Disclaimer - I do not own the Ducks. Don't you wish you could though? Your own little Quack Attack right there in your closet? Sorry…back to the point. I don't own them…just borrowing!

Italics indicate character thought.

Adam felt like the police were being ridiculously unhelpful. Yeah Kimball had thrown away the other letters, which was not good, but that was the reality of the situation. Their suggestion had been for Kimball to be aware of her surroundings and not walk anywhere alone a night. Great. Thanks, he thought. We'll make sure to do that.

They were clearing out of her apartment, taking the threatening note with them, and Adam closed the door behind the last officer to leave with a sigh. He settled his head briefly against the wall before turning around to look at her, legs tucked under her on the couch, pillows crowded around her in what looked like a child's attempt at a barrier.

He was quiet when he walked in to face her and finally moved several of the pillows away, sinking down next to her with a sigh and pulling her body into his. "It's going to be okay, Kimball."

She started crying and Adam felt totally helpless. "I just feel so stupid. I should have told someone sooner."

She felt bad enough on her own. Adam didn't need to tell her that yes, she should have told someone. And telling her that his feelings were immensely hurt that she hadn't told him wouldn't help anything either. He was just going to have to be a man and suck it up. He took a deep breath, swallowing back his anger and frustration, and laid his cheek on the top of her head.

"I talked to the station manager. They are going to beef up security at the station and I made a few calls and hired a private company to escort you to and from work every night." He held up a hand when she opened her mouth to protest. "Don't argue with me on this, Red. You are driving around the city really late at night and I'm not going to have you getting snatched right off the road because you're all by yourself." He put a finger under her chin, forcing her to look up at him with watery eyes. "And you're moving into my place for the time being."

He was thrilled to see a grin spread across her lips. "Gosh, Adam. This whole ordeal just gets worse by the minute."

He dipped his head, his hair in his eyes and his lips hovering a breath away from hers. "Shut it." And then he was kissing her breathless.

"Happy Birthday!" Beau hopped to the side (well, as much as a very pregnant woman can hop) and grinned. Behind her, crowded around the kitchen table, was a loud group of teenagers.

"Holy crap." Devin dropped all of his bags right where he stood and grinned so hard his cheeks hurt. Chris Ragland, his best-friend and teammate from California was there, a handful of Doritos raised to his mouth. Next to him were Jeremiah Smith and Camille Dougherty, his best friends since childhood growing up in Minneapolis. He had played hockey with Jere, as he called him, almost as soon as they both began walking. Standing by the back door staring at some sort of high-tech phone were Brady and Kennedy from his new team. And sitting at the head of the table, her hand resting comfortably on the head of Murphy, the oversized Mastiff mix that Beau and Charlie had adopted, was Jacinda Hammond. Holy crap.

Beau leaned over his shoulder, her voice in his ear. "Shut your mouth, Devin. You're chin is on the floor."

He whipped around to stare open-mouthed at her. "How did you do this?"

She shot him a look. "I'm a smart girl." When he only continued to stare at her she rolled her eyes. "I had met Jere and Camille the last time I visited you at your mom's, so I called them up and then I stayed at Chris' when I came to get you in LA. I just called him and asked if there was anyone else in California that he thought I should invite out for the weekend."

"The whole weekend?" His blue eyes were wide and sparkling and it made Beau laugh out loud.

"Yes the whole weekend." She nudged him. "You better go eat something. You've got to drive your friends to the Red Wings game in like 30 minutes." She winked. "Box seats."

He started to walk into the kitchen, anxious to talk to everyone. He only got three steps before he turned around and retraced his path. He shoved his hands very deep in his pockets. "This is awesome. Thanks, Beau." He lunged forward and gave her a huge hug. He didn't even realize that he also rubbed his hand over her belly and looked fondly at the huge lump. Beau of course, didn't miss it and felt her heart swell. Then he grinned at her. "So everyone is staying here for two nights?"

Beau narrowed her eyes. "The girls are sleeping right next door to my room, so don't get any ideas, Casanova."

Devin tilted his head to the side, widening his eyes and looking innocent. He raised his hands to form a circle over his head and pretended to shine his own would-be halo. Walking backwards he smiled. "Who, me?"

Suddenly it was all about the drama in Guy's life. It was reminding him way too much of his high school days and he didn't like it. Not one bit. He had spent his days then avoiding his family and holing up in his room with a book and his headphones. He had used the blasting music to drown out everything else in the world.

Now, sitting in the principal's office, he wanted nothing more than to lock himself in a room and let a pounding beat take him away.

"Dr. Fouts, you can't be taking this seriously." He sat leaning forward, elbows on his knees, his hands fidgeting nervously with his tie where it hung between his legs. "This is ridiculous."

Victor Fouts had been working in city school systems since he was thirty. After serving time in the military and then getting his masters and doctorate degrees he began teaching and then had served as a middle school assistant principal for nearly five years. His three year stint at East Side High School was his first as a principal and the situation with Mr. Germaine was taxing every bit of his training.

He leaned back in his desk chair, a formidable figured at 6'5" with his dark black skin and close cropped hair. "Mr. Germaine, I have to take every allegation made by a parent seriously. Mrs. Hunter is no exception to that rule."

"I disagree with you." Guy leaned back himself trying to stop his nervous fidgeting, but his inner alarm bell was ringing resoundingly. "I think you're taking her case more seriously than you would most." He sighed. "With absolutely not reason behind it."

Everything had started the previous day. Third period had only fifteen minutes before the bell rang and Guy had been almost all the way through his lesson on Chapter Five of Tears of the Tiger. It was one of his favorite books to teach and the students were really getting into it. Everyone except for Mario, of course.

His thirty students, minus one, were working in three people teams to answer a prediction and actual result sheet on the chapter. Guy had been wandering amongst the desks and stopping at each group when he heard a hissing sound. He had turned around casually to see Mario finishing the task of opening a can of soda and begin drinking it. Guy stood where he was and pointed calmly at the wall. "You know the rules, Mr. Hunter. No food or drink in any classroom." He raised his eyes pointedly. "Not just mine." He walked over and picked up the trashcan and held it out towards the boy who was glowering at him from under hooded eyes. "Throw it out, please."

Guy lived by the rule that his students would respect him if he respected them. He didn't make a scene, he didn't yell, he didn't try to embarrass Mario. He simply stated the rule and asked the boy to abide by the consequences. Mario hadn't seen it that way.

"Fuck that. I just opened it. I ain't throwing it away." He sat back, arms crossed.

Guy sighed. "Mario, you know the rules. You also know the rule about cursing in school. I'm afraid if you don't throw the can away or if you continue to use unacceptable language I'm going to have to write you up."

Mario laughed and looked up directly into Guy's gray eyes. "Fuck. That. I ain't throwing it away." He then sat back and took another long sip.

His heart pounding as the other students watched on, Guy walked calmly to the wall and picked up the intra-school telephone. He waited patiently for the school secretary to answer. When she did, he lowered his voice. "Mrs. Poole. This is Mr. Germaine. Can you please send Office Bonds to my classroom? I need a student removed. Thank you."

Mario surely had not been able to hear the conversation, but he knew the gist of what had been said. He went from antagonizing and completely calm to outraged and out of hand in mere seconds. He stood up, grabbing his book bag – who knew why he bothered to carry it – and slammed the Coke can into a side pocket. He picked his desk up, cursing under his breath and then louder and louder, and then slammed it back down on the floor. He turned around in a wide circle, his book bag slinging behind him, and the open soda can sprayed sticky liquid all over nearby students. A small boy, James, was sprayed in the face.

"C'mon, man. Chill out." He said it nicely, not an accusing tone in the phrase, but it set Mario off nonetheless. He jolted forward, bending down to get in the smaller boy's face.

"What was that, James?" He said the name mockingly. "I know you didn't say shit to me."

Guy took a step forward, pointing at the door. "That's enough Mario. I'm not going to have this in my classroom. Get out, please."

James said nothing and raised his shirt up to wipe at his face.

Mario laughed. "That's what I thought, bitch."

It was enough for James and he stood up quickly, knocking Mario off balance. He stumbled back a step, sucking in a breath and then dropped his book bag and darted forward. In an instant, before even Guy had a chance to react, he had James on the floor and was pounding his head into the linoleum covered cement.

Guy was on them in a second and hauled Mario off, shoving him across the room. He started to bend down to see if James was alright but before he could get a good look at him, Mario was straddling him again, his hands wrapped around the other boy's throat.

"That's enough!" Guy wasn't used to yelling and it sounded foreign even to his own ears. He grabbed a hold of the back of Mario's shirt and yanked as hard as he could. He still trained for hockey every day with his team and he was in good shape. Mario came flying up and Guy gave him another hard shove towards the door. His goal was to put his hands on the sixteen-year-old as little as possible, but Mario kept charging back towards James a scary gleam in his eyes. "Get out!"

By the time he got Mario close to the hall door, the boy's attention had turned on him, his mouth open and his eyes hateful. "You're a fucking racist, you know that?" And before Guy could register what he had just been accused of Officer Bonds had been at the door grabbing a hold of Mario's shoulders and hauling him off down the hall.

Mario had been suspended for eleven days and first thing the next morning his mother Pam had called a meeting with Dr. Fouts and accused Guy of discriminating against her son. He had given up on him, she said, and wasn't doing his job as a teacher because her son was black.

Guy sat forward and placed his hands on the principal's desk. "Dr. Fouts. You know me. You know there is no truth behind this. That boy has done nothing in my class since day one. I've tried everything with him. I've talked to you about that before! He's certainly not the only African American student in that class. Ninety percent of my students are minorities. Have you ever had another complaint against me?"

Fouts shook his head. "It doesn't matter that you have one hundred and forty other students Mr. Germaine. What matters is that this one's mother feels you are practicing inappropriate discrimination in your classroom. I have to take that seriously." What was going unsaid was that Pam Hunter was the wife of a local police chief who kept gang issues to a minimum at East Side High. Never mind that the Hunters let their son run wild and get away with murder. He looked away, unable to meet Guy's eyes. "Mr. Germaine, I am forced to ask you to take a leave of absence while this is looked into."

"What?" Guy said it softly, his eyes going huge.

"You will provide all documentation from your third period remedial reading class as well as all of your other classes. This includes lesson plans, grades, and tactics for reaching individual students." He fidgeted with a pen on his desk. "I assume you have all of this."

Guy nodded, completely numb. "How long?"

Dr. Fouts looked up. "How long, what?"

Guy shook his head, unable to believe that his boss could be so unsupportive. "How long do I have to take a leave of absence?"

"As long as it takes to sort this mess out." He sighed heavily. "I imagine you'll want to speak to one of the assistant hockey coaches about taking over practices and games with the team and we'll just pass your lesson plans along to the substitute we have coming in."

"What?" Guy was aware that he was raising his voice, but his heart was racing and his head swimming. "I have to turn over the team and my classes. You're kidding, right?"

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid that I'm not."

Guy couldn't breath. He felt the room closing in on him and he reached up to loosen his tie. "This is crazy." He looked around. "Crazy."

And then he got up and walked out the front door of the school and down the block to his house.

Devin was having trouble comprehending that this was happening to him. After the game – Beau had been cooler than cool and sat in seats down on the main level, leaving the kids to the box on their own – they had all gone back to the house. Sometime around midnight Brady and Kennedy had headed home, saying something about having to get up the next morning for the SAT. Everyone else, younger, had laughed and waved good-bye.

Now at nearly one in the morning, Jacinda and Devin were sitting out in the expansive back yard. Devin had given her his jacket and she pulled it tightly around her, pulling her jet black hair out of the back and smiling at him.

"Thanks." She looked up at the stars. "You know, we miss you back at school. We hate that you had to leave." She looked over at him. "We were real sorry about your dad, Devin."

He nodded, looking up at her. "We?"

She smiled and despite the dark he was sure she was blushing. "Me, I guess."

"I miss you too." He took a deep breath, trying to calm the fluttering in his stomach and reached up with both hands tucking his wild hair behind his ears. "So I guess the long distance thing is like too much, huh? I mean it's like four thousand miles or some insanity like that."

Jacinda was quiet and finally shrugged. "I guess. I don't think it means that we can't be more than friends if we see each other though." She looked over, her eyes hopeful. "Right?"

Devin grinned, an expression that was purely him and she smiled back. "That sounds good to me." Leaning forward he gently took hold of the front of his coat and pulled her towards him. When they were inches apart he dropped the grin. "I'm glad you came out, Jacinda."

She didn't say anything but leaned forward, closing the distance between them, and pressed her cool lips against his. Devin had kissed a couple of girls before, but this was a kiss. Within seconds her lips had parted and he tugged on his jacket and led her into his lap. Taking a deep breath she leaned back, every bit a teenager in her wonder. "Wow."

Duckys: Heck, if I knew Charlie I wouldn't need a Mustang. I could walk and be happy!

Casnyl21: Okay.

Joank: I'll see what I can do. I'm actually thinking of pulling in Julie. You can imagine it's you! Haha

Sinbin05: I love your reviews. So thorough! Thanks for being so dedicated.

AdoptedThug: Thanks. I definitely think this will turn out to be darker than Everything's Eventual.

Hockey-girl90: Thanks!

antiIrony: I'm sure Cole would love you. I'll be honest and say that I was toying with the idea of him coming out the closet and Beau being upset with him for not telling her. But after you and Joank I just can't do that to you!

Duckfluff: I hadn't thought of Cole being a little in love with Beau, but I think that is kind of always the case with your best-friends. In some little way, anyway. But I don't have plans for that. He'll find someone!

Aradia-Rising: I'm super tall and always HATED it when the tall guys dated the short girls because then who was left for me! Hahaha Nice thought though.