It has been too long. Thank you to everyone still reading my story.

Note: I still own nothing and this is all for fun.

Chapter 18

"You see, the Delightfuls and Father aren't coming to get you, Kuki Sanban...I am."

Wally was breathing heavily now, the excitement dancing in his eyes.

Kuki knew she needed to do something, anything. She couldn't stayed pinned beneath him, against this tree.

Her mouth opened to respond but nothing came, he had left her speechless and, judging by his developing smirk, he knew it

Her breath caught as his face hovered close to her own, eyes roaming her face, memorizing her features. The familiar scent of his cologne washed over her and did nothing to calm her nerves.

Kuki willed her body to move, push him away, something.

She was frozen, watching as he now stared at her lips, leaning in as if to claim them. Kuki could feel the ghost of his breath on her lips before his head turned and he softly kissed her forehead.

Kuki closed her eyes and thought of the many times a younger, happier Numbuh 4 kissed the crown of her head.

It had started their last year in the Kids Next Door.

When you turn twelve, decommissioning becomes the elephant in the room. No one talks about it, but everyone feels its imminence. Wally had seemed to feel it stronger than others. He began finding any excuse to be near her and started a habit of shyly placing a swift kiss upon her forehead when no one was looking.

At the age of twelve, it made her heart race and her cheeks blush a violent red.

Shame washed over her as Kuki realized that despite his threat, the effect had not changed. His lips now lingering above her brow, were a painful mockery of what they once were.

A gust of wind blew leaves around their feet. Kuki insisted that was why she began to shiver. It couldn't be the hand slowly running through her silken hair or the other gripping her waist.

Kuki inwardly cursed, it didn't matter what had caused it, Wally didn't miss her reaction.

She could feel a deep chuckle rumble through his chest before his lips left her skin.

Kuki's eyes shot open as a distinct snap went off behind the tree and a rope suddenly wrapped around her body, pinning her small frame to its trunk.

Kuki glared at her captor, angry with herself for not seeing this coming.

She looked down at her bindings and realized there was no point in fighting against the ropes. It was an old Kids Next Door weapon that Hoagie had created after a bad run in with the Delightfuls. One click of a button and your opponent was trapped. The rope was retractable and the harder you pulled against it, the tighter it would become. It was a pretty useful invention, when it wasn't being used against you.

Wally finally pulled away, his smile taunting her. Kuki shivered as she was assaulted by the chill of the night air.

When had it become so cold?

Wally nonchalantly dropped her cell phone in dirt at the base of the tree. Its screen lit up the dried leaves and soil around her feel, showing several unread text messages.

"Looks like you're popular, Beautiful." Wally mocked, the lighting from the device casting shadows on his perfect face.

Kuki grit her teeth to keep them from chattering.

She wasn't able to read her screen from its place in the dirt, but she was sure many of the unread messages were from her parents.

There were only so many excuses Mushi could give their parents before they started getting worried. Kuki wasn't exactly sure how long she had been gone, but by now her sister had to be running out of believable things to tell them.

Wally turned away and walked over to where his destroyed wires were strewn out in the dirt. Most of the equipment had turned to ash, but there were a few salvageable pieces that Wally seemed to find useful. He pocketed the pieces and began to pat his pants, looking for something.

Eventually his hands stilled and reached into his pants pocket, pulling out a small box with a pair of headphones attached. He placed one of the headphones in his ear and tapped the box.

He pressed the earpiece into his ear and after a few moments he stilled, listening intently.

"Yeah I know... I was busy... Yes. Well, he shouldn't have left the keys out." Wally drawled. "If he was better at his goddamn job, he would've noticed three hours ago."

He stood listening for a minute more.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm checked in. Call off the dogs." He hissed and then ripped the earpiece out of his ear, shoving the entire box, headphones and all, back in his pants pocket.

No matter how confident and in control Wally acted, he was still Father's puppet.

"You're a lot of things Wally, but you've never been someone's lackey." Kuki growled.

Wally was now walking toward the burning car, giving no indication that he had heard her.

"It's pretty clear you have no respect for Father, so why work for him? What do you get out of this?"

Still no response.

Wally was almost to the car now, aiming for a group of trees.

"Trying to save the people you care about isn't childish." She said, straining against the tree holding her prisoner. "Since I'm still alive...I'd say you agree."

Wally seemed to hear that. He froze, his back still to her. Kuki smirked, he had always hated being accused of having emotions.

Slowly he turned and stared at her. In the odd lighting of the moon and the simmering fire that was once a motor vehicle, it was hard to make out his expression.

Again, he chose not to respond to her and turned to leave.

Kuki could not help being mildly impressed. There wasn't much that Wally would ignore during his time in the Kids Next Door. Numbuh 4 had a temper that was pretty easily triggered. There was no telling what he would do or say when he was provoked.

She wished she could see him drop his rational facade.

"You were my best friend. I trusted you with my life. How can you threaten me after everything we've been through?" She questioned, trying her best to keep the hurt she felt out of her voice.

Wally was almost to the line of trees now. She wasn't getting any answers out of him tonight.

Kuki shook her head and slumped against the tree holding her captive.

"You sold your soul to the devil, Wally." She whispered.

Wally reached the line of trees and stopped once more, but didn't turn this time.

He ran his hand through his hair and looked up at the brightly lit moon peeking out through the trees. The moonlight cast an angelic blue hue across his body. It was a beautiful sight, that had no business being present on this night of hell.

"I am the devil, Beautiful." She heard him sigh before the moon lost its allure and he disappeared through the line of trees.

Wally had left her trapped and alone in a field to wait for her rescuers.

The wind picked up and Kuki coughed as smoke from the wreckage burned her lungs.

She foolishly pulled on her bindings in an attempt to keep the rope from biting into her skin. It only made the rope cling tighter.

Kuki sighed. In her mind, she ran through everything that had happened since she last saw Nigel. It helped to take her mind off of the pain of being pinned to a tree, but did nothing to assuage her anxiety.

She had uncovered something much more sinister than someone merely trying to eliminate the Kids Next Door. Operation D.A.D.'s goal was to eliminate lives.

Kuki jumped as the distinct sound of squealing tires broke the silence around her. Within seconds a black sports car sped into view and an aircraft could be heard looming overhead.

The car expertly maneuvered around the engulfed vehicle and spun to a stop in front of her.

A spotlight lit up from the craft above as Nigel jumped out of his idling vehicle. Despite her situation, Kuki could not help but smile at the sight of her leader racing towards her.

"You have no idea how good it is to see..."

Kuki screamed as she was suddenly struck by the shooting sting of an electrical current running through her ring finger and up her arm.

The feeling fled as quickly as it came, it's aftermath leaving her out of breath and her body shaking. The finger where her ring sat ached painfully.

Kuki gasped.

"That son of a..." Her voice slurred as she felt Nigel grab her shoulders.

She had been so focused she never even realized it.

She could see the confusion on Nigel's face as he began to speak. His mouth was moving, but Kuki couldn't make out the words.

It had been in plain sight and like a fool she had overlooked it.

Nigel's face began to blur with the headlights of his car.

Wally had been right, she was rusty.

During all the chaos she never once stopped to question the jewelry on her finger.