Nigel coughs hard.

It was normal, and yet, for the Brit, it really wasn't.

It had stopped being normal the year before he was old enough to become a member of KND, and every now and then, it liked to remind him of this.

"Dad..." He starts as he walks into the kitchen. He hesitates, pausing, unsure if he should tell. If he did, it felt like it would become real.

He shuffles his feet. Nigel had been feeling bad this week. He had tried so hard to convince himself that he was just coming down with something, some bug that was normal and safe for a kid his age... But...

But he hadn't been able to ignore the aching in his bones. Then he'd noticed that he was becoming thinner for no reason. He'd finally summoned the courage to decide to tell his father what was happening, but... It was still scary.

His Dad is watching him closely, worried about him. Nigel can't look at him.

"I... I think... They need to check me..."

His Dad nods, uncharacteristically solemn.

-.-

"Whaddaya mean 'you're gonna be gone'?" Numbah 4 demands.

Numbah one adjusts his shades, seeming fixated on the ground. "I mean just that. You're all capable of handling things by yourself for a little while, right?"

"No!" Numbah 4 shouts. "Numbah 1, you can't just leave us-"

"-It'll only be a little whil-"

"I don't care!" He yells. "You're our leader! You can't lead us if you're not here!"

"Numbah 4 I am going and that's final!" Numah 1 snaps, decidedly ending the argument in an overly mature manner.

It startles the team. When they had first started out as a team, Numbah 1 had been more serious and stern than any normal kid should be. When they had asked around about it, they'd been told it was a classified personal issue.

Over time, they'd managed to lighten him up a bit, but now it seemed that whatever issue had been affecting him before had returned, once again making their leader distant.

Numbah 1 sighs. "I've already explained it to Global Command, they'll help. If we're lucky, I'll only be gone for a couple days." He grabs the small bag of his chosen belongings to bring with him and turns to leave.

"And if we're not?" Numbah 5 asks flatly.

He freezes. For a moment, he says nothing. Then:

"Goodbye team."

The door slides shut.

I have this funny habit of picking up little obsessions. My current one is KND. I haven't seen a lot of it, and I only finally began watching it when I was a preteen, so I'm bound to screw up a couple things. Any Fixers or Suggesters out there are totally welcome to send their input.

Actually, I'd like if everyone sent input. That'd make me happy.

R&R!