Operation: COMBAT

by Tzhora

It's Wally's sixtenth birthday, and all is going well until he recieves a phone call that will change his life forever. Rated for language and minor character death. Chapter Three is up, but it's a short chapter.

1. Drafted

I do not own Codename Kids Next Door.

Operation C.O.M.B.A.T.

Teens Next Door

Operation:

C.O.M.B.A.T.

Changes in

Operative

Makes

Battles

Absolutely

Troublesome

(Wally's POV)

I began to get my vision back. I was in a state of awe. I couldn't tell where I was or what was going on around me. As my senses started to function again, I noticed a ringing sound in my ear. There were people of various ages around me, some were yelling at me and others were firing guns, but I still couldn't hear what was being said or what was going on around me. I looked all around me and noticed that all the people by me were shooting at something with actual guns. I was scared because I had no idea what was going on. I was finally starting to get my hearing back and over the various voices of men yelling at each other, those yelling in pain from wounds that were inflicted on various spots on their bodies, and gunshots all around me, I heard my name being called out by someone. I looked around for the source, ignoring all of the other sounds around me. I then saw a man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties yelling at me. "Beatles get your ass up and provide covering fire, Bravo is moving into position to flank the enemy, but there held up in an ambush. We need to give them more damn time and its not helping that you're just sitting on your ass doing nothing." This random man that I didn't even know yelled at me. I looked over him, and because of all of the Call of Duty games I played, I could tell that he was a staff-sergeant. I took in my surroundings for the first time since I woke up and noticed that we appeared to be in the desert. The temperature was scorching hot, with the sun blazing down right on top of me. I then noticed, for the first time, that I had a gun in my hand, a FN Scar-H, a Glock 26 in my gun hoister on my waist, a few grenades on a belt of there own, ammunition placed in various parts of my uniform and a combat knife hidden by my torso. How I even knew what half of these were was a mystery to me.

"Damnit Beatles get your head out of the fucking clouds, Bravo is almost in position, and I know you're injured, but we need all the help we can get to destroy that damn bunker!" The enraged voice from earlier yelled.

When the word injury popped into my head, I looked down at my leg and noticed a piece of shrapnel sticking out of it. My eyes widened in fear as blood was pouring out of it. It then hit me right there. If I don't kill, I'll be killed! So I picked up my Scar, reloaded it, (which I still don't know how I did it,) looked over the little foxhole I was currently in and fired. At first I just sprayed my bullets, hoping to hit someone in the process. My aim then noticeably improved as I found myself aiming at the bunker in general, and fired. I kept this up for what seemed like hours, with no prevail. I was down to my last Scar clip and only had 2 left for my Glock. I quickly checked the chamber and was waiting for the perfect time to do this. Where the hell was our backup? I then noticed some movement on the other side of the bunker, and I could tell that Bravo was in position. I then did something that was so stupid and idiotic, it was genius. I quickly popped out of the foxhole and sprayed the rest of my Scar ammunition at the bunker in order to try and drive the enemy to fire at my squad, me in particular.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Private? If you want to die so badly, then be my guest, but DO NOT bring the rest of my men in this. I'm not about to let them die because of a stupid mistake that YOU made." Screeched a very angry sergeant.

I paid him no mind and continued running. It appeared that a few of my squad members picked up on my idea and gave me covering fire. I noticed that I killed at least a couple of men, but I didn't care, it seems that I had lost my mind because killing was wrong. But I just didn't seem to care. This was no war, it was slaughter, kill or be killed, and I suddenly got the urge to live, no matter the costs.

I was barely avoiding the heavy machine guns raining down bullets on me. One managed to get embedded in my left shoulder, but I didn't seem to notice. I just continued my solo raid on the bunker, in any attempt to take it out. As I neared it, I noticed that although the bunker was a great location for cover, but if an explosion were to go off in there, there would be hell for the occupants in there. It was then when I realized that I still had my grenade belt around my waist. I placed it in my hand…pulled the pins out at the same time…counted to three…

and tossed them into the bunker.

I heard screams and yells from the men inside the bunker, shouting in some language that I couldn't understand, and then there was the explosion, and then silence. I could no longer hear the machine gun shooting at me, or the gunshots coming from my squad mates, and also the voices of the enemy seemed to die out. All I could hear was my heartbeat. I was panting heavily, feeling as though I haven't breathed in years. I slowly collected my nerves together and decided to check out the bunker. My shoulder injury went unnoticed and my leg injury was long forgotten. I was determined to clear out the bunker.

I found a door that was embedded in the sand, and with no luck simply pulling, kicked it in.

I quickly took note of my surroundings, noticing that I was in a lower part of the bunker. I took each step with caution, holding up my Glock in front of me to prepare for anything that jumped out at me. I found a few men dying of blood loss from the grenades on the upper part of the bunker, and feeling pity for the, put them out of their misery. I then heard voices, but I wasn't concerned because they were of the Bravo sector. They said look for the 'package' and kill all casualties that are still moving in the bunker. 'They didn't have to worry about that because I killed them all,' I thought.

After about 10 minutes of searching, the 'package' was finally found, and I was a bit surprised to find them to be just a few documents, but then I realized that it didn't matter. As long as they were secured, it was fine by me.

When everyone was leaving the bunker, I looked around one last time at the damage that I caused. I should have felt guilt, but I didn't feel anything at all, it was as if I was used to this.

While mingling in my thoughts, I didn't notice a shadow appear behind me. It then felt like everything happened in slow motion, I heard my teammates yelling and then I felt a slight sting in my gut. I looked down and saw that I was bleeding, with a knife embedded through my gut. I slowly fell, and saw my teammates shoot the man who had stabbed me, killing him instantly. I saw there mouths moving but I couldn't make out anything except for, "Medical, need, man, down, bleeding, brink of death."

Those last words caused my eyes to open wide. Realization dawned on me as I realized that this was it. I was really dying. My life was flashing before my eyes, from when we moved here from Australia, to when I started school, then joining the KND, meeting her…decommissioning and the TND, but no matter what he saw, one image kept popping up in his mind, and that image was not an image at all, but it was a person.

"Kuki…" those were the last words to come out of his mouth as his vision went black and he fell into unconsciousness.

I woke up with a start, panting heavily and noticed that I was covered in sweat. As I took a few moments to calm down my ragged breathing, I heard the alarm of my clock going off. I glanced over at it; it read 7:01 a.m. I sighed because I didn't really like waking up this early, especially on the weekends, but then I remembered why I set it in the first place.

It was my 16th birthday.

I didn't really care about birthdays, because as I got older, I realized that age was just a number and that it didn't matter how old you were, but how old you were on the inside. But this year was different, it was my sweet sixteen and I was pretty happy about it.

After I took a shower, brushed my teeth, got dressed and did my other normal morning routines, I found my mind drifting back to my dreams. That wasn't the first time I have had that dream, I had them every night for a little over a week now. It was always the same dream, but only this time, I could make out the voices that were being said, whereas in my other ones, I couldn't hear a single word they were saying. It was as if my dreams were telling me something.

I continued to walk down the hall and pushed my thoughts to the side as I entered the kitchen of base. I noticed all of my friends there were working on what appeared to be my birthday breakfast, which of course, Kuki was in charge of.

"Hurry up guys, I want this to be finished before Wally gets up. I don't want to ruin the surprise because he walks in here when we aren't finished." Kuki said in a demanding tone to the rest of my teammates, which made me grin slightly.

I decided to leave the room before anyone took notice of me and went into the main room to watch some TV for a little while. Unlike my child self, I didn't care for early morning cartoons as much as I used to. So I decided to flip to the new to see what was going on in the world today.

"…and the guerilla was safely returned to the zoo two hours later. In other news, two American soldiers along with six citizens were killed in a car bomb earlier this morning in the town of Qalat, just about 30 miles outside the capital of Afghanistan. Investigators say that they saw a 1977 American Blazer parked outside of a building, and when they went to go scout it out, it detonated. The two fallen soldiers have been identified as John Logan "Smithy" Smith from El Paso Texas, and William Josh Parker from Cleveland, Ohio." My eyes darted open when I heard Josh's name. He was my old babysitter when I was around four years old. Although he wasn't the nicest person around the block, he was a great family friend and I was stricken with sorrow when he was deployed about three years ago. I was disrupted from my thoughts when my cell phone rang.

I didn't recognize the number, but I just figured that it was a friend or a distant family member calling to say happy birthday, so I answered it.

"'Ello?" I asked in an unsure voice.

"Yes, is this Beatles?"

I was a little surprised that they used my last name, but I just shook it off. "Yes this is 'im speaking; may Ah ask who is calling?"

"Yes, this is the deployment office for the United States military; we have called to inform you that there has been a draft, and that you have been selected to join the military. But of course you get to choose whether you want to be a marine, in the navy or in the airforce."

"What!" I yelled, but managed to keep my voice low enough to not alert my friends of my presence, "How 'ave Ah been drafted, it's only meh sixteenth birthday, not meh eighteenth." I said in a tone much softer than before.

"Your name is Rick Beatles correct?"

"No meh name is Wallabee Beatles, Rick is meh father."

"Oh I'm terribly sorry for the mix up." That is when it dawned upon me. "Wait so does that mean that meh father 'as been drafted into th' army." I said in a voice of disbelief.

"Unfortunately, yes it does young man."

That is when I did the stupidest thing I could have possibly done. "Would Ah be able ta enlist in th' place of meh father." I was shocked that I said that, but then again I didn't want my dad to join the army.

"Well we do allow seventeen year olds to enlist with their parents approval, but this is probably the first time I've ever heard about a sixteen year old trying to enlist…"

"Please, Ah'm in great physical shape. People tell meh all th' toime that Ah look at least twenty years old with meh height an' physical appearance an' all, can't you moake an acceptation?" I said in a tone of a pleading voice.

"Well if you get your parents OK about it, then it probably shouldn't be a problem. Would you like me to call you back in a little while after you talked to them, or would you like it if I contacted them using your home phone?" The lady on the other end asked me.

"If ya wouldn't mind, would ya moind asking them for meh because Ah don't want ta be th' one ta break th' news ta them."

"Sure, and I'll call you back with an answer in a few minutes."

"Thank ya very much." Then the line went dead as I realized that she hung up to tell my parents the news.

I can't believe that I just practically begged to be enlisted in the army, underage nonetheless.

What I didn't know was that I had a someone listening in on my conversation and nearly jumped out of my skin when they said, "Break what news to who?"

I looked over my shoulder and saw Numbuh One glancing at me, his glasses lowered so I could look him straight in the eyes.

"Oh h-hey Numbuh One, nothin' and no un." I stuttered.

"Numbuh Four." He said in a calm but serious voice.

"Don't worry 'bout it, now lets go in th' kitchen, Ah'm starved." I said, trying to change the subject.

"Wally, don't change the subject." He barked, taking his glasses off and looking me straight in the eyes. After about fifteen seconds, I couldn't take it anymore and spilled everything.

"Okay, that was th' enlistment office telling meh that there 'as been a draft and told meh that Ah was enlisted." I started out.

"What!" He interrupted me, "You're only sixteen Numbuh Four, why would they recruit you?"

I sighed, "Well th' message was meant for meh fathuh, but then Ah realized that if Ah didn't go that my fathuh would, an' frankly Ah would rather go than 'ave meh fathuh go."

"So what you're telling me is that you are joining the army in place of your father." It wasn't a question but a statement, but I nodded anyway. "Wait, isn't there a law that says you need to be at least eighteen to be drafted?"

"Well if ya are seventeen years old, an' with parent approval, ya can enlist, but th' lady from th' office told meh that there 'asn't been any record of a sixteen year old enlisting, so she told meh that with meh parents' OK that it probably shouldn't be a problem."

"And you think that your parents' are just going to say yes?"

"That is whoi Ah asked th' lady from th' office ta tell them for meh." I replied instantly, almost knowing he was going to say that.

"…So when do you find out if you join?" He asked me after a long pause.

"Well th' lady said she would call meh back after she talked ta meh parents…" and as if on cue my phone rang.

"Is it her?" He asked me.

I simply nodded and answered the phone. "'Ello," I said, my voice a little shaky.

"Well young man, after a sorrowful conversation with your parents, they eventually decided that they support your decision and gave you their approval."

"So does that mean…" I couldn't finish the sentence because she cut me off.

"Yes, as of now, you are currently enlisted in the United States army, and unless you want to be in the airforce or the navy, you will be enlisted in the marines."

"That's foine," was all I could manage to choke out of my mouth.

"We will send a plane ticket to you in the mail; you will depart for boot camp in two weeks time."

"OK, thank ya." I then hung up the phone and that is when I realized, I am in the fucking army! I completely forgot Nigel was right next to me and was startled when he spoke to me.

"So…are you in?" He asked in a tone of voice I've never heard him speak in before.

I was at a loss for words so all I could do was nod my head, knowing that he would understand.

There was then a gloomy silence that seemed to linger in the room, and for what seemed like hours, no one spoke until Nigel brought me out of daze. "Well, since it is your birthday, we should be celebrating, not worrying about that, so let's go enjoy your birthday breakfast and worry about this some other time."

I simply nodded and made my way to the kitchen, following Nigel.

I was greeted with Happy Birthday's from all of my friends, and I also got a birthday kiss from Kuki, which of course made me blush, but I didn't mind.

We ate the breakfast, consisting of pancakes, bacon, toast, eggs, juice, fruit, sausage, and even a few doughnuts, only breaking into small chitchat about what we should do today. During the course of breakfast, the others noticed that Nigel and I weren't talking much and didn't seem too hungry. Of course this brought up worried glances from the rest of the team.

"Are you two OK, I mean you have barely touched your food and haven't talked much. I know you don't really care about birthdays Wally, but that doesn't mean we can't celebrate. Are you sick?" Kuki asked me, putting a hand on me forehead to see if I was sick. All it managed to do was make me blush, but then I shook her hand away.

"Ah'm foine, Ah just have a lot on meh mind." I said reassuringly.

Kuki looked at me in disbelief, "Are you sure?"

I simply nodded.

"So dude, it's your birthday so what do you want to do today?" My best friend, Hoagie asked me.

"Ah don't care, whoi don't ya guys choose for meh?" I replied.

"We can't do that silly, it's your birthday not ours." Kuki replied in a way similar to the way she would have six years ago.

"Ah 'onsetly don't care what we do today.

"Numbuh Five suggests that we should go mini-golfing and then bowling and maybe rent a DVD for dinner." Abby replied in a nonchalant tone.

"That is foine by meh, so when do we head out?" I asked. I figured that I should try to have some fun today, after all it was my birthday, and if I could get this whole military thing off of my mind, then my day would probably go by faster.

"Well you won't even think about leaving until you finish your breakfast mister." Kuki said to me in a threatening voice.

"What are ya, meh mother." I then realized what I said and spared a glance over at Kuki, who was angry, so before she could say something, or hurt someone for that matter, I devoured my food so she wouldn't get mad.

"Now was that so hard?" She said in a voice of pure innocence, which scared me even more.

"Uh-huh," was all I could manage to say under the watchful eyes of my girlfriend.

"Good, now that Wally's done with breakfast, I say that we should get ready and should head out mini-golfing in about an hour."

We all decided that it was best not to argue with her and simply nodded our heads.

"Well Numbuh Five needs to go do her hair, Numbuh Three do ya' want to help me?" Abby asked Kuki, who nodded her head vigorously, and then they left the room to go to Numbuh Five's room. Before they left the room, Kuki spared a glance at me, and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, and left the room.

"Ah don't see why Abby needs ta do her hair if she always wears a hat," I said. We all laughed at that joke.

"Well since they're probably going to take a long time, I guess I'll go work on some more 2x4 technology." And with that said, Hoagie walked out of the kitchen and headed towards his room.

After that, it was just me and Nigel left in the kitchen, and with it was a very uncomfortable silence.

"So…when do you plan on telling them." Nigel asked after he was sure that no one was in earshot of the kitchen.

"Nevah, but Ah guess Ah have ta tell 'em sooner or later." I said, a little down.

"I think dinner tonight would be an appropriate time, just try to have fun today and don't worry about it. I'm sure that everything is going to be fine." Nigel stated, trying to reassure me.

"Thanks mate, Ah needed that, an' Ah think that Ah will be foine from this." I said, mainly to reassure myself over anyone.

After an hour or so of getting ready, we boarded the C.O.O.L.B.U.S. We then arrived at the mini golf course and played two full games since we had some extra time before bowling. Nigel won the first game and Abby won the second one, but no one really seemed to care because mini golf wasn't an actual sport. We then headed over to the bowling alley, and as much as I hated the sport, I won both games, mainly because my dad was in league and forced me to play when I was younger. After that we went to rent some movies and got three, We Were Soldiers, Black Hawk Down, and Saving Private Ryan. Everyone but Nigel seemed to question why I got three war movies, but then they decided that since it was my birthday, I could decide what I wanted to watch.

After we arrived back at the base, the girls went out shopping because they, but mainly Kuki, wanted to make me a special birthday dinner. So while we waited, Nigel, Hoagie and I decided to play some videogames. When the girls arrived back at the house, they asked Hoagie and Nigel to help them prepare the dinner, but as Hoagie went into the kitchen, Nigel managed to get me away from them in order to talk about this predicament.

"So Numbuh Four, when do you plan on telling them?" Nigel asked me.

"Ah was gonna tell 'em at dinner, but Ah don't think Ah can do it, would ya be able ta tell 'em for meh?" I asked, although I had a feeling I was going to know what the answer was.

"No Wally, I can't tell them, although I want to help you, you need to tell them since they need to hear it come from your mouth."

"Damn, but Ah don't think Ah can do it, especially to Kuki, it'll break her heart." I said, a little down casted.

"I know it will be hard for you to do this, but it has to be done. It would be better to tell them now than right before you leave, which would make things even worse. That way, they can at least have some time to think about it instead of coming right out of the blue and saying it the night before." Nigel said in a matter of fact tone.

Before he could say anything else, Nigel was called back into the kitchen by an irritated Kuki. "When I mean all of us help out, I mean all of us; now get in the kitchen before I force you there." And before I knew it, Nigel wasn't by my side anymore but was instead heading, (or more like sprinting,) off towards the kitchen.

I also noticed that Kuki was no longer by my side, as she was determined to finish my birthday dinner. I didn't mind at all because it gave me the chance to linger in my thoughts for a little while. I tried my best to think of a plan to break the new to them, but the more I thought about it, the more I didn't want to tell them. This would have been hard enough if I was of legal age to join the army, but I'm only sixteen, and I'm already signed up to fight for my life in some foreign country. I then decided that it would be best to tell everyone after dinner, so I could come up with a better plan in the meantime. It was then that I decided that while waiting for dinner, that I should try and watch some TV to help clear my mind. When I turned it on, it was only to discover that it was still on the local news channel that it I left it on in the morning.

"…and unfortunately, there were no survivors. Also in the local news, we have a first of anything that has ever been notified in the documents of wartime. Today, sixteen year old Wallabee Beatles was enlisted in the army, making him the youngest American soldier to date." I quickly turned off the TV, for fear that one of my friends would hear it, but that made up my decision. I had to tell them because it was all over the news, and it would be a lot easier to just tell them than to let them find out somewhere else.

My thoughts were once again disrupted by the voice of Kuki, telling me that dinner was finished. I walked into the kitchen to discover that they made my favorite, New York steak, rare of course, sautéed mushrooms, a small salad on the side and some steamed broccoli, (which I find ironic since I used to hate broccoli.) I grinned to myself and pulled Kuki into a kiss. It was her turn to blush at my action, which made me grin even more.

We ate in conversation about nothing in particular. That is until Nigel decided to try and get me to tell the rest of the team about my 'predicament.'

"So Numbuh Four, since it is your birthday, I think that we should talk about what you want to talk about." The rest of the team eyed him suspiciously, because that was a really weird thing for him to say, but I started to stutter.

"W-well Ah can't believe 'ow good ya are at cookin', it sure does taste bettah than what Ah can do." I said, trying to hint to him that now was not a good time.

"Well would you mind telling us why you picked out three war movies, I mean not a horror movie or a romance?"

"Well Ah love these movies, and Ah felt loike watching 'em," I said, off the top of my head.

"Well I think that you have something to tell the team." Damn, he was determined to get me to talk, even though I wasn't quite ready to tell them yet, so I said the one thing that would let him know I wasn't ready to talk, while at the same time letting everyone else know that I wanted to talk.

"Ah don't 'ave anythin' ta say roight now, but maybe later."

Everyone, including Nigel, stared at me with a clueless expression, but Nigel's then turned to one of understanding. I mean it wasn't easy telling your best friend, someone you thought of as a sister and the love of your life that you have been deployed and will be sent into combat.

"Well, Numbuh Five says we should start to watch the movies now, and do cake and presents later," Abby said and everyone agreed to it.

After we watched Saving Private Ryan and We Were Soldiers, we decided that it would be a great time for cake and presents.

I didn't really like getting presents on my birthday, but my friends got me some anyway. Hoagie got me a new video game, which was Prototype; Abby got me a Disturbed CD, Nigel got me an ITunes card worth $50, and Kuki, Kuki got me a pendant. It was no ordinary pendant. It was heart shaped that was green on one side and orange on the other. On the inside of the pendant was a picture of me and Kuki. I just stared at it, not knowing how to react. It was the best gift that I have ever gotten. I noticed that she looked a little sad and dejected by how I was looking at it. I then stood up and wrapped my arms around her in a tight embrace. "Thanks Kooks, Ah'll treasure this forever, and who knows, it might just help meh get through th' hard toimes.

She looked up at me with watery eyes, and returned my hug. "I was worried that you wouldn't like it."

"Whoi wouldn't Ah loike it?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"Well it's all girly and stuff…" she trailed off.

"Well ta tell ya th' truth, Ah loike it more than meh other gifts." I whispered into her ear.

"The reason I got it was because it shows that we are going to be by each others' side from now on, see I got one too." She said as she pulled a pendant out from under her shirt, which looked exactly the same as mine.

"Ehehehe…roight by each others' sides from now on… So shall we move onto th' cake?"

The cake was huge. It was definitely big enough for at least twelve people to have seconds with, and yet there were only five of us. I thought that there would still be some when I came back…that is if I came back. I shook my head of those thoughts. I needed to be positive.

As I was about to blow out the candles, Kuki told me that I had to make a wish. Of course I don't believe in wishes on candles, but I decided it wouldn't hurt. So I thought of something and blew out the candles.

"So what did you wish for dude?" Hoagie asked me after I blew them all out.

"He can't tell you or it won't come true." Kuki said to Hoagie.

I decided to answer despite Kuki, "More toime."

Everyone looked at me confused and Nigel just let out a long and frustrated sigh.

We went back to the living quarters of the base to watch the last movie, Black Hawk Down. It was a very good movie, and although it probably should have made me think more about war, it managed to take my mind off of it…at least for a little while.

After the film ended, everyone got up and went to do something before heading off to bed. "When are you going to tell them Numbuh Four!" My leader snapped at me. "Um, Ah was hoping ta do that tomorrow." "That's it team there is an emergency meeting in five minutes. Do NOT be late to it." Nigel practically screamed throughout the whole base. He then whispered to me, "You're going to tell them at that meeting." Then he walked away.

'Great,' I thought, 'He sure ain't making this a walk in the park for me.'

I heard the alarm going off; signaling that the meeting was going to start. I cursed under my breath.

'Well, I might as well should try and get this over with.' So with that being thought… I ever so slowly moved to the debriefing room.

As soon as I arrived, I noticed that the rest of the team was there, waiting for me. I must have taken longer than I thought because Numbuh One wasn't looking too happy.

"Well since everyone is finally here," he looked at me when he said that, "I have called this meeting because Numbuh Four has something that he needs to tell all of you." Numbuh One said in a matter of fact tone.

"Ah don't 'ave anythin' ta say, Ah don't know what ya are talking 'bout." I replied, although everyone could tell I was lying and I knew it.

"Well, Wally," everyone but Wally looked at Nigel wide-eyed, he never used his teammates first names, "No one is going to leave this room until you say what you have to say."

I sighed and made my way to the podium. The thing I found funny about this was that I was having this much trouble telling my friends about going to war, I couldn't even imagine how hectic it was going to be to actually go into the war.

"W-well, ya, ya s-see, Ah-Ah-Ah w-was," I managed to stutter out, but I was interrupted.

"Will you get on with it boy, Numbuh Five is tired and wants to get to sleep. Now spit it out before I make you." Said a very agitated Abby, all the while taking a sip from her can of Pepsi.

"Foine, here goes….Ah've….been drafted."

If this wasn't such a serious matter, I would have laughed at my teammates' reaction. Hoagie fell off of the bench in a pure state of shock. Abby spit out her soda and her hat fell off her head, making her appear way different than she was before. And Kuki just stared at me with wide eyes, looking as though she was petrified and couldn't move.

Abby was the first to recover from my news, asking a question that was difficult to answer. "Drafted into what?"

"…The army."

There was a very uncomfortable silence which followed, but it was soon broken by Hoagie. "Hahahaha oh that's a good one Numbuh Four, you almost got me there. So what's the real news?"

I just stared at him with expressionless eyes, and I spared a glance at Kuki and saw the pleading in her eyes, praying that this was some kind of sick and twisted joke. I wish it was, but I knew it wasn't. I was at a loss for words but I managed to choke out, "No…it's not a joke." The next thing I noticed was Kuki passed out and falling on the floor.

(Kuki's POV)

"No…it's not a joke." Was the last thing that I heard before I got dizzy and everything went black.

I was hearing voices all around me, but I couldn't make out who was talking. I tried to open my eyes but it felt like they were glued shut. It was then that I noticed that I had a splitting headache. I could still hear the voices all around me, only this time I could recognize them as my friends' voices. I tried to open my eyes once more and was greeted with a bright light that only made my head pound more, so I closed them as soon as I opened them. I decided to wait a few minutes to try and open them again, so instead I focused on the voices around me.

"She should be waking up any minute now."

"That's a relief, she's been out for a while now.

"If ya had meh wait a little longer, then this wouldn't have happened, whoi did ya want meh to tell them tonight anyways?"

"It had to be done, and her reaction probably would have been the same no matter when you told her, just be glad that you got it out of the way."

I couldn't tell who was saying what, but it was then that I decided to reopen my eyes, and this time the light didn't hurt my head as much. I slowly started to sit up and regretted it when I felt like my head was going to split in two. "Where am I?" Was all I was able to say before Abby handed me some Tylenol and I laid back down, only to realize that all attention was on me.

"You are in the medical wing girl; now don't talk too much, we don't want that head of your to get any worse now do we?"

"So, how are you feeling?" Asked Nigel, with a look of concern on his face.

"Like my head is about to split open." I replied, and then added, "Man I had the craziest dream. Wally was drafted in the army and we all thought he was joking, but it turns out that he wasn't and I got really scared…then I woke up. Phew, I'm glad it was just a dream though." As I finished, I took notice of all the expressions of my teammates.

"Ehehe, about that…that wasn't a dream Numbuh Three." Hoagie said to me.

"What you mean Numbuh Two," then it dawned one me, "Wait, you don't mean…"

"Unfortunately, that is exactly what it means Numbuh Three." Nigel said, his voice filled with sorrow.

"No, no no no no nonono, this has got to be some kind of joke. Please tell me that you are just kidding. PLEASE say it is just a joke." I pleaded my voice barely audible as I tried to keep my tears from falling. I then noticed the grief expression on Wally's face and knew that this wasn't a joke, this was real.

"Oh no," my voice was barely above a whisper and I jumped into Wally's arms and cried. Hard. I was stricken with grief and sorrow filled me as over what could happen to Wally went through my mind. I tried to push my thoughts away from that but it wasn't as if I didn't want to, I couldn't because thoughts are way different then reality. There was a chance that Wally wasn't going to make it back home after this, and I couldn't bear the thought of losing the love of my life. So I did the only thing I could do, and that was cry.

"Well, that could have gone better." Said a surly Nigel with a stoic expression.

The room was strangely silent, so I looked up and saw everyone glaring daggers at Numbuh One, but Wally was the one to break the silence. "Oh, an' how could that 'ave gone bettah?"

"Well…hehe…um, well she could have….umm… I don't know, but it could have been worse."

"Well if ya listened ta meh, this wouldn't 'ave happened." Barked a very irritated Wally.

"And how exactly would procrastinating on it help you out in the long run?"

"Ah would 'ave had more toime ta prepare for it instead of dropping it on them loike that."

"Well just be glad that you got it over with Numbuh Four, it would have been harder the longer you waited."

"Shut-up, Ah still think that we could've done it meh way."

The bickering went back and forth for what seemed like hours. I noticed that, despite the situation, Abby and Hoagie were both suppressing chuckles from the argument that seemed to be heading nowhere. I also soon found myself smiling a little before letting out a few giggles of my own. Everybody then stopped what they were doing and looked at me. There expressions seemed to soften when they noticed my gaze, since I took the news the hardest.

"Well, it's good to see you in not such a bad mood anymore Numbuh Three." I gave him a nod of acknowledgement, "So why not put all of this to rest for the time being and head off to bed?"

"Wait, Numbuh Five has to know… when do you depart?" Abby said with a hint of worry in her voice. It seemed to be dead quiet for what seemed like hours, until Wally finally spoke. "…Two weeks."

We all seemed down casted at his answer, but it was Hoagie who broke the tension. "Well, let's not worry about it for now, I mean it's better than one week. Let's do our best to make the most out of our time while we still can." With that being said, we all nodded in agreement and headed off to our rooms to try to at least get some sleep that night.

I managed to drag myself to my room and plopped down on the bed. My eyelids felt heavy, but whenever I tried to close them, I couldn't drift off to sleep. I just lay in my bed trying to absorb all that I learned in the past few hours. Wally, MY Wally, was being sent off to boot camp, and eventually the army to fight in some foreign country in just two short weeks. I was trying my best not to think about the possibility that he might not make it back, so I shook my head and wiped my still wet eyes and headed out to Wally's room. I was determined to spend as much time as I could with him before he left.

Maneuvering my ways down the dark hallways of the base, I arrived outside of Wally's door and peered inside. I saw him laying down in his bed, but I couldn't tell if he was sleeping or not. I found myself staring at him for a couple of minutes, and blushed when I realized that he wasn't asleep and was staring at me. "'Ey Kooks, what are ya doin'?" I was still standing in his doorway and barely heard him speak, but manage to rasp out, "I couldn't sleep." I saw him shift in him bed and took that as a sign to go and join him. I couldn't hold back my tears anymore and rushed into his bed and cried into his chest. "There, there Kooks, Ah'll be foine." "H-how c-c-can you b-be su-sure, I mean, I-I don't want to-to-to," but I couldn't finish the sentence.

Apparently knowing what I was going to say, he answered my unfinished question. "Don't worry Kooks, Ah'll come back, even if it's just for ya." When he said that, it made her feel better, so she snuggled into his chest and drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

And that's it for chapter one. I plan, but don't promise on getting at least one chapter out a week. I've already started on chapter two, and know how it's going to work out, I just need to find the time to write it. This is also my first fanfic so please review and flame if necessary. I also don't intend on just making this story a first person, it will switch off from characters and also to a third person POV. Until next time, -One