-1Betrayal was not supposed to be a constant factor in a young girl's life. For a long time, Fanny had trust issues, dating back to her third year in the Kids Next Door, when Cree, one of the most respected members and easily the best fighter in the entire KND, ran from decommissioning. It had been a hurtful blow, but Fanny had managed to get over it.

For a little while, anyway. She was ten when it happened again. Chad, who she had followed, served under, for five years went power crazy and tricked the system. That one had stung her pride, being tricked into doing his dirty work for him, as well as just ..hurt. She had thought they had been friends, or something close to it.

After that came Numbuh 12, the first person to ever tell Fanny she'd be her friend. Only to betray her and grab the code module mere hours later. It had been a façade, just a distraction so that the teens could get what they wanted.

Then there was her Father. True, he had never betrayed her directly, but the fact that he fought against the Kids Next Door so fiercely had made her nervous. He had always promised to protect her, though, and he seemed good on his word.

But there were not merely four betrayals in the poor girl's life. No. There were five. When she'd crossed that line, helped the adults, she had become that which she most despised. She had turned her back on the closest thing she had to friends, and on who she herself had once been.

The thoughts whirled and churned through her mind, suffocating her as she tried to sleep. She tossed and turned, wishing the nightmares would end. Because the nightmares were usually just play backs of her own reality. Watching herself give Father the weak points of the moon base. Watching as Cree fired a wild shot at Hoagie, just barely missing. Hearing Rachel's scream as she was hit by Chad's ray over and over again.

Relentlessly the scenes played themselves out, repeating themselves over and over again. Her memory was photographic when it came to her hand in these horror stories. She sucked in air through her mouth, feeling suddenly like she was drowning. The air was hot, and she quickly exhaled, throwing the blankets off of her.

Once upon a time, this girl had been different. Not nice, but she had liked who she was. She had been one of the most fiercely loyal of all the Kids Next Door operatives, once upon a time. But then again, once upon a times happen so rarely…and if you miss your shot once, you'll never get it back.

Hoagie was roused from his sleep by his cell phone going of. "Hello?" he asked groggily, pushing up his goggles. He had fallen asleep in them again….

"Hoagie? It's Rachel," came the strong voice on the other line, "The KND have reported that Father is onto something big. Security was too tight for anybody to infiltrate the convention center in order to tap it or listen in."

"What do you want me to do about it?" Hoagie complained, "It's not like I can build a time machine or something'," Normally he wouldn't sass Rachel, but it was two in the morning, and the pilot was low on sleep lately.

"Fanny Fulbright."

"WHAT?!" Hoagie sat up in his bed, then covered his mouth, praying that his mother, grandmother, or little brother hadn't heard his outburst.

"I need you to investigate her."

"What's to investigate? She's a dirty rotten traitor, and we're all glad to be rid of her," Hoagie said grumpily. This was not what he wanted to talk about. Right now, he didn't want to talk at all, but now he was running the risk of having Fanny Fulbright in his dreams.

"The traitor factor is precisely it," Rachel said simply, "I just need you to sneak into her bedroom and see if you can't find a way to tap her memories. Abby reported seeing her go into the convention center."

"I can't sneak into a girl's bedroom," Hoagie said, wondering if the Teens Next Door leader hadn't completely lost her mind. "Why don't you get Kuki or Abby to do it? At least if they get caught, nobody will get the wrong idea."

"Abby's going on a candy hunting expedition with some friend from outside the TND or KND, and Kuki's not exactly proficient with the tools necessary for a mental tap. And before you suggest Nigel, he's bound to a date with Lizzie. She'll kill him if he doesn't show up this time."

Hoagie sighed. "It's times like these I hate not having a social life," he said, more to himself than to Rachel. Rachel laughed.

"Yeah, but then who else would be my fall back guy?"

"Patton?"

There was silence. "Patton is…uh.." There was silence on the other line. Oh, great, another hook up, Hoagie thought, rolling his eyes. As if I needed to watch another set of people making goo-goo eyes at each other.

He adjusted his goggles so that they rested in his crop of sandy brown hair. "Okay, I give. I'll go keep an eye on the banshee, and try to do a mental tap. Any other dirty jobs you want me to do while I'm working my butt off?"

"Yeah.."

"I'm listening.."

"Get yourself a girlfriend," Hoagie could practically hear the smile in her voice, "You're all whiny lately. You need somebody who knows how to shut you up."