Would it be considered betrayal to Global Command if she warned the female operatives ahead of time that 274 was crazy?

They forgave him for being a ruthless fighter, sure, but he was more than that. They didn't see what she saw in his most private moments... though to be fair, the only private thing she's seen with him was on the training mat.

In comparison to his wild smile in the gym, the one he gave to the operatives who reported to him was very... muted. Concealed. Like he was more inclined to do something else than deal with paperwork and clogged up popcorn machines.

She felt that similar staleness creep in the longer her stay on Moonbase was. No field missions, no danger. Just sitting on a chair and telling the sectors back home 'good work!' or 'get moving before adults start enforcing shorter recesses!'. If it wasn't for 274's viciousness as a training partner, Rachel was pretty sure she would have started fattening up from all the meatball sandwiches in the cafe and nothing to show for it.

People weren't surprised that she lasted one month as 274's battle partner. She had a real decent reputation before enrolling into Global Command and, at the very least, it would have been an insult as a veteran operative to not last at least one horrible training session without crying about it like the regulars.

The second month people were impressed that she hadn't entered in a transfer for another partner. The third month she was in awe for sticking around the longest. But by the fourth month, people were starting to wonder if 274 was just going easy on her or something.

And that was far from the truth. Just because she can hide her limping didn't mean the bruises weren't there. She concealed the soreness of her limbs and kept her mouth shut hiding a wince whenever she sat down on a bruised lower back. It had nothing to do with proving she was tough in front of her fellow operatives or showing off that she can last as 274's battle partner.

It was because every time she expressed discomfort, 274 would just smile at her. It wasn't that fake friendly smile that everyone (including her at one point) were accustomed to. No, this was a fleeting smirk, that flash of satisfaction in those blue eyes that to an extent, knew she was feeling him from the marks all over her.

Hopefully, he can feel her just as much. Because she was going to do more than take what he can dish out. She had already set up many appointments with trainers down in Arctic Base, among those included her former hand-to-hand combat instructor that specialized in reflex counters. It would be nice to touch base with her one last time before her former mentor's upcoming decommissioning.

At the very least, she had a hobby. It just involved a battle of fists and wits with the so-called charismatic leader of the Kids Next Door. In 274's case, the battle continued on well past training. Even on the floor, he was figuratively pulling on her pigtails when he shouldn't be.

Must be nice having all that power and control.

She was currently sitting directly in front of the Supreme Leader throne running a thorough diagnostic at a nearby console. It was part of the bet she had lost for the third time. Instead of working down in the Archives like she was supposed to, she ended up spending most of her time on the command deck running errands.

Imagine it: Numbuh 362, one of the most notorious of espionage agents, earning the most accolades and the highest rate of mission successes so far in her career branch was doing pizza runs for the Supreme Leader.

Her superior didn't mind seeing as the preteen was already over heels in love with the Supreme Leader. He played to 358's infatuation with him by sweetly asking if he can steal 362 to help the workload topside. He just had this effect on people. Especially with the girls.

Rachel understood why, except for the fact that she was now partially immune to most of his charms. When you've dealt with a guy like that both on and off the training grounds, you had to ignore that smile lest you got your butt handed to you.

She could hear one of the female yeomen sputter and gush around 274 while he signed off on her paperwork. It didn't help Rachel's mood much that he was actively enjoying the attention and egging the girl on for more compliments. Rachel grimaced and stuck her tongue out at the monitor. If only that poor yeoman knew what she knew. She'd be heading for the hills from that wolf in sheep's clothing.

"Oh!" she could hear the yeoman start to fuss over their commander. "Is that a bite mark on your wrist?!"

Rachel wanted to pat herself on the back for not even showing a single twitch of amusement by that statement. She did idly lick one of her incisors at the memory. It wasn't even a fair match. He had pounced on her before she could finish her stretching and, in a very embarrassing wrestle around the mat, he had accidentally grabbed her chest, (well, lack thereof), and was rewarded with a real smart chomp on his arm for the trouble.

It must be a real good mark if the yeoman's complaints meant anything. She was kind of proud of this.

She couldn't see it, but she knew 274 was just laying on the charm like the manipulator he was. "Ah, it's no big. Just an overzealous Rainbow Monkey I trounced during a mission to the island. She was a real ugly one." His smug tone was just bleeding into her back. "I had to get a rabies shot and everything just in case."

Her stylus snapped in two when the girl began to coo. "A shot? You're so brave, sir!"

I'm gonna kill him.

The girl departed just after Rachel hid the stylus pieces in her pocket and started to make plans in her head. Go to Arctic Base after shift, bring back a Yeti, release it into 274's office...

Her spine stiffened when she felt a hand on the back of her chair. There was a shuffle of armor and a familiar heady scent that instantly distracted her from her place at the console.

"You're quite the worker," She could practically feel 274's breath against her ear. "Keep it up and I might even promote you. It was really nice of you to take on most of my paperwork for this month, 362."

She answered through her teeth. "I am honored to help you, sir." Up until she became 274's battle partner, she's never met anyone who was physically this close to her outside of combat. Heck, she couldn't even say that she rubbed shoulders with a best friend. Her time in the KND was a very lonely one. As it should be for an espionage agent.

The fact that it had to be him who became the first foreign contact into her personal space both infuriated and despaired her.

He clapped her on the shoulder and kept it there, knowing of the bruise he inflicted on her a few weeks ago was slowly healing. She managed to twitch in pain, just a fraction, but it was enough for him to smile and win the round again.

"I could smell the smugness on you back there you know," he carried in a very low whisper meant only for her. "Now you know how I get when you feel my bruises on you."

The shiver this time wasn't from the bruises. Shrugging away his hand, she got up from her seat and handed him the datapad marked and ready for signing. "Anything else I can assist you with, sir, before I head back to the Archives?"

She had a full view of that smile. "Oh I might. You're very speedy with the paperwork. I might just be tempted to keep you on for another month."

"With all due respect sir, my place is in the Archives." And well far away from you. It would be a snow cone in Father's home before she'd allow him to demote the rank she spent blood and sweat for and make her his personal yeoman. The threatening look in her eyes said as much.

He made a show by dramatically sighing. "It's like you don't want to spend time with me, Numbuh 362."

Oh, he was spending time with her. Every wince she had to suppress made it very clear that 274 would always be at the back of her thoughts, that twinge of realization that really, this soreness was his fault. Her occasional limp was his fault.

And all this friendly touching was really setting her nerves on fire. Not even Fanny spent this much contact with her. As if reading her thoughts, he gave her a professional pat on the lower back and this time Rachel couldn't suppress the pained groan that came with it.

Numbuh 274's eyes were so alive and possessive that 362 quickly frog marched off the command deck. "Oh and Numbuh 362?"

She took a second to control herself before turning back around.

"Your request to visit the Arctic Base has been shelved until further notice," he said cheerfully. "We're just so short on staff… I hope you don't mind just using the Moonbase gym for training instead."

Her eyes momentarily widened before they narrowed. He knew. In fact, he was rubbing it in that he knew with that smug grin and the cool folding of his arms. You're not going anywhere.

"I suppose it'll have to suffice then," she replied neutrally. "My technique has become so rusty, I just thought I'd have time to train with better fighters."

That fleeting, murderous flash of annoyance on his face brought a skip to her step for the rest of her shift.

That is, until her supervisor called her in and proudly promoted her back upstairs… as Numbuh 274's personal yeoman.

"I'm sorry!" she chased after Numbuh 10 throughout the Leda Deck. "I didn't apply for that stupid position!" What 274 had done… he practically caused her to end up on the blacklist for every female operative who spent months vying for the position of 274's yeoman. At this rate, she will NEVER be invited to another sleepover again!

I'm going to kill him.

Belle whirled around and poked her squarely on the chest. This time Rachel did whine out loud and clutched the bruise through the fabric. Why was everyone poking her in the wrong places today?! "You know how hard I spent climbing through those disgusting hamster tunnels and cleaning them up just to stick myself on top of that list?! Interview after interview-"

"I'm sorry!" Apologies would never be enough. "I begged my supervisor to reconsider, I really did." The Archives were a boring place to work, but it was better than being the ire of the entire female population a part of Global Command.

She had hoped that she could appeal to 10's sense of compassion, but that went down the drain when one operative overheard and decided to accuse 362 of stealing the position as well. Before she could blink a bunch of them started coming over and argue over each other until she had enough and stomped her foot down. "QUIET!"

Amazingly enough, they fell silent. "Listen, I didn't accept the promotion willingly, but KND protocol eleventy-seven point two states that any promotions from the active Chain of Command must be enforced at all costs. It's out of my hands, guys."

At least the deck became quiet again. In the face of cold reasoning and logic, she managed to somehow temper away the heat of their anger into a simmer and most of them begrudgingly dispersed. What hurt her the most was the look of betrayal Belle shot at her before walking away completely.

Slow clapping from around the corner caused Rachel to growl before she forced her anger down and turn.

Numbuh 274 was leaning against the wall, clipboard under his arm. It was obvious what he was here for. "It's like herding cats, isn't it?" he grinned. "Welcome to my world. It takes a special kind of person to control thousands of operatives. Bonus if they're attention deficit kids."

"Permission to speak freely sir."

He pulled away from the wall and sauntered over to her. "Permission granted."

"If you don't fix something about Numbuh 10's promotion, I'm gonna…" Hurting him more would just be a reward than a punishment. The appropriate threat fell short as she tried to think of one. "I'm gonna…"

"You're gonna…?" If he thought that lilting smile was going to affect her, he was way off his game. Nevertheless, he pulled out the clipboard and pressed it against her chest. She barely looked at the paperwork there because she knew exactly what it was and why he was here.

He wanted to personally be there as she willingly signed over herself to him.

That was when the appropriate threat hit her. "You're not allowed to touch me."

Numbuh 274 raised an eyebrow. "I had permission in the first place?" Still, he seemed to pause at her words, blue eyes taking in every inch of her as if he was working on figuring her next move.

It was unnerving, but she would not falter. "I will make your life a living nightmare if you make me your personal yeoman," she said sternly. "There's nothing to gain promoting me. I'm already paying off this month's bet with the paperwork already. You…" Rachel really forced down a sigh, "you already own me. For this month only." If she didn't tack that on she was sure he'd be a pleased bit of nothing.

"I suppose…" Much to Rachel's surprise, he changed the subject to something more professional, "you handled the mob extremely well."

"It was hardly a mob," she shrugged and sighed for real this time, "but it was getting out of hand. Reasoning and logic is extremely important for an espionage agent."

Numbuh 274 nodded in agreement and then thoughtfully looked at the light fixtures above. "Prevents you from being emotionally compromised while under cover."

"Exactly." How strange that this was an amicable conversation. It wasn't flirting like he did with other operatives like her nor was this the gym conversation… which usually involves biting and punching. The more they just stood there looking at each other the more the animosity seemed to simmer away. Numbuh 274 just seemed very… friendly. Like co-worker friendly.

It appealed to her sense of compromise. "Look," she took a deep breath, "whatever this 'thing' going on between us is, don't let the other operatives suffer to get an edge in. I'm willing to play, if you're willing to play fair." Numbuh 10, despite her infatuation with 274, really did work hard in order to look good for the yeoman interview. To pull that rug out from under her was wrong.

Chad was silent until he rubbed the bottom of his chin. "I suppose I can pull some strings… maybe give Belle the promotion she deserves," he took another step into her personal space again and, quite frankly, she was so used to it that it didn't bother her anymore. "I guess I can accept your compromise. Have to seal the deal though. That's business of course."

She blinked. "Business?"

Smiling wolfishly, he leaned forward. "How about we kiss on it?"

Rachel turned a furious red and slammed the clipboard right over his head. Chad howled and pressed a hand into his hair. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?! NO-NO-!" he snatched back the clipboard when it was obvious she was going to defend herself with it again. "You've lost ALL clipboard holding privileges you crazy son of-!"

"I'm not kissing you!" she managed to spit out in a panic. "I-I-I-I-I…"

"Why not?" he challenged. "It's just a kiss! No big deal!"

She wished she had the clipboard because she wanted to hit him with it again. "T-that's not… it's not just a kiss. It's a first kiss! I'm not giving it to you!" While she worked with a rational efficiency, Rachel was not above the thought of romance and other girly things.

While she stuttered and bumbled around, Chad was rubbing his fingers over the crown of his head and checking to see if there was blood. There was going to be a bump, that was for sure. "Oh please. Enough of that fairy tale junk. A kiss is a kiss," he grumbled, "and it feels good. That's the most important thing."

"That's not the point!" And really, she wouldn't know if it felt good. She didn't even give platonic kisses let alone romantic ones. Was it even romance? Chad just usually eyed her up like she was a hot fudge sundae. That sounded nothing like candlelit dinners or walks on the beach like they dramatized in movies and TV.

Numbuh 274 wasn't the most clever operative in the KND for nothing. "You can at least kiss this bump you gave me," he pointed at the crown of his head. "The least you can do."

She fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Quickly looking around, 362 hesitantly pulled his collar down until they were at eye level and really contemplated just hitting him again and risk the brig for injuring a superior officer. Trembling with embarrassment, she leaned forward to press her lips against the bump there. Compromise. She needed to compromise.

That was when he snapped his head up and caught her lips with his.

Two weeks after he filed Numbuh 10's promotion as his personal yeoman was when the second bump on his head finally swelled down and 362 started talking to him again.

Because instead of yeoman, he promoted 362 to Global Tactical Officer, which pissed off another group of applicants who spent years fighting for the promotion.

"You just enjoy making everyone mad at me," she snarled and smashed shoulders with him before moving her things into the office next to his.

His passing smirk said it all.

She didn't take the bait over which one can pull the most ab crunches in five minutes because it was obvious who was going to win.

It was even more obvious that he wanted to separately train just to rile her up. That, or he was really trying to fish for compliments on his physique by showing off what made his abs more finely tuned than a xylophone.

No combat today. They couldn't afford to be sore and off their A-game so close to raiding the annual Adult Villain Convention for the Exceedingly Sooper Evil Members. Instead, Numbuh 274 called it their 'downtime' which consisted of keeping themselves limber without stress and licking whatever old wounds they've sustained from a couple weeks ago.

Honestly, it was one of her favorite days. She found peace doing yoga for an hour, even with Chad snarking that she was such a girl… which she was. Unless he really thought she looked like an ugly Rainbow Monkey. Then she refused talk to him for the rest of the session.

Curling into a rabbit pose, she saw her battle partner doing pull ups from behind and building a good sweat doing it. Some of the female operatives had stopped jump roping or skipping on the balance beam just to watch and Rachel didn't know why until after a few minutes.

Numbuh 274 was just oozing confidence and power during his workouts. He was in that zone, controlling everything from the staccato of the rise and fall of his shoulders over the bar to the cadence of his breathing. Ruefully, she had to admit that it was an admiring sight.

He hopped off the bar, caught her staring, and grinned which caused her to topple and roll onto her back. Scoffing, she rolled back around and tried again. Yoga was to center oneself and she wasn't doing it justice when her thoughts were focused on Numbuh 274 and his obvious grandstanding in front of the everyone.

The girls clapped and cheered when Chad slipped into a round of one-armed push-ups, but Rachel had already wandered off looking for a punching bag. She needed more strength of force in order to penetrate that ridiculous wall on his stomach called his abs. It felt like a good time to practice it too.

"You're really working that punching bag hard, Numbuh 362."

Kicking the old beat up bag for good measure, Rachel started re-bandaging her knuckles again before smiling. "Hello Numbuh 30c."

Grinning back, Kenny tried his hand at punching the bag and ended up hurting his hand for the trouble. "Ow. This is why us science officers play with Yipper cards than punching bags. They don't give us broken fingers!"

She laughed because really, Kenny didn't even make the bag move from that punch. "It's because you're using too much force from your wrist," she offered helpfully and held up her arm. "Use your arm and shoulder to drive it home. That way all that weight will distribute throughout your arm and it won't hurt as much."

"I'll definitely keep that in mind!" he grinned. "I could use all the help I can get. Especially since your battle partner is Numbuh 274. Must be tough I hear."

Understatement of the century. "I'm alive. I suppose that's important."

"Bet you have a lot of awesome stories," Kenny leaned against the side of the punching bag. "Wanna head down to Lime Ricky's Bar after training? I could use a good pick-me-up myself."

Man, she really missed soda. "Actually that sounds…"

That was when the punching back tilted and Kenny went crashing onto the mat.

"There you are."

She blinked up at Chad in mild alarm. He purposefully pushed the punching bag in order to humiliate Kenny. Her eyes followed the swaying of the bag in disbelief as it slowly rocked back to stillness. "Sorry to break up the fun, but both of you realize we have to get ready for the Villain Convention right?"

Rachel moved to help Kenny up, but the sharp look in Chad's eyes caused her to stop and lock eyes with him in confusion. He was either in Supreme Leader mode or just really angry for some reason. "Sir?"

"Aw, come on Chad," Kenny groaned and dusted himself off. "Everyone knows you're working 362 hard enough as it is. Give her a break, man."

She really wished he didn't bring her into this because Chad's eyes became dark and taunting, as if she was betraying him for some reason. "Is that so?" he accused her softly. "Do you think I'm overworking you, Rachel?"

Why did he have to say her name like that? "No sir," she said stiffly. "If you are not at the top of your game then I am not doing my job." Once upon a time, she swore to him that she would keep him at his A-game. No matter what.

"See Numbuh 30c?" Chad switched from threatening to genial so quickly, she could only stand there stunned while he clapped her on the shoulder and drew her into his personal space. "There's a reason why she's my battle partner. I only accept the best on my team."

Was her cheeks burning? Must be the exertion. "Um… how about a rain check, Numbuh 30c? Maybe after the convention?"

Kenny flashed a wary glance at 274 before answering. "Err… maybe. We'll see." And just like that, he hightailed it faster than the Toiletnator on a toilet paper run.

"So what?" Rachel grumbled after a long moment. "I'm not allowed to have soda with anyone?"

"You'll get fat on soda," Chad purred and pinched her side before throwing a towel over his shoulders, "and your tummy is soft enough as it is."

Horrified, she poked her stomach and then snapped at his retreating back. "It's soft because it's skin! NOT FAT!"

I'm gonna kill him.