Author: TippierCoffee

Disclaimer: I do not own—nor do I claim the rights to—any of the characters from the show Codename: Kids Next Door. All credit goes to rightful owner: Mr. Tom Warburton.

LTLY series: 1. Learning To Love You; 2. Again; 3. Alone; 4. Ever After.

OBS: I gave Wally's parents names. Mum: Kayla Beetles, Dad: Wilbert Beetles.

Enjoy :)


Homecoming.

Friday September 1st, 12pm

Flaming red blew around him in never ending streams, it tore apart the sky and blinded him. Tears streamed down a pale face, with a blood-red mouth quivering vehemently until a deep frown fell upon it. For a moment his eyes could see nothing but the ocean of red and the down-turned lips, and his eyes were just about to travel up to meet hers when she let out an ear-piercing scream that tore apart the sky and crushed every bone and muscle inside him until he fell like a pile of goo onto the ground.

-I am sorry.- He couldn't speak because she was killing every fibre inside of him, but he deeply wished he could. -I am so sorry!-

A loud wham of metal against metal woke him from his slumber, and a guard exited from the safety of his own cage—or maybe he was stepping into a cage that was designed for the teenage boy to be unable to harm anyone else.

"This is it." The guard said, his deep voice trying desperately to sneak in some sort of compassion. For a moment the teenage boy, who the guard was speaking to, found it ironic that his favourite colour was still orange, despite him having been covered from head to toe by the colour for the last year and a half. "Let's go and get you changed, come on."

The teenage boy lingered in the cage, then he doubtfully stood up and went to stand beside the man in the dark blue uniform—its colour was so dark it almost looked black. The guard went a bit ahead, fishing the thick stick out of its place so he could beat up cages if any of the other prisoners started too much of a riot, and together they walked toward the end of the hall and further still until they reached a small office where a box was placed with the teenage boy's full name on it. A name he hardly recognised after having been robbed of it for so long.

"Well." The guard stated impatiently, holding a door to a small room open. "What are you waiting for? Go inside and get changed."

Get changed? The teenage boy looked up to meet the eyes of the guard, his eyes lingering on the man's uniform with all the patches sown onto it, meant to represent how high up in the hierarchy this guard was compared to the others. He then looked uncertain to the pile of clothes in his own hand, noticing his belt was not there because the guard had removed it; probably so he wouldn't try something stupid, like committing suicide again.

"What day is it?" The teenager asked, his eyes heavy and dropping, and his voice so weak it was almost invisible due to the fact that he had hardly slept yet again this night.

"It's the day where we set you free. Now get changed before I change my mind, I do have other things to attend to." The guard stressed.

-Free? What does that mean again?- The teenager took one last uncertain look at his clothes then the guard, before circumspectly walking into the room and letting the guard close and lock the door behind him. He started carefully pulling off his overalls, then he started dressing with shaking hands, feeling the fabric of his clothes anew while a thousand tormenting images flashed sadistically against his eyes making him even dizzier than he already was.

When he was done he cautiously stepped over to the door and gave a small knock to let the guard know he was done, and shortly after that he heard the lock click as the door was unlocked and then opened by the guard, whose chest was shot out while his eyes were all agog when he gave the teenager back his belt. All the muscles of the guard's body were tense and prepared, just in case the teenager tried anything. Unfortunately for the over prepared guard—who was probably just getting agitated because he was missing one of his favourite shows which ran during his break—the teenager just put the belt on and then he stood there, looking into the ground and feeling as lost as the day he had arrived.

"Follow me please." The guard sighed impatiently, taking a grip around the teenager's shoulder while guiding him further toward the exit.

The teenager could feel everything within him tightening and speeding up. His breath caught in his throat while his blood rushed to his head with such speed and ferocity it made him dizzier still. His eyes were burning and his jaw was shifting between loosening and tightening, while his legs started feeling wobbly and he caught a hiccough as the first door to outside was opened. It was almost too much to bear after having gotten used to everything in here, more or less, and now all of a sudden it was expected of him to get out of the pits of hell and just waltz onto the streets without caring or worrying. Forgetting everything as he left it behind, but how could he ever forget something like this that would affect everything he did, or could ever do, for the rest of his life? How was he expected to just live a normal life when this was what was normal for him now? How did they ever expect him to forget the strange comfort of his own nightmares and just step straight into utopia?

He felt so uncertain and scared, and as they stepped fully outside everything was so bright, so blinding, and the air was almost too fresh. So full of a promised land called freedom, though he was not sure this land even existed, or that it ever had. So full of too much, expanding his lungs so widely it felt as thought they were being blown up by something inside.

They stepped over the pavement until they were at the last gate, and at the other side, in front of an ancient white car, stood a blond man with half a smile waiting for his passenger to finally step into the real world after being gone for far too long. It was the last step to final freedom, and even though the teenage boy had been in the courtyard they had here, something about hearing the last fence finally open made him realise that once he was out he was finally free. No fences to make sure he wouldn't step where he wasn't supposed to, no guards with guns getting ready to stop a riot, no voices threatening to kill him in low venomous whispers which would haunt him for the rest of the day, making him paranoid. It was the final step, and he was gently pushed out by the guard who spoke to the blond man with an encouraging smile, while telling something about how wonderfully behaved the teenage boy had been, and how quickly he had started finding the right path, and how the man should help the teenager make sure to stay out of trouble like this for future references.

The teenager took a deep breath wondering if the air had always tasted this good, then he observed the guard walk back to the penitentiary and he was almost about to follow troop when the man lay a warm hand on his shoulders before softly speaking his name.

"Wally." Wally looked up to the man, who was only about two centimetres taller than himself, emerald meeting blue, confusion meeting smile, and suddenly everything was just too much.

"Dad." Wally sobbed, almost toppling both of them over as he went to embrace his father, tears streaming down his cheeks and gravity pulling everything inside of him down. "Dad. I—"

"I know son, I know." Wilbert comforted, stroking the blond locks of his oldest son, who was long overdue a haircut.

Wilbert remained like that, despite his body almost being too fragile to carry the weight of his son, but he wanted to calm him down, and when he had succeeded he guided Wally to the front seat where he put on his seatbelt, and absentmindedly glanced out the window as the engine was started, making the car shake subtly below them while his dad put it into gear. He observed the enormous stronghold as is passed by, its grey colour the only thing his eyes saw before drowsiness took over, and his head started bobbing into the window while his body gave into sleep, his brain convincing him this was all just a dream. A dream in which he was about to enter another dream, but it didn't matter; dreams like these were what kept him going through the madness, so he let it be while the darkness swallowed him whole. Slowly but surely.


Subtle winds tore through the fallen leaves and send a shiver to anybody not dressed properly. Mixed with the rattling of leaves—and the chirping of birds calling for their spouse so they could build a warm nest as a base for the winter—was the laughter of three guys between the ages of fourteen and fifteen. Although, unlike the scenery around them, which was peaceful even though it was dying, their laughter was rough and full of insanity.

"This is so funny." The first one said, his voice carrying authority even when it was at its darkest and most irrational.

He started cackling while standing up a bit, exposing his blood covered body, as well as the blood covered ground; and suddenly a demonic domino effect started unfolding itself, painting all trees red with by the hands of the first, painting all of the ground red with the blood of open wounds, painting all of the sky red by shed tears and unheard cries for help. The first bend down again to a lifeless form on the ground, and the two others soon followed suit, digging into whatever the source of blood was, gorging out intestines with unnerving splashing and popping sounds.

Horrified, unable to move, Wally watched from a distance how the three of them started tearing meat off and shoving it into their mouths, chewing with grunts of laughter which got mixed with the never ending sound of intestines being forcefully torn out of their places. The second guy started cupping his hands, catching whatever blood he could out of her abdomen, then he showed it to his mouth and tilted his head backwards, and even though Wally was standing behind the three of them he could clearly picture the blood trailing down the corner of the second's mouth. Wally's entire body started twitching and before he could stop it his leg shot out to the side, catching the attention of the three who stopped everything they were dong immediately.

With an almost unnatural slowness to his every move, the first started standing up again, something firmly locked in his right hand, and when he was finally up he slowly turned his head, then his eyes. Wally could feel his breath catch in his throat as he stood there, frozen to the spot, locking eyes with the first who gave him a wide grin, torn flesh caught between his teeth and blood painting his entire mouth. He started turning his body, the two others following suit until all three of them were facing him, their smiles unrealistically wide and their eyes shimmering with monstrousness.

"Don't you want a bite?" The first one asked tilting his head, his voice a mixture of evil and emotionless, while he with a cackle presented the still throbbing heart to Wally.

Wally shook his head, his own heart thrusting so hard against his chest he could feel its rhythm throughout his entire body, and it made him deaf as he found he couldn't blink, couldn't think and he could hardly even breathe. His body then went from being motionless, to shaking so vehemently beneath him he was sure he would fall to the ground, unable to move, and when he did the two would hold him—one of them forcing hims mouth open—while the first would shove the heart forcefully into his mouth.

The three of them started letting out an unnatural chorus of laughter as they began stepping closer, their smiles ever growing, and in his head Wally started screaming for his legs to move; and just as he thought all hope was out his left leg finally budged and he found he was backing away from the three maniacs. Faster and faster, farther and farther, until his mind was satisfied with the three of them being out of eyesight. He quickly turned in his steps so he could start running faster than he ever had before, although he only just got to turn around and take the first far step, before he fell over something which was hard and soft all at once. He felt gravity pull him down and send him face first into the ground, and for a moment he wondered if he had stumbled over a log, though he knew that whatever had caused him to trip was far too soft to be made of tree. He sat on his knees, then turned to his buttocks which made the leaves shuffle below him, and while he rubbed his throbbing head, he looked to the ground to see what he had fallen over.

"Wally?"

A female figure lay at the spot, cascades of blood red hair spread around her oval face and covering the ground around her. She turned her pale face with the blue lips, and looked at him accusingly, tears sneaking into her dead deep-blue eyes.

"You promised." She sobbed, standing up while tears of blood started streaming down her cheeks, painting her face to match her hair. The sight frightened him so much he got pinned to the spot unable to take his eyes off of her.

"I…"

"Wally?!"

"You promised!" She screamed high pitched, her face contorting in pain and anger, while the winds started howling through the woods, picking up leaves and tossing them in circles around her as she started stepping closer to him.

He just kept being held to the spot by invisible hands that promised nothing but death while she started tearing apart the sky with a high-pitched mournful scream, spreading her arms out, then covering her ears with them as blood started streaming viciously out of her eyes which were now fully white, her mouth which was now so open her jaw was out of place, her ears which were now chipping and falling off, her veins which were now getting so thick they were bursting.

Her painful expression doubled in tensity as she fell to her knees, then she started crawling towards him, a hot mess of decaying flesh, falling off to expose bleeding muscles, while she kept screaming so loudly his ears started ringing and he was sure he'd go deaf from it. His heart jumped to his throat when he realised that he had now become trapped between her and a wall of tall trees, and even if he somehow miraculously could get his legs to obey him once again and move, he was in a dead-end trap and she was coming closer, and closer, and closer.

"Wally!" He snapped his eyes open just to realise he was bathed in red lights and for a moment he wondered how many dreams or nightmares he needed to have all at once within himself before his mind was finally satisfied with having driven him completely over the edge.

He rubbed his eyes and looked around in the familiar surroundings of the interior of his dad's car, then he looked to his dad who was sitting next to him with a small smile planted upon his face and a hand resting on his shoulder, and Wally found he broke down in that instant, his head bobbing towards the comfort of his dad who leaned in closer and held him to his chest.

It was too much, too painful, too unreal, yet he could feel it so clearly and it was not fair. He wanted to get away, to actually be here rather than dream it. He wanted to hit himself so hard in the head that he would either awaken or convince himself this was actually him being awake.

"We're resting here for the night lad." His dad smiled. "We still have a bit to go before we're back home with your mum, I just came back from booking a room for us son. Giddy up and follow me."

Wally looked around again, feeling disorientated and exhausted, but things started making a bit more sense when he stepped out, and was met by a breeze that was too real to be formed by a dream, and his eyes fell on the red neon sign that read Motel.

"Eleven pm." His dad stated shortly. "Been driving nine hours already, but we still have a six and a half hour drive ahead of us or so before we reach Cleveland. I wanted to have you stretch your legs a couple of times, but you've been sleeping like a little child the whole drive, so I couldn't get myself to wake you up.

"There is a McDonald's meal for you in the back though, if you're hungry, which I reckon you are. Just bring it with you and eat it in our room."

Wally opened the back door of the car, and reached in to grab a hold of the brown paper back, which he carefully brought with him to the room, hardly ever taking his eyes off of the priced bag with something edible inside. He had all but forgotten how McDonald's food, which was often soaked in too much oil, smelled. But right now it was the best scent he could ever recall having experienced, and it made his mouth water, shortly accompanied by his stomach growling gluttonously.

He carefully walked inside the small room and opened up the bag, the fumes of unhealthy food overriding all of his senses, and before he knew of it he was chewing and swallowing his food with such a speed, one would almost think he was being starved. It felt so good, tasted so good, validated his freedom, and while he in his eager almost choked on his food, his tears started mixing salt with bread and beef and salad.


Saturday September 2nd, 3pm.

Wally absentmindedly looked at the bypassing cars on the road some distance away, and the kids running around, while air playfully tugged at his hair and made his eyes water. Unlike yesterday where his dad had hardly taken a rest from driving because Wally was asleep, they were currently on the second pit stop of the day. Every time felt like a whole new experience, and even though the ground had stopped wobbling below his feet, his heart never ceased to race and make him feel like he was either born a new or head over heels in love with the world. Whenever they stopped another place, his father would buy him a soft drink, or whatever else he could think of wanting to re-taste.

"Well." His dad exclaimed, hitting his lap softly with his hands. "This is the last stop, rest of the drive will be one and a half hour long, so if you need to use the little men's room it's now or never son."

Wally gave a short nod, before downing the rest of his orange flavoured soft drink, then he tossed the bottle into the bin that had a picture of a bottle on it within a triangle, made out of three arrows pointing at each other. He smiled a little at the recycle sign before heading downstairs to the restrooms, and then he rejoined his father once again about two minutes later.

"Ready?" His dad smiled.

"Yeah."


Winds were blowing out of control mixed with soft rain. Everything smelled fresh, yet something within him made him feel so unnerved he couldn't enjoy the freshness of autumn. Something felt so out of place that everything was out of place, and before he knew it he let his feet carry him along the path, while noticing the things around him that made this seem so nerve wrecking to him.

There was only one path to take, only one direction to walk. To either side of him, side by side like a tall fence, stood naked trees. They stood almost so closely together that they seemed to embrace one another, but behind them there was nothing, and when he looked back he saw that everything was in darkness and the path was being erased as he walked it. Yet, he had to keep walking, because if everything behind him was disappearing into a nothingness which seemed to follow him, it would surely swallow him whole the moment he stopped in his tracks.

He looked forth and sped up a bit, hoping to shake whatever followed behind him, but no matter how fast he walked it kept being there, right behind him. He sped up to a jog, but it still kept following. Closely watching, gripping at his shirt like a shadow meant to kill anything and everything, and suddenly he was at a circular opening. The path behind him long gone, but the towering trees still giving him no option but to stand at the edge of this circle. Above him the sky was grey and clouds were gathering, beneath him the leaves were a mixture of reds and oranges and greens and yellows.

Behind the trees was nothing but darkness, tightly embracing the bark and the branches, and the roots tearing out of the ground so the trees could take a step closer and force him further into the middle of the circle.

So close he became strangely claustrophobic, and as he started suffocating, the winds picked up in speed and the sky darkened and warm rain started pouring down on him. Warm, red rain, and he looked up to the skies, only to see a face contorted in hurt and blame, flesh tearing from muscle, muscle tearing from bone.

"You promised!"


4.30pm

Wally opened his eyes with a loud gasp, partly because of his ever returning vivid dream, and partly because he had been jolted awake by the car stopping in front of a house in a nice looking neighbourhood.

"We're here son." Wilbert beamed. "How do you like your new home sport?"

"It looks nice." Wally said tiredly, before unbuckling his seatbelt and stepping out of the car.

He let the winds tingle against his skin and tug at his hair, trying to stop his overly tired imagination from tricking his brain into seeing it as the same scene he had just seen in his slumber. He heard the front door open and watched as his mother went to embrace his father before giving a quick peck to his lips, which he returned with a little smile at the corner of his lips. He saw how his brother stood a little uncertain in the door opening, gazing up at him with curious eyes, a smile quickly replacing his saddened expression.

"Wally!" He laughed, running over and ramming straight into Wally, his head just barely reaching the middle of Wally's stomach.

"Hey Joey." Wally laughed, his voice groggy and a few tears shimmering in his eyes. He knelt to return the embrace fully while stroking his younger brother's hair affectionately, then pushing him out at an arm's length. "Let me see you. Wow, you grew a little didn't you?"

"Just a bit." Joey smiled, skipping out of Waly's embrace and over to the side of their father.

"Hello my little kangaroo." Kayla smiled, tears springing to her eyes as she opened her arms, and that was what made everything inside Wally tip and made him finally realise that he was home.

"Mum." He sobbed, stepping closer with wobbly feet; then he leaned into her and let all the hurt and guilt pour out in loud sobs. "Mum. I'm sorry mum, I'm so sorry."

"Shh. It's okay my little Wallabee, it's all right." She stroked his hair while silently crying alongside him, and letting him clutch onto her as though he were a helpless child.

-Never again, never again, never again…-


2013 Rewrite. Originally written between October 21st 2010 - March 31st 2011. I hope you enjoyed this rewrite.

Criticism and/or advices on improvement is/are highly appreciated and welcome :)

~*~TippierCoffee~*~