I'm Their Leader
By Cybra
A/N: My first (published) KND fic! Go me! I'll get around to the other ones soon enough. ^^ This is a sort of response to some of the websites I've seen that owners say that they think Numbuh 5 would make a better leader than Numbuh 1. (Poor Numbuh 1…::::huggles him:::) Oh, and there are a lot of endnotes on this sucker. A lot of endnotes.
Disclaimer: Codename: Kids Next Door is the product of the genius of Mr. Warburton, not me. However, some ideas about the leadership of the organization are mine. ^^
It isn't easy to lead four kids in an ongoing fight against adults, and it doesn't get any easier with time. I know that fact from experience. I'm one of the many section leaders of the Kids Next Door. There is simply too much to do, too much to worry about.
It requires planning a strategy with whatever information is available and then combining that strategy with on-site tactics. Sometimes there is no previous information to go on, so you have to rely on tactics alone and pray to whatever deities you may or may not believe in that you don't mess up.
It requires organization to keep up with the constant flow of information, reports, and other assorted paperwork. You have to keep Kids Next Door Headquarters up-to-date on the performance of your sector. If there are any problems in your sector, HQ needs to be alerted right away. If you need equipment, you need to file equipment request forms and then, as Numbuh 2 dryly put it one day, "Hurry up and wait."
It requires a certain amount of diplomacy to deal not only with domestic problems around your home tree house, but also when you must deal with other operatives you don't particularly care for and people unaffiliated with the Kids Next Door. Learning when to speak and when to bite your tongue isn't an easy lesson to learn, as anyone can tell you.
It requires knowledge of the Kids Next Door rules and regulations. You need to know where the line is before you can determine whether or not you can cross it. There are times when the Commanders[1] or your other superiors[2] will overlook your rule-breaking if it was justified. But the excuse "I didn't know" will only get you in trouble.
But most of all, it requires a loyalty to your team that occasionally borders on near insanity. Sometimes your mind and body will be screaming for you to do the sensible thing, but then you see that your teammate is down, grit your teeth, and tell the sensible thing to hang itself.
And if looking at that list doesn't make you reconsider becoming a section leader, Command Training will make you think twice. It's a grueling process that if you come up short, you don't receive a team. The Instructors[3] weed out those unsuitable for command early on.
At the time, I hated Command Training. I thought Instructor Fifty was a sadistic jerk, who loved nothing more than pushing me to exhaustion. He seemed to make me his personal project, too. He made me stay after normal "class time" for extra training.
He berated me, yelled at me, pushed me, and made me so mad I could barely see straight.
I saw him the other day when we visited the Moon Base and shook his hand.
Originally, I wasn't even in Command Training until someone pointed me out to the top brass. Then, apparently, Instructor Fifty saw something in me that set me apart from the other command trainees. Using every trick he knew, he did his best to whip me into shape.
I think he did pretty well, considering what he had to work with.
I'll admit that I'm not perfect. In several areas, I don't measure up to the perfect leader: I'm afraid of insects, I'm better at plotting strategies than coming up with spur-of-the-moment tactics, I jump to conclusions, I'm prone to panicking, and I have extremely light-sensitive eyes.[4] But no section leader of the Kids Next Door has ever fit all of the criteria of the perfect leader.
In fact, we section leaders are infamous for bending one piece of criteria for being a good section leader: the part about the Kids Next Door rules and regulations. There is one regulation (Regulation 562 on page ninety-two of the Kids Next Door Handbook[5] to be exact) that hinders us: "The command operative is to not participate and/or remain in the safest position in a potentially life-threatening situation." In other words, we don't get to help or have to hang back on missions that could kill our teammates. I believe it's because the command operative is the one who's supposed to maintain control of the situation in case something starts to go wrong.
However, we all agree that this regulation needs to be tossed out the window since our teams are not exactly large and our teammates need the extra help, so we all disobey it. The Commanders can't punish all of us, so there's nothing they can do. Still, I did hear about Commander Seven[6] trying to convince his fellow Commanders to write out the rule in the next edition of the Handbook, much to our glee.
Why would we try so hard to delete that rule? Because of that last requirement: loyalty. There isn't one section leader among us who doesn't go into a mission first, and I imagine we all would, in the direst of situations, retreat last. Yes, even me.
I know that one of these days, there will be an adult with a real gun in the building. I pray to whatever gods are out there, if they have compassion, that when I enter with my teammates, I'm the one who's hit because I'm in front. Then my teammates will have some sort of warning so they can dodge.
And if it ever came down to a desperate last retreat that could cost us our lives, though it would scare me to death, I would order them to retreat first. Not because I'm brave, not because I'm noble, I'd go last because they're my friends and teammates, and I was trained to lead and protect them. After all…
I'm their leader.
[1] There are ten Commanders ranging from thirteen to seventeen with two commanders of each age. Obviously, they are one of the very few exceptions to the "no operative over thirteen" rule. They are selected by retiring Commanders (those who are turning eighteen) when they turn thirteen, so a change in command takes place about twice per year. As their name implies, they run the entire operation.
[2] From "Operation REPORT," we get the impression that Numbuh 86 is Numbuh 1's superior. (I would say she is the superior of all of them, but Numbuh 1 is, technically, Numbuhs 2, 3, 4, and 5's superior officer, so it seemed redundant to say she was the superior of the other four as well.) Therefore, we can conclude that Numbuh 1 probably has other operatives above him. However, Numbuh 86 is not one of the Commanders mentioned in Endnote #1 (otherwise, she would have the title of Commander), so I have inserted her into a sort of hierarchy of leadership in the Kids Next Door.
[3] Instructors are another of the very few exceptions to the "no operative over thirteen" rule. As potential candidates near thirteen, they are recommended by retiring Instructors (those turning eighteen) and are then approved or denied by the ten Commanders. Obviously, the Instructors teach new operatives how to perform their duties.
[4] This is a personal theory of mine which answers my own question, "Why does Numbuh 1 wear his sunglasses even at night?" An answer came to me while I had my Migraine of Doom which lasted a week: light-sensitivity. During my migraine, I could not go anywhere without my sunglasses on, not even at night. Even the numbers of a clock radio hurt. So I thought, "Maybe that's the same problem with Numbuh 1, only his problem is permanent." But then came up the question of seeing his eyes every so often, but then I remembered that the sunglasses still slipped down my nose or got bumped, so that answered that question. Plus camera angles would also let us see his eyes.
[5] Obviously, this is the rulebook that contains all the rules and regulations that the Kids Next Door are required to follow. While it is advisable for all operatives to know it, the ones required to know it are those in command positions. (Numbuh 1 seems to know the Handbook intimately.)
[6] Commander Seven is the eldest of the ten Commanders and the most popular amongst the section leaders. More information on him will be provided in later stories.