I don't own the Mighty Ducks.

It had been a day since he came back from Puckworld and in that time, he kept busy around the Pond but what had been occupying his mind the most was Mallory's disappearance, much to his frustration. When he came back his brother had been the first one to greet him, asking him if he had run into Mallory or Tanya while he was there. Turns out she had left for a few days. To top it off, Tanya was gone now. Apparently, she had gone back to Puckworld too!

Figuring he would give it a day, Wildwing waited patiently. When a day had come and gone and still both were not back yet, he grew restless. He figured he check with Duke and see if he knew something. Opening his com, he called the ex-thief, who answered almost immediately. "Yo."

"Duke, have you seen either Mallory or Tanya?"

"Mal Mal is back on Puckworld, so is Tanya."

"Yeah I heard but did they leave something more specific? Nosedive had no idea where they were going."

"Nope."

The team leader sighed. "They can't be disappearing when we have games coming up."

"I don' know." Duke raised an eyebrow at him. He knew why Mallory didn't tell Wildwing. At every turn when she spoke to him, it had been met with disinterest or a glare. She probably grew tired of trying.

"I was wondering when Mal was gonna go see her family. Everyone else has gone back to see theirs more frequently, Mallory waited a long time to see hers." Duke seemed to be off in his own thoughts about it. "Do you think she avoided it because something bad happened?"

"I hope not." He didn't like the idea of her being out there alone. Despite his anger at her, he still cared.

"Me too."

"Alright. Let me know if you see one of them return."

"Will do. Duke out." Duke's image went black on Wildwing's screen.

He sighed. "If they're not back in a day, I'm going to go get them. Wherever they are…"

…..

Around that time back in Puckworld, found Mallory and Tanya in Eadric's private office at his opulent family estate.

Tanya sat quietly, sinking into one of the plushy office chairs, watching as Mallory paced back and forth in front of Eadric's desk. They had tried to come up with every possible way to get out of this but all arguments were quickly dismissed when Eadric pointed out what the arguments flaw was. Frustrated and tired the two had searched relentlessly for a solution, only to come up empty handed.

"You mean that my choice is really no choice?"

"I'm afraid so Mallory." Eadric sighed, rubbing a hand over his face, looking tired.

"How come Abel was able to avoid mating for so long and why would he?" She huffed, finally standing still.

"The crested houses were of equal level or below his. There was nothing for him to gain and he outright refused." Eadric sighed, realizing how unfair this was. If there was a way around this he would have done it to help Mallory but there was nothing. He personally didn't like Abel either, the kid was always selfish, even when he was little and his mother was mainly responsible for that. The duck raised Abel to be a social climber.

"And if I outright refuse?"

Eadric sighed again. He knew this was coming. "You'd be forced."

Tanya gasped, standing up in her chair from outrage. "You can't do that! It's the laws that ducks have the right to choose who they wish to marry!"

"That is true but in times of warfare, the crested are treated differently. After all we are the ones controlling and representing the people's interests. Being in such a position of power means that some freedoms can and will be taken away when the situation calls for it."

Tanya refused to give in. "What if she revokes her status as crested?"

Eadric glared at Tanya, making the blond rethink what she had just said. "I realize you don't have a clue what you're talking about so let me explain that Mallory is a particularly special bloodline. Removing her from the crested would never be allowed."

"I know what her bloodline is." Tanya crossed her arms glaring back at Eadric in defense, making both ducks look at her curiously. "Look I know you're a DuCaine Mallory. I found it out before I came to your house." Eadric's jaw dropped and Mallory just smiled. Leave it to Tanya to figure anything out, now if only they could figure a way out of this arranged marriage.

"Alright be that as it may, it doesn't change anything. The fact is that you need another crested to get out of this and there are no more, trust me I've searched high and low. Its why Abel got away with not marrying, because there was an uneven amount of male to female crested by one male and now that you're back it's even again. I have thought of everything to get you out of this, there is nothing and Abel knows it, he has you cornered."

Mallory shook her head, refusing to believe this was happening and that this was it. Taking a deep breath, the redhead swallowed the need to start screaming. "It's had already been two days since Tanya got here. We need to get back for our next game." She nodded to herself and composed her facial features. "Tanya we need to leave." She left the room without waiting for a response. Tanya jumped up and respectfully nodded goodbye to Eadric who returned the gesture.

He watched the eccentric blond race after Mallory. Once they were gone he rubbed his temples at the oncoming headache.

…..

Wildwing's irritation was obvious today. Opening a portal Duke walked through into Puckworld and called Tanya's com.

She answered after a couple of rings. "Tanya, come in."

"I'm here."

"Wildwing is getting' irritated. Where are ya? We have a game coming up!"

"We're coming back now." Mallory spoke from off the screen, surprising Duke who had not been expecting her.

"Mal Mal? Everything okay?"

"Peachy." Duke raised an eyebrow at the comment but kept quiet. He could tell by the look on Tanya's face that something was wrong. When he got the chance, he would pull the blond team tech to the side and ask what was going on, perhaps he could help.

"Okay? Well hurry back. See you soon." He hung up and stepped back through the portal into the Pond. The portal closed quickly but not quick enough, Wildwing came around the corner and saw it.

"Duke. What's going on? Have you contacted either Mallory or Tanya?"

The ex-thief wanted to roll his one good eye. "Yeah. They're together and are on their way back."

"Good." He didn't say anything after that, just marched off less tense then before but not much. It was a strange reaction from his leader. Wildwing had been stomping around for a whole day, it seemed like the longer both were gone without telling him, the angrier he got. Duke walked back to his room, wanting to stay out of the way when the girls got back.

…..

The world passed by the window in a blur as the vehicle was driven back by Edmond to the estate. Mallory was vaguely aware of the colors and shapes of the snowy world around her as she thought about her future, Tanya spoke softly in the background but she didn't really hear her. Sticking her hand in her cloak's inner pocket where she was keeping her com, her fingers wrapped around it and something else. Pulling both out, she saw a card had been left in there and a number was on the back. Flipping it over it read Ben Whistler, Professional Painter and Artist. "I completely forgot about this."

"Wh-what?" Tanya asked.

Realizing she spoke out loud, Mallory said it again. "I had completely forgotten that I was given this card, it's from a guy that used to sit behind me in one of my classes in college."

"Oh, did you know him well?"

"Not really but apparently he knew me." Mallory stared at the name. "Maybe making some new friends here wouldn't be a bad idea."

"I don't think it could hurt." Tanya spoke, seeing that this could be good for Mallory, especially with everything that is happening with Wildwing.

Slipping her com back into her pocket Mallory kept the card in her hand, not looking away from it. "Tanya… I don't think I'm going to head back yet."

"B-but we have a game!"

"Yeah in two days. I'll be back before then." Mallory smiled over at her friend.

"Okay. Well, I-I'll tell the others you'll just be a little longer." A mischievous smirk lit her face. "After all, you deserve a date."

The redhead nodded, not processing the statement until after a couple of seconds. "Wait. What?" Tanya just laughed at her friend as they arrived at Mallory's home.

…..

An hour later Tanya went back to Earth. The portal opened and closed quickly, leaving only one duck standing in the garage of the Pond. Not even a minute had passed when her com went off. Opening it she found Wildwing's face looking back at her. "You're back. Its fine if you go to Puckworld but you should leave information about where you will be in case of an emergency. Mallory should too. Is she with you?"

"Uh, no." He didn't say anything, just waited for an explanation. "She had to do something before she left. She's going to see an old friend but she said that s-she was gonna be back before the game." Wildwing sighed and nodded. He looked like he wanted to ask more but kept it to himself.

"Alright, Wildwing out." He hung up and the small screen of the com went black. Closing the lid, the blond sighed. Noting that her leader didn't seem to like that Mallory had left. Everyone here went back to Puckworld without telling anyone where they were going plenty of times before, everyone but Mallory and now that she finally had, he suddenly wanted to know where everyone went.

Mallory didn't hold back the details of why she and Wildwing were on such rocky terms. To Tanya it was obvious that he was hurt and probably still not over it but he was dating someone else now. Perhaps it's a way to try and forget the team's fiery redhead?

…..

The snow crunched softly under her feet, condensing to the ground with each step as the cloaked figure drew closer to her destination. The small but homey late night cyber café was well lit in the dark snowy night. Street lamps glowed softly, making the snow fall more visible. As she drew closer, the familiar silhouette of Ben leaned against a wall on the right side of the entrance. She pushed back her hood and smiled at the duck who looked up at her approach. "Mallory. I'm glad you called." He stood up right.

"I thought it would be nice to catch up." Mallory wasn't sure how this would go and after calling him, she started to doubt whether she should do this but had Tanya insisted she go.

He opened the door and held it like a gentleman. "After you." Grabbing a hot drink and a large sofa by the fireplace, they spent the next hour talking. Turns out Mallory and Ben had a lot in common. "So I saw that you were a painter. Mind if I ask what you paint?"

"Oh, all kinds of things. Landscapes, ducks, abstract, you name it and I do it."

Smiling she took a sip of her drink. "In any art galleries?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact. My studio is not far from here. Would you like to see it?" A gentle smile touched his beak and his eyes stared warmly at her.

Mallory contemplated it but figured it couldn't hurt and if it turns out he was a psychopath, she could easily kick his ass, though she didn't think he was. There was something in his eyes that told her he was a sweet soul. "Sure." Sipping down the last of her drink and leaving the cup on the table for clean up they both felt together.

Not long after, found them in Ben's studio. Mallory's jaw dropped at some of his work. "This is beautiful!" She walked up to the landscape painting of the city at night before it was destroyed by the invasion. Notable buildings stood tall that had been the first to go when the enemy touched down, their glasses surfaces reflecting the colors around them.

"I'm glad you like it. I take great pride in these. There are a lot of ducks lining up to buy these from me. I wasn't expecting them to be so well received. I thought most wouldn't want to even look at them, because they can be a reminder of what we've lost. I'm glad I was wrong." He stood beside her with his hands in his pockets.

"I don't see that when I look at them."

"Well what do you see?" He watched her face, taking note of the expression on her face as she looked at it.

Getting close to it she looked back at him. "May I touch it?"

"Sure. Its dry."

She reached out and ran her fingers over the deep strokes made by the fine bristles of the paint brush he used. Her fingers following the path that his brush had taken and traced the buildings. "I see hope."

"Hope?"

"Yes. So much of this was destroyed but already we have rebuilt or restored most of it. We will never give up, never surrender. This is proof of our people's resilience." His eyes traced her form, quoting her to memory.

"Thank you. I don't think anyone has said anything that nice about my art before."

Turning she saw the warmth in his eyes and realized his attraction to her. "I should probably go, it's getting late."

He seemed a little disappointed that she didn't want to stay for longer but nodded in understanding, figuring he'd give her an easy out on this one. "Yeah, I do have to get up early. Meeting with clients."

Mallory called a cab to come pick her up and then they walked outside together. "I had fun." With the way things were going she felt like she was never going to have a genuine smile again.

"Let's do it again soon."

"I would like that." Ben stood with her on the sidewalk as her cab arrived. When it pulled up, he opened the door for her to climb in. Mallory nodded, got in and gave the driver her address. As the cab left for home, she watched out of the back window as his form grew smaller but remained standing out in the snow, staring at her cab until it was out of sight.

…..