Title: He's still my Uncle

Fandom: Inspector Gadget

Rating: K

Summary: Based on the IG movie. We never did get to see Penny's initial reaction to seeing her Uncle's new cybernetic body and his gadgets. This is a 'missing scene' from the movie that covers that. She proves to her Uncle, her reluctant about all that's happened to him, that he's still her Uncle.

Author's Note: This takes place just after the scene where Gadget wakes up and runs into Dr. Bradford, learning he's a cyborg. So, he's still in his hospital gown.

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Penny Brown was not a clueless person; in fact, she was quite the opposite. She was smarter than most girls her age and therefore knew something was going on with her Uncle that was beyond simple surgery and life preserving procedures.

It had been a week since she had been able to go and visit her uncle after the explosion he had been in. When she had seen him, he had been encased in one giant cast since practically every part of his body had endured some type of injury.

In the meantime, she had been living at home but always in the company of a police officer. They had considered taking her to foster care for the time being, but Penny had begged them not to. She had gone straight to Chief Quimby when she heard they would take her to foster care or child services and insisted she keep living at home. She would be alright by herself.

The chief of police had not liked the idea in the least, but he bargained with her, saying she could stay at her house, but a police officer would be there to watch her at all times. He complained that police officers were not babysitters, but Penny ignored him. She refused to go to foster care so long as her uncle was alive.

So, a week later, she found herself still at home waiting for news on her uncle, typing away at her laptop which was currently sitting in her lap. She typed away at the keyboard as she sat on the living room rug Indian style with Brain sitting next to her. She had only been able to visit the hospital once and that was before his uncle had been taken in to surgery. Every time she came upon the chief she asked him the same question, "May I see my Uncle?" His answer was always the same, firm, "No." She figured she had already asked enough out of the police chief when she insisted on staying at home.

Though she had managed to hear from Quimby that her Uncle John had been taken into the cybernetics lab anyways; which was strictly private. She had eavesdropped on him the last time he had come to visit, talking on the phone with who she learned was Mayor Wilson. Now with this information, Penny's young mind was demanding to know why he would be taken to the cybernetics lab.

That was what she was currently doing; looking up information on cybernetics. She wanted to know more about it in hopes she would be able to figure out what was being done to her uncle.

She pushed back one of her pigtails as she waited for the page to load. Once it was loaded, she quickly read the sight that would tell her about cybernetics. Brain, who was lying beside her, gave a soft whine as he was able to sense her discomfort the more she read the page.

Cybernetics was a new technology that was currently being tested and designed. If used properly, it would be used to help modernize and advance science and help save lives. It would advance medical sciences and begin a whole new age of technology. With the aide of robotics and cybernetic body parts, a person could continue to live on after losing their limbs or other parts of their bodies.

It was then that it clicked with Penny. That was what was happening to her uncle. They were turning him into a cyborg. No longer would he be completely flesh and blood; he would soon have robotic-like body parts to him that would help save his life. Though the question was: how much of her uncle's body would have to be replaced by these cybernetic parts?

Her question was answered almost immediately as the sound of keys turning the lock to the front door came to her ears. She looked up, closing her laptop firmly shut and placing it on the couch. She had not been told when she would see her uncle again, nor was she told when Chief Quimby would come to check on her again. She wanted answers; she hated not knowing things.

She watched when the door opened and a part of her hoped it was her uncle, though she knew that wouldn't be the case. She watched and felt her hopes shatter to see that it was only Chief Quimby. She frowned at the sight of him. It wasn't that she disliked him in any sort of way, he was a kind man and had a high respect for the citizens of Riverton, but after a week, it was pretty clear that they were both getting on each other's nerves.

"Hi, Chief Quimby" she greeted him with little interest. She simply wanted to be polite; he was letting her stay at home rather than child services.

The chief stepped through the threshold and closed the door behind him. He took a glance around her Uncle's home before turning to Penny. "Hello, Penny. How are you today?" he asked gruffly and awkwardly.

Penny shrugged. "Same as yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that. And I'm gonna ask again, Chief Quimby, may I see my uncle?" she asked relentlessly, already expecting what the answer was going to be. It was always the same answer; and she knew one of these days she would finally be able to see him, for her uncle had to get out of surgery sometime, but she couldn't help but be negative about the whole thing.

She crossed her arms and looked away, waiting for the regular, "No" when he spoke to her. "Well, Penny…..Yes, you can."

Penny's eyes widened as she turned to stare openly at the chief. "Really? I can? He's out of surgery?"

Chief Quimby nodded. "Yes, he is. He's stable and doing just fine. I've been told that he can have visitors. So I came straight over to pick you up. We can go now if you wish."

Penny felt her heart soar at the idea that she would get to see her Uncle John again. She turned to Brain, who was up and wagging his tail happily at her. "You hear that, Brain! I get to go see Uncle John!" She beamed happily at her loyal dog.

Chief Quimby stood there awkwardly, looking as though he wished to be anywhere but there at the moment. He scratched underneath his hat and said, "Well, come on. Let's go. And keep that dog here!"

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Penny had hated to leave Brain all by himself, but she knew he would be fine for a couple hours. He knew how to open the patio door anyways if he badly needed to go outside.

As they walked closer to the labs and the room her Uncle was staying at, Brain was pushed far from her mind. She wanted to see her uncle and see for herself that he was alive and well and not just have other people's words to go by.

She followed close to Chief Quimby, her stomach a bundle of nerves. She pulled down nervously on her red shirt and grimaced when she looked into one of the rooms to see a patient laying there all hooked up to several devices. She didn't want to think of her uncle in a position like that.

After what seemed like an eternity, they finally came upon her uncle's door. "Why did you stop? Is he in there?" she asked the chief when he stopped in his tracks before a door.

The chief was about to reply when her Uncle John's voice came from inside the room. "Penny? Is that you?"

Penny didn't wait another moment; not bothering to wait for the chief's response. She pushed past him and walked through the door, where she could see her uncle standing up, looking around at all the machinery in the room. The room he was in was not a typical hospital room. Instead it was filled with machines that all seemed to be functioning, blinking, whirring, and clicking. Penny couldn't blame her uncle for looking so fascinated by it all, she was too. But she was more interested in her guardian.

"Uncle John!" she cried out, opening her arms as she darted over to him. He turned to her and smiled; opening his own arms and accepting her hug and love. He held her close, thanking the Lord above that he was able to still be with her.

As Penny hugged him, something felt different. She was used to hugging him and feeling the warmth of his soft flesh body, but this time, he was cold and his skin felt hard like metal. His arms that surrounded her felt the same way and as he continued to hug her closer she started to felt pinned and trapped rather than safe and protected.

"Uh….Uncle John….? You're kind of squishing me" she mumbled into his chest.

John immediately let go, practically flinching away from her. He had nearly forgotten he wasn't the same as he used to be. He looked down at her with sad brown eyes, looking guilty; almost as though he were a puppy who had a tail between his legs. He nervously rubbed his hands together, hoping he wouldn't catch his thumb on fire again. "Oh, sorry, Penny! I—Some things have changed…..I—I'm not….really who I used to be…."

Penny took a step back from him and looked over him carefully. He looked the same; same face, same build, same flesh, though now that she thought about it, his skin did seem a bit too perfect, almost as though it weren't all real. He was wearing a blue and white hospital down and powder blue boxers. She smiled when she saw his black socks, which stood out terribly. They must have just waked him up, because he wasn't even back to his normal clothes yet.

He glanced around the room, noticing for the first time that there were dents in some of the metal machines and the glass window near the door was shattered. She couldn't help but wonder what that was.

"What do you mean? You look the same to me" she told him honestly, though in the back of her mind, the word 'cyborg' kept popping up. She knew what she had read, but she just couldn't believe it.

John sighed. "Yeah….on the outside I'm the same…sort of….but…" he trailed off, not entirely sure how he was supposed to break the news to her. He still hated the thought that this had happened to him without his permission. They had turned him into a hardware store, in his opinion. He no longer felt like himself; he felt like…..he didn't know what. He debated what the best way to tell her would be.

Yet as he was figuring this out, the tip of his right hand's index finger tipped open and out came a small bubble wand that started sending little bubbles all over the room. Penny stared at the bubbles, wondering where they came from. She looked down and gave a gasp when she realized the bubbles were coming from her uncle's fingers. "Uncle John!" she cried out in alarm.

John gasped as well as he shook his hand, hoping to make it go away. This, however, seemed to awaken all the other gadget's in his fingertips, for suddenly every single one of them had something popping out of them. A candy dispenser, a pencil, a lighter, and a little pair of scissors.

Penny stepped back from her uncle, her mouth wide in shock. She watched as her uncle groaned and tried to make it go away, grumbling, "Not again!"

"Uncle John? What happened to you?" she found herself asking.

"I've been turned into a hardware store! That's what's happened!" he snapped remorsefully. He moaned in frustration. "According to Dr. Bradford—I know am a combination of tissue, hardware, and software!"

Penny nodded, trying to take all this in the best she could. She now understood where he had been in a cybernetics lab. "So…..they've made you into a cyborg?"

John halted in his attempts to make the gadgets in his hand go away. He stared at her, impressed she was taking it all in so well. As he stared at her, the gadgets in his hand disappeared and were replaced with a normal looking hand. He smirked slightly to see they had finally disappeared, though he wished he knew how he made them go away. Brenda Bradford had promised to go through everything with him after he visited with his niece for a while. He had wanted to see Penny first.

"Uhh…yeah…..I guess you could put it that way…" he sighed. His expression fell as he moved to sit on the side of the bed and Penny's heart broke a little to see her guardian so upset. She loved her uncle dearly and had to see him upset. He was such a sweet, caring person who didn't deserve any of this. John sighed, his shoulders sagging. They both ignored the odd whirring sound that came as he did that. "I just can't believe any of this is happening, Penny." He gestured for her to come over to him and she did just that.

She sat on the bed next to him and curled herself next to him as he moved his arm around her, holding her close. Penny's head was near his chest and instead of the thump-thump of his heart; she was also hearing clicks, whirrs, and bleeps, proving that he had even more robotics parts inside him. The sounds seemed to go along with the rhythm of his breathing. After a moment, John continued, "I'm not….me anymore…Now I'm just some piece of machinery….Some tool…."

Penny looked up and saw that her uncle looked to be close to tears. She hugged his new metallic body closer. "No, Uncle John! You're not just a machine! You're still my uncle! Just because things are a little different, it doesn't mean you're different!" She moved and rested a hand over his chest. "You still have a heart, don't you?"

John nodded. "Yeah, one of the few things I have left…." He sighed miserably. "It's still beating with the aide of the machinery in me though…Same with my lungs and stomach….and my brain….and my eyes….Everything I have left needs the mechanical parts…"

"So?" cried Penny. John looked down at her in surprise. "You're still living! That's all that matters! You might feel like a machine now, but at least you're still alive! You can still live your life!" She paused, smiling up at her uncle. "Besides, it doesn't matter what's on the outside….it's what's on the INSIDE that counts…."

John smiled down at her words, knowing she was right. His niece was always right; she was such a smart girl and he was blessed to have her in his life.

Penny continued, "No matter what, you will always be my Uncle John and I will always love you and look up to you as my uncle….Even if you have a lighter in your thumb!" she laughed, trying to bring some humor into play. It seemed to work, for John started chuckling to himself a bit.

"Thank you, Penny…..I really needed to hear that…." He smiled down at her. He hugged her closer.

"Uh….Uncle John?"

"Yeah, Penny?"

"You really need to practice on your hugs, cause they're gonna crush me one of these times."

John flinched and unwound his arm from her. "Sorry!"

"It's okay….." she said softly, leaning in against him once more. She closed her eyes and sighed contentedly now that she was back with her uncle. She didn't care if he was a cyborg now; she still loved him and always would. 'He's still my uncle' she said to herself. 'That's all that matters….'

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Author's Note: This was just a one-shot I thought up of and have been meaning to write it. Once again I was inspired by Miss Aline Riva and her wonderful stories. This was meant to just be filler and show Penny's POV to her Uncle's new body. I had her call him "Uncle John" because she does so in the first movie and doesn't start calling him that until after he's been turned into Gadget. I also had Penny's last name be "Brown" rather than "Dollar" because the movie doesn't go into detail and just show's her living with him. I just used his last name. This is my first time in this fandom, so I'm sorry if anyone was OOC. This IS based on the movie, not the cartoon, so, don't complain about that. I hope you enjoyed it! Review please! -EricaX