Chapter 19: Operation A.W.K.W.A.R.D

A/N: Sorry if this is all over the place guys. I'm trying to be as consistent with my uploads as possible (ha).

After that day, things were awkward between the blond and the African-American girl. Every time Abby would try and ask Wally about the kiss, he would brush her off and talk about something else. Sometimes, he even avoided being in the same room as her and would immediately turn back around in the direction he came in when he would see her.

Each time that happened, Abby could feel a twinge of twisting pain deep within her chest. At first, she didn't understand. But then, things became apparent to her. The kiss...the feelings that erupted in her chest for that brief moment wasn't new. It was familiar.

And that scared her.

Did she have feelings for Wally? She didn't even remember him that much. It was as if she was holding feelings for a stranger. But she knew deep within that Wally was more than that to her. And she wanted to remember him and the things they shared now more than ever.

It wasn't fair that this was happening. Wally didn't even look at her anymore and she didn't like that. Abby watched as Wally glanced at her figure on the couch before stiffly turning and walking to the kitchen. She was too focused on watching him like a hawk, wanting him to turn and look at her, just once, that she didn't even notice Kuki or Nigel gawking at her before looking off into the direction Wally had stalked off.

"Uh, are you two okay?" Kuki asked, gently.

Wally flicked his hair off of his eyes and scoffed as he got out his cereal. "Course we are! We're great! Why are ya askin'?" he replied almost instantly, his voice a little skittish. Kuki narrowed her eyes and tilted her head, looking like a confused puppy. Nigel, on the other hand, nodded to himself, as if he had just realised something. Abby found herself walking towards them slowly.

"Hey, Wall-"

"Oh, what an idiot!" Wally exclaimed, unnecessarily loudly as he slammed the cereal box onto the counter with extreme force. "I think I forgot somethin' in ma room." And all of a sudden, it was as if he was wearing a jet pack as he raced off in the other direction in turbo speed. Abby blew out a sigh, her mouth turned down into a deep frown as she watched him disappear. Nigel, however, were watching the two carefully with a slight hum. Abby didn't really notice him until then. It was strange to see Nigel out and about, mingling with the others when he was usually cooped up in his room, as he had been ever since her memory was wiped. He only ever came out when he needed to.

And this was another one of those 'when he needed to' moments clearly—he was able to provide advice, and also grab some breakfast in the process.

Nigel looked at her. "If you guys like each other, then isn't the simple solution to this talking? You know, communication is key to any sort of relationship," he said, crossing his arms. Abby startled at this, whipping her head around to face him.

"That ain't it, Numbuh 1. We don't like each other like that—you've got it all wrong," she quickly said, trying to clear up any confusion. But...did she? Abby shook her head furiously. After pouring her Rainbow Monkey cereal into her bowl with intense concentration, Kuki watched Abby stammer and frustrated for the first time; she'd never seen Abby so flustered before. Out of the kindness of her heart, she jumped to help her.

"It's okay, Numbuh 5. You can talk to me if you want. I can tell there's something going on," she said, her voice high-pitched and sugarcoated to hide the hurt in her voice. Kuki bit down on her lip, as if whatever was going to come out of Abby's mouth was going to physically hurt her.

Abby sighed. She wasn't so sure herself if there was something going on. Her chest hurt and her intestines felt as if it was being squeezed or ground into pulp by someone. Obviously she knew something was wrong and that it had to do with Wally.

She had a hunch about what it was and she wasn't sure how to react. How could she fall for someone she barely knew? But, she pushed that doubt down. Abby knew that just because she couldn't remember any of them now, it didn't mean she didn't know them once. Deep down, everything was there. And for her to fall for someone, for Wally, she had to have known him extremely well. Her emotions had to be true. She could trust her heart, and that was the only reason she gave in to what both her mind and heart were telling her instead of fighting it.

Though she didn't remember much, just being around him was a big clue that he was an important part of her life. And these past few days, with him avoiding her, there seemed to be a void in her that she couldn't help but try to fill with magazines and late-night coffee.

It didn't work and it was starting to hurt. Both physically and emotionally.

Abby glanced up to see Nigel and Kuki peering at her with squinted eyes. "Are you okay, Numbuh 5? You look a little sick."

Yeah, sick of Wally ignorin' me. But she held that thought in and forced a smile. "Abby's fine, Numbuh 3. Just a headache."

"That sounds like a blatant lie to me," Hoagie replied with a snort, not even glancing at them from the TV. The other three all turned to look at Hoagie who munched on his waffles as he watched a show. Abby ground her teeth—she didn't have to have memories to know that Hoagie could be annoying sometimes.

"You don't know nothin' sparkle-butt," she muttered, annoyed. That nickname also felt familiar, coming out of her mouth as if she had said it before. She didn't know where she had heard it from but saying it felt natural. She hid her surprise with a clear of her throat.

"You're back to normal, I see," he said with a slight giggle as he switched the channels of the TV. Abby shoved down the urge to use her cap to shut him up. "You should really talk to Numbuh 4. It'll make things less awkward for the whole team."

His words had made the fists that she had unintentionally formed to relax. She didn't know this was affecting everyone.

"Numbuh 2," Nigel warned, clearing his throat.

"What?" Hoagie replied innocently, genuinely confused to why they were all giving him the stink eye. Abby shook her head to let Nigel know that it was okay. Hoagie had a point after all; there was no use in hiding from each other. It wasn't like they could do that for their entire life.

"Yer right, boy," she found herself mumbling. She didn't stand around to hear what they had to say in reply as she turned and headed to where Wally would most likely be.

As she headed to his room, she hesitated a little outside his door. She was nervous; she could feel her palms dampen as the seconds ticked by and her lips felt insanely dry. Abby contemplated turning on her heels to grab some water but she refrained.

She wasn't going to run away. She wanted to know what exactly Wally meant by the...kiss that they shared. It was still strange to acknowledge and wrap her around that very real fact. Abby straightened her shoulders. They would talk about it. They had to.

With a quick surge of confidence, she turned the knob and entered his room. As soon as she did, grunting and groans echoed throughout the large room and she looked up to see Wally punching the living daylights of his sandbag.

"Wally?" she muttered, accidentally. That was all it took, though, for him to notice her presence. He instantly stopped and whipped around in the speed of lightning. His eyes were noticeable from even where she stood; knifelike green eyes wide with panic that bore straight through hers.

"Didn't mean to scare ya."

"Well, good job 'cos ya just did," he muttered, acidity dripping from his tone. That took her aback; she hadn't thought he would react so negatively to her. But, she wasn't going to back down. She knew that it wasn't in her nature as she crossed her arms and stood her ground, barely affected.

"Didn't think you'd scare that easily," she tried joking.

Wally sighed, putting an end to his punching and awkwardly turning away. "Can't ya tell I don't wanna speak ta no one?" His voice was strained and scratchy and Abby resisted the urge to frown at this.

"Abby sure ain't about to leave ya when you're like this. Mind tellin' me what's going on?" she asked, trying to hide the waver in her voice as she inched closer to him in the ring. Wally had his back turned to her, refusing to even look at her.

"It ain't none of ya business, Numbuh 5," he ground out, bitterly. His words surprisingly stung her. Though, clearly not as surprising as she stood there motionless as if a part of her was expecting it.

"So, since it ain't any of my business, yer technically sayin' it wasn't Abby ya ki-"

"Alright, alright, sheesh!" Wally yelled, whipping around to face her. He was so red-faced, one would mistake him for spending too much time under the sun. "Ya don't have ta say it out loud, for crud's sake," he muttered, irritated. That sentence managed to cut her; it was as if he regretted doing what he did. She wasn't entirely sure why she was as hurt as she felt but she tried not to show it as she took her cap off and smoothed down her hair, trying to seem normal. Wally, on the other hand, shoved his balled fists into the pouch of his orange hoodie and glared down at the ground as if he was going to burn a hole through it.

"Can we just talk about what happened?"

Wally's lips stretched into a thin, angry line. Abby could tell he was inches away from bursting like a bomb. She didn't want to push him but she couldn't handle the tension, and she knew that the team was also feeling its effects.

She didn't want to be the cause of all that.

"Wally," she said, firmly catching his attention briefly as he glanced up. He looked away soon after but she was glad he was at least paying attention. "Please. Abby just needs an explanation."

More than anything, at that moment, she knew she was just confused. She wanted to know what he was thinking and why he did it. When he had decided to take her away, she had just been reeling from the fact that she had a sister she didn't remember. She wanted to talk to Chad some more but Kuki had dragged her away before she could.

To add to that, Wally had done the unthinkable right after. So, what was she supposed to think? How was she supposed to even react?

Looking up from her white shoes, she tried not to startle at the intense gaze directed towards her from Wally. She didn't know Wally could ever hold such an expression—of course, she didn't remember, but something in her told her that this was the first time he had looked at her like this. Abby swallowed thickly as she waited, her hands balled into fists beside her.

Wally opened his mouth, his shoulders raised and stiff beside his head. "I-" Just as he began to speak, loud ringing and frantic waving red lights alerted the entire treehouse. It was the mission bell. Abby resisted the urge to scream out loud and watched as Wally relaxed a little, shooting a small smile at her.

"Sorry, Abs, but duty calls. See ya," he hastily muttered as he raced out his room, leaving behind a disappointed Abby.

Maybe it was best to just forget about it. Clearly, that was what Wally wanted to do and fate was giving her signs to put the past behind her. With a sigh, she exited the empty room and walked to the comfort of her own room.

"Guess what, Cree?"

"Ugh, whaddya want?"

"From that answer, I guess you don't want to know about what I've done with one of the Kids Next Dorks."

Cree stopped mapping out the next plan to take out the Kids Next Door and faced the person who stood in the shadows, so desperate to talk to her. "Fine," she spat. "What is it?"

"A certain someone's lost her memories," he said, snickering. "She has no idea what we're planning or who we are. She doesn't even remember you."

Cree's eyebrows raised in scepticism. "Is that so? She doesn't even remember me, huh," she muttered to herself, trying to stop the huge grin that rose on her face. "That does explain why she rarely comes home nowadays." She then looked up at her messenger. "And how do you know this?"

"It was my idea that those Delightful weirdos took and brought to life. I didn't think it would work but then she told me herself, the little dork," he spat, bitingly as if in pure revolt. "It's clear that she trusts me. I've managed to convince her we were friends before. We can do whatever we want with her! I've got her in the palm of my hands."

Cree cackled at this. "With or without her memories, she's a fool!" She looked the boy up and down with appraisal. "I shouldn't have underestimated your news so much. This is great."

"Told you," he replied with a smirk. "If we get her onto our side, she'll make a great asset and she won't even know."

She rubbed her hands together just at the thought, her heart beating insanely fast. "You did a good job, Chad. Let's meet up tomorrow for another chat. I need to go over some things with you."

The light from behind him flickered as he stepped out of the darkness, half his face obscured by a shadow and the other illuminated by the overhead light, his cobalt eyes flashing perilously as he sneered. "Well, of course. And, don't worry—I have great plans for all those dorks. Especially for Numbuh 5."

A few hours later, a knock resounded through the treehouse. Abby opened the door to see Chad smiling at her, blue eyes soft as they looked into hers.

"You ready to go?"

She narrowed her eyes glancing over his shoulder quickly. The others had left on their mission and she assumed it was to fight with these guys. The fact that he had randomly shown up here, unannounced, was both suspicious and relieving. The latter because it seemed that he wasn't their enemy after all.

At least, not now, anyway.

"Ready to go where, boy? Whatcha talkin' about?" she asked.

"To the river. We had a lot of memories there. You don't remember so I wanna make sure you do. Let's go."

Without even waiting for an answer, he turned and left. She could very easily have shut the door and read her magazine and listen to music, or continue looking at photographs of the members together to get some idea of what life was like back before everything had gone awry.

But, she didn't want to engulf herself in a black hole that she wouldn't be able to get out of. Anything would do as a distraction and if it came in the form of Chad, maybe an old friend, she was desperate enough to take it. She followed him and began to walk in step beside him.

Before the silence could overtake them as they walked, she spoke up, a little hesitant. "What was Abby like?"

Chad's eyes slid to the side. "You mean—"

"Yeah."

He shoved his hands in his pockets, eyes looking straight ahead. "Well, I thought you were pretty cool and relaxed. It's why I talk to you and not your other uptight, dorky friends."

Abby's mouth tilted down into a frown at how he talked about the only people that seemed to comfort her during a hard time. A gut feeling in her tightly clenched stomach told her that he didn't really know her at all. But, she shrugged it off. He knew about something that she wanted to know badly.

"What about...Cree?"

His eyes lit up before it vanished quickly. He cleared his throat. "Cree's a great big sister. I've seen how much she cares for you. You matter more to her than anything."

"Then, why haven't Abby seen her, at all?"

Chad was stumped by this. His face tinged a little red but he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "You've been staying at the treehouse the entire time, right? That's your home more than your actual home and she wouldn't dare intrude. If you don't show up to see her, how's she gonna know?"

Abby bit down on her full bottom lip, unintentionally so hard that it drew blood. She didn't realise she had done that until her tongue met with a metallic taste. She tried not to cringe and sighed, instead.

"I've been too afraid to face everyone and what they'd think about...my condition, now."

"Don't worry about it. Your treehouse is like your home to you, so I'm sure your family understands."

As they came across a square wooden platform on the river bank, Abby's vision suddenly became fuzzy. Flashes of light zapped through her mind and suddenly, a slight throbbing in her head began. She put a hand to her head, face scrunching up. She tried to relax her features, though, when she noticed Chad looking at her, eyebrows furrowed.

"You alright?"

"Yeah," she nodded, plastering a smile. "Abby's just fine. It's—this looks familiar."

Suddenly, he grabbed her other hand gently and pulled her towards the edge. He sat down, pulling her down with him. Abby refrained from saying anything in response; her stomach stirred as if a part of her remembered being there. She couldn't wait to tell Wally that she was close to remembering something.

But, her heart tore just thinking about how Wally would react. He had brought her to a pool the other night and she didn't remember that. For some reason, however, she knew that a part of her knew. It had something to do with both of them and—

All of a sudden, a blurry image of blue and yellow like sand with faded laughter in the background flashed through her head. Abby squeezed her eyes shut; the brief flash almost looked like the beach.

She didn't understand what that meant but she knew that it had something to do with Wally. The more she thought of him and got closer to him, the more the previous Abby wanted to rise through the barrier that her empty mind had put up.

"Hello? Earth to Abby?" Chad waved a fair hand in front of her face quickly. Abby blinked and looked at the blue-eyed boy, smiling gently at her. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, Abby's fine, boy. Just a little sick."

"Of what? Of me?" he joked.

"No, no," she mumbled, the unenthusiastic tone in which she spoke making her wonder if she actually meant those words or not. "The water..." The sun shone down on the bubbling water, golden light reflecting off of it. "...it jus' looks a bit familiar to Abby."

"Ah, that's probably cause we came here that one time."

She still didn't remember no matter how many times it was mentioned, though bits and pieces were starting to come together. "Maybe." Abby remained tight-lipped. She didn't know if telling him would help would prove useful. She didn't know why it was happening now; at this rate, it would take forever until her thoughts came back.

"Well, don't you want to know more about your sister?" Chad asked as he leaned back on his hands that were placed behind him.

"About Cree?"

"Who else?" he asked with a chuckle. Abby smiled and nodded. She did want to know about her. She didn't know if she could face her sister and handle the crushed look on her face when she would tell her that she didn't remember anything. Not even her.

"Shoot, boy."

Chad rubbed his hands together, vigorously. "She's defeated the evilest people in this town, you know." His eyes flashed with admiration. Abby blinked; she hadn't been told that there were other heroes besides the Kids Next Door that beat super villains. And her own sister at that, too.

Now, she was interested.

"Cree's a supervillain fightin' hero, too?" she asked, eyes wide and jaw coming unhinged in disbelief. She closed her jaw and leaned forward, a wide smile now on her face. Chad chuckled as his eyes trailed over her features. His gaze flitted about and around them for a second before he leaned in towards her, too.

"You know," he began with a soft whisper, "I bet if you go meet her, she'll help you get your memories back."

"She...she can do that?" When he nodded his head. Abby was sceptical now. How would she able to do that? Did she have a cure? So, she voiced her thoughts. "How?"

He hesitated before his muscles relaxed, slightly. "You can say I'm a good...friend of hers. If you just go to her, I'm sure she'll help you." He then put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it briefly in assurance. "Trust me."

She didn't know if she could. Nigel and the others had warned her of him at the very start. But, he was starting to change her mind. He seemed fine, so far. Chad had never done anything villainous to her and he even knew her sister.

What more could she have wanted? And, if her sister could be the key to helping her get her memories back then she would be a fool to refuse. Regardless, she sat there, rolling her bottom lip in between her teeth as she thought.

"Ya sure this'll work? What if...what if she don't wanna help Abby?"

Chad rolled his eyes. "Oh, she will. You're sisters, remember? But, I mean, we don't have to go to her right now. We can go when you're ready," he said, softly with a gentle smile. "We're not going away anytime soon."

Abby smiled and let out a sigh, some weight lifting off of her shoulders as she revelled in the fact that she would get her memories back with the help of her sister. She looked forward to going back to the way she was. Finally, there was hope and light at the end of the tunnel and it was all thanks to Chad.

Don't get ahead of yerself just yet, Abby. Ya gotta actually meet ya sister and figure out if this is gonna work, first. She nodded to herself but she couldn't help the fact that her heart was already swelling up rapidly in excitement. It was the first real solution that she had been given—even if it didn't work, it was an option. The others claimed they were finding a cure, but nothing had been done or said. So, she was relieved Chad was beside her at that moment.

"Ya know Chad, I'm glad I met ya."

His eyes sparkled with something indescribable as a half-grin tilted his mouth up. "Why, I am too." And then in a fit of frantic panic, added with wide eyes, "Met you I mean, not myself, of course."

This time, Abby rolled her eyes. "Boy, I understood what ya meant. If you wanna get any girls, ya gotta be cooler than that, ya know."

His smile seemed to falter a little at that line and she frowned, wanting to apologise and ask if she had said something wrong. However, before she could question him on it, the rambunctious smile was back on his face as if he hadn't looked icy cold just a second ago.

"And what are you doing with him, Numbuh 5?"