Summary: He was the leader. The one that had to stay strong. But when everyone's decommissioning takes place, will he be able to handle loosing his friends?
Disclaimer: I do not own Knd, which you all probably already knew, didn't you?
He was the leader. The one that had to stay strong. Yet this, he just couldn't handle.
They were all sitting around the table. Abby, Hoagie, Wally, Kuki and Nigel him self. Abby had a birthday cake in front of her, and the mood around them was sad. Abby pulled down the cap over her eyes, probably so the others wouldn't see if tears started to build up.
"It is time to blow out the candles" Numbuh 86, Fanny, said in a sad tone and Abby straightened in her chair, before taking a deep breath and slowly blowing out the candles. Then she got up from her chair and followed Fanny to the decommissioning room.
Nigel looked around at his friends as the door closed behind Abby. Hoagie was biting his bottom lip, eyes fixed on birthday cake, and the seat which Abby had just left. Kuki's eyes were watery and she looked extremely close to tears as she held her hands over her mouth. Wally was the only one actually looking at the room where Abby's decommissioning actually took place.
A strong light brightened up the otherwise quite dark room and a few seconds later, Abby walked out. She looked around with a weird face expression.
"What in the world are all you kids lookin' at Abby for?" She asked. "And where the heck am I?"
"Come on Abby, let's go" Fanny said and led the teenage girl out of the room. Nigel could tell form the look on her face that she was worried. Her own decommissioning was in only a few days.
-----
The four twelve year olds entered the tree house, heads hanging down and none of them making any sound other then their foot steps.
They all went to their separate rooms, hoping that no adult would do something bad today, so that they could all miss their friend for a day without having to go on a mission. The first mission without Numbuh 5.
Nigel lay down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. He'd known this day would come, the day when he had to say goodbye to one of his team mates, to one of his friends. He would have to say goodbye to all of them eventually. And one day, he would join them, become a teenager, and fight against the organisation he'd been a part of for years.
He didn't want to think about how things would work out if they had to fight Abby. It was a possibility, since her older sister worked for father, it might not take long before Abby her self joined.
It felt weird not having her around, sad in a way, for all of them. But perhaps mostly for Hoagie. Nigel remembered the kiss Abby had planted on the goggle wearing boy's cheek right before they went to the moon base; those two had shared feelings for each other.
Nigel had lost someone that close to him too. Rachel. She had been commissioned two weeks ago, and he missed her, a lot. He had have stronger feelings for her then Lizzie, and knowing that she wasn't around anymore made him feel worse then when Lizzie broke up with him.
He closed his eyes and sighed. This year he would loose all of his friends. They were all going to be decommissioned, him self being the last. He wondered if he was going to be able to take it, but decided he had to.
He had to be strong. For his team's sake.
-----
"What do you think they're doing?" Hoagie asked and Nigel glanced at the door through where Wally and Kuki had just walked out.
"Probably… saying goodbye" He answered. Wally's decommissioning was tomorrow, so it seemed logical that his two friends, who he'd known liked each other for years, finally confessed what was in their heart. Although he wished they had done it sooner then the day before they were going to be separated.
Finally he and Hoagie heard footsteps and they both looked at the door to see Wally walking in. Hands in his pockets, and his handsome face looking more miserable then they have ever seen before.
"What happened?" Hoagie asked as Wally sat down in the couch next to them.
"She… kissed me" Wally answered, like he still couldn't really believe it him self.
"Ha, I knew it!" Hoagie exclaimed. Then he realized what was going to happen tomorrow and sank deeper down in the couch. "I'm glad she feels the same way about you" He said quietly.
"She gave me this too, so I would have something to remember her by" Wally said and picked something up from his pocket. It was a quite thin gold chain, with two boxing gloves attached to it. In other words, something that perfectly fit Wally's personality.
As Wally held it up, Nigel took a closer look at the gloves. One of them had the initials K.S engraved, and the other had W.B.
-----
"It's time to blow out the candles" Numbuh 358 said. She was the perfect replacement for Numbuh 86 according to Nigel, since they both had about the same personality.
Wally looked at his friends, keeping his eyes on Kuki for a bit longer, and then he just blew out the candles. He wanted things to go quickly, just like always.
He got up from his chair, and to Nigel's surprise, so did Kuki. She hurried up to the blond and embraced him in a final hug, and he hugged her back. They pulled back after a while and Wally gave Kuki a weak smile before walking the final way to decommissioning room, not looking scared at all.
Kuki looked the same way as when Abby had been decommissioned, about a month ago, if not worse.
When Wally finally stepped out, he had an iPod plugged in his ears and a mischievous look on his face.
"What are all you little punks staring at?" He asked.
"Come on you teenager!" Numbuh 358 said and started to shove him towards the door. But as they passed Kuki, Wally elbowed her in the shoulder, quite hard, a grin pastured on his face. And that was the final thing that broke her down to tears.
Nigel looked away from her, and Wally, and at Hoagie instead. The boy was glancing at Wally as he was shoved away, not quite believing that the teen used to be his best friend.
-----
"Do you guys think I'll end up like Wally?" Hoagie asked as they entered the moon base about two months later. It was his thirteenth birthday, and Nigel couldn't understand why he didn't seem worried at all.
Kuki just remained silent. To be reminded about Wally was painful for her, and Nigel hated to see the otherwise so giggly girl so sad.
The three of them continued down the hall, all remaining silent. The mood at the tree house hadn't been much better, and they had been extremely close to failing every mission they had been on in the past three months, actually they had failed two in the beginning.
Life without Abby keeping her head cool and Wally beating the crap out of the bad guys was hard. Nigel wondered how long he could keep up the charade of barely caring that they were gone. He wanted to greed like Kuki and Hoagie, but one of them had to keep focus on protecting kids, and that one had to be him, he was the leader.
"Numbuh 1?" Hoagie suddenly asked. "Are you going to manage?"
"Huh?" Nigel asked.
"You know, you're only two now, and we could barely handle it when we were three" Hoagie replied.
"Don't underestimate us" Nigel answered. "We'll protect kids just as good as before… right Kuki?" He looked at the Asian girl who simply nodded.
"Hey guys?" Hoagie asked.
"What?" Nigel asked.
"Promise you'll take care… about your selves, that is"
-----
"Why are all you little cuties looking weird at me?" Kuki asked and giggled. "Do I have something in my face? Is it a zit?" Nigel just stared at her. She was finally free from the memories of loosing her friends, so he should be happy for her, but he just couldn't be.
He watched as she was lead away by Numbuh 358. "You know, that is so not a good look for you" He heard the teenage girl say, referring to Numbuh 358's red and blue outfit.
"Move along teenager" Numbuh 358 replied and dragged Kuki out of the room.
"Numbuh 1" A voice began and Nigel turned his head around to see the new leader of Knd, Numbuh 13000. Nigel felt a sting in his heart as he remembered that the boy in front of him had replaced Rachel. His Rachel.
"You're the last one in your sector" Numbuh 1300 continued. "And your own decommissioning is in two days. I suggest that another sector will help you if any missions come up, and then we can decide what to do when you're decommissioned too" Nigel gave him a quick nod.
"You're the last one in your sector" The sentence repeated it self in his head. It was true, he was alone now.
-----
The sun shone brightly as Nigel walked in the park, looking at all the kids that were playing. He hadn't been able to stay at tree house for long, it had been to quiet, to painful.
Suddenly he noticed a group of girls in cheerleading uniforms, and with them was an Asian girl dressed in a green dress. Kuki. He hurried away as her familiar giggle reached his ears. Father was already about to recruit her, and her decommissioning had taken place yesterday!
"So… have you heard the one about the chicken that crossed the road?" A familiar voice asked and Nigel looked to his left to see a familiar boy in goggles. It was Hoagie! HE was leaning against a tree, probably trying to impress the two girls that were with him with some of his jokes.
But Nigel soon realized that he knew one of those girls… it was Rachel! The sun shone down on her blond hair, and her eyes sparkled as she laughed at what her friend had just whispered in her ear.
Nigel couldn't look any longer he started to run.
He finally reached a lonely spot in the east end of the park and sank down in the grass under a tree. And for the first time since Abby's decommissioning, no since Rachel's decommissioning, he let him self greed. He was alone now, none of his friends were left, and none of them remembered him. He had no one to stay strong for, so what was the point?
Rachel, Abby, Wally, Hoagie, Kuki… he even missed Fanny! They had all been his friends, and first now he realized how much he actually needed them! And for the first time, he thought of his own decommissioning as a good thing.
-----
"Numbuh 1, could you come with me please?" Numbuh 1300 asked and Nigel followed him down the hall, in the opposite direction of the decommissioning room.
"Where are we going?" He asked and Numbuh 1300 just kept going.
"I want you to know that I've picked out five new operatives to become the new sector V, they remind me a lot about you and your friends actually, and they were all thrilled to take over after the legendary Numbuh's 1-5" He said and Nigel felt surprised.
"We're legendary?" He asked.
"Your team has been able to recover the book of Knd and defeat grandfather, and that are just the two biggest things" Numbuh 1300 answered and then stopped in front of a door.
"Now, Numbuh 1" He began and pressed in a security code on a panel next to the door. "There's one more thing you have to know before we go to the decommissioning room" Numbuh one didn't have time to ask what before the door opened and he was chocked at what he saw.
Inside the room, six very familiar people were looking back at him. Abby was reading a magazine and Hoagie was sitting next to her, his lips puckered as if he was just about to kiss her on the cheek when the door opened. Wally was leaning against the wall, arms crossed and his iPod in his ears, still wearing the present he got from Kuki. Kuki her self was sitting in an arm chair, painting her nails in a light pink colour.
But what Nigel felt most happy about was the girl standing by the couch where Abby and Hoagie were sitting. With her blond hair put up in a pony tail and a big smile on her face, Rachel looked absolutely stunning.
"How to act" Numbuh 1300 finished and Rachel walked up to the two of them.
"Welcome to the teens next door, Nigel" She said and gently kissed him on the cheek.
So? What did you think? I know that Kuki is the youngest, at least if you consider the way she acts and trust the information on tv. com but for my story to work, Nigel had to be the youngest, at least by a day or two.
I'm quite satisfied with the story my self, but I would love to know what you guys think! So please, Review!