A/N: Hoagie and Abby's date starts now!

Disclaimer: I do not own KND, or any of the original characters. If I did, I would have put more of Patton in it (yeah, I'm a bit of a Patton fangirl... but Hoagie and Abby will always be my favourite operatives)

Shoutout to Numbuh 1X1- Keep those ideas coming! This is gonna be awesome! You know what I'm talkin' about ;)

MoreThanMeetsTheEye96: Thank-you so much! Yeah, I am also kinda proud of myself for making it this far! But it's really the people like you who motivate me, so I think you're the one I should be thanking! THANK-YOU! ;)

Penspot: It's fine, glad you liked it. It's sad when school and education and life and unimportant things like that get in the way of what is really important; READING FANFICTION!

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Kids Next Door Mission...

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

Fragments

Of

Recovery

Gradually

Enable

Team

Chapter 26- Relationship Revived?

Two days had passed since the meeting on Moonbase, and all through those two days, Sector V had been hard at work, almost constantly on the clock. Numbuh 2 was in the lab for every waking minute he was out of school, and as a result, had lost a lot of sleep. As had everyone else. The rest of the team had spent both nights up way too late, investigating everything- from turned operatives to possible connections to Dr. Colter.

It was Friday morning, when Abby and Kuki were leaning against the lockers and talking. Kuki, who was being the girly-girl she had always been, had almost deafened Abby with her squeal once Numbuh 5 had told her about her date with Hoagie.

'So, what are you gonna wear?' she asked, bouncing up and down. Abby shrugged.

'Jeans, maybe,' she said casually. Kuki drew in a deep gasp, as if Abby had just said something extremely rude.

'What?!' she cried, her face shocked. 'You can't just wear jeans! Haven't you got a dress or something you can wear?'

Abby looked at her like she was crazy.

'Me? Own a dress? You feelin' alright, girl?'

'Well, you're sure as heck not going in jeans. So after school tonight, we are going shopping!' Kuki squealed again. Abby groaned, her head sagged.

But it was still happening. Once Kuki had her mind set on shopping, there as no way you could get her off it.

So, the rest of the day was boring, for both girls. Kuki was just bored because she couldn't wait for that final bell to go. It had been so long since she had been on a shopping spree, and it wasn't often that she could convince Abby to do something girly with her. She could not wait until she could see Abby in a dress, with make-up on... and she couldn't refuse. Oh no, Kuki would make sure she couldn't get out of it. Abby was just bored, tired and bored. The last thing in the world she wanted to do was to go shopping (okay, maybe the last thing she wanted was to wear a dress, but still..), though she knew that Kuki was not going to let her worm her way out of it.

Brrring! Brrring! Brrring!

The end of school. 2:45pm, and exactly four hours and fifteen minutes until Hoagie was meant to arrive at Abby's house to pick her up. Abby got butterflies in her stomach every time she thought about it. To be honest, she was shocked when Hoagie had gather up the courage to ask her out in the first place. But she also couldn't have been happier.

Kuki and Abby both drove their cars to the mall, so that they didn't have to go back to the school carpark after they'd finished.

The mall was full of stores, many of them places that Abby wouldn't have minded going into; places that sold t-shirts, leggings and other non-girly things. But Kuki had to drag her straight to her own favourite shop; Teen Talk.

Abby stopped dead at the storefront.

'You have got to be kidding me,' she deadpanned.

Kuki just rolled her eyes and dragged her friend in, her eyes already peeled for any dresses that might look good on Abby (or herself, for that matter).

'Hello, can I help you?' One of the store clerks, a girl dressed in a grey-green t-shirt and fluro yellow skirt, came up to them. Even though her skirt, and the matching shoes and earrings, may have blinded some people with the brightness of their colour, they were the 'in' colours for the season, and so, she was obviously willing to risk temporary loss of sight.

'Oh, no thank-you. We're just gonna have a look around,' Kuki replied, returning the assistant's friendly smile.

Abby, though dreading the thought of having to try on any of these things, had come to the decision that, if she just submitted and let Kuki do her thing, she might be able to get out without having to model the entire store's inventory. So, without a protest, but her face still showing reluctance, she followed Kuki through the racks upon racks of clothing.

The shorter, paler girl stopped every once in a while, to pick out a dress from a rack, hold it up against Abby, before either hanging it back on its rack and frowning in disapproval, or adding it to her growing pile of outfits draped over her arm.

After a while, Kuki couldn't carry any more, and so it was off to the changing rooms. She dumped a huge pile of clothes on Abby, and told her to start going through them, pushing her into a cubicle.

Abby muttered to herself as she pulled out the top dress, then proceeding to change into it. It was black, with a silver belt, and Abby didn't like it much. Apparently, Kuki felt the same way, as, when she opened the door cautiously, she received a quick shake of the head and was sent back in.

And so, it began;

'Too short.'

Next.

'Too long.'

Next.

'Too dull.'

Next.

'Ugh, too bright.'

Next.

'What's with the feathers? You look like a peacock.'

Next, next, next.

And finally, there was only one left. Abby sighed, and put it on. Finally, it was over. She didn't feel like a doll anymore, her outfit changing and changing and changing again.

She walked out of the cubicle, and frowned slightly in confusion as Kuki gasped.

'This is the one!'

Was it?

Abby looked at herself in the mirror.

Her dress was the same deep blue as most of her clothes, coming down to above the knee, made out of many layered pieces of thin, flowing, semi see-through fabric. It wasn't too tight, but wasn't too baggy, either. It had thick straps that went straight around her shoulders, and a bold red belt at the middle. Abby herself almost gasped at the girl she saw in the mirror. Whoever the heck she was, it sure wasn't Abigail Lincoln.

Or was it?

She had to admit, the dress did give her a funny sort of feeling. She was just having trouble figuring out if that feeling was good or bad. Kuki, however, was acting like it was the greatest thing in the world.

'Ohmigosh, Abby you look so beautiful!' She squealed, hopping from foot to foot.

'Hoagie is gonna go crazy when he sees you!'

Abby blushed slightly, not sure of what to say. But her friend didn't seem to notice. She just shot out something in rapid fire about 'finding some shoes' and left Abby to change back into her normal clothes and take the dress to the counter to pay.

In half an hour, most of it spent looking around shoe stores and listening to Kuki swoon at every second pair, they had found a nice set. Not high heels, though. That was where Abby drew the line.

The shoes were red, to go with the belt and Abby's hat, ballet flats with the tiniest wedge heel they could find at the back. And by that time, it was 4:15 and were finally done at the mall, and boy, was Abby grateful for that. But, it didn't end there. And the dark-skinned girl knew that all too well.

'Time for make-up!'

Yay.

Abby drove back to her house, while Kuki went back to her own to pick up her makeup bag.

When Kuki burst into Abby's room fifteen minutes later, Abby had music playing on her speakers, and looked like she was about ready to protest about something.

'Kuki, Abby reeeally doesn't think she needs-'

'Nonsense. You're putting makeup on, Abby. Now sit still.'

It took half an hour of holding Abby down and keeping her from moving, but Kuki finally got some makeup on her. Some lipstick, blush and eyeshadow. She could have done a lot more if the girl had been willing to sit there and have it done, but, the only way that would happen with Abby is if she was asleep at the time.

But despite the struggling, Numbuh 3 actually did a pretty good job on her. Once her friend had stood up from her bed, Kuki clapped her hands in glee. She had never seen her look.. like this.

'Yes! That's perfect! Now we've just got your hair!'

When will this end? Haven't I been through enough already?

But in the background, Kuki was chattering away like there was no tomorrow.

'We'll make it simple; I don't think complicated suits you very well. Hm. Maybe half-up half-down? No, no. Uhhm...'

And then, Abby began to feel like a mannequin again. Kuki tried countless hairstyles on her, pulling and tying and plaiting and hairspraying. Finally, though, after what felt like forever, she finished.

Abby had convinced her to go with the simplest thing she could; a simple high ponytail. But Kuki had at least gotten to braid one little strand of hair. But by that time, it was getting closer to their deadline. 5:45. Fifteen minutes to go. Just enough time to put on the dress and the shoes and struggle a touch more makeup on.

Abby's nerves were starting to flutter. She didn't usually get like this. But then, with Hoagie, nothing for her was ever 'usual'. He had always been different.

He would be there any minute, Abby thought, rolling her eyes while Kuki took snapshots of her with her phone, doing her girly-girl squeal-dance combo in the background.

~(*)~

Oh my god, I have never been this nervous in my life. I feel like I'm about to pass out. Am I hyperventilating? I can't even tell.

Hoagie had spent all of that day wondering about that night, and now, he felt like he could lose conciousness at any second. He had pulled out his whole wardrobe looking for something to wear, and then gone through it again, just to make sure. He had finally, after much debating, decided on some dark black jeans, a white t-shirt and an overshirt of a darker blue than he was used to. Wally had been there too, and Nigel as well, but Hoagie guessed they were there mostly so they could see him freaking out at full scale (and to get a couple free sodas), and had no real intention of 'helping'. They just laughed at his nerves, which put them on the receiving end of a death stare or two, not to mention some cracks of 'Yeah? Well, at least I worked up the guts to actually ask the girlI like out. More than I can say for you two.'

That silenced them.

Once it came time to leave, though, they started laughing again. Even Nigel had cracked up a few times that night.

'Gooood luck, Hoagiiie!' Wally taunted, giving him a michevious smirk and a wave.

'Shut up, Wally.'

And with that, his two friends were gone.

And he was alone.

He got into his old blue pickup truk, wondering vaguely if the car -not fancy or formal to say the least- would be okay to pick up the girl of his dreams in. But, he really didn't care anymore. He had made it this far; what was the worst thing that could happen? Then, his head went wild with possibilities.

She could stand you up.

You could get food stuck in your teeth.

The car could break down.

A temporary rift in time and space could produce a reaction powerful enough to remove her or you from the face of the universe completely.

...

They went on to get even more far-fetched. Somewhere deep down he knew that Abby wouldn't stand him up, or do anything to hurt him. Even so, he was still worried. Worried because he expected something to ruin it, somehow. Like something was meant to ruin it, just because he wasn't meant to go out with Abby.

But he shoved all those theories to the back of his mind. He wasn't going to let anything ruin tonight.

Exept maybe the time-space-universe thing. He really didn't know if he could do anything to stop that from happening.

He drove over to Abby's house, with the stereo turned up loud most of the way. It helped keep his nerves at bay.

But he turned down the tunes once he turned into her street. He thought he would come off too... too much like Ace if he rocked up to her door with the music pumping.

Before he knew it, he was there, and once again, his heart was in his throat. He swallowed, hard, before forcing himself out of the car and walking shakily up to the front door.

He raised his fist, which was trembling nervously, he kocked three times.

Mr. Lincoln answered the door.

'Well, if it isn't Hoagie Gilligan, with the goggles, and the planes and the- aw, you know what I'm talkin' about! I haven't seen you since you and Abby were only ten years old!'

He laughed awkwardly.

'Hehe, hi, Mr. Lincoln. Is Abby ready to go yet?'

'I think so. Let me just go check on her.'

He waited about ten seconds, before he heard the man's voice;

'Abigail! Your friend Hoagie is here!'

There was the ruffling of bedsheets, as if someone had been sitting down, and had just stood up quickly.

'Uh- I'm coming!' He heard Abby's voice.

I was just sitting on my bed, feeling pretty much fine, when dad called up to me that Hoagie had arrived. I had a freak out moment, and stood up like my bed was suddenly on fire. Kuki smirked, tried to hide her expression, but I could still tell. She whispered something about 'letting herself out,' once I'd gone. She then wished me luck, shoved a red purse and my hat into my hands and almost pushed me out my bedroom door.

I walked down the stairs, feeling my legs go a little wobbly. Was this really happening?

Was this really happening?

I couldn't even convince myself of it.

I was standing there, feeling awkward, but so, so excited too.

Hang on...

Oh my god.

There she was.

I couldn't believe my eyes. I thought maybe my mouth was hanging open, but somehow I just couldn't bring myself to close it. I couldn't move at all. She was just... amazing. The dress, the face, the smile, but most of all, just everything about her seemed so very perfect. Flawless. I tried to shift my legs, my arms, anything. But I got nothing. Tried to speak. Nothing came out.

Abby looked to him, smiling a small smile. Hoagie couldn't read her expression. Mr. Lincoln, apparently sensing that he should leave them be, left the room.

'H-how do I look?'

...Silence.

Finally, he forced the words out.

'A-uhm-ah... wow.'

He did, however, see her blushing under her dark skin.

'Uhm, are you.. ready to go?' she asked.

Hoagie nodded. He thought. He didn't know. But apparently he had, because Abby began to walk to the door, and Hoagie followed.

The car trip to the cafe they were having dinner at beore the movie started out a little awkward. Hoagie was too afraid of making a fool of himself to speak. He feared that if he opened his mouth, he'd end up saying something embaressing. Abby was just sitting there, wondering how the night was going to go. Don't get me wrong, they were both thrilled to be there, but as long as they had their minds on trying to be perfect, they were just too cautious to be casual.

But then, Hoagie turned on the radio, hoping to break the tension.

A song came on, playing a song that both the pair knew.

So there we were back home from somewhere inside my head,

While bravely I fought off the monsters beneath her bed.

Abby and Hoagie knew it well. They had listened to this song when they had gone to the beach for a weekend, when they were twelve. It was one of their happiest memories. The song ment a lot to them.

But when her smile came back,

and I didn't feel half as horrible,

she gave me a heart attack,

just because she looked so adorable.

We both put our sunblock on,

laid on the beach and vowed that we'd live and we'd learn,

Well she got a tan and I got a sunburn.

The instant they heard the song, they looked up at each other, and in seconds they were both singing along, and the tension was gone with the wind. The wind that was streaming through Abby's hair from the open windows. The wind that ruffled Hoagie's shirt, tossed it around.

They were almost dissappointed when they arrived at the cafe. But still, they both got out of the car and made their way over to the door.

They grabbed a booth over in the corner, sitting down, both smiling happily. But then, Abby, who was facing the rest of the cafe, saw something that made her jaw drop.

'What, Abby?'

'Check that out!' She exclaimed, pointing in disbelief to another table in the middle of the place.

Hoagie turned around slowly, wondering what could be so surprising. Then, he saw it, and his jaw was hung slack as well.

Patton and Fanny were sitting at a table, near the middle of the resturant. Patton and Fanny.

...

...

Patton and Fanny!

Suddenly, Abby and Hoagie burst out laughing, as hard as they had ever laughed before.

By the time they had laughed themselves out, they were crying with mirth, and their sides both hurt. Then, after a few seconds of silence, they began laughing again. It took five minutes for them to calm down enough to order.

'Oh my gosh, can you believe that?' Abby said, once the waiter had taken their requests.

'No way! I thought those two hated each other!' Hoagie replied, still smiling widely.

'So did I!'

'Well, I guess opposites attract.'

'Yeah.'

They got talking, just casually, laughing and joking, and soon they were both having a really good time. Their meals came; a chicken burger and chocolate milkshake for Abby, a burger with the lot and a root beer float for Hoagie.

'So, have you made any progress with Chemical Z2A?' Abby asked, taking a sip of her milkshake, which was piled high with chocolate sauce and whipped cream.

'Yeah, I have actually. I'm pretty sure I know basically how it works, and I think I'm on the way to finding out how to reverse the effect. Like an anti-venom for snakebites, y'know?'

'Yeah. That sounds cool! Complicated, but cool. Definitely your field.'

Complicated but cool. Was she reffering to him, or just his work? What did that mean?

'We think we have a lead as to where Dr. Colter might be hiding out.' She continued.

'Really? How'd you find that out?'

'We've tracked down someone we think could be his assistant.'

'And that would be...?'

'Guess. One word; Secretary.'

'Anna Worthington?' Hoagie said flatly.

'Yep.' Abby nodded.

'Go figure.'

It was a quarter past seven when they had finished dinner, and they were still laughing as the left the cafe to walk to the movie theatre.

In line, Hoagie noticed that he got a couple of stares from some faces they recognised from school.

Shows them, he thought to himself, smirking proudly. The three or four teens were staring at the pair, as if thinking; that Gilligan kid actually got Abby Lincoln to go out with him?

Abby was also smiling as she noticed their disbelieving looks. Let 'em stare. I'm happy here, Hoagie's happy here, to heck with everybody else.

They ordered their popcorn and drinks, and made their way into the cinema.

A kids movie.

It was still a good movie, and Abby and Hoagie enjoyed it as much as Numbuh 2 and Numbuh 5 would have, back when they were kids.

Laughing like they were crazy up the back of the cinema, they spent the whole two hours of the movie just enjoying every moment.

And by the end, Hoagie's arm was around Abby.

They walked out together, it was 9:45. Dark. A nice night, even if it was a bit cold.

Walking through the park, just walking, with Hoagie's arm still around Abby's shoulders, none of them could imagine the air around them ever being tense. It felt so natural, just like it had been before decommissioning. They were laughing about everything from school to old memories, and back to Fanny and Patton again.

'How did that happen?'

'I have no idea. No idea in heck.' They said, both suddenly stopping at the same time. They were in front of the playground. An at the exact same instant, they both had the exact same idea.

They eyed off the playground, thinking about how fun it would be to play on it, but thinking that it was crazy.

'You wanna go play on the-' Hoagie started, but was cut off.

'Yep,' Abby interjected quickly.

And then, they were on the playground, not even caring what they must have looked like; two sixteen year-olds swinging and sliding and climbing on the monkeybars and slides and jungle-gyms, and in all their dressy clothes as well.

But no-one could see them. They wouldn't have cared, even if it had been broad daylight.

After five minutes, Abby was up on top of the jungle-gym. Hoagie was standing atop the slide, ready to push himself down it again.

'Don't slip up there, Hoags!' Abby called to him, remembering his clumsy reputation.

'What are you talking about? I'm not gonna f- whoa!'

...Thud.

'...ow.'

Abby was laughing harder than she had all night. Hoagie just scowled, but then his expression broke and he was laughing as well. He couldn't help it.

So he swung himself up onto the jungle-gym next to Abby, who was still laughing her head off. Hoagie was surprised that she hadn't fallen off the gym in all her mirth.

'And you said I could never make you laugh,' he said, grinning widely.

'No, you can't. At least not when you're trying!'

Hoagie had no response to that, and gradually, silence fell, and the darkness seemed to take over, leaving the two to enjoy the night's peacefulness once again. Abby smiled as she heard a deep, satisfied sigh from next to her. She could not for the life of her think of a reason why she had ever been nervous about this.

Hoagie turned to look at Abby, who had her eyes closed, taking in deep breaths of the crisp air. He was having trouble digesting the fact that this night, this perfect night, had actually just happened. And was still happening in front of his very eyes.

But when Abby opened her eyes to see Hoagie looking at her, looking at her in that way, both of them snapped back to reality in one eighth of an instant.

It was just like back in the trenches, back when they were twelve. It was coming, they knew, but it was spontanious at the same time. Slowly, they were getting closer, then closer, then finally, it happened.

They kissed, and their hearts leapt into overdrive.

The breath caught in their throats.

Dizzying emotions made their heads spin.

And the moment was about as perfect as they could ask for.

All those memories lost for so long, those years spent not even knowing what they had been, none of that mattered anymore. They didn't care that they had missed each other desperately for three years behind oblivious minds, it was all okay. Because now they knew. And now, it was the same.

When they finally broke apart, nobody said anything for a while. Abby just layed her head on Hoagie's shoulder, and they spent who-knows-how-long simply relishing every moment, looking out over the forests of trees, a small, calm smile on their faces.

Then, in a voice smaller than Abby knew she had, she said;

'Hoagie?'

'Yeah?'

'I love you.'

..

'I love you too, Abby.'

~(*)~

A/N: I wanted to make that chapter perfect. Was it even close to that? I don't know. But if you read this, PLEASE review it! Annonymous reviews is on, so just give me any feedback you want to! As long as it's good. Nah, just kidding, tell me what you really thought.

WOOO! Gotta love the Hoagie/Abby-ness! I had to surpress so many fangirl squeals while writing that chapter, I think I may actually have a build-up of them in my throat somewhere.

Next chapter up next week, just like usual!

I GET A FOUR DAY WEEKEND! YAYAYAY!

-Numbuh 25 over and out