Author's note: well this was supposed to be a one shot but it was becoming too long I had to split it into a few chapters. I'm still in the process of writing so it might take some time before the next chapter comes in.

This fic is based on and inspired by an episode from the M*A*S*H series, an episode by the same title.

Hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I'm enjoying writing it.

Disclaimer: I don't own MASH or The Nanny but squishing them together is all me! lol

Out of Sight out of Mind

It was late afternoon when Niles felt he could finally relax.

Miss Fine was out 'Man Hunting' with Miss Toriello, the children were out doing something – he really didn't care what – and Mr Sheffield was at the theatre, working on his new play.

Niles just sat down on the couch with a glass of Max's whisky and a cigar when the doorbell rang. Niles groaned audibly. He could see through the glass who it was and he really couldn't be bothered to deal with that woman.

Niles got up, swiftly got to the door and opened it. Miss Babcock strode in with her all too familiar "Hallo hallo"

"Oh...What are you doing here? Happy hour was just about to start!" he said as he was helping her out of her coat.

Miss Babcock glared at him and spotting the whisky glass and cigar on the coffee table immediately thought of a perfect retort.

"Oh, Maxwell sent me to check that you weren't drinking his brandy and smoking his cigars" striding to said objects. She picked up the glass and downed it in one, moving towards the office. Niles frowned and followed her.

"Well now that you got that out of your system – or should I say into your system….what are you really doing here?"

"Maxwell forgot a few papers and he wants you to make him something to snack on" CC said as she gathered some brown paper envelopes and a whole bunch of papers into her bag. Niles sighed, would it kill that man to go to the nearest kiosk and buy some crackers? Or at least asked Niles to prepare a sandwich before he left so as not to disturb his quiet time?

Niles stomped to the kitchen, Miss Babcock in his wake.

"Aren't you grumpy today, Dust Buster!" Niles ignored her and stopped in his tracks when they reached the kitchen. Something was wrong…Niles sniffed the air and caught a whiff of something burning.

"Do you smell that, Miss Babcock?"

CC sniffed the air too "Besides Tilex?" she grinned "No…what do you smell?" she asked a bit concerned.

"It smells as if something's burning…" Niles moved cautiously around the counter and suddenly noticed that the microwave was on. That's odd… he thought and he moved his hand to open the little door when he heard CC shout "NO!" but too late – it all happened so fast – once he opened the microwave door all he heard was a big BANG and he felt as if his eyes were on fire when all he saw was a bright yellow light then a sharp pain rose though his head as he hit the counter. And then he blacked out.

CC was sitting in the waiting room nursing her bandaged wrist when she heard the nanny's nasal voice and looked up. She saw Fran rushing in with Maxwell and Val trying to keep up behind her.

"What happened?" Fran exclaimed worriedly

"Is Niles all right?" Max added

"I don't know…" CC whispered, she looked at Maxwell "we were in the kitchen getting the snack you asked for…."she took a heavy breath to try and calm herself down "then Niles said he smelled something burning and he opened the door-and-there-was-a-loud-bang-and-the-next-thing-I-know-Niles-was-on-the-floor-his-face-all-red-and-" CC had to stop for breath, she was talking so fast.

"shhh….calm down Miss Babcock" Fran said soothingly "I'm sure everything will be ok" she patted the socialite on the back.

"Well do you know how he is? Have you seen him yet?" and as if to answer Val's question a nurse came towards them at that exact moment.

"Are you Mr Brightmore's family?" she asked

"Um, no I'm his employer" Mr Sheffield said "how is he? May we see him yet?"

"Yes, you may see him. The doctor is with him now and he will explain his condition to you, he's in room 418" and the nurse left to continue her job.

They all entered the room. Niles was propped up against two pillows his hands on his lap and the doctor was scribbling something onto his patient's chart. CC's heart ached (though she will never admit to it) at seeing Niles like that. His head was bandaged in a way that his eyes were completely covered. Niles turned his head at the sound of them coming in.

"Oh, Niles you poor baby!" Fran exclaimed loudly and rushed to his side to kiss him on the cheek.

"Doctor, could you explain what's wrong with him? Why are Niles' eyes covered like that?"

"Well according to the information Miss Babcock provided as to what happened, the blast that caught Mr Brightmore in the face affected his eye sight. It's still early days so we don't know if he'll pull through or not"

"So what you're saying Doctor is that Niles may have lost his eye sight?" Maxwell asked. The doctor nodded.

"So does that mean he's blind now?" Val said innocently

"Val!" Fran smacked her friend on the arm "so does it?" Fran added.

Niles chuckled sadly. Fran and Val were not known for their discretion.

"Well as I said it's still early days. He'll have to stay here for about a week, run some tests and we'll see where we go from there"

"So what caused the blast, Doc?" Val continued her investigation. "according to the fire department's report there seemed to have been something made of metal heating in the microwave" "but…metal doesn't explode in the microwave" Maxwell interjected "Niles has used it plenty of times, isn't that right Niles?"

"Not really, sir. I only serve on metal plates I never cook with them…"

"And if left to heat up for too long then it definitely will" the Doctor added

Fran suddenly gasped with her hand on her chest "Val! I think this may have been our fault! How long did you put that dish with the croissants in the microwave for?"

Val scrunched up her face to think "I put it in for 30 seconds like you told me to"

"Which button did you press? The right one or the middle one?" Val put her index finger to her chin then smiled in relief "I pressed the middle one!" she said proudly.

"Val!" Fran smacked her again "why are you such a shmagegy! You put the microwave on for 30 minutes instead of 30 seconds!"

Val took a sharp intake of breath "oh! I'm so sorry Niles!" she wailed into Niles' ear.

"You don't have to shout….the sides work…." Niles said dryly.

"It's my fault you'll never see the daylight again!"

"Oh would you two just stop!" CC suddenly shouted.

"CC, this is a hospital" Maxwell reprimanded "you should keep your voice down"

CC was speechless. She glared at Mr Sheffield and stomped out the hospital room. As she was walking down the corridors and stepping into the elevator she started thinking.

Didn't they understand the circumstances? The chances were that Niles had lost his eye sight! This was no laughing matter! What would he do now that he can't see? He couldn't continue being a butler – what use is there for a blind butler? And what was Maxwell going to do? Keep Niles in the house out of charity?

When CC got to her apartment she flopped onto the couch.

CC suddenly noticed that someone was sitting on the couch with her – well, something – Chester seemed to have sensed her distress and come to comfort her. She stroked and scratched Chester's head and found it very soothing. And yet….she was still worried about Niles. But why? It's not like he would have been worried about her! He only would have gloated and made fun of her and teased her non-stop. And yet something was tugging at her heart strings. It was only when she came to pull her hair out of her face that she noticed she had been crying, tears staining her face.

Pull yourself together CC Babcock! You're only crying from being overwhelmed by the ordeals of the day. It has nothing to do with the butler! Telling herself that, she got undressed and went to bed. She didn't even realize that she had cried herself to sleep that night. Or if she did she would not even admit it to herself.