aN: Hi guys… This chap will finally finish the Blaise and Rachel Flashback. I wanted it to be a Trilogy so I extended it up to this chapter. Their story just started propagating on its own. I just couldn't stop myself from writing it. Thank you for reading the previous chap. Thank you for still having a bit of faith in me despite my lack of updates. Thank you! CKND was part of my childhood and like Chad I can't erase and give up on this story. I will finish this…I promise even if I had to write a chapter before my college graduation.

CHAPTUH 8

How I met that teenager: part 3

One and two and three…turn…smile…survey…look back at partner…

There are two things that Rachel Mckenzie was inarguably excellent in, Cotillions and Reconnaissance. For the Benefit of the ill-informed, formal snobby affairs and spy games. She loved a challenge and doing both at the same time was proving to be one.

The boy that she was with had feet that had a knack on stepping on her toes. It's as if he had memorized the steps of 'where he foot would land and how to smash it' dance. He was still young but she was too! Dance lessons were a requirement even before they learned how to use a fork.

She made an effort to smile, a tell-tale sign that he had luckily steeped on her again. She ignored his clumsiness, remembering the mission at hand. Her target was the tall brunette boy by the buffet table, noting his actions while she waited for him to act suspicious and attempt something stupid. He appears to be talking about spaceships with one of his friends, or maybe their topic were snakes, judging by the odd swerving hand movements. Suddenly, an adult approached him. Suspicious acts check!...that's it go attempt something stupid. She knew that listening on their conversation was vital for the operation but even hearing was becoming a problem because of her chatty dance partner. She politely excused herself when her father tapped her on the shoulder.

"Rachel would you please be a sweetheart and dance with this charming boy" Rachel bit back a groan, flashing a small smile towards her father, ignoring the nuisance with him.

"I would love to….but maybe as soon as I comeback from the bar… I'm thirsty" her father raised his hand.

"nonsense my dear, you've been there just a few minutes ago, I'll bring you some sparkling cider later" her father insisted with such a patronizing but defiant tone.

"Fine…Thank you daddy" She nodded her head, all she could do was obey. Her father smiled and left as soon as he was reassured. Well it wasn't completely a disadvantage, maybe she could just maneuver them near her targets.

"Good evening mademoiselle Mckenzie…" The boy suddenly caught her hand and kissed it. Her father was right he is charming, irritatingly charming.

"Good evening to you too…umm" She trailed off. She obviously didn't know his name seeing that it was his father's fault for not introducing him earlier. His voice sounded familiar though.

"Blaise…fate has brought us together for the second time around" The moment she saw those fringes reveal his green eyes, realization dawned to her.

He prompted for her to take his had which she reluctantly did. "Shall we…"

He was 10 times better than the last boy she danced with but she would never tell him that. She was too busy analysing her situation.

"So…do you remember me?" He smiled softly as a glimmer of hope could be seen in his eyes.

Oh my aarrrghhh!—Fate really hits back hard. Does this have to be this cruddy boy? Rachel was keen on remembering faces and she was darn sure that this face isn't a face she'll easily forget. Despite of this she couldn't possibly affirm her suspicions to him. It was breaking the number one rule of being a spy which is never revealing your identity, especially to a non-associate. There was only one thing left to do.

"I'm sorry but I'm afraid we haven't met" Deny.

He was half expecting that, his coolness didn't falter "was it in my dreams or was it in a scary neighbourhood…I'm pretty you were present at both" He winked at her. Rachel nearly stepped on his foot because of that statement.

"I'm flattered but I'm pretty sure that you've just mistaken me for someone else" It sounded less convincing as her patience was slowly slipping away. This boy was absolutely getting on her nerves.

He made a small pout "you wound me mon chere…if you're not her then maybe I should've…" Blaise guided her into a quick twirl. It was a mere distraction as he pulled her against him and slowly whispered "… mistaken you for a thief who stole that lonely earring instead"

Rachel flinched at his pressing observation but she kept her mask of indifference. "or maybe you're mistaken again… this is my earring"

That kind of confidence and defiance was contagious it thrilled him to rile her up even more. "Shouldn't it be worn in pairs or is that a new fashion trend"

"You certainly wouldn't know even if it was" Both can play at this game "…maybe you could help me find it later and then I could give you some fashion advice" She smiled sweetly, crunching her nose a bit as he gave him a look over.

Unluckily his irksome grin did not falter. "I appreciate the offer to spend time with you but my magical powers should save us the effort"

Why do I need to waste my time on this kid? The urge to twist him on the curtains like a French knot was growing by the second. She sighed deeply hoping that her rationality would override it. She might step on his foot because of all this overanalysing. Rachel was tangled in her dangerous contemplations that she didn't see Blaise lean closer, an inquisitive and mischievous look on his face. "Is that something I see in your ear" He gently tucked a stray strand from her golden tresses. "Oh look it's something shiny" Just a few inches from her face was a familiar earring and his bedazzling smile.

Now was a very great time to give in to this distraction. She firmly stepped on his foot, resting her sharp heel and full weight on that step for good measure. "You can keep it…and sorry my moves are getting rusty"

That was of course an obvious lie. Blaise immediately withdrew, biting his lip to stop himself from screaming like a girl. Rachel used his agony as a distraction. She gracefully curtsied, muttering a short excuse and then leaving Blaise with the image of her most innocent smile.

After three months….

Adrenaline was definitely pumping in her veins as she sped across the decorated hallway of the mansion. A group of incredibly scary goons were on her tail with a menacing snarl that can sour milk. She wasn't afraid of the group, not even the slightest. She just didn't want them to get a mental picture of what she looked like, it would definitely kill her reputation as a spy. This is what she signed up for the thrilling chase.

She made an amazing turn that was impossible to do at her speed. Good thing she was agile. It was all under control since her pursuers' size were proving to e a disadvantage. Rachel was led to a dark hall that only had a tall window to illuminate its corners. She needed to find cover. Unluckilly all of the doors that she passed were locked. She had a good lead behind her but there wasn't enough time to pick one of the locks. The only thing left to do was to 'go to higher ground', literally. She had the ceiling in mind.

She hiked her elaborate chiffon skirt as she scaled the ceiling using the oak waistcoat of the walls and the intricate arc carvings. Rachel supported herself with her arm on the huge beam, her left knee pushing against the adjacent wall. It was uncomfortable but she had went through worse. The last thing to do was to blend with the shadows.

Her scary stalkers came to her view. They neared the end of the hall. Searching every nook and crany of it. From above they didn't look as menacing at all. Suddenly there was a new shadow that approached the scene.

Everything was under control when her treacherous Christian Louboutin heel slipped from her foot. The thing was dangling by the mercy of her toes. She felt sorry for the boy who just entered because surely her little shoe will hit him hard. Even if it doesn't, it will surely give away her position.

Then it finally fell.

She was running different memory reducing offensive scenarios in her head but she never heard the loud thump.

"Hello there" as of reflex he caught her shoe. He hid it behind him. "Are you twerps lost…I believe loserville is a couple of blocks from this fancy place"

The group looked at him as if he was swiss cheese. One of them stepped up. "This is none of your business, you nosy slime"

Her savior wasn't intimidated at all. "It is my Business cause this is the home of my uncle…now as a good host in behalf of him, I'm gonna say this nicely…what can I help you with?..." Rachel could feel him grin even just by looking at the top of his head.

She saw them back away slowly. Some of them quivered nervously. This boy is really rally up the points in her respect meter. When they were gone, he tilted his face up. Scratch those points.

It was the earring thief.

"Good evening Ms. Mckenzie… do you need help coming down…I could catch you if you like" He outstretched both of his arms. There was obvious mirth in his voice and that seem to resurrect the annoyance in Rachel.

"No thank you. I'm perfectly fine on my own" She didn't leave her spot.

"Why exactly are you up there?...I'm sure you won't find your earring behind those cobwebs" he said nonchalantly.

"I know that you know the answer to both of your questions" She glared at him.

"true mon chere…so… no thank you" For some reason he wouldn't look up as he played with her shoe.

"well…you can say that we're even" She was wondering if he had a cramped neck or something. "Not that I mind but why aren't you up to whom you're speaking? Is it a custom in France?" He laughed at her.

"Well I'm trying to be a gentleman…I wouldn't want to see you in a compromising position" What is he playing at

"I mean I don't like to see you in… blue" She frowned at this. She's wearing a white gown tonight and the only thing that's blue was her un—" Realization and embarrassment finally dawned to her. She couldn't stop herself from blushing.

"now will you come down from there…or do I need to look up now" She was never going to wear a dress to a mission again.

"You mini perv" She pushed herself from the wall.

Rachel did one of her infamous triple flips in the air before landing smoothly in front of him. Blaise made a low whistle.

"now give me back my shoe!" Blaise extended his hand up but Rachel was growing impatient. She pulled him by tie to her level and swiftly snatched her shoe from his hands. She didn't bother wearing it.

"It's a pleasure to see you again belle fille" He beamed at her.

"Well it's a pain of mine…au revoir!" She stomped past him but he restrained her wrist.

"I know you've been spying on the Vanderbilt boy" She tugged her hand free with strength that surprised Blaise.

She walked towards him and looked him straight in the eye "What do you know?"

BLaise was a few inches taller than her and he simply copied her gaze. "You've been looking at him for the past 5 parties we've been in and then you sneak away to follow"

She tilted her head. "I didn't know you kept count…I'm just curious that's all"

"It's either you had been harbouring feelings for the lanky garcon or you're up to something" He smiled at her knowingly.

"What makes you think it's not the former"

"Cause you wouldn't be standing here right now with me if it was just a school girl crush" Blaise knew he was winning this stare off by the way her gaze faltered a bit.

He was right her mission was to uncover the mystery behind the speedy advance of weaponry of the enemies of the KND. The guys from the 2x4 tech lab was impressed by their scary progress and frightened as well when they found out that some of them were copied from their prototypes. This inventor was not only helping their enemies but was also using their fellow operatives as moles. This mystery inventor was noted under the name Vanderbolt and Vanderbolt was actually a face-palm worthy alias for the surname Vanderbilt. As Rachel investigated more on the mission, she found out that the person she was really dealing with was a 12 year old boy named Bruce Vanderbolt. He was surprisingly the cousin of Numbuh 0.2 the incoming member of sector Z. His name never came up on the KND radar but his inventions did, especially his prototype for a delightful chamber. It was a weird name in her opinion. Wonder what it does?

"and oh yeah you could do so much better than him" He straightened up a bit with his huge arrogant smirk.

This French guy knows too much to be ignored "Why do you care?"

"I don't" He tossed her a piece of paper. Rachel caught it on impulse. She stared at it as if it was a bomb.

"Read it" She would simply crumple this in a heartbeat. But the way he commanded her to read it screamed something urgent.

Rachel's expression changed easily from stern to shock. Right before her eyes were the names and descriptions of newly modified and pirated 2x4 tech. There was also a list of names in the end. She was guessing that these were the suspected moles in the KND since one of the kids she had suspected were also there.

"…he had it hidden in the secret pocket of his coat last party we went" he said. She never estimated this boy to be such an avid observer

"Why are you giving it to me?" He was a teenager for crying out loud.

"Cause I saw you very discretely check his pockets when you pushed the waiter towards him…you almost got the list actually but you were disrupted by his ugly snarl" She can't decide whether he's a genius or a stalker. Now that was an impressive observation.

This was like luck knocking on her door. Rachel believed that everything in life should be gained through a little work. This thought only fuelled her doubts "How should I know if this is fake"

"I'm his friend…I could easily identify that ugly script with my eyes closed" He scrunched up his nose disapprovingly. The hand writing was bad. It's as if the boy tried to write it with his feet.

"You're friends?" She crossed her arms in front of her.

"Only by Parental imposition…I hate him in all honestly" Rachel knew that this was the typical kind of Friendship in their world. Their friendship bracelets may be worth gold but the value that it holds were as cheap as plastic.

"Ok I believe you…but what's in it for you" She raised a perfectly shaped brow at him.

Blaise's smile lit like a lightbulb. "you could kiss me as a thank you"

She glared at him again. "I swear to you that I will give you the worst paper cut of all time if you even try" She swung the paper from side to side as Blaise avoided it like a knife. He was terrified at her threat but it soon disappeared as she bubbled into laughter. She could be scary if she wanted to be despite her size.

"Just kidding…I thought you're about to call you mommy or something" Rachel was getting used to his irritating charm, she knew that this was one of his unwelcome japes. Blaise relaxed instantly. He didn't deny the fact that he could have.

"I've got a feeling that this may be the start of a beautiful friendship that's all" Rachel simply rolled her eyes but she smiled nonetheless.

"that's all?" She scanned his green eyes. Having eyes on the other side would be very beneficial to the KND and having a friend someone like him can be beneficial to her.

Blaise held a full on grin "yup…you seem exciting and intriguing enough to get me through these boring parties" Their families were of the same status and were associated with the same people. Who knew that they could finally get along.

She sighed and leaned at the wall near them. "Fine …just like you I'm getting tired of my imposed friends"

"So that's settled then" Blaise stood in front of her.

"How 'bout we try this again…Hi I'm Rachel" She extended her hand. She had on a smile that was genuine at its best.

"It's nice to meet you Rachel…I'm Blaise" Blaise took her hand and without asking for her permission kissed her on the cheek, only an inch away from her lips.

Rachel's face changed from stunned to murderous in seconds. "What?! It's an ordinary custom in France" Blaise put up his hands defensively.

His hands proved to be a futile shield against Rachel's wrath. He walked out from the party with a nasty black eye that would be very hard to explain to his mother and a friend that was responsible for it.

aN: Well that's it for them. I posted it as soon as I finished so I apologize from some errors here and there. Sorry for the lack of 362x274 fluff. I was supposed to add some in the end but again it took a life of its own and before I know it the chapter would be too long to post as one. Lots of fluff coming up and a bit of jealousy on the side. It would really be AWESOME if you would REVIEW guys. It inspires me to write faster and imagine better. I'm open to criticisms as well.

Post aN: Tell me if you would like to see Blaise again in the future and tell me where would be a nice first date in your reviews. Thank you!