The teens and the honorary teen sat around the kitchen table as Cree talked, referring to a notebook and a few sheets of printed information.
"…and we found that, contrary to what the commercials would have you believe, kids don't actually like those CDs where kids are singing along to current popular songs." She looked up from the pages. "To be honest, I'm a little relieved." She smiled and put down the papers. "And of course we owe all this new information on the enemy to our newest recruit, and my favorite little sister. Great job, Abby."
Cree stood and hugged her sister again, the third time since the meeting started, Chad noted. She had only hugged Maurice once, and of course himself not at all.
Cree then removed her sister's hat and started to fuss over her hair. "Why are you still wearing this old thing, Abby? How is anyone going to see your pretty face if you keep it hidden all the time?"
Abby glared at her sister. "What are you doing?"
"Just stating the obvious," Cree replied blithely. "You're pretty. You think Abby's pretty, don't you, Chad?"
He cringed at being dragged into the sibling argument. "Uh, yeah," he said, glancing at Abby's surly face. Pretty scary, that is.
"There, see? Chad thinks you're pretty. Of course it would help if you smiled a little."
"Just give me my hat," Abby snarled, snatching it back and affixing it firmly on her head once again.
---
Cree sat at her desk late at night, staring at the papers before her. She had just finished her homework, and she wanted nothing more than to go to bed. But it had been so long since the team had been on a mission, they really were overdue for something big. Something that'll really make those Brats Next Door….
She yawned loudly. To be honest, ever since Abby had joined the team, she didn't feel much like fighting the KND anymore. She had everything she wanted--her sister, her boyfriend, and her best friend, all of them together. Things were actually going well for her for a change…almost a little too well. That's what the problem was; she was worried that it wouldn't last. And if they stopped fighting the Kids Next Door, what would hold them together?
Which brought her back to the problem at hand: another mission. She glanced over the list that Abby had helped her compile. Yipper Cards had been done. Rainbow Monkeys had been done (in fact, their only quasi-successful mission, in spite of the fact that it didn't quite go as planned). What else was there? She didn't want to mess with fast food joints or amusement parks; too many teens frequented those. Then her eyes settled on something, and she circled it in red: Chewy Pellets.
Cree pushed back from the desk and stood, stretching. It was a start, anyways, she'd think about it more in the morning. She staggered the few steps to her bed and flopped onto it then wriggled her way under the covers. She turned off the lights with a sigh. Do we really have to keep fighting the Kids Next Door just so we can stay together? Sure, Abby was her sister, but it seemed that the only time they spent together was during scheduled meetings. Chad she would see at school, but without their common enemy, there would be no excuse for them to walk home together, and it really was during those times that she felt the closest to him, when it was just the two of them together. She frowned and shifted in bed. If she kept thinking like this, she'd never get to sleep. At least she had Maurice.
As she drifted off to sleep, a thought formed in her mind—if Abby and Chad were a couple, that would hold the four of us together. Then we'd be connected in so many ways, Abby and I are sisters, Chad and I are friends, Maurice and I are dating, Abby and Maurice are friends even if Maurice doesn't remember it. If Abby and Chad were dating too, that would seal the deal. Sure, Maurice and Chad don't get along, but that would probably change in time….
That night, she dreamt the four of them were stuck in a vat of melted Chewy Pellets.
"It's not my fault!" she screamed.
---
Nightmares aside, Cree was more determined than ever to get her little sister and her best friend together. They'd make a good match, she knew they would, she just had to convince them to see it her way. It really shouldn't be a problem; it would just take a little bit of finagling….
---
"Chewy pellets," Abby muttered as the four of them entered the manufacturing plant from a skylight on the roof. Maurice turned to look at her, and maybe even smiled a little, but it was dark so she couldn't really be sure. She was fairly certain he was still mad at her, but not more mad than she was at him.
The place was large and not as clean as one would hope a food product producer would be. They walked in silence past the tangled rows of conveyor belts and the over-sized drying ovens, then past the large, steel open drums. The whole place had the sickly sweet smell of caramel.
Cree's plan was not to destroy the plant, but to alter the ingredients of the candies. She and Chad had come up with a colorless, flavorless compound that would increase the stickiness of the chewy pellets by 488 percent.
"That ought to keeps those brats' mouths shut," she had laughed when she revealed the plan.
It wasn't a bad plan, actually. And its simplicity seemed to make it foolproof. Chad's research revealed that quality control at Perfect Pellets, Incorporated (makers not only of Chewy Pellets, but of Crunchy Pellets and Puffy Pellets) was lax. Any problems with their product wouldn't be found until the candies hit the shelves. All they needed to do was sneak in, add the compound to the sugar supply, and bingo, instant jaw sealant. Abby and Maurice (in an awkward and rather terse private meeting) had decided that it didn't require the assistance of the other Kids Next Door, and that they would handle the situation by themselves.
It was odd, however, that Cree insisted that the whole team come on the mission, considering that the job of 'pour powder into powder' seemed like one easily handled by two people. Even still, no one questioned it.
They arrived in a large storage facility filled with giant sacks labeled "Sugar".
"Okay, this is it, guys. Take this, Maurice," Cree said as she handed him a small sack, "and put about a cup of it into several different sugar sacks. They've got to be used sooner or later. I'll keep a lookout." He nodded, and she kissed him on the cheek before he left.
"What about us? Why are we even here?" Abby asked irritably.
"You guys come with me, there's something else I need you two to do." She backtracked to the hallway and peered into one door after another. Most of them were dark offices. Finally she seemed to find what she was looking for.
"Okay, in here, both of you. Wait here until Maurice and I are done, and then we'll come get you. It'll be…I don't know…at least seven minutes." She shoved the two of them in and slammed the door shut behind them.
---
Chad's initial reaction after being thrust into a dark room was to turn and grab for the doorknob to try to break out.
"It's locked," he informed Abby, who he could sense but couldn't see.
He heard her quietly mutter the words "fool" and "what's she trying to do?" He was uncertain whether the first word was referring to himself.
He felt some relief when a small light illuminated, and he turned to see Abby holding a small LED flashlight. He looked around the room, now bathed in a dim, blue glow. They were in some sort of supply closet. He looked at Abby and their eyes met. He subconsciously reached for the doorknob behind him, trying to turn it once again without success.
It was then that he realized that he was terrified of her.
---
Cree listened at the door with an impish grin.
"What's up?" came a voice from behind her, and she started and turned, smiling somewhat guiltily.
"Shh!" she quieted Maurice, and then moved a few steps away from the door. "That was fast," she said, looking at her watch. "Not even four minutes."
"I'm a fast worker. So where's Abby? And Chad?"
The puckish expression returned to her face. "They're in there." She pointed to the closet door.
Maurice stared at the door. "Why?"
"I put 'em in there. It's been over four minutes now. So d'you think they're making out?"
"What!"
---
Chad cleared his throat uncomfortably. "It's really dusty in here," he murmured, standing with his back pressed against the door.
Abby stood at the other end of the closet, staring off to the side with a stern countenance.
Chad couldn't remember the last time he had seen anyone looking that pissed off. Maybe that time when he was four and spilled grape juice on the carpet, but back then his mom was more livid than silently seething. His hand went for the doorknob again, and quite suddenly the door gave way behind him and he fell backwards into the hall. But not on the floor.
"Get offa me!" yelled Maurice, who had unwillingly broken Chad's fall. He made up for it by roughly shoving him aside.
Chad was too relieved to be out of his temporary prison to protest.
Abby emerged from the closet calmly, though her forbidding face spoke volumes. She walked by Cree and said in a tone low enough that only she could hear, "Never try that again."
---
---
author's notes: Cree's matchmaking skills leave something to be desired. but really, that's best for all involved. not that she's going to stop trying….
anyways, Brother to Vorlons pointed out that there hasn't been too much anti-kid activity lately, and it's true. i wanted to address that, because it was sort of done on purpose—Cree is becoming less interested in fighting the KND. but I did have the Chewy Pellet idea in my head, so i figured i'd use it. why not, right?