As soon as the last final was over, they were all in the HQ, preparing for the potential capture of an enemy agent. Either that or they were going to scare the pee out of trespassing kids. Though, the descriptions they got didn't seem like teenagers. Actually, it seemed only like one person, but Skipper wanted everyone to be prepared.
They had debated waiting until the next day since they'd just taken exams, but reasoned that the intruder could get away by the time they got there. That and Rikki and Rocky's graduation was an event they didn't want to miss.
Skipper and Private went over the various ways this could go while Kowalski and Rico went through their supplies.
"Rope?"
"Yup."
"Recirculatory rubber gloves."
"Uh-huh."
"Thermal detection goggles?"
"Right here." Rico pointed to the goggles on his head.
"Snappers."
"Wha?"
"The firecrackers that cause a strobe light effect. We tested them yesterday."
"Ohh…yeah."
"Backup contacted and waiting?"
"Nah my job, 'Walski."
"Oh right, it was Private's job."
"They told us we should leave it to the adults." Private said. "I didn't get an answer as to when they'd send an agent over. They really don't want us facing Agent Twelve if it is her."
"By that time, our intruder could be long gone." Skipper replied. "It falls on us to take it into our own hands."
Private looked worried. "But-"
"No buts, Private, we're as good as them and we've faced Agent Twelve before."
"Yeah!" Rico said.
"Well, technically, Rico and Private encountered her without fighting and you got beat…up…by…" Kowalski stopped at the look on Skipper's face.
"I got taken by surprise. It won't happen again, got it?" Skipper growled.
"Yes, sir." Kowalski saluted.
"Alright, men, let's go."
Kowalski put on rubber gloves as they approached the Wilson house. He said it was an experiment he'd been wanting to try out in case their enemy tried to use electricity on them. It supposedly absorbed and stored electricity and shot it out. He said he got the idea from a show his brother watched.
He was also trying to figure out how to program his glasses with the functions of a computer, also inspired by a show that his brother and younger teammate told him about. He hadn't gone very far with that.
"So, what do you think happened to make him want to murder his family?" Private asked. "The Wilsons, I mean."
"I think the guy had unresolved issues and snapped one day." Skipper said. "That or some sort of cult."
"Those are both extremes."
"But possible." Kowalski added. "It was the eighties, they had satanic panic."
"He never actually blamed demons though." Skipper said. "He never said anything no matter what interrogations happened."
"Could he speak after that?"
"Doctors found nothing wrong with his vocal cords, he just never spoke again. He didn't even write."
"Creepy." Private shuddered. "Could anyone try new methods?"
"He's dead." Skipper said. "It's prison and he murdered a bunch of kids. He had some fellow inmates who didn't quite like that combined with him being quiet about it. They killed him before he could be transferred to a maximum security prison."
"Oh."
"Shh!" Kowalski signaled for Rico to put on the goggles. The four of them hid away from the windows.
"They're still boarded." Skipper whispered.
"There could be a peephole. Rico, results?"
"Uh...alone." Rico said, looking around the house again.
"Really? No one else?"
"Nope."
"Anything blocking the signal?"
"Dead house. Cold." Rico said pointedly. "Only her."
"Weird. Okay, Kowalski, what's the best option for entering?" Skipper asked. Kowalski pulled a small notepad out and went over his options.
"Well, we could try the other side, the bedroom window isn't boarded well. That's how Hans snuck in before. I made a mental note of it last time. I'm sure there's no hidden passages or trick rooms, it's a regular old house."
"Which room?" Rico asked.
"The smaller bedroom." Kowalski answered.
"She's there."
"Can you tell for sure it's Rhonda?"
"Yup."
"Can't we enter through the back or the garage?" Skipper said, indicating the side door next to them. Rico tried the door, it was locked.
"I wouldn't go in the garage anyway, I heard lots of rats last time." Kowalski shuddered.
"Erm, guys?" Private said, having peeked around the corner. "What if we go in the front door?"
The older teens watched as he shrugged and went to the front door. They hurried after him. Private slowly opened the door, then pushed it when he realized the creaking wasn't going to go away.
"I smell a trap." Skipper whispered. "Private, go back outside and contact our backup."
"You want me alone?"
"I want you to be our safety net. You're our point of contact with the others and you can help us if we get too far into trouble."
Private sighed and went to the front yard. The other three slowly crept into the house, leaving the door open.
The older three were on guard, looking around defensively. Rico pointed towards the bedroom, indicating that Rhonda was still in there. Kowalski stayed in the living room while the other two approached the bedroom.
"Rico." Skipper said.
BAM
CRACK
THUD
The door broke off the rusted hinges and fell to the ground, causing a dust cloud to puff up around it and the boys to cough.
"Well that was dramatic. I'm afraid you're outmatched." Rhonda said, calmly pointing what looked like a gun at them. "I suppose you brought swords or something like that? Why don't we skip the theatrics? I'm obviously not going with you, so leave."
"We have backup." Skipper scowled.
"You mean that child standing outside being apprehended by someone sent to assist me?"
"What?!" Skipper hurried to the door to see Private by the dead bush, unharmed and looking at his watch. The youngest glanced at the house to see his leader.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
Rico yelped before Skipper could answer. The leader hurried in to see Rhonda send a bolt of electricity through her weapon, which Rico dodged. He seemed to have narrowly dodged the previous one.
"Rico, snappers!" Skipper ordered.
Rico took the balls of snappers out of his pockets and threw them on the ground. They began their strobe light and noise. Skipper dragged Rico back out to the living room while Rhonda tried to stop the snappers.
"Where-?" Rico had noticed Kowalski missing. Skipper told him there was no time. They got the rope out of Rico's backpack and told him to follow him. Rico tied one end around the closed bathroom knob while Skipper went into the other room. The doorknob was missing, so Rico and Skipper would have to hold on tight.
The snapping subsided and Rhonda growled angrily. She stomped through the room and stopped.
"Really? Rope? I can clearly see this." She said. She stepped over it. Rico ran forward as she had one leg over and tried to trip her that way. She looked at him like he was stupid. "You'll have to do better than-"
FWIP
She blinked and reached her hand behind her neck, pulling a dart out. She looked behind her to see Private with a blowgun by the broken and exposed window. He squeaked and ducked out of sight.
Rhonda growled and looked back to see Rico was gone. She slid her foot forward and the rope suddenly went taut. She fell down.
THUMP
Skipper and Rico hurried to try to tie her, but she started to thrash, whacking at them. She got Rico's ankle and pulled, causing him to fall on his back. He yelped.
Without Rico to help, Skipper couldn't keep Rhonda still and he was shoved off, his head hitting the wall. He blinked through his dizziness as he and Rhonda got up. She made a beeline for the door and stopped, then cursed and ran towards the back of the house.
Rico groaned as Skipper helped him up. The leader half carried his injured teammate to the door where they saw two cars parked outside. Private waved at them from next to Skipper's dad.
"Sorenson, why didn't you stay behind?" Zander demanded, his voice dangerous.
"Excuse me, don't speak to my son like that." George said. "We have agents entering the back, I want you two to-"
"SKIPPER!" Kowalski screamed.
Skipper bolted inside, followed by a wincing Rico and concerned Private. The adults followed hurriedly.
Kowalski had tried hiding in the kitchen and was grabbed by Rhonda. He was struggling to find her weak points; his sharp elbows had no effect here.
"Private, dart her again." Skipper said.
"I might hit Kowalski." Private said.
"Leave this to us." Zander ordered. "There's no escape for you this time, Agent Twelve."
"Except through the garage." Kowalski grunted.
"Taro, why would you say that?!"
Rhonda shoved Kowalski away into the wall and ran past the teens who hadn't moved.
"What the hell are you dumb children doing?!" Zander snarled.
"Not…dumb…just run…" Kowalski groaned. Rico and Skipper hoisted him up.
"Get out!" Private yelled at everyone urgently. Bewildered, the adults followed.
CRASH
Another door had broken. Followed by a lot of squeaking. George's eyes widened. He hurried the teens out of the house as rats spilled from the garage, Rhonda screaming at the top of her lungs.
They all managed to avoid being touched or bitten by the rats as they fled. Rhonda wasn't so lucky, but the agents did handcuff and put her in the back of a police car as she was swearing and throwing insults at them.
Johnny Bone approached them after having ignored her attempts at taunting him about his previous failed capture.
"I'm extremely confused, but you boys took out a major enemy. Kent will want to know how you did it."
"Tripwire." Kowalski said. "I knew she'd think we didn't plan well enough, which is why I was the trap setter. I just wasn't supposed to get caught just yet."
"I wish you hadn't gone off on this dangerous mission, boys…" George said, then he sighed. "But you did an excellent job. I'm proud of the four of you. Now, let's get Rico seen by a doctor."
"Nah, 'm fine." Rico said, mustering a grin.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Too long."
"You should at least wear a back brace. I'll buy you one."
"Uh-"
"If you want, think of it as part of the organization's job to make sure you're taken care of."
Rico shrugged and accepted it.
"Is it an appropriate time to ask about Spain?" Private blurted out. "Sorry, it's just that I'm extremely curious and it was mentioned at the beginning of the year…" He trailed off at Johnny's grim look. He shook his head.
"Sorry, Private, it's not something I want to speak about yet." Johnny said.
"Oh, alright."
"It wouldn't be an appropriate time anyway seeing as we need to help Rocky and Rikki prep for graduation." Skipper said. "We're throwing them a party at Julien's insistence."
"He's the party king." Kowalski said.
"I'll bet he is."
The boys got into George's car and headed to the pharmacy. George bought a back brace and candy.
"It's not much of a thank you, but you earned a treat." He said. Skipper took a chocolate bar and passed the bag back to the other three.
"Thanks!" The boys said. They dove into the bag. George smiled as he heard them chatting happily, Skipper chiming in every so often.
…
Rocky had her application ready to send and a story to tell when the boys got back. She had just been to the airport with Julien. Rocky told her side of the story:
"Er…Rocky?"
"You've said my name three times already." Rocky said, not looking up from what she was writing. "I'm working on my last college application and would prefer not to have distractions. What do you need?"
"Oh, right, sorry. I was wondering if you could maybe drive me somewhere…please?"
"Where and how soon?"
"The airport…right now."
Rocky's eyes snapped up to meet Julien's, her eyebrows lowered and her mouth opened.
"Is it too late?" Julien asked nervously.
Rocky sighed. "I wish you asked me earlier so I could plan better. Why do you need to be at the airport?" She asked as she packed her things.
"I need to say bye to Josie."
Rocky nodded. "I thought so. You have a thing for her, don't you?"
"I have to see her again."
"Wow, you are either dedicated or insane." Rocky said, swinging her backpack over her shoulder. "Come on."
Julien grinned. "Thank you!" He squealed.
...
She was so absorbed in her application that she barely noticed Julien making his way back to her car with the biggest smile on his face. The two of them sat in the car until Josie's plane took off, and then Rocky proceeded to drive them back to the apartments.
"So, what happened? You look goofier than ever." Rocky said.
"She kissed me…"
"Wow. You asked her nicely, right?"
"Yes…she said she wanted to know too…maybe we won't be together, but I know how it feels to kiss someone you love. Thank you, Rocky, how can I repay you?"
"Just be kinder to people. And don't keep your heart hung up on Josie, okay?"
"Okay to both." Julien said.
…
Kowalski and Private couldn't make it to graduation for Rocky and Rikki, mainly because Private had to prep for his flight back home. Kowalski made it to the party and preferred to hang out in the back with Rico who was confined to a chair due to his injury. Julien was hosting the party at a club, his face as excited and smiley as ever.
There hadn't been time to ask about the whole airport thing until the next day when Skipper called him. The taller teen was skeptical at first as to why Skipper needed to know, but told him anyway because he was bursting with excitement.
"Okay, so I practically ran out of Rocky's car and I saw Josie from behind…"
"JOSIE! WAI-AAGH! Oof!"
Josie turned to see Julien sprawled out on the ground.
"Oh dear!" She gasped. She put her bags down and rushed to help him up. "Are you alright? How did you get here?"
"I-I'm fine." Julien panted. He inhaled deeply. "Rocky drove me, she's waiting in her car. I came because I had to say goodbye."
"I thought we already said goodbyes, though." Josie said as she gathered her bags again. "I have to board now." She indicated the terminal behind her. "I gave Marlene my number, you can-"
"I know, I just wanted to say bye differently." Julien mumbled, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks.
"What?"
"Josie, I really do like you."
"Julien-"
"Wait, I know you had bad luck before and I'm probably not any better…but I can't not know…"
"Know what?"
"Even if I never see you and we both get married and have families…I want to know how it feels to kiss someone you really love…but if you are okay with it…I have talked to Rocky and I will be okay with not knowing too but I just thought that I could ask because it doesn't hurt to ask even if it sometimes feels like it does and I am not understanding-mmph!"
Josie had kissed him. Julien was surprised for a second before returning the kiss. He moved his arms around her carefully. She returned the gesture, but only for a moment. He let go when she backed away, ending the kiss.
Julien couldn't find words.
Josie smiled. "You ramble way too much. I really got to go now." She walked towards the terminal.
Julien stammered before finding his voice. "Thank you, not just for that, but for being my friend!" He called after her.
Josie turned slightly with a smile still on her face. "I wanted to know too." She said before walking down and turning the corner, out of sight.
…
"So, you're together or what?" Skipper asked.
"I don't know, we're just friends for now, I think. I really do want to be with her." Julien sighed.
"Well, you can text and call her all summer and I can have a summer without Julien shenanigans."
"Without ANY Julien? That sounds utterly BORING! I shall happily be letting you know how happy I am and you shall do the same, right?"
"Uh…no comment." Skipper hung up and messaged the boys the story.
Rico was staying at Kowalski's for a little while to recover. The three of them planned to visit Private later in the summer, having made sure there would be someone to protect the city.
A/N: That's a wrap on year 2. I feel good about this chapter. I can always come back and expand on the battle if it needs it, but I wanted to post so I can have it as reference for the rest of the story.
