Chapter 17: The Proposition

The five kids all came through with their agreement and met up outside after school, breaking away from their respective crowds that had been following them around for much of the day. Climbing into Matt's truck, Jackie in the passenger seat and the other three girls barely having room to squeeze together in the backseat, they drove up out of town and into the woods in the general direction of where they had seen the ship crash.

"How are we going to even find our way there?" Matt asked as he got off the highway and pulled onto a two-lane back road that wound its way through the hills, past where the tree line began. "We're probably going to have to leave the truck and find it on foot eventually."

Becky sighed and spoke up from behind him. "Actually, from what I saw yesterday, it looked to me like it crashed not too far from…"

"From what?" Jackie asked, looking back at Becky after she trailed off.

"I'm sorry, it's just...I trust you guys and all, but I feel like I need to say out loud that you can't tell anyone about this…"

"Our lips are sealed," Matt assured, keeping his eyes on the twisting, turning road.

"...Alright… not too far from my spaceship hideout," Becky finished.

Everyone else in the car gasped slightly. "You have a spaceship hideout?" Matt asked, quite surprised.

Becky nodded. "Well yeah. I had to come to this planet somehow, right? I snuck onto Captain Huggyface's ship when I was a baby, and I startled him and caused him to hit an asteroid, which made us land here. It's been at that spot ever since."

"Wow… It sounds like you're lucky to be alive," Inez remarked.

"I'm definitely lucky, even more now than ever," Becky agreed, glancing over and meeting Fern's eyes, causing the bow-clad girl to giggle.

With the matter being settled, Becky gave Matt directions as he drove, leading him to the closest spot they could get to the hideout by road. From there they only had to walk a short distance through the trees to reach the hideout.

As Becky led them by it, everyone else gazed at it in awe. "Whoa… I've always wanted to see this," Fern said, noting how big it was. "Will we ever be able to see the inside of it at some point, Becky?" she asked eagerly.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt, since you guys know where it is now anyway," Becky replied. "Another time though. For now we need to find the Wreaker."

She continued leading them on, and they soon found the cave where the Wreaker had previously been parked, which the others quickly realized. "It must be around here somewhere," Jackie said, looking around in front of them. "You're sure it landed in this area?"

"I'm pretty positive," Becky answered. "I'm relieved it didn't land on my hideout… Maybe we should split up so we can cover more ground. Maybe you three can go that way, and Fern and I can go this way," she suggested, pointing in two opposite directions.

"Not a bad idea," Inez agreed, pulling out her skwak pad and handing it to Fern. "You guys can take this one so we can communicate. We still have Jackie's. Fern knows how to use it, or at least how to make and answer calls with it, so it should be fine," she explained to Becky. "Right, Fern?"

"I think so…" Fern confirmed, holding the device with her free hand.

"Great! Let's go, guys," Inez said, motioning for Matt and Jackie to move along with her. "We'll call you both if we find it!"

"Okay, see you soon!" Becky called back as she and Fern headed in the opposite direction. They had been walking through the thick brush for over five minutes in relatively content silence, when Becky looked over at Fern and noticed she looked unsettled, glancing frequently around them. "Hey… You okay?" she asked, placing her hand on her good shoulder.

"Hmm?... Oh, I'm alright…" Fern replied, pursing her lips.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, it's just… I felt better when there was five of us. Not that I don't feel safe, Becky. If I could only be in the middle of the woods with just one person, I'd definitely pick you. I mean, it's like… Oh I don't even know what I'm saying, don't listen to me. I'm worried about nothing…"

"I don't think it's nothing," Becky countered. "I get why you'd be nervous about being in a situation like this, Fern, especially after everything that's happened. I'm sure something like this can be a bit nerve-wracking, being in an unfamiliar place and feeling more vulnerable. I would protect you if something happened though. I do have super strength, you know."

Fern nodded. "I know. It's totally irrational. I feel kind of pathetic, honestly. I LIKE the woods. I SHOULD be enjoying this, at least a little, but I'm not…"

Becky frowned sadly. It looked as though Inez's prediction had been correct. She hated knowing that Fern's experiences were going to affect her in this way, like some form of PTSD. She wanted her to be able to enjoy the things she typically took pleasure in without worrying. "I'm really sorry, Fern," she apologized.

"It's not your fault," Fern replied with a halfhearted shrug.

"You know, there might be something we could try though, at some point. I'm not a huge fan of camping or hiking or anything. I just don't find it really relaxing. That's just me though. But maybe we could try going on a short little camping trip soon, before winter gets here. We can maybe even see about Matt, Jackie and Inez coming with us. That way you'll see it's totally fine to be out here, and you can feel better knowing there are more of us to keep you company."

Fern smiled sweetly. "You'd do that for me, Becky? I wouldn't want you to make yourself do something you don't enjoy…"

"It's fine, Fern, I promise. I'm sure it'll be more enjoyable with you there."

Fern giggled and rested her head on Becky's shoulder as they walked. "Thank you so much, Becky. That's really sweet of you," she said gratefully.

"Well I want to help you any way I can," Becky said, squeezing Fern slightly with a one-armed hug and nuzzling her.

At that moment, the girls' attention was drawn to the skwak pad, which was indicating there was an incoming call. Fern pushed the answer button and Jackie's face popped up on the little screen. "Guys!" she began. "We can see the ship from here! You're headed uphill, think you can find a clear spot to look down from?"

Becky and Fern both agreed they probably could, and within minutes they found a spot clear of trees on top of a steep ledge. They thankfully hadn't gotten too far away from the others, so it didn't take them long to spot the Wreaker from there, or rather what remained of it. Even from their distance, they could tell it had been an extremely ugly crash. As they confirmed they had seen it and began approaching it, they noticed many metal parts scattered all around them, increasing in number as they got closer. Very few of them were at all recognizable.

The two girls soon reached a small clearing near the center of the wreckage. The Cybersquad members were all standing around Delete, who thankfully had been right where they assumed he would be. He was seated on the stump of a tree which, judging by the black burn marks on it, must have been taken out in the crash. It was merely one of several dozen, whose carcasses were scattered around them along with the many dessamated parts of the ship. He had a rather dead look in his eyes, as if all the energy had been drained out of him.

"Delete!" Fern cried, speeding up to reach him quickly once she saw him, with Becky close behind. The former bent down a bit to be at eye level with him, while the latter stood with the other three kids nearby.

Delete looked up and half-smiled. "Hi, Fern… What happened to your arm? Are you okay?" he asked, noticing the sling her left arm rested in.

"I'm fine, it's not a big deal. It was a tiny little break that happened when I was getting the battery out," Fern explained. "What about you? You're what I'm more concerned about. I can't imagine what you're feeling right now…"

Delete sniffled a bit and glanced down, off to the side. "It's been hard… I know Hacker wasn't a good person, but I spent so much time around him for so many years. And Buzzy wasn't always warm and fuzzy, but he was my best friend in the whole world… and now he's gone…"

The kids all nodded understandingly. None of them could totally empathize with Delete's heartache. None of them had ever lost a friend to death before, and in such an awful fashion no less.

"We're so sorry, Delete…" Inez spoke up from close by.

"Yeah, we barely know what to say…" Jackie concurred, scratching behind her head.

"It's not like you're alone now though, if it makes you feel any better," Fern pointed out, wanting to reassure the robot somehow. "You still have us… and Hacker was going to take over the Earth, but you helped us stop him! We can't thank you enough for what you've done… I can't thank you enough."

Delete nodded slightly and stood up. "Thank you… It's hard to feel very happy about it right now, though…"

"...We were going to go to Cyberspace now. Digit went back already and we're going to go see him," Matt explained. "You want to come? You ready to go back?"

"I guess so…" Delete replied with a shrug. "Where else am I gonna go?"

Jackie nodded understandingly. "I'll call Motherboard and get us a portal," she said, pulling her skwak pad back out. She dialed up Motherboard, and soon a portal was conjured up for them.

They all jumped through and arrived inside the main room at Control Central, where Motherboard was on the screen. "Well done, Cybermates… and friends," she congratulated, glancing towards Becky and Fern.

"It was no trouble, Motherboard," Becky replied. "We were just doing our jobs."

"Well thanks to you, Hacker is no longer a threat to the safety of Cyberspace or the real world. You all have much to be proud of."

"Thanks, Mother B," Matt replied, smiling and giving a casual salute to her.

At that moment, Digit flew into the room, his wing in a cast. It was times like these he was thankful he could fly with his tail. "Eartlies!" he greeted enthusiastically, waving with his good wing.

"Digit!" the three other Cybersquad members greeted, all giving him a quick hug.

"How's your wing, Didge?" Jackie asked, eyeing his cast.

"Could be worse," Digit replied with a shrug. He glanced behind them and spotted Fern's arm in its own sling. "Whoa! What happened to you?" he asked in surprise.

"My arm got broken a bit when I was getting the battery out," Fern explained once more. "It's really small though. They told me your wing got broken too."

"Yeah, but it'll be fine," Digit replied, chuckling a bit. "And look at that! We're twins!"

Fern returned his laugh. "Yeah, I guess so, huh? Hopefully not for long for either of us though."

He then looked over at Delete and gave him a sympathetic glance. "You doing okay there?"

Delete shrugged. "I don't know… I'm glad we saved Earth and all, but I miss Buzzy."

"Aw gee… I'm sorry, Delete," Digit said apologetically.

"But like we said, at least you have us now, right?" Fern repeated, walking up to the somber robot.

"I know," Delete replied, "but I don't know what to do now. Working for Hacker was my life, and now I just have nothing…"

Inez then straightened up, remembering the idea she mentioned she'd had to Matt. "You know, that makes me think - Becky, Fern, Delete, could you three step out into the hall, just for a little bit? I wanted to talk with these guys about something."

The three were puzzled, but they complied and did as Inez asked, standing quietly in the hallway after Inez shut the door, waiting for her to return. It took several minutes, but they were eventually invited back inside the room. When they entered again, the four Cybersquad members stood on either side of them near the screen, looking excitedly at them, while Motherboard eyed them with a content smile. "Fern and Delete, would you two step forward, please?" she asked kindly.

They glanced at each other before doing as Motherboard requested, clearly confused. Becky moved as well, standing back to give them more room.

"From what the Cybersquad has explained to me, it sounds as if you both were instrumental in defeating Hacker. Delete, you went so far as to free Fern from captivity and get her back to Becky safely, thereby removing Hacker's ability to blackmail her. You also helped everyone sneak back onto the Grim Wreaker in order to take it down."

Delete smiled a little, his arms behind his back as he drug his toe against the floor self-consciously. "It was nothing… I just realized what we were doing was wrong, and I couldn't stand by and let it happen…"

Motherboard then continued on. "Fern, you generously offered to help fight alongside the Cybersquad, despite some events that I'm certain were quite traumatizing. Not only that, but it was also brave of you to climb on top of the ship and remove the booster battery, all with a broken arm while it was flying around."

Fern shook her head. "It was hard, but someone had to go out and do it. I probably didn't do it as well as the others could have."

"Nevertheless, you have both made Earth and Cyberspace proud, so much so that Inez felt it would be a good idea to make you both an offer. She suggested it to us while you were waiting in the hall, and we all unanimously agreed it was a good idea, but we want to hear your thoughts. And of course, it is entirely up to both of you whether you choose to accept it or not."

Fern and Delete glanced back at each other once more, sharing curious looks. Their attention was turned towards Matt, Jackie, Inez and Digit upon seeing them move to stand in front of them, while Becky continued to watch from behind.

"You want to be the one to ask, Nezzie?" Matt asked. "You're the one who thought of it."

Inez rolled her eyes. "Sure, Matthew…" she replied teasingly before looking back in front of them. "Fern, Delete… we want to know if you'd like to officially join team Motherboard and become part of the Cybersquad with us."

Fern and Delete's jaws practically dropped to the floor upon hearing the request and having it register in their heads. Meanwhile, Becky gasped excitedly from behind them.

"You're serious?" Delete asked, completely taken aback.

"This isn't a joke, is it?" Fern questioned, convinced she must have been dreaming.

"Of course not!" Inez assured, stepping forward slightly with an earnest smile. "You both could be great additions to the team! I thought of asking you first, Fern, since you were a bit more of an obvious choice. Look what you accomplished! We'd be by your side, and you wouldn't have to worry about Hacker anymore. I'm sure we wouldn't be coming here very often anymore anyway, so it wouldn't take up that much of our time."

"I-I-I… I don't know, I…" Fern stuttered, trying to wrap her head around the idea of joining the Cybersquad and all it would entail. "You really think I'd help anything?..."

"Definitely!" Matt spoke up. "You're smart, and you're clearly capable when you put your mind to it!"

"It made perfect sense when Inez explained it to us," Jackie added. "I could totally see you rocking a skwak pad and going on missions with us."

"I didn't think of suggesting Delete join as well until a little while later," Inez continued, "but that made sense too, when I thought about it. You'd be a lot like Digit - Both of you used to be bad guys, so like him, you could have better insight into how whoever we're fighting might be thinking. You can live here and bunk with Digit if you decide to join."

"Fern, this is awesome!" Becky exclaimed, running up from behind and glomping her girlfriend in a hug. "You'd be an official crime fighter, just like me!"

"You totally would!" Jackie agreed. "We would offer for you to join too, Becky, but we know you have a lot on your plate being WordGirl and all."

Becky nodded. "Well thanks anyway. If I wasn't already doing that, I would love to join. But you definitely should, Fern! And you too, Delete!"

Fern and Delete looked back at each other once more, trying to gauge what the other appeared to be thinking. The idea wasn't unappealing to either of them. In Delete's case it meant he would have a home and a new prospect to aspire to, and in Fern's case it meant she'd get to spend more time with these new friends of hers and have a chance to continue being a hero and doing good deeds.

"I'll do it if you'll do it," Delete suggested. "What do you say, Fern?... I'm not sure I'd want to do it if you weren't there."

Fern smiled. She appreciated how highly Delete seemed to think of her. She had only grown to like him more as well ever since he saved her. Aside from Becky, he was the first one there she had met and gotten to know a bit. She believed she felt a similar sort of attachment to him that he did to her. "I think I feel the same way," she replied tenderly. "You're sure you want to do this?"

"...Yeah… Do you?" Delete asked.

Fern nodded. "I think I do."

"So is that a yes, then?" Inez persisted.

Fern and Delete paused a moment before slowly taking each other's hands and maintaining a firm stance. "We'll do it," Fern declared after taking a deep breath.

Applause broke out in the room right then, and Becky hugged Fern from behind once more. Celebration lasted for a few minutes, which Fern and Delete would remember as some of the proudest of their lives. They were both welcomed onto the team with open arms and shared enthusiastic hugs from everybody.

As the energy began dying back down a bit, Inez ran off to a back room and returned with a couple small devices. "Now that you're official members of the Cybersquad, you're going to each need one of these," she pointed out, holding up brand-new skwak pads and handing one to each of them.

"Ooh…" Delete mouthed in awe. He had watched the Cybersquad use the devices for years, and now here he was with one of his own.

"We'll show you how to work them later," Digit assured. "They're simple once you get used to them."

"Yeah, they're no big deal," Matt agreed. He then noticed that Fern seemed to be tearing up a bit. "Hey, are you alright?" he asked, walking up and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I feel amazing…" Fern replied shakily, wiping her eyes. "I don't think I've ever felt like I belonged to anything before, until now…"

Matt chuckled and wrapped her in a hug. "Well, you do now. Welcome to the Cybersquad… Fernie."

Fern laughed at Matt's use of her once dreaded nickname. "Thanks, Matt. Thank you so much."

"Don't thank him too much just yet," Inez spoke up. "Hope you can get used to that nickname. Once Matt starts saying something like that, he never stops."

"I don't mind," Fern assured, looking around at her new teammates in front of her. "It's kind of nice, actually."

Jackie smiled and walked up to her, hugging her as well. "Think of us as a second family if you want. That's how we think of ourselves already… You too, Delete," she added, glancing over at the former henchman of Hacker's.

Delete smiled. "Thank you… um… what're your names again? Hacker never told them to us very often…"

Everyone in the room laughed at this revelation. "It's Jackie," Jackie answered. "Or Jacks if you want. You'll get the names straight soon, I'm sure."

Matt glanced down at his wrist and checked his watch. "Oh! We'd better be getting back home. It's already starting to get late. Don't want to keep our families waiting."

"Yeah, you guys don't want that," Digit agreed.

There was a moment of silence as it was realized what going back now meant. "I guess it'll be awhile before we come back here, huh?" Inez supposed.

"Probably," Matt agreed with a nod. "But it won't be forever. Eventually I'm sure Wicked or somebody will start causing trouble."

"Wicked?" Fern spoke up, confused.

"You'll meet her eventually. She's a ton of fun…" Inez said sarcastically.

Digit yawned. "I'm definitely a bit tired myself. Gotta give this old wing some rest. Come on, Delete. We'll find you a place to sleep and get settled in a minute."

Delete nodded and began moving towards Digit, while Motherboard opened up a portal for the Earth kids to go back through. Before he could move further, however, a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Turning around, he realized it was Fern, using her good arm.

"Hey, Delete… Before we go, there's something I want to give you," she said, reaching into her skirt pocket and pulling out a small object, placing it in Delete's hand. "I write a lot of stories and poetry, and this is one of the pencils I use. I've had it a long time. I want you to have it… you know, as a bit of a token to remember me by when I'm not here."

Delete looked down at the pencil, rolling it in his hand and smiling, moved by her kind gesture. "Thank you, Fern… You won't miss it?"

Fern shook her head. "I've got plenty at home. I just don't know how often we'll be able to see each other now for missions, so I want you to have it as a reminder of me, that I'll always be grateful for what you did for me, and that you can always think of me as a friend."

At that moment, Delete pulled Fern into a hug, minding her broken arm. It was a bit cold due to him being made of metal, but Fern didn't mind at all, and she returned it as best as she could while everyone else watched on, touched by the display.

When they finally let go, Fern turned around and went back to Becky, who was standing by the portal. When she reached her, she was enveloped in yet another hug. "I'm so proud of you, Fern… You'll be great at this, I know it."

"We'll see," Fern replied with a content shrug. "I just know that I can't wait to go home and spend time with you, Becky. I'm so happy to get to be your girlfriend now."

"Me too, Fern…" Becky replied as she smiled and kissed Fern's cheek, continuing to embrace her as the rest of the Cybersquad said their goodbyes.

"I guess we'll see you in the funny papers, huh, Didge?" Matt said somewhat sadly.

"It won't be that long, Earthlies," Digit promised. "Like you said, someone is bound to stir up trouble somewhere around here sooner or later. And this time we'll have more members to help us out."

"Exactly," Inez agreed. "This isn't goodbye. It's just… 'see you later.'"

"Come on guys, bring it in," Jackie said, gesturing for the four of them to come together. They all shared a quick embrace before departing for the exit.

Matt, Jackie and Inez walked back to the portal, joining Fern and Becky, who finally let go of each other. Delete and Digit waved at them, and Motherboard bid them farewell. "Great job, Cybermates, and welcome aboard to our new members. When Cyberspace eventually needs you once again, you'll know where to go."

"We will, Mother B," Jackie agreed before being the first to go through the portal. Matt and Inez then took hands and went next. After this, Becky and Fern were the last two remaining.

"Hey, Fern?" Becky spoke up before they could go through and return to Earth.

"Yes?" Fern asked curiously.

"I'm still so glad you missed that bell," Becky remarked with an amused grin.

The two girls shared one more laugh before stepping into the swirling disc of light, looking forward to a bright future together. That future appeared to be brighter than it was when they got back though, as it was another rainy autumn evening. But that was okay... Becky had luckily brought her umbrella.

End