Tick Tock Part Four - The Mouse Fell Down

The Reason

"Dad! Welcome home." Connor managed a half-hearted smile as he stepped inside and closed the door, but Niles knew he didn't feel it. It had been the same for months now, especially within the past few days since Nines had disappeared. They still talked, of course, but any attempts to track him down inevitably ended in failure. Finding Nines wasn't their priority anyway. They were too busy trying to find Gavin and keeping on top of the workload left behind. Miller was doing his best to keep up without Nines, but it was harder and he often needed help. It wasn't safe for them to work alone these days. Connor tried to set work aside as Niles' arms wrapped around his waist.

"Thank you. How was school?" He wasn't sure if Niles knew he needed it or if he was just excited to tell him about his day, but he didn't miss a beat before launching into a play-by-play of his latest training session. Baseball season would start in the summer, so they were training harder than ever to be ready for the league. It was only elementary level, but they still took it seriously. Many of the human children were especially enthusiastic about the chance of being scouted for better schools. Niles didn't consider himself gifted, but he enjoyed playing with his friends and he was a strong player.

"And then I pitched the ball so hard it almost knocked Jimmy off his feet, and I-"

"Wait, Jimmy Cummings?" Connor's LED span yellow as he recalled the incident almost two years ago. Has it really been that long? It seemed hard to believe it. Niles was already in his fourth year of elementary school. Niles stalled as if he'd let something slip by accident. His LED blinked red before settling on yellow as if he thought he might be in trouble. "Jimmy Cummings who started a fight with you that time?" Niles almost winced at the reminder. Connor had been called into school over it, and it very much seemed like he and Jimmy would be bitter enemies after that.

"Yeah...He joined the team last year, and we sort of patched things up." Connor softened a little at that. It wouldn't be the first time someone with anti-android sentiments changed their mind. Gavin was proof enough of that. "You can't tell anyone though! We're keeping it a secret from his dad. He'd go crazy if he knew!" Connor wasn't wholly surprised to hear Mr Cummings hadn't come around. From the moment they'd met, he'd seemed like the stubborn sort. Old-fashioned and stuck in his ways. It wasn't impossible that people like that could change, like Hank and Agent Perkins, but people like that needed a push. He very much doubted there was an android in Mr Cummings' life who could provide that.

"Are you friends, or are you tolerating his presence for the good of the team?" If they were really friends now, it wasn't an issue, but if he was being bullied into taking one for the team, then he'd have to keep a closer eye on things. Perhaps he should attend a training session or two and see for himself. Niles shook his head at the suggestion, and Connor was pleased to see the honesty in his hazel eyes as he looked across the table at him.

"Oh, no! We're best friends now!" That was high praise indeed. Connor knew for a fact that Niles had excellent friendships that had existed for far longer. That Jimmy had worked his way up so high suggested he'd changed a great deal in the past couple of years. "Things were a little tense at first. We didn't really want him on the team, but the coach insisted he'd be good because he's so much bigger than us." That was true. Even two years ago, Jimmy had been much larger than Niles and his friends. It was perhaps troubling an adult had forced them into such a position, knowing their history.

"Did you fight at first?"

"No, Jimmy only started something that one time. Guess we scared him off." Connor huffed softly at the news. It wasn't surprising. Bullies often backed off when met with superior strength. "We were all a little nervous during the first training session, but when he didn't cause any trouble, we relaxed a bit. At the beginning of the second session, Jimmy asked to talk and promised he wouldn't start any trouble, and a few weeks later he apologised and said he was wrong about me back then." That sounded very mature, but humans often did a lot of growing as they hit puberty and formed their own personalities. It sounded like Jimmy was slowly breaking out of the mould his father had forced him into to become something better. "I-I've actually had him over once or twice with Simon to do our homework." Niles winced a little, looking again like he thought he might be in trouble.