Nickel gently shook Lily awake. "Good morning, Lily."

Lily didn't want to move. Not when her head was in the pillows, so warm, so comfortable. She groaned, hearing the soft laugh from behind her.

"Come on, Lily. You can't stay in here for too long. Otherwise, you'll turn into a zombie."

Lily giggled despite herself. "What do you mean? Zombies aren't real, mister Nickel."

She couldn't see, but she was almost sure Nickel was grinning. "They are real, Lily. In fact, just staying here is making me want to..." He paused, before attacking her midsection with his fingers. She let out a giggle, which only grew louder and louder as he continued to tickle her mercilessly. "Eat you!" He growled playfully. "There's a little girl right here, and she looks really delicious!"

Lily could barely contain her laughter as she squirmed around, which only started to die down when Nickel's hand stopped the onslaught, and he smiled at her when she started to get up. "I'm sorry, it was the best thing I could think of to get you to wake up," Nickel said. "You wouldn't want to miss out on our fun at the park, would you?"

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.

.

Nickel had gone to a park that had been partially restored after the war. Efforts were still underway to rebuild this area and, judging by the progress of the project, the park would soon be a vibrant and beautiful place for everyone to enjoy, especially children like Lily. She deserved it, Nickel thought.

On their walk over, they'd played a game of "Eye Spy" and spotted many interesting things - including a tall purple tree somewhere in the distance. Nickel was also acknowledged by some of the people who'd been either part of the revolution, or prisoners whom he'd rescued from the Doctor's confinement. After they'd arrived and taken their surroundings in, they took a seat on a bench - immediately afterward, a group of children burst onto the scene and Lily's eyes lit up.

"Yes, you can," Nickel said before she could ask. "But if anyone is mean to you, tell me, okay?"

"Okay, mister Nickel!" She ran off to make new friends with the crowd. Nickel allowed himself a tiny smile at her excitement, one he'd never had at her age with his shyness. Laying down on the bench and making it useless to anyone else (not that he at all cared), he closed his eyes and was grateful for his ability to sleep almost anywhere and in almost any position.

He hadn't quite slipped into slumber when a hand larger than Lily's punched his shoulder. Opening an eye, he saw a boy of around eight looking back at him like he was the biggest person in the world. "Hey, you!"

Nickel stayed silent and closed his eyes again. His mechanism for avoiding people who tried to bully others was just to say nothing.

He was punched again, and he kept his eyes firmly shut. "Heh, what a loser," the boy said. "So much of a coward that he won't fight me."

Nickel's mind produced two razor-sharp comebacks and he bit them back. It was not worth it.

"Must be how you made her think."

And suddenly it was worth it. Nickel's eyes flew back open, his mouth twitching into a mirthless smile. He got up, but he stayed down low to the ground. "Good to know there's always somebody out there who wants to make everybody miserable," he said, purposefully raising his voice's pitch considerably. "Proud of yourself?"

"Yeah," he said, entirely seriously.

Nickel chuckled. His eyes flickered past the boy to see all the other kids watching, Lily looking a mixture of afraid and concerned. "Hit me, I dare you."

He saw the punch thrown at him coming a mile away. His left hand flew up and caught it, stopping it dead in its tracks. The right hand wasn't left out for long - soon it was holding a fist too.

"Oops. You failed. Here's your, uh... retribution." A single pulse shot through his hands, shocking the bully quite literally and knocking him backwards. Letting go of the fists he'd caught, Nickel stood up to his full height. He folded his arms, his hands still sparking slightly, his smile gone entirely.

"Who the heck are you?"

"I the heck am Nickel. Some call me," the vermilion feline dropped his voice to its regular pitch and turned it gravelly, "the Merciless Executioner."

His whole form started to emit electricity, and he beckoned to Lily to come to him, which she did. She ran behind his right leg, and he de-electrified that leg so she could stay closer to him. Nickel continued, "She is my friend and no one will ever do anything to hurt her." His voice lowered even more. "Especially not while I'm there."

He took a single step with his left foot toward the bully; the young boy fled as fast as possible from the scene. The others, possibly feeling guilty for being complicit, also ran away.

Nickel let his electric power drop, and he turned to Lily. "You okay, Lily?"

She sniffed, but she nodded yes. "I'm okay, mister Nickel."

"Lily." Nickel stooped down to meet her eye level, but she looked away from him. "Lily, tell me what's wrong."

"Mister Nickel... do they really call you that name?"

That wasn't an answer to the question, but Nickel let it slide. "Oh no, they don't. I just came up with it to scare 'em off."

Lily was silent for a while longer. "How did you not get bullied when you were smaller, mister Nickel?"

"Well, not everyone deals with bullies the same way. Some people fight back with their hands, some people fight back with words, some ignore them." Nickel held his hand out to the little girl, leading her back to the bench when she'd taken it.

"When I was younger, I was really shy... "

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.

Luckily for Lily, she did find some other children to play with. Nickel didn't know too much about them, but he hadn't been punched by anyone in the hours she spent playing and making friends, so that was positive.

He'd been dozing off while watching, head resting on his fist and elbow on the armrest of the bench, when Lily got tired herself and returned to him. She sat right beside him and virtually instantly leaned against him. "Mister Nickel, can we go home now?"

"Tired? Alright then. I am too, honestly." He attempted to stand, but she clung to his long fur.

"Could you...?" she trailed off. Nickel wasn't sure whether she felt a little embarrassed by the question or whether she was just that tired.

"Carry you? I can't if you're holding my fur like that," Nickel said with a small laugh.

Eventually Lily released the tufts of crimson strands, after which Nickel kneeled in front of her and beckoned her to climb onto him.

"Mister Nickel?"

"Lily?" Nickel looked back at her.

"I forgot to say... thank you."

"You're welcome, Lily. You know I'd do anything to help you."

Lily mumbled something Nickel couldn't quite discern, and he felt her weight fall onto his shoulders and back. Hooking his lanky arms under her to support her, the red-furred feline stood up and with the motion hoisted his petite xanthic friend, who lay her head on his. Nickel patted Lily's head once she'd settled.

"Onward to home," he said quietly as he began the walk back.