A/N: Not much to say except enjoy!

Kai2: Request granted :D

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Kids Next Door Mission...

Operation: F.O.R.G.E.T.

Fragments

Of

Recovery

Gradually

Enable

Team

Chapter 21 – The Return to Glory, Part II

Numbuh 3, 1334, 29th November, 2014

'Kuki?' Isabel Tabbs called out, walking over to where Kuki stood near the piano in the Drama hall, chewing the end of a pencil and frowning in concentration.

'Bella! What's going on?'

'One of the set backgrounds has a tear in it,' Isabel said, obviously stressing out. There was only two days until the opening night of the school musical, and everyone was starting to freak a bit.

'Oh. Uh, which one?' Kuki asked, lowering the clipboard and taking a deep breath.

'The castle scene. I think we might be able to patch it up, but we're gonna need some more black paint.' Isabel was usually the first one to freak in the days before the show. With her, if something wasn't perfect, it was never going to be.

'Okay. Can you send Drake down to the art room to get some? Oh, and on the way can you get someone to move the Beast's costume down to the dressing rooms?'

Bella nodded hurriedly, before quickstepping off.

Kuki was overwhelmed. Leadership really wasn't her thing. She didn't like giving orders, and she especially didn't like getting mad if they were done improperly or not done at all. A lot of the time she just wished that someone would come in and takeover for her.

She'd be happier to follow directions than give them.

Kuki was about to go back to running through the list of seemingly endless things that needed doing, when someone knocked on the back door of the hall.

Funny, she thought, no-one ever uses that door.

She stood there for a minute, thinking that maybe someone had bumpe the door with something, or that the noise had come from somewhere else, but after about twenty seconds, whoever it was out there knocked again.

Kuki walked over to the door and opened it, only to see Nigel and Hoagie looking back at her, smiling awkwardly.

'Oh. Hey guys!' She greeted. 'What are you doing here?'

The two just stared, almost like they were trying to think of an answer on the spot.

'Uh, well- uhm, we- we came to tell you that... uh, that there's a.. uhm-' Hoagie began, his face reddening. Kuki noticed that instead of his usual yellow sunglasses, he had on some sort of a pair of goggles in the same shade. She added that to the list of things to wonder about this whole situation. But while Hoagie's voice apparently failed him, Nigel swooped in and took over, he also donning a new pair of glasses; black, with a couple of scratches here and there.

'There's a kitten stuck up a tree and we came to see if you could help get it down!' He said quickly. Both boys let out a big sigh.

'Nice save, man,' Hoagie whispered, too quiet for Kuki to hear.

Being her nice (albeit a little gullible) self, Kuki couldn't just let this little kitten stay up there in a tree, no matter how many things needed doing around here.

'Oh no! Well come on, don't just stand there! Show me where the kitten is!'

Hoagie and Nigel started a bit, then headed off towards the park behind the school. Though Kuki had a lot of questions about a) why they were out there, b) why they couldn't have gotten the kitten themselves, and c) why they had come to her, she liked to give people the benefit of the doubt, so skipped along happily behind them, humming to herself.

She stopped, however, when she saw the huge thing in the middle of a clearing in the trees. It was some sort of spaceship version of a bus. Everything stopped.

'Um, guys?' she said, all the questions and strange little details of the two boys' sudden appearance came hurtling back.

'There is no kitten, is there?'

Nigel and Hoagie both looked at each other, obviously caught in the act.

'She's got us there,' Hoagie admitted.

'Okay. So there is no kitten,' Nigel said. 'But there is something important that we need to... just come inside.'

Kuki was a little suspicious. Just a little. She knew Nigel and Hoagie were friends, but she knew that this was not normal. Anyone would.

'Why?' she stated plainly, more demanding it than asking it.

'Kuki, listen. We know what you're feeling, we were too. But you'll understand soon enough. Please, just come on,' Nigel pleaded. And Kuki, looking at both him and Nigel, had to relent.

'Alright fine then. But this is kind of weird. You know that, right?'

Hoagie almost laughed.

'Weird doesn't cover half of it, Kuki.'

Inside the ship, Kuki further confused to find six kids, what looked like a stretcher bed, and a whole airplane style control board. Now, she was half convinced she was either dreaming or on one of those TV prank shows.

'Kuki, you might want to lie down for this,' one of the kids said, gesturing to the bed. 'This is kind of... big.'

Kuki, deciding to just go with the flow, hopped up onto the bed, looking over to where the two boys who led her here were looking at a little wooden Jack-in-the-box. Though they were speaking quietly, she could just make out what they were saying.

'I'm telling you, Numbuh 1, you did it without this thing, I did it without this thing, Numbuh 3 probably can too.' Hoagie pushed, looking between the Jack-in-the-box and Nigel alternately.

'I don't know. I mean, using the module is probably less... uncomfortable.' Nigel looked concerned, but then, both of them did.

'True, but it just won't feel right, having the two of us come back naturally and everyone else mechanically. Y'know?'

Nigel made a thoughtful hmm sound, before finally giving in.

'Alright. I guess it wouldn't be right if we were the only two who didn't use it. Okay then.'

'Thanks, Numbuh 1.'

The two made their way back to the table Kuki was sitting on, smiling a little, everything-is-fine smile.

'How do we do this?' Nigel whispered to Hoagie out of the corner of his mouth, still looking straight ahead.

'Just follow my lead,' Hoagie replied, before adressing Kuki.

'Hey, Numbuh 3,' he said.

Kuki's head pounded and her stomach churned.

'Numbuh 3, we need you to make a run to the candy store,' Nigel supplied.

'W-what?' Kuki asked, her voice seeming distant and not her own. Things were pushing her, tossing her around from the inside. Something rose from deep in the recesses of her mind, and at the same time, something was rising from deep inside her stomach.

'Someone get her a sick bag!' She heard someone yell, someone somewhere far away. Her vision was tunneling, and she was losing touch with her senses.

'Numbuh 3, your Rainbow Monkey's are getting in the way of my work again.'

Suddenly, everything that had been pushing, all the little feelings poking around just exploded. Images and voices rolled out in front of her eyes, behind her eyes, they surrounded her, images of missions, of friends and of enemies, images of everything she used to know.

Five minutes later, she woke, slumped against the side of the bed, with the now filled sick bag in one hand and the other hand clutching her head.

'Numbuh 3?' she heard someone say. Someone she knew.

'N-Numbuh 1? Is that... you?' she stammered, cringing at the bitter taste in her mouth.

One of the kids handed her a glass of water, and she took it and drank gratefully. She recognised the boy as Wally's- as Numbuh 4's- little brother. She smiled as she realised how similar they were. Then, in a rush of her old self, she got up, now completely recovered, and hopped from foot to foot in excitement.

'Numbuh 1! It is you! And Numbuh 2! Oh my gosh, I can't believe you guys were here the whole time! And-' a deep gasp, '-Numbuh 4 and Numbuh 5! Wally and Abby are Numbuh 4 and Numbuh 5! This is amazing! I thought we were never coming back! But we are! We're here! And- are we going to get the others?' She felt new, she felt happier than she had in a long time.

Numbuhs 1 and 2 smiled as well, happy to see Numbuh 3 back as her old self again.

'Well, duh! But first, we have to tell you what's going on...'

The story had Kuki near tears. How could that many kids have been turned over to the adults in so little time? Of course, she knew who was behind all this, but Nigel and Hoagie told her that they were going to wait until everyone was back until they let it out, and she fully agreed with that.

Eager to get Wally and Abby on board and have the whole team back together again, the one-and-a-bit teams set off.

But not before Fern, Numbuh 303, came up to her, holding her favourite Rainbow Monkey, the orange one, all patched up and worn out.

'Hi, Numbuh 3! I know this was yours, so, well, here you go!' She held it out, an Numbuh 3 took it thankfully.

'Aw, thank-you, Numbuh 303! Do you like Rainbow Monkeys too?'

The girl nodded eagerly.

Numuh 3 pulled out her keys from her pocket. A hundred little colourful charms jingled as she did so, one of them a tiny little Rainbow Monkey on a chain. Unhooking it carefully, she held it out on her palm, presenting it to Numbuh 303, who squealed in delight.

'Really?' She asked in disbelief.

'Yup! I want you to have it.'

Another squeal, this time even louder.

'Thank you! Thank you, thank you thank you!'

'Don't mention it.'

Numbuh 3 stood back up, looking around to everyone else.

'So, what are we waiting for?' she said. 'Let's go get Numbuh 4!'

Hoagie stepped forward.

'One problem,' he said. 'I have a feeling that Wally isn't going to be as easily convinced to follow us as, well, us.'

Everyone stopped for a moment, knowing that what Hoagie had said was true. Wally wasn't the kind to just follow someone with no questions asked.

Fortunately, Joey had spent his sleepless nights before this day planning exactly what he would do when it came time to bring Numbuh 4 in.

'Don't worry,' he said, stepping forward.

'I know just what to do.'

Numbuh 4, 1353, 29th November, 2014

Wally was in Gym class, running laps on his own while everyone else jogged in groups of three or four. Ever since he had been "busted" for something he didn't do, people had been talking. Some claimed to have seen him in the act, others claimed they knew all along. They were all lying. None of them could have known that Wally was doing all the things Ace had thrown on him, because he hadn't done them. That good-for-nothing jerk had been at him ever since he stood up to him in the whole laser tag incident.

Now, "The Kidd" kept throwing him dirty looks, as if they actually cut Wally physically, effected him at all. Wally didn't care. He never really cared what Ace thought. Or anyone else, for that matter. Except Kuki. He wondered a lot she believed all that stuff, but then, he thought; of course she does. I'm a "guy like me" and she's... she's everything.

What reason was there for Kuki not to believe it? Everything Wally was known for teed up perfectly with the accusations. And now, he was attracting the wrong kind of attention. The attention of the school "bad boys."

That was a crowd that Wally did not want to end up in. He may have no regard for things like rules or deadlines, but laws were something he followed, and he didn't want to end up with a gang that broke laws without thinking twice.

Suddenly, Wally was aware of a rustling in the bushes just off to the side of the oval, just in front of him. Thinking it was just a bird, nothing of any interest, he kept jogging, but as he passed by, something whispered to him;

'Wally! Wally, ova here!'

He knew that voice.

So, checking carefully to make sure he wasn't being watched, he quickly ducked off the running track and into the cover of the shadows.

'Joey? What tha heck are you doin' here?'

His brother's head poked out of the side of the bush, and instantly Wally knew something was up. The look of worry, and of fear hit him full on. Something just wasn't right here.

'W-Wally, that man, tha man that tried ta kidnap me, he's back! He's after me! Wally please help me!' Joey panted, his eyes glazed over with fear.

Wally stopped breathing for a minute, trying to process the situation. He thought that old jerk had learned his lesson the last time he and Joey had beat him. Apparently not.

'Okay, Joe. We're gonna have ta hide for a little while. Ah'll- Ah'll sneak ya to the office, then once we're there Ah'll call the police, alright?'

Joey shook his head, which was a surprise to Wally.

'No! Ah'm scared, Wally! The man will know that Ah'll come ta you! He'll know that we're here! We need ta get out of tha school! Into tha park, in tha trees, just for now!'

Wally was starting to get confused. Why would his brother not want him to call the police. Suspicions about this guy started to arise at the back of his mind. What were his intentions with his little brother? What did he want?

But he could also see sence in Joey's arguements. The man might come here, and Joey was scared enough to convince himself of anything.

So, for his brother's comfort as well as his safety, Wally led the two into the park, and in doing so, led his little brother away from danger.

Or at least, what he thought was danger.

In the park, Joey started to almost take the lead himself, and Wally didn't mind. He was just going with the flow.

The two had been walking for about five minutes when Wally noticed something. Something like a huge, hulking shape not far off from them.

'Uh, Joey? You see that thing too, roight?'

Joey was suddenly a bit uncomfortable.

'Uh, what thing? J-just keep walking.'

Wally kept walking, but his eyebrows were now creased in confusion, wondering if maybe there was another reason that he and his brother were there.

His suspicions were confirmed three minutes later, with the appearance of six kids standing outside a huge metal contraption, with jets and wings and everything.

'Joey? Why are we really here?' He asked, now just a tiny bit nervous as well as confused and concerned.

Joey looked caught. He deflated a bit, turning arund to face his brother.

'Wally. Ah know you're unsure about this, but we need you to get into that ship,' he said seriously. Wally wasn't so sure about that.

'What? No, Ah don't think so. Look, Ah don't have a clue whot's goin' on here, and Ah'm not sure Ah want ta do this-' but his brother's pleading look stopped him mid-sentance.

'Wally, Ah get everything ya just said. But you'll understand once ya get on the ship. Ah need you ta trust me on this one, Wally. I need you tatrust me.' Those eyes, that tone of sincerity, the familiar look of the fringe cutting off his eyes halfway, everything about him screamed; PLEASE. And Wally just had to give in.

'Okay, Ah'll get on. But Ah want ta know why real soon, okay?' He relented, taking a few steps towards a ramp that led inside the huge contraption.

What he was most surprised by on entry to the ship, was Nigel, Hoagie, and perhaps most of all, Kuki. She was standing there, her trademark smile all but doubled in size. He noticed that Nigel and Hoagie were both smiling widely too, and he frowned back a them in utter confusion.

'Hi Numb-' Kuki started to say, only to be cut off quickly by Hoagie.

'Hi Wally,' he said, directing the emphasis of the word to Kuki, as if reminding her what his name was. Wally could not have been more weirded out. First of all, the obvious question, why were they here? Then, another thing, why them? These people were all as different as sugar and salt. And yet, here they were in this strange, futuristic yet old-in the sense that most of the buttons were bottlecaps sort of spaceship.

'Uh- Wally, you might want to take a seat,' Nigel said, laying a hand on a big hospital bed-like table in the middle of the weird craft. Wally hopped up, sitting there, keeping a close watch on everyone inside the vehicle, from the five kids who stood, watching on eagerly in the corner, to Nigel, Hoagie and Kuki standing in front of him, to Joey, who was next to the bed, biting his bottom lip and smiling hugely, sort of jiggling on the spot like he was unable to contain it.

Hoagie exhaled deeply from in front of him, drawing Wally's attention back to him and the two others next to him.

'Okay, Wally, this may feel weird, but trust me, it's worth it,' Nigel assured him.

Wally was suddenly aware that all eyes were on him. Then, Nigel began to speak;

'Numbuh 4? You broke another S.P.L.A.N.K.E.R! That's the fourth one this week!'

Wally's breathing suddenly became shallower and more labored.

'Numbuh 4! You wanna play with me and my Care 'n' Share Rainbow Monkey?' Kuki beamed.

Wally fell to the table, lying, staring up at the ceiling as it shifted before his very eyes. His mouth was starting to move, but nothing was coming out. He felt like he needed to move, but his muscles had suddenly gone rogue.

'Numbuh 4, they just brought out new yipper comics! We have to go get them!'

Suddenly, it was like Wally was dreaming. Colours swirled around him, the room was spinning, and his heart was thudding in his ear, jumping up into his throat. His head was being shifted around, everything he thought he knew was changing, changing, changing back to the way it used to be. Faces were matched with names, then names matched with Numbuhs, then Numbuhs with memories of things that had happened long ago.

Then, everything went black.

'Numbuh 4... are you.. there?' He heard a soft, sweet voice calling him from far away- no, just outside- no, right above him.

He groaned, and forced his arms to work to push himself up on the bench. When he finally realised what was going on, what had happened, his eyes shot open instantly and he almost screamed with happiness. The blurry blobs in front of him took shape, and he saw those four people as they really were once again.

'You... Numbuh 1... and Ah... Ah was...Ah-Ah am...' He tried to speak, but only every fourth word or so came out.

Someone whose words did come out however was Joey. He ran around the room yelling at the top of his lungs that "Numbuh 4 was back! Numbuh 4 was back!" before running over to Numbuh 4 himself and throwing himself into a hug. Numbuh 4 was dazed, and still a little dizzy, but he found it easy to hug back. Then he realised.

Where he was.

What his brother knew.

Who his brother was.

And then he could speak again.

'Joey! You-you're in tha KND!'

His brother nodded furiously.

'Wow! Just loike your olda brother, 'ay?'

More nodding. Then, he got down off the table, stood in front of Numbuh 4, and saluted sharply.

'Numbuh 404 of the current Sector V, at your service!' He reported, still unable to control the simle on his face, the one that matched Numbuh 4's exactly.

'Aw, man, this is awesome! Ah'm back! And so are you guys! Numbuh 1, and Numbuh 2, and Numbuh 3... hi, guys.' He said, feeling the warm return of his real friends in his heart.

But then, the story had started.

The story made Numbuh 4 angry, it made him worried, it made him feel all kinds of things, but most of all, he felt bad for his brother, who had had to go through all this while Wally thought he was fine.

Good thing Numbuh 4 knew better.

Numbuh 2 was about to fire up the engines to leave, so they could pick up Numbuh 5 before deciding what to do next.

Then, Joey- oh, Numbuh 404, tugged on his sleeve.

'Uh, Numbuh 4?' He called, suddenly a bit shy.

'Whot's up, 404?'

'Ah- uhm, Ah found this in your room, on your bed. Ah thoughy ya might want it back.' Numbuh 404 was holding up Numbuh 4's favourite yipper card, torn at the edges and slightly faded with age, but still there, still whole.

Numbuh 4, lowered down until he was level with Numbuh 404, then smiled warmly at his brother, his brother who was doing the Beatles' family proud while Numbuh 4 was stuck being Wally.

'Thanks, man. You've been doin' well, Ah can tell.' The two hugged again.

'Oh and Numbuh 404,' Numbuh 4 began, looking Numbuh 404 in the eye.

'Tricking me into following ya through tha park? Well played, my man, well played.'

Numbuh 5, 1442, 29th November, 2014

Abby yawned and stretched out, leaning back away from the desk. She was in the library, trying to finish an article for the school paper on "Suburbia." She wasn't even sure what that was. Suburbia sounded a bit like some kind of medication that was meant to help you sleep.

Well, if that was true, Abby could have used some Suburbia right then. She had slept in about four out of the last seven nights. On the nights that she did sleep, the rest was always short-lived.

When Kuki had stumbled upon Abby that day in the treehouse, she had somehow triggered something. The dreams had returned with a vengance, and that day, when she and her friend had ended up exploring the rest of the treehouse, stopping when one of them encountered the vicious attacks of the mind; the voices, the images, the pounding in the head, like someone trying to break down a door. It seemed like a dream in itself. And Abby knew a lot about dreams.

The dreams invaded her mind almost every time she closed her eyes. Dreams about good things, bad things, and just downright weird things. She was starting to freak herself out. She'd had one the other night where she was stuck in some kind of dungeon, begging some kid she remembered from other dreams for help. She had woken up hysterical, in tears, with a sort of despiration down in the pit of her stomach. Someone could write a novel entirely out of the dreams she was having, but then they would probably just weird everyone out too much to read it.

She looked back at the computer screen, where the words 'Suburbia is,' stared back at her. She thought about giving up on the article and starting on something else, but she stopped herself. Abigail Lincoln did not give up on anything. Ever.

A tapping on the window to the library computer room she was in startled her from her fruitless thoughts. She looked up to see Kuki and Hoagie waving back at her, gesturing for her to come outside.

Confused, she got up from the computer, not bothering to save (there was nothing of any value on there, anyway) and opened the door.

'Hey Abby!' Kuki chanted, skipping over to her. Hoagie walked up beside her, looking slightly awkward.

'Uhm, hi.'

There was something different about these two today. Hoagie was obvious. What was up with those goggles? Had he been flying a plane or something? But, she had to admit, they did look... kind of cool.

But Kuki, she was harder to pinpoint. She was just... different. Somehow.

'So, what are you guys doing here?' Abby asked, cocking her head a little at the two. She wondered why they were even there together. They didn't seem like the type to be hanging out with each other.

'We- we need you to follow us,' Hoagie stammered, his face turning red.

'Why?'

'Uhh, well... oh! Um, Hoagie's making a nature documentary for his film class,' Kuki swooped in to supply an answer.

'Yeah! Yeah, that's what I'm doing!' Hoagie said quickly, as if he'd only just remembered that. 'And we need another camera person.'

'But, why would you need two?' Abby asked, wondering about a whole plethera of things that she could not think of an answer to.

'Because... we want to get the shots from different angles.' Hoagie said, sounding a bit like he was improvising. She frowned a bit at the two, unsure whether their story was legitimate, before shrugging, as she realised that Kuki was her best friend, and Hoagie was a new friend but a good one, and if they were hiding anything it wouldn't be anything bad.

'Alright then. Let's go,' she agreed, gesturing for them to lead the way.

Out in the park, Abby was a bit sceptical of Kuki and Hoagie. They seemed to be just a little nervous, just a little bit uncomfortable. But, she still kept walking, deciding that she was probably just tired and paranoid, given all the strange things that had been going on in her mind lately.

But her suspicions were unexpectedly confirmed soon enough.

'Okay, what the heck is that thing?' Abby asked upon sighting the SCAMPER II for the first time.

'Here's where it gets tricky,' she swore she heard Hoagie whisper.

'Uh, okay guys. I-I'm not so sure that I want to keep going with this.' Abby took a step back cautiously, looking at the huge thing and wondering -for about the twentieth time- exactly what was going on that she didn't know about. And it just got plain strange when Nigel and Wally stepped out.

'Look, Abby,' Nigel stated, stepping out towards her.

'I'm going to level with you; we were all unsure about this, but you just have to do it.'

Abby shook her head in disbelief. What was going on here was something she wasn't even sure she wanted to know.

'Nuh-uh. This is just strange, guys. I think I'm just going to leave.'

Her voice said that she was sure, but her heart said something else. Something inside her, whether it be the reminder that these people were some of her best friends, or the fact that she really did want to find out just what this was all about, but something pulled her back towards that strange park scene as she turned away. She wanted to keep walking, but she wanted to walk the other way.

'Oh... okay, alright. Show me what you got.' She said, turning around, walking back towards the giant schoolbs-plane.

'Yes! Alroight, follow us!' Wally's behaviour was also vastly different. He didn't seem as much like the I-don't-care boy that Abby knew him as, but more like someone who was actually interested in what was going on.

So, Abby followed the four others submissively up the ramp, and into the ship.

Abby registered the children's presence, but she was all but surprised out for the day, and so didn't seem to gather any shock from them being there.

She was instructed to hop up onto the table, and did so without arguement. Her friends looked like they meant buisiness; whatever their buisiness was.

They looked down at her with a mixture of excitement, sentimentality and affection.

Then, they started talking.

'Numbuh 5, what do you say to sodas at Lime Ricky's tonight?'

That name.

Numbuh 5.

Abby bit down on her lower lip, hard. It helped keep her alert. She'd used that trick all week to stay awake during class.

'We made it back, Numbuh 5! You think we should break out the stash?'

This time, she could not stop the swirl of colours that flew in front of her eyes. Suddenly, the voices in her ears suddenly dulled, like she was underwater.

'Numbuh 5, have you seen my sunglasses?'

Now, she couldn't even tell whether she was lying down or sitting up, she was so disoriented. And then one, final sentance, the last thing she heard before blacking out, her head overloaded to the point of giving up.

'Numbuh 5, I found your hat, you dropped it when you were running.'

...

...

...

Abby returned to conciousness, but not as Abby. As Numbuh 5.

Blobs grew into shapes, then into silhouettes, then, finally, people.

As soon as she felt she could do so without throwing up, Numbuh 5 lept from the bed and pulled all her teammates into a groupt hug.

'Woohoo! Numbuh 5 is back, baby! We're all back!' She beamed radiantly at the four others she had been unknowingly craving for three years. They were all back together once more.

After what seemed like forever, she broke the embrace, knowing that for the joy of seeing Sector V together again, there had to be a grief, a reason, to go along with it.

'Alright, then,' she said, straightening her navy blue shirt. 'There's got to be something big going on. So spill.'

She sat through the story, frowning the whole time. She shared an anxious look with her team, who also obviously knew what was going on. It was all very confronting. However, she was proud to find that Robert, Numbuh 263, had done well in handling it so far. And they had also done well on tracking down her and the team as well. There were things Numbuh 5 shook her head in sadness at; Colter, the 'turned' operatives, the way that all the kids there had bags under their eyes from lack of sleep. But, there were things that she smiled at too; Joey Beatles, and the way that he looked up to his older brother like he was a God. Or maybe, the way that all these kids, even though they were tired and emotionally worn out, still sparkled with a ray of hope, now that they had found their heroes.

As Numbuh 2 was revving up the engines to leave, she was approached by Olivia, Numbuh 505 from the current Sector V.

'Hi, Numbuh 5,' she said softly, eyes on the floor where her foot traced nervous circles on the shined metal.

'Hey, Numbuh 505. Whatcha got there?' Numbuh 5 replied, refering to the item in Olivia's balled fist.

'I- I found your earrings in the treehouse. I- I thought... here.' She pushed out her hand, opening it to reveal the golden hoops that Numbuh 5 had loved bt Abby Lincoln had forgotten.

Numbuh 5 gasped.

'Thank you so much. This means more than you know. Thank you, Numbuh 505, really.' Numbuh 5 hugged the girl tightly, before taking out the studs she had in her ears and replacing them with her old hoops. They felt right as soon as they were fastened.

Numbuh 263 had gathered everyone in the middle of the SCAMPER's hull.

'I think our first priority should be to get up to moonbase. Then, we can get you guys all sorted out, and give you a proper analysis of our situation. Then, we can decide what to do from there,' he said, taking a deep breath.

'Good idea. I think the team and I have some information as well that we'd like to input,' Numbuh 1 added.

'Numbuh 2, how fast can you get us out of here?'

Numbuh 2 perked up instantly.

'Faster than you can say "spacially impossible!"' he joked, already settled into the pilot's seat. The engine buzzed to life and Numbuh 2 kicked it into turbo drive.

'Attention all passengers, we ask that you please fasten your seatbelts... now,' he warned, to which everyone quickly complied, sensing in the pilot's tone that he meant buisiness.

'Alright everyone, this could be a bit of a bumpy ride.' Numbuh 2's hand flexed on the accelerator, wanting to go crazy, craving the exhilleration of flying once more.

'So hang on to your underwear!'

They were well on their way to moonbase within minutes. People were still slightly overwhelmed by the fact that they -or, in the case of the younger operatives, their heroes- were actually back from the inescapable pit of decommissioning. Everyone was talking, -nonstop, at that- either to the sector before or after them. People were recounting missions, memories, or things that now made sense, and the younger ones bombarded their predecessors with questions about what it was like to be so famous.

Eventually, Numbuh 1, Numbuh 3 Numbuh 4 and Numbuh 5 came to drift into the middle, in one big group, smiling warmly, as they had been for most of the day. Inside, at least.

Numbuh 2, over at the pilot's seat, sensed that he should be there too.

'Hey, Numbuh 202,' he said to Jake. 'I need you to take the wheel. Can you do that for me?'

Numbuh 202 eagerly assumed the role of pilot, as Numbuh 2 joined his friends in the middle of the SCAMPER.

'Well, we're all back,' Numbuh 5 said. 'I'll be honest, Numbuh 5 didn't think we'd ever be Sector V again.'

'You and me both,' Numbuh 1 agreed.

'I know. I'm just glad I'll be able to sleep tonight!' Numbuh 2 added.

'And now that we're all together again, we can get back to doing what we're supposed to do!' Numbuh 3 chorused, in her normal, Numbuh 3 sing-song voice.

'Well, what do ya guys say?' Numbuh 4 began, pulling the others into a huddle, just like they used to.

'Ready to kick some adult butt?'

Everyone seemed to know exactly what was coming next.

They went in order; Numbuh 5 down to Numbuh 1.

'Five!'

'Four!'

'Three!'

'Two!'

'One!'

Everyone, including the kids around them, watching them, seeing their faces, their utterly overjoyed faces, seemed to hold their breath, waiting for what Numbuh 1 would say next. The silence was something so intense, you would have to cut it with a chainsaw.

'Kids Next Door...'

...

...

'We. Are. Back.'

A/N: AH! I loved writing those two chapters! This is the whole reason I started this story, so I could do all that stuff then have Sector V come BACK TO LIFE! Ehe, sorry. Tiny fangirl moment there...

R&R please!

Okay, carry on...

-xoxo, Numbuh 25