Duke woke up to a dark room, with headlights from passing vehicles shining across the ceiling. Next to him, Mallory was asleep, one of her hands intwined with his.
A sudden soft beeping came from his long coat hanging over a chair. Gently he unwound Mallory's fingers from his and got up, his hand reaching into the coat pocket, pulling out a small communicator.
Slipping into the bathroom, he shut the door and opened the flip. "What is it that you had to wake the household?"
"When are you leaving Duke?" Drebeer asked. "We need you here."
"This is what you called me for?" He hissed. "I'm not leaving her, I don't roll like that. My father abandoned my mother and I and I'll be damned if I do the same."
Drebeer sighed, the rush of air spreading into Duke's ear like static. "I don't know why you went back, you couldn't just keep an eye from a distance like you did for a year."
"I don't have to explain myself to you Drebeer."
He hung up on the duck and shut the communicator off so further attempted contact wouldn't go through. Quietly he opened the door and slid under the covers.
Mallory shifted and groaned before shooting up straight, "Duke!"
"Hey, shh, I'm here," He pulled her towards him, holding her as she shook. "I'm here." He laid down, taking her with him.
She settled and shut her eyes, falling asleep.
Morning
Mallory walked out onto the front porch of the apartment-house she rented to see Duke sitting with Asher. The transition to getting Asher to understand Duke was his father wasn't hard. The child didn't really seem to care one way or the other.
Mallory had been most concern with how Asher viewed Regla, the duck had been in his life from the moment he had been born. The cop was almost like his surrogate father without the romantic feelings between him and Mallory.
Mallory had thought about attempting a relationship, but the pain of Duke's supposed death was too much for her to handle. All the emotions she had bottled and the tears she hadn't cried, hit her hard the week after his "death."
She refused to see anyone, didn't eat or sleep. It was finally Regla who forced a colleague of his to drive him to her house, missing a physical therapy session. It was him who forced her to get up each day and eat. Little by little, the pain subsided and she became herself again, just in time to give birth to Asher.
"Hey," Duke noticed her in the doorway of the porch.
"Hi," she wrapped her thick sweater tighter around herself as she drifted nearer. "You know about last night-"
"Don't worry about it," he replied.
She nodded, "Are you going somewhere?"
"I'll be back," he stood from the swing he had been sitting on with Asher. "Before tonight."
She nodded again, "okay."
…...
Below the City of Ducaine
Duke dropped into a hidden sewer drain hole, landing lithely on his feet. He was glad his boots were water-proof as he walked through the water that flooded the tunnel. Several twists and turns set him in front of a large iron door. He pulled a chain out from under his shirt and set a medallion into a sunken lock, turning it with a few loud clank sounds. He slid through the small gap and shut the door.
The Brotherhood of the Blade had taken some hard hits when the Saurians took over and receded to the dark alleyways and sewer system for their crippled headquarters.
Drebeer was waiting for him. "Finally." He sprung off a low rise wall.
Duke took a breath and let it exhale, his breath fanning out in front of his face. "Why I put up with you-" he muttered.
The black feathered duck remained silent as he kept his pace with Duke. Then, "you need to forget about her, she ain't one of us."
Duke felt a surprising surge of anger. He spun on his heel, his coat flapping around him, as he grabbed Drebeer around the throat, shoving him back into the stone wall.
"Whoa, whoa, hey Duke!"
"Talk about her like that again and I'll slit your throat. Not everyone can walk away with no conviction like you Drebeer."
Drebeer scoffed, "right. Does she even know you're here?"
Duke released him, "yes, she does know."
"Not the details though, no?" Drebeer smirked when he saw Duke look away. "Like I thought."
"Shut up," he finally seethed and started walking again with Drebeer barely keeping up.
…...
Mallory heard her apartment door open and knew it was Regla before he appeared. In the past year, he had grown into something like a brother to her. It was funny how she hated him with every ounce of energy she could possess not so very long ago. He had been Duke's arresting officer for a crime he didn't commit after Duke had landed the Aerowing when returning from Earth.
"Regla!" Asher dropped what he was doing and ran to the duck.
"Hey kid," Regla picked him up with some difficulty due to his previous injuries. He glanced around, "Duke's not here?"
"No, he had to go somewhere," she poured two cups of coffee, Tanya had found a rather large stash in the Aerowing's containment units and divided it out among the team. Being a native to Puckworld and not being blessed with the same worldly experiences as Mallory had living on Earth, it had taken a while for Regla to like the drink. He eventually abandoned his own preferred pure caffeine shots for the coffee, especially after a news special announced several ducks had dropped dead of heart attacks from it.
"Thanks," he set Asher down and took the cup. "Are you okay?" He reached out to her and then hesitated, his hand pausing next to her cheek.
She eyed his thinly feather covered fingers, another reminder of the day he had been trapped in a burning wreck.
"I've been having dreams," she began carefully.
"About what?"
She sat, uneasy.
He sat too, "I know what it was about."
"You do?" She felt a jolt of fear.
"Yeah," he took a long draught from the cup, "It was me naked."
In spite of herself, she laughed. When she had first met him, he flirted with her until he saw how loyal she and Duke were. Being as good of a friend as he was, he was able to make jokes like that without her killing him for it.
"Knew I could get you to smile," he finished his drink.
"No, it was not that," she gestured with her hands. Her smile died, "it's about Melyin Mox."
…...
Mox Corp
Melyin Mox squared his shoulders, the expensive material of his suit rustling, as he stared out the huge atrium window in his office. Everything was going according to plan. Duke L'orange was dead, Relga Winglude-well he was a different story. Mox's failed bomb attempt certainly almost killed the pain-in-the-ass cop...but his day was coming, someday.
"You may have escaped this time Regla," Mox whispered, "But that mistake will not happen again."
The duck turned and flipped open a folder, pictures of a rather stunning petite red headed female stared back at him. L'orange's widowed girlfriend was definitely a beauty, the grey duck could most certainly pick them, Mox would give him that.
Yes, life was adding up for Mox. The truth of the matter was Weaver Redeye, the retired commander Duke had been accused of killing was Mox's own target. He had formed a liaison with that moron Falcone and it wasn't hard to manipulate the Raptrin into killing the duck, taking his grey feathered friend with him. Redeye had gone too far in his disagreements over the way the Council was being handled. No one was smart enough to realize the connection. Mox simply orchestrated the murder and sat back to watch it unfold. Damn, was he clever. Mox pulled his coat off the back of his chair with a flourish. There was someone he just had to meet.
…...
Mallory shut a piece of paper in her door for Duke, telling him she, Regla and Asher were going to Grin's apartment, he was the only duck who had managed to do well with a good sized apartment. After Duke "died", he and Tanya finally admitted the feelings they had harbored quietly, she moved in a month later.
Mallory took care not to address him by name on the paper, he had told her ducks would be after him if they knew he had never gone to the execution room.
"Ready?" Regla was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs, next to the front door.
She took Asher's hand as he told her about the latest hockey stats with no breaths in between his words. Smiling at her son's nonstop flapping, she nodded.
Regla shook his head, his eyes on Asher and opened the door to see Melyin Mox standing on the porch. He immediately tried to shut the door, only to be foiled in his attempt when the duck stuck his foot in the doorjamb.
"Regla Winglude, you're looking well," the duck simpered, as he let himself in.
Regla glared back at him, no speaking, not trusting himself in front of Asher. Melyin Mox pushed by him to get a better look at Mallory.
"Miss McMallard, I'd like to express my deepest regret about your-" he paused, "-about Duke L'orange."
Mallory didn't like him in an instant, she had never met him before, but knew he was the cause of the car bombing that almost killed Regla. And for what? To keep him silenced on Duke's innocence? "Thank you," she forced herself to say.
Melyin Mox glanced down at Asher, his fake sympathetic facade quickly cracking as he took in the child's dusty peach colored feathers. "He's yours?"
"Yes."
Mox nodded slowly, his eyes twitching a little. "And his father?"
Mallory shrugged, "not here."
"Shame, that such a beautiful lady as you must be burdened by this situation."
"It's not a burden, he's mine. I wanted him."
Behind Mox, Regla was shaking with fury.
"I see," Mox said carefully, he took a step forward, resulting in Mallory taking a step back to maintain the distance. He smirked, "don't be frightened."
"I'm not," she replied coldly.
Frowning, Mox turned on his heel and strode to the door. He halted for a brief moment to stare dominantly into Regla's eyes, who returned the stare. As Mox stepped out onto the porch, Regla didn't bother closing the door quietly.
"Why is he here?" Mallory let go of Asher to go to the window, watching Mox get into his chauffeured vehicle. Regla joined her at the window.
"I don't know."
"How the hell does he even know where I live?" She turned away from the window and picked up Asher.
Regla didn't move from his place. "He's a council member, he has contacts who know everything."
"Regla, you're in danger, you know that, right?"
He didn't speak, but she saw him lower his eyes.
"If he tried to kill you once, he'll try it again. Stay here with me and D-"
"Shh," he shushed her. "Let's go."
Once outside and a ways away from the house, he spoke again. "We don't know how long he was there before we found him. He might have bugged the house."
Idiot, Mallory scolded herself, was she really that soft on her training?
They made it to Grin's and Tanya's apartment with no further trouble. Nosedive greeted them at the door. "No Duke?" He asked disappointed.
Mallory shook her head, regrettably, as Asher squirmed in her arms. "Down, down," he squeaked.
"Okay, okay, hold onto yourself..." she set him down at which he ran to Dive.
"Deeve!"
"Hey little man," Nosedive caught him and hoisted him up.
Mallory entered the house, but paused when Regla didn't follow her. He was staring down the street, a serious look on his face. "Regla?"
Her calling him broke his concentration, he quickly rearranged his expression to a calm, collected one as he faced her. "I'm coming."
…...
The Brotherhood of the Blade
"L'orange, you have no choice," Timberr argued, standing before the Masters and other members. "We rescued you from that shit-hole, we can reverse your freedom in an instant."
Duke scoffed, letting his hands hit his sides, "I'm not gonna tolerate blackmail Timberr, so don't even try."
Timberr's scarred face twisted in contempt. Duke took a step forward.
"When you showed up in that cell, you said I could return without the pressures of becoming a full-fledged Blade member. And my ground hasn't changed."
"Drebeer-"
"Drebeer doesn't know shit," Duke snarled.
The duck in question shifted uncomfortable in the shadows.
Timberr cracked his fingers. "So your answer is no?"
"Yes."
Timberr paced, the Masters watching him move, as he pulled his thoughts together. "You know she's way far above your station."
Duke groaned, "here we go again. She and I don't give a rat's ass."
"A what?" Timberr glanced at him confused.
"It's-" Duke began, "We don't care."
The Masters leaned in amongst themselves, whispering. Duke waited with barely any patience left. Finally they broke apart and called Timberr towards them. After a few seconds, he turned to face Duke, his face dark with displeasure.
"As you wish."
Duke took a breath, letting his chest rise and fall before he left the cavern.
…...
Grin's apartment
The Mighty Ducks had taken the news of Duke's escape before his execution rather well. Granted, they were more hurt than Mallory that he hadn't come forward sooner than a year, but with Nosedive being the first to forgive him, the others soon followed. Dive sat on the floor with Asher, sliding the kid's favorite puck back and forth across the floor.
Mallory stood from the couch and went to the gallery to get another drink. She turned away from the equivalent to a human's refrigerator and jumped. Regla was standing on the balcony outside the gallery slider.
"Shit," she cursed, shaking her wet hand from her spilled drink. After cleaning up the mess, she quietly joined him.
"Hey," he greeted softly.
"Have you given it thought?"
"To what?" He kept his eyes on the two moons in the sky.
"Living with me and Duke."
"I can't do that to you, both of you. I'm in and out at all hours of the night."
"So?"
"So, I'll wake you up."
She shrugged, "it didn't stop you when you had your crusade for my health."
He cracked a smile, "you're relentless."
She smiled too. "I'm an army brat, what do you expect?"
"You don't seem like the type that had everything handed to her."
"I'm not," she admitted. "I just don't think I can handle it if something really does happen. I was so sure you died on that operating table...and you did, twice Regla. You don't have nine lives...you have one and you were lucky."
He rested a hand on hers, as she held the railing in a tight white-knuckled grip. "If it'll make you feel better. I'll move in tomorrow."
"Tonight," she said, knowing she was pushing her luck.
He tilted his head, "your dream was about me wasn't it?"
She knew she had been caught, she looked away, her eyes coming to a rest on a black shrouded figure below them. "Duke's here."