author's notes: it's been a long time since i've uploaded anything, i wonder if anyone here remembers me anymore? anyways, yep, it's me, the original Cree/Chad fan. this fic is completely unrelated to my other fics, since it follows the show a little more closely. in fact, you probably need to have seen Operation: MAURICE in order for this to make any sense, as Maurice will be an important character in this fic.

just to warn you, there's going to be some point-of-view jumping in this fic. i generally separate sections of POVs with breaks, like this: --- so don't be thrown off if you suddenly seem to be in someone else's head. i also will sometimes go over the same scene from a different character's point of view, so if you think "didn't that already happen?" chances are it did, but this time we're seeing it from another character's point of view.

disclaimer: Codename: Kids Next Door belongs to Mr. Warburton and Cartoon Network

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Grasping Maurice's hand firmly, Cree dragged him to the pizza joint. Maurice was feeling rather uncomfortable; would he be able to pull this off? Would everyone look at him and realize instantly that he was a kid in teen's clothing?

"Have you ever been here before?" she asked him as he peered uncertainly through the front window.

"Kinda. I've carried out before, but I've never eaten here. The teens would always chase me out."

"Well, don't worry about that anymore, you're one of us now!" Cree beamed at him and pulled him inside.

They stepped into the pizza place. It was small, warm, and crowded. Maurice scanned the room apprehensively. Other than the workers, there was no one over the age of twenty, nor under the age of thirteen present. He hoped that he wasn't as conspicuous as he felt.

"Oh, good, he's already here," he heard Cree say. She was still holding his hand. Why wouldn't she let go?

Maurice saw Cree wave to someone at the back of the pizzeria. The person looked up, seeing Cree, then immediately noticed him. Their eyes met.

"Numbuh 274," Maurice uttered in a low voice.

Cree turned to look at him. "Right, so you recognize him? Just don't call him that to his face. It's Chad, now."

Chad was glaring at him with thinly veiled hatred. Maurice's heart jumped in panic—why was he looking at him like that? Could Numbuh 274 know that he was a spy? Chad's tactical skills were well known, as well as his high-level hacking abilities. But the KND Covert Teen program was extra-super secret; he couldn't possibly be privy to this knowledge?

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Chad sat in the busy pizzeria, staring at the plastic red-and-white-checkered tablecloth. Every once in a while he would glance at the window, but seeing no one, he would return his attention to the space directly in front of him so he wouldn't have to make eye contact with the other teens surrounding him.

"Are you ready to order?"

"I'm waiting for someone," Chad muttered, fingering the puddle of condensation forming around his glass of ice water. The waitress walked away.

Cree had asked him to meet her there. It wasn't an unusual thing, really, but she said she wanted him to meet someone. A new recruit, a former KND operative like themselves. Ever since he turned thirteen, Chad hated meeting new people.

He heard the squeak of the door as it opened, muted by the sound of the crowd. Looking up, he saw her, and the beginnings of a smile played on his lips. He couldn't help it, seeing Cree instinctively made him smile.

But she was with someone, the former operative who would be joining their team. He had foolishly hoped that it would her sister, Abigail. He knew that Cree longed to work alongside her again. He had hoped that the discernable joy in her voice when she told him was due to the impending reunion.

Not so, apparently. The person with her was a boy—dark skinned, dreadlocked hair. And attractive, dammit. And she was holding his hand.

Chad scowled at him. Unless Cree's first words were, "This is my long-lost brother," he was definitely going to hate this guy.

"Chad, this is Maurice, the new recruit."

Chad did not like the way she smiled and looked at the new guy when she said his name.

"Uh…hi." Maurice hesitated, and then held out his hand.

Chad stared at the proffered hand coldly. Rejecting it, he fixed his eyes on the other's face again. "So what's the news from Moonbase?"

He watched coolly as the new guy stammered non-sentences. Then gaped in horror as Cree gently placed a hand on Maurice's chest to mollify him, murmuring words of comfort.

At Chad, she stared daggers. She roughly pulled him several steps away, leaving Maurice just out of earshot. "You could at least try to be a little friendly."

"I'm just trying to see if he knows any of the current KND plans," Chad grumbled defensively.

"He…doesn't," Cree hedged in reply. "He's been decommissioned."

"What? Then he's useless!"

"No, he's not. He was one of the best operatives when—"

"Was. Now he's just a regular dumb teen!"

"He's a member of the team now, so you're going to have to deal with it."

Chad glared at Maurice, who was looking around the room nervously. "I don't trust him."

"You just met him." Gazing at Maurice, her expression changed, as did her tone. "Come on, you'll like him once you get to know him."

'That,' thought Chad, 'is a long shot.'

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author's notes: this is just a prologue, there's more to come.
and yep, Maurice made a major faux pas in the beginning, calling Chad "Numbuh 274" in front of Cree (he was supposedly decommissioned and shouldn't remember anything about the Kids Next Door) but luckily for him, Cree didn't catch on.