A/N: This fanfic is 362x86 centric, if you're not a fan of the pairing or are against femslash turn back now!

... Oh you're okay with it? Then enjoy!

Side note: I had inspiration from tigertutu's "Just this once". It's good to see more people writing and supporting this pairing.

Disclaimer: I do not own the KND and I never will. Although if I did, 362x86 would be a cannon pairing.

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Operation: P.R.O.T.E.C.T.

Protecting

Rachel

Often

Takes

Extreme

Cautionary

Tactics

The corridors of the Moon Base were quiet. The silence was almost eerie and yet somehow felt refreshing. It was almost sunrise now and soon the residents of the Moon Base would begin to wake and take on their daily tasks. However, for one operative this would not be the case. Today would change her life forever and the mere thought of his made her fists clench. She didn't want to be decommissioned, she wanted to keep her legacy going. But unfortunately, she cannot stop her body from aging and time from moving forward. Awake she lay in her bed as the sun slowly crept through her window. 'I'll run away...' she thought to herself. 'If I run they can't make me forget all the work I've done and the people I've grown to love...' And so at 0700 hours, she would run away. She didn't know where, but so long as she got away she would be able to keep her memories of the Kids Next Door and someday come back for her friends.

Her name was Rachel T. McKenzie, aka The Supreme Leader of the Kids Next Door and today was her 13th birthday.

Rachel sat up quietly and made her way to the door. On the other side was the head of decommissioning, her second in command, Fanny Fulbright aka Numbuh 86. They met with a mild thud. They slowly rose to their feet which was met with an awkward silence. Fanny broke it.

"You're tryna'ta run away aren't you sir? After all today is your birthday..." She said in a low almost inaudible tone. Rachel widened her eyes in shock and remained silent. She couldn't manage to bring her eyes to meet Fanny's and this only upset her further. She felt an arm on her shoulder.

"Just go, I won't try'ta stop yeh." Fanny sighed lightly. "I care about yah too much to allow this to happen." Rachel's eyes shot up suddenly.

"So it seems you know me too well Francine, thank you. I promise I will come back for you." She slipped off her orange striped sweater and handed it to her. "Take this, and never forget what I've done for you, for everyone." And with that she slipped into what was left of the darkness. Fanny stood watching as Rachel's shadow fade away, a single tear rolling down her cheek. She slipped the orange sweater over her forest green one and headed to the main hall, knowing what needed to be done next. An alarm of emergency could soon be heard throughout the entire Moon Base.

Within minutes every operative gathered in the main hall. They were in a confused and somewhat dazed state as the alarm had broken them from their sleep. Numbuh 86 walked up onto the stage to address her fellow operatives.

"The reason I've called yah all here is because as certain someone has gone missin'." The crowd of operatives began to whisper amongst themselves. She hushed them. "Numbuh 362 has been presumed missing in action and is no where to be found. I have deployed operatives to search for her and I will take over as the Supreme Leader of the Kids Next Door until she is returned to us." Gasps soon filled the main hall. A certain bald operative stood up.

"86 You can't be serious right?" He said with a thick British accent. "This is just some sort of cruel joke isn't it..." She remained silent confirming that this was indeed no joke. The bald boy soon found himself leaping over hundreds of kids to the nearest exit. Numbuh 86 sighed to herself and addressed the crowd of operatives once again.

"She couldn't have gotten too far... I'm sure our scouts will spot her soon." she said reassuringly. But she was wrong. The scouts would never find Numbuh 362 because she never deployed them to begin with. She let her run, plain and simple. "Now all of yah get back to yer jobs. Just because Numbuh 362 is gone doesn't mean yah can lollygag about." Amidst the crowds of dispersing kids sat the rest of Sector V. The group remained a little shell shocked at the events that were unfolding, expect for Numbuh 5.

"Numbuh 362...gone?" Numbuh 2 said still taken aback at the situation. "Why would she just leave like that?" Next to him sat Numbuh 3 who was bawling her eyes out over Numbuh 362's disappearance. Numbuh 4 sat beside her, attempting to comfort her and failing. Numbuh 5 sat quietly to herself thinking the situation over. Overreacting wasn't exactly a part of her personality.

"Numbuh 5 thinks something's a bit fishy here..." She said suddenly.

"What makes you say that?" Numbuh 2 asked.

"Did any of you happen to notice what our new 'Supreme Leader' was wearing?"

Numbuh 4 suddenly shot his head up. "Oooh oooh! It was her helmet right?" his Australian accent as heavy as ever.

"No ya fool! Her shirt! She was wearing Numbuh 362's striped sweater!" Her teammates gasped. She was right.

"How do you suppose she got a hold of it?" Numbuh 2 questioned.

"Maybe she and Numbuh 362 had a slumber party!" Numbuh 3 said in a cheery tone.

Numbuh 4 eyed her. "What kind of cruddy slumber party has girls that swap their clothes?"

"None that Numbuh 5 knows of. No...there's something Numbuh 86 isn't telling us. You guys head back to the tree house. I'm gonna have a little chat with our new leader."

"What about Numbuh 1?" Numbuh 4 pointed out.

"Don't worry about him. He'll be fine. After all, once that boys heart is set on something, there's really no stopping him."

Fanny sat quietly in what was once Rachel's room. She was the Supreme Leader now and needless to say the thought made her uneasy. She knew she was unfit for the job, but for the time being she would have to buck up and take on the responsibility. Her train of thought was interrupted by knocking on her door. She opened to find an out of breath Numbuh 60 on the other side.

"Patton...what are yah doin' here?"

"I came as soon as I got the emergency distress signal. What in the name of Zero is going on Fanny? You got a lotta nerve to be pushing that thing so early in the morning."

"It's about Rachel Patton. Do you know what today is?" Patton sat himself down in a stray chair and took off his cap.

"Yeah, it's the 1st of August. Why?" He had clearly forgotten her birthday. After thinking for a moment his memory suddenly returned. "It's... her...!"

"Thirteenth birthday? It sure as heck is. She's gone Patton...I let her run away."

"You what?!" he said sitting up in his chair.

"I let her run away. I caught her early this morning trying to make a run for it and I just...let her go. She promised she'd come back for me, for us, once things calmed down." Patton remained silent for a few minutes absorbing the situation at hand, thoughts racing through his head.

"So who's the new Supreme Leader?" He managed to say after awhile. Fanny pointed to the orange striped sweater she was wearing and he nodded. "I see..." he sighed. "Do you have any idea where she might be heading to?"

"I have no clue..." They were silent for some time again. Fanny pulled up a chair beside him. "I know the both of yah are close, heck all three of us are, but she promised she'd come back for us. I don't doubt her for a second." Patton put his cap on and readjusted it.

"I'm going after her." He said suddenly as he started to head towards the door. An arm reached out to stop him.

"Don't bother...Nigel left the moment I announced she was gone."

"Figures. Who does he think he is going after her like that? He doesn't know her like we do..." He was gritting his teeth. Patton wasn't very fond of Nigel Uno, and oddly enough that was something he and Fanny had in common.

"Let him go. He'll never find her."

"You're right. Is there anything else I can do while I'm here?" He said sitting back down beside her.

Fanny waved a hand at him "Neh, yeh've already done enough by being here for me."

"Well good luck Francine, I mean, Supreme Leader ma'am."He said with a smile only to have Fanny shoot him an annoyed look. Patton showed himself out unaware that Numbuh 5 had been listening in on their conversation the entire time. She slowly watched him disappear before making her move towards the door. She peered through the other side to see Fanny laying on her stomach.

"Everything okay boss?" She said as she opened the door. Fanny's head shot up suddenly upon hearing her voice.

"N-Numbuh 5, how long have you been here?"

"Long enough to hear you tell everything to Numbuh 60. There's more to this than you're letting him know, isn't there?

"I can't tell yeh, she's already in enough danger as it is." Numbuh 5 took off her cap and sat beside Fanny. She wasn't going to pass any kind of judgment, no matter how dire the situation was, and it was pretty dire.

"Abby ain't gonna tell anyone, she promises." Fanny sighed and took off Rachel's striped sweater and set it beside the both of them. Her eyes were beginning to tear up.

"And why should I trust yah? It's not like we're friends or something."

"Would you rather tell Numbuh 5? Or some boy." Fanny picked up on her last statement but gave in anyway. For some reason she felt she could trust her. She began to feel her anxiety acting up as she fiddled with her hands.

"Ah alright... I'll tell yah. I let her escape her decommissioning because..." She went silent for a moment, barely able to contain herself as she muttered words she'd never thought she'd say aloud. "Because I'm in love with her." The air around them became slightly awkward and Abby remained silent. She wasn't surprised at all, not even a little bit. She always knew there was something 'off' about Fanny and now she knew what.

"Well Abby thinks that's a good enough reason to let her run. However both of your actions have put the entire organization in jeopardy. "

"Yah think I don't know that?!" She was becoming a bit frantic now, her mind hitting full realization as to what was actually happening. "I'm not fit to be the Supreme Leader Abby. I don't have the right training, I'm not smart enough." Abby placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Do you want me to take over while you go search for Numbuh 362?" Fanny remained silent for a moment.

"You'd do that for me? But I thought you hated me."

"In the end we're all just brothers and sisters in arms, right?"

"Sisters maybe, but certainly not brothers." Abby chuckled a little at the Irish girl. Her female superiority complex over boys wasn't one of her greatest attributes but at times she found it to be quite amusing.

"But if I leave, who will run the organization?"

"I'll handle all of that. Don't you worry. Just go and find Numbuh 362."

"She's just Rachel now remember..."

"Right...Rachel. Good luck chief, don't worry about things here. Everyone is in good hands." Abby smiled at her and for the first time Fanny genuinely smiled back. Abby watched as the Irish girl bolted out of the room and disappeared into the corridor. 'How am I gonna tell the others I'm running the show now.' she thought to herself. It wouldn't be easy, but for Fanny and Rachel's sake she'd keep her word. Abby slowly closed the door behind her as she made her way to the main hall. This was turning out to be one heck of day.

And that's it for Chapter 1! R&R please :)

A/N: I wanted to give Fanny a softer more sensitive side instead of her typical Tsundere'ish tendencies. I also think if written properly this side of her can be quite powerful.

As for her interaction with Numbuh 5 well...let's just say "There are times to fight among each other, and times to fight for each other."

See you in Chapter 2.