Okay, so remember when I said I had more Kids Next Door stories to tell? Well here's the most self indulgent one-an AU where Cree is a good guy. She's my token Draco in Leather Pants character for this series and there's not enough AUs where she's a hero even though it's really easy to make her one. So, have one! But…since I have to put in a point of divergence in there somewhere, how about we see what happened that caused Cree to never turn on the KND? This takes place about four/five years prior to the main series (and when the story will mainly be taking place). Anyways, let's begin.
Maurice, more commonly known as Numbuh 9, tried to swallow an ever growing lump in his throat. The mission was a simple one-break into an Evil Adult Industry Warehouse and find out what they were planning and destroy it if possible. Additionally, they had been teamed up with Sector Z, who were currently considered to be the best that the organization had to offer at the moment, meaning that everything should be simple, even with Sector V having a brand new member on their first mission.
But then something went horribly wrong.
Maurice, as well as Numbuh 8A, 8B and newcomer Numbuh 5 had been near the entrance when pretty much the entire place suddenly exploded. No one was harmed thankfully, but Sector Z as well as their leader, Numbuh 11, were nowhere to be seen.
"Numbuh 11!" Numbuh 8A yelled out.
"C'mon out!" Numbuh 8B called out as he and his twin tried to shift through some of the debris that wasn't currently on fire. Maurice continued to scan the area silently before he felt a tug on his jacket. It was Numbuh 5.
"Maurice? Cree's gonna be okay, right?" She asked him.
"She's gonna be fine, Abby," Maurice assured her. Granted, he wasn't completely sure of that himself, but he didn't need a panicking six year old on top of everything else going on. Much to his relief, the back up he had called on finally arrived.
"Numbuh 9," Numbuh 100 greeted him with a nod as he walked over to the other boy, flanked by a few other operatives. "What's the situation?"
"The warehouse blew up a few minutes ago," Maurice reported, doing his best to stay official and hide his ever growing panic. "Myself, Numbuh 5, Numbuh 8A and Numbuh 8B were all quickly blown out here when it happened, but we have yet to locate Numbuh 11 or any of Sector Z."
"Hmm, that is troubling," Numbuh 100 said as he surveyed the damage. "Any idea what was being worked on in here?"
"No. Sector Z said they would look for it," Maurice revealed while sheepishly rubbing his arm. "They said they could handle it best and-" Before Maurice could continue, Numbuh 8A screamed.
"WE FOUND CREE! SHE'S PINNED DOWN!" He called out as loud as possible, hoping to ensure his fellow operatives were quick on the draw. Almost instantly, Maurice, Numbuh 100 and Numbuh 5 call raced to where the Numbuh 8 twins were to discover a sight that only filled them all with dread. Cree was unconscious and in a position that made it clear that she tried to reach out for someone. Most of her lower body was being pinned down by various pieces of burning wood and metal and from what Maurice could see, her left arm was utterly mangled and he swore he could see her skin melting off the bone.
"CREE!" Abby cried as she got down on the ground, gripping her older sister's hand. "C'mon! You gotta wake up!"
"We need to get this off of her!" Maurice called out as he grabbed a piece of the debris, not caring about the risk of burning himself. The other boys all quickly got the idea and started grabbing pieces to throw them to the side. They did briefly consider the idea of just trying to drag Cree out, but didn't want to risk hurting her worse.
"I…think we're gonna need the hospital for this," Numbuh 100 said once they finally got Cree free. No one disagreed. None of the medics present seemed like they had the slightest idea how to treat Cree and no one dared to try, with her arm in particular causing quite a few people to throw up.
"Hey, Abby?" Maurice began as he knelt to the younger girl, who was clearly struggling to bite back tears. "Maybe you shouldn't be here?"
"Numbuh 5's staying and you aren't moving her!" Abby declared as she used one hand to brush her tears away while keeping the other firmly around her sister's intact hand. Maurice had a feeling that was going to be the response and instead just sat down next to her and rubbed her back while they waited for the ambulance.
"Mmmmmm…." Cree groaned as she finally opened her eyes. The last thing she remembered was everything hurting and Sector Z just walking away from it all. As her mind slowly came back into focus, she realized that while the pain was still there, it was much duller than before and wasn't present in her left arm anymore. She also realized that she only really sees out of her right eye. Her left eye was covered by something white.
"Bandages," She realized. What exploded exploded pretty much right in her face, so Cree wasn't surprised to find bandages on it. What was surprising was the lack of pain in her left arm. She remembered being in complete agony and that her arm was pinned under a lot of flaming metal, so surely it should still be in pain. Slowly Cree turned her head…
And let out a horrified scream.
The reason she wasn't feeling any pain in her arm was because it was completely gone from the elbow down. The only clue that it had even ever been a full arm was because of a few scars.
"What's going on here?" A nurse, who had been startled by the screaming, asked as she walked in.
"Wh-where's my arm!?" Cree frantically demanded. The nurse gave her a pity filled expression. "Well!? What did you guys do with it!?"
"Kiddo…we had to amputate your arm. It was too damaged from the fire you were caught in," The nurse explained as gently as she could.
"WHAT!?" Cree exclaimed as she began to hyperventilate. "I…I, why couldn't you fix it!?"
"Your father tried," The nurse explained. "He tried too hard, but if you kept it, you would have possibly died!" Cree, if anything, only got more freaked out.
"Where's my family!? I want my parents!" Cree wailed, sobbingly openly. It broke the nurse's heart to see this young child so distraught over what happened to her and the nurse didn't blame her.
"Well, your parents are…busy at the moment," The nurse said, not wanting to tell this girl that her parents had both passed out, partly in relief and partly in shock over this happening to their daughter. "But we can get your little sister for you. She's with your friend in the waiting room."
"Please…." Cree softly begged. The nurse nodded and stepped out. After a few minutes, she returned with Abby and Maurice, the former of which wasted no time in rushing to her sister's side.
"Cree! You're okay!" Abby exclaimed as she eagerly grabbed her sister's remaining hand as the nurse left the room. Cree managed a weak smile.
"Not completely," Cree said as she looked at the stump of her left arm. "That's gonna be an adjustment."
"We're just happy you're alive," Maurice admitted with his own weak smile. "Everyone was really freaked out when we found you. Especially since we couldn't find Sector Z."
"You won't," Cree grumbled bitterly. "I saw them walking away when I got burned. Didn't even spare me a glance."
"Bunch of jerks!" Numbuh 5 snapped. Maurice, on the other hand, looked shocked by this.
"Sector Z just…abandoned you?" He questioned. "But…why? They've always been loyal to the KND? And they've still got, like, three years, before they get decommissioned."
"Don't know, don't care," Cree grunted. "Just don't expect to see me praise them ever again."
"I guess the saying is true-never meet your heroes," Maurice mumbled to himself. He may have admired Sector Z once, but, if what Cree was saying was true, then he really shouldn't have. He then perked up when he remembered something Numbuh 100 had told him before he left for the hospital. "Hey, if it means anything, you're gonna get the last laugh! Since now, you're immune to getting decommissioned."
"I am?" Cree questioned.
"Remember the injury policies?" Maurice asked her. Almost instantly, Cree realized what he was talking about. As gung ho as the Kids Next Door was about making sure that everyone who turned thirteen was decommissioned, if an operative was permanently crippled during their time serving the organization, they were allowed to simply retire upon turning 13, or earlier if they didn't think they could continue serving. Upon remembering this, Cree let out a huge sigh of relief. Even with her decommissioning still being a year away, it was still a huge weight off her shoulders knowing that it would never come.
"Well, I guess that makes…this a little better," Cree admitted before sighing again. "Just wish it didn't cost me a limb."
"Does that mean you're gonna leave the Kids Next Door?" Abby asked sadly. "But we only just started working together!"
Cree scoffed at this. "C'mon Abs! I'm not a quitter! I'm gonna be just as good as an operative, even with just one arm. I promise you that. This is gonna be the best year ever. I promise." And Cree had zero intention of breaking that promise, no matter how much training she had to do.
I think I have a problem and it's that I like to start my stories extremely darkly. I mean, seriously, I just had a twelve year old girl get severely burned and lose an arm. It's going to get better. Also, as I'm sure you all can guess, there's more to Sector Z seemingly abandoning Cree than meets the eye…but we're not there yet! You'll just have to wait.
