“Mary A. Crumbs?” a female security officer called out in a waiting room.

“Yes.” A middle age woman said as she was standing up.

“This way.” security officer said then gesturing.

Without a word they walked down a long hallway then down an elevator.

“Are we going down or up?” Mary asked not sure which direction the lift went.

“Shhh.” The officer said staring straight ahead.

Mary gave a paranoid look around and noticed a funny little light in the corner.

‘Must be a camera up there.’ Mary thought not looking at it directly, but instead looking all about as if taking in the small space.

“Straight ahead.” Officer said not stepping off, but stepping back from the doorway.

Mary stepped off and turned to asked why she didn’t join her, but the doors shut with a snap before she could speak.

Mary looked around stunned and cautiously crept forward in yet another hall. She wasn’t sure if she liked being alone as she approached the door. She opened it and was surprised to see an office that was in bright sunlight with a young woman behind a desk and another door just off to her right.

“Hello Mary.” The young woman said standing up and extending her hand.

Mary shook her hand and took the seat right in front of the desk.

“You must be wondering what in the world is going on and what kind of job requires this much security and secrecy.” The woman said sitting back down.

“Yes I did.” Mary said looking relieved that some of her doubts were out in the open.

“Yes I thought so. My name is Diane Schmalz.”

“What we do here is vaguely rumor and we know that some of these rumors have gotten out into the public. You must have heard that part of our funding is a government project.” Diane said then pausing.

“I heard some of the rumors.” Mary admitted.

“Yes, we tried our best to stop those rumors, but due to recent problems we have been forced to enlist help.” Diane said calmly pointing politely to Mary.

“Retired private detectives such as yourself.” Diane said to explain her reason for offering a job.

“I should tell you that I have never carried a gun or done anything risky in my life. Most of my services were tailing people and finding missing people.” Mary said simply looking a little disappointed at her confession.

“Yes, that is why we want you. We want you to find certain people that are difficult to find.” Diane said smiling slightly.

“I don’t work in the dark.” Mary said more confidently then her normal self.

“Of course.” Diane said with a smile and gave her a surprised look.

“This way.” Diane said getting up and heading over to the side door.

Mary stood and followed Diane as she passed through the door.

“Spying is our main mission here and quite recently we got some new methods that help us do our job better. A few of our agents have defected from their goals and we need someone very experienced in finding people.” Diane said explaining this as if it was a company policy.

“What were their goals?” Mary said looking puzzling around her. It looked like a daycare area with a full staff teacher doing one on one with the children in here. Mostly it appeared they were playing games.

“Mostly gathering information and spying on people of course.” Diane said smiling as she watched one of the children, a young girl no older then 6 years-old.

“How old would you say that girl is?” Diane said making hand signals for the girl to come to her.

“Maybe 5 or 6 years-old.” Mary said wondering what was going on.

“Alice, what is your ‘real’ age?” Diane asked the girl.

“26 years-old.” Alice said in a cute voice that sounded if she wasn’t telling the truth.

“Thank you.” Diane said then giving a last hand signal for her to go play.

“Do you believe her?” Diane said seriously.

“No, it’s plain that she is not that old.” Mary said smiling.

“Well she is that old. A new method that has been granted to us has the power to physical regress a person.” Diane said in a very seriously tone.

“You can see the advantage we have. Literally they are spy kids, a perfect cover for gathering information and spying. Assign them to a house to live in with experience agents, but they do all the work.” Diane said looking beaming at all the kids.

“Do you mean all these kids are adults?” Mary said looking disbelieving.

“Yes there are. These agents here are 1st timers and are still in training. Of course I don’t expect you to believe any of this yet. I had to convince a few people such as yourself before they would work for us.” Diane said grinning.

Mary nodded to show she understood.

“Project was called: ‘Experimental’” Diane said resuming her walk down the room to yet another door.

Mary followed watching closely as she passed the kids. One of them was being taught how to hit like a kid and getting fussed at when he did it too well.

“So what happened is that some of your people went to the other side?” Mary asked once the door was shut. This room appeared to be a meeting room with a round table and chairs all around.

“Worse then that. They have refused to complete their mission and go missing on us.” Diana said looking worried.

“Can’t your people track them down better than I can?” Mary said thinking that the government could find people better then her.

“Most agents have their fingerprints, birthmarks, and other such markings removed before they go undercover. We have been able to find some of them. Most turned up in foster care homes and such, but what we really need is someone how knows people.” Diana said as she took a seat at the table.

“Do you mean they are still children when they refuse?” Mary asked in amazement. She thought for now she will amuse this idea of adults being turned into kids.

“Yes, apparently they don’t want to be adults again when their mission is near completion.” Diana said as Mary took a seat beside her.

Mary was about to asked where the hidden cameras and what TV joke show it was when Diana hit a intercom button on the phone telling someone to bring them in.

The little girl Alice and a woman who looked like a nurse entered the room. Alice was in a big robe that was made for an adult.

“Since we are all girls, would it be okay if you disrobed Alice?” Diana asked politely.

Alice nodded and disrobed. Alice was naked now standing in front of them not showing any signs she wasn’t shame of her nudity.

Mary watched and looked between the women. All had serious looks about them. Mary turned back to watch the nurse. The nurse drew out a hyper derma gun and used it on the little girl.

“Watch carefully.” Diana said in a whisper.

Mary thought this was a really bad joke or the truth, but watched anyway.

She felt her jaw drop as she saw Alice growing. At first Mary could have sworn the girl was raising her feet, but they were firmly flat on the ground. By now she was a good foot taller then before. Her body also got bigger and still was very immature like.

Alice face winced in pain and everyone heard cracking of bones as they grew.

Mary thought sickly of the snap, crackle, pop commercials as she heard the sounds only slightly muffed by skin and flesh.

Now the once little girl was a preteen. Young breasts started to grow out, first in a cone shape then becoming round as they grew. Soon enough they look like the size of small apples. Her private area busted out with hair and now is covering the skin below. More popping sounds came and Alice now entered teenhood. For a second it appeared that her body stopped growing and her limbs lengthened.

The teen body now matured into early womanhood and her breasts grew in sizes and her hair below thickened. Finally her body stopped growing and Alice picked up the robe and tied it.

Alice then sat next to Diana smiling at Mary’s shocked face.

“Believe me now.” Alice said with a grin.

Mary stared at her face and blonde hair. She was busy watching the girl’s body to notice the changes there. Her hair was now darker then before.

“As you see we can regress a person to any age younger then before. The counter formula returns them to their old body by aging them back.” Diana said nodding for Alice to leave with the nurse.

“Amazing.” Mary said still looking in awe.

“You yourself will go through the process as well. Your current age is far too old for your first assignment.” Diana said once the room was empty of the guests.

“Me?” Mary said and wondering if she could back out now.

“Yes. You were chosen because of your skills and for the fact that you have no family relations left in the world. We need people like you with no real ties to the world.” Diana said leaning back in her chair.

“I take it I have no real choice.” Mary said looking only slightly worried.

“Well its not that we’ll kill you or anything, but you would be drafted into our teaching program so you can pass your knowledge onto trainees.” Diana said grinning.

“First assignment?” Mary said getting up walking in a short pace.

“Training will occur first then your first assignment. We think our last agent that went missing is enrolled in a school, maybe in one of the kindergarten classes. We can’t go barging in asking kids to line up to be fingerprinted then looking for those who don’t have fingerprints. You can imagine the explaining involved afterwards. Of course we tried sending in adult agents as a sub teacher or assistant, but both have failed to find her.” Diana said sighing.

“If the amount in this letter is true I’ll do it.” Mary said slipping out the business letter from her pocket and reading it yet again.

“It is.” Diana said not even looking at it.

“Shall we begin your training starting today?” Diana said leaning her body over the table so it was closer to the phone.

“Guess so. You are really eager to get your agent back aren’t you?” Mary said noticing the way Diana’s tone had changed.

“Yes, because as long she is out of our hands. She is a security risk to our project and needs to face her adult responsibilities.” Diana said hitting some numbers on the phone.

“Nurse to the meeting room.” Diana called into the phone.

‘That Nurse came back in a little sooner then normal almost as if she was waiting by the door.’ Mary thought to herself.

“Roll up your sleeves dear?” The nurse asked after glancing at a file with Mary’s name on it. Her voice was sweet and nice to hear in a place like this.

She loaded the hyper derma gun with two purple capsules and checked the file one last time.

“Please confirm your age if you would?” Nurse asked.

“46” Mary said in a serious tone.

“Good. Now you’ll feel a sudden cold and you may pass out.” nurse said bring the tip of the gun to her shoulder then pulling the trigger twice in different spots.

A numbness of cold spread throughout Mary’s body. For sure her blood had turned to ice.

“Try to relax.” Diana said as if she was speaking from very far away.

Mary felt herself go slack in the chair and her heart felt like it would stop at any moment. Mary breathed deeper then ever before and tried to speak, but her body was numb all over. Just when Mary thought she was dead, because everything faded to black, she passed out.

Hours must have passed because when she awoke she was laying on a bed in someone’s house. Whatever the drug had done to her must have messed up her eyes. Everything looked oddly out of shape.

“I was hopeful that would you wake up before dinner.” Diana’s voice came from the corner.

“Where I am?” Mary said then stopped and grabbed her chest. Her voice was high squeaky then she felt her chest, it was small and flat.

“It’s going to come as quite a shock, but you’re successfully regressed and you are in my home.” Diana said standing up and walking over to her.

Mary looked up and saw that Diana looked much taller and bigger then she could have imagined.

“All your adult things are in my bag inside the closet there. I thought it was best to leave your shirt on you until you awoke. Go to the bathroom there to shower and change into the clothes that I left for you then came back here for your training assignment.” Diana explained then pointing to the door on the right.

“If you need any help or are feeling uneasy don’t be ashamed to call me, I’ll be right here waiting for you.” Diana said sitting back down.

“Ok.” Mary said in a whisper so not to hear her strange voice. She rolled carefully off the bed and nearly fell to floor completely misjudging the distance.

Her shirt now hung down to her thighs and covered her body well enough.

It was unsettling for her to wake up in this body. Mary closed the door and started the shower. A full length mirror hung on the wall by the shower. Mary was in for shock indeed. She turned to look behind and wondered who the child was when she realized it was her.

‘Cute.’ Mary thought looking at her reflection.

Her hair was only shoulder length with a face now completely changed into a pudgy button shape. Carefully she stripped off her shirt and saw that her body matched her face perfectly.

Her chest was now so small with little pink nipples that it looked nothing like her real chest. She spread her legs apart and looked down to see herself better. Completely bald she almost said out loud and feeling it.

She turned in the mirror to see her backside. Her butt was now boyish in her opinion and looked funny. As she stepped into the water, she took notice to her limbs next. They were short and slightly pudgy in a way as she was stretching them out.

‘This is scary.’ Mary said looking up and all around her. ‘The door of the shower seemed to be made for a giant and all the shampoo bottles were so high up that there was no way she could reach those.’

‘What have I gotten myself into?’ Mary was thinking as she used some soap on her body. Luckily it was on the floor of bathroom near the drain.

Mary nearly fell out of the tub as she got out. Her foot had caught the top of edge and she caught herself in time to stop herself from falling flat on her face.

Mary amused herself for a few more seconds with the amazing size of the towel around her body. Exhaling she managed to wrap it around herself nearly three times. After she was dried off she grabbed the clothes left for her by Diana. Memories of being a little girl came back to her as she put on the little girl’s clothes. Cotton white underwear with a pink ribbon took her mind back to her earliest memories. A light long sleeve shirt with long pants was next to put on.

Looking in the mirror something was still off about her. She then thought it was her hair. Digging into the bathroom drawer she found a hair braid and pull her hair into a pony tail and used the braid.

‘Perfect.’ Mary said looking at herself. ‘Best undercover disguise yet’

Coming out Diana was a little amazed to see Mary.

“Not even those who saw you as an adult will know you now.” Diana said walking all the way around Mary.

“Milk run mission.” Diana said smiling at her little joke. Here before her was a girl who looked like she only drank milk.

“You will train here for a week as a guest. The back ground story is that you’re my friend’s kid whose mother is on a business trip. I’ll teach you personally on how to act and the only person you have to convince is my own daughter. She is a teen who thinks I got some plastic surgery a while back to explain my youthful look.” Diana explained as Mary took a seat on the edge of the bed.

“OK.” Mary said looking at her fingers. The nails were wonderfully small and cute.

“Think your ready?” Diana asked.

“Born ready.” Mary said cutely.

A week of training passed almost too fast for Mary. Diana coached in acting and speaking while her daughter was looking after her.

“Ready for your real job.” Diana asked as she sat down by Mary who was watching Saturday morning cartoons.

“Yeah, Aunt Diana.” Mary said sounding very sure.

“Never seen anyone learn so much and adjust so fast.” Diana said looking at her with awe.

“Turns out your mommy will be spending a little more time on her business trip, so you are going to have to enroll in school.” Diana said in joking tone.

“Really?” Mary said in a fake lisp almost grinning, but keeping a serious face.

“Yup. I know it won’t be easy, but you must find our missing agent.” Diana said smiling at the girl she had gotten little attached too.

“How long do I have?” Mary said going into a more serious tone.

“We are only giving you a month. Any more and I am sorry to say we will have to pull you out of there.” Diana said in a very serious tone.

“Let’s do it.” Mary said proudly.

Mary was soon enough going to her classroom. The teacher was nice enough, but Mary didn’t really care. Her first part was to contact the assistant who was a agent undercover. It was easy enough in getting a secret message to her. Mary drew a purple flower and showed it to the assistant as she said, “Pink is my favorite color.”

The assistant smiled and suggested she go play with girls in the corner.

“One of those girls over there is our agent. Hard to say which one is the right one. The agent we are looking for has blonde hair, but a dye job can cover that up.” The assistant said looking like she was complimenting Mary on her picture.

Mary looked in the corner with a side glance. There were at least six girls over there playing a game, each one no different then the next and all with brown hair. Mary nodded and joined the game.

‘Piece of cake. The one winning the game had to be the adult.’ Mary thought at first.

As she played Mary noticed two of the other girls were not paying any real attention, while another was thinking hard, but losing. The other girls were close to winning and only needed a few more jumps then the neighbor.

‘Ok. The agent is blending in.’ Mary thought after she rolled the dice.

Mary felt that she wasted a week by playing, napping, learning her ABCs again, and such. She kept her worries to herself. She did manage to bring the number down to three, but it was only a little closer to her goal.

A Kristen Wilkes had a vague background, but there was no way for Mary to know for sure. She made very good friends with most of the girls in the class. In the end she got an idea from watching the assistant help a boy paint with a brush.

‘Of course!’ Mary shouted in her head.

Mary wrote a message to the assistant and passed it to her pretending to be showing her a picture of a doggy she didn’t really own.

The assistant eyes were wide with shock and then looked in awe after she read the message.

“Very good.” the assistant said loudly then holding the picture up. She slipped the note into her pocket which was unseen by everyone.

The next day Mary’s plan went into action.

“Class, today we are going to have a fun day, starting with finger painting.” Teacher said lightly.

Mary looked at her friends acting like she was choosing a buddy. Only Kristen looked at her hands with a worried look.

‘Oh no. She knows someone is on to her.’ Mary thought with a pang of guilt.

Mary heard the teacher say break into groups of twos. Mary jumped from her seat and stood next to Kristen.

“Krissy, can I be your buddy?” Mary asked in an innocent sounding voice with a slight lisp.

“Ok.” Kristen said giving a worried glance at the teacher then the assistant.

‘She thinks it’s an adult who is the agent. Good.’ Mary thought happily.

“You first, I got to go to the bathroom.” Kristen said leaving the paint untouched.

Kristen went into the little bathroom which was right by the door to the class.

Mary seized this chance to inform the assistant.

“Have to go potty.” Mary said to Kathy the female assistant. She gave a glance at the closed bathroom door and winked.

“Oh. Well come on then.” The assistant said taking her hand and leading her out. The class door closed quietly.

“Only two ways out of this school. You take that exit and I’ll take this one. Mine is closer so I think she will use it. Yell if she comes your way.” Kathy said in a whisper then walked to her exit.

Mary did the same to her guarded path. She hid just around the corner waiting.

‘Was that a door closing’ Mary thought she heard a noise and she was about to peak around the corner.

Kristen came around the bend.

“Mary?” Kristen asked puzzled.

“Krissy, what you doing?” Mary asked in a low voice.

‘Better be sure.’ Mary thought. Kristen did some quick thinking as Mary stared at her.

“Daddy is sick. Mommy is picking me up.” Kristen said trying sound if this was true.

‘Got you.’ Mary thought. She knew from the background info on what Kristen said she lives with just her dad.

“Been experimenting with that one?” Mary asked with no lisp and sounding serious.

Kristen looked shocked as she said, “You are a retro.”

Mary knew "Retro" was the nickname for agents who were regressed from her training.

“Please, don’t tell them. I don’t want to be an adult. I like being a little kid with no worries.” Kristen said in a whisper and now was crying.

Mary considered letting her go. She looked so much like a little girl, completely helpless and now crying.

“I can’t do...” Mary started to say when Kirsten pushed hard sending her back against the wall.

Mary let out a scream of shock and pain as she fell. A second later she was on her feet again. Kristen was running hard for the exit. Mary tackled her and the girls ended up rolling and screaming on the floor as they pulled each others hair.

The assistant came running up the hall after she heard the scream. As she pulled Kristen off of Mary, who looked the worse in the fight, the principle came around the corner and down the hall at that moment.

“What is going on here?” He asked looking worried.

“Nothing, sir.” The assistant cried out.

“Who started it?” He looked from one to other.

Quickly Mary blamed Kristen before she could blame her.

“It’s true sir. I saw the whole thing; I didn’t get here in time to stop it.” Kathy said to back-up Mary.

“Everyone to my office.” Principle said calmly.

As they entered, he ordered Kathy to go make a call to their parents to tell them their child was caught fighting. Mary knew better who she was going to really call and judging from Kristen face she knew as well.

The girls sat terrified in the seats as the Principle sat down.

“Now Kristen, you know there is no fighting in school and from what the assistant told me you were trying to sneak out of school as well. Mary here told the assistant then tried to stop her friend from doing wrong.” Principle William said looking at the pair.

Kristen looked guilty as Mary’s hair was still a mess.

“Sorry to say I have to set an example of you Kristen.” He said getting up and taking a paddle from the wall.

“No!” Kristen cried and looked for a whole second she was going to run again.

“Mary, go wait outside with Kathy.” He said as he took her old seat.

Mary had barely left the room when she heard the sound of the paddle.

A loud cry of pain then a small scream was next. Two more times this happened and then the door opened slowly.

Kristen was looking just like any other kid who just got spanked hard.

“Both their parents are coming to picked them up. I’ll make sure the girls meet them.” Kathy said taking Kristen’s free hand while her other hand rubbed her thigh gently.

“OK.” William said and gesturing them to leave.

Diana arrived in her car and Kristen was put in the back seat with a woman Mary recognized as the nurse.

“You in the front.” Kathy said opening the door. As she sat, the doors locked with a click. Mary knew this car had child proof locks so only the driver could release the locks.

“Finger painting.” Diana said plainly as they drove off.

“Did it within two weeks after training to boot. Best one we hired so far.” Diana commented her again and again.

“And you Kristen, going MIA on us. You deserve that paddling.” Diana said coldly as the nurse was keeping a good grip on Kristen.

Mary only heard her say “I just wanted to be a little girl” again and again.

“Sometimes they crack under the pressure.” Diana said as Kristen left with the nurse as a car came and picked them up.

“What will happen to her?” Mary asked sounding little concerned.

“After she is restored to normal, we’ll put her in the best care we got.” Diana said as they entered her house.

Mary went to her room, the guest room, to relaxed and maybe to catch her afternoon nap she missed.

A few minutes later a knock came at the door and Diana came in.

“Your teacher says she is going to miss you.” Diana said as she turned off the cordless phone and grinning.

“The board is very pleased with your work so far. Kristen was a novice agent, but very good at hiding. The person she was staying with was a good friend from her days of High school. Thanks to your finger painting idea we managed to catch two others and force them back to adult hood.” Diana explained as she sat and hugging Mary gently around her shoulder with her arm.

“Thanks Diana.” Mary said trying sound like an adult herself.

“Got another job for you if you’re interested?” Diana said looking down at her.

“What?” Mary asked out of being curious.

“Foster home kinda place. We think there is a small group of retros hiding there, each of them waiting to be adopted. We would finger print them, but a lot of kids are there and the place is own my private company. One or more our missing agents must have found out about this place and passed the word to the others.” Diana said as she debriefed Mary on her next mission.

“How old are they?” Mary said lightly swinging her legs.

“Well its rumored most of them are 10 years old. A married couple are the leaders of the group. So that means we have to age you up a bit before we drop you off. There is another thing I should tell you. There won’t be an insider this time to help you. These agents know everyone of our agents so you can’t alert them by letting them know we know. You are going to have to get to know their names and call us on the phone when you have the entire group.” Diana said in mono tone like voice.

“How will I call you?” Mary asked.

“Foster home will be informed that I am your only living family member left in the world, but I am unable to care for you. When and if you meet the retros tell them your sister is helping you out. Claim to be a new agent gone MIA. It may take some time, but you’ll gain their trust.” Diana said to answer her question.

“I’ll tell you more as a bed time story.” Diana winked at her then stood up.

“Let’s gets some ice on that face of yours. Kristen gave you nasty bruise right there.” Diana said pointing but not touching her face just below her eye.

“After that we shall eat.” Diana said then taking her hand.

“OK.” Mary said then looking alarmed at something in her mouth.

“What’s wrong?” Diana asked after seeing Mary touch her lips gently.

“My front tooth is loose. I think it got hit in the fight.” Mary said little muffed because her fingers where in her mouth wiggling the tooth.

“Don’t worry. It’s a baby tooth and the aging process will take care of that.” Diana said after peering in her mouth and looking at the tooth carefully.

Mary played with the tooth with her tongue the rest of day. Eating dinner proved to be a difficult task. She used her other teeth to eat, but had to be careful not to use her front tooth. Finally as she was taking a bath with Diana who was washing her hair the tooth popped loose.

Blood came out of her mouth and the taste of it made her gag slightly. She stood up holding the spot with her finger feeling the gap.

“Oh dear.” Diana said grabbing a wash cloth and holding it in the gap. After a few minutes of pressure it was safe to remove the bloody wash cloth.

“Haven’t done that in years and years.” Diana said as she tossed the bloody cloth in the sink.

“Me neither.” Mary said gently touching the gap with her tongue. A small taste of blood hit her taste buds.

Mary allowed herself to be dried and dressed by Diana. This had become a routine for both. Mary could only guess that Diana did this to imprint the training and a chance for her to take care of little girl again.

Mary was starting to have thoughts on what would it be like to grow up all over again.

‘Another retro waiting to flee.’ Her mind seemed to say to her as she thought about this.

Still some of the ideas came to her as she went to bed. Diana said good night and switched off the lights.

Mary was an adult, but something was wrong. She was back in the kindergarten class and no one seemed to notice that she was too big for her desk. She went up to the teacher to say sorry and leave the room.

When the teacher said “don’t you belong here?” Mary felt herself shrinking in height back to her old 6 year-old self and still going.

“Or maybe you belong in here.” The teacher said picking her up and putting her in a crib, while all the other kids peered in at her with coos and smiles at the baby girl, now kicking happily in her crib only dress in a diaper. Kristen was tickling her slightly and grinning at her

Mary awoke with a scream and cold sweat was on her face. Outside some thunder rumbled and rain was pouring down.

‘Just a dream’ Mary told herself looking around at her dark room.

‘Only a dream. Nothing to worry about.’ Mary thought now feeling her eyes tear up.

‘Did a part of her what to be a little kid or a baby again?’ Mary asked herself as she laid back down.

‘Or was it because what had happen to her today that caused her to have the dream. Teacher’s phone message, baby tooth, and motherly affection Diana was always showing her.’ Mary thought tossing a bit.

A noise in the kitchen made her jump out of bed. Someone had got up and was getting a drink by the sounds of it.

Mary decided to go tell Diana and if it was Diana not to treat her like a baby anymore. Mary was sure that was what caused her to have that nightmare.

As Mary walked into the kitchen, it was Diana’s teenage daughter sitting at the table with a glass of chocolate milk.

“What’s wrong mutchkin?” Bobbie asked when Mary came around the corner looking like she had been crying.

“Bad dream.” Mary said with her usual lisp.

“Ohhh.” Bobbie said then holding her arms open.

Mary allowed herself to be hoisted up on Bobbie’s lap and her body laying against hers with her head on Bobbie’s breast.

“Bet your feeling homesick that’s all.” Bobbie said rocking the girl.

“Mom told me you lost a baby tooth. Can I see?” Bobbie asked excitedly.

“Yeah.” Mary said opening her mouth wide. Her front right tooth was missing and a nice gap was in its place.

“Cool.” Bobbie said in such a way that anyone would be proud.

“Wasn’t it gross.” Bobbie said twitching a bit.

“Nah.” Mary said now feeling loads better. She pulled out the tooth and showed it to Bobbie for some strange reason.

“Ewww.” Bobbie said in a joking manner that made both of them grin.

Mary was thinking that she was slipping back into the same trap as the missing agents.

Bobbie went on to tell her that she should put it under her pillow for the tooth fairy to get a dollar.

“Not a baby!” Mary said angrily and pushing herself off of Bobbie’s lap with tooth in hand. She glanced at her shocked face and stomped off to her room. She was madder at herself then Bobbie. The teenager was completely in the dark about who she really was.

Maybe to ease her mind of her guilt she put the tooth under the pillow anyway. Eyes still stained with tears she fell asleep as the music of storm pounding outside put her in a deep sleep.

Rest of the night passed without any nightmares. Mary awoke feeling bad about herself. She lifted the pillow to find a nice twenty dollar bill waiting for her.

‘Whoa.’ Mary said in her head and almost whispering it.

‘Twenty bucks is a lot to give a kid her age. Bobbie must have snuck in here after she fell asleep. More guilt piled on to her mind as she took it in her hand.

A knock came at her door and Bobbie came in smiling a little bit.

“Sorry if I babied you a bit, but sometimes you feel like my little sister I never had.” Bobbie said sitting down on her bed and being eye level with her.

“It’s my fault really.” Mary started to say then stopped. She forgot her lisp and her sentence was sounding too adult.

“Don’t sweat it kid. You wanna go for some ice cream before my mom wakes up.” Bobbie asked in devilish voice.

“OK.” Mary agreed thinking this would help her sore gums.

“You’re buying.” Bobbie said at the door and leaving for her room.

Both of them were dressed and ready. The ride was a quick one, just to a place down the road. Mary enjoyed the ice cream more then normal. Mary’s fun was almost ruined when some friends of Bobbie were there as well and wanted to chat to Bobbie. She nodded then ignored them after a while. Getting the idea the teens moved away to chat with others.

They left and went back to the house. Mary was feeling better then she had when she first started.

Diana was just finishing her breakfast and the note Bobbie left for her on the table. They entered and both were talking happily.

“Just in time kids.” Diana said looking at her watch.

“Its time for her to go.” Diana said to Bobbie whose face went to a sad expression.

“Oh mom.” Bobbie said looking at her with a question in her mind.

“Say your goodbyes.” Diana said not noticing Mary’s sad face.

After a big hug Mary was in Diana’s car they were going down the road back to the building she first entered and where her adventure started. Mary grinned when the female guard gave her a secret wink.

‘Did she know?’ Mary asked herself in her thoughts.

Mary was back in Diana’s office. The sun now hiding behind dark clouds. A young boy came through the side door and after a quick chat with Diana she gave him a quick kiss.

Mary looked at them very puzzled.

“Oh I forgot. This is my husband, Rick. He has been training all this time for a risky mission.” Diana said holding the 10 year-old boy in a tight cuddling hold.

“Hi.” Mary said feeling stupid she didn’t catch on to this earlier. Bobbie said her dad was on a business retreat.

“Call me Ricky. Been a retro long?” Ricky asked smiling.

“A few weeks.” Mary said feeling her face going red.

“She is already the best retro finder we got so far. Got Kristen just under two weeks.” Diana said beaming at her.

“Cool.” Ricky said smiling then breaking the hold.

“I got to get back to training, dear.” Ricky said then getting another kiss before leaving.

The nurse came in and passed Rick as he left. She was carrying some clothes and her kit.

Without a word the nurse stripped off her shirt and pulled on the much larger shirt. She took out the hyper gun and put in a very small capsule of a pinkish liquid. Sound of rushing liquid was heard as she pulled the trigger while holding the tip against her shoulder.

“Let your other clothes fall to the ground and puts these on.” The nurse said talking her smaller clothes over to the table and giving her larger clothes before leaving.

Expecting to feel the freezing cold, instead she instead felt hot. Sickly hot as if she had a very high fever then she felt her body growing. The bones in her leg and arms made a popping sound as they grew. Her chest did expand, but still without any breasts. She grew mostly in height and size, but didn’t mature much below her neck. Her face did however mature nicely to a more preteen like face.

She slipped on the clothing and looked every bit of 10 year-old in the refection from the glass behind Diana.

“Wasn’t too bad was it? I only did that once myself to experience it.” Diana said looking slightly concerned.

“I am ok. Just feeling hot.” Mary wiping her brow.

After finishing a bottle of water Diana gave her she was ready. They were riding in her car to the place.

“You’ll have to walk in on your own. Tell them you took the bus. ” Diana said giving her some last minute details.

“OK.” Mary said almost in a dull voice.

“Look at me. Here I am worrying again. If the board members knew how much I cared about my agents they wouldn’t be too please with me.” Diana said slowing down the car.

“I didn’t mind you being motherly to me.” Mary lied quickly.

“Agents from other groups have defected as well. So it wasn’t the way I ran my group alone.” Diana said sighing.

“Any last questions?” Diana said as she stopped the car and gave her a bag full of clothes.

“Why no time limit on this assignment?” Mary asked as if this was the one question she didn’t want to ask.

“As long as it takes. Just call me when you got some names and be careful. You see how much of they fight to kept their childhood.” Diana said then pointing to her mouth.

Mary gave her teeth a quick feel with her tongue and all her teeth were there.

‘Strange now to feel no gap.’ Mary thought quietly for hundredth time.

“Good luck.” Diana said unlocking the doors.

“Thanks.” Mary said opening the door and walking down the street. The building was just around the corner.

The foster home was mostly for kids with no place to go and a chance for young adults to start a new life. Mary found her stay somewhat ok so far. She did find the other retros easy enough. The older the retros were the more mature they were. Lisa the leader of girl retros approached her on her 3rd day there and whispered “Are you retro?” she replied with a “yeah, I’m really 46" then looked very worried that they were being watched.

“Don’t worry. No agents yet.” Lisa answered her worried looks.

“Ok.” Mary said faking a look of relief.

Nearly two weeks went by before the group meet and she was invited. She was amazed that retros hang together and ate at the same table. She made her weekly phone call to her aunt telling her all about her stay. She was not giving any names yet, but only giving habits of the retros here or as she called them her friends.

There were at least 15 former adults hiding here, all at various ages. The youngest was a boy no older then a toddler that a girl in the group mentioned once who was on the first floor. The oldest was only 16 years-old, must be Lisa’s husband. Mary blended in with the retros at the table. Most were close to her age or slightly younger.

Mary found herself asking the retros more questions. Some of them were somewhat personal. One question was why they stay the younger age then before. Most had gotten tired of being assigned from one home to another home spying and stealing information. Others simply didn’t want to return to their adult life with all stress and worries.

Mary went to sleep that night very tired and a new nightmare came.

A group of retros somehow found out she was a spy working for Diana. In revenge they used the hyper gun on her. She dreamt next she shared the playpen with the 2 year-old retro.

With a moan and a yell of "no" she awoke in the dark room.

“You ok, Mary?” a young retro girl name Connie with a bed next to hers was still up.

“Dreams, that’s all.” Mary said rolling over and trying to sleep.

“Let me guess. Stuck in a crib or being diapered?” Connie said quietly.

“Yeah.” Mary said then rolling back over to face her.

“Some 1st timers always get those dreams. That’s why I quit the business. Spent nearly a whole year as a toddler once. All I had to do is get on the computer and log on a fake game site. Through the website they got all information they needed on the possible terrorist. In the end he was innocent and I wasted nearly a year of life pretending to be a baby girl.” Connie said blushing slightly.

“Ever been very young?” Connie asked in a whisper.

“Six once.” Mary said in the same whispered tone.

“You got lucky. If they got you in diapers and you stay in them for a while you kinda develop a bed wetting problem when they age you back. Bad enough having a stranger change your messy diapers for a whole year then going back to normal and waking up in a wet spot after a bad dream.” Connie said looking like she was close to crying.

Mary felt guilty at her job and what it would mean.

“I heard my next assignment was going to be a baby again. So I ran instead of hearing the details.” Connie said almost smiling now.

“Hope they never catch us.” Connie said to Mary grinning little more.

“Ditto” Mary muttered back and pretended to go sleep.

‘Better do it today.’ Mary thought.

‘I am getting too attached to these people.’ Mary tried to convince herself she wasn’t really one of them.

Mary couldn’t bring herself in giving away Connie to Diana. She did mention all the others including the toddler on the 1st floor.

Diana showed up only a day later. All the kids were lined up and told that a secret gang was discovered within the foster home. Agents dressed as cops entered and took all the retros away except for Connie. Mary was surprised when they picked her out and put her in one of cars that were outside. Mary felt bad when the other retros were glaring at Connie as they were being taken out. The girls would surely tell the boys and they would blame Connie for their downfall.

‘I'm so sorry Connie’ Mary thought as she looked through the window of the car.

Mary was treated like the rest as they were taken away. Diana took Mary aside as if she was going to talk to her personally to interrogate her.

“Excellent work, Mary. Few of them are confessing at this moment all the agents that had been adopted have been caught. What I heard from the reports from the chats with the retros you didn’t miss a single retro in the foster home.” Diana said smiling at her across from her desk.

“Thanks.” Mary said almost sadly.

“I know it must be hard to force these people back to reality.” Diana said noticing her sad tone.

“Just kinda hard doing it.” Mary confessed.

“If you want to take a little vacation, you have well earned it. I can grant you a week at least of being an adult again. Not your real age but as a young adult woman or something else.” Diana said looking at her carefully.

“Be nice to have breasts again.” Mary admitted and going red.

“We have rooms here you can stay in and you can see now the real retros are suppose to be.” Diana said glancing at the side door.

The nurse was called in carrying a robe and medical kit. Mary had no modesty these days with her going to strange places and changing age every few weeks. She stripped her shirt off and put on the robe then dropping her other clothes. Next she kicked off her shoes and took her socks off.

The nurse seemed to inject her as this was almost 2nd nature to her. Mary sat down and steadied herself for the heat that would come. Her body grew in size and soon she was maturing at a fast rate. Waves of heat now hit her body and her bones made the same cracking and popping noises under her skin. She felt her bones snap in and out of place as her body was growing. The robe budged out in the chest area and she felt a curious ticking sensation was playing around her lower half as her private hair below grew back.

Mary expected to age more, but it stopped around the age of a young woman. Mary looked in the glass behind Diana and saw that they were hardly older then each other.

“Thank you.” Mary said turning her head and body to admire her younger self.

Diana said “good night” and gestured to the nurse to leave.

The nurse tapped Mary on the shoulder and said “follow me”

Another thanks to Diana and Mary left with the nurse.

After Mary entered the room and nurse left she went straight for the mirror in the bathroom. She disrobed and admired her beautiful young adult body. Perky breasts and no wrinkles in sight on her face could be seen in the mirror as she stood back from the sink.

“Hello beautiful!” Mary exclaimed as she got a full look at herself.

‘You look around 25 years-old.’ Mary thought to herself.

Mary went to the closet for something to wear. Nothing but drab uniforms and robes everyone else wore around here.

‘Not much on style are they.’ Mary thought as she grabbed a pair slacks and plain t-shirt. Luckily enough there also shoes at different sizes as well.

‘Tomorrow I’ll have to see if I can go shopping.’ Mary continued to think as she looked things over.

With a huge yawn and starting to feel sleepy, Mary decided to brush her teeth and head for bed. The room was much like a hotel room except there was everything a guest could need.

Her last thoughts were on wondering if she could stay like this for a while at the least. It was very nice to be young, beautiful, and fully ripe again. Mary was thinking with a grin across her face.

Dreams that night were good ones for once. She dreamt she married and had a few children with her husband. Most of the details were blurred, but she got the main picture of it all.

What she thought was the most realistic part was a small child tugging on her arm. Then Mary awoke with start as she realized it wasn’t part of the dream.

With no windows and only dim light from the bathroom, Mary was able to make out the small outline of a little girl. After her eyes adjusted it was a girl barely out of diapers in Mary’s opinion.

“Shhhh...follow me.” she whispered.

“Who are you?” Mary asked quietly.

“No time right now. Come quick.” The little girl responded peering out the door into the hall.

Mary knew this girl was a retro in training. More experienced in her lisp.

Cautiously Mary followed her down the rest of the hall and through two more doors. Mary was about to ask how much further when they came to the 2nd door and the girl stopped and listened carefully.

‘In here.’ She said in an almost unheard whisper.

Mary walked in wonder if she got a full night’s sleep in. Mary saw it was some kind of security room with an empty desk and monitors on strange looking rooms. White and padded all around like they have in mental hospitals.

‘My name is Ashley.’ The little girl finally spoke.

“What is all this?” Mary said as she approached the desk.

“Rouge retros.” Ashley said walking beside her and looking at the monitors.

“I’m being train to sneak out and around as part of my first mission. I came here on my first night, but those rooms were empty before. When I heard about you and how many you discovered I knew that all these retros are the ones you caught. So I thought I come and show you what happens to them. Few of people they hired went MIA after a while like them. Weird how some of them don’t want to be an adult again.” Ashley said looking at the monitors and watching the one in the corner carefully.

In the far corner monitor at the moment a security guard was eating in a cafeteria at the end of the hall past the rooms.

Mary looked at the screens. Most of the monitors were on night vision and lite in green. No children were in these rooms. All were young adults hardly any older then herself.

“What will happen to them?” Mary asked trying not to sound too concerned.

“Well, they defiantly will be kick out of the project. From there I guess they will be relocated somewhere safe. Might even take on another job as a paper pusher I guess.” Ashley said turning away from the monitors.

“All thanks to you that they were caught.” Ashley said almost admiring her.

“Just luck.” Mary said looking at each room. She knew most of them by name having spent some time with them.

“Best one we had so far. I hope to become a retro finder one day. ” Ashley said with slight bit of awe in her voice.

Before Mary could comment, Ashley was tugging on her arm again.

“The guard” she said quietly.

The guard had in indeed gotten up and now was walking back.

The pair of girls hurried through two doors down the hall back to Mary’s temporary room.

“I’d better get back to bed. Nurse Nanny might come early on her rounds.” Ashley said still hanging by the door.

“By the way, everyone kinda looks up to you.” Ashley said with wink and then was gone.

Mary had a few more questions for her, but she was gone like a thief in the night.

Mary didn’t sleep the rest of night. Her mind was going back to the faces in the rooms. Tear stained, some angry and then some of them were tossing and turning in their beds. None of them look happy at the moment as she watched.

‘It’s not my fault they are like that. It’s my job to bring them in.’ Mary finally agreed to herself.

Diana came in with a good morning and offered to escort her personally while she shopped for new clothes. Light conversations were heard as they went from place to place mostly about fashion and style.

Mary took this time to get to know Diana a little better. They were somewhat friends, but still somewhat distance from each other.

Mary had just bought a few outfits for any new assignments that might come up when Diana’s cell phone rang.

Diana looked serious and stared at Mary with her full attention.

“Ok, we will be there shortly.” Mary heard Diana say after it sounded like someone on the other line was having a panic attack.

“Trouble?” Mary asked after Diana flipped her phone closed.

“Attempted break-out.” Diana said as they rushed out of the store and to her car.

“How many tried to get out?” Mary asked as they reached her car and was climbing inside.

“None. A previous retro tried to break them out and someone got into our records and inside the building. That’s all I know.” Diana said speeding her car down the street in record time.

Mary remained silent until they reached the familiar building. As Mary followed Diana, she saw a security guard woman being attended to by medics and a lot people in suits.

“How did this happen?” Diana yelled to one of her assistants.

“He had security clearance on him. He managed to get into the record’s room before we realized who he was.” The assistant said sheepishly.

“That room is off limits to all expect for me and the board and who was it by the way?” Diana said angrily.

“Yes, that’s what gave him away and it was Bill Wolf. We stopped him before he got to the cells, but he used her as a hostage, and then ran out here just before he was shot.” The assistant explained pointing to the female security guard in the elevator, and then to the guard that was normally at the front desk now bleeding from the shoulder area. A medic was attending to his wound trying to stop the bleeding.

“Madam, there is also one more thing you should know. He only took one file, the one you deemed as level 10 security.” The assistant said quickly, looking very troubled.

“Very well. The Board can clean this up and I want you to write up a report on this incident now.” Diana said making her way to the elevator.

Mary followed her wondering if she should of or not, but a gesture from Diana told her to follow.

Now alone in the elevator, Diana started talking again this time in her normal calm voice.

“Mary, The file he was talking about was yours. I had it restricted to all, say for me. With so many rouges out there and the possible chance we might have a mole or two; I had your personal information sealed away. Bill Wolf was a unique agent. He works as an assassin most of the time.” Diana explained as they walked down the hall and into her office.

“I thought you all spied on people and that was it.” Mary said sounding concerned now for who she was working for.

“Yes, we do. Another agency wanted us to give him a shot to change his looks. After a while he was granted a small supply. Soon after that he went rouge. We don’t know why or how much of his own personal supply he has left.” Diana said looking regretful that she didn’t say anything sooner.

“Why haven’t I been told any of this?” Mary asked, then thought how she was their top independent agent they had at the moment.

“Because he is beyond your level of experience and security clearance, and is highly trained and dangerous. We hoped he was captured or killed, but it appears he is working for someone or is on his own person crusade. We are going to have to act fast. Your life is in danger now more then ever. You’ll have to sleep here tonight and in the morning we’ll decide what to do.” Diana said pacing back and forth behind her desk.

Mary jumped a little when the phone rang on Diana’s desk. Diana looked pityingly at her then picked up the phone.

“Yes, sir, of course.” Diana said looking at Mary to leave by the side door.

Mary smiled a little to show she understood and went through the side door to her room.

“Madam,” A new security guard said then opened the door on the other end of the room.

“Thanks” Mary said as she passed him and wondered why she didn’t get checked for her security level or something. Mary’s adult face must have given her thoughts away to the guard.

“Don’t worry, Mary. We met before.” guard said.

Mary looked hard at the face then she realized. One of retro boys that sat at a table the first day she was here.

“Make a handsome man.” Mary said blushing. Her youthful body and appearance made her feel bold.

“I’m Steve and you’re still as lovely as ever.” He said just before shutting the door.

Mary passed nothing more then shut doors and very quiet rooms. She wondered if this was all part of a lock down drill. Mary only realized after she laid down on the bed, that she left her new clothes for whatever new assignment in Diana’s car.

Mary spent most of day and afternoon watching TV and not paying attention to any of the shows. The idea of an assassin out there and possibility of him hunting her now didn’t settle well with her younger self. After an hour or two, she got a better grip on her emotions.

Mary stomach growled loudly and she realized that she hadn’t had anything to eat all day. She was just about to leave the room when the door opened. Diana and a nurse came in carrying two trays of food.

“Don’t know if you are hungry, but I am.” Diana said as she entered. The nurse took a standing spot beside the door.

“I thought of a plan. We are going to put you under two of the best people we have and under the best disguise one could think of. ” Diana said setting down the trays at a small table.

“How young?” Mary said sitting down at the table.

“I am thinking 6 or 7 years-old. You’re very different in looks and no one will except you changing back to such a young age so soon.” Diana said smiling.

“Nice agents?” Mary said not taking a bite of her food yet.

“I think I’m a nice person.” Diana said grinning.

“It’s become that dangerous.” Mary said quietly so the nurse didn’t overhear.

“Sorry to say so. Even more there is a risk. They could shut us down for months. So if you change now there is a chance you may never go back or want too.” Diana said quietly.

“I do admit there were times I thought about it, but I am willing to take the risk, anything to be young again.” Mary said in a willing tone.

“We’ll hire someone to take your place at your home. Hopefully this will bring him into the open and we’ll catch him. You’ll get a little vacation at my place with my family.” Diana said gesturing for the nurse to come closer.

“Won’t he know you don’t have two daughters?” Mary asked as she raised her arm for the injection.

“That is the beautiful part of it. Only my personal staff knows about you and my records were untouched until I changed it to include you. We are even going to double the security around here while you’re away. So relax and take a load off.” Diana said as she watched the nurse take the hypodermic gun out of her pocket.

“Sounds like you want to join me.” Mary said as the gun hiss was almost unheard over her words.

“You have no idea.” Diana said waving the nurse out of the room to fetch something.

Chilly waves of tingles over took Mary’s body as she shivered with no control over herself. Mary wished she passed out, but instead she went limp in the chair for a minute before regaining her own thoughts. Already she felt her body changing. Her chests flattened and she lost a great deal of height just within seconds.

Sounds and things around her seemed oddly distance as she changed.

“Your body is doing a much better job of fighting off the side effects.” Diana said encouragingly.

An oddly sick feeling was in the pit of her stomach as she went in the reverse puberty stage. Soon it passed and she was glad when it stopped.

Looking around she saw a point of view she almost regretted seeing again.

“You’re a little older then last time, but hardly changed since the last time you were going to stay with me.” Diana said taking some clothes from the nurse.

Mary was shocked she hadn’t notice the nurse’s return with her new clothes.

The nurse left again in a hurry to attend to other duties, while Diana helped Mary dress quickly. After a quick trip to the bathroom to wash off the little make-up she put on earlier that day, she was back in the room and dressed like any other kid in the world.

“Eat up. It’s getting cold.” Diana said almost motherly like to her as she started on her own meal.

Mary smiled and ate her food quickly. She nearly cleaned the plate when Diana said it was time to go.

“Don’t mind if I carry you out.” Diana said standing over her.

“I’m kinda big for that, but if you can I’m alright with it.” Mary said with her arms open wide.

With a great effort on both sides, Mary found herself now being carried by Diana. Her arms were around Diana’s neck and her legs around Diana’s hip as Diana’s arms were under her thighs for support.

Mary grinned at the thought on how Diana’s breasts were like big soft warm pillows as she laid her now child body against them as she was carried out of the room down the hall.

Mary grinned as they passed the guard in the little room just before Diana’s office. Steve the guard did a double take on her face and then waved a little goodbye as Diana had her back to him.

Running around doing the shopping spree, the recent excitement, and now a full meal, Mary closed her eyes in a peaceful sleep on the way home to Diana’s place. Even when they arrived, Mary clumsily made her way to the guest bedroom and dropped on the bed to sleep some more.

Mary awoke to sounds of someone preparing breakfast. Thinking it was Diana or Bobbie; she jumped out of bed and ran into the kitchen. There standing by the stove and fixing some eggs was a man Mary had only seen pictures of before.

“Hey Ricky.” Mary said wishing she hadn’t taken off her shorts before she went to bed.

“Just Rick now and you must be a very comfortable here.” Rick said taking notice of her little girl shirt and pink underwear for the entire world to see.

“Oh yeah.” Mary said pulling down her shirt to hide herself a little better.

“Don’t be shy; I used to have a little girl that refused to wear anything around the house. I’ll trust you to keep a bit more clothes on while I’m home.” Rick said fixing some extra toast.

“Dad, who are you talking to about me?” Bobbie said as she came around the corner to see Mary standing there by the table and her dad by the stove.

“Mutchkin!” Bobbie said lifting Mary up for a quick twirl.

“She’s staying with us again for a little longer then last time.” Diana said coming to see what all the noise was about.

“So girls, how do you want your eggs?” Rick said as they all sat at the table.

Bobbie wanted scrambled while Diana took hers over easy. Mary thought about it and said scramble, but with cheese. Soon after, Bobbie changed hers to Mary’s request.

“Eat up. There is lots of work to do.” Rick said to Mary as he filled up her small plate then sat it in front of her.

“Dad, there are child labor laws. Besides you should let her be a kid and watch TV all day. She just got here.” Bobbie objected.

“I remember a little girl once who couldn’t wait to help her daddy when the week-ends came.” Rick said seriously to Bobbie.

“Well, there wasn’t anything good on TV back then.” Bobbie said giving a wink to Mary.

“Well, no time to chat. I got to get ready for work and Bobbie do not be late for school.” Diana said getting up from her seat.

“Ok.” Bobbie said finishing up her meal.

“Love you, daddy.” Bobbie said a minute after cleaning her plate then kissing her dad Rick on the cheek.

Mary almost wished she had an excuse to leave the table. Sitting there with nothing but chores ahead of her, she felt almost useless.

With Diana gone for work, and Bobbie off to her high school, it was just Mary and Diana’s husband Rick in the kitchen now. Mary thought how odd their first meeting was. Rick turned into a little boy for some dangerous assignment and stopped in his wife’s office to say hi.

“If you don’t want to do the cleaning and such I understand. We retros do have a hard time relaxing. Big or small we are always working.” Rick said as he cleaned the table of dishes.

“Never was much for cleaning.” Mary said honestly.

“Actually, I was going to tune up the car then clear out the garage of junk.” Rick said as he put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher.

“I don’t know anything about cars.” Mary said dully.

“I’ll teach you then. Get dressed in something old and you don’t mind getting dirty in.” Rick said while was cleaning his hands with a rag.

“Yeah.” Mary said cheerfully and slid off her chair to go to her room.

“Might save me a few bucks when I’m back to normal.” Mary said as she left the room.

Rick grinned on how funny it was to hear a little girl worry about money.

Being in southern parts of the states, it was still pretty warm outside. Mary dressed in an old pair of blue shorts and a gray t-shirt she didn’t care for.

Mary had a better time then she guessed she would of. She was able to remember a little bit on the engine and thought she could change the oil in her own car and do a few other minor checks. Most of the time, she handed tools to Rick, as he laid on his back under the car.

After the car was done with, Mary had a somewhat enjoyable job of dragging junk down the driveway to the curve. Rick was helping a little as he carried an old box of junk to the garbage can.

Sitting down at a work bench low to ground, Rick took a moment to look at Mary.

“What?” Mary asked wondering why he was looking at her in such a way.

“Nothing.” Rick said taking his index finger and wiping the side of face to show she had some oil there.

“I’m cleaner then you are.” Mary said taking in the dirty face in front of her. The combination of dust, dirt, and oil now covered Rick’s face.

“Go ahead and clean up. I’ll be in shortly and catch my shower after you’re done.” Rick said going over to his tools and putting them away carefully.

Mary went inside and when she got to bathroom she saw what was so funny. She looked like she had crawled out of an engine of a car rather then worked on it. Taking off her shirt then using it to wipe down her face, she was little cleaner there now then before.

Mary amused herself with the thought of what her mom or dad would have to say if their daughter had ever got this dirty.

Taking a handful of Go-joe de-greasing hand soap, from a bottle just by the sink, Mary proceeded to cover her hands and face in a thin layer. Slipping off her shorts and underwear she stepped into the shower to wash up.

Minutes later, after a little lather and hot water, she looked and felt clean again.

‘Hello cutie.’ Mary said to herself as she wrapped a towel around and looked at herself now clean and wet.

Looking carefully, she saw that she was maybe a year older then last time she was here and maybe an inch or two taller at best.

Feeling relaxed and unconcerned she left the bathroom with just a towel on and went into her room to dress. Mary did shut the door while she dressed and heard Rick hurriedly pass her door then heard the bathroom door shutting.

Mary went to the living room to kick back and watch some TV. Early morning shows on the news were still on, but these news programs were always a drag. Mary considered watching the afternoon cartoons that were going to come on later, but those seemed too childish for her.

Mary decided to play an old Godzilla DVD movie in the end and soon Rick, still a little wet from his shower, but dressed and very clean, came in to sit beside her. Mary wasn’t sure why she did it, but she soon found herself in his lap and laying back on his strong chest, as if she was his little girl, as they sat there watching the movie.

“This takes me back in memories.” Rick said putting his strong hands around her to hold her.

“Feel so safe here.” Mary said feeling that she could let down her guard for once.

“Good to hear. Let’s not worry about you know who and take a well earned vacation from all of this.” Rick said stroking her head a little to move her hair back.

Mary sat there wishing she had a man like Rick in her life. She spent so much time thinking about this and watching more movies that she hardly noticed how much time had passed. Soon Bobbie was home and sat down at the sofa with them to watch the old movies as well.

Mary had the strangest feeling that somehow she had been transported into this family’s life as their youngest daughter. Mary wondered what Rick and Diana would say if she expressed her small, but ever growing desire to stay as a little kid.

Rick had to break the comfortable sitting style they created when the phone rang an hour or two later. Mary shifted herself to sit in Bobbie’s lap. Bobbie’s hand held Mary as if she was a baby in her lap.

“That was your mother. She is going to working pretty late tonight due to some problem at work. She said we should order some pizza or go out and eat.” Rick said addressing his daughter.

“Pizza sounds good.” Bobbie said looking down Mary for her approval.

“Yeah. It’s ok with me.” Mary said and thought going out might have been a bit embarrassing for her, with a waiter or waitress handing her a balloon or crayons to play with as the adults ordered their food.

Almost 30 minutes later, they were all around the kitchen table eating the pizza that was delivered and listening to Bobbie’s day at school.

Her dad asking some questions on school, friends, and grades.

Mary smiled a little as she ate little bites of pizza when she heard Bobbie talk about how hard some subjects were and her plans for the future.

Mary could only wish she could share her adult experiences and tell Bobbie that whatever your plans are they’ll always turn out the way you want to them. Mary sat idly by and listened in on the conversation.

Mary became annoyed that she couldn’t join in the adult chatter without revealing who she was. Mary was glad when she looked up at the clock and saw that she could excuse herself to bed.

With a sleep tight and good night from each of them, Mary slowly walked to bed. Yawning and a few sore muscles, Mary climbed into bed looking forward to a long rest and perhaps a week free any worries.

A week turned into two weeks and Mary was becoming very comfortable around everyone in the house. The only person she didn’t see too often was Diana. She had to work late nearly every night that week.

Mary had a few fun times with Bobbie when she had the time, but Bobbie had homework and school to deal with. Meanwhile, Mary had Rick as a teacher. She learned a few more things about cars then about computers as she was taught on the home computer in the living room.

Mary was coming to regard Rick as a long lost uncle she never had. Again she was feeling that she had it all, a family, all her needs taken care of, and a small fortune waiting to be claimed in her bank accounts. So good were her feelings that she was forgetting to fight the carefulness that came with the passage of time that she spent in her new body.

So Mary found herself humming tunes and swinging her legs in a carefree manner whenever she felt most relaxed. Mary was happy that Diana got the weekend off from work to spend time with her family. Mary was amazed that she had been running around in a t-shirt and underwear the night when Diana came to tell them that she would be home more often. Diana then told Mary to be dressed for a shopping trip in the morning.

Mary suspected there was more to the shopping trip and perhaps Diana just wanted to talk in private somewhere far away from her house and work.

Mary found herself fully awake very early in the morning and her stomach was filled with butterflies as if she was going to the dentist soon. Soon Mary gave a jump of joy as she heard the unmistakable sounds of Diana getting ready to go out. Sounds of a hair dryer and the sounds of various brushes being tossed back down on the counter said it was Diana. Bobbie only used a brush before putting her hair back in a pony tail.

Mary was dressed and waiting for Diana to come into the room.

“Ready to go?” Diana said bluntly as she entered the room.

“Ready and willing, sir.” Mary said as if she was solider ready for battle.

“At ease.” Diana said grinning.

“Good to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor. We do have a lot to talk about.” Diana said stepping back from the doorway to let Mary go out first.

“Good news I hope.” Mary said on her through the doorway.

Once outside and in view of public eyes, Mary always pretended to be nothing more then a little girl. She found this very easy to do. After weeks of watching other kids, real ones for example, she was very good at it.

To her puzzlement, Diana drove to a mall. When they were inside and seated in a cheesy little fast food spot in the back, Diana started in on the details, as Mary had a fast food breakfast meal.

“Things are going good, but there is a small problem. So far if you were wondering, nothing else has happen. It’s part of the problem as well. Wolf hasn’t made a single move since the break-in. Getting you out of danger right of way was smart, but I think he smelled the trap we set-up for him at your place.” Diana said after taking a long slip from her drink.

“So what now. Stay with you and start my life over?” Mary asked in a neutral tone not voicing which side she wanted to be on.

“I’ll admit, it would be interesting.” Diana said tilting her head to one side to think it over.

“That wouldn’t be professional and the board does look over my shoulder all the time.” Diana said after a few seconds of consideration.

“Much longer and I’ll soon want this life more then my old life.” Mary said in an exhausted tone.

“I do admit there are times I have a hard time believing you’re just pretending.” Diana said in impressed voice.

“What about the project? Have they said if they are going to shut you down or not?” Mary asked the question that was bursting to get out.

“No, in fact they want us to do everything we can to get him. I do think it is strange that he hasn’t show himself yet. He is smart, but I feel he’ll come out into the open very soon.” Diana said quietly. The noise of early morning shoppers and co-workers in the back talking drowned out their voices to anyone outside their table.

“Oh ok. So where do we go from here?” Mary asked her hopes dwindle even further down then before.

“I’m going to make a few calls on my cell phone and then we going to shop for a while, perhaps a computer for you. I got some info that you’re very good on a computer. Also it is a little thank you from myself and Steve for all the work you saved us.” Diana said watching Mary for a reaction.

“You’ll be surprised what you can learn when you have nothing but time on your hands.” Mary said pushing her tray away for Diana to put it away.

“I wish I knew what that was like. If only I could have some more free time.” Diana said her eyes showing just how badly she wanted it.

“Let’s get to it.” Diana said sliding out of her side of the booth and picking up the trays to sit on top the plastic trash can by their table.

While Mary looked over the software, she thought what might come in handy for her old job as a detective. Diana made a few calls that lasted for a few minutes at a time. Mary accidentally overheard that Diana was checking in on the status of the hunt.

As Mary was looking over the latest in firewall protection, a somewhat too cheerful voice came from her side.

“Crime fighter I’ll bet.” A woman said in a happy tone.

Mary looked up to see a sales woman of the store looking down on her with a loving look. Mary looked at the name tag pinned on her shirt to see her name was Sally.

“Our children’s games are right over there.” Sally said gesturing toward the counter area of the store.

“There is a laugh, my little genius playing around with those games. It’s been years since she played with preschool games.” Diana said in an honest tone and coming to rescue.

Sally straightened up and look into Diana’s face for any hint that she was stretching the truth.

“High IQ?” Sally asked after a moment.

“Very. Equal to an adult’s at the moment.” Diana said and gave the impression that Mary was the next Einstein.

“Should have guessed. It was odd to see a little girl looked at nothing but security and protection type software.” Sally said if to free herself from any guilt she might have.

“We also have some pretty good anti-virus software and anti-hacker stuff as well.” Sally said gliding her feet in a walk that was so fast that they turned their heads to see exactly where she was going before following.

“We’re also very interested in ordering computers as well. ” Diana said after hearing a detail sales pitch on some of the programs.

“Mary here is the resident computer genius and she’ll tell what she wants on her system and I’ll take a nice system for a small family.” Diana said as they all now followed Sally to the counter.

Mary had to admit that she had the guilty pleasure of telling what she wanted and seeing the shocked face of Sally as she heard a little girl talk about things on the computer she barely understood.

Mary was glad when she completed her request and Diana stepped in with a debit card to pay. One more smile from Sally to cover up the fact she was amazed and Mary would have gone into a fit giggles for an hour.

“The look on her face when she mentioned children’s games to you, priceless.” Diana said once they were outside of the store and back in the mall.

“Pretty funny.” Mary said thinking over her latest victory.

“Can’t wait to tell Rick. He admitted to me there were times he wished he could do what you just did.” Diana said checking her cell phone for messages.

“So is there anything you want? Or need?” Diana said seriously and looking briefly around the stores.

“No, got plenty of clothes and you have already done too much for me.” Mary admitted.

“Well, there is one thing you can do for me.” Diana said her eyes fixed on a photo machine in the middle of mall area.

“Deal.” Mary said thinking she’ll kept at least one picture for herself for old times sake.

A minute later, they were both walking out of the mall and to Diana’s car while looking over the four small pictures they got from the photo machine.

“There is a nice one, very mature and lady like.” Diana said looking over the one photo where Mary stuck her tongue out and her eyes rolled back.

“Call it a whim.” Mary said quietly as a young man had just turned the corner of a van and was walking toward them.

“Diana, good to see you.” the man said taking a gun out of the light jacket as casually as a person takes their wallet out.

“Mr Wolf.” Diana said pushing Mary behind her legs.

“Beautiful daughter.” Wolf commented seeing the scared face.

“Yes, what do you want?” Diana said sternly.

“I want the independent agent you’ve gone to so much trouble in hiding. Rumors have reached me that she is very good and how long til she comes after me. Besides, I’m in the mood for a little revenge anyway.” Mr Wolf said calmly and smiling as if this was a everyday conversation.

“I had no choice. What did you think would happen if you went rouge?” Diana said in a stern tone that made most adults fear her.

“Real smart, giving childhood photos of me to our enemies then putting my face and name in the dangerous runaway kid’s list. I did have plans in re-joining the army and advancing so fast in the ranks that I’ll be a general before you even considering retiring.” Wolf said his voice and face showing anger.

“Shoot me if you wish, but don’t harm her.” Diana said briefly moving her eyes down toward her legs.

Mary could only see a limited view of Mr Wolf through Diana’s legs. Thinking fast, she had to think of something. They were in the middle of a parking lot full of people, but two people appearing to have a friendly chat doesn’t exactly draw attention.

‘Think.’ Mary yelled to herself inside her thoughts.

“I don’t think you want to fire that gun here. There is a cop parking his car just 3 spaces from your van.” Diana said looking quickly over Wolf’s shoulder.

Turning his head the smallest turn Mary had ever seen, he looked out of the corner of his eye to confirm the truth.

“Very well, your purse then. I’m sure it has a cell phone and maybe a PDA in it with a lot of secret numbers and names on it.” Mr Wolf said shifting the gun closer to his body to hide it. The sounds of a car door were now heard and two officers were stepping out.

Mary could tell from the side view of Diana’s face that she’d rather die then to let that information be taken. The thought that could save them occurred to Mary.

‘What would a real little girl do?’ Mary asked herself in a thought.

The wail and crying that followed startled Wolf and all the people in the near area. Mary did her best to make it sound like she was hurt rather then scared.

Bill Wolf turned his head to see the cops now jogging toward them. Making a quick grab for the purse, Diana put up a fight.

Mary watched it happen so fast she thought it was a bad dream at first.

A small pop sound and Diana fell backwards, her body just missing Mary as her face was in a shocked expression.

The world around her seemed to speed up as she watched Wolf turn his gun on the cops only to be shot no less then 12 times. Mary then found herself putting her small hands over Diana’s gun shot wound trying to stop the bleeding, but the blood was coming through her small fingers.

Next the female officer pulled her off and the male officer took over and was calling in for help.

Through real tear stained eyes now, Mary looked around to see a small group of people gathering around them to see what had happen. When more cops came and the ambulance showed up, Mary decided to play the part of little girl in shock.

After Mary was cleaned up and checked out, she found herself in the passenger seat of a cop car with a nice female officer saying they were going to follow the ambulance to the hospital.

When the officer asked if her daddy could meet her there and a number he could be reach at, Mary give Diana’s home number and hoped that Rick wasn’t in the garage out of range of the phone ringing.

“Brave girl I must say.” Officer said as she started up the car and both watched Diana be put on a stretcher and loaded into the ambulance.

Mary remained quiet on the trip there and while she sat in the hallway of the hospital. The female officer, by her side at all times, was reassuring her that everything was alright and she did nothing wrong.

Mary hardly noticed when Rick had arrived, but she was relieved to see him. A worried look with a mixed of concern was in his face now.

The officer by Mary’s side quickly explained that Diana was shot while a purse snatcher was trying to steal her purse.

Rick gave a side glance at Mary; her guilt became a great deal heavier. The officer said Mary was just in a state of shock before wishing them good night and hoped everything turns out alright.

Rick thanked her and sat in the now empty seat beside Mary. The busy waiting room of a hospital was no place for telling Rick what happened. Instead Rick took his hand to hold onto Mary’s hand. Mary sat beside Rick with her head lowered and her hand tightly in Rick’s hand.

Minutes passed and a nurse came in calling for them. Mary passed two people she knew for sure were under Diana’s office. They nodded as they passed and Mary followed Rick into the recovery room.

A private room was ordered for her due to her level of security and a man in a suit guarded the door and only shut it after they passed.

“Everything’s fine.” Diana said once the door was shut and her husband rushed to her side.

“I thought I was the one in family that is supposed to take all the risks.” Rick said grinning at Diana. She sat in an up right position her body stiff, but slowly healing.

“It’s going to be just fine. Missed everything important and they were able to get it out of me.” Diana said in a reassuring tone.

“Sorry, I did what I did. It’s my fault you got hurt.” Mary said approaching the bed.

“Your fault? If it wasn’t for you, I’d never have got the gun to point away from my heart or lungs.” Diana said remembering it in a blurred memory now.

Mary only stood there wishing she’d grow up suddenly and leave, never see them again.

“Did you wonder how he found us?” Diana said quietly.

“No.” Mary thought and was for sure no cars were following them.

“He was tracking calls from the office to my cell phone.” Diana said.

Mary looked up shocked of why she didn’t see it before. The van he came from did make a small humming sound.

“Our people got a hold of his van and discovered he been using it since you went under my protection. Luckily I guess, he didn’t track me back home. I fear he would have hurt Bobbie thinking she was the agent.” Diana said looking guilty herself.

“So you have nothing to feel guilty about.” Rick said chiming in just in time.

“You either.” Mary said looking at Diana in the eyes.

“Almost forgot.” Mary said pulling out a slip of pictures.

“Real mature.” Rick said taking a look at them and handing them to his wife.

Diana grinned and gave a look that she would like to be hugged by both of them, if she could.

“Rick, baby. Give Bobbie a call. She’ll be worried sick if she doesn’t get news right away.” Diana said giving a stern look at him to leave now.

“Will do.” Rick said giving his wife a small kiss before leaving.

After the door was shut and no one could hear them, Diana spoke first.

“You know. I will need someone to look after me even after I get out of here. Not looking for a nurse or someone as an employee, but a friend.” Diana said looking questioningly at Mary.

“I think I know someone, but she’ll need to get a bit older before she can help out.” Mary said doing a very good impression of a child.

“Deal.” Diana said resting her head and offering Mary to sit beside her in silence.

The End.