Okay, so the next chapter of The Candygirl should be out this week, but I really liked this idea and wanted to get it out. I was thinking about making this one shot part of that story, but I felt like it worked better as its own stand alone thing. Anyways, let's begin.
"TRAITORS! LET ME OUT NOW!" Cree roared at the laughing Teen Ninjas in front of her. Earlier that day, after returning from a meeting with the Steve, Cree had been ambushed by a group of Teen Ninjas. She'd put up a good fight, but they'd managed to knock her out and bring her…somewhere. Cree wasn't fully sure.
"Now why would we do that?" One of them mocked her.
"Because if you don't, I am going kick your butts so hard you won't be able to sit for the rest of your lives!" Cree snapped at them, only getting more laughs. "What's this even about!? You working with those brats?"
"No way!" Another ninja declared with a laugh. "But we think that it's high time you were out of the picture."
"You get too many special privileges!" A third sneered at her. "Heck, even though the Steve's the leader, Father likes you the best! Share the wealth around!"
"Maybe do better at your jobs, and you'd have the stuff I did," Cree mockingly suggested. She was unable to resist a chuckle when a few of the teens growled at her. Any amusement she was taking was promptly dashed when the first teen backhanded her across the face. Cree could feel her nose start to bleed, but couldn't exactly wipe the blood off.
"Shut up!" They barked at her. "Luckily, where we're taking you, no one will be able to listen to your annoying voice again!"
"You're…you're gonna kill me?" Cree asked, feeling a bit of a dread being to creep into her body. She was chained down, without any weapons and still somewhat weak from whatever they'd used to knock her out. Her chance of surviving was…low.
"Not quite," The ringleader, an obnoxious rich boy named Winston, ominously said.
"Finally decided to join in? Sick of letting your goons do all the taunting?" Cree questioned. This time, the response was a hard punch to the gut.
"Let me finish!" Winston snapped, grabbing Cree's hair and tugging hard to force her to look him in the eyes. Cree decided against her original plan of spitting in his face, realizing that would only make things worse for her at this point. "We're going to let the cold do you in." Cree felt her blood, fittingly enough, run cold at that. It had been a bitterly cold winter that year and she remembered that there was going to be a blizzard later that day. "Nice to see you're finally scared."
"You wish," Cree declared, doing her best to keep up her bravo. With luck, she could intimidate them into letting her go, although she knew it was a long shot at this point. "When I get myself free, you don't want to know what I'm going to do to you!"
"And I guess we never will, since you'll be a frozen popsicle within an hour," Winston declared as he threw Cree back before opening the floor below her. With a scream, Cree fell into a pile of ever growing snow. Looking up, she saw the bike that had dumped her flying off.
"Traitors," She grunted once again before trying to stand up. However, a surge of pain shot through her leg, causing her to flinch. Looking down, she noticed that her ankle looked somewhat bruised. She was a little relieved it wasn't broken, but things really weren't looking good. "Alright, it's freezing, it's dark out, I've got no clue where I am, my ankle is probably sprained, and I have an iron ball weighing me down…" Cree refused to let that dark thought enter her head, but she knew the chance she made it home was going to be slim. Still, she wasn't about to quit. With a pained grunt, Cree headed in the direction that the bike flew off in.
"How far out did they take me?" Cree wondered aloud, even though she knew she'd never get an answer. She had no idea how much time had actually passed since she started what she hoped was the trip home, but what she did know was that it had gotten darker, colder and windier since she'd begun walking. She couldn't even see her footprints anymore.
"C'mon! Keep thinking warm thoughts!" She internally snapped at herself as she attempted to drag the iron ball again. She did get it to move, but not before she collapsed near a tree. She tried to stand, but her body fought against it and she knew the truth.
She was done for.
"This…this isn't how I wanted things to end…" Cree softly said to herself as she pulled herself into the fetal position, hoping for any kind of warmth. Not much came and the snow and wind continued to whip at her already cold body. Cree felt herself getting drowsy. "No! Can't…let…myself….fall…" With a grunt, Cree tried to stand up again. She actually made it a few steps before collapsing again with her body completely refusing to move at all this time. Cree let out another scream of agony before she finally broke down into weak sobs. She was going to die. There was no way around it. No one knew where she was, she couldn't move any more and she lacked any protection against the freezing cold weather.
"Mom…dad…Abby…" Were Cree's last thoughts before she slipped into unconsciousness. As she did, however, she swore she saw what looked like a S.C.A.M.P.E.R landing in front of her and someone rushing out of it.
"Mmmm…" Cree groaned as she forced her eyes open. The first thing she noticed was that she was warm, which was a plus. Her eyes took a while to come back into focus but once they did, Cree noticed that, much to her shock, she had been resting on her family's couch. A fire was roaring in the fireplace, her injured foot was banaged and elevated by a few pillows, her previous outfit had been exchanged for some warm pajamas and several blankets were now covering her. "I'm…okay?"
"Well you're certainly a lot better than you were when I found ya!" Slowly turning her head, Cree saw her younger sister walking in with a mug of what Cree quickly realized was hot chocolate.
"Abby?" Cree weakly managed out before breaking into a coughing fit. "How did you find me?"
"Heard some rumors that the Teen Ninjas were planning to drop someone around where Numbuh 5 picked you up," Abby explained. "Got sent out because we thought it was an operative or an innocent kid. Imagine Numbuh 5's surprise when she found you."
"Surprised me too," Cree bitterly replied. "I got jumped. Bunch of upstarts hoping they could get rid of me to steal my perks."
"Numbuh 5 does not want to be those guys once you get better," The younger girl said with a chuckle before holding out the mug. "Do you think you can use your fingers or does Numbuh 5 have to hold this up for ya?"
"I think I'll be fine," Cree replied. Sure, she wasn't actually sure her fingers would work, but the teasing she'd get from Abby was something she'd never live down. With a shrug, Abby held out the mug, only letting go once she was sure Cree had a solid grip on it. The teenager savored the drink, letting the heat flow down her throat.
"Never took you for a hot chocolate person," Abby noted as she crossed her arms.
"Just wanted something hot to warm me up more," Cree said before setting the mug down. "So, I know you how me but…why did you bother to save me? All I do is cause you and your friends trouble!"
"Yeah, you do, but you're also my sister Cree and even if you are the biggest thorn in Numbuh 5's side, I'm not gonna let you die," Abby declared. Cree found herself tearing up at that. Even after everything she's done, Abby still cared for her. Still cared for her too much, Cree honestly couldn't help but feel. "Aw, you crying?"
"I am not!" Cree snapped at her, quickly brushing the tears out of her eyes. "I just…got something in my eye. That's it!"
"Yeah, tears," Abby mocked, causing Cree to glare at her, not that there was any actual malice behind it. "Now do you want Numbuh 5 to leave you alone or do you wanna watch a movie or something? Numbuh 5'll go make you some soup or something too."
"Movie actually sounds great. We haven't had a movie night together in a while," Cree earnestly said, a genuine smile gracing her face. Abby smiled as well before heading back to the kitchen while Cree managed to grab the remote off the coffee table, eager to see what was on.
With a soft moan, Cree woke up. She must have fallen asleep during the movie, as the TV was still on. Glancing outside, Cree saw that it was now a complete winter wonderland outside. "Heh. Looks pretty when it's not about to kill ya." Cree then moved to glance at her injured foot and noticed her sister sleeping on top of her. She looked so peaceful and trusting of Cree, in spite of all their fighting. It reminded Cree of better days. Days when they were on the same side and not always at each other's throats. Still, a chance to a reminder was something that Cree wanted to savor for as long as she could. So with a yawn, she leaned back on the pillow and shut her eyes.
"No matter what, we'll always be sisters,"
Look, these two deserve a chance to actually be sisters. I regret nothing and I will continue to regret nothing.