A/N: There's no excuse for my lateness. A bunch of 274/362 fics have popped up recently and I've been reading them! (And writing other fics.)

Year Five - Fringe

It was getting worse. Chad's disappearance pending the explosion in the hospital caused many of HAWK's agents scrambling to find him and very little paid any attention to her. As it should.

With a shuddering breath, Rachel slid down the park bench while waiting, her brown eyes trained on one particular spot on the path. Her breathing was labored and her complexion feverish. Should this continue any longer and she may just suffer an aneurysm and be done permanently.

The burning dropped to a simmer the last few days that it was manageable. After she witnessed Chad disappearing into the smoke and flames the heat inside exploded into a wildfire that couldn't be contained. It was burning every inch of her consciousness.

He told her to hold on. And she'd do anything for him.

The limousine came into a stop nearby and Rachel stumbled out of the bench and thought about drowning in the pond nearby to stave the flames. When the door opened, she all but collapsed inside. After a moment or so, she was pulled against the cool leather of the seats and sighed in content.

"It's getting worse, is it?" An amused voice trickled into her ears and a hand brushed a stray hair from her face. She turned into the palm and kissed it which earned her another lash of heat to run through her body.

Now she couldn't even be with her beloved. "I... don't think I can hold on much more," she whispered brokenly. "Too strong. Let me transfer, please." It shouldn't matter who the next person is so long as it was her, right? He'd love her just the same.

"Just a little bit longer," he smiled from the shadows. "Right now, you're in a very important position of power for me. That will make things go much more faster. Just a few more operatives, dear. Then everything will be where it belongs."

With a desperate whine, she rested her head on his knee and just enjoyed the simple pleasure of being in his presence. "The ones who were comatose... they're gone."

"I know." Rachel almost purred when fingers ran through her hair. He'd never done that before. "We should have blown up the ward sooner, but you understand. Our kids were... hesitant getting rid of them. I certainly did not expect that fake Father to be there."

His fingers tightened around her scalp and she winced. "He could have died. The explosion might have incinerated him completely." She gasped aloud and curled into herself as fierce fever ran through her body from top to bottom. Too hot... Rachel clung to him like a vice until he soothed away her shaking.

"Doubtful. One pipe bomb isn't going to kill someone like Numbuh 274. No, he may be on to us if he's keeping secrets from HAWK and has gone underground. Maybe he's somehow escaped with the spare bodies. But it doesn't matter. Continue as planned and send us more dossiers. "

Before she could even enjoy the very little private time she had with him, the limo door opened once again. Reluctantly, she pulled away and stumbled out of the car. "I..."

"Go on. You're the only one I can count on." Just like that, the limousine disappeared down the road.

Only one he can count on...

Rachel stared absently into the mirror. She wasn't pretty, not by a long shot. Brown eyes weren't exactly something you could make a sonnet about like the other eye colors. Blond hair... no one wanted to be blond anymore. Blond meant stupid or ditzy.

And yet there was just something compelling the longer she gazed into her reflection. Warmth. Compassion. Trust. The pictures littered all over her childhood bedroom were of her posing for awards and family gatherings. Her childhood smile wasn't bright, but it was modest, and she understood why that can be attractive with these features.

Why he was attracted to her. She glanced at a picture stuck to the mirror of the vanity with her looking no older than thirteen or fourteen at a carnival. With a mouthful of caramel apple, she looked surprised to have the camera turned on her.

Chad was by her side, irritated but still smirking. Why was this picture so important to be taped on the vanity, she wondered, trying to search through her memory. She was instantly rebuffed by another blast of heat that gave her a headache this time.

Stay away. She didn't need to be told twice.

"Can't you see?!" she hissed at her reflection. "What we're doing is right!" No response, but she expected that.

This was supposed to be seamless.

There were more pictures of him littered in drawers, some of them were of the two and others were just him in the shot. It was almost as if she didn't want to forget him and wanted to cover the entire place with every single memory so she'll be reminded. Reminded for what she did not know.

To think about Chad brought her enough pain to not pry again.

Her communicator beeped. She spent a few more moments just reading into her reflection before walking toward the bed and sliding her finger across the screen to unlock it. A text from Number 123 was telling her not to worry. That they'll find him.

Hopefully, they won't. He was better off dead lest he find a worse fate when the siege at HAWK's base of operations finally began.

She cried out in pain and dropped the communicator onto the carpet as she clutched her head. Stop it... just stop!

At this rate, she might just die from the heat before she will ever see the fruits of their labor come to life. Turning back toward the mirror, she realized with horror the reason for the heat.

Brown started to creep in from the roots of her hair upon closer inspection. "No, no, how are you...?!" Knocking over a few vanity items to reach for a comb, she pulled and inspected the roots and found that instead of the golden blond she was familiar with, the roots were darkening, exposing her for what she was.

She slammed the comb down and fumbled for a pair of scissors. "Stop it..." she warned brokenly, showing her reflection the cold steel. "I said STOP IT!" If she had to cut all her hair off, so be it!

After a few minutes she breathed and dropped the scissors back onto the vanity. The darkness creeping over the crown of her head seemed to stop. She'll have to dye it before going back to base.

When Chad came to he found himself at his desk and had ended up nodding off during the end of his shift. Brushing a piece of paper stuck to his cheek, he sat back in his seat and rubbed his forehead. A dream... a vivid one too. He just couldn't process the odds and ends of it.

It was one of those dreams where you swore it was real and then forget it entirely when you woke up.

Too much soda, Chad thought with a nod. Might have to lay off that for awhile. Numbuh Spare Change for a $20 did say that mixing cola with chili dogs were a bad idea. Next time, he was going to have to listen to those cafeteria rumors. Especially when it's coming from the kid himself.

Before he can shuffle up the rest of his paperwork, an operative in a full riot gear mask opened his office door with a heavy slam, causing even the hamster pipe network above to shake. "Sir! There's a riot going on down in the training room! It's sooper humunga-bad!"

"You gotta be kidding me." He jumped up from his seat and grabbed his helmet. "Where's security?"

"Security isn't going to help stop it." The operative quickly followed him onto the training deck and, much to Numbuh 274's confusion, he found not a single other operative during his run across Moonbase. Was everyone just at the training facility trying to stop the riot? Not even his own guards were around.

His combat boots hitting the metal platform, he looked over the railing overlooking the training gym down below and his blue eyes widened in alarm.

A giant crowd of operatives were surrounding two people and cheering like rabid animals. In the open circle, two adults seemed to be fighting each other instead of his kids to the death.

He tried to shout an order and get his kids to fall in and do something, but he somehow couldn't muster the right words and could only watch as the blond haired woman managed to pull the shadowed woman into a strong headlock. The children operatives booed but despite the audience, the dominating woman was relentless...

...until she looked up and locked familiar brown eyes with him. A stirring of something ignited within him, a sense of possession. He knew this woman. He's had her in his arms before and knew the taste of those blood stained lips from when her opponent uppercut her.

The dream of her smacked him so hard, he actually flinched backwards and watched her opponent take advantage of the blond woman's distraction and twisted from her grasp to punch her hard in the gut.

She fell to her knees in exhaustion.

"RACHEL!" he shouted and he was Supreme Leader Numbuh 274 no more. He suddenly smelled smoke and fire from his person. His red jumpsuit and armor were replaced with dark Kevlar that was peeling in pieces from the explosion. It didn't matter who he was.

Rachel was going to die.

Chad jumped over the railing from a great height and crashed into a roll before shoving the protesting operatives aside to get to the circle. The operative who called for him followed dutifully, smoothly weaving in and out of the children instead.

Her opponent had her on her knees and pointed an actual pistol against the crown of her matted blond hair. "STAY AWAY FROM HER!" Chad yelled, opting to charge at the shadowed woman before suddenly a wall of ice shot up from the floor and blocked him entirely from the fight.

He pressed his palms against the rigid blue ice hoping it gave way before using his shoulder to ram it through regardless of the pain shooting up his arm. A horrified shout left his lips as an inky blackness clung to him from the ice. It was steadily crawling up his arm and threatened to consume him and turn him into a dark silhouette.

A silhouette of Father.

Desperate, he dug his own nails into his arm to stave the infection away to no success. It wasn't important. Not now! He turned back to the ice wall and watched helplessly through the translucent glass as the ringing shot of a bullet echoed throughout the facility.

With a gasping shout of anguish, Chad slid down onto the floor and, for the first time, something of a strangled sob left his throat as he cradled his infected arm. One by one each operative disappeared until it was just him and the operative in riot gear.

"Why couldn't you help?" he gasped out at last. The operative stepped into his vision and knelt down.

"Because I am unable to." The voice became more feminine, more gentle. "That is why I need you, Numbuh 274. We need you."

But what was the point of fighting if she's gone? Chad furiously tore off the operative's riot mask and regretted it. A white hot fire surrounded the operative and the flames licked away any chance of him to catch a glimpse of her face...

...until the dream dissipated. He saw a ten year old Rachel McKenzie looking down at him, her features grave. Numbuh 362.

"If you can't control it sir, you won't be able to save any of us."

"Ah, so you're awake."

Did someone glued his eyelids shut? It took him a few moments to open them and found a bright light that immediately strained his eyes. With a hiss of pain, he turned his head to the side and found Leah keeping a quiet vigil over to him.

With a curious tilt of her head, she reached over and hesitantly brushed her fingers against the side of his jaw. "Hello 274," her green eyes glimmered with something akin to nostalgia. "It's been awhile."

"Leah." His voice cracked. She didn't seem like the same oblivious girl he picked up in the rain. She was calmer, contemplative.

Her fingers brushed past his chapped lips. "It's funny how much the future has changed. I just never thought… well, I suppose that's life." Then she shrugged. "Have any important dreams, beloved?" She blinked when he looked up at her in confusion. "Is that not right? I guess that does sound old. Sweetheart? Baby?"

"Where am I?" he asked instead. Whatever the hell was going on must not have been good. He can hardly move.

Leah pulled away and sat on the edge of his cot. "We're in a warehouse. It's the only way we can hold two dozen awakened operatives without looking suspicious. After I dragged your heroic butt out of the hospital you've been under an induced coma for the last few days." She placed his smashed communicator on a cardboard box of bananas next to the cot. "I hope you don't mind us destabilizing your homing beacon, but HAWK isn't safe right now."

Chad tried to sit up but Leah's hand was firm and unyielding. That was when he found bandages criss-crossing around his chest before he fell back on itchy sheets. "HAWK can give you guys asylum, protect you from the threat." He didn't understand what was going on. Awakened operatives? Was she talking about the missing patients?

"You don't get it, do you?" She chided him gently. "We're here and they're there. You've already been infiltrated."

Infiltrated. His men were in danger. He struggled back up despite Leah's attempts to dissuade him. If she wanted to stop him, she was going to have to use force on him. HAWK needed to know. They needed to...

And so she used force. Placing her hand against the side of his throat, Leah pressed a pressure point there like she was used to doing it. Immediately, Chad fell onto a boneless heap back into the cot, his eyes widening from the technique.

Leah huffed. "You are stubborn." That was when she leaned down and kissed him.

There was something in the press of her lips against his, something igniting and wondrous that he hadn't felt in weeks. Despite it all, the numbness of his body and Rachel miles away, a quiet groan of pleasure left him without his consent. And when she pulled away, he wanted to crave more of those kisses.

"You know what's funny?" She smiled and bumped foreheads with him. "Leah. Rachel. There's an old story found in the good book about these girls."

Chad could hardly move, but even if he could, he wouldn't. She was home, she was his nostalgia long since passed. "Who are you really?"

Leah smiled at him and, for a brief moment, he saw a flash of golden brown pass by those green eyes. "Hello, sir."