A/N: Okay, so this is either going really slowwww or going too fast but either way, things will be happening soon! It's probably going to be angsty cos I never know how to make my stories un-angsty xD but I dont even know.
Disclaimer: I don't know if I'm supposed to keep saying that KND does not belong to me BUT here it is anyway: KND does not belong to me, it belongs to Mr Warburton!
Chapter 5: Operation R.E.C.O.N.C.I.L.I.A.T.I.O.N
"You look happy to be up this early, Numbuh 4," said Nigel with an eyebrow raised. He had his eyes narrowed as he watched Wally cover his entire bowl with the cereal he was holding.
"I'm sooo happy," he mumbled grumpily, his voice filled with sleep. "Ugh. I'm just goin' out today. Gotta make someone feel bettah." He yawned.
Wally had woken up feeling extra groggy and annoyed as it was only a little past 8. Though, at the same time, he was giddy. The thought of going out to the roller rink with Abby seemed like a fun thing to do.
He suggested going in the first place because they both had things on their mind and he wanted to make sure today was a day where they could just try and forget.
His hands were sweating, and he was panicking slightly - something that only happened when he was around Kuki, and around villains that were trying to destroy him.
Wally lazily brought his left hand, that was holding the spoon, up when Kuki entered, a skip in each of her steps as she swung her arms back and forth. A huge smile graced her face, and upon seeing her, his hand froze midway to his mouth.
Kuki also froze, and her smile slipped as she stared at Wally who was doing the same. She opened her mouth, looking guilty but then shut it, pouting when nothing but a squeak came out. She hugged her Rainbow Monkey closer to her chest as she stared at the ground.
There was a silence between them - but it wasn't tense or hate-filled. Just filled with unsaid confessions and apologies. Wally rubbed the back of his neck, confused to what he should do. Kuki knew precisely what to do it seemed, she turned and grabbed out her favourite cereal: Rainbow Munchies.
Hoagie casually walked up to the kitchen and yawned, stretching his arms over his head. "Man! I felt like I just slept for two hours," he exclaimed, still sounding sleepy and not noticing the silence that had engulfed all of them.
Nigel, cleared his throat trying to remove the awkwardness. "You only got two hours?"
"I was working on new 2x4 technology! Man, I'm so pumped for this one, you'll see how cool it is soon!" Numbuh 2 raved with a massive smile on his face.
Wally quickly scoffed down his cereal, cursing Abby out due to how long she was taking in coming down. He wanted to leave and go to the roller rink as soon as possible now.
Just as he had thought that Abby sluggishly walked down, rubbing her eyes. "We still goin' to wherever it is you wanna take me, Num-Wally?"
Everyone froze and turned to look at Abby. Shock lit their features at her calling Wally by his given name.
"Course we are! But you took your cruddy time in gettin' down here, Abby," Wally said frowning, his leg shaking up and down due to impatience.
Now everyone's eyes swivelled to Wally. Nigel and Hoagie exchanged a look of utter surprise; something was different. And strange.
"Boy, Numbuh 5 ought to give you a good butt-kickin'," Abby said, her hands on her hips as she glared at Wally who sat, observing her. "You said you would come to get Numbuh 5 when it was time and what time is it now, huh."
"Uh…" he smiled sheepishly, "20 o'clock?"
He regretted saying that as soon as Abby reached out and pinched Wally's ear, resulting in him crying out in pain. "OW, OW, OW, fine I'm sorry, alroight? Just...just lemme go!" To say her pinch was the most painful thing he had ever felt in his life was an understatement.
Alroight, never keep Abby waitin' again. Got it, he thought, annoyed as she let go and allowed him to rub his ear.
"Numbuh 5 thought you'd be comin' to get her, Wally. You better not do this again," she said threateningly.
Though her words were harsh, the soft, tender smile on her face said otherwise. She was enjoying this, he could see that much, and though he was in pain, he could feel the embarrassed flush that crept up his face as everyone still had their eyes on them.
Nigel cleared his throat and Hoagie stared at Wally, slack-jawed and eyes as wide as saucers. How this new development occurred, none of them knew. Moreover, Kuki didn't seem too happy about it either.
"You're going somewhere?" she asked softly.
Abby smiled at Kuki. "That's the plan, according to Mister Genius over here. You wanna co-"
"Never mind that, let's go, Abby!" Wally rushed towards Abby and yanked at her elbow, not letting her finish her sentence.
"Ow, boy, whaddya think you're doin'!?"
Wally said through gritted teeth, "Let's go!"
Abby rolled her eyes and let him drag her out. "You do realise that I'm still in my pj's? Let me go change!"
"Bu-"
"No buts! You wait here, I'll be back," Abby said, running back into the treehouse. Wally threw his head back and let out a loud, irritated groan. He didn't want to wait here like a buffoon; he was worried about Kuki coming after them or something.
Wally didn't want to face her purely because he didn't know what to say to her.
After a little while of loitering around in front of Nigel's house, Abby came running out. She had a soft smile on her face as she faced Wally. He just stared at her blankly.
"Took you awhile," he said, crossing his arms. "Now it's gonna take forevah just to get to the roller rink!"
Abby raised an eyebrow. "You're takin' Numbuh 5 to a roller rink?"
He froze as if he had shared a secret he wasn't supposed to say. "Uh, surprise?"
Abby rolled her eyes and pushed down the urge to smile. It was sweet of him to plan something like this to make her feel better.
"Thanks for the surprise? But, look, we'll get there in time to roller skate, so calm down, baby."
"I am calm!"
"You ain't calm at all."
"I am!"
"Numbuh 5 don't think so."
Wally flashed a smiling Abby an annoyed glance as they bickered all the way there.
-.-.-.-.-
"W-woah!" Abby chuckled nervously, her feet feeling like they had a mind of their own. She was clutching onto the gates of the roller rink, trying to gain her balance on the roller skates. Wally watched, refraining a roaring laugh by biting on his bottom lip, his cheeks puffy.
Abby didn't even notice that the short blonde boy was enjoying her struggle to even take a step until a squeak of laughter left his lips.
She looked up to see his green eyes shimmering with amusement and put her hands on her hips.
"You brought Numbuh 5 here to laugh?" she inquired, with a frown on her face. Wally shook his head, a grin still on his face. "Then come and help me, you fool!"
He quickly hurried over and grabbed her hands, guiding her towards where everyone else was. He skated smoothly and effortlessly around the rink, and Abby couldn't help but watch him as the speed in which they were going in caused his hair to flutter around a little.
"You wanna learn to spin 'round?" he asked with a smirk and her eyes widened. She couldn't even skate without him guiding her, so the idea in itself was a big no-no.
"Heck no, boy! Do you want me to die?!"
"You ain't gonna die 'cos you got me."
"Well, that's what I'm most afraid of, baby."
"HEY!" he blurted. "I'm tryna help you here, Abby, so ya bettah show me some respect."
Abby snorted. "Respect?!" she burst into loud laughter, very aware of the annoyed look she was getting from the boy beside her. "Okay, okay. Numbuh 5 will respect ya. You're helpin' me skate, after all."
"Helpin' you? I'm doin' all the work, 'ere," he retorted, but with a smile etched on his face which Abby returned.
A few comfortable seconds of skating later, Wally said, "You wanna try skatin' by yourself? I'll teach ya."
Abby panicked on the inside but maintained a chilled expression and nodded her head, her hoop earrings swaying with the movement.
"Alroight!" he cheered with a toothy grin. "Okay, so all ya need to do is bend, squat and then glide."
Abby frowned and stared at him, exasperated. "Man, you are the worst teacher in the world."
"Just do what I say, will ya?!"
She let out a sigh and did what he said, but she felt like she was too low to the ground. "There, I did it. Now what?"
"Oh-wait, you're doin' it wrong," he said, circling behind her. He hesitantly reached out and placed his hands on her waist and gently lifted her up a little. "Ya don't have to squat too much." He could feel his whole face turning beet red, and even Abby felt a little embarrassed at the, surprisingly, gentle touch on her waist.
They were both silent as Wally quickly let go and retreated, rubbing the back of his neck, sheepishly. His hands were tingling from touching her waist and because of it, he couldn't even look her in the eye.
"U-uh, well you got it, ahem…um, alroight, now try pushin' off with your left foot to move and follow that with your roight." Wally tried to pretend nothing happened and gulped as Abby looked down and away.
Alroight, that meant nothin'! I was just helpin'...yeah! Just helpin', he thought, trying to reassure himself.
Abby cleared her throat; she was never more grateful that she was the way she was at that moment. She could feel the heat travel up to her face, but she was lucky that it didn't show through her skin.
Instead, Abby tried to focus on what Wally had said. Even though her legs were like jelly and shaking a little bit, she decided to move. She could hear Wally's encouragement from behind, and even though she was only moving a small inch, the pride she felt was immense.
"Am I doin' it? Man, Numbuh 5's actually doin' it!"
Wally skated up to her with a goofy, almost conceited look on his face. "See, I ain't a bad teacher after all, eh?" he said, crossing his arms with a grin. Abby chuckled and shook her head.
"Now don't get ahead of yourself, Wally," she said, his name rolling off her tongue smoothly, "you're as bad a teacher as Ms Thompson."
"Ms Thompson?" he exclaimed, scoffing, dragging his eyes away. "CRUD, NO! Well, actually, she ain't that bad,"
Abby raised an eyebrow. "That's only cos you have a crush on her," she said with a teasing smile and Wally's cheeks instantly flushed red.
"I-I do not!" he retorted. "I don't like 'er after that time she called my homework lousy when I was actually tryin!"
"Sure you don't, baby."
"Well, whatevah! Just listen to what I'm tellin' ya about roller skatin' and you'll do fine!"
"You actually have to teach Numbuh 5 somethin' first," she countered.
"ARRRGGHHH," Wally yelled in frustration, causing Abby to laugh to herself.
-.-.-.-
They were now sitting on the benches outside the gate, watching the others skate. Wally shot a glance at Abby who sat there, peacefully, a small smile on her lips. The smile caused an indescribable feeling to swell in his chest.
He placed a hand over his chest and frowned. Why am I feelin' like that? He wondered, suddenly weirded out. When the feeling vanished, he let out a sigh of relief and looked at Abby again, opening his mouth to say something when the feeling came back causing him to panic.
Wally shuffled away and sat at the end of the bench, clutching at his chest. He had known Abby for a while, and something like that never happened. Abby raised an eyebrow, watching him fumble around strangely.
"Uh, Wally? You okay, boy?"
"Y-yup! Just fine, ya know. Just, uh, doin' somethin' is all."
Abby narrowed her eyes but shrugged and turned to the roller rink again. He was strange, but then again, he was always strange, so she didn't think of delving too deep into it.
On the other hand, Wally was panicking. The feeling he was getting when he looked at Abby was the feeling that Wally got when he looked at Kuki. He didn't like the feeling and shook his head furiously.
This is bad. I dunno what this is, but it's very very bad! He shouted to himself. Alroight, I'll just stay 'ere. It won't get me here.
"So, uh, Abby?" he said, from a fair bit away. A shaky smile made its way to his lips as he leaned away. "How are ya feelin'? From all the...Cree, Numbuh 9 stuff?"
Abby's smile diminished, and her face softened as if she was going to break down any second. Wally straightened and the shaky smile left his face, replaced by a worried frown.
"Numbuh 5...well, Numbuh 5's doin' better, Wally. This has helped a lot. Thanks," she said, softly. Her eyes were filled with tears when she looked up at him, and he stiffened. He didn't know what to do or what to say - he wanted to get rid of those tears in her eyes though.
"How about you?" Wally was stuck. He didn't expect the question to be bounced back to him, all of a sudden. So, he shrugged and turned away.
"Yeah. I'll be foine, I reckon." Wally then shot her a warm smile; it looked unusually wise on him, Abby noted. "I just need some time before I talk to 'er again."
All of a sudden, he was engulfed in a warm and comfortable hug. He was wide-eyed as he realised that Abby was hugging him. Again. This time he didn't waste time in embracing her back, resting his head on her shoulder.
He didn't care that it was probably inappropriate and weird, but it made him feel better about everything that had happened.
"Don't worry, Wally. Numbuh 5's sure that everythang's gonna be alright between you two. And, thank you, again."
Before he could say anything, they were called in by Nigel.
"Numbuh 5, 4, come in!" Nigel's panicked voice came through, and Abby pulled away hurriedly.
"Numbuh 1? What's the matter?"
"We are under attack by Cree and Chad! I repeat, we are under attack by Cree and Chad, and we need back u-AHHHH!"
The call cut out.
"Numbuh 1!" Wally yelled, distressed, to no use. Both Abby and Wally shared a look before they shot up and raced out the roller rink.
They barged into the treehouse, weapons ready; Wally with his signature M.U.S.K.E.T and Abby with the S.P.L.A.N.K.E.R. Both Cree and Chad turned in their direction, their lips curled up in vicious sneers.
"Where's Numbuh 1, Cree?!" Abby yelled, standing in front of her.
"Ah, my sweet little sis is here! What a surprise," she scowled. Chad chuckled menacingly as he looked up at the roof. Wally and Abby's eyes followed his line of sight and up to the roof where Nigel, Kuki and Hoagie were all hanging down by a rope.
"Uh, guys, I don't feel so well..." Hoagie groaned, his face turning a sickly green.
"Ooh, are Numbuh 4 and 5 here?!" Kuki looked at Wally, a gentle smile on her face. "Oh hi, guys!"
Nigel groaned in irritation and Abby resisted the urge to face-palm. Instead, she faced Cree who smirked at her, her Battle Ready Armour covering most of her face. Abby could only see the evil glint in her eye.
"Well, Crabagail - what are you waiting for? Aren't you going to greet your older sister?"
"Oh, I'll greet ya alright!" Abby exclaimed as she flipped into the air and aimed straight for Cree. The latter quickly rolled over to the side as Wally raced towards Chad with a warrior cry.
"Let my friends go, you prissy teenager!" Wally yelled, as he mustered up all his strength and punched him straight in the jaw.
Chad flew to the ground with a yelp but shakily stood up a little while later. He pressed a button on his armour and immediately all three of his teammates fell straight to the ground, their screams echoing throughout the whole treehouse.
Wally's heart pounded, and usually, in this situation, he would jump and leap to Kuki's rescue - but he convinced himself that she was able to help herself. He, then, turned his attention to Chad, instead of Kuki and scowled at him.
As he fought Chad and tried to throw blows at him, from beside him, the others scrambled to grab their weapons and help.
"Look out, Numbuh 4!" Hoagie cried from behind him. Without asking him what he meant, Wally leapt to the side as Kuki began firing the G.U.M.Z.O.O.K.A at Chad, rapidly.
"Ow, ow, ow! Will you watch where you're shooting that thing at least?!" Chad yelled, trying to cover his face as he stepped back further and further.
Wally had his arms crossed, waiting for him to near him before sticking out his foot causing Chad to tumble backwards.
Just before he fell, Wally gave him a good kick to the jaw causing him to fly into the air and drop back down onto the floor.
"And stay down loser!" he scowled at Chad who was groaning on the floor. Cree screamed in frustration behind Wally and he turned to see her sneer venomously at Abby, swaying a little as she got up.
"You're seriously askin' for more, ain't ya, traitors?" Wally taunted, irritated at Cree and Chad's actions.
"Maybe w-UGH!" Before Chad could finish what he was trying to say, Wally landed a hard roundhouse kick to his body causing him to crash through the wall and fall off the treehouse.
"One thing I hate more than cruddy teens, are traitors like 'im," Wally muttered bitterly before turning his attention to Abby who was still dodging Cree's attacks. His eyes searched for Nigel who was clutching his stomach in pain.
She must 'ave took him down immediately, he thought, irked. Cree's primary focus always seemed to be on Abby, after all.
"UGH!" Cree screamed angrily when a puddle of mustard drenched her. Wally stood there smugly, holding his M.U.S.K.E.T.
In an instant, the room erupted into utter chaos; filled with carrots, laser fire and more mustard.
"Stupid brats! How dare you!?" Cree roared, leaping towards Wally who smirked and dodged. Abby ran up from behind and kicked Cree in the back of her legs.
She yelped and fell forward, slipping on some mustard that had spilt on the floor. The others pelted her with other gunk that came out of their 2x4 technology causing Cree to let out various high-pitched screams.
Abby frowned and crossed her arms. "You know you'll never defeat us, Cree. Now, get your butt outta here."
Weak and drenched, Cree got up on shaky legs, her face displaying a deep scowl aimed at Abby. "You might have won this time Crabagail, but I'll be back!"
The boosters on her feet began to activate and just like that, she soared into the air and flew out of the treehouse.
Silence engulfed the treehouse and Nigel weakly got up. "Well, team, good job. You deemed to be more useful than I was."
Hoagie glanced at Nigel. "Are you all right, Numbuh 1?"
"Yes, yes. I'm excellent. Just a little...wounded."
Kuki snickered, and Nigel shot a glare at her, though it didn't seem to denote any hatred. It looked like it was playful as the corner of his lip twitched into a small smile.
Hoagie then looked at himself. "Well then, I'm gonna go get changed. I got gunk down my pants and I feel super icky." He shuddered as he left the room, walking awkwardly.
"Right. Of course," Nigel said awkwardly, shooting a weird look at Hoagie's back. "We're covered in gunk, so that's probably a good idea." He took off his sunglasses which was covered with mustard and other such stuff that they were using. Somehow it had managed to get on all of them.
Wally didn't even realise that he had been hit too until Abby looked at him and snorted.
"What?" he questioned, annoyed. Wally looked Abby up and down and saw that she was just as gunk-covered as he was.
She looks...pretty even with gunk all over 'er, he thought, immediately frowning at what his mind said and mentally slapping himself. He shook his head furiously, causing some green gunk to fly out of it.
"Watch where you're shakin' your head, fool!"
"Well, I ain't gonna apologise," he snapped and Abby laughed.
"I never asked ya too."
"Shut up, kid."
"Who are you callin' kid, kid?" Abby retorted, an amused smile on her face.
"WILL YOU TWO CUT IT OUT AND GO GET CHANGED? WHAT AM I YOUR MOTHER?!" Nigel yelled from inside the treehouse.
Wally and Abby froze and looked around to see that everyone, but Kuki, had gone inside too, most likely to get changed. They then shared a wide-eyed look before the two burst into laughter. Abby quickly caught Kuki's eyes right after. She was looking straight at Wally, a longing look in her large eyes.
Poor Numbuh 3...she must be hurt. They haven't been talkin' for ages, after all, Abby wondered, studying Kuki thoughtfully. Abby then turned to Wally - she helped him at the beginning to get him back with Kuki. This is what she was aiming for this entire time.
To get everything back to normal. However...things were starting to seem normal with just her and him. She was so used to it already. Abby shook her head; she was beginning to sound selfish.
Abby didn't know why she wanted to be around Wally so much, but one thing she knew for sure - after all these years - was that he was always Kuki's. They had always been each other's, friends or not, and she could never have what he had with Kuki.
Abby was only a friend.
Okay, Numbuh 5 startin' to sound like Cree now, cut it out self, Abby scolded herself with a small chuckle. Whatever silly thought was going through her head had to be dismissed now.
She was only helping Wally and now she had the chance to get them to talk again. Also, possibly get them to confess too.
"Psst, Wal-," she went to whisper something to Wally when she realised he had disappeared from beside her. She whipped around to see he was about to sit on the sofa - still covered in gunk - and she freaked out. "WHAT DO YA THINK YOU'RE DOIN', FOOL?!"
Wally, shocked at the outburst, jerked back and he whipped around with wide eyes. Fear was etched across his face.
"What's the big idea?!" he exclaimed, looking like he just had a mini heart-attack. "I was just gonna cruddy sit 'ere and watch TV cos no one was sayin anythin'!"
Abby face-palmed and groaned. She marched towards Wally and pointedly glanced at Kuki who stood there, fumbling with the fabric of her green hoodie as she swayed innocently from side to side. She looked like she wanted to talk to Wally, but didn't know how.
"Go talk to her, genius," Abby said, smirking and staring at Wally who looked up at her, confused.
"What? Why would I do tha-OW, what did you do that for?!" Wally exclaimed, rubbing his ribs. He glared at Abby who had jabbed him there with her elbow.
"Talk to Numbuh 3, you fool!"
"Oh." Wally was still staring at Abby, his expression now taut and severe.
"Yeah, 'oh'," she said, worried as his eyes had turned empty and emotionless, resembling the eyes of a reptile. "Now go."
Wally, as if startled back into reality, blinked before tearing his gaze away. He rubbed the back of his neck as his green eyes glanced to the side at Kuki through his eyelashes, before looking up at Abby with pleading eyes.
"Do I have ta?"
Abby rolled her eyes at his childish behaviour. "She's upset that you're talkin' to Numbuh 5 and not her! So go talk to her! Plus, Numbuh 5 knows you like her," Abby teased, a smirk on her face.
Despite her words though, she could feel her chest constricting painfully, for some reason she couldn't decipher. Ignoring it, she pushed a hesitant Wally towards Kuki.
Abby stood a fair foot away and pretended to pay attention to the TV that wasn't even on.
He stumbled forwards and landed right in front of Kuki. "Uh...hey Kuki," Wally said, his usual aggressive voice, now soft and unsure. Abby snorted to herself and shook her head. He was one of a kind, that was for sure.
"Hi, Wally," Kuki's loveable voice replied gently. Abby was glad she encouraged Wally to talk to her because the delight in Kuki's eyes showed just how happy she was.
Now fearing that she was intruding on their conversation, she slowly crept out. Abby had a smile on her face, but it felt forced. She was supposed to feel happy that things were going so well.
But then why did she feel so depressed?