DISCLAIMER: This is not my fanfic, I am republishing it with permission

"He WHAT?" Ms. O yelled, crushing an innocent empty juice box.

"It's all under control, ma'am, but we wanted to let you know what was going on. Oswald has Otto on the phone as we speak," O'Daniel explained.

"It better be under control! We won't have another opportunity like this one for a long time, and we can't let a student tube operator ruin it!"

"I assure you that everything will be taken care of. President Oscar is too far into the tubes to divert at this point, but we can still divert Olive and Otto if necessary. I don't think that'll be an issue, though, " he said, smiling at the back of Oswald's head.

"I'm counting on you, Agent..."

"O'Daniel, ma'am."

"Agent O'Daniel. Don't let me down."

"I—Oswald and I—won't. All you need to do is meet Oscar at the front as planned, we'll take care of the rest."

* * * * *

"I actually brought the gumball machine up to our office," Oda laughed.

"And I told the maintenance team it was beach ball inspection day," Odalis added.

"So between the two of us, not even the sphere room had more spheres in it that night!"

Olive and Otto laughed.

"How did he react?"

Odalis took a sip of his lemonade. "The poor kid showed up in our office with Ora, the night shift head scientist, about five minutes later, eyes the size of a Hydraclops."

"He saw Odalis and me covered from head to toe in centigurps—"

"You couldn't even see our O uniforms!"

"—and handed in his resignation letter on the spot," Oda finished, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Aww, poor Odenthorpe," Otto sympathized.

"Ah, he deserved it. He'd been a bit of a troublemaker at the Academy, so it was either that or a trip to Blobsylvania to straighten him out," Odalis explained.

"And, of course, we didn't accept his resignation. We even let him have the rest of the night off."

"He and his partner have been our best agents ever since."

Olive turned to her partner. "Oh Otto, we'll have to remember that one!"

Otto chuckled and nodded in agreement, then checked his watch. "Well, I think it's about time for us to go."

"Alright. Thanks for taking over a little early, guys."

"No problem at all, Olive! Have fun!" Oda said, giving her a hug.

"Here's hoping everything goes well, Otto. If you need anything, call us," Odalis whispered, patting him on the back.

Otto gave a quick nod and stepped into his tube, pressing a few buttons. "Preparing to squishinate."

Olive crouched down. "Squishi—Otto, is that your phone?"

He looked at his badge. "I should probably get that. Hello...? No..." His face contorted into an obvious attempt to cover his nervousness. "That's hilarious... Yep... Okay, I will... Bye."

"Sooo, who was that?" Olive asked, concerned.

"Um, wrong number. Actually," he said, stepping out of his tube and checking​ his watch, "we've still got a couple of minutes before the dance starts. Have you guys eaten dinner yet?"

"But shouldn't we—" Olive began.

Oda took the hint and cut her off. "No, we haven't."

"Let's order a pizza," Odalis added. "What toppings do you like?"

"Pizza sounds great! You choose the toppings, we're not picky."

"Otto, we only have one minute before the dance starts. What on earth is going on?" Olive hissed in his ear.

"We only see these guys ten minutes each day when our shifts overlap. Dances can wait, Olive; friendship can't. Also, neither can food."

Odalis whipped out his phone. "I'll order it. Hey Oda, why don't you show Olive those fancy chairs we just got?"

"Great idea! Come on, Olive!"

As Oda dragged Olive from the room, Odalis looked at Otto. "Okay, what's up and how much time do you need?"

"There was an issue with the tubes. I need to stall for at least five minutes."

"Delivery Debbie will be here in two minutes, that still leaves three more."

"Well, it takes Olive two minutes to eat a slice of pizza, so three minutes, two minutes, one minute left. It takes another minute to ride the tubes to Club 24 unless there's heavy traffic, so one, zero minutes. That should be perfect!"

"Okay buddy, we'll make sure she doesn't leave until then."

* * * * *

Ms. O fiddled with her earpiece as she zoomed through the tubes. The sound in her ear morphed from silence to static to voices as she neared the club.

"Oona, you're good to go. Olympia, move three centimeters to your left."

"Here?"

"That's perfect."

Ms. O put her microphone closer to her mouth. "Agents, can you hear me?"

"Ms. O, is that you?" came Olympia's voice.

"Yes, it's me. Hey, Otis?" she said.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Are either of the girls visible from the doors of the club?"

"Oona is, but only from the back door. Why?"

"Well, a student tube operator accidentally sent Oscar to the back entrance. He's probably going to walk all the way around the building to meet me, so you need to get her hidden, and fast!"

"Did you catch all of that, Oona?" Otis asked.

"Hehe, yep, just one problem, WHERE DO I GO?!?" Oona whisper-yelled nervously.

"Ummmm, okay, do you see a table with assorted gummy items, popcorn, and finger sandwiches?"

"You mean the one iN DIRECT SIGHT OF THE FRONT DOOR?"

"That would be the one. Look, I can't hide you anywhere that's not visible from all of the doors at once until more people get there, so you're gonna have to move around a bit. I need you to trust me. I won't let you get caught."

Oona took a deep breath. "Okay. Behind the table it is."

* * * * *

O'Daniel typed furiously on his side of the tiny private surveillance office he and Oswald were sharing. "How's everything going?"

"I've got visuals on and in the club. No sign of President Oscar yet, it looks like he had an extra stop before getting to the rear entrance. Ms. O arrived at the front and the inside agents seem to be in place. Anything on Olive and Otto?" she replied, standing up and turning​ around to look at his monitors.

"Nope, pressure sensors are reading normal."

"Good, but there's​ only two minutes left until our extra five are up. Let's hope Otto can stall as long as possible, I didn't bank on Oscar taking this long. I sure wish we could hear what was going on at his end," Oswald said, running her fingers through her short brunette hair anxiously.

"Well, he's got a wire, right?"

"Yeah, but no relay nearby."

"No private relay, but there are security relays everywhere. Maybe​, just maybe, I could do a one-way patch so we can hear them, but they won't hear us."

Oswald kissed him on the cheek. "This is why I keep you around."

"Eh, you know you only keep me around for my stunning good looks. Aaaaaand got it!" As he tapped a final key, static filled the room, then faded to the sound of voices.

"Huh, couscous on a pizza. Who'd've thought? Nice choice, Odalis," said a muffled female voice.

"See, Olive? The only way you can get pizza like this is from Delivery Debbie's," Otto's voice replied.

"True. I'll admit it, I'm glad we ate first. We really do need to get going, though. The dance already started...four minutes ago."

"Oswald, this could be a problem..." O'Daniel said worriedly.

She groaned. "Where are you, Oscar?"

"It was really great to get to eat with you guys," came an unfamiliar female voice.

"Yeah, we should do this more often," added a male voice.

"We should. Thanks for taking our shift a little early, Oda and Odalis!"

Oswald whirled on her heel to check the monitors. Everything outside was still. "Oh crumpets, this is very bad. Oscar, where are you?"

"No problem, Olive! Have fun at the club! Bye, Otto!" Oda called.

O'Daniel glanced behind him. "Oswald, the pressure sensors activated! What do you need me to do?"

Oswald bit her lip as she panned the security cameras at the club. "I don't know! He's not there yet! Ms. O is still standing out in front of the building!"

"They're squishinating, should I give them a slow takeoff?"

"No, not enough, Oscar's not even at the club yet and it'll take a while for him to get around the building. How about a scenic route?"

"Scenic it is, that'll buy us an extra minute."

Oswald dug her fingernails into the fabric of the swivel chair in front of her. "I hope that'll be eno—Yes! We have a tube flash!" She whipped open​ her badge phone and dialed Ms. O's number. "Ms. O? It's Oswald."

"Oswald? What on earth is going on? I thought you said Oscar was on his way!" Ms. O growled.

"I'm very sorry for the delay, ma'am. Oscar just arrived and he's coming around to you as we speak. I don't know why it took so long, but at least he's there now."

"Oscar just got here? Then where are Olive and Otto?"

"Otto stalled as long as he could so they wouldn't bump into Oscar, but they just left from 13580. O'Daniel diverted their pods, so they'll be there in about two minutes. Unless he got zapped by the Sloth-inator, Oscar should be past the side entrance before they get there."

"Grrah! Well, thank you for letting me know."

"You're welcome. Call me if there's anything else I can do to help." Oswald closed her badge and let out a long breath. "Well, I guess all we can do now is hope."

O'Daniel wrapped his arms around her. "You've done a good job, Oswald. Oscar is fortunate to have you. Now, I'll keep an eye on the cams, you go take care of your work."

"Don't you have work to do, too?"

"Would you be able to get your work done if you knew no one was watching the cameras?"

She didn't answer.

He raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Oh, shut up."

O'Daniel chuckled and turned back to his monitors. "Don't worry, it's been a light day. I'm sure my security team can handle things for an hour or two. Go be the awesome substitute president I know you always are."

She gave his shoulders a squeeze. "See you in a few hours."

"Oscar's coming around the corner, Oona. Move to the other side of the table," Otis's voice commanded in her ear.

"On it. Am I clear?"

Ms. O peeked through the door. "You're clear, Oona. Stay in position until I—Oscar, where on earth have you been? It's already 6:06!"

Oscar ran his hand over his slicked-back hair and sighed. "A student tube operator sent me to the back door via Portland, Oregon. At least I'm here now, heh."

Otis watched his monitors. "Okay, Ms. O, get him inside."

"Any sign of Otto and Olive yet?" Olympia asked from her spot on the wall.

Otto's voice crackled in their earpieces. "Hey guys, we just got in range of the truck. I think we're almost there."

"Great, since the tubes and ground both block the signal a little, Olive and Otto must be within a mile of the truck. They'll be here in less than a minute," Oona calculated.

Otis moved a camera. "Olympia, stay where you are. Ms. O, tap your microphone twice if you see the booth with a neon sign advertising soda above it."

Two taps came over the earpieces.

"Perfect. Lead him towards it. That'll make it easier to keep Olive and Otto from running into you until the time is right. Oona, you know what to do."

"Aye aye, Otis. I'm on their tail."

"Good job. Otto, what's your position?"

"I can see the exit."

"Okay, then. As soon as you get out, go in the side door and try to keep Olive's eyes turned towards the front of the building. Olympia will be to your left as you enter and the other group will be moving towards a booth near the back."

Otto and Olive popped out of the tubes. He quickly placed himself at her right and stood with his feet apart. "Ready?"

She matched his stance and smiled. "Ready."

The pair looked at each other, nodded, slicked back their hair in unison, and sauntered towards the door.

"Hey, Marco!"

The large, olive-skinned bouncer smiled. "Hey Otto! Olive, long time no see!"

She grinned at him. "Too long​."

"True that!" he said, pulling the velvet rope back. "Good to have you back! Go right in."

Olympia pressed herself harder against the wall. "They're in!"

"You're doing good, Olympia. Just stay where you can see them, but not so close that they see you. Got it?"

"Copy that, Otis. Oona, how's everything looking on your end?"

"Oscar is looking sufficiently relaxed, we're go for the next stage of the plan if Olive is ready."

Otis looked at his partner on a monitor. "Olympia, it's your call."

"All is well on my end, we're go for phase two."

"Did you hear that, O's?" Otis asked.

Ms. O and Otto each made a thumbs-up behind their backs.

"Good. Here's what we're going to do. Olympia and Oona, you'll help Otto and Ms. O find ways to bring Olive and Oscar closer. Once they're in range, Otto and Ms. O will find excuses to leave. After that, Oly—"

"Um, Otis?" Oona's voice came urgently. "I think we have a change of plans!"

Even from the small picture on the monitor, Otis could see Oscar's eyes grow wider at the boy standing behind Ms. O.

"Hey, babydoll."

Ms. O whirled on her heel and gasped. "O'Donahue!'

He smiled​ and slicked his hair back. "I thought I might find you here."