Year Three - Desertion

The leftover rain left the dark environment in an eerie fog, the occasional street light providing illumination for the teenage girl slipping in and out of cars and buildings. She had seen the Teen Ninjas in action and decided that the only way to dodge them and Father was to emulate their strategy: keep to the shadows and only strike when necessary.

She had returned to Chad's home hoping for answers, only to find it swarmed with Ninjas, so she bypassed the idea altogether. From the looks of things, it seemed as if Chad had eluded capture because a Ninja's bike radio cackled in and out when she was bold enough to sneak closer.

"I want him found! At any cost!" Father hollered through the radio. "And then I want the McKenzie girl!"

Father had said something like that during their confrontation about Chad being a double agent or something. Double agent for who, that was still on the table for her. Maybe the KND? It seemed possible. The folders in her jacket felt heavy with the idea.

Wherever Chad had gone, he wasn't answering his phone. Rachel sat at an abandoned bus stop, her cell phone blaring twelve o'clock before she flipped it open. She was going to have to check in at home soon, but if she was lucky, her dad hadn't noticed she was gone. Maybe Harvey would if he was still awake.

"Hello?" A young male voice picked up the phone. Before she could respond, she could hear her little brother try to stifle a very obvious yawn.

Rachel smiled. "Hey Harvey. Why are you up so late?"

"Why are you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Because I'm out."

A guffaw of laughter caused her to pull the phone back. "No kidding! Gone out to see your boyfriend or something?" She can actually imagine the scowl on his face. "You're gonna be in so much trouble when dad finds out his little Miss Perfect's gone and broke curfew."

"If he's still awake, can you tell him I'm staying at a friend's house? I need to get this project done before it's due."

Can kids his age smell a lie? It was technically true. This was a project that she needed to find out: her identity. There was a notable silence before Harvey answered. "Yeah, whatever. You owe me for this." Rachel nodded despite the fact that he couldn't see her do it. "And hey… want me to explain to your friends here that you're sleeping over too?"

Rachel's eyebrows pinched in confusion. "Friends?"

"Yeah. They look like they're from the drama department or something. Wearing ninja armor and stuff." Rachel paled at the description. "You still there, Rachel?"

She instantly nodded. "Yeah. Yeah. Make something up. Tell them I'm at a relative's or something. They're…" She took a breath. "They're like, totally uncool and stuff. Seriously dude."

"Ugh. Alright alright." The line clicked dead and Rachel stuck out her tongue. They've already sought her out at home. She definitely couldn't go back for now. Idly thumbing Chad's contact information, she pressed it after a minute, pretty sure she had let her conflicting feelings get the better of her this time.

He didn't deserve that. Not when he looked like he was so much in pain. Guilt began eating at her when the ringer went straight to voicemail.

This is Chad Dickson. Leave your name and message and I'll call you back eventually.

Rachel shook her head at such a dismissive recording. "Chad. This is… ugh, you know who this is. Listen, Father's after me and I guess he's after you too. First off, are you alright? Because if you're not… " She faltered and shook her head again, her voice much softer. "Listen, I know… I know you're not in a good place right now and I'm not making it any easier for you, I know. You know what, don't worry about me. Take care of yourself. If you can, I can."

She bit her lip. "I… really care about you, you know? More than you'll ever-"

Message exceeded.

"Dammit." She snapped her phone shut and looked up at the sky, the clouds blocking the sight of a full moon every few minutes. That seemed to calm her nerves and allow her to take a breath. What she was carrying was no doubt vital to someone, mainly her. And it was possibly a glimpse into Chad's real self.

She needed to find somewhere safe. Somewhere where people wouldn't suspect her to be at.

Eventually, she decided to dial Lizzie Devine's number.

The chase would have been hard to escape from if Father didn't send such amateurs after him.

Chad zoomed down a mostly empty highway and instantly regretted it. While it was the fastest way to the rendezvous checkpoint, it left him very much out in the open.

That was when the Teen Ninjas attacked.

Clipping past a honking SUV, Chad gunned his bike with a loud growl of the engine, occasionally looking over his shoulder as both cars and motorcycles were in hot pursuit of him. He used the low amount of traction from the previous rain to slide dangerously into the next lane, dodging all sorts of missiles in the process. Not to mention spraying a few who managed to catch up to him in defiance.

Did Father take him for an idiot or something? Annoyed, his blue eyes slid over to the railing of the freeway, finding themselves heading into an overpass as the ramp gave way to height. Cypress Road was a bit far from the rendezvous location, but it had excellent alleyways.

Ignoring the beating of dull pain rising up his neck, he used a leftover road work ramp to jump off the railing and sail off the freeway and onto the adjacent road, landing on a parked truck in the process. Gunning his engine again, he jumped back onto asphalt and zoomed off.

"Is this guy for real?!" A random Teen Ninja gaped before he smashed his bike against another's.

Ignoring her crashed comrades, Cree stopped near the railing and took off her helmet, watching Chad zoom off with calculating eyes. "Tch. Amateurs." She raised up her walkie-talkie. "Get the helicopter. Now."

Lizzie had whined about her dropping by at such a late hour, but nevertheless let her in. "You'll have to be quiet though." The redhead whispered, finger to her lips as Rachel stepped into an obviously darkened living room. "You're lucky you're not a boy. This'll be easy to explain to my parents in the morning."

"Oh, I don't want to get you into trouble. I'll just leave before they get up." But Lizzie just waved away her considerations and ushered her into her room. Rachel blinked at how reasonably girly it was. Not the gaudy kind, but pretty feminine.

Lizzie took Rachel's jacket, allowing the blond to physically hold the folders while she hung it up. "What? Never seen a girl's bedroom before?"

She shrugged. "Once." Fanny had showed Rachel her room once, but it was nothing like Lizzie's. She had shoved all of her beloved stuffed animals into a closet and filled it with boy band posters and the occasional tinkering object of an archaic design. She always did like her archery weapons.

It was nice having girlfriends, she thought. She's hung out with far too many boys for her liking.

Lizzie's dresser had a lot of pictures, most of it obviously from her family. Catching a glimpse of one of them, she smiled at a picture of a couple with a woman who looked startlingly like Lizzie, except she was far much older with a husband and a baby in his arms. "You're an aunt?"

"Yup!" She said proudly from within her closet, puttering about to find decent sleepwear for Rachel. "He's turning one year old in a couple of months! He's so adorable!"

Humming in agreement, Rachel set the folders down and accidentally knocked over a picture. "Oops. Sorry!" She righted the frame and caught a glimpse of a scowl and shiny black sunglasses. It looked exactly like the kind Abby notoriously wore.

It was a boy no older than ten, with a prominent bald head. He was folding his arms and staring critically at the camera as if he had better and greater things to do than taking a simple picture. It was almost like her own operative picture… if she could call it that. Her mind was still reeling from the implications. "Who's this?"

"Oh. That's my Nigie." Lizzie plunked her chin on Rachel's shoulder, looking at the photo with a mixture of wistfulness and affection. "My old childhood boyfriend. You know how that goes, I bet."

Rachel shook her head. "Actually I don't." She never had time; never even conceived the notion of it. And if whatever was in her folder true, she was much too busy being an operative to even think about that. A thought struck her. "You once said that… he disappeared?"

With a shake of her own head, Lizzie turned away. "He was always trying to save the world for kids. He hardly spent any time with me. I always had to yell and scare him into doing normal couple stuff." She plucked at the hem of the extra pair of pajamas in her arms. "I just wanted to do normal couple things like go out on dates and hold hands. He was too busy for that. And then things got weird so I just… I just ended things with him. I was just tired of competing with the Kids Next Door. I was tired of being ignored. I don't know."

"That… sounds like a reasonable explanation." Rachel couldn't imagine what it was like for her ten year old self trying to be patient for a boy that broke his promises. She was almost sixteen and even she had very little patience for boys like Chad these days. "So… Kids Next Door, you say?"

Lizzie shrugged and gave her the pajamas. "Yeah. They went by code numbers or something. He was number 1. That's kind of a feat, if you think about it. I think he was the best, but I never really cared for it. One day he just… POOF! Disappeared! Vanished! His friends kept saying he was studying abroad. That's a load of bull if I ever heard it! I've sent him letters; never received an answer. His parents kept misplacing his 'phone number' so I gave up on that." With an aggravated huff, she plopped herself on the bed. "Ugh, I don't want to talk about it. It's been years ago. I'm tryingto not remember, thanks."

"No, no! Maybe you can help me!" Rachel took her folder and sat on the bed, laying out the files. "You know about the KND, to an extent. I think… this thing says I was like him!" Lizzie stared at her with disbelief before taking the first page and glancing through it.

"Oh. Ohhhh…" Lizzie's eyes widened with realization. "I don't think you were supposed to look at this file."

Rachel frowned. "Why not?"

"It says you were decommissioned. I remember something like that. Your memory gets erased." She fixed her glasses as she read the rest of Number 362's dossier. "I wonder what you did that made them do that? It says here you were like… the Supreme Leader."

"And what did the Supreme Leader do?"

Remembering exactly what the position was, she looked at Rachel with something akin to awe. "I think you were the leader of the KND! Everyone, including Nigel, reported to you."

Turning into an abandoned alleyway, Chad dialed Infinity through his helmet. "Infinity! The mission has been compromised. Requesting emergency transport at the designated rendezvous site."

Infinity's holographic image flickered against the transparent shell of his helmet. "Standby for rendezvous, Numbuh 274." And then he disconnected. Chad tried to force a grimace down. He was in deep-

A bright light seemed to envelope his entire person. He looked up and heard the muffled sound of a helicopter hovering above the buildings, its spotlight bearing down angrily on him. Cree. Twisting his handlebars, his engine growled as he upped his speed, screeching past honking cars into a hard left.

She was going to be a pain to escape from. Another hard left and he immediately stopped in an alleyway and got off his bike, activating the auto-pilot. "There better not be any scratches when I get ba-" He paused. There was no going back.

He had never regretted being an operative of the KND. He never regretted willingly taking on the hardest job a KND operative could ever have after Numbuh 100 left. He had never regretted taking Infinity's offer for the chance to join the stars and fight on a galactic scale. And he had never regretted sullying his name and reputation to get to that point.

But for the first time in his life, he felt regret. Regret for being unable to help Maurice, regret for his parents' concern over his future… and regret for her, who could only be confused and frustrated when she only wanted to see the real him. Now, he wasn't even sure anything about him was real. Was he the operative? The traitor? The agent? He didn't know. And maybe, that was his greatest regret.

And now he was at a loss, not sure what to do. For the first time in his life, he had no backup plan, no way of escape under his own terms. Letting the bike roar itself back to life and allow itself to be chased with a holographic version of himself riding, Chad slipped away as soon as the whirring of propeller blades faded out of sight.

He didn't see a transport pod at the rendezvous site but when he approached, a futuristic looking ball fell from the sky to plop itself down on the dirt. It released a hologram of Numbuh Infinity. "Numbuh 274. Your triple agent status has been compromised."

Chad stepped forward, angered. "And who's fault was that?!" He snarled, half of it due to Infinity and the other half due to the searing pain that was lacing into his skull. "You know what Numbuh 9 would do. I did what you ordered and it was my ass that was on the line for it."

"Such language." Infinity placed his hands behind his back. "How very adult of you." Chad flinched at the statement. "But unfortunately, you are no longer bound to both the Teens Next Door and the Teen Ninjas. You were a very valuable asset to us, but we are now at an impasse. The Council has deemed your services now expired. Thank you for your hard work and dedication."

Fury burned into his blood. "You BASTARD!" He snarled. "You're cutting me loose?! After everything I've done?!"

"It is nothing personal, Mr. Dickson. You see, the Galactic Kids Next Door prides itself on having the best children operatives at our beck and call to diminish the threat of adults. We apologize for deceiving you, but you were our only link into the workings of our enemy. Now that it has been compromised, I have been tasked with decommissioning you."

"Like hell you are!" Chad growled, balling his hands into fists. "If the KND couldn't decommissioning me, what makes you think you will?" He jumped back in alarm when the ball swirled up dangerously and started blinking.

"You misunderstand me, Mr. Dickson." Infinity said softly, almost in regret. "You see, we have a different means of decommissioning than what your Earth customs allow. We do not wish for your memories, former 274. We wish for your life."

Eyes widening, he zeroed in on the ball, which began to blink violently with each passing second. It was a bomb.

"It has been an honor, Numbuh 274."

Chad activated his Utility Watch, summoning an energy shield just as the bomb detonated, incinerating everything within ten meters. He was flung back from the force, crashing into a junk pile as a sharp ringing in his ears disoriented him.

From base, Infinity watched as Chad used an energy shield before the transmission shortened out and shook his head. "It is a real pity that we could not have recruited you when you were young. You would have been a great ally." Knowing that the blast failed, he opened up a panel and uttered a voice command.

"S-Spore N-342-56. Initiate self-destruct."

If the blast didn't kill him, then the S-Spore will.

Rachel and Lizzie were going over Numbuh 362's mission file when a sudden bang startled them, possibly startling the rest of the house.

Hearing Lizzie's father swear down the hallway, Rachel peered out the window and paled. There were masked people coming inside. Instantly guilty, she grabbed Lizzie by the shoulders. "I'm so sorry, Lizzie! They're after me! Just stay here and I'll surren-!"

The bedroom door was hit with another loud bang. Without another word, Lizzie forced Rachel into the closet before the intruders rushed inside, knocking the red head out with some sort of gas before she had the chance to scream. Grabbing her phone she dialed the only one who ever answered her calls without fail: Fanny.

A groggy voice answered. "Do ye know what time it is, Rachel? I oughta change my phone num-"

"Help me." She whispered urgently. That seemed to wake up the Irish teen considerably. "I'm at Lizzie's. They're going to take me and you need to contact someone… anyone who knows about the KND."

"KN-what?" Fanny's answer was just as much as a whisper. Rachel can hear her stumbling about trying to get dressed.

"There's no time! Just find someone… !" Realization hit her. Abigail was once Nigel's friend. Lizzie had said that once upon a time. Maybe she was a KND agent too. "Call Abigail Lincoln. Tell her-"

The closet door slammed open and she was dragged out, the phone escaping from her hands. She saw Lizzie's parents in the same state out in the hallway. Fear gripped her and, her muscle memory kicking in, she twisted her body and kicked off her assailant. While he was wheezing on the floor, she scrambled for the window.

"NO!" She screamed desperately, trying to get out through the window, second floor be damned, but she was grabbed from behind and lifted off her feet. Rachel kicked and screamed as she struggled to get free. "Let me go! Let me go!" But it was to no avail. The masked intruder was much too strong for her. "KIDS NEXT DOOR 362! I'M 362! 3-6-!" A hand with something foul smelling invaded her nose and throat, causing her to faint.

Her flailing ceasing in matter of seconds and the second intruder tutted in disapproval at the state of her injured comrade. She easily lifted Rachel into her arms. "You got subdued by a teenage girl. You need to go back into training."

The first intruder hissed and unsteadily stood up, cradling his groin. "Shut up."

Handing her to the next able bodied person, she walked over to the closet, hearing a strange sound.

"Rachel! Rachel! Are ye alright?!" The dark covered woman picked up the phone and pressed it to her ear.

"Well this sounds familiar. Hello Numbuh 86." The woman continued to smile even as the teenage girl fell silent. "Still hating boys?"

"…who are yo-" The woman dropped the phone and crushed it under her heel. "It was nice chatting with you again, Fanny." And, snapping her fingers, they walked out with what they were summoned for: the blond girl in their custody.

Chad screamed, a strange sound reminiscent to cicadas buzzing angrily against his eardrums. He gripped his head, feeling like something was trying to bash out of his skull. He began to thrash violently around, unable to keep himself centered. All he knew was pain. Pain and death and a desperate wish for a sweet release. Anything. Anything.

He didn't process a single thing when someone approached him, grabbed him hard by scruff of his jacket and stabbed his neck with a needle. Whatever was used had worked; Chad's volatile thrashing was slowly being reduced to twitching and his consciousness faded alongside with the pain.

Satisfied, the broad shouldered adult tossed the teen over his shoulder and picked up his walkie-talkie.

"Got him just in time, Mom."