Wind billowed across Nigel's shirt as he plummeted down to the suburb below. The air chilled against his naked scalp as he dived headfirst. Many others would have been terrified had they been in his position. But the Brit was calm and centered. Like jumping out of a speeding S.C.A.M.P.E.R at outrageous altitudes without a parachute was second nature. Knowing him it may as well be fact. His face was emotionless, arms spread as the ground was steadily getting closer.

The boy pointed his head upwards to see what awaited him below. His eyes squinted behind his yellow-tinted specs. If his estimate was right, he should land on the front lawn of the blue-roofed house.

Perfect.

Deciding he was close enough, Nigel arched his torso forward, then snapped it back causing his body to flip while in midair. Now that he was feet-first, a smirk snaked its way across his face as he put his new jet-boots to the test. With one click of the heels, the shoes' thrusters roared to life and entered hover mode. His falling rate decreased and he crossed his arms as he leisurely awaited his landing.

On the ground, a door to a random house was kicked open and afterward, a man grumbled out of it. Not much could be said for his appearance other than he was middle-aged, slightly miffed, and was carrying a beer can in one hand and a trash bag in the other. He stumbled over to the garbage can at the end of his driveway muttering all the way. Once he reached his target destination, he dropped the trash bag to lift the lid and then proceeded to throw the bag in it. Done with his task, he propped an elbow on the closed lid and stared off into the night with a frown.

The game was on and all his wife could do was fuss at him about how many drinks he had been through. It wasn't even that many, just one or two. Okay, maybe like four...five tops. As he thought of that, gases bubbled in his stomach and then worked their way up until they erupted from his mouth in a rather obnoxious belch. His empty hand rose to scratch at his chin as he became enthused by the passing autumn leaves. The real reason he had taken the trash out was so he could get away from his spouse's whines for a few minutes of peace and quiet. That and he could finally enjoy a cold one without her yapping. Had too much, yeah right.

His hand rose and he used his fingers to snap open the beer he had brought along with him. The man made a grunt of approval as it hissed open and brought the drink to his mouth, the cold metal tingling his lips. But before he could take a sip, he saw something...weird. He didn't know if it was a trick of the eyes, but he saw something fly by up in the sky. It was too quick to analyze fully, but he knew a wasn't an airplane. The craziness didn't end there, for it looked as if something had dropped out of it. Once the object got closer, his eyes nearly fell out of their sockets.

A kid was falling from the sky.

The hand holding his drink lowered and his mouth was left agape as his pupils followed the bald teen's descent. Right when he thought the kid would go splat, the boy merely did some fancy backflip and his shoes lit up like jet boots or something you would see in a spy flick. He just kept hovering the rest of the way down until he touched down in the yard across the street from him.

The man said nothing as he watched the kid turn around. It seemed the boy was smirking and uttering something to himself until he caught sight of him. The two stared at one another, the boy's eyes unreadable beneath his shades. Thinking he was crazy, the middle-aged citizen closed his eyes, rubbed at them, and took a second look. Then he nearly dropped his drink in shock once he saw that the kid was gone. Like he disappeared.

His eyes roamed from where the kid had been to the beverage in his grasp. Had the boy really been there? He did have a tiny buzz going on. The man spared one last glance to where he surmised the hallucination had occurred then lifted the lid of the garbage can up and threw away his beer. He pulled an about-face and walked back into his abode convincing himself none of that ever happened. Perhaps he had been drinking too much. Yeah, that's it.

Across the street, once the man had gone, Nigel poked his head out from the bushes to see if the cost was clear. The boy then let out a sigh of relief as he saw that the man had left. "That was close." He uttered as he got his feet, wiping any leaves off his clothes. Now firmly on the ground, Nigel scanned the area to see where exactly Kuki had dropped him off. His eyes glanced to the left and saw the expanse of the ongoing road leading out of the neighborhood and into the far-off countryside. Apparently, he was on the outskirts of town. His glance flicked to the left where he could see the streets getting more crowded and houses starting to overcome the landscape.

As he took in the surroundings, he couldn't find that overgrown treehouse he so desperately wanted to see. He grudgingly concluded that this wasn't his old neighborhood. So Wally lived here somewhere? And Hoagie was located elsewhere as well. Had the team spread out that much? The boy snapped out of his thoughts as light illuminated his form. He looked down to his shadow, then back behind him to where the light was coming from.

"I told you punks to stay off my lawn!" An old man raged as he waved his cane around threateningly, the light from inside crashed against his back, making him look darker than he was. The senior smacked his lips as he tried to form his next threat. "Now git!"

Nigel rolled his eyes but said nothing as he got. He started down the sidewalk, drowning out the old man's faint banter as he reached down into his pocket. His fingers clasped the paper Kuki had given him and unfolded it as he began to read over it. "48 Dickson Rd." He frowned as he had no idea where that was. And he wasn't about to turn around and ask that old man for directions. Luckily, he had an alternative.

His fingers rose to press down on the lens of his sunglasses. "S.H.A.D.E.S, locate 48 Dickson Rd." Tiny words and numbers flew across the lens screen as the sunglasses worked their techno-magic. If the planet had a Kids Next Door command post, the S.H.A.D.E.S could enter the global mainframe undetected and pull up a map of public planet maps. He would never have to worry about a wrong turn again. Suddenly the screen glowed and a miniature map of the neighborhood appeared. Then two blips appeared. A white one showing him, and another blue one marking his destination. Just a few more blocks down. Nigel let out a little chuckle as he tried to enjoy the rest of his walk. He would give those Galactics one thing, they did have some impressive technology.

As the crisp breeze fluttered over his skin, Nigel couldn't help but delay his pace a bit. Nighttime had always been his favorite part of the day. Maybe because it was the most peaceful time of the day. When he was younger, he would work through the quiet hours on leftover paperwork he couldn't get done in the day. The missions, and his friends' goofy antics. He found it a bit hectic at times to get anything squared away. But it was different in this time of rest. He was up taking advantage of it while the rest of the world slept. Say what you want, but he could not sleep until he knew he had got some major filing finished.

It also served as something of a time for reflection. Thinking of what happened, and why it happened. What he could have done to stop it or get to the point sooner. What he needed to practice on, what he needed to lay off of. Where he stood in the world. He would ask himself the question before turning in.

Nigel knew where he stood now. He was a Galactic Rank operative. Declared best on Earth and served the kid cause on a universal scale. He was here on his home planet for a mission. A mission to track down a rouge agent by any means necessary. His odds of success? Unknown, but he preferred it that way. All the more challenging. That was his summary, that was where he stood. The path to get here was long and hard but would be worth it in the end. Did he have any regrets?

That was one question he couldn't find the answer to at the moment.

The Brit's walk halted as his S.H.A.D.E.S beeped. He looked around him and noticed he had traveled far while his mind was elsewhere. It dimly registered in his mind that the city was in view on the horizon, but his gaze was more on the house in front of him. A moderate-looking home, not too upper class, but not rundown either. Just a nice two-story abode with beige painting and humble green roof tiling. It was nothing to get all worked up over. But he was transfixed because of who was inside that house. Wally was in there. Numbuh 4. The tough-as-nails, rowdy, arrogant, always-had-your-back, hand-to-hand specialist of sector V. Another one of his friends. Nigel would be lying if he said some of that old excitement wasn't tingling up inside of him.

But then he remembered what he had learned. Wally was working for the Teenz as a free agent. Not as a certified spy, a free agent who had his own plans. There was no telling as to what he was up to. But Kuki trusted him, so that was all the assurance he needed. But when he thought of Kuki, he thought of how much she had changed. She was Supreme Leader now. Still couldn't get over that. If she had morphed that much. Then what was Wally like now?

Nigel set his gaze forward as he marched up to the door. He was going to find out.

While the ex-sector leader prepared to reunite with another of his old team, something else was going elsewhere within the United States.

"Just a twist here, a few more screws there...and...presto!" A ginger-haired boy proclaimed as he rose from under his computer desk. His finger moved to press the start button to his hard drive and grinned in victory as the screen lit up instantly. "Heh. And Nathan said I couldn't increase my desktop processing speed by 4.8975%." He smugly uttered as he collapsed into his chair. The lighting in his room was dim as he needed to focus on his current task. "Now," He began as his braces flashed along with his pearly whites. "For the moment I've been longing for." He chortled as he booted up his internet connection.

The teen's hand grasped the mouse and rolled it over to his search engine. With a simple click, the page had been brought up. He cracked his fingers before securing them on the starting keys. Then to savor the moment, he slowly typed in his query. "P-O-R-"

Beep Beep Beep.

He groaned audibly as the noise interrupted him. He turned his green eyes to glare at his cell phone that lay idle at the side. But to his surprise, it wasn't his cell phone, but his old KND communicator further down. He hadn't gotten a call on that thing in the last few days. The TND had given him a vacation.

Curious, his fingers clasped around the communicator and flipped it open. He placed it to his ear as he swirled around in his spiny chair. "Hello? Numbuh 74.239 speaking."

"Hello, Numbuh 74.239. It's Infinity."

"Ah." The scientist uttered in acknowledgment. He hadn't heard from the Ambassador in a while. "How is everything on your end?"

"Hopefully things will get better." The operative replied in his smooth tone. "I'm calling in regards to the Traitor."

"...The Traitor?" Numbuh 74.239 hesitantly answered as his nails dug into his palm. He knew all too well about the traitor. Everyone in the TND did. It was a shock. While rouges from the Kids Next Door were a common occurrence, agents who betrayed the teen spies were very rare and were to be taken very seriously. Especially this one. The one who planned on exposing the GKND.

The teen picked at his acne in nervousness at the mention of the person. For other reasons. He cleared his throat before he spoke. "What about 'em?"

"We won't have to worry about the situation much longer," Infinity spoke with confidence. "The Important Ones have sent down an agent themselves to deal with it."

Numbuh 74.239 froze. He shot up from his seat and paced around the room to try and quell his rising panic. He had been dreading that. Oh, he knew they would send someone eventually. It was his job to know and predict things like that. But it was who they might be sending that terrified him. The boy calmed down enough to speak to the communicator with a straight voice. "Who did they send?" His eyes snapped shut as he crossed his fingers. 'Please please please please please PLEASE don't be-'

"Numbuh 1 of course."

'Damn it!' The teen had to bite his lip to stop the curse from coming out loud. Why did it have to be him? He could've worked this all out had it been some other guy. He would've been able to deal with the situation accordingly and make everyone happy. No more problems and his neck was saved.

But it had to be Nigel Uno! He was as good as dead now.

"...Numbuh 74.239?" Infinity jarred him out of his breakdown and he made up something to get him off the line.

"Sorry, Infinity. That's fantastic news, but I gotta go. There's this sale on Star Phenom and I need to get there before the store closes." He lied, hating himself for it. He didn't need to bring his favorite video game series into this.

"...Yeah." Infinity drawled slowly, shaking his head at the teen's addiction to video games. "Anyway, Numbuh 3 tells me Numbuh 1 is on the traitor's tail and will have him apprehended shortly."

"That's great." Numbuh 74.239 moaned as he dragged his fist down his face. "I'll contact you later Numbuh Infinity." The boy pressed the call button and ended the transmission. He then sighed as he collapsed into his computer chair yet again. He was getting in way over his head.

His arms folded on his desk and he buried his head into them. The hole he had dug himself into was getting way too deep. Before he thought his plan could work out, but factoring Numbuh 1...

He was so dead.

The ginger-haired boy raised his eyes to glance at his cell phone. He thought of the one of the numbers inside of it and chewed on his lip. If hid any information, he was dead. If officials found out about his involvement. He was dead.

Again, he was so dead. Dead either way. He breathed out a shakey sigh as he gripped his hair by the roots. He needed to calm down. He needed to think.

Numbuh 74.239's eyes flicked back to the computer screen. His fingers went to the keyboard to finish typing in his pick and found himself forgetting about his trouble with each passing second. He would find a way out of this. In fact, he knew how he was going to get out of it.

Sadly, that involved calling her again.

But he would get to that later. The teen clicked enter and the computer pulled up the site. His eyes grew as his pupils shrunk. His mouth slowly morphed into a face-splitting grin and he began to salivate as he began viewing, his body tingling with anticipation.

Gamer Weekly: Latest News on Portal 2.

Score!

Sorry if this came off as a bit dull. I was going to have Wally in this chapter, but he and Nigel's meeting needs a little tweaking.

Romance isn't playing a huge role yet so I'm working the suspense angle. Hopefully I'm doing it right.

Later.