Part Twelve by Secret

Silently the tall one and the short one snuck through the halls of CLHQ making sure not to be seen by anyone. If caught they might have some explaining to do.

Making their way down to the kitchen, checking constantly to see that they weren't being monitored or seen in any way. They too were looking forward to the outcome of the holiday scheming that seemed to be running rampant through Headquarters lately. Sherry and Aly were up to something but they couldn't figure out what yet. They were hoping to find some clues and soon. They actually enjoyed Thanksgiving and didn't want anyone ruining what for them would be a festive occasion.

"Well, you take that end of the kitchen and I'll look around here."

"Okay. Let's hope we can find something."

"Well if we don't find something here then we'll head to North's office and see if anything is there. She headed out to some meeting or other tonight so I know she isn't around. At least not until later."

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Other than finding the regular paraphernalia in the kitchen and a half-eaten cheesecake in the fridge the two of them could find nothing out of the ordinary. Moving stealthily through the halls again they found themselves in front of North's office. Finding it locked, which was very unusual, the tall one fished out a pick set and quickly unlocked the door and quickly ducked inside.

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Part Thirteen by DragonLady

DragonLady walked through the halls of Headquarters, dragging a sopping wet gym bag behind her.

All she could think of was how she was to avoid eating Thanksgiving dinner!. She shook her head in disgust, the whole thing was another over zealous money making day, fat consuming day! As she rounded the corner she spotted her comrades in arms ducking into North's office.

DragonLady went straight for them, knocking the taller one as she whacked the door back before they could close it. "OK!, what now!, I don't start for another five days of downtime!, I am going to kill...." DragonLady was quickly shushed as her voiced started to shrill.

"No worries, we're not here for you, now quiet down and listen....." Putting all three heads together a silenced giggle was the only noise to be heard.......

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Part Fourteen by Nabiki

" .....Well, that's about everything I can tell you for now. You must help Sherry and Ally and not let anything happen until the festivities begin. Is that understood? I hope you are agreeing with me on this one. Until I reach you again", that was it. Roy and Nabiki just stared at the tape recorder; not understanding why Operations was doing this. OK, everyone needs to have a blast, but wasn't this too much.

"Well, Nabiki, what do you think? Are you going to cooperate "willingly" with what Operations has in mind?" Roy asked her as he walked up to where she was sitting.

"I guess I'll have to Roy; I don't want to be on Operations bad side; and it's going to be fun". Do you think Trace and North will forgive us after this?"

"Don't worry, sweet Nabiki, in time they will...I hope. Anyway, where do we start?"

"I guess we should start by contacting Sherry as soon as possible. Let me call her at her room", suddenly their was a knock on the door.

"Nabiki, could we come in?" Trace asked as she and Gray came in. "I'm sorry to disturb you but I wanted to know if you noticed something strange going on in the Headquarters?"

"No, Trace, not really but I guess everyone must be a little to excited about Thanksgiving", Nabiki said as she noticed the tape recorder. If they heard what it said, it would be the end of the plan. Nabiki looked straight into Roy's eyes, trying to remind him about it. Roy noticed immediately what she wanted, so he walked up to the computer and covered the recorder with some papers.

"Just another thing, Nabiki. Have you seen Operations?" Gray asked her, while watching Roy's movements very carefully.

"No, we haven't seen him in days" Nabiki answered

"Well, thanks then. We'll see you guys later. Maybe we could have dinner the four of us one of these nights?", Trace said, noticing how close these two had become.

"That's a great idea, see you guys later"; as they left Nabiki's room.

"Wow, that was close Roy. Let's call Sherry and get things on a roll"

"We will in a minute, my dear. First I think I should be rewarded for covering the recorder before it was found", Roy said as he walked up to her.

"What do you have in mind?", Nabiki asked laughing. Roy caught her by the waist and kissed her making her forget what they had to do. "Oh, well, now I remember. I'll call Sherry in a few minutes", Nabiki thought while enjoying the moment.

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Part Fifteen by Curlly

Curlly offered Rita some cheesecake and some milk. As they polished the last of it off Curlly finished her story. "Well ya see, there was something wrong with the number I was dialing in on. I got an immediate busy signal. Ugh! So somewhere out there someone's cellular phone isn't working until I free it up again."

After collecting the dishes Curlly plopped down onto the couch. Curlly's cat jumped onto her lap and started to purr. "I've heard quite a bit of rumors going on about our thanksgiving dinner." Said Curlly as she pet her cat.

"Ya that's an understatement! I thought you must be in on it."

"Only a little fetch and carry type stuff. I'm kinda resting up for Christmas. Just think of the havoc we could wreak with a bit of mistletoe!"

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Part Sixteen by Northstar

North was laying on her bed trying to think of anything but the pain in her shoulder and arm. Having spent so much time doing paperwork and the tensions around CLHQ the last few days over the dinner had made her muscles seize up. She couldn't sit in front of her desk for more than a few minutes. She hoped all the plans for dinner were working out okay. Even though she had had her Thanksgiving dinner in October she still wanted to celebrate this day with her American sisters but at this rate she wasn't sure if she could sit up long enough to enjoy it.

She had finally straightened out the dinner menu with Christopher and hoped that no one would make any last minute changes to it. But, knowing how the girls could be she didn't count on it. She actually enjoyed the mischief the girls could get into. She had finally caught up with Operations the day before. She was still a little on the chilly side with him after the last mission had gotten Sophie killed but North couldn't hold a grudge for too long and he really did seem to feel bad about what happened. For the first few days he had done everything in his power to try and make things easier for everyone.

Looking at the bedside clock she realized it was time for her meds again. Gingerly sitting up and slowly making her way out of bed she made her way to the kitchen for a glass of water and her Tylenol3. Just as she was downing the last pill there was a knock on her door.

"Come in."

"Hey North, how are you doing?" Nabiki asked as she walked in.

"Well I've had better days. The pills are working for short periods of time but I still can't get comfortable in bed. I just took my next dose so I should be able to sleep for a few hours."

"Good. The more you can sleep the better it is."

North laughed. "Yeah and it makes it so much easier for everyone to get into mischief too if I am not up and about. Right Nabiki?"

Nabiki too laughed. "Now North," she said innocently, "what kind of mischief can we get up to?"

"Oh gosh, where do I begin? I can still clearly recall the job you all did on my office a while back. In fact that had been the second time I got a 'redecorating' job on it. And then there was the time..."

"Okay okay, I get your point. Well I am going to let you get your rest. I'll be back later and bring you something to eat."

Nabiki made her way out and North headed back to her bed. Hopefully to get some rest.

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Part Seventeen by DragonLady

Sporadic giggles could be heard from North's Office.

Someone was definitely having fun.

After a shushing and a slap, the trio quieted down to a musty roar, not being able to contain themselves, they came bursting out into the hallway, slamming the door shut before there offense could be seen.

Suddenly a Comm went off and the deviants quieted. "Yes sir, mission completed, yes sir, coming in for debriefing."

With that the pale pair straightened their clothes, picked up their boxes and began the walk back to Section as if nothing happened.

Dragonlady on the other hand was still squealing with laughter, once down the hall a little bit, away from the scene of the crime, she collapsed into fits of hysteria.

After a few odd looks from fellow colleagues passing by, DragonLady contained herself to be able to stand. Gathering her strength she began to walk back to her room. Hope North's not in a chatty mood, DragonLady thought. With her room right beside hers, there was no way she would be able to keep a straight face.

As she rounded the corner, 6 measly steps from her door and sanctuary, a hand grabbed her shoulder, spinning to see her assailant, she stopped quickly, frozen to her spot.

"So, whatcha been up to, no funny business I hope.."

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Part Eighteen by Curlly

Emily was just leaving her room when someone bumped into her.

"Oops! I'm sorry. Oh hi Emily. It's good to see ya again. I was just seeing if I could steal something from the kitchen before thanksgiving dinner. Wanna come?" asked Curlly.

"Boy you read my mind!" agreed Emily. So the two girls went into the kitchen where Christopher was busily preparing. "Yum! Everything smells so good!" said Emily.

"Ya! got anything to tide us over?" asked Curlly. Christopher slapped Curlly's hand as she tried to swipe a piece of ham. "No! Dinner is almost ready. You will just have to wait. Besides, I would think you were still full after the breakfast you ate."

While Christopher was guarding his masterpieces, Emily slipped some cayenne pepper into Curlly's hand. Once Curlly realized what she held and not smirking Curlly asked to, "..Please try the eggnog?"

"Fine. but just a little taste," said Christopher. He knew he wasn't going to get rid of them till they had something. So Curlly poured some for Emily and herself. Winking, Emily said, "It needs just a bit more nutmeg."

"I'll add it if it's okay with you?" volunteered Curlly.

"Sure. But not to much or you'll ruin it," begged Christopher.

Curlly had already poured some of the pepper into her hand. So that when she put a thin coat of nutmeg over it to disguise the color. "Is this right?" Christopher nodded his and Curlly dumped it in. Emily mixed it in well.

"Well we'll see ya later" said Emily and they left.

Upon exiting the kitchen both girls started laughing. They had just brought themselves under control when Trace and Rita came around the bend.

"Well, both you girls look cheerful," said Trace.

"We just looking forward to the dinner you've prepared," said Emily. Rita was looking at Curlly closely. She looked just a little too innocent. While Trace was chatting with Emily, Rita said just low enough for Curlly to hear, "I thought you weren't going to do anything?"