Greater Darkness
She was underwater. Floating beneath the surface, but it was as though she had no need to breathe. And yet, the sensation didn't seem at all like swimming, but she rather felt as though she were tumbling through the liquid, end over end in somersaults. It was dark, inky blackness was the only thing she could sense, and yet, there were sounds around her as clear as day.
"Why won't you leave me alone? Why are you always in my way?"
"Don't touch me!"
"There's nothing worse than coming home without a comrade..."
"My clients are always thrilled with your performances, dear..."
"I've tried to teach you to be a proper young lady."
"You'd make a better leader than I ever could. Don't let us down now."
"You think you know everything, but you're just naked in the dark."
"Are you sure you don't want to be It again?"
"Move it Soldier!"
"Kids Next Door Rules!"
"I've always known I'll go alone."
"You'll believe anything they tell you to believe!"
"She's that girl who thinks she's too good for us."
"No one ever understands."
"It's what I choose to believe in."
"Wouldn't it be easier to just give in and let them take you?"
"Not yet...not yet..."
Her eyes opened and she coughed violently, the horrible taste of mud and stagnant water in her mouth choking her off as she struggled to catch her breath. Her chest burned with the sensation of the wind being knocked out of her.
As soon as she got a hold of herself, she looked around her surroundings. The well was small, but not suffocating. The circular alcoves were made of stone and were still damp despite it no longer being in use. Looking up, the outside world was pretty small. They fell quite a bit.
She found Chad on the opposite side, resting against the wall and was fiddling with his communicator. The fall must have smashed it on impact. His left shoulder looked out of place, indicating that it was dislocated.
She felt a bit guilty. After all, he pretty much broke her fall down.
Chad looked up, his facial features indescribable.
"Awake, are you?"
She rubbed the back of her head, feeling a bump forming. Pathetic in comparison to Chad's injuries.
"Are you alright?" She asked.
He dropped the damaged communicator in exasperation. "Peachy."
"Can we...fix that?" She pointed at his dislocated shoulder.
He looked at it in disinterest. "This is the least of our worries. We've been left here to die."
She sighed, looking up at their only exit.
"Why did you try to save me?" Rachel asked slowly, looking at the abandoned communicator. She wondered if two seventy-four was still in there somewhere.
"Several reasons." Chad stated. "Not the least of which being that you're not worth anything to me, or anyone else for that matter, dead. But if it will placate you, yeah, I guess there was a little nobility in there underneath it all. I mean, in spite of everything, you were still a helpless girl in trouble."
"Helpless?!" Rachel raised her voice, indicating her displeasure at his assessment.
"You tried to kick--" Chad stopped his train of thought, not wanting to let the girl get too close to the truth. "Ah, I wasn't going to just sit back and watch you die. It's just not my policy."
"And I see you got banged up pretty good trying to rescue me. Not that it's done either of us much good in the end." Rachel sighed. "I don't suppose we can climb out of here."
"Not with my shoulder like this." Chad shot the idea down. "But it wouldn't matter if it weren't. In case you hadn't noticed, we're in one of the school's old wells that got tapped out. There's still a lot of moss, mold, mildew, slime, and other gross stuff growing in here. We may not have to worry about drowning, but it's far from bone dry. We're going to be stuck in here for awhile. But hey, if it's any consolation to you--that dress, is completely shot. You'll be lucky to still be wearing it in one piece if we ever get out of here."
"How true, yet oddly inappropriate coming from a teenage boy..." Rachel retorted darkly, forcing herself up to take in the rest of the environment. She cupped her hands around her mouth.
"HELLLLLOOOO?!" She shouted. "IS ANYONE THERE? WE'RE TRAPPED!!"
"Brilliant. Just brilliant." Chad muttered, feeling up his dislocated shoulder. He winced. "This could have been concluded much easier if you just accepted my offer."
"Sorry if my free will put a damper on your plans," Rachel kicked a bit of mildew from the wall in agitation. She made a face at the slimy grime. "Yuck."
Chad sat back, cradling his shoulder. "Free will had nothing to do with it. You're stubborn and still effectively brainwashed."
"Would you quit harping about that? I'm not brainwashed," She growled, sitting as far away from him as possible. "You're just bitter."
"Whatever makes you sleep better at night, sweetheart." Chad retorted back. As he rubbed his injured arm, he noticed Rachel staring at it guiltily. He smirked. "What? No thank you?"
Rachel cleared her throat awkwardly, looking away. "I'm sorry..."
Chad's smirk grew. "You can make it up to me. Like, kissing it to make it better..."
"...you had to had to save me, despite luring me into danger in the first place." She snarked back, delighted that his smirk dimmed a bit.
"Yeah, well, if I hadn't, you'd probably be dead and I'd still be in trouble. You're a real pain, McKenzie. And if I ever figure out why I decided to save you, I'll probably have to slap myself."
"But you did save me. So are you going to tell me if it was all for selfish reasons, or should I feel a little flattered?"
"Oh no! I'm not giving you the satisfaction. I've taken enough lumps for you today!"
An awkward silence began to develop, but Rachel broke it by maneuvering against the stone wall towards him. He looked at her quizzically, his face looking as confused as she felt. Finally, she simply leaned in and kissed his cheek. "Thank you for saving me, Chad." She muttered sheepishly as she withdrew, feeling dreadfully embarrassed. Tentatively, she rested a hand on his bad shoulder, knowing she had to help him with it if they were ever going to get out of here.
"Thanks, Rach. I appreciate it."
"Don't thank me." Rachel muttered. "If I screw this up, you'll need to go to a hospital to get it corrected!"
"How many times have you done this?" Chad flinched.
"Including now? One."
"I thought a leader was supposed to inspire confidence!"
"Maybe, but I don't want to create inspiration that I can't back up, either. Otherwise no one will believe me when I try to inspire them, right?"
"You know, for a kid, you've got some pretty adult viewpoints."
"I'm the Supreme Commander, just like you once were. It comes with the territory, soldier."
Chad stared at her for a moment before resigning himself. "Okay. Do it."
"Should I count to three?" She placed her right hand against the popped shoulder and the other against the back socket.
He steeled himself, trying to think of something other than the relocating of his limbs. "Maybe you shou---AAAAAAHHHHH!"
Rachel pushed all her strength into the snap, forcing the arm to finally join back into the shoulder socket. Chad, delirious from pain, tried to jump away, roaring in anguish as the sound of bones snapping together reverberated throughout his body.
His screams continued and Rachel held him down until the pain subsided. Exhausted, Chad slumped forward, breathing heavily as he composed himself.
"I thought you were going to count to three?!" He hollered angrily, cradling the reattached limb.
Rachel patted his back reassuringly. "It always hurts more on three. Dad says it's best to not expect it. Kind of like a shot." Chad said nothing, though she continued to pat his back.
After a bit of a silence, Chad's next words were uttered quietly in the gloom.
"They don't deserve you."
"Chad..." She glared at him in warning.
"I mean it," He continued. "You're just setting yourself up for heartbreak."
"We moved past that. I'm not betraying the KND. I want to know who that guy was and what you are planning to do with Nigel--"
"This isn't about him!" He interrupted in aggravation. "And this isn't about who I work for! I was set up. I thought this was just about recruiting you, but it's obvious that it was more than that. If we can't have you, we'll get rid of you. I didn't agree to that policy."
Rachel sighed. "What's going on?"
He shook his head. "If I told you, I'd have to kidnap you, or silence you. For good. Is that what you want?"
"Don't you know me by now? I just want the truth, Chad. Not just for myself, either. I'm not willing to just...let go. You and some other people are after both Nigel and myself. And I'm not just going to sit back and let something like that happen. I'll make one heck of a scene if you force me to.
"Typical. That would be just like you, Rach. But I don't think they'd want you any other way. Trust me, you seriously underestimate your own value to my masters. If they've decided to acquire you, it's only a matter of time."
"So does this mean that you're going to protect me?"
"If I try, I'm only going to end up dead and you won't be better off. But maybe I could somehow give them something more pressing to look into. But right now, the biggest problem for both of us is getting out of this well." Carefully, Chad flexed his recently repaired shoulder, preparing a wince but finding that aside from some tenderness, his shoulder didn't seem to have any lingering discomfort. "Wow, you really know what you're doing." Chad seemed rather impressed with her apparent expertise.
"I was a spy. All of us got crass courses in basic medical and engineering. Though I'm far from an expert. I just know enough to help keep me alive if I can't get proper medical attention."
"Seeing as how we're trapped in the bottom of a well, I'd say you're a regular nurse."
"Stop flattering me and changing the subject! Nigel and I...what makes us so special?"
Chad sat back a bit, contemplating an appropriate answer. "You already know half of that answer. What makes Uno special to you kids is the same reason why he's special to us. The real question is, 'why you?'."
"Alright. Why me?"
"And that's your answer," Chad replied. "Rach, you have qualities that surpass those of the KND and characteristics that even bring adults to shame. And yet, you don't see it like others do." He regarded Rachel's confused expression and continued. "That's what is attractive to my superiors. Your only downfall is their desired trait for you. You're loyal. Too loyal. When you trust something, you follow it through to the end. When you believe in something, you'll die for it. What would happen if you trusted us? Believed in us? Your strengths will be ours unconditionally."
Rachel sat back, mulling those words over. Believing he was getting through to her, he tried to seal it.
"I said the KND didn't deserve you. Those words aren't unjustified now, are they? I didn't come here to trap you in this dumb war of children and adults. I came here to free you."
She sighed.
"You can't rescue me from this war, Chad. If that was your intention, you should have found someone to convince me not to join the Kids Next Door a long, long time ago. Maybe you feel that what I do is pointless. After all, I am trapped. By my parents. By my teachers. And yes, even by the Kids Next Door. But I chose this role, I could have said no. But it meant too much to all those other kids who needed someone to believe in after you left. So I did it. And that's my cross to bear. You think you can save me from this...but in doing so, you would only end up making me a prisoner again. Maybe I will lose my memories, my identity. And maybe the thought of that happening to you frightens you. It scares me sometimes, I'm not going to try and deny it. But even so...it may be the only real freedom I have. The only choice I have--to allow it to happen, or to run away. Either way, once I'm gone, someone else will have to take my place. So whether I live or die, in that sense, makes no real difference. But to me, it's everything. Because it's my will, my choice, my destiny. Even so, I'm not sure if the KND could suffer another one of their leaders doing the dishonorable, selfish thing. A part of me is afraid to become a teenager and to lose my entire identity...to no longer be myself. I'll call it what it is--murder. For even I know that the me that comes out of the decommissioning chamber will not be the me who went in. She'll be gone, forever, murdered by a lifeless machine for the good of others. So many years since Numbuh Zero, and we still haven't found a more viable alternative. But I'll do it willingly, because it's what's expected of me. Because if I don't, then I'm no different than you. And regardless of everything I may think and how frightened I may become as my inevitable death draws closer and closer...I still choose my honor over my pride."
"No good. Still no good." Chad muttered to himself, rising to his feet. "You're still...just a kid." He scaled the wall. "One day, you'll understand exactly what I mean. Then we'll see if you still feel the same."
Rachel opened her mouth to protest, but decided against it. There was no use arguing. "We'll have to wait and see then."
"Stubborn brat," He quipped back. "So much easier to nip it in the bud now, than wait until you have no choice."
She watched worriedly as Chad jumped onto a stuck out stone, using his long legs to tackle the distant stones to climb up.
"Hey!" She cried out indignantly. "Don't leave me here!" Chad was already halfway up.
He looked back, a smirk playing on his features. "I'll come back for you."
"Yeah?" She shouted back. "Why do I have the feeling that you won't, then?!"
He climbed over the well and made it out. Chad poked his head out, still smirking. "You'll have to trust me, won't you?"