Father and Numbuh One Have a Talk

Nigel landed in the park and removed his suit. He needed to think about this, which was hard when his parents and friends were constantly trying to distract him. He understood that they were trying to make him feel better with promises of his being able to get his work done quicker with fewer distractions and getting to have more time to do other things during the day. He appreciated the effort but he also knew he needed to think. So, he'd snuck out of the house and flown here to be alone.

He walked along the path thinking about what his dad had said earlier. He was going to be home schooled. After accidentally melting a few lockers, the school refused to take him back. He was actually banned from school grounds. Banned! They'd called him a hazard to the other students. As if the safety of the kids had ever been an issue to that particular group of adults.

Many children would think not having to return to school was a blessing. For him it was different. Now, for over seven and a half hours a day, more than eight, if he counted bus rides, the time he'd usually spend in class with his teammates, he'd be separated from them. What if something happened at the school and his friends needed his help. It was no secret that on top of visits from villains like Grandma Stuffum replacing the usual lunch lady when she takes time off or Robin Food and his band of hungry men when they don't want to cook for the elderly, they also had enemies within the building, like The Delightful Children from Down the Lane and that were-poodle that almost ate Numbuh Five after having her homework as an appetizer. If he couldn't even be seen at the school without getting in trouble, how could he hope to keep the others safe.

Nigel came to a small pond with a fountain in the middle. At the far end, there was a bench under a weeping willow tree, which he decided would be a good place to sit. The scene had a calming influence; it was a good place to reflect. As he watched, a frog jumped into the water. He smiled for a moment as he looked at the view. The trees at the edge of the pond almost blocked his view of the surrounding area, making it feel like there was no one else around. The illusion was occasionally broken by the sounds of adults talking happily or children laughing, which he didn't mind all that much.

Nigel recalled how Principal Sauerbraten could hardly hide his glee at having an excuse to get rid of him, not just for this year but the rest of his time as an elementary student. He'd have been happy to do it even before Nigel had powers. On top of everything else he had done the villain correctly suspected, though not in the way he thought, that Nigel had something to do with the Salad Dressing Booger Incident. Then he came to school with his new "abilities" and suddenly, the authority figure had a reason to be genuinely scared in the presence of the child. The principal liked intimidating children, not being intimidated by them.

Not that Nigel enjoyed having adults break into a nervous sweat, freak out, cry or run away every time he so much as looked at them wrong. It sickened him that he had seen so much fear directed toward him.

Now, he was being cut off from the only major social avenue he had left, aside from his team and the other friends he had throughout the KND. Relationships that were usually heavily impacted by differences of rank and again by opinions about his new powers. He never exactly enjoyed school, with its nasty food and the buzzing lights (which he was sure was slowly frying kids brains, he just knew it… he just couldn't prove it yet), but he still got to interact with other kids there…it was required for group projects and gym classes. Outside of school, most kids with the exception of his teammates, tended to avoid him now.

Oh, well. At least he still had his friends… unless something happened to them at school while he couldn't come to their aide, which would be much more likely now that he wouldn't be with them then.

He still couldn't believe he was banned from even stepping on school grounds. Not even the playground!

Before his mind continued into the circular rut it was beginning to form, his attention was caught by an all too familiar figure walking along the path where he had come from himself. He frowned at the sight of Father, even without his suit on. He looked rather dorky but the boy knew he was no less dangerous for it. Even now, the 'whites' of his eyes glowed slightly, making them noticeable when they would be too far away to see with other people. That is, unless those other people also happened to have those powers, Nigel amended grimly, knowing his eyes now looked just like that beneath his sunglasses.

The villain seemed rather lost in thought himself as he came closer, looking at the ground in front of him as he held a hand to his pipe. Nigel considered getting up and walking over to the path that he knew was blocked from view by the trees behind him. The problem with that was that anyone whom had to deal with the Kids Next Door as often as Father had has learned to pay attention to any movement nearby. The simple act of getting off the bench would likely draw his attention.

Father was rather focused on whatever he was thinking about anyway, probably his next big plan to make kids miserable. Maybe if Nigel didn't move and didn't look directly at the man, he would just keep walking on by. Nigel knew that when he was really focused on something major, his team mates got away with all sorts of things he wouldn't usually allow. So, hoping it would work similarly on his uncle, he tracked the villain's progress through quick glances out of the corner of his eye, hoping the other Uno wouldn't feel like he was being watched and look at his surroundings.

Such a plan might have worked under different circumstances but unknown to Nigel, this was a favorite spot for Benedict to frequent when he wanted to get away from his usual responsibilities for a while, for the same reasons that Nigel had found it so appealing when he stumbled upon it. When he absentmindedly turned off the main path, Nigel ground his teeth and started to stand quietly, in hopes that it still wasn't too late to slip away unnoticed.

Unfortunately, the concern he'd had about Father noticing sich movements turned out to be correct. The villain looked up; his eyes widened in surprise, which he then covered up with a venomous glare. "What are you doing here?" His eyes flared momentarily as he asked in a tone that made the question sound more like an accusation rather than a query.

Seeing it was too late to slip away unnoticed, Nigel refused to sacrifice his dignity by running away in fear. "Last I checked, even adults consider the park neutral territory. I have every right to be here that you do." To make his point, Nigel sat right back down on the bench that he had just gotten out of, trying to make it look like he had only stood to announce his presence to the Villain, rather than to attempt to flee from him.

Father tried to collect himself, refusing to let Numbuh One know that he was bothered by the fact that he had failed to notice the bald youngster's presence so close by for such a long time. He also realized he couldn't walk away without losing ground, now that he'd come here with such obvious intent of using the bench. What should he do?

Just what he came here to do, he thought to himself. He walked over to the bench and sat next to Nigel, holding a neutral expression, as he was torn between grimacing at the thought of being so close to the child who caused him so many problems and smiling at the thought of how uncomfortable this would make the boy.

Nigel had to fight the urge to jump out of his seat as his uncle sat next to him on the bench. He understood that although the immediate danger had probably passed, this was now a standoff of a different type. One that was more of their family than the war between the KND and the Villains. If either of them made the wrong move, they'd end up humiliating themselves in the other's presence.

They both sat in silence, staring at the water, trying not to look like they weren't bothered by each other's presence. In all honesty, if the average person were to come across the scene at the moment, the sight of the beautiful pond would be ruined by the two brooding figures sitting side by side, the tension between them obvious. If someone who recognized the two figures had stumbled upon the spot, they probably would have backed out as fast as they could, scared that the whole area might be reduced to cinders at any moment.

After a few minutes of quietly tolerating each other's presence, Benedict finally broke the silence by stating, "You still didn't answer my question, Mr. Uno."

"I needed to go somewhere to think." Nigel said without pulling his view away from the fountain. "This seemed like as good a spot as any."

"Can't do that at home?" Father asked, unable to hide the annoyance in his voice that the child had chosen to do it in the place where he liked to come to reflect.

"Not when it's something everyone's trying to distract me." Nigel replied, part of him wondering why he was even giving away that much to the villain next to him.

At that statement, Father finally glanced at the boy and asked, "Trouble in paradise?"

Nigel rolled his eyes before glancing at him and replying, "You could say that."

Father smirked as he said, "let me guess…"

"I'd much prefer that you didn't."

"All the more reason to do it." Father stated, clearly enjoying himself now. "Seeing as everyone is trying to distract you from your thoughts, I'm going to guess that this has something to do with your powers."

Nigel shot him a glare in response.

"So, I guessed right then," He said with malicious glee as he rubbed his hands together, knowing how much it must bother his nephew. "And what is the most recent addition to the list of things they've ruined for you?"

Nigel crossed his arms and asked, "What makes you think I'll tell you?"

"If you don't, I'll just talk to Monty later and as I'm sure you've realized by now, keeping secrets isn't exactly one of his strong points."

Nigel started mumbling a response when Father stated, "You're going to need to be louder than that."

"I said, I've been kicked out of school."

Father looked genuinely interested now, "Oh, what did you do?"

"I melted some school lockers."

"That's it?"

"Yup."

"A few lockers."

"Mmm Hmm."

"And here I was hoping for something more exciting." Father said in a clearly disappointed tone.

"Well, Principal Sauerbraten certainly thought it was exciting enough. He's been looking for excuses to get rid of me forever. He's trying to make sure I'm declared threat to the other kids."

At this, Father started laughing, "Oh, the irony. Numbuh One of the Kids Next Door, labeled a child safety hazard."

"Laugh all you want, Father. If they don't let me back into public school, it means I'll be learning from home, as my dad has told me I will be doing for at least the rest of this year, anyway. School is full of distractions that use up more time than is needed to get the work done. Just think of me at home with all of that free time. And there won't be any delightful children to help guard your mansion either."

Nigel could tell from the silence that Father didn't like the turn that their conversation had taken.

"So, how are things between you and Grandfather? Have they gotten any better?"

"If you want to walk out of here alive, I suggest you stop talking about that right now, young man."

Nigel glared at the villain and said, "It's perfectly fine if you hit a sore spot for me but if I return the favor…"

"You're not on an even playing field Mr. Uno. We both know I have the upper hand here. I'm stronger than you and if I felt so inclined, I could destroy you right now and go on with my day as if nothing had happened."

"Then why haven't you?" Numbuh One Retorted.

"I'm not in the mood," Father commented.

"Now that, I can believe," Nigel replied.

They both fell silent for a while. Father finally ended it, when he said, "your principal's right though."

"Excuse me?"

"Whether intentional or not, every time you use those powers, you risk harming others. And not just from flaming up in anger. A misplaced fireball or being unaware of where a person is can be just as dangerous. There's a reason why even though you've faced my delightful children and myself, you almost never faced us at the same time. I don't want them anywhere near me when I'm dealing with you. They could get hurt."

Nigel frowned at the comment and asked, "so, other than scaring the crud out of people, exactly what are these powers good for."

"Oh there's quite a few things. Kitchen work, construction, there's actually rumored to be ancestors who used it for medical purposes but I don't know how much stock to put into that."

Nigel sighed at the response and they both became quiet again.

This time, it was Nigel who broke the silence with a question, although he doubted his uncle would answer. "Does it ever stop being hard, trying to get the world to accept you even though you have become so different from everyone else?"

The villain sighed and just stared at the water for a time. Then he said, "Not really." his voice cracking at the end of the brief statement.

"Surely it can't be this bad all the time. All this fear and hate and loneliness can't just go on forever, can it? That wouldn't be fair."

"Who said life was fair," Father said, quoting the boy verbatim from when he'd forced the delightful children to give him the age changing ray just before the villain made his first introduction to Sector V.

"But this is so hard!" Nigel said, trying to keep his own emotions under control.

"Poor Nigel Uno!" Father said sarcastically. "It must be so terrible, having to run to your friends and family whenever you've had a bad day. And then to get their attention to the point that it seems smothering and you feel the need to be alone."

Nigel looked away from the villain, suddenly recalling the legend of Numbuh Zero in combination with the interactions he'd seen between Father and Grandfather. He'd never been able to come home after a bad day and get comfort from his dad. In fact, his time at home was probably where things were at their worst. Then the villain got stripped of his powers before the Benedict Uno came into his, so he had to find his own ground with that. On top of that, Numbuh Zero had to be decommissioned at thirteen. Nigel didn't even want to think about what might have happened to him if he'd been put under similar circumstances. "Sorry."

Father sat bolt upright and then asked, "what was that?"

"Sorry. I wasn't really thinking about your past… I just thought, you'd already…"

"Stop." The villain ordered quietly as he stood. His silhouette suit suddenly formed around him. Nigel suddenly realized that his uncle had just revealed more about himself then he'd ever wanted anyone to know, especially him. Who knows what type of lengths he'd go to in order to ensure he could hide it again.

"I think it's time that I get going." The boy said as he began to stand up, "Dad and Mom are probably getting worried right now so I'll just…"

"Sit down!" Father didn't yell and the flames didn't flare up around him, but there was something in his tone that warned Nigel that if he didn't listen, bad things would happen. So, he sat.

Father knelt down in front of the Numbuh One so that they were at eye level and said, in a voice barely more audible than a whisper, "If I find out that you ever breathe a word about our little talk today, especially the last part of it, I promise you that I will find a fate so horrible for you that you would wish you were dead. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes."

"Good." He stated, his tone now sounding rather upbeat in comparison to how he had been only a moment ago as he returned to standing position. "And I suggest you find somewhere else to think. Park or not, this spot's taken. You may go now."

Nigel didn't need to be told twice, he took the route he'd considered earlier, quickly finding the trail and leaving Father behind. The new perspective had gained over the man causing him to look at all his actions in a new light. He still didn't see the man as pleasant in any way but now he thought understood why he acted the way he did. Father had no reason to verbalize his threat; Nigel would have known there would be terrible consequences for revealing the truth anyway. Part of him was actually surprised he'd been allowed to walk away at all.

'Maybe I should get rid of him now,' Father thought to himself. It's not too late, he couldn't have gotten far yet.

Why'd he let the boy get away at all?

'Stupid, obnoxious little brat. Now he knows me,' the villain thought. 'Now he knows me better than anyone else, even my delightful children. So why did I let him get away?'

Because it doesn't feel quite as lonely now, he realized. Even if it was only is his annoying little snot nosed nephew.

He sat down on the bench and sighed again.

I know I jump perspectives a little in this but I figured it was good enough for this series of partial pieces that are all rough draft.