Title : Is It Really You?

Summary : What would happen if there had been a girl in Martin's past who had broken his heart when she died? How much confusion would ensue if she were to suddenly reenter his life?

Rating : T because of language, and because I'm paranoid

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PP : And, we're back!

FF : Oh no! The world is doomed!

TT : Again.

PP : Hey! Guys! It's not THAT bad!

TT & FF : No. You're worse.

PP : You guys are no fun!

TT : You see, my role in life is to counterbalance you, and because you're so fun, I can be no fun at all.

FF : My friends taught me to be reasonin... reasoninin... big long word. (picks up two pans, hands one to TaterTot), don't know why though.

(TaterTot swings pan at PotatoPuff, PotatoPuff ducks)

PP : Hey! What was THAT for? You missed, anyways! HA HA!

(FrenchFry swings, nails PotatoPuff in back of head, PotatoPuff is down for the count)

TT : That was because we felt like it.

FF : And it was fun!

TT : Alright, on to the fic, which we own, but we do not own any of the characters in it except Rachel. Basically, if someone else has it copyrighted, it's theirs, if not, we have it copyrighted.

FF : You talk funny.

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Chapter 8 : Her Replacement, Not Her Partner

One month had gone by since Rachel had been found. M.O.M. had gotten her enrolled at Torrington, and she had fit in right away, almost like she had always been there. Her outgoing personality had gotten her many new friends within her first few days, including Jenny, who seemed relieved that Martin had completely lost interest in her. Martin & Diana had remained her closest friends though, and she was becoming more comfortable around Java. The fact that he was an actual caveman from the past greatly interested her, but not in a creepy lab experiment kinda way, so they were getting along great.

Everyone had noticed a change in Martin since Rachel had arrived too. For the first time in four years, Diana saw her stepbrother genuinely smile. It wasn't forced, wasn't just there to laugh at or tease someone, and was pretty much constantly on his face. He was also laughing more, and actually focusing on his work. His grades had shot up just within that one month, all just because Rachel was back.

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Martin & Rachel were sitting on the fountain edge, laughing at something, when Diana walked up.

"And, and... remember the look on his face!"

Martin just barely choked it out between laughs.

"Priceless!"

Rachel's entire body shook with laughter, and she was clutching her stomach.

"Ok, someone's gotta let me in on the joke."

They both turned as Diana approached.

"We were just laughing at the explosion in Chemistry today."

"You're not going to believe this, but I missed it! I was in the bathroom! I swear I'm the only person in the entire school who doesn't know the details yet though, that's how many people have been talking about it! You have to tell me exactly what happened!"

Diana sat on the ground, leaning against a nearby tree, as Martin started retelling the story, and Rachel struggled to contain her laughter.

"Okay, well, Mr. Williams was explaining our lab to us, and emphasizing how dangerous the acid we were using was. He was grabbing materials while he was talking to us, not really paying attention to what he was doing, so, instead of turning off the water tap when he was done, he turned on the gas tap. It was still connected to the Bunsen Burner sitting in front of him, so there was all this gas gathering underneath him, for like, 5 minutes, before he lit a match over top of it and..."

"KABOOM!"

All three of them burst out laughing, Diana wishing she had been there to see the look on his face. They all laughed harder still when Rachel lost her balance and toppled backwards into the fountain, nearly taking Martin with her.

It had to have been the worst timing in the world that, as Rachel sat in the fountain, soaking wet, and Martin reached out to help her up, the U-Watch beeped. Martin & Rachel both silenced immediately, and Diana, sensing the sudden change in moods, quickly followed suit. Martin & Rachel were both remembering the last time they had been in a situation like this, Martin helping Rachel up after she tripped.

It had been the last time they had seen each other for four years.

"Heh."

Martin gave a false laugh, trying to lighten the mood.

"Strange coincidence, huh?"

Rachel didn't give any sign of hearing him at all. She was staring at the U-Watch, something resembling fear in her eyes.

"Rach?"

She jumped, startled, making a small splash in the water.

"Yeah, yeah, a coincidence."

Martin yanked her out of the fountain just as Java walked up. They found the portal back behind the fountain and hopped in, Rachel leaving a trail of water behind her the whole way. The identification scanner popped out.

'Martin Mystery -- clear'

'Diana Lombarde -- clear'

'Java the Caveman -- clear'

'Rachel James -- clear'

Martin remembered the first time she had been called to the Center after her reappearance. They had all forgotten about her file being deleted until it was too late, so they were all waiting for the big arm to snatch her up, but what could they do? The scanner had already popped up, so Rachel just placed her hand on it, and...

'Rachel James -- clear'

It had been hilarious to see M.O.M. yelling at the computer specialist in charge of personnel files for not properly deleting the file, because any former agent could just go strolling in there if their file was still in the system, and no one would know the difference.

Martin was snapped out of his thoughts when Billy zipped up to them, smiling.

"Hey gu-- uh, Rachel? Did you go for a swim before you got here? You're soaked!"

She flashed him a sarcastic smile.

"Why Billy, I didn't notice. Thank you SOOO much for tellingme. Just let M.O.M. know that I'll be a couple of minutes. I've gotta change out of these clothes."

As the platform connected with the rest of the floor, Rachel jumped off to the left, heading for her room within the Center, while the others walked straight forward to get to M.O.M.'s office.

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As they walked into M.O.M.'s office, Martin noticed something strange. She wasn't flying around the ceiling, or playing with some strange slime, or, worst of all, cooking. Martin shuddered at the memory. THAT had been a mess.

No, she was sitting at her desk, looking at something on her computer that wasn't work related. She had a grin on her face, and was quietly laughing.

"Sooooo, whatcha doin' M.O.M.?"

She jumped, the grin disappearing, looking slightly embarrassed as she quickly shut down whatever program she had open. She quickly regained her composure, shutting off her computer monitor.

"Agents, good to see you. Where's Rachel?"

They all smiled, exchanging glances.

"She, uh, had an... accident. She went to change quickly before she got here.

"Well, while we're waiting, I can brief you on the mission. Today you'll be going to a temple in India. The inhabitants of the nearby village who worship there have noticed evil spirits lurking around, and desecrating the temple, scaring everyone away. Rachel's going along as a consultant..."

"WHAT?"

Martin was outraged, not believing what he had just heard.

"Did you just say what I think you said?"

"That Rachel is going along as a consultant?"

"Yes, that! Agents aren't consultants, M.O.M. They don't go along on missions just to offer advice."

"Well, I guess it's a good thing she's not an agent anymore then."

Martin felt like someone had just punched him, the news stunned him that much.

"She is currently aiding the Center in return for protection because she is no longer an agent."

"What, she wasn't good enough for you anymore? Didn't come back safe from one mission so you had to fire her? Huh?"

"This was her choice. She handed in her letter of resignation before we had even told her about the New York mission! It was scheduled to be her last before she quit!"

M.O.M. had listened to Martin whine for long enough, and Martin was convinced that M.O.M. was lying, so tempers were flaring, and voices were rising.

"That's a fucking lie, and you know it! If she had resigned, then why would I have been trained as her partner!"

"It's because you were trained as her replacement, not her partner!"

M.O.M. gasped, cursing at herself for letting her anger get the best of her, causing her to blurt out the secret that Rachel didn't want Martin to know. She could see now why Rachel didn't want Martin to know. He looked as lost as a little boy who had just been told that the puppy he had always thought run away and would return someday, was actually dead. He opened his mouth to tell M.O.M. that he didn't believe her, when...

"She's not lying, Martin."

Martin whipped around. Rachel was standing in the doorway, freshly changed. She looked slightly depressed as she walked into the room.

"I told M.O.M. a couple of months before the New York mission that I was resigning after a replacement had been found and trained, because I knew that a mission to New York would come up that I wouldn't return from."

M.O.M. gasped.

"Rachel, no! Are you actually going to tell them?"

"They have a right to know M.O.M., especially Martin." She turned to look at him. "I lied to him for too long."

"Fine, I guess you have told them everything else, why not tell them about this too?"

Martin was confused. What else wasn't she telling them?

"There are times when I have visions of the future. I don't choose when it happens, it just comes to me with no warning, and leaves me with the job of interpreting it. Some are easier than others to figure out. Well, a couple of months before the New York mission, one hit me. I saw myself, standing atop a raised platform in the middle of darkness, wearing my Center uniform, and holding a figurine of the Statue of Liberty. Suddenly, my eyes closed, my face turned a pale gray, almost like it was covered in a dirt of some sort, and my body went limp, falling from the platform. I watched myself fall into the darkness, and just knew that I wasn't getting back up again. Then, out of the darkness, I saw you, Martin. You climbed to the top of the platform I had just fallen from, wearing the same thing, assuming my former position. The vision ended, and it didn't take me long to interpret it.

"I was going to die while on a mission in New York, and you would take my place as an agent here at the Center. That was when I suggested that M.O.M. start training you as an agent, and because I wasn't telling anyone what I had seen, I also suggested Diana, who showed great potential, to lower suspicion. M.O.M. herself here didn't know until she read the note that I wrote before I left. I just didn't want anyone to try and stop me, or start me believing in an impossible alternative, so when you first said that we would be partners, Martin, I didn't discourage it, and, eventually, I started believing in it, even though I knew I shouldn't. There was a part of me that hoped it would replace my vision, but, obviously, it didn't. I'm back now though, to conquer my demons, and finish this once and for all, and all I can hope is that you can forgive me for lying, and stand by my side throughout it all, no matter what."

Martin could tell that she was waiting for him to say something, anything, but he wasn't sure what to say. He couldn't believe that she had lied about that, but he could also understand why she didn't want to tell anyone that she was going to die.

"You still didn't have to be that encouraging. I was really looking forward to the two of us going on a mission together."

Rachel was pleading for him to forgive her with her eyes, but he couldn't just spin around and forgive her, not after the amount of pain he was feeling.

"I know, Martin, I really shouldn't of, but as I said, I tricked myself into believing it. I didn't want to leave the Drama room that day, to yank myself out of your grip, but I had to. I knew I did, and I knew it would hurt you. I'm sorry."

He could tell that she was being sincere, also that she probably wouldn't be able to forgive herself for doing it unless he forgave her first. He just couldn't find it within him to forgive her yet though.

"Give me a bit. I can't forgive you yet, but I will eventually."

She didn't look totally satisfied with that, but still nodded, understanding his reasons. M.O.M. cleared her throat.

"Are the two of you okay with going on this mission together?"

"Yes."

"Yeah."

"Good. You know what you're doing, what your roles are," she looked at Rachel when she said this, "and, most importantly, where you're going. Good luck."

She opened the portal, and Java and Diana went through first. Martin broke his gaze away from Rachel and followed, with her close behind.

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PP : (waking up) Uhhh, what happened?

TT : Ummm, FrenchFry? Little help?

FF : TaterTot totally wailed you, then we went to your place and had a par-tay, we... (muffled noise)

TT : (hand covering FrenchFry's mouth) Um, remember, she was in a mental facility before she came to us. Hey, look, you posted Chapter 8! What took you so long?

PP : Funny. I don't remember doing that. Oh well. I hit a patch of writer's block.

(TaterTot takes hand off FrenchFry's mouth)

FF : She lies! Remember she's a failure of a conscience! She put up the chap after she knocked you out!

(TaterTot hits FrenchFry with pan)

FF : HaHa! I am the all important voice of the people, you can't get rid of me that easily.

(cheers heard)

PP : How did she get control of the cheering box? That's my cheering box!

FF : Another skill I learned from my friends.

TT : PotatoPuff, don't you have complete control over all of this?

PP : I do, don't I? (places duct tape over FrenchFry's mouth that she cannot remove) An apology to all the readers for the huge gap in between updates. I hit a patch of writer's block/refusal, and also wrote another oneshot fic because the idea and inspiration hit me.

TT : Don't forget that FrenchFry was out partying all week and we couldn't get ahold of her.

PP : Anonymous reviews now enabled!

FF : mmm, mmM!