A Good Man
Fandom: Niels & The Gang (Webcomic)
Word Count: 1444
Summary: A strange man once told Wendy that her father was a good man. Thomas disagrees.
Warnings: Implied gun violence, hostage situations
Characters by @thehumon
“Your father is a good man, Wendy, never forget that.”
Once another parent at my school called my Daddy a ‘good man.’ At the time I didn’t really understand... Once my Daddy came to pick me up I asked him.
“Daddy, are you a good man?”
“... No... At least, not anymore.”
Daddy looked really sad when I asked that. Like how he looks when he talks about Mommy. He was really quiet after that. Daddy didn’t look like he wanted to talk about it, so we changed the subject.
Daddy is usually very quiet. But he’s always there when I need him. Daddy always watches me while I’m playing with my friends, or while I’m at practice. And Daddy always says good things about the projects I bring home from school.
“Hey! Look, Daddy! I drew a picture of our family!”
“Oh, you even drew Mimi.”
“Yeah! Duh! Mimi is also family!”
“Of course she is. It’s a very good drawing.”
I once brought home a drawing I did in class of our family. Daddy liked it so much that he even put it on the fridge! When I was drawing it, my teacher said that I had a funny family. She said that my family wasn’t like a normal family. I saw that on my classmate’s drawings, a lot of them have two parents and a brother or sister. I know that my family isn’t really normal, and neither is my dad, but we’re happy. Me and daddy are happy. It’s just the two of us and Mimi.
My Daddy is a very weird person. He doesn’t smile, but when he does it looks even weirder! He doesn’t laugh either. I think it’s because he misses Mommy. I’ve seen old pictures of Mommy and Daddy. He smiles in those pictures. He looks really happy in them. But not now. Daddy looks so sad and lonely now.
“Daddy, was mommy nice?”
“Yes, Wendy, she was very nice. One of the nicest people I ever met.”
“And is that why you married her?”
“Yes.”
“... Daddy.”
“Hm?”
“Why did Mommy have to die?”
“... Because Daddy wasn’t there when Mommy needed him.”
Daddy blames himself for Mommy’s death.
“Daddy, have you ever shot somebody before?”
“... Yes, but only because it was necessary. I would never shoot at anyone who doesn’t deserve it.”
“Have you ever... killed someone?”
“... Yes... but only because I had to. I didn’t want to. Bad people need to be brought to justice, and that’s impossible if they’re dead.”
My Daddy’s a cop! And they’re the good guys, right?
Well, my Daddy doesn’t act like a good guy. Daddy isn’t like the good guys on TV. Daddy isn’t yelly and always running like a hero. Daddy doesn’t save everyone in the end… Daddy doesn’t always let himself get hurt if others are in trouble, and Daddy never wins the girl.
Because Daddy is a cop, he says that sometimes he has to shoot people, and good guys don’t kill people... Do they?
Daddy doesn’t break down doors, chase after bad guys, or get in gun fights like the cops on TV. But he still protects people.
Daddy always protects me. He even protects me when I don’t need to be protected. But it’s okay.
I think Daddy protects me so much because I don’t have a Mommy to be with while Daddy is at work. Daddy always spends time with me even though I know he is busy.
As long as I have Daddy, I don’t need a Mommy. No one makes me feel as safe as Daddy.
“Hello, Wendy, is your ‘Daddy’ home?”
“No.”
“Do you know when he’ll be back?”
“No...”
“Shame... I wonder where Thomas is...”
“You’re Elliot’s Niels Dad.”
“So, that’s what Kiddo’s been calling me... Yes, I am.”
One time my Daddy had to go to work for something important. He couldn’t call my babysitter, so he told me to lock all the doors and to not let anyone else in. Daddy said he would be right back.
He took a long time.
I was watching cartoons, and that’s when he came in. He was my classmate’s second dad. He was the parent at my school that called my Daddy a ‘good man.’
“So, what are you watching?”
“Pokemon...”
“Really? Kiddo... I mean Elliot loves Pokemon! Do you mind if I watch with you while I wait for your Daddy to come home?”
“But Daddy said... I shouldn’t let strangers in the house.”
“But I’m not a stranger, am I?”
He was a funny man. He said he was friends with my Daddy, so I let him watch cartoons with me.
But when Daddy came home... Daddy was not happy to see Mr. Niels at all.
“What are you doing here, Niels.”
“Oh, Thomas! You’re home!”
“What have you been doing with my daughter?”
“Oh, nothing bad, I assure you. We were just watching some cartoons.”
Daddy was angry. A very scary kind of angry. I had never seen Daddy this angry before.
Daddy told Mr. Niels to leave, but Mr. Niels didn’t want to.
“Get out of my house.”
“But, you just got here. Let’s just sit down for a while and have a chat. You know, for old time’s sake.”
That was when Daddy pulled out the gun he uses at work.
“Get out. Or I swear to God, I will blow your head off.”
“Don’t be that way, Thomas. Your daughter’s watching.”
“Wendy... Get away from him. That man is a very bad man.”
I tried to go over to Daddy, but Mr. Niels grabbed my wrist and wouldn’t let go.
“Oh, Thomas. I know we’ve had our disagreements. But you know that I’m not that terrible once you get to know me.”
“Get away from her.”
“Besides, it doesn’t matter. You can’t protect her here.”
Daddy looked scared.
Daddy being so scared made me too scared to look back at Mr. Niels.
“… Daddy?”
“… No... You wouldn’t.”
“I could. You know me better than anyone. You know that I’ve done worse before.”
I heard something click, and Mr. Niles put something next to my head.
“You... You would kill an innocent child? And for what? So that I could be your play thing again?”
“You know me. I will do anything to get what I want.”
“Despicable… What about Elliot? If he got in your way, would you kill him too?”
“Well...”
“You can’t be that heartless. He’s practically your son!”
“...”
“And what about Natalie and Duncan? If they saw you like this… Do you really think they’d approve?”
Mr. Niels stayed real quiet before he let me go.
I ran to my Daddy and he held me tighter than he ever had before.
“I’ll let myself out.”
But when Mr. Niels walked past us, he stopped.
“Wendy, your father is a good man.”
I looked at Daddy. His face was the same as when he was thinking about Mommy.
“Niels. You know me better than anyone else alive. I am not.”
Mr. Niels left quietly.
Mr. Niels didn’t say another word.
Once he left, Daddy let out his breath.
“Thank God you’re okay.”
The next time I saw Mr. Niels, my Daddy was late picking me up.
I was waiting by the front of the school with Elliot. His parents were late too.
When Elliot’s parents came, Mr. Niels picked Elliot up to give him a kiss on the forehead.
“Hello Wendy. Good to see you’re doing well.”
Mr. Niels was talking to me, though he wasn’t looking at me.
“Daddy tells me not to talk to you. He says you’re a very bad man.”
“Oh, I’m not that bad once you get to know me. I’m just like your father, really.”
I tried to scoot away from him and Elliot on the curb.
“Don’t worry, Wendy, I won’t hurt you. I’m just here to pick up my kid.”
“Then why’re you talking to me?”
“I just wanted to tell you something.”
I wanted to ignore him and go back inside, but I was too curious to leave.
“What?”
“Your father is a good man.”
“But Daddy says...”
“He forgets that he is one sometimes. But that doesn’t stop it from being true. He is a good man. As much as he denies it, he always does the right thing. Don’t forget that, Wendy. He just needs reminding of it sometimes.”
Mr. Niles then went off with Elliot’s other parents. But I still remember what he said. I will always remember what he said. I remember because no matter how horrible that man was, he was right.
A/N: I always liked Niels. I’ve been reading it for a very long time. Thomas has just always inexplicably been my favorite character and when I wrote this like... 5 years ago or something, I was incredibly disappointed by the lack of Thomas content in the community. So I made this experimental little thing. I think I had the idea that this took place before Niels had made some policy against killing kids, and that this could have been an event that made him swear away from it...? But my memory of my thought process when I was writing it is pretty blurry at this point. I don’t think Humon is interested in making this series anymore, but if she ever happens to see this... Hey! Thank you for making it all those years ago. It really helped me out a lot when I was growing up, and I still love it to this day.
