Disclaimer: Don't own the Mighty Ducks Animated Series. Not one bit of it.
BONUS CHAPTER
The beeping machine demanded attention, its tiny red light flickering at regular intervals. Tanya took the device and read its findings. Satisfied with the results she sterilized it and put it away with the rest of the first aid. "The fever broke," she informed.
Duke looked up hopefully before returning his attention to Audrey, pushing chocolate brown hair back. She was still breathing heavily and bundled under a mountain of blankets. The fever had taken the better of three days to finally subside. He felt a great weight lift off his shoulders at the good news.
Tanya sat on the opposite side of the bed, placing a hand on the hot forehead and smiled to herself. They had all gotten sick when they had first arrived on Earth, even Falcone had been miserably ill shortly after being imprisoned. She figured it had something to do with their bodies acclimating to Earth-borne illnesses. Ailments ranged from a slight dizziness and headaches to Wildwing's nearly two week long fever. Nosedive had been just as concerned for his older sibling as Duke was for his. She herself didn't have any siblings and found it endearing to see how protective they could be of one another.
"You should probably get some rest, Duke. I could, you know, watch her for a while."
The grey bird only shook his head. "I'm fine," he answered quietly.
"If you don't take care of yourself, you'll end up worse than her," she cautioned.
Duke looked up at his teammate. She could have easily passed off as some sort of medical provider with her profound medical knowledge. But the lack of such a title attached to her name and her more intimate understanding of electronics and engineering spoke otherwise. Either way, he had always believed that the whole team would be lost without her, even if she didn't always believe so herself.
The long silence stretched between the two as they watched the girl sleep. Unlike Wildwing, she'd hopefully be up and about in a day or so.
"So, umm, who is she?" Tanya didn't bother to hide her prying at all.
Duke looked up, confusion written across his face. "My sist'r…"
The blonde tilted her head slightly and regarded the answer. "I know that's what you said, but, um, you know, she's like, young enough to be your daughter."
"Not da first I've been told so," he chuckled.
Tanya shook her head. No one had questioned his claim that he had a sibling. But something didn't feel right about it. She felt like they couldn't be related. No one on the team really spoke in depth about their pasts, and it was certainly rude to go around questioning such matters. The little that they knew about one another was usually tid-bits that they had given up over the past two years. But she was perplexed and her scientific mind would not allow her to rest until given a decent answer.
"What makes ya think oth'rwise?" Duke questioned softly.
"Your ages, for starters," the response was automatic and without censor. "You're not alike, and, well, you have a different type of protectiveness over her then, um, say, Wildwing and Nosedive do for each other."
"I don't think Dive an' Wing look alike at all. An' 'sides, they're guys. Ya don't get dat protective over a kid broth'r like a sist'r. Y're arguments are invalid." He looked rather smug with that last statement.
"I didn't say they look alike," she shook her head brushing off that look as she clarified her argument. "I implied that they are alike. Like, in the way t-t-they talk and their posture and stuff like that. Wildwing even gets that goofy smile that Nosedive has practically trademarked. And, while he might not notice it, Nosedive tends to, you know, holds himself like his brother. Probably just his way of, um, looking up to Wildwing without even realizing it." The two brothers had clearly been inseparable the whole of their lives. Her glance shifted down towards her patient before looking up at the drake again. "In the little time that she's been here, she's never done anything that reminds me of you. Your mannerisms and even speech are very div- diver-, um, different."
"You're sharp'r than a sword," Duke chuckled merrily. Turning fully towards her, he brought his legs up onto the bed and crossed them, making sure not to disturb Audrey as she continued to rest between them. "Nah, we're not related," he confirmed. "It just makes things easi'r to say she is. Less trouble, less odd looks, an' all."
Tanya smiled boldly. Of course her observations had to pan out to something. "Then why not just say she's your daughter? That'd be more b-b-believable."
"'Sist'r' comes with less follow-up questions," he answered honestly. "When she's a sist'r, no one asks 'bout 'er moth'r or pities dat she's bein' raised by some dead beat criminal. Things like that."
Tanya nodded. It made sense. "So, what's the story?"
She was actually being nosey for once, causing the drake to laugh at her open brazenness. Nonetheless, he gladly obliged to her curiosity. "Do ya recall dat border conflict in Lyn Province, back home? Da one in Yanbla?"
Tanya nodded, her brows furrowing as she began to regret asking.
"I was passing through at dat time and got caugh' up like da rest of da city when da fightin' broke out between da Alliance an' Special Forces. In all da panic, I picked up a 'lil duckling dat'd been left behind. Aft'rward, I tried lookin' fo' 'er family, but couldn't find nobody. I didn't want ta leave 'er at one of them orphanages, those places were abysmal." He paused for a moment, leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees. "So I did wha' any stupid duck would an' decided to raise 'er the best I could. I love 'er like my own family. I'd do anything for 'er."
Tanya nodded, her curiosity satiated and her mind at rest. "I'm sorry to hear that." A ping of sadness touched her to learn about the tough world that these two had been a part of when a sudden thought popped into her mind. "Where you part of the original Lynesse Resistance?"
Duke nodded. "Ev'ryone from the province retreat'd back to Brook City and fought hard to keep it from bein' taken ov'r. It was 'ard to get food an' supplies, but we managed it some'ow. Unfortunately, we also fell to Saurian forces." There was a hint of sadness to his voice. No doubt it must have been a hard blow to have held out for almost a year before finally being taken over by the Saurian invaders.
"Is that where Canard found you? In Brook City?"
"What is this? An interrogation?" he sat up straight, startling her. "Did Mallory send ya?"
Tanya guffawed. She supposed she was starting to sound like the redhead. "S-s-sorry, I-I-I didn't mean to, you know, pry."
"Sure ya didn't," he snickered at her. "It just feels odd ta be givin' up so much without knowin' any'hing 'bout ya guys," he shrugged.
A soft smile tugged on her bill. "I'm the only hatchling of Mareen and Vint Flockton IV. Father was a renow-, a recogo-, err, really famous doctor and wanted me to follow in his steps. But I think I disappointed him a little as an engineering student at, umm, Anatidae University. I-I-I had full honors and stuff while there. I was engaged before the Invasion, and, well, you know, joined the Resistance after breaking out of a work camp. I don't think my parents made it, though. I was away at school, half way across the continent, and never made it back home, so I don't really know. A-a-anyways, Canard was amazed with my knowledge. I don't know why. I-I-I mean, there are a ton of smarter ducks out there then me. And, well, now I'm stuck here. In a strange dimension. Rambling again."
Duke was stunned by the sudden admission. It wasn't exactly what he was expecting to hear at all. The amount of information that flooded out of the blonde floored him. "You were engaged?" was the only thing that managed to come out of his beak.
She sat quietly, twiddling her thumbs and nodded. "Well, ya. But, umm, he didn't quite make it out of the camp," her voice softened. She wanted to reach up and pull out her engagement pendent from around her neck, but decided against it. She had decided a long time ago to keep that small part of herself from her teammates. It was, after all, inconsequential.
"I'm sorry, sweet'eart," he reached over placing a hand on her arm. "I didn't mean no ha'm." He felt like a jerk for having brought up what must have been heartbreaking memories.
In typical Tanya fashion, she simply took a deep breath and brushed it all off. "It's alright. We all went through the same Invasion. I-I-I'm not the only one who lost family and friends."
Regardless of that statement, he lightly squeezed her forearm, letting her know that he was there for her anytime. She smiled sweetly, thankful for his friendship.
"Though, Mother would lay a few dozen eggs if she knew I was friends with a criminal," she joked, lightening the moment.
It took a moment for him to register her change in mood for the better. "I wasn't always on the wrong side of the law!" he defended himself.
"Mallory doesn't seem to think so," she chuckled.
It didn't matter how long they had known one another, there were just some things that Mallory couldn't fully accept about Duke. She out right rejected the notion that he had fully reformed from his thieving ways. Her belief was that he would never have changed on his own if not for the Saurian Invasion. A few heated arguments and some choice words later, Duke finally agreed with the redhead. Giving up his old life had never crossed his mind had the circumstance not forced the end of that chapter of his life. And since there was no love lost between the two, he didn't really care what she thought about him. She trusted him enough to live in the same building and to play on the same team, but she didn't seem willing to place her life in his hands entirely. And that was fine with him, so long as she didn't run her beak off at him.
"Well, once I sav' a few lives I'm sure even Inspector Javert will change 'er tune," he declared.
"Who's Inspector Javert?" a harsh, raspy voice drifted up from under the blankets.
"Ahh, y're awake and eavesdroppin' again?" he looked down at his adoptive sister, a soft smile on his chipped beak.
"Never been asleep," Audrey responded. "Who's Javert?"
"A charact'r in an Eart'ling book. He was a police offic'r who couldn't believe dat a man would change 'is ways."
"Oh," Audrey tightened her hold on the blankets, snuggling into the pillow. Her honey brown eyes searched out Tanya's. "Javert has this bird pegged right, don't ever let him tell you otherwise," she warned with a sly look.
Tanya laughed as she glanced up in time to catch Duke's shocked expression. "I-I-I figured his smooth talking had to come from somewhere."
"Ahh! So now ya don't trust me eith'r?" he acted indigent of the situation placing a hand over his heart while tilting his head down, eyes closed in mock pain. "I'm crushed, sweet'eart!"
"HA! You'll live," the engineer stood while ignoring him. Gathering up her equipment, Tanya gave one last glance at the duckling under the covers. Audrey smiled sheepishly at her, a soft 'thanks' escaping her small beak. "No problem," she returned the gesture before turning to leave.
"Tanya," Duke called out as the door to his room opened. She paused at the doorway, glancing back at the grey bird. "Thanks, really. I don't know how ta ev'r repay ya an'-"
"It's nothing" she cut him off, bringing a hand up. "B-b-but seriously, take a break or something. You're gonna, like, get yourself sick or something and I don't wanna have to be taking care of you."
"Yes ma'am," he responded. "And, well," he rubbed the back of his neck rather unsure of himself, "I'm sorry if I said anyt'ing out of line."
Again, she simply brushed it off. "No worries," was her quiet response before exiting the room.
~ * End * ~
A/N: So I know that I'm probably gonna get some feedback about Tanya's last name, so I'll address this here. As far as I'm concerned, anyone can edit Wiki pages. I can not for the life of me find any official page or sketch or anything else that actually saids her last name is Vanderflock (or any of the other last names mentioned in the Wiki pages [though I have to admit, Flashblade is a pretty sweet name]). I have no idea where these names come from since we were only given Mallory and Duke's last names in the series. And to the best of my knowledge, the comics in the Disney Adventure Magazines didn't give last names either.
Anywho, I hope you guys enjoyed this lil story. Please tell me what you think. And I will hopefully see you in the next story. Happy Holidays to you all as well! ^_^
