Title: Seeking Solace

Rated K

Summary: He was always admired whenever his ideas were successful; the problem was instead when his plans went horribly, horribly wrong. (NigelxAbby centric one-shot) Number 5 of the 100 Theme Challenge

Disclaimer: I don't own KND

A/N: This is a post CANYON one-shot. The plot bunny attacked me randomly while I was watching the KND marathon the other day (yes, I did get up at 6 am and watched the entire thing with my little brother. Monday was a great day). Anyway, I'm also using this as one of my one-shots for the 100TC. For more information, feel free to contact me, Numbuh 212 or Super Reader for details.

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He was a man of schedule, always coming up with detail-to-detail routines. He was always admired whenever his ideas were successful; the problem was instead when one of his plans went horribly, horribly wrong.

"Way to go Nigel! This was the worst anniversary ever!"

"Numbuh 1, I can't believe you've wrecked it up this bad!"

"It was always my dream to eat out of a giant bowl of Rainbow Monkey Munchies cereal, thanks a bunch Numbuh 1, now that can't ever happen!"

Nigel cringed at the insults as he deleted each email from the mission control room computer. It had been exactly a week since the Grand Canyon incident and still every operative seemed committed to make sure he suffered from his mistake.

"Nice goin' baldy! I hope 362 never puts you on the anniversary planning committee ever again!"

"You stink!"

'Nigel Uno, you have eleventy billion hate mails. Please clear your inbox'

The Brit sighed, clearly irritated with himself and closed out of the inbox that was open before him. This was probably one of the more stressful weeks he had in a long time. Even a week packed full of missions couldn't top this! Hate mail had been collecting in his inbox ever since the incident. Even Rachel wasn't on his side. . .

"I'm real disappointed in you Nigel, you let me down. Next time I hope you look at your plans more closely!"

Nigel scowled, pushing his sunglasses up so they'd keep from falling off his nose. Never before had he been so frustrated with himself! He shouldn't have overlooked, no . . . underestimated the villains, specifically speaking of the Toilinator. Sure the Toilinator was indeed the lamest Kids Next Door villain in history but even his father told him to never misjudge the opponent. The next time he made contact with that toilet-face freak he was going to make sure he'd make him sorry.

His head hurt, the words of the emailed insults echoed loudly against his thoughts. Since the episode he had locked himself up in the main control room, only exiting when he felt tired enough to go to bed. He knew deep down that he shouldn't have been letting the emails get to him but ever since he received Rachel's reply his pride didn't matter anymore. He had not only let her down, he let the entire Kids Next Door down as well. Nigel wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to show his face up at moonbase again after that fiasco.

"Hey, Numbuh 1, you in here?"

Nigel closed his eyes in frustration as she lightly tapped the door. "Numbuh 5, I told you I didn't want to be disturbed."

The doorknob rattled and the boy turned to see his comrade enter the room much to his displeasure. "I thought I locked that door."

"Oh please, you're forgetting that Numbuh 5 has an older sister. Guess ya thought she wouldn't be able to get into a locked room?" Abby smirked, closing it behind her. Nigel noticed that she was carrying a lunch tray for two, secretly pleased that she remembered the nachos. "Figured you wouldn't be coming down for lunch so I brought it up to ya, hope ya don't mind." She informed him sheepishly, holding out the tray a bit. Nigel bit back a chuckle and smiled. Lunch with Abby sounded really nice at the moment.

"Thanks," he told her sincerely as she placed the tray down on the card table Hoagie and Wally had been playing on earlier that was settled off to the side of the room and took a seat. Abby remained silent as she picked a nacho and munched on it thoughtfully.

"So, what's the deal Nigel? Are ya' going to continue keeping yourself locked up in here or what?"

Nigel rolled his eyes under his sunglasses as he got up from the computer to join her. "I ruined it, Abby, I messed up big time."

"So the stupid villains ruined our Kids Next Door anniversary. Tough, they're always ruining stuff that's why we're always kicking their butts!" This last remark held a hint of humor meant to lighten the mood but Nigel shrugged it off.

"You just don't understand. I let everyone down."

"You didn't let me down." He glanced up at her after popping a nacho in his mouth, realizing that she was giving him The Look.

"What?" He asked bitterly. He knew right after The Look he'd be receiving one of Abby's famous lectures on how he should quit moping around, get over it and move on with everything. Right now, he wasn't in the mood for one of those lectures but he still figured that she'd give it to him either way.

"You, tha's what! You're just sitting in here readin' those stupid emails and lettin' them get to ya'. The Nigel I know wouldn't do that, he'd get angry and rebound. He'd show Numbuh 362 that he was sorry that he messed up, and accept his mistake instead of hidin' out here. What happens when we're called up to moonbase next time? Are ya' just goin' to ignore the direct order and sit here until the mission's done?"

"Of course not." Nigel snapped at her. Abby raised an eyebrow at him before shaking her head and picking up her Pb&j sandwich. "I'd never ignore a direct order, you know that . . ."

"So, Numbuh 5 can just call up 362 and ask her to give you a direct order to quit locking yourself up in here, get over whatever's botherin' ya' and just move on?"

Nigel couldn't hold back his smirk; he knew Abby too well.

"I get your point." He grinned, biting into his own sandwich. Abby leaned back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest, The Look still plastered on her face.

"Anything else?" he asked her, plucking another nacho from the plate in between them.

"Do I really have to go and send that request to 362 or are you actually going to be able to do it yourself?"

"I'll make sure Rachel knows I'm sorry and that I accept my mistake . . ."

"And?" Abby pressed with a stern motherly tone. This of course caused Nigel to roll his eyes again.

"And I'll stop locking myself up in the main control room to avoid my problems..." he added, feeling the pressure of his mistake being lifted, and suddenly a lot of gratitude towards his best friend.

"Good." She nodded, finishing off the last of her sandwich. He picked up his own sandwich, realizing how hungry he really was at the moment for the first time.

"Abby?"

"Mmm?" she responded, taking another nacho.

"Thanks. I can always depend on you for helping me out when I'm down like this. I really appreciate it."

"'S all good Numbuh 1, just don't let me catch you like this again, ya' hear?"

Nigel laughed as she stood up and took her plate. "I'm goin' down to my room for a bit, call if you need anything, okay?"

"Sure thing." He replied, taking a bite out of his sandwich and feeling better than he had been feeling all day long. The insults taunting his thoughts beforehand had vanished and he seemed like nothing would be able to ruin his mood. When he heard the door close behind her he silently reminded himself to make sure to buy Abby an extra helping of caramels next time they went to the candy store and maybe one of those magazines she loved to read all the time. It was times like these where he was more than thankful that she was his best friend.

-Fin-

A/N: I'm not happy with the ending. It's kind of rushed because I'm typing this up during school and the bell's about to ring. Oh well, I hope you readers enjoyed it and don't forget to let me know what you thought of it via review! I'd appreciate it loads! Thanks for reading guys, until next time!

-Never let go of the one you truly love

-December'sRose