Disclaimer – Disney owns the Mighty Ducks. I own Miranda Icefeather. My boyfriend owns Dresden Firewing, so blame that particular part of mis-guided characterisation on him. :) I'm not sure how he managed to talk me into including his character, I think it must be love.
Thank you to The Mighty Duck for their lovely review and their useful comment about not putting quotation marks around thoughts but italicising them instead. I've made sure to make use of that in this update. This chapter was getting a bit long so I've decided to spilt it into two parts. Hope you enjoy. Now go R + R!
Four times Wildwing carried Nosedive, and one time it was the other way around.
#2 – Part 1
The first sign Miranda Icefeather had that this wasn't going to be a peaceful day was the loudly swearing voice coming from an office down the corridor and making its way in her direction. Well, as peaceful a day as anyone ever got in one of Puckworld's busy Social Services offices. Underpaid and overworked, working for Social Services was a thankless job, without even having the generous private pension at the end of it that other public service jobs had. It was a job for those who actually cared enough about the at-risk children of Puckworld to want to help them and that number certainly wasn't high enough. In reality, it was mainly staffed by women, most of them working part-time around caring for their own children. And there was no question in their mind as to whose children came first. So for those staff that were actually in the job for compassionate reasons, rather than extra money and something to brag about at parties, the workload was very heavy indeed.
The owner of the voice stopped outside Miranda's office and a knock was heard.
"Come in," called Miranda, glancing up from her paperwork as a squat Duck with thinning red hair and grey feathers entered the room. Miranda recognised him instantly as Dresden Firewing, one of Social Services' few male members of staff. It was quite hard not to recognise Dresden, he was a very distinctive Duck. His red hair was very obviously dyed, with hints of the underlying grey it was covering showing through. He told anyone who would listen that it was dyed in honour of a long-ago ancestor who had fought against the Saurians in the days of the Invasion, though he never provided anyone with the name of this ancestor. He was also never seen without a dark green silk scarf around his neck, despite it clashing horribly with his already alarming colouring, nor without a scuffed pair of peeling cowboy boots. And wherever he went, he was followed by the faint smell of cigarette smoke.
Dresden was working out the last week of his month's notice before leaving Social Services to go into politics in the hope of bringing greater equality to all Ducks. It was never openly spoken about but some members of staff whispered that there was a certain type of equality that Dresden was mainly interested in. Outside of work, he was rarely seen out of the company of a handsome, male Duck who had recently been discharged from the military for 'dishonourable conduct'. On Puckworld, being gay was extremely taboo and no one would dare be open about it but to the whisperers, Dresden was, without words, shouting it from the rooftops. It wasn't always this way but ever since Drake DuCaine's gay best friend had betrayed him to the Saurians after having his advances spurned, resulting in the great hero's death just after the Saurians' defeat, homosexuality became a crime once again on Puckworld and remained that way right to the present day. Miranda hoped that Dresden wouldn't be stupid enough to openly declare his sexuality, if that were the case, but with him no one could ever be too sure.
"What's the matter?" asked Miranda. "I heard shouting."
"The police, that's what's the matter," replied Dresden, gesturing angrily. "We tell them everything, we have to by law, and we get nothing in return, even when it might save lives if they just told us what was going on! I'm telling you, Miranda, when I'm in charge, things are going to be different around here!" His tone then softened and he looked at Miranda directly. "You've got a pair of angels to pick up later."
"What?" Miranda exclaimed. ' "Why?" she continued. "No one told me about any children."
"Well, I'm telling you now," said Dresden. "You know that hovercar crash two weeks ago? The one in that huge blizzard we had?" Miranda nodded in reply. Dresden hesitated and took a nervous drag from his cigarette holder, clearly not wanting to be the first to bring this news to his colleague. "I'm sorry, Miranda. It was the Drakefire's hovercar. Those two little boys have been on their own for two weeks. They couldn't have survived."
Miranda lowered her head as she took in the news. "Thanks, Dresden. I'll take it from here."
"Anytime," he replied, leaving the room. Miranda rested her head in her hands, trying not to cry. She had to deal with thousands of cases like this, it was her job, and sometimes they just couldn't help the children in time. Her mind drifted back to the first time she'd seen the two boys together, just one, short year ago.
(Flashback starts)
"Hello?" she called, knocking on the door of the Drakefire's flat and trying to get her breath back. The flat was on the 14th floor of a very tall block and as per usual, the lift was broken. The only other route up to the flat was by the metal staircase that ran up the outside of the building. Treacherously slippery in Puckworld's icy conditions, it was a wonder that none of the block's residents had been killed falling on their way up or down the stairs, though bruises and the odd broken bone were common. At last, the door opened, to revel a small, eight year old, white feathered Duck standing just inside.
"Hello, Wildwing," Miranda began, but the boy shushed her before she could get any further."
"Quiet," he whispered, "He's sleeping."
"Your father?" she replied in the same quiet tone. "But isn't he at work?" She was unable to think of another 'he' the boy could be referring to.
"No, not him." Wildwing said. "Come in, I'll show you. But be quiet."
Miranda followed the young boy inside, marvelling at how healthy he looked. Yes, he was quite thin for his age but that was to be expected, given his condition. But for a white feathered Duck, he bore no signs of outward disability. In fact, if it weren't for his feathers, she wouldn't know he was any different to any other child on Puckworld. They reached the boy's room and he pushed open the door carefully. As they entered, Miranda was shocked by the difference. The last time she'd visited, the room was exactly the kind of squalid mess that was to be expected of the room of a young boy who'd never been asked to tidy up. But now everything was put away neatly. Even the bed was made. What kind of boy makes his own bed at that age? thought Miranda. This was very strange indeed. Gesturing for her to come closer, the boy knelt down besides his chest of drawers, looking down into his t-shirt drawer. And there, amongst the neatly folded t-shirts, lay a baby duckling, no more than a few weeks old. The child was sleeping peacefully, unaware of his two visitors.Miranda's mind was a whirl. When did the Drakefire's have another child? Surely I'd have seen the egg the last time I was here, she thought.
"Who's that?" she asked the boy in front of her.
"He's mine," Wildwing replied. "My brother, I mean. His name's Nosedive." Miranda didn't miss the slip. The boys' parents were clearly having nothing to do with their youngest son. But she knew her hands were tied. Under Puckworld law, a child couldn't be removed from their biological parents unless there was clear signs of neglect and the baby boy couldn't have looked healthier if Miranda had been raising him herself. Sure, his brother looks thin, she thought, but that'll be his condition. When a Duck was born with white feathers, it meant that part of their genetics hadn't developed properly and therefore they often grew up smaller, weaker and generally less able than the rest of the population. Though she'd heard rumours through her brother, who worked in a medical research facility, that these differences were becoming less and less apparent throughout the years. According to him, white feathered Ducks were becoming more and more 'normal' with each new birth and his theory was that one day soon, one would be born who would be physically and mentally indistinguishable from their peers by anything other than their colouring. Miranda doubted he was right though. It would be a lovely idea, she thought, but it's just as much of a fairy tale as Drake DuCaine's Mask.
Reporting back to her boss later on, she got exactly the response she expected. The boys seemed healthy and well looked after and so they were able to stay with their family. Miranda made a point of switching off from work when she got home, she'd go mad otherwise, but today was different. Try as she might, she just couldn't get the look of pride and love on Wildwing's face as he looked down at his sleeping brother out of her head.
(Flashback ends)
Author's Note – Ooh, suspense! How do the brothers survive? And yes, I know that their last name is actually Flashblade, they're going to get adopted later on. I don't know if I'll mention that detail in a future chapter, so I'm telling you here instead. The next half of this chapter might not be up until the New Year, I'm going home for Christmas tomorrow so I don't know how much time I'll have to write for a while. I hope you enjoyed this update. Don't forget to review!