What the Duck

The blue-banded turtle stared down at the little speckled and bespectacled female mallard before him. She pushed her glasses up higher on her beak, gazing up at him.

"I saw you fight," she said at long last, in the nasal voice one would expect from a duck according to cartoons everywhere. It was hard to guess her age because of it, but there was a definite shyness to her tone. "How you took that bull-mutant down with no weapons and stopped him from robbing the store just by poking him. It was… really great."

"Oh, um… thanks!" he responded.

"If you could do that, why the swords?"

Leo sighed knowingly. "Sometimes people need a little… incentive to do what's right. Sometimes they're to defend against attackers. Sometimes they're to stop people from harming others. " He smirked. "And I like some chopped vegetables now and then."

The mallard made no response at his jibe, but tilted her head curiously. "Did you ever kill anyone?"

The turtle shook his head. "My code of honor, the way of Bushido, forbids the taking of a life in all but the most dire of circumstances."

"Whoa," said the awed duck, pinning her as much younger than he'd previously thought. Then he thought he might be mistaken when she said, "I need a bodyguard."

He blinked at her. "A bodyguard?"

She looked away, casting a glance over her shoulder. "I wouldn't be able to pay very much… I only get five dollars a week for allowance, but I've got a lot saved up, and have some savings bonds… so maybe that's enough to have you around part of the day, for a little while, at least…"

"Whoawhoa… wait…" Leo said. "Why do you need a bodyguard?!" He took a seat on the curb beside her.

The duck… well, ducked. Her voice dropped to just above a whisper, and she seemed ashamed when she said, "There's some kids who like to bully me…"

"Bully you?" the turtle leader echoed, eyes opening in shock, then narrowing in anger at the thought. "How do they bully you?"

Mallard girl shifted uneasily from foot to foot as she answered lowly. "They steal my stuff, they wreck my homework, they call me names and sometimes they follow me around and throw rocks at me… Try to break my glasses…"

Leo looked aghast. "And don't you have anyone to help you? Your parents, or teachers…?"

She shook her head. "Mom's tried to talk to the school, but they don't do anything. The kids that gang up on me, maybe they get talked to, but that's all the school ever does. My teachers kind of look out for me, but they can't be there all the time or before or after school. Even if I'm the one getting bullied, the school blames it on me… like if I didn't stick my neck out— If I'd stand up for myself—" She huffed, frustratedly shaking her feathers out. "One time, they threw some of my books in the toilets, and we had to pay for them. And those books are expensive! Seventy-five dollars, used! And Mom can barely make rent as it is and she works two jobs."

"And… your dad?" Leo prompted, not expecting a good response, but also not expecting the reaction she did give.

The duck exhaled angrily out her beak. "Do we h-have to t-t-talk about this?"

He could tell from the stammering and hitching breaths that she was on the verge of tears, trying desperately to hold them back, to not show weakness… He patted her shoulders lightly. "No. Not if you don't want to."

She took another couple of deep breaths to calm down enough to continue. "School's cancelled for now, but it's not gonna be forever, and then what?"

Leo looked around as if the answer would be somewhere in the general vicinity. Since he had never been to school, he had no idea 'then what'. "I… uh…"

"Well, look at me! I'm a damned duck! Like I wasn't enough to make fun of before! They'll probably try to pull my feathers out. " She sighed, then mumbled, "Not like I can even lift one of those 75-dollar books like this…" She pulled a wing in front of her face to glare at it. "Maybe I won't even go back… Just ditch my glasses and go swim around Lake Belvedere with all the other stupid ducks and eat bread crusts the old people throw… At least I wouldn't have to worry about bullies then…"

Leonardo scowled. "Now, that's enough! You're not going to spend your life in a pond, pretending to be an animal when you're perfectly mentally capable. You'll be able to go to school, and I'll be around to make sure nothing happens to you."

"You'll really help me then?" she asked cautiously, almost waiting for Leo to immediately go back on his word. "How much? Just to escort me to and from school, and maybe between classes…?"

Leo paused, deliberating. A young girl, mutated, bullied, clearly from a disadvantaged, single-parent family, and willing to pay out of her own pocket for his protection… He didn't want to charge her anything, but she stopped him, pointing a wing-tip at his beak. "If I'm paying you, it's like we have a contract… I know you're not going to go back on me or anything."

He blinked at her. This was one shrewd kid. "All right, then," he agreed. "How about…ten cents an hour?"

Her eyes went wide. "…I…" she started, sounding overwhelmed with emotion once again.

"Fine, then, six cents," Leo haggled down.

"…But…" she choked out. "You can't…"

"Five cents, and that's my final offer." He crossed his arms and stuck his nose in the air, quite firm on the point. He cracked an eye to smirk down at her, then offered his hand for her to shake as she bewilderedly accepted, nodding. She set her wing in his hand, shaking it as well as she could manage with a bunch of feathers. "Leonardo Hamato, ninja bodyguard, at your service." She looked about to return her name, then closed her beak, blushing and turning away. He wasn't letting it go, though. "And, you are?" She looked even more abashed, practically hiding between her wings. "Come on, I should know who I'm working for, shouldn't I?" he encouraged softly.

She mumbled something so low he had to have her repeat it, but she eventually spoke up loud enough for him to hear. "Esther… Esther Maddoc."

"Nice to meet you, Esther," he said, and the little mallard let out a soft groan, making him frown. "What is it? You don't like your name?"

"No. I hate it!"

"I think it's a fine name," Leo said, guiding her to the stoop of a nearby brownstone, where they sat together. "But more important is why you don't like it."

Esther wasted no time in answering. "'Esther' is an old lady name. It's ugly, and they make fun of me for it. They call me 'Es-turd' or 'Es-nerd.' And Maddoc…" She gave an aggravated sigh. "Now it's only going to be 'Mad Duck' all the time…"

A puff of breath left Leo's lips in appreciation of the girl's situation, and he shook his head. "Alright… what would you like to be called instead? Maybe we can give you a nickname that isn't 'Mad Duck' or 'Es-turd'…" After a moment of thought, she looked back up to him and shrugged. Leo gave a small grunt. "Shame my brother Mikey isn't here… He's the naming genius of the family." He paused to rack his brain. "We could go with just the first letter… Sometimes we call Donnie 'D' for short."

The duck shook her head. " 'E' doesn't have much of a ring to it…"

Leo pondered for another moment, tapping knuckle against his lip. "They call me 'Leo'… maybe just a shortening, or something with the beginning…"

"Just sounds like another letter."

"Es… es… aes…" he said, playing with the sound. "… Aes… Ace? How about Ace?"

She brightened. "I like it."

Leo nodded. "Ace, it is! Nice to meet you, Ace!" he re-greeted warmly, offering his hand again. She laughed dorkily and played along, shaking it again.

She let out a relieved sort of sigh. "So now what do we do?"

He mulled it over for a moment, rubbing his chin. "Presumably, anything you want. I can't be the one telling you where to go and what to do." She withered a bit, having hoped for a better suggestion from him. "How about you take me around all the places you usually go, so I can get a lay of the land?"

She heartily agreed, and showed him the route she took to and from school, then to a hobby and craft shop, where she picked out a model kit for a B-17 Flying Fortress and a book detailing how to make 20 kinds of paper airplanes. "I wanted these for a long time," she explained, "but I was saving my money for a bodyguard. But since you're so cheap—well, I don't mean cheap but…" she stammered and trailed off.

"…cost effective?" he supplied, and she became more chipper.

"Yeah! –now I can afford them."

"You like planes, huh?"

She gave an enthused nod back. "Love them. Anything that flies. I collect feathers too—I'd found a pretty one with a blue stripe on it just before the Megarift happened… I thought it was maybe from something awesome, but, uh…" She lifted her wings to glare at them. "…just a common duck feather, apparently." She quickly shifted tack, brushing the box of the model with her feather tips. "Aeronautics is really cool. I want to be a pilot someday… well, if they'll let me, if I can get my eyes fixed. And, ya know… have hands. Have you ever been to the Air and Space Museum?" Leo shook his head and huh-uhed quietly, letting her go on about the topic she seemed to be getting a lot of enjoyment out of as they paid and exited with the turtle ninja carrying her purchases… it was the most open and exuberant he'd seen her. "They have this flight simulator there… I can do a perfect takeoff and landing on it!"

"My brother Donnie built us a blimp," he mentioned, watching her eyes light up. "Maybe when the whole mutant thing cools down a little and he comes home, we can show it to you."

"Really?!" she squealed. "That would be SO COOL!" She inadvertently backed into someone as she threw her wings out in excitement. Turning to apologize, she froze, and all enthusiasm immediately drained out of her.

The boy turned and eyed her, popping a grape in his mouth from the bunch in his hand. Dawning recognition crossed his face when he caught sight of her glasses, as did a wicked sneer. "Es-turd?" he grinned, spitting as he spoke. "Well, look at you! "

Ace backed away from him until she bumped up against Leonardo's leg. "M…Martín…"

"D' those come out?" he said, bending down and making to pinch one of her feathers. "D'they hurt?" She squeaked and made an awkward waddle-trip-fall behind Leo, while Martín came face to face with himself, reflected in the blade of a very sharp sword. He straightened up, looking into the unflinching face of the turtle wielding it.

"Martín, is it?" Leo said in an unamused tone. "We haven't met yet. I'm Esther—Ace's—bodyguard."

"B-bodyguard?" the boy echoed, nearly choking on his food. Then he put on a braver face. "Es-turd can't afford a bodyguard!"

"I can so," she retorted meekly. He took a step toward her, and she stepped back. Leo barred his way as he made to grab at her again. The kid looked up at him critically.

"You're not a real bodyguard. Read bodyguards have guns. Not swords. Swords are lame. You can't shoot anybody with a sword!"

Ace gasped and took another step backward, looking through her feathered fingers, apparently fearing bloodshed. Leo, though raising a brow in annoyance, remained in his self-assured posture. "Guns are the weapons of a coward. It's much more… personable to trade steel with your opponent face to face."

But, the kid pressed on, trying to discredit him. "They're fake!"

"Oh? And how many swords have you seen?"

"Well… a lot, on TV…"

Leo eyed him coolly. "Perhaps a demonstration is in order." He reached for the boy's grapes. "May I?"

Martín gave a short nod. Leo plucked a single grape from the bunch and tossed it in the air, then whipped both ninjaken from their scabbards, whirling them around in a graceful dance, and caught the grape on the flat of one blade. It held its shape for a second, then fell apart into twelve segments. Both kids "Whoa!"-ed in awe. He offered the sliced fruit first to his charge, who pecked a number of pieces up in her beak, then to Martín, who only stared, probably more concerned with the blade's edge pointed toward him.

"See? He's awesome." Ace puffed out her feathers with pride, but withered with Martín's next statement.

"Whatever she's paying you, I can pay you double if you come work for me."

Because ten cents an hour is such a step up from five… Leo thought to himself with the barest of eyerolls. Miami beachhouse, here I come. The turtle bodyguard picked the remaining grape from his blade and popped it in his mouth, wiping the blade clean on the tail of his mask and resheathing it behind him. He regarded Ace's crestfallen but resigned visage from the corner of his eye. "I'm afraid that's out of the question."

"Well, what is it? Ten dollars an hour? Fifteen? Whatever it is, I can offer more!"

"I'm sure you can, but that's irrelevant. Ace and I have a contract."

The kid's face scrunched up piggishly. "Break it… I bet you will if I give you enough, and I can, too!"

He could feel Ace's tense, tenuous gaze up at him. He caught her eye for a second, his firm, warm look lending her a bit of confidence. "…which is something I'd do if I had no sense of honor, but you seem to have mistaken me for someone with little or none." A muted "Ooohh!" issued from behind his leg.

Martín spent the next minute opening and closing his mouth as he searched for a retort, but it was clear he was coming up empty. Leo bent over him, leaning into the boy's space, icy glare full of steadfast intimidation. "I suggest you leave." He left the unspoken threat hang over the boy's head.

The bully backed off several paces, then turned and walked stiffly away, snarling after him, "Yeah, well… you just go have your fun with Plane Jane then…"

Leo humphed, watching the little coward go.

Ace reveled in the moment, but her triumph waned quickly. "He'll go tell the others, you know," she warned. "One of them on their own is bad enough, but all six of them in a pack…"

Leo couldn't help the snort of laughter that escaped him, even though the duck stared incredulously up at him. "Six…" he muttered, trying but unable to hold back the grin. He thought of the armies of Foot soldiers and robots they'd had to go up against, whole squadrons at a time, thirty or more per turtle, and then he considered the eminent threat of six whole junior high school bullies, against himself. Laughable, indeed. How the mighty had fallen…

But he looked down to meet Ace's fearful eyes. She was scared of these other kids, perhaps even more than she had been originally, as small and vulnerable as she now was. It was a big problem in her world, one she'd sought help and protection to solve. His help. And he couldn't discredit her quite legitimate fears. Perhaps there was something else he could do for her, though.

"Hey, Ace," he said, picking up her items again, "why don't we go somewhere quiet? Somewhere you're comfortable."

The mallard thought for a second, and nodded. "Our front stoop is pretty nice…."

x-x-x-x

The pair sat on the steps of a red brick apartment complex. Leo allowed Ace to settle before explaining, "As your new bodyguard, I will, of course, protect you whenever I am around. But there will be times when I can't be there."

"I understand that," the mallard mutant replied. "So, you want me to stay inside when you're not around?" she anticipated.

Leonardo shook his head. "Not as such. You shouldn't have to be afraid to go out on your own, but there's some things I'd like to teach you, if you'd like to learn, so that you'll be able to defend yourself. Up for it?"

The duck gasped and tottered over to him, throwing her wings around his arm in an approximation of a hug. "Leo, you are the best!" she squealed.

"All right, then… Let's start with the first thing I learned as a ninja: meditation." He moved into position, describing his posture. "Sit cross-legged, back straight, hands turned upward and resting on your knees, eyes closed… Clear your mind of all intruding thoughts. This is how we center ourselves, to find a sense of…"

He heard a muffled "Wak!" beside him, and the shuffling of feathers against the concrete. Cracking an eye open, he watched her topple over on her rump, throwing a wing out to catch herself, as she attempted to cross a backbent pair of non-humanoid legs that was clearly not suited for sitting in lotus position.

"…balance." It was hard not to feel sorry for her, but he pushed that out of his thoughts and wiped the touch of pity off of his expression. "Er… Sit in a way that's comfortable for you," he instructed instead. "Not so comfortable you'll fall asleep… Maintain an alert posture."

Esther sat with her feet beneath her and her neck straight, put her wings out in front of her and turned the outer tips up, approximating Leo's pose as much as she could. She maintained this pose for half a minute before canting to the side and having to rebalance herself on a wing and straighten her glasses.

Leo let out a slight sigh, not loud enough for Ace to hear. He pinched his chin between his thumb and forefinger. Any idea Leo had had of teaching her martial arts flew out the window like a duck heading south for the winter. Her body simply wasn't designed for it. Surely there were other skills he could teach her than how to fight, but he'd have to dig deep for them. How did one teach confidence? How had Master Splinter instilled it in them

This wasn't going to be easy…

x-x-x-x

a/n: Finally a chapter for you guys! Sorry it's taken me so freaking long to get this out... between writer's block, treading lightly around the subject matter and character development, and just an inability to get to my own work, it's taken be for-freaking-ever to get this one done. Hopefully I can pick up some steam on this story from here out. (I had hoped to get this chapter out before the year was out, but that's a missed deadline as well... just too many other things going on.)

So, here's my take on Ace Duck. I feel that there's not enough female characters in the show. Obviously, there's the 'boys' demographic they lean toward. Even I fell into the trap of defaulting to a male child character... Esther was originally going to be Aaron. Then I caught myself and stopped to think about why and if Ace neessarily needed to be male. And truth was, she didn't. (Ace was a char in the original toon who was supposed to be the pilot of the Turtle Blimp, but never made a second appearance. The 2012 series does a little sendup of him.) I also didn't want another OC that learns ninjutsu from Leo and then their life is peachy. There's more to it than that, and Leo's going to have to stretch some of his other skills to teach his first 'student' what she needs.

I'm straying quite a bit from the original Apritello focus of this fic, but it'll come back eventually. All the other characters have demanded their own bit of spotlight. Soon: mini-arcs for Splinter and Mikey!