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Part 47 of Watson
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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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2020-11-05
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A Lesson with Uncle Will

Summary:

Characters: Will/Don, Nena
Rating: FRT, PG-13
Summary: Will gives Nena a gun lesson.
Disclaimer: Not my characters (except when they are), not my world, making no money.
Feedback: Feed the author!
A/N: This is a sequel to Lesson Plan and probably just as controversial. Thanks to my speedy and wonderful betas!
Submitted through SlashByTheNumb3rs_2

Work Text:

 

A Lesson with Uncle Will
by IrenaAdler

 

Nena bounced in her car seat, looking out the window. Uncle Will and Uncle Don hadn't said where they were going, but they always took her neat places. She wondered if they'd go roller-skating again, or go to the park, or to the museum with all that stuff she was allowed to play with. Will and Don had been wearing their serious `Fed faces' when they'd come and picked her up, and had told Daddy that it was a surprise where they were going. She didn't know why Will and Don had still had those faces when they'd taken her to the car. Maybe they were having trouble keeping the surprise? Nena had a hard time not telling about surprises.

They pulled into a big rocky parking lot, with just one car in it. It didn't look like any place they'd been before. There was a square metal building with a thick door, and a man standing next to the door. Will and Don didn't say anything, just got out of the car. Will came around and helped Nena out of her car seat while Don picked up a grocery bag from the back of the car. Maybe a snack? She hoped it was ice cream.

"This is a special place," Will said, as she jumped down from the car. "It's where people go to practice shooting guns."

"Gunz?" Nena asked in surprise. "Daddy sayz never touch gunz."

Will picked up a bag from the floor of the car. "That's right," Will said. "Unless you're at a special gun place, called the gun range."

Nena frowned. Daddy had been very clear that she wasn't to pick up a gun for any reason. And that, if she saw one, she was to come and tell Daddy right away. But if this was a special gun place … She supposed it was like the ice skate place, where she could wear ice skates, but she couldn't anywhere else. Like if she wore them on the back porch, she'd make dents in the wood and make Grandpa Alan grouchy.

Will went up to the man standing outside the door. He handed the man a bunch of money and the man nodded and opened the door. Will went through the door and Nena followed quickly behind, because the man was lighting up a stinky smoking stick. Don came behind Nena and he shut the door while Will turned on the lights.

Nena looked around eagerly. It was a big room, with a row of little booths, like those fancy video games at the games-and-restaurant place Daddy and Charlie had taken her to. Long strings ran along the ceiling, away from each booth, to another wall, which was far away across a big, open space. The room smelled like Daddy sometimes did when he came home from work, with that sharp smell that burned the back of her throat.

They walked together to a booth on the end. Don set the grocery bag down behind them and carried a little step stool to the booth. Nena climbed up on it and looked over the counter in the booth.

Will handed her a pair of sunglasses, which was silly because they were inside, but Will and Don put theirs on so she did too. They put on earmuffs, like she wore in the winter where they used to live. It wasn't even cold here, but maybe they were cold. Nena felt warm, hot even, and excited. She was finally going to get a gun!

Reaching in his jacket, Will pulled out his gun from its special pocket. Nena quivered with excitement at the sight of the forbidden object. All the Good Guys on TV had guns. The Bad Guys, too, but the Good Guys always shot faster. A Good Guy's gun would be happier and work better.

"Now," Will said, and held his gun so she could look at it. "I carry a Glock 35. Your daddy and Uncle Don carry a Glock 22, but it's pretty close. What I'm going to tell you, and show you, applies to most guns, except guns have their safeties in different places. But all Glocks are like this one."

"Glocks," Nena repeated to show she was paying attention.

Will pointed to the long skinny end of the gun. "This is the dangerous end of the gun, the barrel, where the bullets come out. Don't ever point the barrel of a gun at anyone, for any reason, even if you're just playing. Okay?"

He waited until Nena nodded, although this was all stuff she'd heard before. He got out his keys and showed Nena a strange-looking round key. He pointed the bad end at the ground and showed her the handle of the gun.

"See this bump?" Will said, then took Nena's finger and put it on a little bump on the handle. "Only if you can see this bump, is a Glock ever safe. Don't ever pick one up, but if you see a Glock without the bump, you know to be extra, extra careful. Okay?"

Will then took his round key and put it into a little hole on the handle. He turned the key and the bump disappeared. "Now the external safety is off. The other safeties are in the trigger, so never put your finger on the trigger, even in play, okay?"

"Okay," Nena said, trying to be patient.

Will pulled a section of the gun out of the handle, "This is where the bullets live until they come out of the barrel." He slid the section back in. "I'm going to put the gun in your hands, but I'll help you hold it. Don't put your fingers near the trigger until I tell you."

Nena nodded and reached out for the gun. Will turned her so that she faced the open side of the booth, and came around behind her. He put both arms around her from behind then said, "Hold out your hands."

She eagerly did and Will put the big gun into her hands. She almost dropped it. It was much heavier than she expected. But Will had his hands around hers and she didn't drop it. She held it in her hands, feeling the cold metal hardness of it.

"See the target?" Will asked. He pointed out into the big open space before the booth. Nena squinted through the funny yellow glasses to see a piece of paper hanging down in the middle of the air. On it were some circles inside each other, like the no-you-can't-play-darts-board in Charlie's Office at calsye. She nodded.

"Now, we're going to aim the gun at the center of the target." Will directed her hands so that the long end of the gun – the bad end – was pointed at the target. "You can put your fingers on the trigger now." Nena put her fingers on the trigger, feeling like a real Good Guy.

Will said, "It's gonna be a loud noise. When you're ready, squeeze these fingers."

Nena held her breath then pulled hard on the trigger. A boom hit her ears and the gun jumped in her hands like it was angry. She almost dropped it but Will caught it. She hunched up her shoulders. She didn't like the angry gun. The target now had a hole in it like someone had stuck their thumb through it.

"Want to shoot again?" Will asked.

Nena shook her head quickly.

"Okay, that's fine," Will said, and his voice was nice, not mad. He took the angry gun out of her hands. "See how I'm not pointing it at anyone?" Nena nodded. "And then I'm putting on the safety again." Nena nodded again.

She watched as he did cleaning stuff with the gun then put it back in its special pocket. She was happier when it was back in its safe place. She supposed that the gun got angry when it saw a Bad Guy and thought that the target was a Bad Guy. It wasn't very smart if it thought the target was a Bad Guy. It was just a piece of paper.

Will picked up the little bag he'd brought in with him. As he unzipped it, he said, "I borrowed this gun from a friend of mine at work. She calls it her `purse gun.'" Then Will pulled out the most beautiful gun Nena had ever seen. It was little, maybe even Nena-sized, and it had a shimmery white handle with flowers cut into it.

Nena reached out for it but Will held it away. "First, I need to tell you about this gun. This is a Beretta Tomcat. It has a different kind of safety." He pointed to a bump on the side of the gun. "If it's this way, the safety is on. You turn off the safety by pushing it the other way. `Though no gun is safe even if the safety is on."

Nena nodded and held out her hands again. Will smiled strangely then stood behind her again and put the gun into her hands. It was lighter than the other one, but still heavier than she expected. She kept her fingers away from the trigger until Will said she could shoot it.

Nena squeezed the trigger and the pretty gun made a big boom and jumped in her hands. She squeaked and dropped it again into Will's hands. This pretty little gun was angry, too! Maybe the gun knew she wasn't a real Good Guy? Maybe all guns were angry?

Will pushed the safety on and took the gun from Nena's hands. "Okay, Don," he said over his shoulder. "Set it up."

Nena craned to look around Will's arms. Don picked up the grocery bag and carried it out in front of the booth. He took a big plastic blanket out of the bag and spread it out on the concrete floor. Then he took a watermelon out of the bag and put it in the middle of the plastic. Nena stared at it, completely confused. Maybe they were going to have a picnic?

Don came back around the booth and said, "Clear."

Will nodded and put the pretty gun back in Nena's hands. Nena didn't really want to hold it, but Will's hands were firm. "Just one more time, honey," he said. "I want to show you how much damage even a little 22 like this can do."

He helped aim the gun at the watermelon. "When you're ready, pull the trigger."

Nena frowned up at him, but he nodded towards the watermelon. "Go ahead."

Nena held her breath, braced herself, and pulled the trigger. The watermelon exploded into a red pulpy mess. She screamed and dropped the gun and pushed it away, then started to cry.

"It's okay, baby," Will said. "It's okay. I'm putting the gun away, okay?" Will put the gun into the bag and zipped it up, but Nena knew the gun was still inside there, scary and angry. It wasn't in a special gun pocket, so it was still awake. Will picked her up from the stool and took her away from the booth, away from the bag. She put her arms around his neck and cried into his neck.

"I'm so sorry, honey," Will said softly, hugging her. "I thought you'd understand how bad guns are by shooting one, better than us just telling you."

Nena shuddered and cried harder. She never wanted to see a gun again. Will rocked her back and forth, making soothing noises and telling her that he loved her and she was a good, smart girl.

After a minute, she stopped crying and began to hiccup. Don came up behind her and said something. Will nodded and she felt Will carry her out of the building and into the parking lot. The man gave her a funny look, but he nodded to Will and went into the building.

Will gently put her into her car seat. "I'm so sorry that we scared you like that," Will said, and his face looked really sorry, not like grownups when they pretend they're sorry. That made Nena feel better. Will asked, "Can I make it up to you with a triple strawberry, chocolate and peanut butter ice cream?"

Nena sniffled and nodded.

 

 

By the time that they'd left the ice cream parlor, Nena felt almost all better. While they were in the car, she still kept her eye on the bag with the little gun in it, to make sure it didn't jump out. When they got home, Will helped her out of the car seat and held her hand as they walked into the house. Nena wanted to run ahead and tell her daddy about the special gun place, but Will kept hold of her hand.

When they got inside, he looked down at her and said, "Honey, I know you want to tell your daddy and Charlie all about it, but why don't you go upstairs and tell Rocko about it first? Your daddy and I need to talk a minute."

Nena frowned in confusion.

"And, Nena? You didn't do anything wrong, okay? You're not in trouble, okay?"

He looked at her until she nodded, although she didn't understand.

"Upstairs with you," Will said, and his voice sounded funny.

Nena slowly turned and started to walk up the stairs. She looked back and saw Will and Don go into the kitchen. She was at the top of the stairs when the yelling started.

 

END

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