Disclaimer: I don't own Codename; Kids Next Door!

Title: Five Minutes

Summary: Fourteen year old Decommissioning officer and game guru Fanny Fulbright has been on a mission to locate the scientists who cried Splinter Cell and ultimately ruined Numbuh 362's good name. When a lead comes to her on a silver platter, she risks everything in a desperate gamble to matter again, and bites off more than she can chew.

Chapter Title: Play the Game

Setting: Post KND and pre-Stop the GKND. The TND and KND have merged, and the teenagers have made a rough peace under Abby's rule as Supreme Leader. Due to Fanny's age, however, she's considered an ineffective Head, and has willingly been demoted to normal soldier again.

...

"Yer doin' fine, lass. Just remember; x to jump, square to fire... or ya can die two seconds in. That's an option too."

There's a mutual groan from the rest of her team as the familiar kill-message pops up in the corner. Fanny makes a mental note to bomb RainbowMonkeysSuz25 later, adjusting her headset for good measure. She's tempted to take a sip of the half-empty root beer next to her desk, but the newest addition still needs to learn the basic steps, and a bathroom break is out of the question.

"Hush, you lot. Darcie's new ta' all this. Ya' good, hun?"

"I'm sorry." A quiet voice murmurs. The girl sounds barely old enough to make it into the KND recruitment programs as the average operative, let alone play co-op training simulation shooters. "I forgot to check behind me."

"Rookie mistake, dear. Try again."

Truthfully, it's the four soda cans on the floor that have given Fanny this level of patience. It's hardly even nine yet, but there's a long night of raids ahead, and she wants to be able to enjoy it, at least slightly.

"Decon, don't you have a test tomorrow?" Another girl asks. She sounds about twelve.

"I have a lotta things ta' do tomorrow." Fanny responds briskly, setting up a mustard grenade on the spawn point. She hates cheating, but the sooner the battle ends the sooner she can get up and grab some snacks. Dilute the soda a bit.

"Like a date with your girlfriend?" A third challenges. She's slurring a bit; too much soda. Fanny takes a quick glance at her name, preparing an airstrike to remind her of the respect she's rightfully earned.

"I ain't gotta girlfriend. Ya' know that."

She's playing with a group of operatives, unfortunately, and they've been taught to pick up on this sort of thing. Even the rookie seems to know her ticks, letting out a quiet "oooohhhh."

"You hesitated, Decon. You're lying."

"Ya'll know me, ladies. Can ya' imagine a lass who'd want to date me?" She forces the words out. Fanny is highly dateable, thank you very much.

A chat box pops up on the bottom of her screen. She was planning on waiting until ten to ten for it to appear, as it does every few months. This isn't the time it normally appears. That's never a good sign in a delicate situation like this.

MadeAMistake is messaging you!

She clicks open the bar. "Besides, I'm a very busy gal myself. You lot oughta realize that by now."

9:15 P.M. MadeAMistake: don't reply
9:15 P.M. MadeAMistake: they'll hear ur keyboard

"What about Numbuh 362?"

Fanny calmly aims and fires a smoke bomb into the deserted building, slipping inside to knife RainbowMonkeysSuz25 in the back. "What about 'er?"

"Ma'am? I died again."

"Yer gonna do that a lot. Ye better ge' used to it." She glanced down. No new messages. They must be listening in, the prats. "Numbuh 362 went MIA ages ago."

9:19 P.M. MadeAMistake: thats a lie
9.19 P.M. MadeAMistake: ur lying

Deeply unnerved, Fanny began to reload her weapon.

"I got one!"

There's a rumble of congratulations.

"Well, if anyone knows where she is, it's you." Numbuh 10- the only other senior operative who'd decided to join them- breaks in knowingly. Fanny wants to jump, but practice forces her body to be still. "Got a scoop?"

9:20 P.M. MadeAMistake: keep lying

"Info like that is fer the operatives who are on a need ta' know basis." She states. "And I don't need ta' know."

"Well, you're extremely gay for her. Does that count?"

"'Course not."

"How long does the match last?"

"Timers in the corner, dear."

"Oh."

To Zero with it. Fanny swallows down the last of her can of soda. She's no lightweight; five cans is nothing.

It's the girl who asked her about Numbuh 362 in the first place that speaks next. "Well, if you did know how Rachel was, you'd tell us, right?"

"Shut yer mouth. Numbuh 362 may be gone, but that don't mean she don't deserve the respect of any other retired Supreme Leader." She answers. There's a pause, and she's fairly sure they're attempting to deconstruct her reply for hints. They won't find any.

"You always try to say Soopreme like a teen says it." One of them comments. "I think your accent is what fails it for you. Hey!"

Fanny calmly ducks her character behind a building to reload once again. "I taught ya everythin' you girls know. Don't test me."

There's a vague, curse-like mumble.

9:37 P.M. MadeAMistake: i need ur help
9:37 P.M. MadeAMistake: ive been betrayed

"Hey, Decon? Who's messaging you?"

Fanny scrolls the mouse across the screen to click the reply box. "Some'a my idjit soldiers."

9:39 P.M. MadeAMistake: u have no soldiers
9:39 P.M. MadeAMistake: u were demoted
9:40 P.M. MadeAMistake: id never follow you

"Why is it private?"

Fanny shrugged. She's stopped moving her character entirely, fighting to keep down rage. This is a game, in more than one aspect, and she must keep this impersonal. She downs another soda in a few gulps. "Because it's private info."

9:41 P.M. MadeAMistake: reply
9:41 P.M. MadeAMistake; they'll get suspicious if u dont

"Aw, come'on, Decon. We're playing, not working."

9:43 P.M. ReconIsRecom: I'm guessing you don't really want my help then
9:43 P.M. ReconIsRecom: keep talking like that and we'll see where it gets you

Fanny leaned back, listening to her twirly chair creak under even her slight weight. She picks up the controller. "I'm always workin', even when I'm playin'."

"That sucks."

"That's the life of a Decommissioning officer. Sorry 'bout that."

"Hey!"

"You were the only friendly of five in the buildin'. It was a necessary sacrifice."

9:50 P.M. MadeAMistake: i wont apologize
9:50 P.M. MadeAMistake: my remaining colleagues have betrayed me cause of you

9:51 P.M. ReconIsRecom: good. you've done nothing but spite me for months now.

"Pay attention, Decon."

Fanny lets out a growl as she watches herself fall from the killer's perspective."Darcie, how could ya? You were my student fer the night."

"Sorry, ma'am."

"Nah. Greater good."

This is the second or third raid after the messages began. Fanny immediately clicks into another.

"Be right back, girls." She stands and stretches, listening to the soda cans jangle as the office chairs move them. "Bathroom break."

A quick bathroom trip lets Fanny get a good glimpse at her bags and stress lines before she goes on her merry way, taking measured steps to make it last longer. She plays the waiting game quietly and without overthinking it, reluctantly grabbing a box of granola bars before returning. It's late, and no one knows she's up; they still don't as she slips back into her room. The Kids Next Door requires bedrooms be soundproof to keep private things the way they should be; private.

She falls back into the chair, rolls herself closer, and picks up the headset. "I'm back."

"I think I'm having a mid-life crisis."

"Bein' an operative'll do that to ya'."

"No, I mean; the pink camo is so obvious and tacky, but I hate all the other colors."

"Girl power. Pink."

"Haha. I knew you'd say that."

9:53 P.M. MadeAMistake: wait no dont get up
9:53 P.M. MadeAMistake: come back

Works like a charm.

9:58 P.M. ReconIsRecom: oh, so NOW you want to talk

"I hear typing."

"Aye. My men are throwin' a hissy fit again."

"Come'on, Fanny. It's Friday night. You shouldn't be stressing over whether or not the others in your unit can figure out how to hold their shooters without you. Let's just game."

"Decommissionin' don't work like yer cushy jobs, girls." Fanny sighs dramatically, but her eyes are trained on the message box with a ferocity that bordered on obsession. "We could stumble on some traitor at any moment. There ain't no time ta' be idle."

10:01 P.M. MadeAMistake: i know where some of them are
10:01 P.M. MadeAMistake: the scientists

Fanny feels her body tense and, against her will, start to hope again. It kindles in her chest; makes her feel ill. Hope has no place in a career like her's.

"You promised me one-on-one training." Darcie accuses, half-disappointed. The other half is split between irritation and confusion. "Not one-on-one training, addendum soldiers."

"Aye, darlin', and ye'll get it." She promises lukewarmly, moving her mouse to the box with shaking hands. "Jus' five more minutes."

10:05 P.M. ReconIsRecom: give me proof, and then we can talk

10:10 P.M. MadeAMistake: give me an email address and u'll have it.

Author's Note: Decon is Fanny's nickname as a Decommissioning soldier, whereas ReconIsRecom is her username. I just really like gamer Fanny, you know? =)

-Mandaree1