#kndsecondincommand5

"Hello, miss!"

Nigel won’t ever, ever, ever admit it, but way back when he first joined the Kids Next Door and everyone went by code numbuhs and team names and shot around on missions almost too fast to see, he’d thought Numbuh Five was a boy.

It wasn’t his fault, really. She was so confident and calm and smart and wore her big hat and oversized shirt instead of the pretty skirts and dresses Kuki loved, and… well, until she’d taken off her hat and shown her face for the first time, Nigel had just never even assumed a girl could be so cool.

Chad knows a future Soopreme Leader when he sees one. He saw that spark in Rachel, too.

Wh—

Numbuh Five, I—

"Eh? A Pokemon Trainer? Well, let’s see…"

"This okay?" Abby murmured, pressing her lips against Nigel’s before he could reply. They were both shirtless, her straddling the young man on the bed in the teenage girl’s dimly-lit room, his hands warm on her hips as she slid her arms around his neck to cradle his head.

Nigel’s tongue met hers tentatively and Abby responded, ignoring the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach as she pushed back, hands sliding to cup Nigel’s face to kiss her boyfriend senseless. She loved Nigel, she really did. She needed to be close to him. She reached down to the band of his jeans, perfectly manicured nails fiddling with the button.

Nigel made a muffled noise, the lids of his closed eyes scrunching as his hands shot to Abby’s shoulders, pushing her back. Their mouths disconnected with a sharp intake of breath from either party, and the boy recoiled into himself with knees to his chest.

"I’m sorry." He muttered angrily into the joints. Abby sat back on her knees; he sounded upset. "I’m sorry. I want to be with you, but it’s just— not like this, I can’t… It’s just too complicated, Numbuh Five…!”

Abby’s eyes widened. “What’d you call me?”

Nigel looked like he’d had a loaded pistol pointed at his head. “What? Nothing.”

"No." She shook her head, crawling between the young man’s legs again. "No, you called me Numbuh Five. Nigel, you— You remember?”

"You remember the Kids Next Door?" One uncurled a little, blue eyes equally as wide as Abby’s brown. They were uncovered; he hadn’t worn his shades since he was eleven. "But… When I came back to Earth they said you were all decommissioned. How can you remember?!”

"The others are. I’ve been undercover for years.” Abby pressed a hand to her mouth. Her voice shook. “Oh my god, Numbuh One, I… I just wanted to be close to you, like when we were kids, but I thought datin’ an’ sex were all teenagers cared about.”

"Me too." He sat up further, on his knees mirroring the girl. "Abby, I love you. I’ve loved you since I joined the Kids Next Door. I’m just not in love with you. I thought you wouldn’t be interested in me any other way.”

"Me either." She shook her head again, dark curls of loose hair tumbling to frame her face as she’d taken to styling it these days. "Hell, Nigel. This’s jus’ one huge freakin’ mess, isn’t it?”

"Then let’s fix it." Nigel reached forward, cupping Abby’s face with a pale - so, so pale and almost trembling, she noticed - hand, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Numbuh Five, don’t be my girlfriend. Be my teammate.”

Abby thought she might burst into tears as she threw herself at Nigel - no, One - wrapping her arms around the teenager and holding so tightly nothing in the world could have torn them apart at that moment. His arms circled her in return, a tighter grip than he’d even given when he was about to leave the planet five or six years ago. 

☎ - Emotional voice mail:

[Message 1, 11:45pm. Sender: Numbuh One.]

"Sorry, it’s late. I should have called you sooner - or later, tomorrow morning, I guess. I just wanted to know how you were."

"Um."

"I guess it’s pretty lonely out here, that’s all. You’ll probably get this when you wake up - if you’re asleep - so, uh. Be careful over there. I know lots of adults pass through Genius Grove and I get a little more anxious when we’re not all together as a team to fend them off."

"We should get together again sometime soon. It’s busy here but I do miss you guys."

"Call me back, okay? Numbuh One, out."

⁇ - Worried text:

[15:23] Numbuh One sent:

We finished up the battle in the city, but I haven’t been able to get hold of Ben or Dexter since. There’s been no word from them. Please contact Professor Utonium immediately for assistance. I’m with Mr. Tennyson. This is a high priority order!

Report back with your own condition too. I’ve spoken with Numbuhs 2 - 4 already; I need to know my team are alright.

❖ - Confession:

[03:15] Numbuh One sent:

i’m scared this war’s going to kill us

[03:16] Numbuh One sent: