So…sorry it's been a while. I was running out of plot ideas. But I finally came up with something. And hey! I'm bringing Sonia back into the story! More cute sibling bonding.
Firecracker had several things she didn't like.
And one of the biggest things she didn't like was seeing her sister upset.
So when Sonia came home, clearly upset about something, Firecracker made it her instant mission to try and cheer her up.
"Long day at school?" Firecracker asked as she walked over to her young sister.
"No…" Sonia trailed off.
"Something bad happen in that Kids Next Door club thing you're in?" Firecracker tried again, making sure to play dumb. As much as she badly wanted to tell Sonia the truth, she knew the rules. No one in the Kids Next Door other than the Supreme Leader and the leader of the Decommissioning Squad was allowed to know about the Teens Next Door.
"Kind of. You remember my friend Paddy?" Sonia asked.
"The little red head kid?" Firecracker clarified. When Sonia nodded, Firecracker nodded back. "Yeah. Seemed pretty sweet. Little weird though."
"Well he's…he's not going to be around for a while. His dad gave him a really bad haircut," Sonia revealed. Almost instantly, Firecracker flinched. She'd seen some of the results of parental haircuts and the second hand humiliation she felt was something she'd never forget.
"Hey, at least it'll grow back!" Firecracker replied with a weak smile. "If you want, we can go get a card for him or something later? I don't have any parties tonight and hey! I've got the money to spare."
This finally got a smile out of Sonia, who gave her big sister a hug. "Thanks Firecracker. I hope he likes it!"
"Hey, if it comes from you, I'm sure he will!" Firecracker replied. "If you want, we can pick up your boyfriend and you can pick out something together,"
"Yeah that sounds go-" Sonia began to say only to realize what her sister had said. As soon as it clicked, she instantly began blushing and began shoving her sister away. "That's so embarrassing! We're just friends! And that's gross!"
"I was just kidding. I know he's just your friend," Firecracker assured her little sister, privately taking a lot of amusement in her sister's embarrassment. It was adorable in a little sibling way. Still, Firecracker had a feeling that, when Sonia and Lee got a little older and better understood what dating actually was, they likely weren't going to stay friends for long but that was neither here nor there at the moment.
"But yeah. I want to get him a present later," Sonia admitted once she calmed down. "I don't know if it will help, but maybe it will at least let him know Lee and I miss him."
"I'm sure he'll like it," Firecracker replied. "Now go get your homework done and then we can head out. Sounds good?"
"Aw, do I have to?" Sonia whined. "I thought you hated homework too!"
"I do, but mom and dad told me to make sure you do yours. I'm not getting grounded for not making you do it," Firecracker replied with a shrug. "Now go get your homework done."
"Fine…" Sonia whined as she headed off to her room.
"...I should probably go do mine too." Firecracker mumbled to herself as she begrudgingly headed after her younger sister. Sometimes she wished her parents' threats to ground her-which usually translated to her having to cancel parties which was not at all good for business-weren't so effective.
"Uggggggggghhhhhhh…."
"Long day at school?" Firecracker asked as she looked up from the book she was reading. She was pretty sure she had never seen Sonia look this annoyed ever. Sure, she'd gotten sad, but never really annoyed. Yet now she looked like she wanted to set something on fire. Which was her job! "I don't think I've ever seen you this annoyed!"
"I'm stuck with the world's biggest jerk as a sector leader!" Sonia blurted out as she flopped onto the coach. Firecracker blinked a couple times. She'd known a bit about working with people you didn't like, but if whoever this was had already worn Sonia's patience down, then they had to be a real piece of work.
"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I've had to work with people I don't like. Heck, I've had to work for people I don't like," Firecracker admitted. She had many stories about all the parents and birthday boys/girls she'd wanted to shoot with fireworks with how annoying they could get.
"Yeah, but nothing like Numbuh 363!" Sonia exclaimed as she threw her hands in the air. "He acts like he's so cool and whatever just because his sister is the Supreme Leader! And the worst part is that Lee and I are stuck with him until Paddy's hair grows back!"
"Ah nepotism," Firecracker gave her sister a pat on the shoulder. "Always the worst."
"And he's not even that good! Lee and I do all the work. All he does is brag about how awesome he is and whine whenever someone tries to touch him!" Sonia continued.
"...Why is he even in the Kids Next Door if he doesn't like getting touched?" Firecracker asked before she could stop herself. When Sonia gave her a look, Firecracker internally flinched, but knew how to cover it up. "I mean…you guys are always talking about pretending to fight and whatever. Feels like you shouldn't do something like that if you already don't like getting touched."
"I don't know!" Sonia continued her ranting. Firecracker was just grateful that she wasn't questioning her slip up any further. "Lee thinks he just wants to ride on his sister's fame. I don't think anyone other than his sister likes him. I mean, I saw a lot of people giving us really sad looks."
"Hey! At least that means you have other people to vent too!...Just make sure he doesn't hear about it," Firecracker assured her. "Trust me on that one. One time, I was complaining about this bit-bad parent whose kid I did a party for and it turns out one of her kids heard me…and repeated it…" Firecracker shuddered. The fallout from that…well it wasn't a huge risk towards her and Thomas' business, but they did have quite a few cancellations. Granted, those parents weren't much better, so Firecracker didn't consider it that big of a loss, but the loss of potential business was never fun.
"I just…I hope Paddy comes back," Sonia admitted sadly. She looked at her hands. "He's my friend. And I don't want to be stuck with Numbuh 363 until I'm thirteen."
"Don't worry!" Firecracker assured her. "I'm sure he'll get what's coming to him."
"Thanks Firecracker," Sonia thanked her sister with a hug. "...Can I maybe borrow one of your fireworks?"
"Uh…let's hold off on that one, okay?"
So yeah! Harvey is now leader of Sector W. He's the only one who is happy with it.