Duke hadn't realized he'd fallen asleep until he felt a gentle hand touch his shoulder. His eye popped open, looking up to see the doctor.
"How is she, Doc?" he asked, yawning.
"She's stable. If you'd like to see her now, you may." The doctor explained.
"Nah, she doesn't need to see me." Duke said, standing up to walk away.
"But... you saved her life, didn't you?" the doctor asked astonished as Duke brushed past him.
Duke stopped, turning his head to the doc could see the side of his face.
"I did what was right. She doesn't need to see me though. Her friend's sleeping right there, if you wanna wake her up." he said, pointing a finger to the blond.
The doctor looked at the blond before looking back up to Duke.
"If it were me, I'd want the opportunity to thank my savior." the doctor tried again.
Why is he pushing this? Duke wondered, but dropped it.
"Well, if it were me I'd accept the fact that a stranger stepped up to help and also respect that person wished to remain a stranger." he said simply.
The doctor sighed, "very well. Be careful. It's rather chilly out this morning." the doctor said when Duke started walking away. Duke waved his thanks before leaving through the sliding doors.
The doctor turned his gaze to Julie. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
Duke tucked his hands deep into his jacket.
Why was he pushing it? Why would she wanna know me anyways? I'm nothing special. Still, I guess I could have let her thank me, but... she might have wanted to befriend me after that. I'm dangerous. I couldn't allow that. Dragaunus might be at the bottom of the ocean but there are still plenty of dangers in Anaheim. Well, hell, that Midnight stalker for example. I draw in trouble. She doesn't need to hang out with my crowd. She'd be in even more trouble than she was tonight if she was with us.
His thoughts consumed his mind as he turned into the doors to the pond. He walked by the rink towards the elevator and as he walked by, he raised his arm to glance at his comm. The time read 5:02 am. He rubbed his eyes. No wonder he felt drowsy. He rode the elevator up and headed towards his bunk, kicking off his boot and falling across the bed. In a matter of minutes, sleep consumed him.
Angel sat up at the sight of the door knob turning. She was slightly disappointed at the sight of short blond curls.
"Julie." she greeted just the same. She was partly hoping for her Midnight protector, but Julie was just as good.
Julie rushed in, wrapping her arms around her friend, being careful around her stomach area as the doctor had instructed.
"How do you feel?" Julie asked.
"Doc said I'll make a full recovery." Angel said smiling. Julie smiled before gathering up a stern look.
"You gonna listen to me next I suggest you should just stay the night?" Julie asked, tilting her head sideways.
"Yeah, yeah." Angel muttered, shaking it off. She would have been safer but if she had stayed the night, would she have met her rescuer?
Why did he leave? I don't even know who he is? Which one is he? There's six of them, of course two of them are female. I know that. Four possibilities. Why would he do that? Just help a stranger on the street? I don't know them that well. Well, looks like I'll have to go to more games now as a thank you. Will I ever see him again?
These thoughts clouded her mind for the rest of the morning.
Wildwing sat up from lacing his skates, glancing around at his team. Nosedive was probably the most sleepy eyed of the team. Wing, admittingly, had been up since 4:00 am that morning.
He had actually heard Duke walk in, for he had been sitting in the stands at the time, thinking as he had been looking at the rink. It was no surprise the thief wasn't here now considering how late he had gotten in.
He hadn't set an alarm or anything. He had just been in thought. He was thinking about his parents back on Puckworld. How they might be doing. He wondered with Canard was still alive. He wondered if his friends and family on Puckworld even knew he was alive. What about his and Nosedive's sister. She was younger than Wildwing but older than Nosedive.
Meanwhile, the teenager had his own thoughts going through his had tried not to think about Kat since they'd been stranded for 2 years, but last night, he had a dream about her. Her long, brown hair. Her amber eyes bore into him and the dream was so real, he felt as if she had really been there, with him. But, he had woken up, he could already tell this morning's practice was going to suck.
Mallory had her own thoughts going through her own head. She wondered what happened to the air force commander after they'd disappeared. Hopefully, he was alive. He was her father, after all.
Grin tried not to let thought bother him often. He looked forward to getting back to Puckworld. He wished to see his master and his niece again. She wasn't by blood his niece. Grin had made friends with a guy named Buck when they were both very young. Buck was also a student of Master Tai-Quack-Do and even though Buck no longer was in the school, they were still very good friends, practically brothers. Buck had settled down and even had a wife and daughter. His wife's name was Cherise and their daughter's name was Lily. In fact, at the time of the invasion, they had been expecting another child. Grin let this thought linger. What happened to his brother after the invasion? Are they alright? Is the new arrival alright?
Tanya let her mind wander as she adjusted her padding. She was thinking about her brother, Henry. Henry had been her life, and she missed him so much. It had been her job to look out for her little brother, but now she couldn't. The last thing she could for him before she was called on by Canard to help was make sure he was secure in the bomb shelter beneath their parents' house and making sure he had enough food to last him quite a while. He was eager to help, considering Canard had been his friend first, but she didn't want him to. The last time she'd seen him, she had fought with him about joining the resistance. Now she wished she had let him come. At least if he were with her, she'd know whether or not he was even alive right now.
"You alright Tanya?" Wildwing asked, seeing his teammate's sullen expression.
"Yeah, just, you know, homesick." she muttered.
"We all are Tawny. Don't worry, we'll find our way home." he promised, resting a hand on her shoulder. She smiled up at him gratefully before moving ahead of him, heading for the rink.
Now she understood why Wildwing had strictly requested his little brother come along.
two weeks later
"After much evaluation, I believe you are ready to recover on your own, Angela." the doctor said, sitting in a chair next to Angel's bed.
"Thanks Doc. So, can I leave? Check-out? skidadal?" she asked hopefully. She was fed up sitting in a bed all day. It'd been half a month!
"Um, yeah." he said, flipping through the papers on his clipboard. "But I highly recommend you call you friend to come pick you up." he suggested.
"Yeah, alright." she said, reaching for her phone from her bedside table. She had had Julie plug it in the first night she was there.
Canard's eyes creaked open as he pushed himself up from the ground. As he came to stand on two feet, his legs grew wobbly and he fell again, a pain shooting up his leg as he hit the ground. He looked down to see blood trailing down his leg from a deep scratch. Limbo had been hell, and honestly he didn't want to remember what he could from it.
All he could remember right now was that nothing made since. It honestly felt like the acid trips his friends from high school back on puckworld would describe. The world around him would sometimes move when logic said it couldn't. Mountains would speak. Saurians... so many saurians ready to take their imprisonment out on him. At first he had been willing, even eager to fight the beasts. But after so much time and so many saurians, he started hiding in caves in the mountains, or elsewhere. He didn't know how long he had been gone. It felt like no time had passed at all, and yet it felt like ten years had passed at the same time.
The only reason he was here now was because he had happened to overhear some saurians talking one night. They spoke of a dimensional portal device. The only reason he had listened at all was because they mentioned that it was a replica of the one that Dragaunus had used to escape. He had waited til nightfall to make his move. While the saurians slept, he came in the night and took the device. In his attempt, though, the saurians had awoken and gave chase. While he was running, he pressed the button to send him through. It was already set and, frankly, he figured anywhere was better than there. It was set for a place called Earth, so he decided to take his chances there.
And now, here he was. Practically starving to death, injuries gained from dimensional limbo festering, and his mind spinning from leaving the illogical place.
He stood again, finally able to stand. The pain still shot up his leg, but he ignored it. He'd had worse before, having been in the military back on Puckworld. He looked to the east, seeing a city. He decided that was his best bet, and moved towards it.