While Numbuh 4 and Numbuh 3 were doing truth or dare at the party, Numbuh 1 and Numbuh 362 had just arrived at the moonbase's cafeteria, it was mostly quiet with only a few operatives having a late-night dinner, Rachel approached a buff teenager who was cleaning some debris from a small crater "Numbuh Change for a 20?"
"Hm? Heeey, almost didn't recognize you Sir" The boy laughed "Any progress on bringing us back to normal?" The boy asked while throwing a bunch of bent metal in a trash can
"Kinda, we already managed to figure out where the bomb was made and where the signal to detonate it was sent from" Rachel said as she looked around "What is it with all these operatives in here?"
"Most of them were at the infirmary up to until now, they can't return home as teenagers so they are having dinner here" Change for a 20 said "What about you?"
"Got busy trying to figure a weird signal that could have something to do with what happened, ended up forgetting to eat" Rachel lowered her head a little depressed
"Right… on your tab right?" Change for a 20 asked
"Yeah, what is it today?" Rachel asked
"Pizza day, go wild with the toppings" Change for a 20 said
"Nice, better than meatball sandwich day…" She mumbled to herself while grabbing a couple slices of pizza then going to a bunch of candy machines but instead of candy they were filled with toppings, Rachel pulled a lever that made a bunch of mushrooms drop on her pizza slices
"Mushrooms?" Numbuh 1 looked at her plate a little weirded out while he had a plate full of slices of pepperoni pizza
Rachel looked at him a bit wary then she sighed and smiled at him "I love them, Harvey always asks for a separate Pizza when our parents order it" She laughed then walked with Numbuh 1 to an empty table, the two operatives sat right next to each other, before starting to eat Rachel paused for a moment to look at Numbuh 1. she lowered her head then sighed "Look… I'm sorry" She said to him
Numbuh 1 looked at his boss a little confused while he ate the slice of pizza, just as he swallowed his pizza and was ready to ask why when he was interrupted by two familiar voices calling out to Rachel
"Hey! Sir!" Numbuh 23 approached the two leaders waving at them she was accompanied by Numbuh 35
"Heeey…" Rachel smiled awkwardly at Virginia "Hi…" She waved back at her
"I got worried when you didn't show up, Bartie told me you said you were gonna visit me in the infirmary" Numbuh 23 said a bit worried
"Sorry… hehe… I was a bit busy with everything that happened" Rachel said, she had a slight blush on her cheeks and was sweating a bit nervous
"That's alright, it would be awkward anyway, this guy was confessing to me" Numbuh 23 laughed raising her hand showing to Nigel and Rachel that the two were holding hands
"Heey, congratulations" Numbuh 1 smiled at the couple while Rachel stood silent watching the two lovebirds
Bartie was a bit embarrassed but he laughed in his usual carefree way at his girlfriend "Thanks, so? Any progress on turning us back?"
"Yeah… there was some progress, can you find the nerds of the undersea lab for me Numbuh 35? We will need them soon enough"
"Yes Sir!" He turned to Vi and kissed the girl right on the lips quickly "I have to solve some stuff now, meet you later?"
"Sure, I will solve some stuff I have pending at the Hangar" She was blushing a nice shade of pink on her cheeks as she waved Numbuh 35 goodbye, the operative then sat at the table and sighed with a pleased look now ignoring Numbuh 1 and Numbuh 362 "This is the life…" She chuckled
"Wow…" Rachel smiled still feeling uncomfortable "You guys must really like each other"
Numbuh 23 snapped out of it then paused for a bit and smiled at Rachel "It's weird" She said
"What do you mean?" Rachel raised an eyebrow
"Well… When we were talking at the infirmary… we both liked each other since the day he saved me against those teens at the code module chamber, but I always thought I was so… boyish and he thought he was a boring guy… and then we turned into teenagers and poof, we both get the courage to confess" She laughed "I don't wanna use this teenage courage as a crutch to date him so I wanna go back to being a kid, I wanna date the original Bartie" She then looked in front of her and saw Numbuh 1 and Numbuh 362 just hearing her in silence while finishing their pizza, her ears turned red then her cheeks as she felt blood rushing to her face "S-Sorry! I started rambling, Teenager Numbuh 23 has this weird habit…" Virginia got up and rushed to the pile of pizzas to get some for herself, some smoke could be seen coming from her ears
"Wow… that was… something" Rachel said not quite sure how to react to everything Numbuh 23 said
"I mean, she seems happy" Numbuh 1 said smiling a bit embarrassed
"Yeah…" Rachel sighed
"What was that about being sorry?" Numbuh 1 turned to Numbuh 362 again
"Well…" Rachel paused for a bit then smiled at him "Sorry for scolding you back there with Numbuh 74.239, he was a total jerk but I still don't know how to act around kids in this body" She said a bit sad
Numbuh 1 smiled at his boss and patted her on the back "It's okay, I shouldn't have yelled at him, you are right, it's kinda scary being a teen and yelling at a kid" He said embarrassed
Rachel looked at Numbuh 1's embarrassment and blushed in response, she sighed then got up "It's okay, we will solve this together, let's go back" She smiled at him a little nervous then got up as the boy followed her
While they walked around the base Rachel and Nigel walked near a small square with a playground, a couple of operatives played around but what stood out to the two leaders were the couples walking around the square and sitting on the benches "Rachel…" Numbuh 1 looked at her a bit embarrassed
"What?" She asked putting on a serious face
"You think this teenager stuff is messing with people's heads?" Numbuh 1 asked back
"I mean… teenagers usually date" She sighed "More dumb I think" She chuckled a little morbidly
"What about you? You feel weird?" Numbuh 1 asked
"Nope, I feel totally fine" She laughed nervously then stopped and looked at him with a serious face "Look, these people wanna go back home and not scare their parents to death looking like teens, even if I wanted to confess to someone I can't do that now, alright? They need me" She sighed then kept on walking, Numbuh 1 followed her silently
Just as Rachel was about to leave the square she ended up seeing a familiar figure sitting on a stone bench, Sonia who had Lee sleeping on her lap waved at her smiling "Numbuh 362 Sir, good to see you" she then looked at her leader closely and giggled Hey…" She untied her twin tails making her hair look just like Rachel's "We match" She laughed sweetly
Rachel smiled at the girl, it managed to lighten her mood almost instantly "Good to see you are okay, I was a bit worried when I saw you earlier"
"Lee told me he met you while I was asleep" She ruffled his hair gently while she talked to Rachel
"Is he okay?" Rachel asked
"He is fine… he took care of me the entire day so I practically ordered him to take a nap" She blushed then looked at Lee's sleeping face
Rachel sighed while smiling at the two knowing full well two liked each other "It's pizza day at the cafeteria, you should head there later when he wakes up, here" Rachel grabbed some money and handed it to Sonia
Numbuh 1 smiled at his boss and followed her while Sonia waved them goodbye "Where are we heading to now?"
"Before I go to the command center I wanna see how Numbuh 60 is doing and ask Numbuh 86 for help since we may need some extra muscle if we manage to track who sent the message, she said while entering the infirmary, Numbuh 1928 was sleeping on a nearby waiting bench "He must be exhausted, let me see here where those two are" Rachel grabbed a clipboard and put her finger on Numbuh 60's codename written on it "Room 6, this should be quick" Rachel headed to their room and stopped in front of the door, she paused for a moment and knocked on the door "Patton? You there?" Numbuh 362 tried to open the door but it was locked, she looked at Numbuh 1 but the boy shrugged, she scratched the back of her head and put her ear against the door, she heard something from inside along with some snoring "I think he is sleeping, wait a sec" Rachel grabbed her communicator and called Numbuh 86, Rachel immediately heard it ringing from inside the room, the girl then sighed and kicked the door open, she was greeted with an unbelievable scene
Numbuh 86 was sleeping right next to a shirtless Numbuh 60 who had some bandages around his torso, the girl hugged him while the boy snored with a remote controller in his hand "Hm?" Patton slowly woke up and noticed Numbuh 362 and Numbuh 1 looking at him in disbelief
Before anyone could say anything Numbuh 86 was the next to wake up she looked at Numbuh 60 smiling "Heeey…" The girl reached for his face and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek "Sorry, the chair was hurting my back" she laughed then noticed the boy didn't react a lot to her kiss "What?" She turned around only to see Rachel looking at her with her mouth wide open "Oh…"
"You forgot to lock the door didn't you?" Patton sighed lowering his head
"No I didn't!" She frowned at him and pushed him back as she got up from the bed
Rachel crossed her arms and frowned at the two "I kicked the door open"
"Of course she did" Patton put his hand against his forehead and started pinching it
"Did something happen?" Fanny asked
"I just wanted to see how Patton was doing and ask for some help since we are going to track the fake signal with the scientists now… but it seems you two had other plans" She said with an angry tone to her voice
"Just forget what you saw here alright?" Numbuh 86 blushed a little embarrassed, she crossed her arms and avoided looking at her boss
Rachel groaned angrily "Fine, let's just head to central command"
Numbuh 86 got up ready to leave but she looked at her boss and found it weird and ended up asking "Is everything fine Sir?"
Rachel lowered her head and closed her fists "No, nothing is fine, everyone doesn't give a damn about this whole situation, you aren't the only one, have you seen the square nearby? People dating left and right, I just wanna bring this whole organization back but everyone is just dating, I would like to confess too and be accepted you know? But I can't because I just know I won't be able to do a good job once I do, I thought you were gonna have some sense of duty and help me on this one but I was wrong, sorry for having this stupid job alright?" Rachel was panting while looking angered at everyone in the room, she then took a deep breath and left the room
"Sorry about that…" Numbuh 1 bowed his head to the couple
"You okay?" Patton sat on the side of the bed and placed his hand on top of Numbuh 86's shoulder
Numbuh 86 sighed placing her hands on her hips sounding a little tired, she scratched the back of her head and turned to her boyfriend "Yeah I'm good, I'm used to hearing worst stuff in the decommissioning chamber don't worry" She smiled then kissed him
"Should we be worried about her?" Patton asked
"I have a feeling she will come around, girls always do" Numbuh 86 said and left the room along with Numbuh 1 and Numbuh 60 who looked at each other not too sure about that last one but both decided to keep quiet
Rachel who ran back to the central command arrived to see Numbuh 2 and Numbuh 5 laughing among themselves while Hoagie fidgeted with the bomb "Heeey… you guys managed to get the bomb"
"You gotta thank Numbuh 3 and Numbuh 4" Numbuh 5 snickered "Those two lovebirds managed to find the bomb while they were smooching in Chad's closet" Numbuh 5 laughed along with Numbuh 2
"H-Hey come on Numbuh 5, I gotta focus on this thing" Numbuh 2 said trying to control his laughter
"Another couple… just great" Rachel sat on her chair resting her head on her hand
"Another? Teenagers really like their kisses huh?" Numbuh 5 said snickering
"Oh… you have no idea, I just blew a fuse at Numbuh 86 and Numbuh 60" Rachel said
Numbuh 5 crossed her arms and chuckled while approaching Rachel "Those two huh? Didn't expect Numbuh 86 to start dating a boy first than Numbuh 5"
"I just wish people could take this more seriously, there was a terror attack not a day ago and people would rather kiss and go on dates around a square than find the people responsible for this" Numbuh 362 sighed "I bet even the scientists are kissing right now"
"Nah, they all went back to sealab, they said all the teenagers were scaring them" Numbuh 2 said
"So now Teenagers and kids don't give a damn about this, great, just great" Rachel said tapping her fingers against a console
"Alright girl, spit it out to Numbuh 5, what is the problem?" Abby grabbed a nearby chair and sat near Numbuh 362
Numbuh 362 looked at Numbuh 5 a bit wary but then gave up trying to argue "I like Numbuh 1 alright?"
Numbuh 2 immediately let out a yelp as he almost let his screwdriver fall on the bomb's detonator "S-Sorry… pretend I'm not here hehe…"
"Yeah I figured that one out a while ago after that treehouse business" Numbuh 5 chuckled "So what is the problem?"
"Numbuh 1 wouldn't have broken up with Lizzie if it weren't for me, but it was my job to ask him to investigate the splinter cell in the end, I just think being a leader and stuff doesn't mix well with love" She said a bit sadly "Numbuh 86 is the leader of her own squad and Numbuh 60 is the leader of his own sector so I thought they would understand me, I ended up saying some stuff to Numbuh 86 in the end and I'm regretting it now"
"For starters, that Lizzie stuff? Bound to happen, you didn't spend time with the girl to know how those two worked together, did Numbuh 1 ever tell you about the time she put a boyfriend helmet on him?" Numbuh 5 grinned at her boss
"Nooo…" Numbuh 362 said now a bit surprised by this information
"Point is, girl was crazy and was really bad with respecting Nigel's time and stuff, trust Numbuh 5 the girl was bound to dump him, lucky him if you ask me, he can have a good person as girlfriend in the future if you get my meaning" She smiled at Rachel who just blushed in response
"I believe in you" Rachel said
"As for love not mixing well with leading… look girl don't feel pressured to confess just because some people got pimples now" Numbuh 5 approached Rachel and whispered "I like big guy over there but I'm waiting a good time hehe" She snickered silently "Just be yourself, When Numbuh 5 arrived here she barely recognized you to be honest and not just because of the long hair, you probably were grumpy the entire day over this stuff"
"Yeah…" Rachel rubbed her own arm a little embarrassed "But… what if I wanna do something with him but people keep pestering me about stuff like always?"
"Have you actually tried asking for help with this stuff? Numbuh 86 doesn't decommission people the entire day and Numbuh 60 only works when we have recruits" Numbuh 5 said
"I… I don't wanna bother them…" Rachel lowered her head
"Now you are being an idiot" Numbuh 86's voice was heard from the entrance door as she arrived with Numbuh 1 and Numbuh 60
"H-How long were you three listening?" Rachel blushed a deep shade of red while looking at Numbuh 1
"We just arrived, why?" Patton asked while greeting Numbuh 2 and looking at the bomb
"N-Nothing…" She sighed in relief and then looked at Numbuh 5 "I… I will think about what you just said" Rachel then approached Fanny and bowed her head "I'm sorry, I was a big jerk to you, can you forgive me?"
"I never was angry with you to begin with" She patted her boss on the shoulder "Only boys deserve that" She grinned at her friend "Besides If it was a guy on my team I would have yelled at him too" she said
"Thanks…" Rachel hugged her friend who hugged her back a little embarrassed by the whole situation, Rachel then released her friend and approached Hoagie who still fidgeted with the bomb "Numbuh 2 before you finish with the bomb… can you take a look at something for me?" Rachel pointed to the console attached to Numbuh 1 communicator
"Yes Sir" Numbuh 2 left the bomb and approached the console, upon a short inspection the boy smiled looking at Rachel "No wonder you couldn't find the signal, it's three floors directly below us, I had to add a few lines of code so it could handle three-dimensional triangulation, it would never show up for you on a two-dimensional scale"
"Could you try being less of a nerd please?" Numbuh 4 had just arrived with Numbuh 3 holding his hand
"You know what? I would actually get mad if all these people started dating and you two the most obvious ones didn't" Rachel chuckled
"Yeah Yeah tease all you want, point is I'm the one who got the bomb and brought it over here, no need to thank me" Numbuh 4 grinned at them who promptly ignored him as Rachel, Nigel, Patton and Fanny readied themselves to leave to search for the source of the fake signal
A couple of minutes later the four operatives were in one of the lower sectors of the moonbase, a room filled with pipes and steam, all operatives were sweating while passing between tight spaces and crawling in ducts to reach the exact spot "The Boiler room? Really?" Numbuh 86 complained while climbing a ledge that led to an air duct she then helped her boyfriend climb up grabbing his hand and pulling him up
"Practically no one goes in here, it's pretty Ingenious" Rachel said as she climbed the ledge as well then helped Numbuh 1 who smiled at her, the girl blushed and pulled him close "S-Sorry…"
"It's fine…" he smiled a little embarrassed at her then looked at the other two operatives who smiled at the two "Do we have a plan for when we find this person?" Numbuh 1 asked
"Yeah, we beat him up" Patton said while going inside the duct
"We barely know if he is even here in the moonbase, could be the same as the factory" Numbuh 86 said as she pushed Numbuh 1 into the air duct kicking him inside
As the operatives left the air duct they found themselves in an open area where a couple of consoles could be seen "Alright, no one is here, our guy probably left, that is a weird room though, I thought I knew everything around this base" Rachel said as she approached one of the consoles and messed around with it a bit, Numbuh 1 looked around the area while Fanny and Patton tried to open a few boxes that laid near the entrance
All of a sudden wall made out of steel came down from the roof separating the entrance area from the rest of the room, Numbuh 1 approached the wall and shot at it with his Spicer to no avail "This was a trap"
"Very good perception Nigel Uno" A masked figure dressed in armor appeared from a higher section in the room "I would expect no less from one of the best operatives in the whole organization"
Numbuh 1 lowered his guard and smiled at him scratching the back of his head flattered "Oh well… I do my best, some routine missions and security checks on the base will keep any team in perfect shape" he said
"No your team is thrash, especially those two… the one in green and the other one in orange…" The masked figure scratched his chin
"What? They are the ones who recovered the bomb, those two are great, and their names are Numbuh 3 and Numbuh 4 alright?" Numbuh 1 said now pointing his weapon at the mysterious person
"I mean… They started dating, they proved themselves full-fledged teens to me" The mysterious person said shrugging
"What?" Rachel raised an eyebrow
"Oh, where are my manners" The masked figure bowed slightly greeting the two operatives "I'm a representative for an adult tyranny fighting organization just like you two, this whole thing was merely a well elaborated test, I'm sad to say most of your operatives didn't pass the test, most started… ughhh… Dating" He said as if he was about to vomit "But you two are one of the few exceptions, I'm very happy with your attitudes towards being a dirty teenager"
"Right… So what is there to gain from this test?" Rachel asked
"You can get the chance to join our organization of course, we are a multi-galactic organization that fights in all sectors of the universe against adult tyranny, your race has some… problems but that can be resolved once we save the good ones like you two"
"Save?" Numbuh 1 asked
"Of course the bad apples like those two on the other side of this wall must be vaporized, dating is for evil teenagers who like attacking kids, I hope you can help me in this matter" The figure said
"I see… good to know we are on the same page" Rachel smiled at him "All these people dating today really ticked me off" She sighed
The figure descended from the platform it was standing "You are a really bright supreme leader you know that? You actually have a brain in that head" The masked figure said patting Rachel on the back
"Can't say the same to you" Rachel grabbed the masked figure's arm and twisted it to his back then kicked him against a wall, she turned her attention to Numbuh 1 who smiled at her "Why didn't you say something?"
"Please, the moment he talked about vaporizing the others and you agreed I knew your whole plan" Numbuh 1 put his foot on top of the masked figure while Rachel pointed her Yield Sign against his neck
Rachel said "I had a few doubts but Numbuh 5 helped me solve some of them, then this loser helped me solve the rest" She blushed
"Yeah? About what? You were acting weird the entire day" Numbuh 1 said
"Boys really are dense" She laughed heartily then pulled the boy in for a kiss
Numbuh 1 was surprised by it, he could hear the masked figure screaming in anger in the back but he did not care as he wrapped his arm around Rachel and kept kissing the girl, in the middle of the kiss they could feel themselves shrinking as they turned back into kids "I… I see… I had my doubt too" He smiled while blushing at her
"Looks like Numbuh 2 managed to reverse the effect" She smiled at him
"You know what? Your race is too primitive to integrate into our organization, this is not a goodbye, it's a warning" The masked figure suddenly vanished into thin air
"Weirdo" Rachel said then heard a loud bang coming from the wall of steel, it came down all of a sudden as Numbuh 86 and Numbuh 60 jumped into the room aiming their weapons
"Told ya those grenades would come in handy" Numbuh 60 said as he stored his gun back in the holster
"You guys okay?" Numbuh 86 asked then noticed the two operatives were holding hands while blushing, Fanny chuckled while looking at Rachel "We have lots of stuff to talk about once we get back to the command room" she said smiling at them
A few hours later Rachel was in her office with the rest of Sector V while sitting at her desk "So?"
"The bomb wasn't that complicated for an unknown technology, Chad definitely assembled it but the technology isn't ninja or 2x4" Numbuh 2 said "He is probably a double agent for that other organization you talked about"
"Make that triple…" Rachel mumbled silently to herself "What about the bomb?"
"Managed to figure the mechanism and the aging factor, it can be used in the future and we can also make birthday suits to protect against them"
"Alright, nothing like a day or two of work" Rachel yawned "You guys can go now, I'm gonna take nap now"
Numbuh 1 saluted with the rest of his team, as he was about to leave he felt something pulling him back, he turned back only to see Rachel smiling at him while she used her yield sign to pull the boy by the neck of his shirt "R-Rachel?"
"You can stay" She giggled
Numbuh 2 snorted while looking at the couple"Hey Numbuh 1, don't have too much fun, you know we st- Before Numbuh 2 could complete his sentence he was pulled by his ear by Numbuh 5 who scolded him while they left the office
"Sorry about that…" Numbuh 1 said
"It's part of his nature" Rachel got up from her chair and laid down on a couch that rested in her office, Numbuh 1 laid down with her, they both shared a kiss before falling asleep after a hard day of work.