Disclaimer - None of the Ducks are mine. Rene, Patrick and Sanyo plus any other unfamiliar characters are mine.

Summary - When Nosedive decides to take Rene's mind off her recovery with a trip out of town, a new threat appears which puts their lives - and possibly everyone else's - at risk.

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Strange Tidings

Nosedive quickly rummaged through his belongings. He sighed as he tried to find the items he had in mind and was slowly growing frustrated once he realized that they weren't where he thought he had left them.

'Where could they be?' he thought.

While he engaged in his search, he was oblivious to everything else that was going on, his mind set on Rene and her well-being. After a few moments, Nosedive turned around to find his older brother standing against the wall across the room, his arms crossed.

"'Wing, what brings you here? Plus what's with the barging right in?" Nosedive wondered.

"I'm here to make certain things are all right. I mean, this is the first time in weeks that Rene's felt well enough to get out of the Pond. We both know she could use a change of scenery," Wildwing replied. "Besides, I did knock. You didn't hear me so I invited myself in."

Nosedive didn't say anything immediately as he continued to rummage through his belongings until he came across the cell phone he was looking for. The teenager failed to notice that his older brother was still in the room, carefully watching his every move. It wasn't until Wildwing moved into his field of vision that his attention was taken out of his trance.

"'Dive, I'm worried about you. Ever since the incident with Falcone several months ago, you've been watching Rene like a hawk instead of a duck. It appears she's gotten past the worst of the symptoms from the chemo and it looks like her cancer's gone back into remission for a second time," Wildwing replied.

The teen didn't say anything, allowing the words to sink in a bit before turning around. He crossed his arms, watching his older brother while considering the words that lay between them.

"What are we going to do when the cancer decides to return a third time, huh? What then?" Nosedive wondered.

"We'll deal with it when - and if - it happens. Hopefully, it won't be for a long time - if ever - and we'll be long since back on Puckworld before it does. Even if it does return before we can leave Earth, Tanya could easily tap into the gateway generator installed in her arm and send at least her and Duke back home and then we can follow them at a later date. Rene has mentioned that it's programmed to recall the last coordinates that's been put into it," Wildwing explained.

Nosedive sighed, not wanting to talk to his brother yet about how he felt. When he first met Rene, he felt a lot of anger over what she was doing to him. She kidnapped him and subsequently started to torture him just for the fun of it. Only once Duke realized that she was his long lost daughter and Mallory had taken care of her for several years did things begin to change. He realized that if two ducks that he trusted would take her in - no questions asked - then he thought he would try and get to know her better. Little did anyone know besides Mallory and Patrick that her life was much more fragile than what she let on.

"Listen, you mind if I finished getting ready? You know I'm taking Rene out to get some fresh air. She needs it after what she's been through," Nosedive finally asked him.

"Of course 'Dive. Just remember that if you want to talk, I'm always here to listen. I'm pretty sure that Duke will tell you something similar when I say don't keep her out too long. You know how easily tired she can get right now," Wildwing reminded him.

Nosedive nodded in reply before the older duck headed for the door and exited. Then teen sighed, knowing that if his older brother noticed his restlessness, the rest of the team must have as well to some extent. He figured that if either Duke or Patrick (especially Patrick considering his former occupation of a killer) had any uneasy feelings about what he was doing, he'd be certainly dead. He leaned against the wall of his room, a few doubts running through his head.

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"Are you sure you want to do this? After all, you only recently finished your chemotherapy and haven't gotten all your strength back yet."

"I'll be fine for I won't be alone. Nosedive will be with me. I've been cooped up for so long, I've almost forgotten what the sun looks like."

"I know. That's what scares me. I just hope that he understands how fragile you are right now. I'm only worried that he isn't going to take the necessary precautions for you. He's still young yet. Part of me wishes that Mallory and Patrick didn't have to leave town to meet with that oncologist that was so eager for them to talk about tytoxia at a seminar. I know one of them would have taken you out, no questions asked."

"What about me? I'm the same age as Nosedive. Have you ever considered me irresponsible?"

"He's had what I would call a normal life Rene. Spending one's entire childhood among thieves is not something many young ducks would do. You were one of the rare ones that tried and even rarer ones that managed to survive it, cancer or otherwise. If your mother were still alive, chances are you probably would have never entered the Brotherhood: I would have made certain of that. You would be safe at home with her and I would have ended up a vastly different duck. I only stayed in the Brotherhood because at the time I thought I had nothing else to live for."

With the mention of her mother, Rene's shoulders slumped a little and Duke regretted bringing her up. Even though the young duck didn't remember her mother, she still wished that she could have known her. Duke recalled many stories from before she was born including how they had met and how they got to be in the situation at Digit San. However there was one thing she had inquired about that he had been reluctant in telling her: about his recovery after he was nearly killed by the duck that eventually took her in and mentored her. Nosedive knew part of the story but not its entirety. Part of him was still upset over what had happened but another part was grateful that Patrick took responsibility of Rene's safety, even if it wasn't in the best of locations. He watched her grow from afar and even then, he was proud of what she had become despite not knowing the truth behind her paternity. He carefully stepped up behind her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Don't fret about your mother Rene. I have a feeling she'd be proud of you, despite the fact you walked in my footsteps," Duke finally said.

Rene slowly climbed to her feet and wrapped her arms around Duke's waist. Without another word, he returned the embrace, a fatherly smile slowly crossing his face.

"Don't worry. Despite my earlier misgivings, you do need to get out. I only hope you enjoy yourself with whatever you do with Nosedive. I only hope he takes good care of you," he quietly told her.

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"Are you certain this is the correct planet Maleg? You know how reliable rumours have been in the past to us. Most of them have been dead ends and a complete waste of our time and precious money."

"I'm certain of this Tarek. I had heard from some very good sources that ducks from another dimension had landed in this part of the galaxy. I know that bringing one, maybe even more if we're lucky, in would bring a lot of credits from people wanting to see them! This could make us money, Tarek, money!"

Tarek gave a deep sigh, his misgivings about the venture evident in every aspect of his being. He watched as the green and blue sphere stared back at him, almost as if it was taunting him to come see for himself.

"Now where you propose we start looking for them if they're indeed here? By our initial scans, there are billions of people, animals and plant life down there. How do we distinguish their life signs from everyone else?" he wondered.

Maleg silently manoeuvred around the different consoles sitting in the room, quietly whispering to himself as he worked. Tarek gave a frustrated sigh, rolling his eyes as he crossed his arms. Stepping over to the console, he eyed his partner as he continued with whatever he was planning.

"I will tell you again that is a fool's errand. There are no humanoid ducks here and even if there were, it would be impossible to find them," he protested. "Let's just go home and hope our losses aren't bad."

Without a word, a knowing gaze passed over Maleg's face before motioning for his friend to step around the immovable console. Tarek's eyes shot up in surprise once he saw what his comrade had managed to procure. Pictures and articles about several aliens ducks arriving on the planet littered the screens.

"I managed to hack into their satellite system and searched for any information on them. This is the beginning of our search for this narrows down their whereabouts. They're on the southwest coast of one of the upper continents, in some place called Anaheim, California located in the United States of America," Maleg explained. "What's this about a rumour potentially being a dead end?"

"I take that back. Let's head down and see if we can't get some of them for our show," Tarek replied, still clearly amazed.

His companion now grinned from ear to ear before rushing towards the door to get ready for the trip down.

TBC...