Disclaimer: I do not own Codename: Kids Next Door, its characters, X-men, or Wolf Parade. The plot is all I lay claim to.
You are a Runner and I am my Father's Son
I got a number on me
I got a number
won't make it through the high noon sun
I am my father's son
and I am my father's son
his bed is made
I was a hero
early in the morning
I ain't no hero
-by Wolf Parade
Father's Son
They didn't know for how long they had been running.
Her hand was sticky within his vice grip, her feet catching on every bend and arch and crack. Without her he could have already made it to safety, if he would only leave her behind, if he could, but he couldn't, he wouldn't, and the thought never crossed his mind.
The fire could have her over his dead body, and he had no plans of dying anytime soon. His heart was racing and he felt as though they had been climbing for days and not minutes.
Beads of sweat trickled down his brow, and he could feel the smoke closing in around him, but still he tugged on the tiny hand in his and urged her forward through the wooden labyrinth 's twisting halls, narrow corridors and mismatched doorways with the flames always licking at their heels. The rooms were sweltering, and he could hear the structure they had built up over so many years crumbling away beneath their feet . . .
And Kuki was slowing down. Struggling for breath, tears glittered down her cheeks cutting paths through the ash the covered her face. Her amethyst eyes were swimming with fear, glossy with fever and as red as the flesh exposed through the soot. She started choking.
"Wally . . . please . . . slow down!" Her mouth spit out body wracking coughs, but Wally would not relent even when she tripped, he dragged her back onto her feet. "I can't Wally . . . I can't."
"You have to Kuki, just a little bit longer."
He could control fire, but not to this magnitude. The inferno around him would swallow them up even before he could center his mind. He was useless.
Window after window they passed clambering heavily upwards toward the heavens and further into the canopy. He was growing dizzy, light headed, delusional, trying to ignore the flickering shadows that danced and jerked along the walls as though taunting him, hindering him. His head was spinning and his eyes were swimming with moisture as the heat continue to grow, and very soon even he wished they could stop.
What he wouldn't give for a root beer, hell, he would settle for water!
A crash echoed up through the floors, and everything about them began to shake. Thought he tried to bite it back a swear passed over his chapped lips as he and Kuki were both thrown off their feet a good ten feet into the air. Upon landing, much to their horror, the floor boards beneath them groaned, and only a matter of second later, shattered into splinters with a deafening crack, dropping both of them to the floor below.
Darkness lasted only a second before he first heard Kuki's strangled scream. Even before he knew what was going on he leapt to his feet and instantly reached for her, his eyes surveying the room around them instinctively for a means of escape.
They brightened, and he lunged forward. There in the corner near the wall was what looked to be an ordinary 'out-of-order' vending machine.
He kicked the glowing plastic facade and watched as it flew up toward the crumbled ceiling, revealing the escape pod positioned meticulously behind it.
He yanked it open, and pushed Kuki in before leaping in himself and slamming the door shut behind them.
The panel lit up like a christmas tree under his finger tips, and the small vessel began to shake.
Wally's heart sank when he realized it wasn't just the vessel shaking. Another explosion could be heard from beyond the flames, and he knew the tree house was going to fall once and for all. Kuki was whimpering, and he grabbed her hand to reassure her.
"We are going to be alright."
"We shouldn't have done this . . . " It was barely a whisper, but he caught it even over the roaring outside. "You're a teenager Wally, teenagers should be decommisioned. We broke the rules . . . !"
He opened his mouth to respond. But the world lurked once, and suddenly both children could see the sky outside of the tiny porthole.
They sensation of flight, became falling, and the view of the sky . . . .dissolved with a crash into darkness.
"Wally we broke the rules. We shouldn't have done that. We broke the rules . . . you broke the rules."
His head was pounding.
"Kuki?" The sun had shifted slightly down toward the horizon, not drastically, but enough he saw as his eyes adjusted. "Kuki . . . ?"
She was laying nearby curled tightly into a ball, much to his relief. Both of them seemed to be unaffected.
He filled his lungs with the fresh air, and exhaled. To his left was what little remained of the tree house. Cinders and fractures plywood and two by four technology that had been damaged beyond recognition much less repair.
To his right . . . he turned and crawled toward her. "Kuki . . . "
He whispered softly, placing his hand gently on her shoulder and shaking her a bit. "Wake up . . . we're alive."
A moan, and one hand fell from her face to expose a slight red tinge to her face as her eye flickered opened drowsily.
Tears, she was still crying. Sniffling, she removed the other hand, and glanced up at him.
"Wally . . . what have we don?" She hiccuped.
"We escaped decomisioning, thats what!" He said proudly. "We get to keep our memories now, be our own people!"
"It's not that simple . . . " She said almost inaudibly. "They won't let you go, you saw what they did to Chad, how they pursued him, how they pursued the others!"
"They aren't just going to let us . . . you! You! They aren't just going to let you walk away!" She was frantic now. "You hurt someone! You threw fire in their face and destroyed a KND facility! Don't you understand!"
Wally was at a loss for words . . . gaping like a goldfish, stammering ineloquently. "but . .. but I . . . I didn't mean to!"
"But you did Wally . . . " She pulled her arms tightly to her and winced. Wally froze.
" . . . are you alright?" He whispered gruffly. The tiny asian swallowed hard and nodded, cradling her hand concealed by her sleeve as a fresh wave of tears began to cut down her cheeks. Wally held out a hand, and his look scared her.
"I'm fine . . . " but the quiver of her lips, and the shudder of her voice was too obvious for him to believe. He gingerly took her wrist [she winced and bit her lip sharply to silence her yelp], and rolled down the sleeve.
Her wrist was swollen, and the skin of her hand was bright red and blotchy, signs he easily associated with minor second degree burn.
He dropped her hand.
"You had better get that treated." He choked. "We're fortunate there are no open blisters."
"Wally . . . " He cut her off.
"I was going to ask you to run away with me, because . . . " His heart was racing, but he had never felt so dead inside. "I don't want to leave you . . . I . . . "
"No. I can't Wally." She had cried so much already, but she could feel the tears returning. They had been through so much together. So many years had felt like days now that they were standing on what appeared to be the fork in the road.
She felt her heart break for him, but she had made up her mind. He didn't look at her, but she watched him mouth out the words:
" . . . I know."
With her good hand she dug into one of the pockets inside of her sweater, and produced a brightly wrapped box.
"This is goodbye Wally." He found it hovering before his eyes, but he could not reach for it.
His limbs felt like lead.
She sighed, and placed it at his feet.
"Happy Birthday Wally."
She had concealed her pain so well, he had hurt her. He had hurt her.
Frozen, he stood until he was sure he was alone, until he was sure he couldn't be seen, until he was sure . . .
he fell to his knees and for the first time in a long while, dissolved into tears.
Authors Note: It's been years since I have updated this story. I am so sorry. Again, flames are allowed, though I would strongly encourage constructive criticism instead.
Sorry for OOC-ness.