Someone to Listen
By Unknown Book
(A/N: Series inspired by the line "I grew up hearing your evil scheming down the hall" in Vanessa's song: Not So Bad A Dad.)
(A/N: Same story as Down the Hall Part 1 and 2 but from Heinz's perspective. Could be read as a stand-alone.)
Heinz Doofenshmirtz was beyond excited when he got his very own OWCA issued Nemesis.
He'd been through so much: abuse, neglect, abandonment. Things had been good when his precious baby girl was born; but then Charlene handed him the divorce papers.
Heinz was fine with the divorce, things weren't working between them, and he didn't want to subject his little ray of happiness to parent arguments, but it also meant he was alone again. He only got Vanessa for half of the time.
This Nemesis-ship would be a new start. OWCA's agent would become someone he would see regularly. Sure, they'd be trying to hurt each other, but maybe it didn't have to be like that all the time. Maybe the agent would listen to him.
That's what he's hoping for, someone to listen.
When Heinz formally meets Secret Agent Perry-the-Platypus he thinks he is a little stiff and quiet, but otherwise, he is sure they can make this work. He just has to help the agent warm up to him.
He tries some comfier traps, he offers him food, and he remains patient with Perry's refusals. He thinks this is going well, he just needs to make sure he doesn't mess up.
That's why he stays up so late to work on evil schemes. Perry-the-Platypus is only here because Heinz has been bumped up to a High-level threat. If he loses that status, he'll lose the agent that he's worked so hard to have a chance with.
Heinz wakes up early to work on his -inator, spends the day on their routine, and works late into the night, planning to do it all again with new gadgets. He repeats this process several times.
That's why exhaustion catches up to him mid-monologue, and he collapses.
It's nighttime when Heinz wakes up. He's on the couch with a blanket covering him, and there's a light rain shower going on outside. He's comfortable, but he has no clue what happened.
Vanessa!
Heinz shoots up off the couch. If it's nighttime, then his little girl has spent the whole day without him! Had she been frightened? Had she eaten? Oh Gott, he's neglected her!
He bounds down the hallway to find her bedroom door closed. When he opens the door, he finds her asleep.
It's late. He should leave her be. But what if she'd been scared? What if she's furious? What if she's starving?
Heinz approaches the bed and gently shakes Vanessa awake.
"Vanessa, my little doonkleberry, did you eat?" He tries to whisper through the fear.
"Mmm, w'at? Ye'h, your agent fed me. Lemme sleep." She rolls back over and snuggles into the blankets.
She's so cute—wait what? Who did what now? Completely dumbfounded, he exits her room and closes the door. He stands there in silence, trying to come to terms with what she said.
This is going to end up like the American movie, The Hangover. He needs to piece together what happened.
Heinz heads back out to the living room.
He remembers giving a monologue over there for his T.V. Glare-inator, then he must have passed out. Heinz notices a note taped to the unscathed T.V. Glare-inator. It reads:
Try again tomorrow. Go sleep.
-Perry the Platypus
The words may sound brash to an outsider, but this is the first time his Nemesis has ever communicated with words. Heinz is ecstatic. On top of that, he's heard that OWCA agents are supposed to thwart and run; if Perry-the-Platypus has left this for tomorrow, it means that he's trusted Heinz enough to leave the -inator fully intact for the night!
Well, that or he thought he'd sleep through the night. Either way, it puts a little pep in Heinz's step. His Nemesis cared enough to leave a note.
Heinz practically bounces into the kitchen. He's going to look around for evidence pointing to what Vanessa said. It isn't that he disbelieves his little girl, he's just curious.
He finds an empty bowl in the sink with little bits of lettuce on the sides. Lettuce? He's certain he doesn't have lettuce. He goes to his fridge to check. There's a shopping bag in his fridge with leftover salad ingredients.
No way. No. He wanted Perry to warm up to him, but this is more than he'd ever expected. His new Nemesis had gone to the store to get food for his baby.
Certainly, he did it for her though—which is good! It's just a little shocking. A smile warms its way onto his face, his cheeks hurt from the width of it.
He re-enters the living room and spots a note he hadn't noticed before on the coffee table. It's a note from Perry addressed to Vanessa, and it reveals that Perry was the one who placed him on the couch.
It feels like Christmas morning right now. Today alone his OWCA agent has taken care of him, communicated with him, trusted him, and above all else, put the needs of his daughter first.
As Heinz treads down the hall to get some sleep, he realizes he doesn't need to worry anymore. He can tell that this is the beginning of a beautiful Nemesis-ship.
(A/N: Thank you to LilLeaps, (Kim-Kiwi on Tumblr), who has turned this series into a comic! Check it out here: search/Down There are spoilers~ so maybe check it out after you finish the series XD.)