nachos.

Numbuh 362 stretched her sore arms over her head as she let out a yawn, eagerly laying back against the metal floor of her office balcony. It was fairly late and the majority of her comrades had either fallen asleep or gotten sucked into a television program. She started to count the stars as she thought about how it was silly of her to stay up so late seeing as she would have to wake up to another day of paperwork and playing catch up with all the work the other kids on Moonbase had shrugged off; not to mention that Numbuh 86 would be little to no help due to the Rainbow Monkey marathon that would be playing until dawn.

Her count was at 106 when the delicious scent of melted cheese entered her nostrils. She inhaled the scent a couple times to be sure it wasn't just the lack of sleep getting to her before sitting up and turning towards her office door, which she had left adjacent by using her samurai helmet as a makeshift door stop.

"What is the Supreme Leader doing up so late?" a boy asked, a large plate of nachos resting on the palm of his right hand.

Numbuh 362 let a smile take over her features as she recognized the kid stepping over her helmet. "I'm guessing the same thing the Leader of Sector V is doing," she said as she turned back towards the twinkling orbs of gas, using her arms to prop her up.

He plopped himself down beside her and offered the plate her way, causing her to instantly adjust her position to where she could easily reach the salty treat. "Touche," he said as he watched her take a chip and pop it into her mouth. "But, really, why are you out here at two in the morning?"

"It's just," she started as she tried to swallow the bite she had just taken, "I'm just kind of stressed with all the planning and prepping I've been having to do lately. I mean, I have to find someone that can replace me as supreme leader, and then we have to have someone replace Fanny since she's the head of decommissioning and obviously can't oversee her own decommissioning, not to mention that she is also the Global Tactical Leader—well, not really, considering that she mainly just brags about the job and lets me get stuck with all the actual work," she took a breath and tried to keep herself from rambling too much. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that planning my own childhood funeral stinks, Numbuh 1... it stinks a lot."

"I'm sorry to hear that,"he replied as he set the plate of chips down so he could grab a few chips himself. "Why can't you just move up as a teen spy? I mean, Numbuh 274 did it, so why can't you?"

"New rules," the blonde said with a sigh, "the higher ups decided that since there was so much drama with Chad and his big fake portrayal that they need to be a lot more selective in whom they choose to go into the higher ups—unfortunately, I didn't make the cut."

Numbuh 1 shoved a few chips into his mouth. "Speaking of them, is Numbuh Infinity still a concern? Or has he decided to leave us alone."

She shook her head as she tried to shove as many chips as possible into her mouth. "That is another big issue I really don't need..."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, each of them wanting to focus more on the food between them than the actual conversation. Numbuh 1 had known that Numbuh 362 was only a few months shy of her decommissioning date, but that didn't mean it was exactly his favourite thing to think about, let alone talk about. He had come up to Moonbase in hopes that maybe the kids up there had helped her out and made it so it wasn't so much her planning the end of her childhood as it would be her watching others do it—but of course, the kids had shrugged off their duties as usual.

A sigh escaped both of their mouths as they reached for chips that had since been eaten, leaving them little excuse to not strike up a conversation. Numbuh 1 was the first to speak up, knowing that she would more than likely just give an excuse as to why she needed to leave, whether it be paper work or sleep.

"So, who are we thinking for our Supreme Leader?" he asked, trying to read the expression that came across her face at his question.

"Well, actually," she started, turning to face him, "we were thinking about Numbuh 5, since she was kicked form head of Sector V when you came along. I was supposed to have the letter sent to your house by last Friday, but with the lack of help I've been getting, I haven't really gotten any letter out on time."

"I think Abby would be great for the job," Numbuh 1 agreed with a nod. "The team may be a little hesitant, but over all I think they will get used to the idea."

Numbuh 363 offered a smile and a nod before turning back towards the stars. She rolled her tongue around in her mouth for a few minutes before saying: "Hey, Nigel, do you ever... nevermind, it's stupid," she quickly cut herself off, trying to start over in her star counting.

Nigel cocked his head to the side when he heard her use his real name, realising that she was about to ask him something serious. "No, go ahead, I'm sure it's not stupid."

She bit her lip and hugged her knees to her chest. "Fine... do you... do you ever think about what it will be like after you've forgotten about all this?"

"Yeah," he admitted, taking a deep breath. "I try not to, though. But seeing as I'm only eighteen month away, I guess I should really start considering what I'm going to do with my time before they suck out all the memories."

"I know I shouldn't say this," she warned as she started to play with a strand of her hair, "but I really wish I could at least write down some of the adventures I've had to read after I've lost all the mental memories."

He looked at her funny before saying, "Well, don't most girls keep a diary?"

Numbuh 362 let out a small laugh and shook her head. "Yeah, I guess a lot of us do, but we're not allowed to write anything explicit about the KND or any missions, otherwise it gets confiscated when they go through your room when you're at moonbase the morning of you decommissioning. I mean, there are way to get around that, like how Cree just completely disappeared and I've heard of a few kids hiding the journals and having their former teammates help them find it once they've gone back home." She shrugged her shoulders and looked over at Numbuh 1. "But none of those are very reliable or right... The KND is something you are supposed to forget, that way you can move on with your life and grow up. No one wants to grow up, but like Numbuh Zero said, sometimes you have to."

"Well," he said, raising an eyebrow, "if it makes you feel any better, I will be here a little while after you leave if you want to try and get back some memories."

"You know that is strictly forbidden," she snapped, sending him a small glare.

"So is kissing a Sector Leader when you are the Supreme Leader," he shot back, sticking his tongue out.

"Nigel!" the blonde shouted, giving him a smack on the shoulder. "I told you; that was only because you saved the Moonbase and I got a little over-hyper. It meant nothing."

"Fine, fine," he said with a small chuckle. "But Lizzie was not very happy about it—I can tell you that much."

"I thought you two broke up?"

"Yeah, well, that doesn't mean she's okay with me being near other girls," he said as he rolled his eyes.

"You know," Numbuh 362 began, leaning slightly closer to him, "I wasn't going to say this because you were so upset, but I feel like you are healed up enough to hear it—she's crazy."

"Yeah," he replied with a laugh as he leaned back on his hands, accidentally brushing his arm against hers, "she sure is a little out there. Her room was absolutely covered with pictures of me—most of which were not voluntary."

"Really?" she asked, trying to hold in a giggle as well as ignore the faint blush that had spread across her cheeks.

"Yeah, Numbuh 3 stayed over at her house once and when she came to the tree house the next morning she told me all about it," he explained, cringing slightly.

A yawn slipped out of her mouth as she began to say: "You know, I'm kind of glad you two broke up."

Numbuh 1 looked at her curiously as her head started leaning closer and closer towards his shoulder. "Yeah," he said slowly, not sure if it was the sleep or the stress that had her talking so bluntly, "me too..."

"You deserve someone better," she added as she rubbed her eyes and let herself lean completely against the boy beside her.

Nigel's face turned bright red as he felt her hair fall along his neck. He struggled to swallow as he nervously played with is hands. "W—Well, I think you should be getting to bed if you're so tired," he stuttered out.

Numbuh 362 lifted her head and looked at him, both eyes half closed. "I guess you're right," she said sleepily as she tried to pull herself up. "Hey, wanna help a girl up?" she added as she realised it would be too much work to get up all on her own.

Numbuh 1 let out a breath and smiled as he stood and stretched out his hand for her to grab. "Can you grab the plate before you get up?"

Ignoring his request, the blonde grabbed his hand immediately and pulled herself up. "Nah, someone else will get it," she said with a flick of her wrist.

Numbuh 1 let chuckled as he watched her step over her helmet and into her office, he followed close behind and grabbed her helmet from the ground and shut the door behind them. "Do you want me to give that letter to Abby?"

"Nope," she replied quickly as she took a seat in her rather large chair, "I'll bring it to you when you come up here to have meatball sandwiches with me tomorrow," she finished, nodding her head.

Nigel shook his head at her as he neared the door that led to the hallway outside of her hallway. "Okay, I'll be here to pick you up around two."

"Sounds good, soldier," she said with a salute, both of her eyes closed. "Now, get out to the guest rooms and get some sleep..."

"You got it, Rachel," he said as he walked out of the office door, being sure to turn off the light before he shut the door behind him.

"He called me Rachel," was the last thing she said before drifting off into sleep with a rather happy expression on her face.

been years since I watched the show on a daily basis, so please forgive if the characters aren't up to par.