Operation R.O.S.E.

A/N: O… It took so long just to update this story! Sorry for the long wait (I was working on my other story). Might be a little short but I promise next chapter will be longer…

Ooh...

Everybody's got something they had to leave behind
One regret from yesterday that just seems to grow with time

"She's awake!"

Abby pushed herself up from the soft mattress. Her head throbbed with pain. She felt the rough bandages on her forehead which were put on by Numbuh 25 with care. Numbuh Two held her up and handed her a pillow to lie on. The rest of the operatives were leaning against the wall of the room.

There's no use looking back or wondering
How it could be now or neither been
All this I know but still I can't find ways to let you go

"Where is this?"

"My house, my room, and you're on my bed," Numbuh 21 said monotonously.

"Where is Numbuh One?" Numbuh 23 asked immediately. Her arm was limp and bleeding profusely. Her lip was white and trembling but she tried not to show that she was hurting all over. Numbuh 25 was tending to her arm but she shook him away with her trembling hand. She wasn't crying nor was she angry but rather, her face was emotionless and plain.

I never had a dream come true
Till that day that I found you

"Don't know. Numbuh One changed clothes with Abby and stayed in the shack," Abby muttered breathlessly.

"You left him in that place! What-" Numbuh 23 collapsed onto the floor. Her face was contorted with anger. She lifted one trembling finger and pointed at Abby. Her lips moved by no words came out. Numbuh 25 attended to her immediately.

Numbuh Four sighed. Love makes the world go round; Love can also stop your world from being round.

Even though I pretend that I've moved on
You'll always be my baby
I never found the words to say
You're the one I think about each day

SOMEWHERE FAR AWAY

"What do you want with me!" Numbuh One shouted. His face was swollen from getting hit by burly teenage guards. One of the guards tied a rope around his neck and pulled him along the path. If he stopped to take a look around, the rope would dig into his flesh and choke him. Nigel groaned. At least I saved Abby. They already knew that she would never help them, no matter what happens. Li gave her false information and lured us to her using Abby as bait. They were going to kill Abby but at least she escaped. I hope.

And I know no matter where love takes me to
A part of me will always be with you

"Don't cry, it's going to be okay," Numbuh 22 held his cousin close and tried to calm her down. Her tears fell like endless showers of rain. Her soft breaths turned into gasps for air as she tried screaming and beating her cousin's arms. Then she got tired and fell asleep. At last, Numbuh 25 could work on her arm.

Abigail watched all this from the comfort of Numbuh 21's bed. She knew that nobody was happy that she was back in exchange for Nigel. She looked at Numbuh Two and he gave a kind smile back. A kind sad smile.

"They are going to kill him but Abby knows where they are going to go to next," she said in a soft voice.

Numbuh 21 stared at her before saying, "do you think that traitor, 24, would be there too?"

There was almost a hopeful tone in her words but Abby shrugged. For a moment, the silver silence in the room was understood. They were going to get Numbuh One back and this time, they are coming back as a full team.

Nigel…

Somewhere in my memory I lost all sense of time
And tomorrow can never be
'Cause yesterday is all that fills my mind
There's no use looking back or wondering
How it should be now or neither been
Oh this I know but still I can't find ways to let you go

LADY LI'S LAIR

"You are a lucky boy," Lady Li's smooth voice echoed in the large room. She was busy filling a long syringe with some hideous looking liquid.

"How so?" Nigel asked in his beaten form.

"You have three girls who love you, a team who admires you and a bright wonderful future," she answered, capping on a needle onto the syringe.

"No, I don't. You've taken all of that from me."

"Don't worry, after this, you'll forget all of your worries. You life will be bright and beautiful, Nigel," Li said as she cleared the air bubbles trapped in the needle.

You'll always be the dream that fills my head
Yes you will, say you will, you know you will

Suddenly, he realized what she was about to do. He struggled ferociously against the guards' grips. He cried out loud. The teenager took a step closer to Nigel's bruised form. She pressed the needle into Numbuh One's arm and was about to inject the liquid into his blood flow when the door burst open.

"Lady Li! Your mother is on Line 2!"

"Just hang on dear, hold this syringe and don't move," she instructed Numbuh One and left the room.

"…"

Nigel pulled out the needle and kicked the guards where it hurts most. They crouched over in pain while the KND operative snatched the pass, ID and badge from one of the guards. He gave one last smile at the guards before disappearing into the shadows of the corridor.

You'll always be the one I know, I'll never forget

ON A HIGHWAY SOMEWHERE

"Sorry darling, it's high traffic on all the highways out of the city," Numbuh 21's dad said.

Their red jeep was stuck in a major traffic jam on a highway. The cars in front of them were weaving in and out of their lanes. The drivers were waving and gesturing at each other. They were horning their horns as if deafening each other would make the car in front of them explode and leave them room to move. Some people left their car to stand at the sidewalk for a little break.

"Is there no other way to get there?" Abby shouted above all the chaos.

Numbuh Four was busy looking for Numbuh Three's lost teddy. Numbuh Two was scratching his knee where Numbuh 21's puppy had bit him. Numbuh 21 was listening to her mp3 (secretly it was playing "Sun Zi's Art of War"), 22 was bandaging his finger for fun, 23 was unconscious in the boot (it's just that they ran out of space, really!) and 25 was helping 22 clean his bleeding wound (which was far away from his finger).

"I guess if you don't mind…"

"How?"

"Using that," 21 pointed out the car window. Numbuh 3 gasped.

"A tricycle?"

There's no use looking back or wondering

Because love is a strange and funny thing

"It's no use struggling, boy," the guard said. Oh my god, when did girls get so vicious? Nigel was shaking with horror as the hideous music continued playing. This is worse than that Barbie song. His limbs refused to move and his brain was throbbing with the music's insane rhythm. The guard started filing her nails as the music got to its climax.

"Stop the noise pollution, Barbie."

Barbie, the guard, turned around and stared at the tall figure.

"I'm sorry, Lady Li, right away," the blonde girl replied. She proceeded to switch off the music. Nigel tried backing away from the girls when they were distracted but failed as he hit his head against a shelf. Bottles of unknown liquid, boxes of food and nail polish started tumbling down. Numbuh One pocketed a shiny red bottle and a pocket knife before Lady Li turned around and caught him. He saw the guards surround him. Li was smirking.

No matter how I try and try
I just can't say goodbye

Just before Numbuh One collapsed, he saw a gleaming needle and felt a tinge of pain near his wrist.

A part of me will always be with you...