"Wally!" Kuki yelled down the street. He stopped and turned around. She ran into his arms.
"Please! Don't hurt him!" She cried. "Promise me you won't hurt him!"
He sighed and nodded. He couldn't understand why she didn't want Wally to kick Kurt's ass after what he'd done to her.
"Go back to the tree house Kooks!" He ordered quietly, so angry that if he spoke any louder, he would scream in fury.
"Where are you going?" She asked in fear.
"I told you! I'll be back later!" He told her, pulling out of her grip and continuing to walk to his destination.
Kurt was at his new job. Working in a fast food diner. He had been for the last few weeks.
His boss had told him to finish the cleaning and then lock up, so he was on his own. It was beginning to get dark, Kurt was listening to the stereo from behind the counter as he mopped the floor.
He sighed irritably when he heard the bell of the door. Didn't people read the closed sign on the door?
"Sorry, we're closed for ton…" He turned around and froze when he saw Wally. He then smiled, feeling uneasy about the expression of fury in his face.
"Oh, Wally…Hi." He said with a nervous grin. "What brings you her…"
"You want to hit someone?" Wally interrupted him, knocking a chair on the floor as he stormed towards Kurt, who was now edging back uneasily. "Why not hit someone who can fight back?"
Wally continued to walk towards Kurt menacingly, throwing tables and chairs out of his path as he did so, and Kurt continued to back off, until he hit a wall and stood like a cornered mouse.
"Well?...Come on buddy!" Wally snarled. "I'm giving you a chance to show your toughness and your courage here!...Come on! You want someone to hit…Hit me!"
Wally was soon so close to Kurt that he could feel Wally's heavy breathing on his face.
"Hit me!" Wally repeated. "I want to see how tough you really are!"
Kurt simply stood with wide eyes, backed against the wall timidly.
Wally suddenly grabbed his arm and forced him to turn face against the wall, he then held Kurt's arm high against his back painfully.
"Thought so…" Wally whispered, panting from the amount of anger and adrenalin built in him. "You don't have the guts to hit me! So why take it out on helpless girls like Kuki?"
"You're breaking my arm!" Kurt wailed.
"Only 'cause Kuki would never forgive me if I got to your neck!...Not so nice when you get a taste of your own medicine huh?" Wally snarled back.
Kurt said nothing, just remained silent in the uncomfortable position in which Wally had him pinned.
"Trust me mate…the only reason I haven't killed you by now is because Kuki is so crazy about you she made me promise I wouldn't hurt you!"
"Not very good at keeping your promises huh!?!" Kurt spat. He soon shut up again as Wally increased the pressure and height at which he held Kurt's arm.
"Yeah? Funny, you lost your attitude when you realized that I'll still do damage! I could give you a slow and painful death, right here right now! And not think twice about it afterwards!" He whispered harshly in Kurt's ear. "You really want to test me, go ahead!"
Kurt remained silent and listened to him intently.
"You gutless fag!" Wally hissed as he pushed Kurt's arm and let him go. "Lock the door when I go won't you?"
He kicked the bucket of soapy water over as he made his exit. Glaring at Kurt as he went out of the glass doors and into the dark night.
Kuki sat in her room silently. Her radio was playing softly in the background. She was worrying, she was worrying about what Wally would do to Kurt. And what Kurt would do to her afterwards.
Abby had already found the wounds on her arm and showed Nigel, making her feel even worse.
She turned the radio up when she realized what song it was. It was her and Kurt's song, against all odds.
It was strange, but as Kuki listened to the lyrics of the song, they suddenly didn't seem so sweet and caring, but more threatening and determined.
Just take a look at me now,
cos I'll still be standing here
And you coming back to me is against all odds
It's a chance I've got to take.
She sobbed, visioning Kurt standing in the corner of the room, attempting to force her to take him back.
Kuki jumped when Wally walked into her room. He sat on the bed next to her silently. Neither one made eye contact.
"What did you do to him?" Kuki asked quietly, after a few seconds.
"Just gave him a lesson on manners." Wally shrugged. Then sighed. "Why didn't you tell me earlier Kuki?"
"Tell you what?" She asked in an uninterested manner.
"That he was hurting you." Wally rolled his eyes, knowing that she was playing dumb.
Kuki remained silent for a while. She really was thinking about the answer.
"I guess that when you love someone, you'll do anything to keep them safe. No matter what." She whispered.
'ain't it the truth.' Wally thought to himself.
"You really love him?" He asked.
Kuki was quiet for another few seconds then looked back at him.
"I don't know." She whispered.
He wanted to hold her, to tell her everything was alright, that he loved her more than anything else in the world. But he couldn't. He knew he couldn't.
Kuki jumped when the doorbell of the tree house rang.
"That's him." She whispered, looking at Wally.
"It might not be, could be some kid selling cookies or something." Wally told her consolingly.
"No, it's him, I know it." She stood up and walked out of her room and down to the tree house door. Wally followed and caught up with her.
Nigel had already opened the door to reveal Kurt. Kuki stood in the doorway between the living room and the corridor leading to the bedroom. Kurt obviously hadn't noticed Kuki as he was talking to Nigel about why he was ringing the bell so late at night.
"Who is it?" Hoagie asked, coming out of his room and standing next to them.
"Numbuh 2, take Kuki." Wally told him.
Hoagie looked at him in confusion. "What?"
"Take her to her room or something, just keep her out of this room." Wally told him, gently pushing Kuki's shoulder so that she was now right next to Hoagie.
"Ooookay, come on Numbuh 3, you can help me work on the C.O.O.L.B.U.S." Hoagie told her as he took her away.
Once they had gone down the corridor, Wally walked over to the door where Nigel and Kurt were stood.
"What do you want?" He snapped.
"I'd like to see my girlfriend." Kurt replied with just as much acid in his tongue.
"You've got no right to see her!" Wally shouted, moving forward as if he was going to punch Kurt.
"Numbuh 4! I'll handle this. Let him in!" Nigel ordered. Wally stood where he was, glaring at Kurt evilly. "Now!"
Wally obeyed, and slowly walked into the kitchen to make himself a sandwich.
"Sit down." Nigel said politely. Kurt did as he was asked.
"I'd just like to point a few things out to you as we're here Numbuh 30c. We care a lot for our operatives in this sector and if anything should happen to them, it's only natural for us to wonder about it." Nigel told him. "So I wondered if you knew anything about the bruises and cuts on Numbuh 3's arm?"
Kurt looked confused and shrugged. "You sure she didn't do it by falling over or something? You know she's pretty clumsy right?"
"No, I've seen them and there are definitely marks from fingers and nails there. Do you know anything about them?"
Kurt thought intently for a second then subtly smirked to himself.
"Okay." He sighed. "I didn't want to say, I promised Kuki that I wouldn't tell, but it's for her safety….so…She came to me the other day, in tears. She said that Numbuh 4 had gotten mad when she wouldn't go to the concert with him, and…and he hurt her…I wanted to kill the guy, but…I did promise Kuki not to hurt him, or tell anyone about it."
Nigel stared at him as he listened to the story.
"Very well. Thank you Numbuh 30c." He nodded.
"Please, call me Kurt." Numbuh 30c smiled, relaxing into his chair.
"Numbuh 4!" Nigel called.
Kurt smirked evilly as Wally appeared in the doorway of the kitchen.
"Will you please escort Kurt off the premises?" Nigel asked, standing up and walking over to the door to open it.
"My pleasure." Wally grinned harshly and grabbed the scruff of Kurt's clothes as he dragged him up.
"But…But…?" Kurt protested as Wally shoved him out of the door.
"I did believe you for a moment then Kurt, I really did." Nigel nodded, closing the door slightly so that only his face was visible.
"Until you brought Numbuh 4 into the story. Anybody in this sector knows that Numbuh 4 would die before hurting Numbuh 3. If you come back here again I'll call for backup."
"Ta-ta lame-o!" Wally chuckled behind Nigel as Nigel closed the door in his face.