I don't own Codename: Kids Next Door. That doesn't mean I can't take certain liberties in this fanfic, like, say, guessing at what color eyes they have. Yay for creative licenses!
"Welcome back to Numbah Five's room," announced the stealth operative, motioning grandly with one hand while shutting the door behind her.
"Mmm-hmm."
Dolores looked like she could frankly care less about where she was, unless it involved a place for her to sleep. The Delightful Child was on the verge of collapse, swaying back and forth where she stood, disheveled sandy blonde hair hanging limply over her exhausted face. The dark circles under her blue eyes looked even darker than before.
Five smiled, shook her head, then pointed over her shoulder at a nearby chair.
"Go on ahead and take a seat right over there."
"T-thank you…"
The pale girl bobbed in a clumsy curtsy attempt, but only succeeded in nearly falling over. Numbah Five reached out quickly and steadied the lass by holding onto her shoulder until she regained her balance. Dolores looked at her sheepishly.
"Thank…"
"Just go sit," Five instructed her, gently pushing her toward the chair.
Dolores nodded awkwardly, then stumbled over and collapsed into her seat face first. The soft cushions felt so wonderful that she temporarily forgot all else and simply reveled in the blissful sensation of burying her face in the pliant surface. Wrapping her arms around the pillow, she pulled it closer, sighing contentedly. She could fall asleep like this…was already starting to drift off…
A soft cough behind her caused her eyes to snap back open suddenly. Remembering just where she was and how terrible a bind she was in, Dolores immediately righted herself and turned to face her host – no, her captor.
Numbah Five was standing in front of her, arms folded over her chest, smiling. Her familiar red cap was hiding her eyes, but Dolores didn't need to see them to sense that they were twinkling with amusement.
She looked down at her feet, then belatedly saw that she was still hugging the pillow, though now she was crushing it against her chest instead of her face. Blushing pink, she immediately shoved it behind her, then started smoothing out her skirt, long hair falling over her face.
(What a silly thing to do. Father would be severely displeased if he saw me behaving in such a nonsensical manner.)
The thought snapped Dolores out of her awkwardness. She straightened in her seat, squaring her shoulders, legs pressed together, hands folded primly in her lap. Her expression shifted to a more neutral one, and she closed her eyes tightly. Seeing the blonde girl's demeanor alter, Numbah Five frowned.
"That's what Numbah Five can't stand about you Delightful Kids," she shook her head and muttered.
Dolores opened her eyes. Five could practically see the spark of curiosity ignited by her comment: though something dimmed its luster, it was still present, an undeniable quality that stood out plainly to the intuitive agent.
The thing that creeped out Numbah Five the most about the Delightful Children from Down the Lane was their eyes. It wasn't that she disliked blue eyes or anything silly like that: it was more the fact that they were so maddeningly empty.
Numbah One's eyes were usually hidden by the sunglasses he wore, but on the rare times that he moved or removed his shades, it was easy to see intelligence gleaming in the sapphire depths. They were so dark they were almost black, solemn and serious.
Though you couldn't tell by the aviator's goggles he always wore, Numbah Two's eyes were blue too. But unlike Numbah One's eyes, his constantly shimmered – alight with curiosity, compassion, humor… Though he liked mimicking his comic book and video game heroes, trying to act cool and witty like the guys on television and in the movies, his bright cerulean eyes always shone clearly with the real him.
Numbah Three's eyes were even more cheerful, polished chestnut orbs with hints of other colors in their depths. On the rare occasions when the energetic girl was sad, the bright mahogany panes glimmered with tears. On the even rarer occasions she was mad, they flared a fiery cinnamon. But typically they shone with innocence and pure, unbridled joy.
Numbah Four, meanwhile, glared out challengingly at the world at large from behind his tangled blonde bangs. The sharp green surfaces dared anyone to just try and cross him, promising pain for any foolish enough to think it. Five knew better, however: buried beneath that hard jade facade was a boy with a kinder heart than he wanted to acknowledge.
It was a completely different deal when it came to the Delightful Children from Down the Lane, however. Not only were all of their eyes the exact same color, they held nothing. Numbah Five couldn't glean anything off those glassy surfaces, gaining any sort of feel for the person they belonged to.
It was kind of like looking into some twisted funhouse mirror. Each of the Delightful Children was a pale reflection of what a real kid should be, lacking real substance beneath the neat-and-tidy shell of a prim and proper schoolchild. But now there were hairline cracks spreading through the mirror, and Numbah Five was starting to see glimpses of somebody on the other side.
(But how the heck do I keep her from pulling back into her shell?)
Numbah Five rubbed her chin thoughtfully. Dolores watched her carefully, the curious glint in her large blue eyes brightening a little despite the fact that she remained perfectly still.
"Say, Dolores… Numbah Five has a small question for ya."
"Please, no more questions," the dutiful daughter pleaded, shaking her head. "I'm not going to betray Father or my family, so it will be a waste of time to…"
"Don't worry, Numbah Five's not gonna ask anything about that."
The blonde lass blinked, and the curiosity in her eyes intensified.
"Numbah Five just wants to know… Why did you shout for us to 'watch out' before when we were fighting?"
The Delightful Child stiffened. A mixture of emotions flashed in her widened eyes all at once – bewilderment, horror, embarrassment, panic – Five took note of all of these. But there was one emotion that quickly overwhelmed all else: confusion.
"I-I'm not sure…"
"C'mon," Numbah Five said flatly. "When your swing monster had Numbah One trapped, remember?"
"…The swingset had him tied up for a long period of time," Dolores pointed out. "Since the conflict began, if I remember correctly."
"It wasn't that long ago, you know. Look, when I went to help him escape, you and the rest of your creepy clan claimed I was too late. Then they ordered the swingset to finish him off…"
"I remember. As you pointed out, it was only a short while ago."
"Right, but see, here's the thing. Somebody shouted 'Watch out!' right before Numbah Four started knocking things down. Numbah Five knows it wasn't one of us, and there was something else that struck me as odd, too."
"…What?" Dolores asked when the capped girl did not continue.
Numbah Five smiled and leaned forward a little, tipping her hat back so that she was looking the other girl straight in the eyes. Her deep chocolate eyes gleamed mischievously, hinting that she knew things the other didn't know…or, maybe, didn't want to acknowledge.
"Only four voices ordered the swings to 'Finish him off,' girl. And they didn't even finish before somebody shouted that warning. Now, you gonna try to tell Numbah Five that that's just a coincidence, or you gonna tell me the truth?"
Dolores stared back at her, and again Five could clearly see the warring emotions in her pale blue eyes. Then the petite girl averted her gaze to one side. She absently twisted the edge of her white skirt with both hands.
"…If you must know, I was merely trying to warn my siblings of the impending danger," she answered quietly. "I…noticed that Wallabee had armed himself with a piece of one of the dismantled equipment. Since nobody else seemed to have noticed this, I thought it would be prudent to warn them of the incoming threat…"
"Uh-huh."
Numbah Five's expression clearly said that she wasn't buying completely into Dolores' story. However, she decided not to press the point anymore. The day had been trying for both girls: her ankle was beginning to hurt again. A good night's rest would do wonders for both of them.
"Well, Numbah Five's going to hit the sack soon," she announced, stretching.
"…Why would you strike a bag?" wondered Dolores.
Numbah Five stopped in mid-stretch and looked at the pale girl askance. Dolores looked back at her curiously. Shaking her head, Five smiled amusedly.
"…It's an expression, Dolores. It means Numbah Five is going to get some sleep."
"Ah," Dolores nodded, then asked, "I suppose that means you're going to escort me to the confinement area first?"
"Nah," Five shook her head.
"But… Why not?"
"Don't got one," was Five's blunt response as she turned away. "All we need is that W.A.T.C.H. you've got on, apparently."
"Well then, where exactly will I be expected to sleep?"
"You're sitting on it."
Dolores looked reflexively down, then back at the capped girl incredulously.
"Surely, you don't mean…here?!"
"Where else would I mean?"
"B-but this is a chair, not a bed! You can't expect me to…"
"You were perfectly willing to fall asleep there when we came in," Five waved off the other girl's protests and headed for her closet. "You'll manage."
"But, but, Abigail!"
"It's Numbah Five here, Dolores. Deal with it."
The blonde lass sputtered and stammered as the sly agent walked away. Soon realizing her protests fell on uncaring ears, Dolores huffed and collapsed back into her seat. Part of her long sandy hair fell in front of her face, and she pushed it back behind her ear, irritated.
(Of all the nerve! How does she expect me to sleep in such a place! This isn't a perfectly flat bed, it's a chair! You sit in chairs, not sleep in them!)
Resting her chin in both hands, she fumed for a few minutes. Gradually, however, her anger waned as she considered her situation more.
(It could be far worse, I suppose. I was expecting to be thrown into a freezing, filthy jail cell until they decided what other tortures to inflict upon my person… Or until the rest of my siblings arrived.)
Thinking of her family made the rest of her frustration fade, and Dolores straightened in her seat again. She smiled faintly: for all of her uncomfortable questions and acting so sure of herself, Numbah Five was just as clueless as the rest of the Kids Next Door. They had no idea that her family had a way of spying on them, or that their minuscule aerial camera had already informed her siblings of her presence here.
They'd find out soon enough, however, when the rest of the Delightful Children from Down the Lane showed up to retrieve her. Perhaps Father would even allow them to borrow one of his most destructive machines for the purpose… after all, she was one of her daughters. Wasn't that reason enough?
Surely they would be along soon. All that she needed to do was wait for them.
Numbah Five reappeared, tugging at the cloth belt that cinched her dark blue robes at the waist. She still had her cap on, and her hair was still pulled back in its tight braid.
"Goodnight," she said with a short wave in Dolores' direction.
"Pleasant dreams," Dolores replied automatically without thinking.
Five looked at her oddly, then shrugged it off and headed off to bed. The lights shut off, leaving Dolores staring into the darkness, waiting for the rest of her creepy comrades to arrive and liberate her from this strange prison.
#####
"Dolores…"
The familiar voice echoed in her ears and Dolores stirred, blue eyes partially opening. When had she nodded off? She didn't remember abandoning her vigil, sweet as the siren song of slumber had been…
"Wake up, girl. It's time to go home."
The first thing she saw when she raised her head was a pair of glowing yellow eyes. Immediately her foggy mind snapped to full attention and her eyes opened wide. The darkness sharpened into a tall, imposing male figure leaning over her. Although his body was completely wrapped in shadow, Dolores didn't need to see his face. She knew instinctively who he was.
"Father! You came for me?"
This last was tempered by honest confusion; she definitely hadn't expected him to actually come retrieve her in person! Usually he left all things concerning the Kids Next Door to his Delightful Children, though he did occasionally get directly involved…
(Why wouldn't he come? I'm his daughter, after all!)
"Of course I came for you, you stupid girl," he replied curtly. An unseen eyebrow arched as he continued, "Considering I found you sleeping instead of trying to escape yourself, it's a good thing I did take matters into my own hands."
A deep pink tint spread over Dolores' face at his blunt observation. Before she could think of some defense, the shadowed adult gripped her right wrist tightly. An intense heat spread across her arm, and the petite girl winced, but did not yank her hand away. Soon, the nearly unbearable warmth subsided, and he let go. Looking down reflexively at her arm, Dolores saw that the W.A.T.C.H. had been melted into a smoldering hoop. It disintegrated before her eyes.
"Now then, come along, dear," Father commanded. "It's high time we were headed home."
"Yes, Father."
Dolores stood and looked about. At first, the darkness was impenetrable, but as she cast her gaze around, the shadows sharpened, solidifying into the rest of Numbah Five's private chambers. The first detail that really jumped out at her was the fact that one of the walls was completely gone, revealing the darkened world outside. She spotted the rest of the Delightful Children waiting there, riding in one of Father's most prized weapons of mass destruction.
Across the black expanse their eyes met. The quartet smiled at her, and she smiled back, blue eyes lighting up at the welcome sight of the rest of her family awaiting her return. The impulse to rush to rejoin them was almost painful to resist, but she knew Father would disapprove. Even in such times, she couldn't allow herself to indulge in such foolish things, especially with him looking on.
Instead, she started forward at a polite walk, fighting the urge to run. A few steps forward…then Dolores abruptly stopped short.
"Something wrong, Dolores?" Father asked from somewhere behind her.
The fragile girl failed to answer, for she was far too distracted by what had come into focus before her. More of the darkness had melted away allowing her to see clearly which wall had been broken through.
It was the wall that Numbah Five's bed had been closest to. Only now all she could see of the bed was a few pitiful scraps of dark fabric scattered throughout the smashed debris.
Dolores' knees threatened to give out, her legs were suddenly shaking so badly. A vicious pressure twisted in her chest, and she suddenly felt horribly ill. She swayed dangerously, but before she could collapse Father was suddenly beside her, one hand resting firmly on her quaking shoulder.
"Whatever is the matter, Dolores dear?" he asked. "As you can see, I've already punished one of those annoying brats for daring to kidnap one of my precious daughters. You no longer have to worry, for she won't be bothering you or the rest of your siblings anymore…"
She could hear the satisfied sneer in his haughty tone, and a wave of nausea swept through her. Even as her horrified gaze searched the rubble in vain for some sign that the dark girl had escaped, it fell upon a tattered red cap lying on its back, empty except for a splintered piece of wood that had pierced the fabric.
"Now then, we really should be taking our leave, dear," Father repeated.
But Dolores was unable to move. She couldn't avert her eyes from the abandoned cap lying empty in the rubble, much as she wanted to. The tightness in her chest was increasing.
(I shouldn't care. She was an enemy, wasn't she? She was the enemy. She was the enemy. She was…)
Dimly she heard the sounds of footsteps rapidly approaching, and familiar voices shouted from outside the room's door.
"Numbah Five! Are you okay?! Numbah Five!!!"
"Kids Next Door, break down that door!" Numbah One ordered over the distressed shrieking of Two and Three.
Dolores tore her eyes away from the lonely cap and looked at the door just as it bucked. She could just picture Numbah Four throwing his weight against it in an effort to get it to open. Beside her, Father also turned and looked at the doorway.
"Well, well," he sneered. "If there's so desperate to join their friend, I suppose I should oblige them…"
He pointed both hands toward the door, palms out, and a vibrant orange fire surrounded them. Dolores stared at him, completely horror-struck. The door buckled again: the remaining Kids Next Door were making progress, and soon would come inside only to be greeted with utter destruction.
"This should be fun," Father chuckled. "I wonder who the lucky one who comes in first will be…"
"S-stop…"
"Hmm?" Father's yellow eyes traveled from the pounding door to the trembling girl huddled beside him. "Did you say something, Dolores darling?"
"Stop it…s-stop it, please," she stammered through chattering teeth. Her head was bent low, long sandy hair covering most of her tense face, unable to look up at her parent as she pleaded, "Please, let's just go home now…"
Dead silence reigned for an instant. Even the doorway stopping buckling violently.
"Why…you…insolent little BRAT!"
A flaming hand swept across Dolores' face, knocking the fragile girl flat onto her back. She trembled violently as Father loomed over her, his entire body now ablaze with the same fury that burned in his deep yellow eyes. Once again she found herself unable to look away though she fervently wished to.
"How dare you defy me?!" he snarled. "You seem to have forgotten your place in things, Dolores. If I have to remind you, then so BE IT!"
"Please, Father!" sobbed Dolores, cowering helplessly before the incensed adult's wrath.
Desperately she looked toward her fellow Delightful Children for aid, only to find that they had vanished. She was alone, facing Father unsupported. He grabbed her shoulders, fingers tightening like vises until they pierced the skin underneath. The fires flared brighter, threatening to consume her completely. Dolores screamed at the top of her lungs, begging uselessly for mercy as she began to burn alive.
#####
"Father, no! Please, Father, please!"
Dolores thrashed from side to side, fruitlessly fighting the hands gripping her shoulders. Her frenzied mind failed to grasp immediately that these hands were not as big as she recalled, nor was the grip as powerful and threatening.
"Calm down, girl! Calm down," a soothing female voice called out.
"No, no, no…"
Gradually the frail girl's flailing and protesting waned, her eyes flying open to find the last face she had expected. She stared unbelievingly at the girl standing in front of her. Numbah Five made a mental note of the pure confusion in the other's expression.
"Numbah Five didn't know you Delightful Children were prone to nightmares," she commented with a shake of her head, braid swishing behind her.
"W-what?"
"Anyway, it's past time for breakfast," the capped girl continued. "If you want anything, you'll probably have to get it yourself. So hurry up."
Dolores quickly looked around the room and saw that everything was completely intact. The walls were all standing, and sunlight streamed through all of the windows, providing plenty of natural light to drive away the shadows.
Everything had been a dream. Father had never come to save her – and neither had the rest of the Delightful Children from Down the Lane.
Dolores was too confused right then to know if that was supposed to be a good thing or not. She absently hugged one of the cushions tightly to her chest, recalling how horrified she had been when she saw that in order to save her, her family had smashed in the wall and taken out Numbah Five in the process.
Part of her claimed she shouldn't have been so affected. The capped girl was one of the Kids Next Door, one of her worst enemies, her captors. She should have been happy at the thought of her receiving such a punishment…
(Shouldn't she?)
Another issue clamored for her attention, though she wasn't really certain she wanted to dwell for long on either topic. Her unexplainable relief at learning she had merely been dreaming about that nightmarish rescue aside, there had been no actual rescue attempt.
The rest of the Delightful Children from Down the Lane knew she was here…so why hadn't they actually come to retrieve her?