One year, four months before the Invasion...

Kestrel Darkflame let out a yell and squeezed the trigger of her ketchup gun, spraying the stalks of broccoli in front of her. Out of ammo, she dropped the gun and let fly a high kick, taking down the Brussels sprouts that had crept up behind her. She leaped through the hole left by their demise and rolled, coming to a stop at the feet of Numbuh 476. Her direct superior.

He looked angry. Why did he look angry? She'd done what she was supposed to...kinda.

"Uh, hi, sir," she said, giving him a sheepish grin. He tapped his foot and adjusted his colander helmet.

"Numbuh 802. What were the orders I gave you, exactly?" he asked, voice dangerously quiet.

"Stay here, guard our escape route. Make sure no one got by." She paused, biting her lip.

"And?"

"To...er..." She chanced a look at her teammates and saw their dark looks. Her grin faded into nothingness. "To not touch anything, sir," she said, standing up.

"And what did you do?"

Stop talking to me like I'm some dumb kid, she thought, anger flashing across her face. "I pushed a button. Sir."

"Which brought hordes of vegetable warriors down on our heads. It was pure luck that we managed to stop the Vegapocalypse from happening, thanks to your inability to follow orders." Numbuh 476 turned away, preparing to leave.

"I was following your orders, Glen," Kes snapped, hand tightening into a fist.

The boy stopped and turned, face a mask of rage. "No, you weren't. You pushed a button. That constitutes touching something."

"It seemed like the right thing to do at the time."

"'Scuse me, but how the crud was that the right thing to do?" Numbuh 223 snapped, fingering her weapon.

Kes shot her a look. "Instinct. Besides, we caught the Vegan, everything worked out in the end. Plus we destroyed the remaining Veggie Warriors, who could have picked up where the Vegan left off. I don't see how this is a bad thing.

"Numbuh 229's skin is orange from the carrots! How can you not see it?" Numbuh 223 cried, stepping forward.

Numbuh 476 put his hand in front of her, holding her back. "That's enough, Jen. Leave it to me." He turned his attention back to Kes. "She does have a point. Both Numbuh 229 and Numbuh 272 were injured because of your negligence and rash actions."

"I'm the one who took out all of the Veggie Warriors. Without me, they'd have been attacking your stupid bu-!"

"Shut up, Kestrel. Without you, they wouldn't have been attacking," he returned, voice low and tight.

Kes's eyes narrowed. "What does it even matter? Everything's fine now, so let's just get out of here."

"No. I want an apology. I want you to take responsibility for once and admit that you were wrong. Right here, right now," Numbuh 476 demanded, pointing at the ground.

She stood still, staring at him. After a second, she glanced at Numbuh 223, noting the triumphant grin on her face. She frowned, cheeks flushing with anger. "You know what? I don't need this pile of crud," she muttered, stripping off her outer armor.

"What're you doing?"

She looked at him, eyes dark and angry. "Quitting. I don't need you and your stupid... Ugh. I quit."

"The KND?"

"Yes, the KND. I. Quit!" she snapped, throwing the armor on the ground.

"You'll be decommissioned."

"Like heck I will." Off came the helmet.

"It's protocol. I have to contact Moonbase, and your memories'll be wiped."

"Like heck they will." The weapons belt hit the ground.

"It's protocol. That's how this works."

"Like heck it is." She removed her ID pin and let it flutter to the ground. The three of them watched it fall.

"Stop saying that. Are you absolutely certain? Is this just one of your stupid, rash decisions?"

She paused, bent down, hand reaching towards her badge.

He watched her. "Change your mind?"

Kestrel didn't look at him. "Like heck I did."

"Stop...! Ugh." He rubbed his temples. "Will you at least come quietly?" What was she doing down there?

She looked up and grinned. "Like heck I will!" She sprang to her feet, drawing her newly loaded ketchup pistol and shooting at her former comrades. While they dodged the blasts, she dashed between them and out of the room.

Numbuh 223 shrieked and wiped ketchup out of her eyes. Numbuh 476 took a moment to flick some from his shirt, staring out of the room. "C'mon, we gotta catch her," he snapped, racing after the rogue agent.

Kestrel finally slowed to a stop many blocks from the Vegan's hideout and took a moment to lean against a fence. She still clutched the pistol in her hand, refusing to let go.

Had she done something stupid, deciding to quit? Probably, but she never second-guessed herself. Had running from her team been even stupider? Definitely. Most definitely. And it was such a stupid reason. She hadn't so much pressed the button as fallen on it. Being klutzy had its downsides, but...

She hit her head against the fence. "Why didn't I just say it was an accident?" she moaned, then rubbed the back of her head. Stupid. Double stupid. No, this ranked among the triple stupid. Falling, lying, and hitting herself. Wonderful.

"Hey, look, it's one of the KNDorks!"

Kestrel opened her eyes to see a gaggle of teenagers swaggering over to her, idiotic grins plastered across their faces. "The heck do you guys want?" she muttered, pushing herself away from the fence.

"Gee, what could we want with a lone dweeb on a boring night? Anyone? Anyone?" Ren, the leader, cupped his hands to his ear and chortled.

"We could rough her up," another teen suggested, rubbing his hands together.

"We could embarrass her in front of her friends," called another.

"Could make her give up KND secrets," said a final voice.

All of a sudden, Kestrel grinned. In a flash, a plan formed in her mind. She smiled and put her hands up in the air, pistol dangling in her grip. "Actually," she said, keeping her voice light and even. "I've just quit the Kids Next Door. I had a fight with them and am still pretty angry, you know."

Ren raised an eyebrow. "Really," he responded, tone implying that he didn't believe a word of it.

"Yeah. And I figure, they're gonna wipe me in a less than a year, anyway. And a preteen is pretty much a teen, so... I might as well join you guys while I can still be of use." She raised her eyebrows at Ren, hoping he'd bite.

He did, eyes glittering with greed. "Use. Like, secrets?"

"Yeah. I can get you into our... eh, their treehouse. The codes won't be changed until tomorrow. It'll be perfect." She dropped her gun and held out a hand, keeping the inviting smile on her face.

He regarded her hand carefully, then shifted his gaze to her face. Finally, he returned her smile and clapped his hand in hers. "You got yourself a deal."


"Alright. Stay close. They've got cameras trained on almost every possible approach. Step exactly where I step, since there's also fish-line trip wires all over the place," Kestrel said, hands on her hips. She faced the assembled teens with a broad, confident grin. They all wore their Battle Ready Armor, while she only had her combat pants and t-shirt. Not even a weapon. Too bad, since she probably could have wiped the floor with the whole group if she'd had a Teddy T.H.U.M.P.E.R.

"You're sure you can get us in?" Ren asked, fingering his blaster.

Kes shook her head, maintaining her grin. "Like I said, do as I do, and everything will work out perfectly." You stupid dunderhead, she added, chuckling under her breath.

"You heard the girl. Fall into formation, now!" he commanded. The teenagers scrambled to do just that, falling over one another. She found it funny that she'd ever considered them a serious threat. Maybe before, when they'd had a few seventeen year olds on their side, but now? A bunch of clowns.

She turned and started down the pathway, lifting her legs over the nearly invisible trip-wires and skirting the edges of the cameras' sights. It wasn't that difficult. She hadn't designed the system, but she'd been the one who had to set it up.

The reached the bottom of the tree with little incident, only one minor flaw. Someone had stepped into a camera's view and caused every floodlight to turn on. It wasn't that big a deal, though, since it happened every time a cat strolled by. They'd been yelled at multiple times for it, and Numbuh 272 was trying to fix it.

"Okay," she whispered, turning to face the team. "Here's the tricky part. We've got an elevator in here, only used in emergencies, so it's on a different power grid." Truth. "It's not monitored." Truth. "They'll never notice us using it." Lie.

"How do we get in?" Ren sounded eager. He was still fingering his blaster, fidgeting every once in a while, too. Kestrel suppressed a laugh.

"It's usually operated from inside. I'll have to open the access panel and hotwire it," she explained, knocking against the tree. The bark popped open, revealing a mess of bright colored wires, paper clips, rubber bands, and chewing gum.

The teens watched, mystified, as she gently repositioned a few objects. She shifted, yanked a wire out, and, without them seeing, hit the elevator's call button.

The tree dinged as more bark opened, revealing the lift.

She sat back and smiled. "There you go. Step in. I've got to wire it to head up again," she explained, dodging their confused glances.

She was lucky Ren was stupid. "Get in there, idiots," he snapped, gesturing with his blaster. They did as they were told.

Kestrel waited until they were all in and reconnected a few wires.

She jumped up and ran in front of the elevator just as the doors closed, only managing to give the fools a smile and a wave. In another second, she was at the control panel. She sent the elevator to the top floor, but held the doors closed. Then, she tripped the alarm system. When that was done, she stepped back into a camera's view.

A speaker emerged from the bushes. "Kestrel, what the heck are you doing here? Did you set off the alarms?" Numbuh 476 asked.

She grinned. "Yeah. Special delivery. Teens in the elevator. Packed in like sardines."

"How'd you…? Never mind. Stay there." She could hear the amusement in his voice. That was good. Get him in a good mood before she…

Glen slid down the fire pole and landed in front of her, smiling. "I'm glad you're coming back," he said, extending a hand.

She didn't take it. "I'm not."

"What?"

Kestrel looked away. "Look, sir… Glen, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. It's not just the frustration or any of that. It's not that at all." She sighed and glanced up into his eyes. "I'm moving."

"Where to? Close enough to stay with us?"

"No. It's far. Very far," she whispered.

His face fell. "That doesn't mean you have to quit. I mean, KND is everywhere."

"I'm moving near Sector V."

He paused, eyes widening. "I… see. There's no room for you, then."

"Yes. Although I had an idea…" She looked at him, the smallest of smiles gracing her face.

"Shoot."

"Well, you've heard of The Tommy, right? How he still knows about the Kids Next Door, but operates outside of it?" she asked, rubbing her elbow.

"Yeah," he answered, as it dawned upon him. "You think you could go solo in Sector V?"

"Not in it. Nearby. Candy Cove, to be exact." She let out a short laugh. "It's not like I work very well on a team, anyway. Who knows? It might work out for the best… if you let it through."

"What?"

She shrugged. "I contacted Numbuh 86 about it. She said that, if you approved my request for free agent status, she'd grant it."

He sighed, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes. "You never make things easy," he muttered, a hint of a smile on his lips. "You're a klutz, you don't always follow orders, you're hotheaded and brash."

Kestrel looked at the floor, shame darkening her features.

"And yet…" Glen continued. "Your skills easily surpass mine. You're a top-notch shot and loyal to a fault. You never make excuses, except when truly defending yourself. You might lie every once in a while…" His look told her that he knew about her most recent fib. She blushed. "But, yes, Numbuh 802. I will recommend you for free agent status."

"For the record, I'll be stripped of my number. I'll just be… Kestrel."

"That's fine. I'll contact Numbuh 86 in the morning," he said, giving her a smile.

She beamed. "Thank you, sir. Er, well, Glen, I guess."

"It's no skin off my nose. I'm just glad you'll be your own problem," he joked, punching her on the shoulder. She laughed and lashed out at him. He caught her arm and pulled her in close, until they were only a few inches apart.

Her laughter faded. She blinked away the smile, letting the storm of emotions free on her face.

His smile fell as an odd light entered his eyes. His lips parted slightly as they drew closer together.

They kissed. It wasn't the friendly pecks they'd exchanged before, nor the fast jolts given by dares. Yet it wasn't something passionate, either. It didn't last long. They parted, looking at one another with sadness in their eyes.

"We coulda been something," Kestrel said, trying at a joke.

He just shook his head. "We coulda. We really coulda," he responded, returning the seriousness.

She lowered her head and backed out of his embrace, heaving a sigh. "Let the others know whenever you want. I leave in two days, but I probably won't see any of you again, so…" Her voice trailed off as she stared up into the sky, entranced by the stars.

He touched her hand, drawing her back to earth, and gave her a knowing smile. "I will. I'll tell them goodbye."

"Thank you," she whispered, leaning her head against his shoulder. And then they separated, he heading back into the treehouse, she, down the street to her house.

They never looked back.