.

Numbuh 1 pushed it from his mind and put his focus on his team and the mission on which they were about to embark. His teammates had loaded their equipment into their prime vehicle (the helicopter) and strapped themselves in for takeoff. Numbuh 1 came up to the hatch door, looked in at his team and all that had been loaded to make sure that they hadn't forgotten anything.
Satisfied that all was as it should be he gave a curt nod to Numbuhs 4 and 5 who were seated closest to the door.

Numbuh 1 then hopped into the copilot's seat next to Numbuh 2 and strapped himself in.

"Everyone ready then?"

"Ready," came Numbuh 3's cheerful voice as she tightened the straps to her combat suit.

"Let's do it." Numbuh 4 replied as he slipped a glove over his right hand and cracked his knuckles in a tight fist.

"Rock n' Roll boss," Numbuh 5 answered as she adjusted her utility harness and slipped a mask around her neck.

"Right then. Numbuh 2, get us airborne."

"Sure thing chief."

The DAFDTL looked on from the safety of the hangar as Numbuhs 1 through 5 rose in their helicopter, turned westward toward Cleveland and set off with remarkable speed for which the helicopter was so well renowned.

"It's all going according to plan." They sniggered in their collective voice. "The legendary and infamous Numbuhs 1 through 5 of Sector V, decommissioned and unaware of their past, now on a mission to destroy their own Treehouse. It's almost too perfect for words."

And as the helicopter faded from sight, the quintet struck up a most sinister, and hauntingly inhuman laugh.

Author's Note: Buckle up and hold tight boys and girls, next chapter is the battle at Sector V... (pardon the cheesy sales pitch)
...please send in reviews, even just a couple brightens my whole day...