Year Five - Disconnected I

Several Weeks Ago

Chad had long left in the early morning hours which gave Rachel to freedom to stretch out over the comforter and just doze in the atmosphere of his independence. The apartment was small, but it was his, and now it was hers.

A small smile of content lifted her slumbering lips until she yawned and stretched over to Chad's impeccably made side of the bed. Despite the mattresses all the way up to the sheets being new, his scent seemed to find a new home there. She pressed her face to it and just let it soothe her back into a state of relaxation.

She waffled around until she couldn't doze no more and lazily retreated to the bathroom. A lot of things were still unpacked, but there were toothbrushes, one that seemed to be meant for her. Unable to currently process that perhaps Chad was expecting her to accept living with him, Rachel grabbed the purple toothbrush and got to work with her teeth.

That was when she saw her reflection. It seemed almost older and she was glowing. A light blush made its way in her mirror image as she remembered the night before. Now that she thought about it, she felt a little more different. A little more somber, but content. It was a good feeling.

She wondered if Chad felt the same way and wished she asked before he left for the NFL pre-draft conference. A surge of pride and humor hit her when she thought about it. She was dating what could be a professional football player one day. How many people could say that really?

Her own future was a little bit muddled. She wanted to pursue some kind of law like her father, or maybe even a position of political power. Her last few texts came from the Army recruiter that visited McClintock months ago, a career branch that Patton would have been used to except for his desire to work with the Marines. But the Army had full ABA credentials in their JAG training and Rachel had been extremely interested in pursuing law for the military.

Dad, on the other hand, might not be so pleased about it. At any rate, that still left law school before enlisting and she had quite the handful of offers from prestigious colleges willing to sink their teeth into her scholarships and grants. Both of their futures seemed bright regardless of HAWK or the KND or whichever. Life continued on at the same pace.

Sometimes Chad needed someone like her to remind him of this.

With a sigh, Rachel pocketed her phone and spent her time finding all the pieces to the borrowed chessboard. How a rook managed to roll under the couch both amused and brought a flush to her cheeks at the memory.

It was only polite to return such a well loved game to the elderly neighbor across the hall.

Hopefully the power was finally on but when she tried to turn on the kitchen lights, nothing happened. It did not matter. She could keep the radio for awhile longer if she wished.

Chessboard securely under her arm, Rachel quietly tiptoed out the apartment dressed in Chad's old high school jersey and shorts that were way too big for her and knocked on the door. There was no answer, but maybe the old lady just couldn't hear the knock.

Rachel tried again, this time louder, and then decided to speak. "Ms. Robinson? It's Rachel from 34A! Just wanted to give back your chessboard!" Odd... the old woman had told her she never left the apartment if she could help it.

Dancing between contacting the landlord in the off-chance that she might have fallen or something or maybe the woman was sleeping, she found the door was unlocked and, extremely guilty but concerned, she walked in.

"Hello?!" she tried again when she found a lot of antiques, but no lady. "Ms. Robinson? I'm sorry I let myself in. Just wanted to check and see if you're alright." She set the chessboard down on top of a tea cozy and heard a clang of silverware from the kitchen.

She was relieved to find the old woman sitting at the table, unharmed, but the atmosphere seemed extremely tense. A young woman no older than herself stood next to Ms. Robinson, and grew alarmed at the ashen expression on the old lady's face.

"Um... I'm sorry? Am I interrupting something with your granddaughter?" she asked with hesitation.

But the old woman's eyes widened and the young woman beside her sneered. Rachel caught a glimpse of the concealed weapon pressed against Ms. Robinson's temple.

"Nope, we were just waiting for you," the young woman said with a smile. "Now we can finally begin."

She didn't want the old woman harmed so Rachel raised her hands up in the air and walked into the sitting room as was the girl's orders. And when she showed her a strange mechanical seed between them, Rachel could only raise an eyebrow at it.

"Going to grow me to death?" Chad was rubbing off on her too much these days.

The intruder's smile dripped in venom. "Didn't know the great Numbuh 362 had a mouth on her. I'll have to keep that in mind when I take her over."

Rachel frowned, uncomprehending of her words despite the gun pointed at her. "What are you talking about? What do you want?"

"Your body." And then, much to Rachel's surprise, the girl slammed the seed down between their feet and a flash of light nearly blinded her.

Rachel screamed, but only for a moment. The force of air rising from her feet and upward was so strong it immobilized her to the spot as weird cybernetic vines climbed up her body to latch themselves around her temple. That was when the initial shock forced her vocal cords to sing out. The pain was unbearable.

It felt like it was... dislodging her brain.

Then it felt disconnected after the pain. She screwed her eyes shut, but still found colors dancing in her vision despite the blinding light, as she tried to... hold on or something. How, she did not know. Something was tearing her mind apart and instinct compelled her to fight it.

How long did it take? Hours? Years? It felt like years until she heard a huff of discontent in front of her.

"Stubborn, aren't you? The process is quick for most people, but I suppose I shouldn't expect anything less from one of the few who could resist something like Grandfather's citizombification. But like that incident, you can't last for long, Numbuh 362."

Strange enough, flashes of events she had never experienced hit her so quickly she could barely comprehend. Deformed wrinkled faces, the panic as they attacked the base, holding them off long enough for... for...

A glimpse of dark sunglasses and a bright red shirt ignited her thoughts. Words like 'savior' and 'best operative' came to mind before that image too was fleeting and uncomprehending. It was like something was trying to steal these unfamiliar memories away and she tried to grab onto it and hold on like they were bits of sand falling through her fingers.

Those alien tendrils inside her mind went deeper in response and a new lash of pain left her lips again. When she opened her eyes in defiance, she found the dark haired girl standing right in front of her, covered in those same weird vines. Rachel showed her her teeth in defiance.

The girl let out a bark of laughter before she too suddenly screamed in pain. That was when things suddenly went out of control and the last thing Rachel felt was being torn in two before she blacked out completely and saw no more.

Leah took a step back once the process was complete and watch her own body collapse onto the carpet before looking at her hands. Paler than usual, but healthy. She felt her cheeks and then ran her fingers through her new blond hair before looking at her reflection through an antique plate.

"I did it," she murmured in a voice not her own. "Now I'm the most powerful operative there ever was!"

"Are you alright, dear?"

Leah turned to find the old woman hesitant and worried for not her, but Rachel.

She smiled. "Don't worry, Ms. Robinson. The intruder must have passed out. You should call for someone to deal with her."

That was when she had full control of the situation. The transcommissioning didn't go as smoothly as she thought. What was supposed to be the capturing of Numbuh 362's secret memories left her with only Rachel McKenzie's instead for some reason. The twelve year old operative was nowhere to be found.

Leah spared a glance at her old comatose body. She could work around this. Rachel's memories, passcodes, and authorization prints were at her beck and call instead. Destroying HAWK from the inside would be a piece of cake, even if she was unable to obtain the strength and cunning of a KND operative.

Then the headaches came. Sometimes when Leah would search through Rachel's memory for some sort of personality belonging to Rachel to fool the others, she found none. Instead she found something akin to a door. She could open it, but only to a certain degree, like someone placed a chain lock to keep her from opening it all the way.

At first it was a mild inconvenience and, with much probing, she was able to secure the passcode to Rachel's office and then some. Anything else, like information about family or friends, was met with much more force, like someone was behind that door and they were fighting their hardest to keep it closed.

When Number 274 implied some kind of intimate relationship with her that time in the office, she felt fire when she tried to pry open the door for information about him. His desires, his quirks, his dreams, all of it was a gold mine of information for her master to use and exploit to their advantage.

Real actual fire was the response she got when she tried.

A flare of pain shot through her brain so fast she had to grimace to avoid crying out and tried to memorize everything about Operation: EXODUS during the whole exchange. It was only when she was safely alone did she begin to genuinely panic.

Rachel's personality should have been overshadowed completely like the others.

The heat didn't subside. It only got worse. Rachel was alive in her head fighting with her for dominance over the body. Soon Leah was wracked with fever and migraines. Holding her at bay like this wasn't natural. The others weren't complaining about this.

"Headaches?" JZ, one of their shadow operatives that had commandeered Number 4's body, raised an eyebrow at her when she asked. "No, ma'am. It's been smooth sailing here. This guy... he's a complete monster on the battlefield. I can take down anyone and anything!"

She didn't care. "Dismissed."

Sometimes she dreamed of her, the girl whose body she stole. They would just stare at each other for what seemed like an eternity in an empty void until Rachel would scream and fire would erupt around her whenever Leah took a step forward. She would wake up in a hot sweat with her head pounding, sometimes in tears.

Rachel was going to make her life difficult. Forever. Or until she died from a high fever which was a stupid outcome. If Leah died, so would she.

But Rachel McKenzie didn't care. That was what Leah deciphered from her dreams.

Her cover may be blown soon. She could barely stand being around Chad, the fake Father. The whole reason why she was ordered to steal Rachel's body in order to find his weaknesses.

But every time he approached, every time he touched her, the pounding headache became a full blown migraine. Rachel didn't want her near him. She wanted Leah to snap and push him away and, in turn, draw suspicion for her actions. Her excuses were running out quickly and Chad would ultimately catching on that something was wrong.

Rachel may not have the memories of Numbuh 362, but she was still clever.

This wasn't supposed to happen. Barricading herself in her, no, Rachel's office, she dialed her commander's number and waited patiently for him to pick it up. Before he could utter a word, she fought hard to speak through her tears, her face twisted in pure pain.

"I'm scared," she shuddered out at last. "Everyday I wake up and I feel like I'm on fire. I can't take this anymore!"

He was silent, almost contemplative, as she sobbed into the phone. His words did little to cool the fire running through her veins however. "You decided on stealing Numbuh 362's body, but we may not have foreseen the complications to it. Fire you say?"

"Yes."

"Her willpower may just be strong, or perhaps there is something else," he sounded almost amused by the whole thing and anger hit her hard. She was suffering and he treated it like it was just a simple oversight. "Maybe she's been touched."

Leah collapsed onto the chair. "Touched? Please..." Just make the pain go away.

"Never you mind, love," his words were chiding. "We'll fix what's wrong with you after you continue sending us dossiers of potential operatives to transcommission. I want at least every sector infiltrated with our operatives. Try. You are strong. You will work past this."

She let out a pained sigh before answering. "Okay. I'll try. For you. Anything for you."

The flaring ceased and she could suddenly think clearly. Was Rachel tired now? Or dead? She hoped that Rachel tired herself out from torturing her and simply faded from existence.

Her old body wasn't part of the comatose patients' roster.

Did the old lady not call the cops? Leah had stormed Ms. Robinson's apartment to find the entire place empty and devoid of anyone living there. That was the first warning that something was wrong. Where the hell was the old bat?!

Leah had to make sure. Maybe her body was just a Jane Doe without identification, but she had to make sure. Disregarding HAWK protocol to stay away from the hospital until Exodus was sorted out, Leah visited the comatose ward with new orders: destroy the bodies and the personalities within. It was strange going to destroy... your own self, but this was her body now.

She was Rachel McKenzie. This was the only way to make it permanent.

Every body was accounted for when she started wiring up the explosives in each room, but her's was nowhere to be found. Why? Where did it go? It couldn't have survived long without medical intervention!

On her haste to get out of the wards she bumped into Chad and a long forgotten pain instantly shot up and hit her hard. She almost cried out as Rachel's personality resurfaced once again with vengeance.

I won't let you use me anymore.

Leah could barely hear Chad's tirade, demanding what was going on with her and the mysterious man he had eavesdropped on previously. Her eyes widened at the slip up and, unable to comprehend being attacked verbally by him and mentally by her, began to snap back. "You've been listening to my phone calls now?! Do you have to be such a control freak?!"

Stay away from him! Rachel shouted in her head. I'll kill you, I swear!

Then do it! She wanted to shout back. I can't take this anymore!

Defying the pain, the anger, the separating of her thoughts as Rachel's fire burned at every single memory that belonged solely to Leah, she took a physical step forward into Chad's space, defying both him and her in the process. "You want the truth, Number 274?!"

"Yeah, I do want to know!" Chad screamed. "Are you cheating on me, Number 362?!"

Rachel screamed angrily in her head at the accusation and fire both from her and the explosion from the bombs ignited all around her. For a moment, she thought she had found the sweet bliss of death as the pain was so intense it no longer hurt. That was when she blacked out...

...and Rachel finally woke up.

Everything sounded hollow and far away. She could move, twitch her fingers just a bit, and for the first time in weeks, she felt alive. The ringing of the explosion was fading and Chad's voice was growing midst the smoke and screams.

"Sound off, 362!"

Rachel eagerly wanted to call out to him, wished she could move enough to pull him into her arms and tell him the truth. Half dragged off the floor, she felt cool fingers run down her face and she felt even more alive with his touch.

"Sounding off," she coughed instead and realized just how much lack of control she had over her own body when he placed her against the wall.

Things were becoming dark again. She was too weak to hold position. Rachel was fading away from her body once more.

No, she needed to tell him, warn him about the Shadow Operatives. "Chad..." she whispered in a rasp.

He shushed her. "Stay here and don't move!" His parting glance was somber and pained, almost as if he thought that she no longer loved him.

She wanted to cry, but instead she mustered all the strength she had left to reach out for his retreating back, wishing him to return. Because she may never be in control again. Please... come back...

Before she blacked out entirely, one of the doctors quickly grabbed her and pulled her body to safety. He sounded like Numbuh 5's dad.

The last image she had was of Chad's back and her reaching out for it.

When Rachel found some kind of coherence of self again, she found herself back to square one as some kind of disembodied place in their head and Leah resting against the lap of someone she did not know.

She felt sluggish and faded, slogging though the soft words and false promises from this mysterious man she couldn't get a read on. Leah was infiltrating HAWK using her memory, that she did know. Anything else was just a flicker of nothing but pure emotions.

Emotions that flared up when Leah mentioned the possibility of Chad dying, and she was hopeful that it may have happened. Rachel howled in anger and anguish only to feel pure satisfaction when Leah twitched and contorted in pain once more. Anger and hate was what kept her alive.

And it was what made her do things. Things she didn't realize she could do.

It happened when Leah was looking at their reflection in the mirror. For the first time since the intrusion, Leah talked directly to her.

"Can't you see what we're doing is right?!"

Right? This person, whoever she was, took control of her body and was ruining everything she and Chad worked tooth and nail for. What she could see was distress and the deep seated wish that she could further torture the woman and show her her true face.

Leah had recoiled in horror when their hair was starting to turn brown.

Stop it! Rachel screamed. Or was it Leah? Just stop!

There was a notch in her armor as Leah recoiled once more off guard and Rachel dived in like a wildfire, scorching everything of Leah's in her path as she tried to find some weakness, anything to drive her presence out for good. There were flashes of memories that weren't hers, one of dispassion and envy for the gifted operatives who graduated into the Kids Next Door...

...jealousy for the new Supreme Leader, the first female in the seventh age since Numbuh 999 founded the position.

It was Leah's turn to lash out, forcing Rachel out of her thoughts and blowing away the flames that came from her wake. But it was too late to suppress Rachel. Now she understood her place in this chaos of a shattered mind.

If I have to destroy the both of us to protect everyone, I'll do it, Rachel growled as fire once again ignited Leah's control over her body. Leah threatened her physical body with scissors, but the threat was empty to her. If you won't leave, I'll raze this mind until it's nothing but ashes and I'm taking you with me.

"How are you doing this?" Leah breathlessly asked her reflection, sweat beading down her forehead from the exertion. Somewhere deep inside Rachel showed her the answer, an answer she didn't understand, but it was the right one.

Because I have the Echo.