AN: Apologies in advance for any mistakes, bad writing, or sentences that disappear halfway through. In an effort to keep my promise of updating during winter break, I am up very late before my return to school to post this. It may be edited at a later date, and I will update this author's note when that happens. :) Enjoy!

Wild Birds

Chapter 15: Teen-napped!

Kuki thinks Abby is leading them to the main room that they had entered last time, but the creaky old elevator continues to ascend. She peers over Abby's shoulder to see the buttons, but the crudely-drawn-on floor descriptors have long been lost by time. Abby's fingers twitch by the controls.

They arrive on an upper floor Kuki doesn't recognize (though recognizing anything is astonishing enough), all chrome and round with a bulbous roof and a center console of sad-looking computers covered in cobwebs. Abby crosses quickly to one of them and slams around a few buttons. Remarkably, it begins to boot up.

"I was expecting an old-timey dial-up sound," Hoagie remarks from her side. "Brrrrrrrrrr, eeey-aaaah, eey-aaaah, eeey-aaaahhhhhh!"

Abby smacks him quiet with her hat. "I guess that means you volunteer."

"For what?" Hoagie asks, rubbing his head.

Abby picks up his hand and forms it so his pointer finger is straight up, the others curled into his palm. "You gotta stick this," she shakes his hand with its extended finger "up your nose and get a DNA sample."

"Eugh, that's disgusting!" Wally and Kuki shout at the same time. She automatically shoots him a look which is returned only for a moment before they both turn away again.

Hoagie looks delighted. "A booger sample? Oh boy, I've got so many jokes for just this occasion!"

"Isn't there something better to use? Like hair or…?" Kuki ventures.

Nigel rubs at his bald head. "Or a fingerprint. Surely this 'KND' has access to that kind of technology. What do you need this for again?"

Abby huffs impatiently. "I'll tell you after Hoagie does what I…what Abby asked."

Kuki's confusion is interrupted by a buzzing in her back pocket. Backing away quietly from the group, she pulls out her phone, expecting the caller to be her mom or Mushi. It's an unknown number. Kuki is about to hit 'end call' when the screen is suddenly overrun with quick-fire numbers. There is a click, and a familiar voice erupts quietly from the speakers in a guttural accent.

Kuki holds the phone to her ear. "Henrietta?"

"Oh, thank God. Have you seen Abby?"

"Uh," Kuki spares a glace toward the girl in question, who is demonstrating how the module works and gesturing to a little tube at the edge of the dash where Hoagie should put his…sample.

Henrietta doesn't lose steam. "Because she's not answering either of her phones and she hasn't checked in with Paul and I can't believe I had to call him but I haven't talked to her since she left my place last night—"

"Henrietta, calm down! Abby's right here."

"Right where?"

"At the…uh," Kuki hesitates, wondering how much Abby's girlfriend knows, or is allowed to know. "…The place you're not supposed to know about? We're all here."

"…Let me talk to her."

Kuki grimaces, hearing the threat in her voice. She doesn't envy whatever lecture Abby's about to be on the receiving end of. She palms her phone and walks back to the group just as Hoagie is dramatically hunting inside his nostril.

"Abby? Phone."

"Can't it wait?"

"It's Henrietta, and she sounds kinda mad because you weren't answering your phone."

"The battery died," Abby explains without looking her way, attention solely on Hoagie. "C'mon, fool! You're holding up the line!"

Kuki hesitantly raises the phone again. "She said-"

"Yeah, I heard her," Henrietta replies, a new edge to her voice. "Tell her to bring me a burger with extra pickles when she gets back."

"Henrietta wants a burger, extra pickles."

"Ok, sure thing," Abby replies absentmindedly. Hoagie, apparently a finding a winner, withdraws his finger and inserts it into the tube.

Kuki turns back to her phone. "She said okay."

Instead of the sighing or grumbling that Kuki expected, she hears a sudden intake of breath on the other end of the line.

Henrietta's voice calls out sharp and quick. "Kuki, get out of there. That's not Abby. That's not Abby!"

It all happens in a matter of seconds.

Flashing lights suddenly fill Kuki's vision, forcing her to drop the phone. Henrietta's frantic voice is shattered by a loud boom above their heads.

Light.

Rain.

A rabbit.

Kuki blinks and she's on the ground, shoulder throbbing painfully, vision blurry. There's a ringing in her ears that won't stop. Breath coming quick, she struggles to her feet, hands reaching out and grasping soft cotton. Wally.

The room is filled by blaring red lights, sirens slowly filtering back in as her hearing comes back online. The roof has been blown open, and dark, blurry shapes hover outside. One begins to dock.

Kuki tugs at Wally's hoodie, crawling over him to find her feet. "Wally. Wally. Get up." Her voice is a whisper to her ears, but she may have been shouting. The body beneath her hands stirs, as do red and blue figures she recognizes as Nigel and Hoagie, ahead of her.

One person is still standing.

Kuki blinks hard, coughing up dust, recognizing Abby's hat but not the expression beneath it.

"That was a formality, really," Abby coos, her voice sounding strange and underwater. "They knew it was you morons crashing the place, but y'know…paperwork." She winks.

"Who are you?" Nigel calls, his voice stronger than his shaking legs. "Where is Abby?"

Hoagie gapes, struggling to bring his body to his feet. "Wha-Abby? You're not-?"

Abby laughs, a cruel and sharp sound that runs cold fingers down Kuki's spine. Wally, silent, tightens his grip on her hand.

"Sweet, stupid Hoagie P. Gilligan," Abby tuts. "Don't you recognize me?"

Abby's face suddenly fractures, her skin pulling apart into slabs of metal that slide away from each other in a line all down her body. Inside, a new person emerges, a pink sports bra strapped on the outside of her clothes. She looks a lot like the face that slid away.

"Oh, that was almost too easy," she coos. "My little sister is so easy to imitate it's sad."

Kuki's heart slams into her ribcage; she feels more than sees her teammates flinch around her. Cree.

"Cree!"

The attention shifts as a petite girl with a long braid beneath a samurai cap labeled '221' marches into the room. Behind her are a dozen children in heavy armor, strange guns in hand and helmets shielding their faces. At the edge of the battalion, silhouetted against the sky, is the massive ship that had burst through the ceiling, a hazardous hunk of scrap metal with mean-looking fins. "You did what we asked, you're free to go. We don't need any saucy villain monologues from you."

Cree scowls. "Whatever. You owe me for this, KNDorks." She taps her heels together and rockets appear out of nowhere, pushing her into the air. She blows Hoagie a kiss that he flinches from before she speeds off with a laugh.

Kuki is frozen.

"What's going on?" she hears someone say weakly. It may have been her, but she can't be sure.

'221' sighs and pulls what looks like a half-junked iPad from her belt. "The Former Sector V, Numbuhs 1-4," she says, seeming to talk to herself more than them. "Reactivated treehouse by partial sample match at 2200 hours last Friday evening." Numbuh 221 stops to scribble something down, then smiles wryly at Wally. "We needed a proper nasal sample to be sure. For legal reasons, of course. Sweat works well enough, but it's not definitive."

The button. Kuki thinks. Wally had put his hands on it the night they snuck in. The night they…oh, this is all her fault.

"Where's Abby?" Hoagie blurts out suddenly. "What did you do to her?"

Numbuh 221's dark eyes glaze over him boredly. "Numbuh 5-T was arrested for crimes against the Decomm Regulations and conspiracy with adult neutrals. She's in a cell on the moonbase awaiting trial."

"Conspiracy?!" "Trial?!" "Moonbase?!" Hoagie, Nigel, and Wally shout consecutively.

Kuki feels like her tongue is glued to the roof of her mouth, her chest tight with worry. Abby. I'm so sorry, Abby.

"And now," Numbuh 221 crooks one arm and the operatives behind her settle into battle positions, guns raised and ready. "You're all scheduled for immediate decommissioning."

The chair, lights, my wrists hurt it's all going wrong my mind is tearing it's taking it all away please don't make me forget please please please

Wally breathes heavy behind her, his grip on her hand growing painful. She squeezes back just as hard, anger forgotten for the moment in the need for comfort.

Numbuh 221's arm straightens, the army moves forward, and all hell breaks loose.

The opposite side of the roof suddenly gives at a point, making way for a massive drill that peels through the metal like ice cream. The KND operatives scatter as the drill barrels through, spearheading what looks like a luxury SUV with rockets for wheels.

The vehicle skids to a stop between Numbuh 221 and Nigel, tires screeching in agony as they return to their original positions.

Henrietta, eyes wild behind her glasses, hair down in frizzy curls around her face, is at the wheel.

"Get in!"

No arguments are made.

Finding her legs again, Kuki dashes for the backseat, sliding it open as the operatives on the other side open fire. Lasers and gumballs ricochet every which way as Kuki's friends pile in one after another, Hoagie hurling himself into the front passenger seat and Wally rolling into the back. The second Nigel is clear of the door Kuki throws herself into the seat, slamming the door closed just as the squadron begins to flank to her side.

"Hang on!" Henrietta shouts, throwing the car into gear. Kuki feels the thump and shudder of the wheels turning back around, and then the ground is gone completely. Gunfire rocks the ship every which way, smoke billowing from beneath the hood.

"We can't take much more of this!" Nigel shouts. "And we won't last ten seconds if they follow us in that monster!"

"You're right!" Henrietta gasps. Then she banks hard to the right and slams straight into the KND ship. Kuki watches from the window as it teeters over the edge of the treehouse. All the operatives stop firing, watching with horror as it tips backwards, hesitates, and falls straight off the edge.

They speed off, whooping in joy. Kuki even finds herself laughing despite the gravity of the situation, a strangely welcome sense of accomplishment in battle washing over her. As she turns to watch the ship crash into the ground, she catches Wally's eye. He's grinning, too, a victorious light in his eyes that makes him look insanely attractive. Kuki flips back around.

"Woah, what kind of car is this?" Hoagie is asking up front, a hungry light in his eyes as he runs his hands over the dashboard.

"TND S.U.B.U.R.B.A.N." Henrietta replies. "I thought Abby was being a little overprotective giving me this, but I'm glad I've got it now."

"I thought the Suburban was made by Chevrolet," Nigel replies doubtfully.

"Not Suburban, dummkopf. Super Underrated Bad Uncle Rocketcar Battles All Nemeses."

"Cool!" Hoagie grins.

Nigel sighs. "This is all well and good, but where do we go? We've lost them for now, but they're bound to be after us sooner rather than later."

"First let me park this thing. Then we can talk rescue mission."

"You can land at my house, my parents won't even notice," Wally pipes up from the third row where he's strapped himself into both seatbelts. "Just head for the water tower."

"Rescue mission?" Hoagie says, wriggling his fingers distractedly over the S.U.B.U.R.B.A.N.'s controls. "We're gonna save Abby? Awesome! …How?"

It's Nigel who answers, a dangerously familiar smirk filling up his face. "Easy. We're going to the moon."

AN: Hooray for Cree! Hooray for lots of things! There was actually more I wanted to fit into this chapter, but I gave myself some time restraints and it would have taken too long to fit it in. Sorry about the lateness, as usual (Also sorry for my horrible ship name lol). I'd hoped to get more done over break, but I ended up being too busy. I may go back and edit this chapter for clarity since I posted it so hastily, and I'll put a post on askthetoast if I do. The story is nearing its end, though! Hold on for the ride. :)