A/N: This might be unedited D: But I hope you enjoy, regardless!

Chapter 4: Operation B.O.N.D

"He'd known I liked him but...it'd always been one-sided. He was a teenager," At that, Wally shuddered in disgust but didn't interrupt, letting her continue, "but he was nothin' like those teens we'd battled before." Abby looked down. "Numbuh 5 foolishly thought he was different."

Wally could sense that the whole conversation was making her sink back into a pit of darkness and that was the last thing he wanted. "Uh, Numbuh 5, ya don't have to talk 'bout this anymore, it's alroight. I understand everythin'," he said, softly. She refused, shaking her head.

"Numbuh 5's gotta tell ya, or it's gonna be a darn burden forever." Taking a deep breath, she continued. "He was ma best friend; I liked him, but things changed that fateful day when his sister got kidnapped. I did everythang I could to get her back but I couldn't. It was too late." She hung her head, and Wally's eyes widened dramatically.

"Eventually, he found out about ma crush and rejected me in front of everyone. Numbuh 5 was humiliated and never saw him again."

Wally was frozen and stared at the dark-skinned girl in front of him. She looked lost and upset, but not as much as he expected. He was imagining her crawling on the floor and bawling her eyes out…since she was a girl after all. But…it was the exact opposite.

She was calm and collected, and her eyes held the tiniest hint of sadness. If the roles were reversed with Wally and Kuki, it would no doubt be an entirely different story.

He knew he wasn't the smartest or the brightest – Wally was dumb, he knew that, but, it was apparent to anyone that the girl in front of him was the most reliable person he knew, girl or not.

Well, that's somethin' I never thought I'd say, He thought, internally snorting.

"Oi, Numbuh 5," he said, trying to grab her attention. She looked up at him, calmly but curiously. "You shouldn't worry about that cruddy jerk; he doesn't deserve ya anyway."

Abby surprised him and brought relief too when she let out a roaring, contagious laugh. It caused a series of short chuckles to escape him as well.

"Hmm, yeah. Numbuh 5 thinks you may be right for once, squirt."

"Ye—HEY!" he exclaimed, suddenly offended as her words processed. "Don't call me that!"

"Alright, if that's how ya want it. Numbuh 5'll call ya sport, instead," she said with a teasing smirk. He scowled at her before crossing his arms.

"Shut up! Don't call me that either!" he yelled, annoyed. Though he was a little mad, the smile on her face kind of removed all that anger, and got replaced with curiosity.

Wally watched Abby, who was still laughing, with a tilt of his head, the scowl leaving his face. He had a new-found respect for her. He had been whining and complaining about his dilemmas, but he wondered if she ever had anyone to confide in…

Huh. Guess I'm pretty lucky to have a friend like 'er, he realised, a small grin forming on his face.

-.-.-.-.-

After their heart-to-heart talk, Abby had been acting weird. She was always the calm Abigail Lincoln, but now, even he was able to figure out that she wasn't exactly as collected as she showed. This was evident in the mission they just had, and Wally couldn't help but glance at her now and then out of worry.

As they slugged out of the rocket that crashed into the 72nd level of their treehouse, Abby ran a hand down her tired face and shuffled away.

"Numbuh 5 gonna get some sleep, good night y'all," she muttered. The rest were just as tired as her, but Wally watched her with groggy eyes. He didn't even notice Kuki coming up behind him until a tap on his shoulder caused him to jump and whip around.

"Kuki?" he asked, surprise. Despite the shock of their first interaction in, what felt like years, he still just wanted to climb in bed and talk to her tomorrow or something.

"I just want to say that you were awesome on the mission," she mumbled, her cheeks flushed red. Wally blinked, confused. She shuffled away as quick as lightning, leaving an annoyed, tired and confused Wally behind.

He didn't understand what she meant, but he supposed it was a compliment. "Uh…thanks?" he replied to the empty room, long after she left. "Well, that was cruddy strange. Did I miss somethin'?"

With a shrug, he walked off to his room, not thinking much of it. . As he walked past Abby's room, however, he froze when he heard sniffling and muffled sobs. His eyes widened, and he was on high alert now.

Is...is there someone in there with Numbuh 5?

Without thinking, he spun, and karate kicked the door down. He rushed in and yelled, "Whoevah you are, you bettah tell me what ya did with Numbuh 5 or I'll—" He froze when he saw Abby looking at him as if he was crazy.

"…Numbuh 5?" he trailed off, nervously. "Um…so, nothin's happened to ya?" he asked, awkwardly, swinging his head around furiously, looking for any intruders.

"No? What do ya think you're doing, Numbuh 4?" Abby asked, irritated that he interrupted her only time to herself. She wanted to cry in peace – it was something she had wanted to do ever since their chat earlier, but never got the chance.

Now that the day was coming to an end, she thought it was the perfect time just to let go of the pain. But of course, Wally had to be the one to find her in this state.

Wally sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, looking extremely uncomfortable. "Uh…well, I was just walkin' past, and I heard some snifflin' and stuff. Soooo….I, uh, thought you were in trouble?" he let out a squeaky laugh seeing the blank look on Abby's face.

It softened after a few seconds, and she let out a sigh. "I ain't in any trouble, Numbuh 4." When she looked up, she had tears in her eyes, and Wally's eyes widened, shocked. His instincts before had been right – she wasn't okay at all.

He walked over to her hesitantly and sat on the edge of her bed, not sure of how to deal with...tears. "Well, uh, whatevah's botherin' you, we can fight it off togetha!" he exclaimed, his voice and eyes burning with determination as he slammed his fist into an open palm.

Abby admired his spunk, but still, it was no use. She shook her head and leaned back in bed. "Numbuh 5's grateful, but ya can't help."

Wally was lost at this point. What did she mean? Course I could!

"Whaddya mean I can't help? 'Cause I can help with a lotta things, y'know, like—"

"Wally," she stressed his name. He stared at her with unblinking eyes. He had never heard her say his actual name before, so it was a shock to him. Abby, on the other hand, was glad that by doing that, she had grabbed his attention.

"Ya can't help, okay? Now leave," she said, firmly, her voice hard. Seeing the lost expression on his face, she sighed, her shoulders dropping. "Numbuh 5's just tired, yeah? We can talk about it some other time."

Wally was tired too, but not anymore. Her strange behaviour was causing suspicion to rise within him, and his emerald eyes narrowed at her defeated figure. He didn't seem to look too deep into it and just nodded.

Eh, it's probably nothin'. Maybe she found out I stole the last piece of her birthday cake last year? He wondered, wide-eyed. But then again, she doesn't look mad…so maybe not? Eh, whatevah.

With a careless shrug, he turned and went to leave when he froze yet again, as another thought struck him all of a sudden. "Wait a cruddy second!" he exclaimed, causing Abby to watch him, her eyes weary. "What were those noises I heard, then?!"

Abby was getting sick and tired of his constant yapping and so relented instead. She admired the fact that he wasn't giving up – even though he probably didn't fully understand the situation.

"Numbuh 5 was cryin', boy! Ya happy now?"

"Oh." Wally wasn't expecting that answer at all. "Uh, are you still cryin' or…?"

"What does it look like?"

"Looks like you're still cryin'?"

"Exactly." She face-palmed and turned away. "It's just…every time we face Cree, I always miss the good times we had, y'know?"

No. He didn't know. But he nodded his head anyway. He didn't realise Abby was feeling this way.

Course you didn't know, ya idiot! She never told ya, his mind scolded him. Shaking his head, he sat back on the edge of her bed, staring at the ground as he listened to her talk.

"Numbuh 5 misses everyone. Numbuh 9, Cree, even Heiny. All the people Numbuh 5 loves ends up leavin'," she said, her trembling voice muffled against her pillow. She hated appearing weak, especially in front of her team-mates.

And especially in front of Wally.

Then, just when she thought he had left her too, a surprisingly collected voice spoke up.

"You still have us."

Shock tingled down her spine, and she jerked away from her tear-stained pillow. She turned to face Wally who was already looking at her with a tiny, reassuring smile on his face.

"We ain't goin' anywhere, Numbuh 5. Those people may have left, but we're never leavin' ya. We, uh…well, um, we…l-l-l"

Abby stared at him with furrowed brows, and he let out an irritated sigh, seeing her face.

"Ugh…this is so cruddy girly," he mumbled grumpily to himself. Clearing his throat, he said with a louder voice, "We l-l-lurve ya."

A moment of silence passed between them. Then, an uncontrollable laugh of pleasure left Abby, and she reached out, wrapping her arms around the short, blonde Australian boy. Hugs, vulnerability – these were things that Abby never showed or did.

But this particular night, Wally deserved it for unknowingly being her saviour.

"Thanks, Numbuh 5 appreciates you for once," she said, repressing another surge of giggles.

"For once? What the crud is that supposed to mean?" he exclaimed, surprised more at the fact that she was huggin' him of all people. He didn't know what to do. Was he supposed to hug her back or stand there like a log? Of course, he did the latter.

"Numbuh 5's just jokin'." Silence rang out in the room before Abby broke it. "Thank you for bein' there for me," she whispered against his shoulder, the soft fabric of his orange hoodie rubbing against her lips.

"It's alroight," he replied, awkwardly. "We're friends, so course I'm gonna be here for ya." His arms reached up, and when he went to wrap his arms around her, the door slammed open.

"Can you two keep it down in here?! I am trying to sleep!" Nigel came in, half asleep, a frown on his face.

Wally jumped away from Abby as if she had cooties, and she glanced at him with an eyebrow raised. Her eyes then travelled over to Nigel who was half swaying on his feet, mumbling incoherent things under his breath.

"We sure will, Numbuh 1. Don't worry. Now go on back to sleep, baby."

He mumbled something grumpily and then shuffled away, slamming the door shut. Abby was in a better mood now, a smile on her face and her eyes bright.

She turned to Wally who stood there awkwardly, a boyish grin on his face. "Uh, so I'll leave ya to it, then?"

"Thanks, Numbuh 4."

There was silence between them before he slowly – and awkwardly – walked towards the door. He wanted to say something else but didn't know what. There was a strange atmosphere in the air – he felt like he was getting to know Abby better…and she was different to what he had assumed and thought.

He suddenly whipped around, confusing Abby who was getting ready to lie down. She looked at him with questioning eyes.

"Uh…you can call me Wally, ya know?"

This was a shock to her. They didn't usually call the others by their names…except for Wally and Kuki – they were the only ones that called each other by their given names. But that was because everyone knew they liked each other.

"You want Numbuh 5 to call you Wally?" she asked, an eyebrow raised.

He let out a forced smile, awkward all of a sudden. "Yes?"

"Alright, then. Numbuh 5'll call you Wally if you call Numbuh 5 Abby, deal?"

Now it was his turn to be shocked. Wally gulped exaggeratedly. Everything felt like it was going in fast motion and he honestly couldn't keep up. He shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged, nodding his head.

"Uh, sure…Abby?" he tested it out, his voice coming out as a question rather than a statement. Abby laughed, and he held back a gulp. This was more than cruddy weird to him…but strangely; he didn't mind.

He was giddy about it.

"You better go to sleep, Wally." She beamed at him, causing a genuine smile to frame his face in return. Surprisingly, Abby made him want to smile. And at 2 in the morning, too!

"Alroight!" he cheered with a bright grin. He turned to leave when he spun around again, this time with an idea. His mind wandered back to the conversation just minutes ago.

"Abby?"

"You still here?" Abby's amused voice filled the air. Wally let out a sheepish chuckle but shook it off.

"Eh, just consider yerself lucky, Abby, cos I wanna take ya somewhere tomorrow." She raised a curious eyebrow at him, only for him to respond with a small smirk. "Get ready at around 8 AM or somethin' - I don't know about the time yet, but I'll come to get ya when I come to get ya!"

"Well, it better not be any earlier than 8 or Numbuh 5 ain't showin' up!"

Wally frowned. "Earlier than 8?! Are ya cruddy kiddin' me? Who in the world wakes up that early?!"

The fact that he looked genuinely surprised made Abby snigger in delight. "A lotta kids wake up earlier than 8, Wally," she said, rolling her eyes but hiding a smile. "You do realise that we wake up before 8 for school, kid?"

"Huh?!"

Abby face-palmed and laughed, her shoulders shaking. Wally's mouth tilted down into a scowl as he watched her enjoy herself at his expense.

"W-Well…course I know that!" He was too tired to think about school to even care though. He scoffed. "No one cares 'bout school, Abby, so shut up, will ya?!"

"Yeah, yeah," she said dismissively. "Now leave, I need to sleep!"

Wally walked out, grumbling under his breath. As he left to his room, his mind kept wandering back to his conversation with Abby. Though Kuki was on his mind, she wasn't as prominent as Abby's presence anymore.

And he didn't know if he liked it or not.