Cinder calmly strolled into the medical center in her base, the child still knocked out in her arms. The two medics turned towards her, not expecting to see her carrying a small child in her arms. The two men stared at her in surprise. She gave them a stoic look, then held Harry out towards them.
"Take care of this one's injuries." She commanded.
"M-Ma'am, where'd you get this kid?" One of the medics asked. His response came in the form of a ball of fire being held inches away from his cheek.
"Do I pay you to question me?"Cinder asked menacingly.
"N-No..."
"That's right. Now get to work." Cinder turned and left the room, wanting to think about what to do with the kid.
A few hours later, Cinder was sitting in her easy chair, absentmindedly messing around with her fire powers. She was deep in thought... So now that the kid was here...What would she do with him? She inwardly scowled at the thought of just dumping him off at an orphanage or on someone's doorstep... But maybe...Maybe she could train him into an effective minion...? Cinder shook her head, disturbed with herself for even considering the notion of using a child to accomplish her evil plans... She just didn't know what to do with him...
Suddenly, there was frantic knocking on the other side of her door, jolting her from her train of thought.
"Enter." She called out calmly. In stepped one of her henchmen.
"Um...ma'am, the kid you brought's awake now..."
"Very good. How is he doing?"
"...He's freaking the hell out, ma'am. We thought you might be able to quiet him down a bit..."
Cinder frowned. What could he possibly be afraid of?
"...I'm coming down right now." She said as she rose to her feet. The minion nodded and left, and the young woman walked down the hall at a brisk pace.
Beforehand...
Harry's eyes gradually opened, and he blinked to clear his blurred vision. Something felt...off... His cupboard wasn't as hard and cold as it usually was...and the agonizing pain that usually racked his body was significantly dimmed. Groggily, the little boy forced himself to sit...and his eyes widened in horror as he realized that he wasn't in his cupboard at all. But that had to mean... Oh no...He had been seen! Uncle Vernon had warned him what would happen if anyone saw him! Harry's head snapped to the side when he heard the door open. A man in a doctor's outfit stepped in.
"Excellent! You're awake! So, how are we feeling today?" Harry scooted back against the bed and hugged his knees to make himself appear as small as possible. The man frowned and moved to approach. Harry screamed, and ended up falling off the bed, eliciting a wince from the stranger in front of him. The doctor tried to approach again, but Harry began to scoot back desperately, not wanting to suffer Vernon's wrath should the large man see him with a normal human besides himself and his family... "Relax, kid, I'm not gonna hurt you." The man got entirely too close for the little boy's liking, and he began to hyperventilate. The man frowned, and turned to a minion who had come in to see what all the fuss was about. "...Get Cinder. She might know what to do." The minion nodded and ran off.
Present Time...
Cinder made it to the medical wing, and calmly opened the door. The medic ran up to her.
"Miss Cinder! Thank God! Please calm this kid down, he's terrified!" Cinder sighed.
"Did you do anything that may have caused him to get like this?" She asked. The medic shook his head. "All right, I'll take care of it." And with that, she began to walk towards Harry.
Harry looked up at the woman approaching him. She looked familiar...Then he remembered...She had been holding him earlier...It had felt rather nice... But what if it was all just an act? Harry didn't want to take chances. He flattened himself against the wall, unable to calm his frantic breathing.
Cinder frowned and stopped mere feet away from the child. She wasn't exactly the most ideal person to console a scared child, but then again, nobody else in the building was either. She racked her brain for ideas on how to try to calm him down, then put on the most pleasant smile she could muster up.
"...Hello there." Harry flinched when she spoke. "...Will you please relax? We're just trying to help you." The child looked up at her, but did not stop his rapid, heavy breathing. Cinder scowled in frustration. If he wanted to freak out for no reason, that was just fine with her. She was about to turn to leave...but then her expression softened when she got a good look in the child's eyes, and she immediately felt a twinge of guilt for losing patience so quickly. What she saw was the expression of a broken little boy who desperately needed some form of comfort. She had no idea what compelled her to do it...but she slowly approached the scared child, ignoring the fact that he was backed against the wall. She kneeled down to his level. And she wrapped her arms around his little shoulders and pulled his head onto her chest in an awkward, but comfortable hug.
Harry's eyes widened, and his hyperventilating finally ceased. He looked up at the woman holding him. She looked just as surprised as he felt...
Cinder stared ahead blankly with wide eyes after she had hugged the child. What, WHAT had compelled her to do such a thing? She was supposed to be a terrible, bloodthirsty criminal mastermind, and yet here she was cuddling a five year old! She was about to release her hold on him...but then she realized...he was no longer hyperventilating. Blinking in surprise, she looked down...and felt a slight smile grace her features when she saw him snuggling closer into her chest. Perhaps just a little longer wouldn't hurt...
Half an hour later, Cinder unwrapped her arms from around Harry's shoulders, then sat on the floor beside him.
"So...do you believe I'm friendly now?" She asked with a smirk.
Harry looked at the pretty woman sitting next to him. She had taken him away from people who regularly hurt him...She had taken him to people who made his pain go away, like Petunia had done for Dudley whenever he got injured or sick... She had shown him how warm and soothing hugs truly felt... She HAD to be friendly! Harry looked up at the woman, and nodded. He didn't notice, but he had the slightest hint of a smile on his face.
Cinder smiled, realizing she was getting through to him. "Now...I suppose you're wondering why you're here, and not back with the obese man and his pet horse?" Harry blinked. Why WASN'T he with his aunt and uncle anymore? "Well...The fat man isn't going to be a problem anymore, I can safely tell you that much." Harry felt slightly unnerved by the sadistic grin on the woman's face as she said this. "And the horse? Well, she'll never be the same again." Harry blinked.
"Wh-What did you do?" He asked.
Cinder blinked, then grimaced as she tried to think of a way to explain it gently. Unfortunately, she wasn't too good at that.
"I...I killed your uncle and...burned your aunt's face to a crisp..." She admitted sheepishly.
Harry stared at the woman, terrified. His uncle was dead?! His aunt was disfigured?! If she had done that to a couple of normal people, what was she going to do to a freak like him?!
Cinder saw him trying to scoot away. Quickly, she placed a hand on his shoulder. "...You don't think I'd do anything like that to you, do you?" Harry blinked and then nodded. Cinder frowned, then placed both hands on his shoulders and turned him so he was facing her. "Now listen to me...I only did that to them because they deserved it more than anyone I've ever met. You're their victim. If anything, I did it for you."
Harry was still unsure... She had almost casually revealed that she had murdered and mutilated the only family he had ever known... "S-So what's gonna h-happen to me now...?" He asked in a barely audible tone of voice.
Cinder frowned at the question. She had been wondering the same thing... Then, she sighed. "...You're not going back there. Not ever. ...How would you like to stay here at the base for the time being?"
Harry considered it. He could go back to his aunt and cousin, who would likely beat him to death for what happened to Vernon...Or he could stay here with the pretty, but kinda scary, woman who saved him and was actually rather nice to him. Yeah...it was obvious to him who the lesser of two evils was...
Harry looked up at Cinder, took a deep breath, and nodded. Cinder smiled. "Well then. Welcome to the group...I'm sorry. Do you have a name?"
"H-Harry..."
"Welcome to the group, Harry." Cinder said with a smile. "I'm Cinder." Harry felt a knot forming in the pit of his stomach. Was he making the right decision? "Harry...I have some work to take care of." Cinder explained. "Will you be alright in here? I'll be back later. Okay?" Harry nodded shyly. Cinder smiled and ruffled his hair. "Good boy." She turned to the medic. "You. Help him back into the bed. Treat the rest of his injuries, and let me know when he's healed." The medic nodded and moved to pick Harry up.
Cinder nodded in satisfaction and turned to walk out the door. She didn't know why she was smiling...Did it really matter to her that he was a really adorable kid...? Cinder shook her head in irritation. Who cares how adorable or sweet he was?! She needed to focus on her wor-
Cinder's thoughts were cut off by the familiar sensation of stepping on something slippery. She stumbled forward and pitched headfirst towards the ground...and then everything went black, and she felt her head was suddenly wet.
The janitor blinked in confusion as Cinder sat up and muttered a string of curses directed at Stevie as she tried to pull a bucket off of her head.
"God damn Stevie and his god damn banana peels and his god damn stupidity..."
A/N: The whole banana peel running gag is sort of my way of adding a little humor to this whole thing.
