Chad had been avoiding Cree since the embarrassing incident at her house the other day. Of course it wasn't a mature thing to do at all, and it wouldn't improve the situation in the slightest bit, but he didn't want to risk having another breakdown in front of her again. And he really didn't want to have that "ripped out heart" feeling again. Fortunately there hadn't been another scheduled meeting since then, so their contact was limited to brief encounters in the hall. He'd been skipping lunch and hiding in the library during lunch hour, and he had enough after school activities that his absence at the end of the day wasn't conspicuous. He'd lie low for a few days, and maybe then he'd be able to hang out with her again. He'd just have to repeat to himself that they were just friends and nothing more and maybe his heart would finally accept it.

Mr. Foss was just finishing giving out the next day's homework assignment when the bell rang. Chad gathered his chemistry books and filed out of the room along with the other students. As he headed towards history, he was distracted by the sound of his name being shouted from down the congested hall. Of course it was Cree. How does she always know when I want to avoid her?

She pushed eagerly through the crowd, towards him. "Guess what?" Cree asked with a beaming countenance. She was practically radiating happiness.

Chad observed her with growing dread. Seeing her like this could not conceivably bode well for him. The worst possible answer immediately came to mind. "You're getting married," he uttered in a strangled tone.

She looked at him quizzically. "You dolt," she laughed, "It's Abby--she's joining our team!" She grabbed both his hands and actually bounced with joy.

"Abby…?" He processed her news slowly. So it wasn't something horrible after all. "Oh, wow, that's great." He smiled, but more in relief than actual happiness.

"Isn't it?"

She continued to hold his hands, and Chad couldn't do anything but stare at her flushed, glowing face and feel his heart pounding, the words "we're just friends" far from his mind.

"Anyways, I gotta go, see you later!" She released his hands and raced off.

He stared at his hands. Abby should join their team more often.

---

Abby's addition to the team was different, if nothing else. Until then, Chad's reactions to his teammates were simple: love Cree, hate Maurice. He didn't know what to feel about Abby. She was fresh from KND, hadn't been decommissioned, she wasn't even thirteen yet. What he really wanted to know was why she decided to join the teens. It wasn't such an unusual thing for twelve-year-old operatives, just shy of their thirteenth birthdays, to defect from KND, but he never would have expected Abby to be one of them. He had to admit to himself that he didn't quite trust her.

If he had the guts he would have privately pulled Cree aside and asked her exactly what reasons Abby gave for enlisting, but she was so happy and didn't see beyond the fact that she and her sister were working together again. If he were friends with Maurice he'd discuss it with him, but they couldn't even share small talk without it devolving into a glare fest. For that matter, Maurice's reaction to Abby was puzzling—he completely accepted it. As much as Chad disliked him, he knew that Maurice was no idiot, and it seemed strange that he would have nothing to say about the addition of a former enemy to the team. Could he and Cree have had a discussion on the subject without him? It was possible….

Still, it left only one option if he was going to find out what's really in the former Numbuh Five's head: he would have to confront her himself. And at a time when Cree, or even Maurice was not around.

Though one definite pro to Abby's arrival: Cree spent more time hugging her than she did hugging Maurice these days. A small blessing, but Chad would take what he could get.

---

It was an unseasonably warm afternoon. Maurice sat on the front doorstep of the Lincoln residence and stared lazily up at the sky. For the first time, he was actually enjoying the teen meetings. He used to think Cree scheduled them too frequently—sometimes more than twice a week, but now he found himself impatient for the next one to arrive.

Since Abby is here on the team, that must mean she approves. It must mean that she thinks I've been doing the right thing, and best of all, that means that she wants to be with me. That knowledge alone made everything so much more bearable. Let Cree cuddle, I don't care. As long as I have Abby, Cree can have all the fake kisses she wants.

From the corner of his eye he saw Abby as she approached the house. He stood up, smiling.

"You're here early," she said.

"Not really, it's Cree and Chad who are late."

"Really? I thought Cree got out of school early on Tuesdays."

Maurice shrugged. "These days she waits and walks back with Chad."

"Hm. Anyways, come in." Abby unlocked the door and Maurice followed her inside.

He immediately settled down on the couch and made himself at home; he spent so much time there it almost felt like a second home. "I don't care that she comes back late; that means less time I have to spend with her." He looked at Abby and was a little surprised that she hadn't sat beside him. "Aren't you going to sit?"

"No," she said somewhat distantly, "I'm going to wait in my room until Cree gets here." She headed for the stairs.

Maurice stood and followed her with an easy confidence.

She paused on the stairs, two steps in front of him. "I don't remember sending out an invitation." She said it without even turning around.

He stared at her, his certainty ripped out from under him. "But…I thought…."

"You thought what? That now I'm Covert Kids Next Door, everything would be smiles and rainbows? That I'd just throw myself at you?"

Something like that, Maurice thought to himself, but aloud he mumbled, "No, I just thought now that we're on the same side, we don't have to go around hiding and pretending anymore, not around each other. We can—"

"You're still dating my sister."

"You know that I don't like her."

"She doesn't."

"I know, but that's my job, I have to pretend to like Cree. You know that; you know that I—"

He stopped as he heard the door open behind him. He turned, knowing full well that it would be his "girlfriend." She stood at the threshold, Chad just behind her, looking at him and Abby questioningly. He braced himself for the coming outburst.

Surprisingly, it didn't come. She just looked at them, almost pleasantly, and asked, "You guys ready for the meeting?" and came into the house. Maurice stared in disbelief. He was sure that Abby was doing the same. Even Chad looked mystified.

---

Cree caught herself humming again as she cooked breakfast. She chuckled a little and continued the tune as she cracked eggs into a hot frying pan. She squinted out the window at the bright sky. She couldn't remember the last time it looked so blue.

She laughed at herself. Of course the sky wasn't any bluer than usual. She was happy, that's what the difference was. Her baby sister was hers again. The stupid Kids Next Door would never come between them again, and things would be the way they were back then, when they weren't only sisters but best friends.

But maybe the world was brighter. Even Maurice seemed happier ever since Abby joined their team, and it couldn't just be a coincidence. Maybe somewhere deep inside of him he still remembered their days in Sector V, and he knew that the three of them together as a team was somehow right.

She smiled as she thought of her boyfriend, and decided that she would call him after breakfast.

That only left one downer—Chad. While he had been opening up to her more lately, she could tell that he still was…depressed, for lack of a better word. Sometimes she'd turn to look at him and see such sadness in his eyes. Then he'd immediately look away and try to hide it, but she'd seen it, and it was almost heartbreaking. If only there was a way—

Cree was interrupted from her thoughts when she noticed her sister plod into the room. "Good morning, Abby," she beamed. "I made us some eggs, they'll be ready in a minute. Meanwhile, help yourself to some toast—"

"I don't want any." Abby stared at the table, laid out for breakfast.

"But…I thought you liked sunny-side up. Come on, Abby, it's Saturday, you don't need to rush off anywhere, do you?"

"I'm not hungry." She walked out of the house.

Cree watched her go, and then gazed sadly at the eggs in the pan. Well, that made two downers. Abby and Chad. If only she could find a way to make them happy. Both of them. The way she and Maurice were….

---
---

author's notes: and that, my friends, is the sound of trouble brewing.