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Codename: Kids Next Door

Operation F.I.N.I.S.H.

Finding

Indecisive

Nigel

Is

Sure

Hard

DISCLAIMER: I do not, nor have I ever, owned the Kids Next Door or its franchise. If I did, this fic would have become an episode.

Chapter 9

Numbuh 2 and Henrietta traveled throughout the main levels of the tree house, staying away from the area around Numbuh 1's room – there was no use of wasting time in that section if Numbuh 4 was already there – and the abandoned sections of the tree house. They mainly searched the more likely areas he would have left a clue: the rooms they spent the most time in (such as the room they had been in when they entered the tree house), the hamster power supply room, and anywhere else they could think of.

It had been about a half hour since they split with the others, and still no luck. No sign of a clue was anywhere to be found.

While wandering a hallway, Numbuh 2 suddenly thought of an idea. "Hey, maybe he left something in one of our rooms to find!" he said. Henrietta agreed, and they entered the first bedroom they found.

They suddenly went from hallway to boxing ring, literally. The entire room was surrounded by rope, and scattered around was training equipment and old KND dummy robots. Anyone could tell they hadn't been used in years just by glancing at any of these items; cobwebs acted as cocoons around them, and the wooden parts of the equipment had chewed areas on them, most likely from termites. You could barely call it a bedroom at all; there was a severe lack of a bed, just a simple pillow and small blanket in the corner of the ring.

"Well, it looks like Numbuh 3 never got to Numbuh 4's room," Numbuh 2 commented, kicking an old soda can out of the way.

They searched the entire room, under robots and trash, up in the higher branches of the tree that had grown right through the room itself, and still they couldn't find anything. No note, no unfamiliar technology, nothing of importance to them.

After awhile, Henrietta said sadly, "Ein zinks zere is nozing 'ere, 'oagie. Perhaps ve should check anozer room?"

Numbuh 2 nodded. "Numbuh 3's room is right down the hall; we'll check there next."

It was easy to tell which door led to Numbuh 3's room, because there was no door at all; rather, a colorful curtain hanging from the door frame acted as a door. The room itself, like Numbuh 4's, was exactly as Numbuh 2 remembered it. Stuffed animals wall to wall: bunnies, cats, dogs, Rainbow Monkeys, every stuffed animal you could think of was in this room. And every single one of them had Numbuh 3's signature 3 painted on them somewhere, more often than not on their stomachs. The biggest stuffed toy in the room was placed on the wall opposite the curtain. It was big enough for a kid to sleep on; which was exactly what it was used for: this animal was Numbuh 3's bed.

Unfortunately for the two, despite her room being cleaner than Numbuh 2's, they still found nothing. However, while searching through a pile of animals on one side of the room, Henrietta brought something to Numbuh 2's attention.

"'oagie, Kuki alvays struck me es e, vat's the vord, e 'girly girl'. Ein cen understend ze enimels eweryvere, but ze valls, zey ere zroving me off…" she said, throwing a stuffed bear out of her way.

Numbuh 2 looked around the room more closely, and suddenly realized Henrietta was right. He almost smacked himself in the face for completely missing it when they walked in, it was so obvious.

Everyone had left the walls of their rooms blank, leaving the natural bark of the tree uncolored, unpainted, to keep the tree house paint-smell free, and to keep the tree house actually feeling like a tree house. Numbuh 3 was no exception. But her room now, it was completely painted. And not even a labeled 'girly girl' color, like pink or bright highlighter yellow, one that would match her personality perfectly.

The entire room was a dark, pure orange, so close to black you couldn't believe it was even possible.

Numbuh 2 pulled his aviator hat and scratched his head, looking around the entire room. "Well, this is…weird," he simply said. He could have sworn her room – and all the rooms in the tree house – had been the same when he left on his 13th birthday. He would have definitely remembered seeing the paint cans, or at the very least smelling the disgusting smell coming from her room.

"This makes no sense…when in the world…why in the world would she-" he muttered aloud to himself, when suddenly he remembered something from earlier that day.

I was a little anxious the week before my…birthday…and I kinda went a little neat freak on the tree house.

That week's kinda fuzzy to me. I don't remember much of anything.

Well, that made sense, for both when and why. She said it herself, she had been anxious the week before her birthday, and went all neat freak. Maybe she found some extra paint lying around, and decided to use it up instead of wasting it – most likely on her own room only, if she wanted the rest of the tree house to stay as she remembered it. Which would explain why no one had noticed or said anything; she would have been the only person in the tree house during that last week.

Henrietta must have noticed he was deep in thought, because she was awkwardly just watching him, apparently waiting for a response of some kind. He told her about his theory, and she agreed it made the most sense. After a few more minutes of searching, they gave up on Numbuh 3's room and decided to move on to Numbuh 5's.

When they got to her bedroom door, Henrietta stopped Numbuh 2 before he could open the door.

"Vait, I zink I should check zis room by ein's self." When Numbuh 2 gave her a suspicious look, she shrugged and continued, "Ein doubt you'd vant to see any of 'er clothes end such. Plus, ein get ze bull's 'orns if Abigail found out."

Numbuh 2 stuck out his tongue. "Fine, anything to avoid more girly stuff." Henrietta nodded and walked in, closing the door behind her. Numbuh 2 slid down to the floor to wait for her. Boredom eventually set in, and with nothing else to do but wait – he was afraid she might get lost by herself if he wasn't there to guide her – he closed his eyes and attempted to take a nap; he didn't get much sleep last night, since he wasn't used to the lack of traffic outside, or the excess of animal noises.

He suddenly woke up to the door slamming, and realized he really had fallen asleep. According to Henrietta, she'd been searching for about 10 minutes, which meant he'd been out about the same amount of time. He quickly scrambled to his feet when he realized whose room was left: his own.

He led the way down the hallways until they came upon the landing dock of the tree house, which doubled as his bedroom. Numbuh 2 smiled at the familiar sights: the crashed plane up near the ceiling that acted as his bed; his desk and tool box over on the side wall; his beloved C.O.O.L.B.U.S., still parked after their last mission and in the same condition as they'd left it. Minus its usual dirt and grime, which he silently thanked Numbuh 3 for cleaning it for him.

He took a deep breath in through his nose. "Ahh…carburetor fuel…good stuff!" Henrietta rolled her eyes playfully at him, and they started their search.

Numbuh 2 climbed up to his bed and searched through the sheets; nothing. Henrietta checked his work desk; nothing but blueprints. They investigated the C.O.O.L.B.U.S., both inside and out; still nothing. Both of them were very discouraged, and had been sure if there were no clues in the other bedrooms, there would be one in his.

Sighing in defeat, Numbuh 2 started to lead them out the door back to the main room of the tree house. Henrietta followed closely behind, eyes peeled for anything they might have missed before. She could find nothing, and was about to completely give up when she heard a small creek. She froze, waiting to see if the sound would come back again; it didn't. She shrugged it off and took another step forward, and the same sound rang through the room, this time a bit louder. Numbuh 2 now noticed the sound as well, and ran over to the C.O.O.L.B.U.S. to see if the engine had turn on or something. Henrietta retraced her steps to the spot where she first heard the noise. And once again, she heard it, and realized it was coming from below her. She hopped back to look down at the floor, thinking it was a toy she was stepping on. However, it was actually a loose floor board. Curious, she knelt down and tugged at one end of the board, which opened smoothly, almost like a small door. She cautiously stuck her hand into the whole beneath, feeling around for something. Her hand hit a hard bottom, which felt like it was lined with paper. Grasping a handful of things, she pulled her hand back up to examine what she'd found: the paper feeling had been letters, envelopes, and photos

At this point, Numbuh 2 walked out of the C.O.O.L.B.U.S., announcing, "Well, it's not the engine. I guess whatever it was is go-. "He spotted Henrietta kneeling on the floor with the envelopes in her hand, and ran over to her. Henrietta held up her discovery to him, and instead of praising her for finding what she believed to be a clue, he grabbed the things from her hand and hid them behind his back, wearing a fake smile on his face. She could see right through it; he was hiding embarrassment, for what reason she couldn't understand.

Standing up and brushing dirt off her pants, Henrietta asked, "Okay, vat's 'oing on 'oagie? Vy ere you 'iding ze pepers?"

"Wh-what are you talking about?" he laughed nervously. "I'm not hiding anything!"

Henrietta put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "You zink ein stupid, Gilligan? Vell, for your information, ein not stupid. I know ven ein being lied to, end I don't zink you'll like me ven ein angry."

Numbuh 2 said nothing, and he didn't bring out his hands from behind his back.

"Fine. 'ave it your vay." With that, Henrietta quickly tackled Numbuh 2 to the ground. Despite the size difference – Henrietta was much smaller than him – there was no doubt in either person's mind who would win their little spat. She easily knocked him to the ground and sat on his back, leaving him face down on the hard ground. She grabbed at his hands, and just as quickly as she'd attacked him, she was back on her feet, in her original position.

Numbuh 2 scrambled up, waving his hands in front of her. Smirking, he exclaimed, "Ha! I still have them!"

Henrietta smirked right back at him, and held up a hand. She fanned out 6 photos and papers she had managed to grab from him. "If ein count correctly – end by ze vay, ein knows 'ow to count – I 'old zree more zen you do."

Numbuh 2's face fell.

She smiled sweetly at his obvious defeat, and finally looked closely at the photos and papers in her hands. The photos seemed to have been taken many years ago, for the subjects in the pictures all looked to be about 10 years old, sometimes younger. The papers appeared to be poems. Written with a crude handwriting, with the led from the pencil smeared, but poems none the less. One thing stuck out instantly for Henrietta, one thing that was the same in everything she was holding in her hand.

The photos were all of Numbuh 5, and all the poems were written to her as well.

She glanced up at Numbuh 2 to see his reaction to her discovery. His entire face was pure red, and he was staring at the ground. He didn't even bother to hide the remaining papers in his hands.

"So…zis is vat you vere 'iding? A little shrine to Abigail?"

He rubbed his neck awkwardly, and still did not meet her eyes. "Not so much a shrine…a time capsule, I guess you could call it…"

Henrietta nodded, and looked back down at the papers. She separated one of the poems from the rest, one of the neater ones. "Vould you be emberressed if ein…read it out loud?"

Numbuh 2 shook his head and sighed. "Been so long since I read them myself; it'd be nice to hear what I wrote."

She smiled, and started to read.

Numbuh 5 by Numbuh 2

She's like a kid angel

God's sent just for me,

We were destined to be friends

Since we met at age three.

Everything about her is perfect

Not a flaw I have found.

I can't seem to escape her,

To her I am bound.

I love her so dearly

Though I doubt she can see

How I really, truly feel

About her, deep inside me.

At this point, Numbuh 2 joined in, reciting his poem from memory. Eventually Henrietta stopped and let him say it himself, herself following along on the paper.

She's beautiful, she's graceful

She's charming and funny.

She's rough on the outside

Yet inside, sweet as honey.

I wish I could tell her.

I feel like I fool

That I can't tell her I love her

She's just way too cool.

I hope I remember her

Long after tonight.

Losing memory of her

Would be like losing my sight.

Maybe she'll find this

Little poem one day,

And I'll be very surprised

If she feels the same way.

And remembers way back when

We'd do nothing but play.

The memories of us together,

I wish would forever stay.

As he finished the poem, Henrietta suddenly started applauding him. He looked up at her for the first time since the attack, and he saw there were tears in her eyes.

"Zat…zat vas ze most beautiful zing ein ever 'eard…in ein entire life…" she stuttered.

Numbuh 2 blushed even more than before. "It's nothin'…just somethin' I wrote a long time ago, no real big deal."

"Nein! It is a big deal, herr! Do you realize 'ow much she'd love to 'ear zat?" she said excitedly.

His head shot up. "You mean…she does…I mean, she did…"

Henrietta understood immediately what he meant. "Vell, she never told me e definite ja or nein, but ein knows she'd still love to 'ear it!"

His face fell a little bit; he had gotten his hopes up extremely quickly. "But that's just it. If you, of all people, don't know how she feels either, then what if I show it to her, and she doesn't feel the same way? Then she'll just laugh at me. Everyone will…"

She shook her head quickly. "Nein, nein! Forget ebout everyone else! Even if ze fauline doesn't feel ze vay you do, 'oagie, she'd still love to 'ear somezing you wrote for 'er! Trust me on zis!"

Numbuh 2 shuffled his feet a bit. "I donno…"

"Don't tell me you expect ein to do it for you. That'd be es bad es Vallabee!" Numbuh 2 stared at her. "Like ein said, ein is not stupid, 'oagie. Ein can see 'ow Vallabee feels ebout Kuki. And…" she said, appearing embarrassed, "ein couldn't 'elp over'earing you two earlier today. Ein zinks zis fate person isn't 'ere just for ze two of zem; it's 'ere for you end Abigail, too."

He still said nothing, and just stared at the floor.

"Fine zen, be zat vay." Henrietta shrugged, tossed the poems and photos at Numbuh 2, and turned to leave. Numbuh 2 grabbed the things midair, and watched Henrietta leave, not making any move to follow.

Henrietta paused a moment in the doorway, and with her back still facing him, she said, "You know, like you said to Vallabee, fate vants to give you enozer chance et your love to Abigail. " Though he couldn't see it, she had a smirk on her face as she quoted him from earlier: "Zo don't mess it up zis time!"

One thing I've probably never mentioned on here to you guys, I absolutely HATE poetry. Don't know why, I just always have. But for reasons I don't even know, I seem to be good at it, because whenever I write one once in a while, everyone who reads it really likes it. I donno, what do you guys think of this one for Numbuh 5? BTW, this is the last poem he wrote before his decommissioning; you can tell, because he specifically says in it he hopes that he can 'remember her/long after this night", this night being his decommissioning night. He's saying he hopes he remembers her after his memory is erased.

Henrietta translations:

"Ein zinks zere is nozing 'ere, 'oagie. Perhaps ve should check anozer room?" …means… I think there is nothing here, Hoagie. Perhaps we should check another room?

"'oagie, Kuki alvays struck me es e, vat's the vord, e 'girly girl'. Ein cen understend ze enimels eweryvere, but ze valls, zey ere zroving me off…" …means… Hoagie, Kuki always struck me as a, what's the word, a 'girly girl'. I can understand the animals everywhere, but the walls, they're throwing me off…

"Vait, I zink I should check zis room by ein's self. Ein doubt you'd vant to see any of 'er clothes end such. Plus, ein get ze bull's 'orns if Abigail found out." …means… Wait, I think I should check this room by myself. I doubt you'd want to see any of her clothes and such. Plus, I'd get the bull's horns [get angry at her] if Abigail found out.

"Okay, vat's 'oing on 'oagie? Vy ere you 'iding ze pepers?" …means… Okay, what's going on Hoagie? Why are you hiding the papers?

"You zink ein stupid, Gilligan? Vell, for your information, ein not stupid. I know ven ein being lied to, end I don't zink you'll like me ven ein angry." …means… You think I'm stupid, Gilligan? Well, for your information, I'm not stupid. I know when I'm being lied to, and I don't think you'll like me when I'm angry.

"Fine. 'ave it your vay." …means… Fine. Have it your way.

"If ein count correctly – end by ze vay, ein knows 'ow to count – I 'old zree more zen you do." …means… If I count[ed] correctly – and by the way, I know how to count – I hold three more than you do.

"So…zis is vat you vere 'iding? A little shrine to Abigail?" …means… So…this is what you were hiding? A little shrine to Abigail?

"Vould you be emberressed if ein…read it out loud?" …means… Would you be embarrassed if I…read it out loud?

"Zat…zat vas ze most beautiful zing ein ever 'eard…in ein entire life…" …means… That…that was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard…in my entire life…

"Nein! It is a big deal, herr! Do you realize 'ow much she'd love to 'ear zat?" …means… No! It is a big deal, sir! [herr is used out of respect, like frauline] Do you realize how much she'd love to hear that?

"Vell, she never told me e definite ja or nein, but ein knows she'd still love to 'ear it!" …means… Well, she never told me a definite yes or no, but I know she'd still love to hear it!

"Don't tell me you expect ein to do it for you. That'd be es bad es Vallabee! Like ein said, ein is not stupid, 'oagie. Ein can see 'ow Vallabee feels ebout Kuki. And…ein couldn't 'elp over'earing you two earlier today. Ein zinks zis fate person isn't 'ere just for ze two of zem; it's 'ere for you end Abigail, too." …means… Don't tell me you expect me to do it for you. That'd be as bad as Wallabee! Like I said, I'm not stupid, Hoagie. I can see how Wallabee feels about Kuki. And…I couldn't help overhearing you two earlier today. I think this fate person isn't here just for the two of them; it's here for you and Abigail, too.

"Fine zen, be zat vay." …means… Fine then, be that way.

"You know, like you said to Vallabee, fate vants to give you enozer chance et your love to Abigail. Zo don't mess it up zis time!" …means… You know, like you said to Wallabee, fate wants to give you another chance at your love to Abigail. So don't mess it up this time! - probably my fave line in this chapter; she's making Hoagie eat his own words v