OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
A full week passed after that before Nosedive tried calling Karen again. He had mostly devoted himself to helping the team after the unexpected blip on their lizard radar. But there wasn't much of anything to do until Dragon-breath made another peep - And he wasn't peepin'. So after that little bit of weirdness, everything went back to normal again, and there was nothing much else to do, except finally face the awkwardness...
Ring. Ring. "Hello?"
"Uh. Hey Karen. Listen, I-"
"Dive, I am SO so so so sorry! Cornelius is brilliant but sometimes he does or says things without thinking about it! I told him it wasn't appropriate and he's very sorry too! And, of course, we don't have to have hot dogs like that anymore - In fact, we don't need to have hot dogs with our chili at all, they're really not the healthiest choice, in fact, so it wouldn't-"
"Karen." He scoffed, shaking his head next to the phone. "Chill, girl. Cool your jets. Everything's fine with me as long as it's fine with you."
"We-We didn't embarrass you?" She pressed, concerned.
"I'll live." He replied, bemused. "And you? Not scarred for life?"
She started to snort into a small laugh, relief washing over her. "Oh! No, no, uh-I'll just file that away in the 'Good to know' part of my brain! Ahem..." She coughed a bit, as if to clear away the awkward air lingering between them. "S-So! Spaghetti and fried egg sandwich?"
"...Say what?"
"Oh, erm... We had spaghetti last night for dinner. And we always use up our leftover spaghetti in a sandwich with garlic bread, and a fried egg. It's an invention of my own..." She explained sheepishly. Then, after a sudden gasp, she added hesitantly, "Um, unless you don't care for eggs?"
"Kare-Bear, you're in luck - I happen to be the only member of my team that eats pretty much anything most humans might and isn't generally picky. Except anything related to duck, of course. So like, no duck and no duck-related stuff like truffle fries or whatever? And we're golden!" Dive grinned over the line. "So yeah, that spaghetti and chicken-eggy sandwich sounds totally good to me! I'll be there!"
He arrived exactly four minutes earlier than he said he would, but Karen still rushed to open the door for him, and greeted him with a smile, albeit one accompanied by red cheeks. "Hey Dive!" She said, as if she'd said it a thousand times before, instead of just a few. "Just in time! Oh, and look at the new set of chairs I got for the table! They're much comfier! We're so excited to be taking them to the new apartment next month..." She beamed gratefully, apparently having had no trouble cashing the check he'd sent, after he'd informed the bank himself, of course. It wasn't the first time he or another member of his team had donated rather large amounts, not just to charities but also random humans, so it didn't raise any odd alarms, at least not yet.
"Let's see~" He replied, strolling over and plopping into the nearest chair. Then he wiggled in, and announced rather shamelessly, "My butt approves!"
Thankfully though, it brought out a genuine round of giggles from his crowd.
His sandwich was promptly thereafter served, and as he already expected, it was ah-may-zing. The garlic bread slices had parmesan cheese toasted to golden perfection on top, and the egg was fried just right - Not over or under-cooked. The yolk broke as he bit into it and mixed with the spaghetti noodles, and he was in heaven.
"Okay, wow - Those five star chefs on Bourgeois Blvd just got showed up by a single mom. Seriously."
"Really?" Karen pursed her lips and modestly looked away. "Oh I can't believe it! But thank you..."
"I wish you could believe it, because it really is true!" He pressed, taking nearly half the sandwich with his next bite, as if to prove it. "This is the kind of genius recipe my mom would have come up with, I love it! You gotta let me know next time it's Leftover Spaghetti night, okay?"
So Nosedive coming over every leftover spaghetti night became a thing. And then Taco Tuesdays became a regular, and usually at least one Saturday or Sunday a week. A few months passed. Karen and Cornelius moved into the new two bedroom apartment, and Dive brought over a few more games that they could all play together. It was mostly Cornelius who he played against, Karen preferred to watch most of the time. But sometimes Nosedive could convince her to compete, and when she wasn't trying to let the others win, she was pretty good.
Karen was more interested in her cooking than the games anyways. She branched out a lot more, from candy to curry and everything in between, she'd try anything that sounded good or was requested by the Boss Man.
Well. Boss Duck?
Still though, he was always in the mood to come back for a Spaghetti-Eggy sandwich, and since spaghetti was one of Karen and Cornelius's favorite foods, it was pretty regular. And since Lord Lizardbutt was still playing like a mouse, Nosedive had no problem hanging out with them as often as he could, before the inevitable storm that followed the calm eventually came.
On one such Spaghetti Sandwich night, Cornelius looked up towards his mother, after leaving only the crust on his plate. This was usually the part where he would thank her for the meal and ask to go play his games, but she expected he'd stay, with their current company. She was right, and he did comment halfheartedly about his latest perfect test results, as usual, but after a while, he got quiet again, as if pondering whether to voice his real thoughts.
Dive noticed it first, and brought it up, assuming the boy had a question about him. "Hey there buddy - Got something on your mind?"
The boy sighed softly, and then, after just a second's hesitation, looked over to his mother. "Hey, mom...? Remember what you said a while back, about your parents? I was just wondering... Is there anything more you could tell me about them? It's just, you never ever talk about your past... It just occurred to me recently, but I think that's the first thing you've ever said about them at all... And I know you said you don't want to talk about my father, but, I didn't just come from nowhere, anymore than you did..."
She became silent as he questioned her, staring intensely at him. Her mind was full of unspoken memories. Many of which she had no intention of speaking of. But so many more she wished she could... "We're not speaking about your father tonight." She stated surely, then glanced up at Nosedive, seemingly for permission. "As for my family, well...?"
Nosedive interrupted her, knowing better than the child what the extent of his mother's discomfort could possibly be, and wanting to spare her whatever he could. "I can tell this is a heavy subject, Karen. I'd understand if you don't want to say any of it around me, but, I'd be willing to listen if you did. If it helps to get the devil off your back for a little while, I wouldn't judge..."
After a few seconds of silent immobilization, she finally nodded, once. "It's just..." She sighed deeply. "It's a matter of... How -much-, I could say... As I mentioned, my parents were very, very secretive... There are... Certain things, that my parents would literally kill me for, if I ever revealed them to anyone outside of their little circle..."
Nosedive and Cornelius both blinked openly with shock. "Sheesh! What, were they in some kind of cult?" Dive asked, while the boy's mouth hung open, naively unable to understand how anyone could want to kill their own child.
Karen seemed to be weighing her words very carefully in her mind before allowing her mouth to speak. "...C-Close enough..." She finally answered vaguely, struggling to piece together what she felt comfortable enough to reveal. "They... Look, they were... Very dark people. They were embarrassed and ashamed of me, so they hid me away in the... Basement. Most of the time. I also... Accidentally dismissed most of our servants, as a child, so my father put me to work after they left. That's why my skills are mostly domestic. But they eventually kicked me out, as soon as they were able to. My father outright told me he wished he could kill me. He wanted to believe I wasn't his, but... I look just like him. There was no way he could truly deny I was his, and mother was very, very adamant about that..."
She seemed to take a little begrudged pride at confiding that. But then she frowned again as she went on, "I had a younger brother that they were much more proud of... So, I was disposable in their eyes... And when I got older, they decided to start letting very evil people use their home for horrible and wicked things. They got rid of me, so those evil people wouldn't discover me and judge them because of me... I was scared, but I've never not been scared in my life. I was actually really glad to get away from that house. That house... I saw ghosts in it, as a child. Screaming ghosts... People were tortured and murdered in it. Lots of people, over a long, long time. And they were about to start doing it again..."
She seemed to have gotten lost for a minute, but then quickly recalled herself back to reality as she noticed the wide-open eyes of the two boys, and she quickly let out a breath and took another. "So of course I jumped at the chance to get away from all that... My parents told me to go to America. They wanted a whole ocean in between us. I obeyed them, and I vowed to myself to get as far away from them as I could. I set my sights on getting to the other side of the country. California. So, now here I am, and here in my pretty, colorful new world, I'd like to stay!"
That last part she stated in a bit too much of a huff, so she softened her voice, and added, "...Alright, son? Do you see now why I didn't want to tell you when you were any younger? You would have had nightmares!" She fretted, worrying still if he'd have them now.
Cornelius was hard to deny it, and Dive wasn't sure he wouldn't, either. Since the boy was at a loss for words though, Nosedive at least managed to quip, "Man... If that's all the stuff you CAN say, the rest must be something else! There's just one thing I don't get though? Why were they so ashamed of you? You're beautiful! I mean," He quickly coughed to the side, realizing how that sounded. "There's nothing, you know, wrong with you? You're not deformed or nothing...?"
She looked down. "I was in their eyes... And unfortunately, that's the part I just can't talk about. Just... Suffice to say, the biggest difference between me and my parents were how we thought. How our minds differed. Every other shortcoming they complained of, they were wrong about. Because you're right! There was nothing wrong with me!" For some reason though, she still seemed to be holding back at the end there. As if there was something else she still wished she had, that she did not possess...
Nosedive nodded downwards, hands in his lap. "I... I think I understand, for the most part. And I respect what you don't want to reveal. Just... Wow, though. The basement? Really?"
She paused for a few seconds there. "Erm... Actually, I think they might have been closer to... Dungeons? The house was very, very big... There were certain places I was never to wander to, because you could get lost in there..."
Suddenly her contentedness towards her cramped and colorful space made a lot more sense. Still, what a way to go in life. How far she had traveled, and after such a start to the world, all by herself... "You... You know what?" He finally managed to inquire.
She looked up again, "What?"
He breathed out, and reached over to lay a hand on her shoulder. "I think, in your own way, you're every bit as brave as me, my bro or my dad..."
She reached up and laid her own hand over his, feeling her fingertips over the back of his soft hand. "You're too kind, Nosedive..."
He shook his head. "No. You really do deserve it... I just...?" He looked over at her, and caught her eyes in his own gaze. "I wish I could bring those people to justice, and make sure they didn't hurt anyone else! There's nothing you could tell me, that could help me direct the authorities-?"
She'd started shaking her head no a few seconds ago, and she interrupted him cleanly there. "Telling you any more could lead them to us. It would put our lives in danger. I wish I could stop them too, but... Please. There's nothing I can do to stop them. I just want to keep far away..."
He wanted to still pursue it, but the pain and fear in her eyes kept him at an appropriate distance, and he took his hand back. "I understand. Of course I wouldn't do anything to endanger you guys. I just hope someone manages to stop them..."
At that, she slowly managed to smirk. "Oh... I overheard my father complaining many times of his... Rivals. I've been rooting for them in secret my whole life. I'd like to believe they can vanquish the darkness among their own..."
"Their own -what-?" Cornelius suddenly demanded, for the first time in her explanation.
"...That is enough, Cornelius. I have told you all I am going to say." She stated very surely, and made it plain by her tone that she would not be swayed. For good measure, she added, "I've told you all I can..."
He sighed deeply, then nodded, "Okay, I understand..." But no less than two seconds later, and he pressed again. "So did you meet my dad on the trip to California?"
"Cornelius, I said-" She started.
But the boy's curiosity could not be contained. He urged on, "Mom, I don't care if it was just some "whirlwind romance" or whatever! I'm not gonna try and find the guy, I just wanna know his first name, what he looked like-"
She seemed torn between not wanting to say, and needing to tell her son something. She finally allowed, "I... I imagine he looked like you, alright-"
But that just confused the child. "Imagine? You imagine? What the heck does that even mean? Don't you know what he looked like?"
Nosedive was beginning to feel he ought to step in at that point, but before he could, Karen's rare temper flared in her own defense, and her normally kind and caring eyes were so full of sorrow and fury, it was scary. "NO! Alright?! I don't know his name! I have NO idea what he looked like! I don't know anything about him except that I HATE him! OKAY?!" After that, she stormed out of the room on the spot, and locked herself in the bathroom.
Both boys stood there in a silent stupor for several seconds. Then, at the same time, both of them got up from the table. But Nosedive motioned for the younger male to stop. "Hey... Listen Cornelius. I know you deserve some answers, but... She's scared. This is obviously really painful for her. I'll try to talk to her... If she just can't say some stuff, we're just gonna have to respect it though, okay?"
There was clearly several things the boy didn't quite yet get. But he was a really smart kid, so... It wasn't going to be long before he pieced stuff together for himself.
He'd have to handle it himself for now though. Karen's soft and sparse sobs from the nearby washroom indicated she needed more immediate help.
Nosedive slowly made his way down the hall to the bathroom, as quiet as he could be until he got to the door. There he gave it just two soft knocks, and murmured, "Karen...?" He let out a nervous breath, and then started anew. "Is it okay if I come in? Or, would you prefer if I-"
He stopped as she suddenly opened the door, just a crack. "...Is Cornelius there?"
"No. Just me." He swore.
So she stepped aside and let him come in, and then quickly closed the door behind them. After a few seconds of silence, she sighed, raggedly, as another tear slipped from her eye. "...I said too much. I told him... Too much..."
Nosedive shook his head. "I know he's young and you want to protect him... But he needed to know. And I think... You needed someone to know too? Sorry if it's not my place to say, and I'll shut up if you want me to, but... I'll listen, if you want me to, too..."
A second passed. Then she nodded, took in another shaking breath, and let it out. She repeated the process a few more times before she was able to speak.
"They... They wore m-masks..."
Nosedive suddenly felt as if his blood had turned cold as ice.
She seemed to be avoiding as much detail as possible, all while a world of it was flashing before her eyes. "M-My parents... They gave me a purse with unmarked pieces of gold to live off of when they kicked me out of the house... I tried to pay my way across the country with rides from people, whom I each gave a piece of gold for the help. I had no idea what it was really worth. It worked alright for a while. Thankfully there are many good and helpful and honest people out there too, but..."
But...
She struggled again to keep her breathing level. "...When I was passing through Texas... I was walking along the road, looking for another ride, and... A van pulled up. Two men in horrible, ugly monster-masks jumped out, and pulled me in... They put me through hell. For days. And they robbed me of the last of my parent's gold. But... At least I didn't die... And... I got as far as Vegas... There I healed up in a women's shelter for a few months... When I finally found out I was pregnant, I still didn't know what was happening... A kindly old couple took pity on me in my state and took me the rest of the way to Anaheim, where they were traveling... To attend one of your hockey games..." She sniffled and then rubbed her nose a bit. "That nice lady gave me a lot of the recipe cards I use, too... And she let me borrow a book, called 'The Swiss Family Robinson'... Her name was Karen, and she loved Roses. Had an entire garden full of them at home. That's where I got my new name from..."
He wasn't sure what to do, or say. But he felt very strongly as if he should do -something-. "...You've... Been through so much..." He finally stated, his hands fidgeting with each other. He knew what he -wanted- to do, but he wasn't sure if it was appropriate, or welcome. "You're so much stronger than I thought..."
She started to rub her arms, as if she felt cold. "I'm not strong at all..."
He reached out and clasped her shoulders loosely, pulling her to look up at him. "Yes you are. You traveled all that way by yourself. You survived what would have killed many other people. And then, after all that happened... You found it in the goodness of your heart to keep Cornelius... I really think that's amazing."
She'd looked up at him shyly while he spoke, but when he mentioned Cornelius, she looked down again. "I... No... I'm no saint..." She admitted, full of guilt. "There was... A time, when I thought about giving him away..."
Nosedive wasn't the least bit surprised that she'd felt or thought that way at the time. He was a bit surprised that she had admitted it, but still, he tried not to let it show. Instead, he indulged in his curiosity, and asked what he was sure Cornelius would have. "So... Why didn't you?"
She took a long, slow breath. "...It was cold. And it was raining, that night... I carried him all the way up to the steps of the orphanage..."
In her eyes, Nosedive could see that she was there, right there, in this moment.
"I... Was thinking so many things. The entire world was different and so much more terrifying. I only even fully realized I was pregnant and what that meant 2 months prior, when Mrs Karen explained it to me on the trip. I had no idea what to do. I couldn't even keep myself safe, how was I going to keep him safe too...?" She choked on another sob for a minute, and that was when Nosedive could bear no longer not to hook his arms around both of her shoulders, and bring her in just a bit closer. She immediately moved in the rest of the way next to his chest when he did so, which made his heart jump a few beats.
"But... It was cold, and, I wasn't sure if the blankets I wrapped him in were warm enough, and what if the person in charge at the orphanage didn't hear when I knocked and he was left all night in the cold? What if a bad person came along in the night and took him? He was fussing and reaching for me and I just... Couldn't. I didn't want him at the time, but I didn't want him hurt, either. And I suppose... I guess I felt, like if I gave him away, I'd be doing the same thing to him that my parents did to me... He looked more like me at the time. His hair was lighter and his eyes more gray than blue. He changed later, but... I guess I did too..."
Nosedive squeezed her. "Yup, Caring Karen alright... Perfect name for you."
She then wrapped her arms around his waist, and buried her face against his chest. "I guess, in light of my awful origins, I should allow myself to feel at least a little pride in having a healthy amount of empathy..."
"Yes, you should!" Dive insisted, shaking her softly, just a little. "You're rad and all your talents and tastes make you a totally awesome and unique person, to me..." He added at the end, with a nervous scratch at his neck. "And, so many other people too... I know your son loves you just as monumentally much as you love him. And he's gonna make you proud with what you've given him..."
She sniffled, and nodded, and then looked up. "Thank you so much for listening to my sad sob story... "
He shook his head. "It's so much more than that..."
Slowly, she lifted her head up, and Nosedive took it as the signal to step away again. She smiled sweetly at him as he did so, and he felt like ever the gentleman.
Outside the door, Cornelius heard the whispering disperse and dissolve into the sound of awkward silence. That was when he took his cue and returned to the dining room, before Nosedive or Karen found out he had been just outside the door, listening.
There was a lot Cornelius didn't know what to make of yet. But Nosedive was right. Whatever else happened, he was gonna make his mama proud...
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Cornelius wasn't paying quite as much attention in class lately... But since he was still getting A's with ease, none of the teachers noticed it or reported it to his mother.
And after a couple more months passed, even Nosedive was too distracted to notice how much less he talked about school and new inventions right away, when Tanya and Wildwing's egg finally hatched. And to their tremendous joy, it turned out to be twins. A blond boy and a white-haired girl were brought into the world and named after his paternal grandfather, Steelfeather, and her maternal grandmother, Sonya, respectively. Blessings only continued to abound too, as Duke and Mallory announced that they would soon be hatching a little one as well.
Grin, normally silent and zen, broke into song that night, to welcome the new life, and everyone began to dance with each other. Nosedive had to break away for just a moment, as he remembered just in the nick of time that he had asked Karen for her special 'Kokonut Curry' that night. But it was more important to be with his family now. She understood completely, and congratulated him wholeheartedly.
"See ya round, Uncle Dive!" Warmth filled his heart hearing her say that. He couldn't wait to hear his new niece and nephew saying it too.
When he returned, Wildwing was busy holding his boy, mask off, so that the youngster could see his Papa's true face. The hatchling was still too young to do much of anything, but he grabbed up at his father's beak, and quacked and cooed.
"Hey little buddy!" Nosedive greeted him as he sat back down next to his brother, looking over his shoulder at the babe in his arms. "Your Papa's got giving you no worms, is he?"
"Very funny." Wildwing rolled his eyes. Then he looked back over at his bro, brow raised. "Where the heck did you go anyways?"
"Oh, uh..." Nosedive shrugged, and despite his nervousness, told him the truth. "Just had to call and cancel my plans with my new friends..."
"Those new ones you've been hanging out with just about every other day?" Wildwing clarified.
Nosedive instinctively backed away an inch or two. "Well, yeah... I mean it's not EVERY every other day, but..."
Wildwing held his son a little closer to his chest. "Dive I'm not trying to be a jerk. You know I'm just worried..."
Nosedive gave him a knowing grin. "I know. But you've got someone else to worry about now!"
"I can worry about more than one person." Wildwing defended himself, but then added reasonably. "And... So can you. You haven't tried to hide anything about these new friends of yours, and I have observed you guys at a safe and polite distance a few times..." He admitted.
Nosedive rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. And I already expected you to stalk and spy on me, in the nicest way possible. Go ahead - What's your findings, o captain, my captain?"
Wing sighed abrasively and steeled a look right back at him. "You know why I have to do it, Dive. You're too important to us... And so, I just wanted you to know... I wanted to tell you, that I'm okay with you having your human friends, I know you don't just befriend anyone, I know you're very careful and selective about it, and that... Well, I just get it, okay? You're a social guy and you can't revolve your whole life around just five people-Well, seven." He smiled, and then corrected himself again. "Soon to be eight! And well, I know you put us first, I don't worry about that, but... We ARE gonna get home someday, Dive. I just know we are. And when we do, well... I just don't want you to hurt too bad over any special human friends we'll have to leave behind..."
Nosedive looked away from him. He didn't admit his bitterness about Wildwing not fully understanding what he felt the loss of. Didn't want to 'rain on his parade'. But he knew what his brother was thinking, and it frustrated him to be judged on it. Especially when it wasn't even LIKE that. Or so he continued to insist to himself... "Bro, TRUST me, will ya? If we ever find a way to get home, I'm GOING home. Ain't no doubt about that. And sure, I'd miss lots of stuff and friends. But you don't have to worry about where my loyalties lie."
"And I don't." Wildwing quickly assured him. "Because... I know, that if anything were to ever happen to me, you'd be there for them..." He added, looking down at his son, even though Nosedive knew he meant the whole team.
"Of course." Nosedive returned meaningfully, but even more forcefully, he concluded, "But we are all gonna do our best to make sure that nothing bad happens to each other. I just really wanna help my other friends too, yanno? They're good people. I know I'm doing the right thing, sticking around them. That kid Cornelius - He's going places. He's going to advance his world. I was actually thinking of introducing him to Buzz when he gets a bit older, could be a job there for a smart kid like him..."
"Hmm, there's an idea..." Wing nodded pensively. "So... What about the woman?"
Nosedive crossed his arms. "Why do you have to ask it like that... Look Wing. It's the same as her son. She has potential, and I want to help her tap into it. She's had a really, really crummy hand dealt to her early on. Her parents were the worst kinds of people. But she's a really good person in spite of it, so I think she deserves a chance to do the better things I know she can..."
Wildwing nodded, and scooted over closer to his brother. "I believe you, Dive. It's just, you DO have a track record of being more than a little impulsive. I just needed to ask to make sure, okay?"
Nosedive let his brother sling an arm around his shoulders, and nodded back. "Yeah, I get it..."
He was pretty sure he did, anyways...
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Extra helpful with the babysitting duty, and all full of maternal instinct for his brother's new babies, Dive didn't make a trip to see Karen again for a while, almost two weeks later. But he eventually began to miss his human family again, so he called her up, requesting fresh-baked cookies.
When he arrived at their home, he hadn't even reached the door yet when Cornelius met him outside, and, covering his mouth to silence a fit of laughter, he motioned for him to follow him inside.
Metal music was being played in the kitchen, which Nosedive had been pleasantly surprised to learn a short time before was Karen's favorite, just as it was one of his. It seemed so out of place with her bright, flowery personality, but apparently she found it to be 'therapeutic' and 'stress-relieving'. Well, she was apparently relieving some kind of stress now...
He looked over at Cornelius questioningly, and, still stifling giggles, the boy simply insisted he peek in. The only explanation he would give was, "She's baking those cookies, alright!"
Overwhelmed by curiosity, Nosedive opened the door and peeked in. The sight that greeted him was Karen, or more specifically, her butt, as she was bent over in front of the oven, taking the cookies out and shaking her head and bottom with the heavy metal song that was playing.
Cornelius burst into laughter, and Dive started to sputter, although he tried not to. Karen nearly dropped her cookies as she heard it, but quickly tossed them up on the counter instead. "Cornelius-!" She exclaimed, her face beet red.
Dive clamped his bill with both hands, failing to restrain the first few cackling quacks. He quickly straightened up, however, when he saw Karen's cherry tomato-red face, all puffy and embarrassed. "Aww, I didn't mean to tease ya Kare-Bear, honest! It's just neat to know you can dance!"
"I cannot dance and you know it!" She bristled back at him, but she quickly reigned in her temper, and put her patience back in charge. "Unless you count shaking your butt a kind of dance..."
"PFT, what?! That's the best kind of dance!" Nosedive intervened. "Shaking your tail-feathers is as classy to my people as the waltz or the tango!"
The pursed pout on her face quickly relaxed into a small smile once more. "...Really?"
"I swear it! Trust me, I wouldn't lie about my culture..."
A sudden seriousness passed over his features as he said that. He was remembering what Wildwing had said to him, and it caused a sharp pang in his chest that he really couldn't understand... He was still with his human friends. So why did he feel like he already missed them so much...?
Karen noticed his somberness, and, thinking fast, she reached for a cookie and held it up to his bill. It was a golden-brown disc of peanut butter, with an imprint in the middle, waiting for either a dollop of jam, or a chocolate kiss to be added in the groove. Snatching it out of her hand, she began to giggle, which made him smile almost as much as her cookies did. But he couldn't shake the feeling, deep down. As if he were hiding a big secret, even though he'd been as forthcoming with everyone as he could be. So what was it, then...?
He took another cookie. And then he stared at it, for a moment. "...I'd really miss these, if I ever found a way back home..."
He looked up again, eyes locking with Karen for a few seconds, then to Cornelius, and back to her. "I guess... I just wanted to say to you guys, because... My brother, he was talking to me about going home the other day... And while I and most of the others of course hope it's a matter of when, not if... We've come to accept it might be the latter. My bro, though - He says he's sure we'll make it someday... But the thing is, the Saurian technology and magic that got us here, we can't fully access it. And even though Dragaunus has barely made more than a peep lately, we know he's up to something. So, I really hope I can give you guys a proper goodbye if I ever knew in advance we were gonna go, but... There's just a good a chance, that someday I, we, might just... Well, disappear..."
That word lingered in the air between them for a while. Then Nosedive abruptly added, "I'd try my hardest to say goodbye, I swear! But if I don't manage, well, I just wanted you to know - Cornelius, I already set up a college fund for you. You can go anywhere you want and party it up too if you want. So Karen, don't worry so much about setting aside yourself. I want you to start treating yourself!"
"But-" She started, just as he knew she would.
So he promptly cut her off and firmly insisted, "TREAT. YO. SELF."
He was pretty authoritative about that, so Karen decided to take it as an order from her boss, and nodded, pinching a bashful and grateful smile. "Oh - Alright! Yes sir!" She giggled, but then quickly got serious again herself, and approached him as she added, "But... I want you to know something too..."
He blinked several times in surprise as she stopped just inches before him. "I understand completely, that you would do almost anything to get home again. Even if I'm sure I would never return to where I came from, I swear I do understand it... And even though I would miss you, and all your wonderful stories about your lovely world and your fascinating teammates and your adventures, very, very much if you were to go... I'd be immensely sad, of course. But I would be so, so happy for you, too..."
His heart was warm and toasty from her words, and the sincerest of gazes that she was giving him. But then it skipped a beat, as she suddenly reached up and put her hands on both of his shoulders, and added, "I want you to know this too though... As long as you're here... You can call here, home..."
She subconsciously took back one hand for a second as she said that, and when she said 'here' and 'home', she made a fist, just above her heart. Then she returned the hand to his shoulder, and, pausing just a second to smile and blush bashfully, she suddenly slipped her hands around his shoulders, and closed all of the distance between them with a full and completely accepting embrace. Then, as an afterthought and nothing more, she rubbed her cheek and neck against his, just once.
Nosedive stiffened up noticeably when she did so, and because she interpreted it as slight discomfort, she squeezed him for just a couple seconds more before she started to let go. It was only at that point that Nosedive was finally starting to get over his initial surprise, and was about to return the hug, so as not to look weird and awkward. So when Karen pulled away and he put his arms up, he accidentally ended up catching her by the waist, just before they were about to part.
Karen's blush increased in color, and Dive knew, for certain, that if she fully realized what she'd just done, she'd be looking like a tomato. The thing was, since Ducks had no lips, kisses were not a thing for them. Regular hugs were neutral, but rubbing necks and cheeks, on the other hand, was the equivalent of kissing in their culture.
Like, kissing with tongue...
He wasn't about to tell her, though. She might actually explode from embarrassment. And, well...
He kind of really wished she'd do it again...
But, he wasn't going to insist upon it either, of course.
Karen Rose was looking pretty 'rosy' after her last course of action, but Golden Boy Cornelius was uncharacteristically pale and tight-lipped. He suddenly spoke up again as they parted, masking his inner unease just well enough as he inquired, "Hey, Dive, you know my birthday is coming up right? You don't need to get me anything, but I was just wondering - Do you think you could come over the day before? I've been working on this new invention for a few months, and it should be ready to test out by then..."
Feeling warmer than usual under his feathers, Nosedive quickly shook the distracting thoughts from his mind, and redirected his attention back onto the boy. "Oh - Yeah, definitely bro! Assuming no reptilian alien overlords decide to act up at the last second, I'll totally be there!"
"He's been locking himself up in his room every day after dinner to work on that thing!" Karen mentioned. "Won't let me see it til it's finished - But I'm sure it's got to be something really impressive!"
"Hopefully..." Her son grumbled. "There's been a lot of failures so far... But it's a pretty complicated application. I just hope it works when it's supposed to..."
His mother smiled, and bent down to place a kiss on his forehead. "If you put that big brain of yours to it, I'm sure you can work it out~"
"Yeah buddy!" Nosedive agreed.
The child smiled too, though only he could feel the way his lips were insisting on tugging down at the corners. "Thanks guys... I think that, if this invention works... It could solve a lot of problems for a lot of people..." He added hesitantly. "Well... I hope so, anyways..."
His mother was going to inquire, but before she could worry too much about how faraway the boy behind those blue eyes was, he looked up again, and brightened his tone and face, just for her. "I'm gonna go work on it now, okay?"
"Oh..." Karen slowly nodded. "Alright son, go ahead..."
So he did. And he didn't even remember to take a cookie with him...
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
The forces of evil still hadn't show horn nor tail by the time Cornelius's special day started rolling up, so Nosedive left with confidence on the eve of his birthday, as requested - Although he still brought a cool new RC toy car with him, even though both the boy and his mother had insisted he not bother buying anything. They already knew he wasn't going to listen to them about that, anyways.
In light of the latter facts, though, Nosedive wasn't offended when Cornelius only briefly fawned over and thanked him for the toy, before rushing to get everything set up to show off his invention. The props were few, but intriguing enough. He had placed a circular rug in the middle of the floor in the living room, and just beyond it, on the coffee table, he placed a tiny vase with a single white rose bud in it, barely peeking out of the calyx.
"Alright mom, Dive? Can you two both stand in the middle of the rug for me?"
They both followed his instructions, and stepped inside the circle, shoulder to shoulder, facing the flower. Then he stepped in himself, right between them, and pulled out a somewhat long pen-looking thing. Like a drummer's stick, only very slightly thicker, made of metal. And at the end, an antenna like piece, which could be pulled out. The boy then linked arms first with his mother, and then with Nosedive, and then, holding the gadget between them, he said, "Okay... Here goes nothing."
He pulled up the tab at the top just short of an inch, and something BIG but very very subtle happened, although it was a little too mind-boggling to explain right away in the daze after. It was as if they had been displaced. As if reality had shifted but in a split instant , so that it almost might have been missed if they hadn't been anticipating -something-. And in that instant, the budding calyx in front of them had bloomed halfway into a rose.
"Whoa...!" Dive mentioned as he noticed it. "The flower!"
"Cornelius..." Karen whispered, her body and her very soul suddenly feeling very heavy.
"Wait, just one more thing!" The little one insisted. "Since it's my birthday now, we'll pull this second one, and that'll take us back one year. To the day we met. Hold on-!"
He did it before Karen could intervene, and the next jolt that followed was likewise a hundred times more jarring than the first. Reality suddenly seemed like a mirrored bubble around them, and the world outside was a fast-moving blur of unrecognizable shapes and colors. Finally, just when they thought they might start to get sick, the motion abruptly stopped, dropping them off in the alley beside Dive's comic shop.
Shouting could immediately be heard - The shouting of their old "friend", the gross guy from their first encounter who had harassed Karen, who was currently being escorted off the property by the police, again. For a brief moment after, the Nosedive from one year ago could be seen briefly talking with the officer, and waving politely to them before they left. Then he went back inside himself, and the three time travelers were then left to process what it was they had just seen and experienced.
Cornelius looked back to his mother, face beaming, expecting some kind of praise. Nosedive might have provided it himself, had he not noticed how extraordinarily pale and quiet Karen had become. And since Karen was normally pretty pale and quiet anyways, that was saying something. She looked like she had just had a scorpion shoved down her throat.
"Mom...?" Cornelius prompted her, looking a little confused at his mother's super-serious expression.
It took her a full five seconds before she could manage to make her lips move. "...How long before it takes us back to the present."
Her boy blinked. "Well, I can take us back anytime, but if I don't, we have one hour before we're taken back involuntarily. I mean, this is just a prototype though! We're dealing with time travel here, this is really complicated stuff - Creating a machine that could take us back or forward any amount of time would be much, much more difficult, especially since this science isn't-"
"This isn't science..."
"...W-What?" Cornelius mouthed back at her after a pregnant pause.
She began to pinch back a rueful smile. "...A wand... You actually tried to make a wand..."
Cornelius was starting to get annoyed with all her cryptic words, so finally he demanded of her, "Mom, what the heck are you TALKING about?"
At that she let the smile fall with a sigh, and looked back at him with a much more stern expression again. She was trying to be patient and not scare the boy, but she was clearly terrified herself. "How is this science, Cornelius? What was your scientific process? Is there actually any logical reason this experiment should have worked, or did you just try putting some random things in that wand there and hoped really hard that it would work until it did?"
The boy muttered defensively under his breath. "It's not a wand, it's a time displacement antenna-"
"It's a WAND, Cornelius." Karen corrected him resolutely, even though her entire frame had deflated with defeat. "And this... This is NOT science. It's magic..." She finally admitted, just as much to herself as to him.
They could see in Cornelius' eyes that he wanted to deny her claim, but another part of him, the logical side of him, knew he couldn't. She was exactly right on every account, even if it sounded impossible - The fact that his strange experiment had worked was proof that it wasn't. "Okay, but..." He continued, "Science or not, we can still use it for how it was intended..."
Karen suddenly felt rather cold. "...What do you mean?"
Cornelius looked down at his feet. "...If we pull the last notch on the antenna, it will take us back almost ten years. Before I was born. Before I was... Conceived." Dread was already pooling into Karen's stomach, and now it dropped like a stone. "I just thought... That it wasn't right, that you didn't get to choose me. I thought you should get that chance... And then, after that, maybe Nosedive could use it again, and go back far enough to stop Dragaunus from sending his team to Earth...?"
"Oh, buddy..." Nosedive finally mumbled, shaking his head. He wanted to go home desperately, but never at the cost of another's life. Especially the life of a friend.
Karen was shaking her head too. "Cornelius... Son." She addressed him, putting one hand on his shoulder, and using the other to lift his chin up to look at her. "I know you're too damn smart to do something this stupid. This is far, far too powerful a force to be toying with like this. And, you're wrong... I did get to choose you. I made my choice, and my only regret was not being able to give you the life you deserved on my own... So, don't you ever doubt me again, sweetheart. I wouldn't give you up for all the gold in the world..."
She sighed, and then stood up again. "Now... Take us back home to our own time."
Tears of relief and sadness and joy were rolling down the boy's eyes as he nodded, and pushed the antenna back into the wand. Space and time once again jolted and jarred around them, and in seconds, they were back in their old living room.
As soon as they made it, Karen reached down and took the wand from Cornelius. With no hesitation at all, she brought it down on her knee, breaking it in half.
"Mom?" Cornelius inquired, surprised. She had never broken one of his inventions before.
"It can't fall into the wrong hands." She explained, swiftly and surely. "And I hate to say it, but... The wrong hands are going to be here soon. They track magic. Nosedive, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to go now. I don't want you to get hurt when they-"
It was just as those last words were leaving her mouth, when a sharp knock sounded off at the door. Karen looked back at the frame in shock, then turned back to Nosedive, and began to shove him towards the nearest closet. There she pushed him inside, and in a panicked rush, she whispered to him, "Oh god, they're already here - Quick, Dive, you have to hide! Please, hide and don't come out until it's over! No matter what you might hear..."
He wordlessly obeyed her as she closed the closet door on him, listening in silence as Karen crossed the room, and opened the front door.
Several seconds passed where you could hear a pin drop. Then, voice thick and restrained, Karen finally spoke up. "Hello... Mother."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO