You don't know me yet you do

1.

"And it is important to understand, that Europe did not have any great wars since Napoleon was defeated..."

Chad was bored out of his skull. He fiddled a bit with his tie, trying to get distracted even for a moment, thinking about how he could use the garment as a new weapon, or something... It would be more useful than those dreadful B.R.A.-s they use now, not to mention he was getting tired of putting on something so... pink.

Mr. Clavington was happily chatting away about World War I., and he was well aware, that he should be paying at least a bit of attention, but this was borderline impossible. First and foremost, because the guy was as boring as to watch the paint dry on the wall, second, tonight was "selection-night"; when the Teen Ninjas organize a party and choose the few new teens, who could possibly be their allies.

This would not be such a big deal if Maurice would not have invited Abigail Lincoln.

Her best friend.

Chad's stomach did an inconvenient flipflop, as he involuntary pictured the girl he thought about. Since Rachel got decommissioned (three years, six months and two days ago, not that he counted), he did a marvelous job in avoiding her at all cost. This was a hard task, considering, that they lived in the same street, but his trainings, the Teen Ninja tasks and beating Nigel Uno could distract him enough.

Although Rachel and he had a few years between them (two and a half, NOT that he knew), back in his KND days, he only felt a close attachment to her under his command. Rachel almost had the same circumstances, as he had – minus the crazy, ice shooting parents of course.

He met her not long before she was recruited. It was such a simple situation, really... She took out the trash, and he got home from junior football practice. She smiled at him on a particularly horrible day, and she instantly managed to make it at least a bit bearable. They started to talk, she was recruited, and Chad was so happy he had a true friend among the lines of his troops.

Then he became Supreme Leader, she turned out to be the best damn spy in the entire organization, and they drifted a bit apart. They tried to keep contact but being undercover meant, that their conversations and interactions were limited to briefings and information change. Chad hated it.

He made her global tactical officer not only for her wits, brain, and skills, but because he simply needed someone to be next to him, either serving as his third and fourth eyes by forming a plan, or fending off weird fangirls, or just simply... talk. He was well aware, that he was selfish, but try to make an eleven-year-old boy see reason.

They had however small moments of privacy, where they could just be good friends, discussing stuff, that normal kids do, maybe go for an ice-cream, or shake, and those small moments amidst of fighting were Chad's reason not to just flip from the weight of responsibilities on his shoulders.

And then... Uno happened.

Nigel Uno started to talk to her. This was the first time Chad felt rage bubbling up for practically no reason.

Uno.

He knew, it was stupid to be angry at a boy, who was even younger than Rachel, but still. Chad needed one hell of self-control not to say anything nasty to her regarding their relationship. To top it all off, Nigel thought of him as a role model. He even spent time with him, and he could not find an issue with the kid. Chad hated that too.

Uno...

So he stayed silent, trying to enjoy Rachel's company, but Uno kept on coming back to their conversations.

"Did you know, that Nigel could defeat a whole army of ice cream truck drivers?" she asked once astonished "I knew, he was good, but not this good..."