KND Operation: B.A.B.Y.S.I.T.T.E.R

Chapter 1

"Now, Jacelynn, are you sure you're going to be okay?" The Australian accented woman asked the teenager for the millionth time.

"Yes, Mrs. Beetles and please call me Jacey. Don't worry about your son, we're going to be fine. I'll see you tomorrow tonight." She answered, batting her large brown eyes.

"See Darling, they'll be fine, now we're going to be late. Bye guys!" the husband called, closing the door.

Jacey shook her head; it was the same with every babysitting job. The worried parents, the child who didn't want you there, etc. She didn't even want this job in all honesty, but she was going to be in the country for most of the summer while visiting her family so she needed the money. That's why she took different part-time jobs, including babysitting service.

She turned on her heel and noticed that she was being observed. The boy was short for his age, about 10 maybe, his orange hoodie way too big aver his arms and blonde hair falling in a halo over his eyes. His arms were folded stubbornly and she could see that he was glaring at her though his bangs.

"I don't need no cruddy babysitter!" he declared, "And don't give me none of that 'I'm your friend' spew."

She shrugged, "Sure, But you do realize that I've just met you."

He cocked his head to the side, taken back by her honesty, "Just watch ya step, babysitter."

"It's Jacey." She corrected, "Got it memorized, Wallabee."

He narrowed his eyes, "Wally."

She smiled in satisfaction and followed him through to the living room where he turned on the TV and threw himself onto the sofa. Jacey joined him on the sofa but made a point to sit on the seat furthest away from him, not wanting to irritate him any more. One thing she knew about children was that trust was something you had to earn.

"So, how come you didn't want to stay with your Grandmother's with your little brother?" she asked.

He huffed, "Being stuck with Joey and Grandma is worse than having a babysitter for the night."

Well, she thought, that's some progress, "I never liked staying with my grandparents either, does yours have that weird cabbage and dust smell?"

"Yeah! And all those plates in a glass box, why buy 'em if you're not gonna use 'em?" he paused and then collected himself, returning to his sulk, "Grandparents, eh?"

She nodded, "Oh yeah."

They watched TV in silence for a while, when suddenly, a muffled beeping sounded from inside his hoodie. Jacey stared at him questioningly. Wally pretended to cough and hit his chest for effect, thumping at the stop where the sound was coming from. All was quiet.

"Uh... I'm going to bed." He announced.

"But It's only 6.30."

"What are ya, father time?" he snapped, stomping up the stairs.

Jacey sighed, so much for progress. She changed the channel so some movie that was on, but she wouldn't really get into it. That beeping was awfully familiar. She tried to put it to the back of her mind and went to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea, when something in the distance beyond the kitchen window caught her eye. A few streets away, was a tree sticking out from the back of a house. A house that she knew all too well.

"Huh, That is one strange treehouse....I guess my friend wasn't kidding about it." She said.

 Then, A large device shot through the air, leaving a long trail of smoke behind it. It heading right towards the tree and landed among its branches. A smirk twitched in the corner of her mouth.

Forgetting about her tea, she tiptoed up the stairs and tapped lightly on the boys' bedroom door. There was no answer, so she knocked a little louder and pressed her ear to the door. Again, there was silence. She tried the handle and found that it opened easily enough. The room was cloaked in darkness, a small lump in the bed and the soft sound of snoring would have convinced anyone else that the boy was asleep, but she knew better. She carefully peeled back the covers to reveal a very accurate mannequin of Wally, a tape recorder strapped to its chest playing the snoring on a loop.

"You sneaky little boy." She said, knowing where he went.

She head downstairs and head out the front door. As she got into her motorbike and drive off. Jacey managed to made it at the treehouse as she parked her bike outside. She whistled at the sight as open the door. "Huh. That was easy. Big tree house, though. But  he's gotta be in here, somewhere." as she wandered around.

Upstairs

"Numbuh 4, you're late!" snapped the bald, British boy in the shades and red jumper.

"Yeah I know, I've got some cruddy babysitter that I had to ditch!"

"Oh, tough call man." The larger boy with flying goggles on his head sympathised.

"What's wrong with a babysitter?" asked a tall girl with long black hair and a green jumper that was way too big for her, "They play games with you and watch TV with you and -"

"The problem, Numbuh 3 is that she's a teenager!" Numbuh 4 snapped at her.

"Oh yeah? Well Numbuh 5 has a teen sister who's a babysitter, think yourself lucky." A girl with a large red cap and dark hair tied into a braid pointed out.

"Enough of this!" Numbuh 1 declared, "We need to discuss something extremely important. The Delightful Children From Down The Lane are planning a birthday celebration tomorrow morning and as you all know, it's our mission ever year to steal that birthday cake. Now I know our missions have been, well, less than successful as of late, but this year we're going to change all that."

"And how's that going to happen?"

"Glad you asked Numbuh 5, it's simple, all we have to do is ---"

They were interrupted by a single red siren flashing and screaming. Then, there was darkness. All of the power in the tree-house extinguished, leaving them alone in the dark. Numbuh 4 felt something soft grab his hand and was grateful for the dark to hide his blush as he remembered it was Numbuh 3 who was sitting next to him.

"Kids Next Door, battle stations!" Numbuh 1 cried into the darkness.

A cross between a giggle and a sigh echoed from down the corridor. Everyone pulled out the weapons they had been keeping on their person for emergencies and aimed in the direction of the sound. Something brushed past Numbuh 5, sending her off balance. Then... all hell broke loose.

Whatever it was, it was fast. It grabbed the hood of Numbuh 4's jumper and pulled it over his eyes, tying it into a knot with the sleeves of Numbuh 3's jumper, stopping either of them from making a move. Numbuh 5 started shooting her ketchup gun at the shadow that was snaking it's way around the room, but was restricted by a roped looping around her waist, hoisting her up into the air. Numbuh 2 jumped to grab her, but felt the rope entangle in his legs, sending him hanging by his ankles. Finally, Numbuh 1, hearing his teammates in danger, ducked behind his chair and listened carefully. He waited, chilli-launcher at the ready. There was a light sound of a footstep just to the left of him, he aimed and fired. He hit something, but it was still moving. He felt something lifting him up and tossing him into his computer chair. He was spinning, he clutched his shades to stop them from falling and was blinded by the sudden flash of light. He blinked rapidly, his eyes watering.

They all froze in a mixture of horror, surprise and anger. All except for Numbuh 1 who, despite being the most shocked, looked mainly irritated. Standing before them, was a teenage girl of about 17. Her long red hair and tied a the side in a side-ponytail , yellow T-shirt, green jeans along with red rubber shoes and her brown eyes were alight with mischief and knowing. A wry grin tweaked at her mouth.

She looked down at Numbuh 1 and said with wink, "What's up, little brother?"