I don't own the Mighty Ducks.
A laser shot by his head, coming a little too close for comfort. The tan duck growled, feeling the heat from the weapons pass by. The saurian's were up ahead and so far, the ducks hadn't gained much ground.
He looked over a little jealously at Wildwing, seeing him and Mallory working in sync with each other. One always covered the other so that they could slowly progress forward, going from cover to cover, remaining close. They worked so well together it kind of irritated him. It was almost like they knew what the other would do before they did it.
He wanted to try to develop a bond with Mallory, but she continued to distrust and keep him at arm's length. Another laser went by his head, snapping him out of his thoughts as Nosedive moved up to his position. "We need to check these creeps into the boards." He brought up his gun.
Canard nodded, agreeing with the young drake. They needed to end this fight. "Alright. Here's what we'll do. See that pole." He pointed to a large metal pole meant to stabilize the building, nothing the saurian's had was going to be able to shoot through that.
"Yeah I see it. You want me to cover you, so you can get to it?"
"Yeah. Once I'm there I'll cover you and you can join me. Then we'll continue to move up on their position like Mallory and Wildwing are doing."
"Age before beauty." Nosedive smirked.
Canard ignored the comment in favor of remaining focused on the mission. "On the count of three." They got into position. "One, two, three!" Nosedive jumped up firing rapidly at the saurian's, forcing them to take cover. Canard ran to the position, shooting as he ran. Once behind the pole, he got into position he covered Nosedive, forcing Siege and Wraith to remain hidden. Nosedive seeing his chance dashed to join Canard. Once both were under cover, Canard gave his gun a break and ducked, the barrel smoked from the friction of the bullets passing through it. The saurian's jumped back up shooting at both sides, trying to keep the ducks at bay. Canard searched from Mallory and Wildwing at their last position, but they were no where in sight and now he and Nosedive were taking heavy fire. "What are they doing?" He growled.
A moment before, Wildwing peaked from behind the metal crate where he and Mallory were hiding. Ducking down quickly to avoid a laser to the head from the Chameleon, he almost head-butted Mallory in the process. His beak lightly brushing hers causing them both to freeze for a moment. They were squished together behind a single crate, trying to move to the next spot. "Sorry." He muttered, a little embarrassed but didn't let it take his focus off the fight.
"We need to keep moving up." Mallory acted as if nothing happened.
Wildwing would have rolled his eyes at the obvious statement if it hadn't been for the sound of metal smashing down on the ground. He checked his teammates to see Grin tossing very large crates at the Chameleon. The lizard yelped, rolling out of the way and avoiding being crushed.
Seeing the opening Mallory, went for it. "I'm going!" She stood to run out from behind the crate but Wildwing grabbed her wrist, pulling her back down. Stopping her from going to the next point. "What?" She asked confused.
"Are you crazy? Did you even bother to look?" He argued, pointing at Wraith, who would have had a clean shot at her, if she had gone.
"Damnit." She muttered, realizing that she had almost made a huge mistake. "I did look. He wasn't there when I checked."
"Well he's there now." He said disapprovingly, ruffling Mallory's feathers. She growled yanking her wrist free from his hand, he only gave her an agitated side glance. "I'll use my shield. Just get behind me and follow me."
"Fine."
"Get ready." He pulled up his shield. "Go!" Standing up he protected them both from the lasers now coming at them, keeping it up until they reached cover. Opening his com he gave commands to the rest of the team. "We've got them cornered. Hit them hard team." Everyone was firing on the saurian's not giving them a chance to fire back.
"Boss! We need a little help!" Chameleon whimpered, over his com to Dragaunus. They didn't see the hunter drones teleport in behind Mallory and Wildwing. The leader noticed the flash of green light first, turning just in time to see the drones taking aim at them. Grabbing Mallory around the waist, Wildwing pulled her close. Moving his shield in front of them just in time to protect them from the laser fire. The lasers pushed at his shield, jerking his arm back with every hit, the impact vibrating up his arm. Opening her com, Mallory called for the others. "Guys we're in trouble!"
Nosedive and Canard were on the opposite side of them, giving them a clear view of the hunter drones but not of the two teammates. Seeing them in danger Canard jumped into action, taking on the secondary mantel as leader while Wildwing was unable to give orders. "Nosedive give me cover, keep shooting at those slim balls while I destroy the drones." The blond nodded, opening fire on their hidden enemies.
Canard dashed across the large warehouse, using crates or equipment for cover. Finally, in position, he aimed for their heads, swiftly taking each drone out and running to his best friend's side. "You guys okay?"
"We are now." Wildwing put his shield away, shaking his arm, trying to loosen the tense muscles that now ached with relief.
"Hey guys." Nosedive walked up to them. "Those slim balls split. We got nothing."
Wildwing sighed but nodded. "Everyone back to the ship."
"Wait, what did they wanted here?" Dive raised his arms in question.
"Could have been searching for spare parts." Grin commented, Tanya walked up behind him looking around.
"I don't think so. Everything here is-ah-ya know, junk."
Wildwing's arms were crossed as he nodded, agreeing with Tanya. Mallory walked away from the ducks discussing possible answers to look at the crates the lizards had been hiding behind. Canard, seeing her curiosity followed her with his eyes, not once taking them off her as she wandered, searching for something. The feeling of someone watching him drew his gaze from the stimulating redhead. Grin boldly stared at Canard, telling him without speaking that he was still watching him. He looked back at Wildwing, who was still conversing with Tanya and Duke, only to see Wildwing giving him a strange look.
Uncomfortable, Canard walked away, making it look like he was looking around for clues as to what might have been the Saurian's objective. However, the drake didn't have to search to find out what the saurian's wanted. They were after him.
Drone pieces were scattered about from the fight. He walked closer to Mallory, looking at the drones he shot on the floor, they were all missing their mechanical heads but one. It lay motionless on the floor, its lower half gone. He didn't think anything of it as he put his gun away. Out of the side of his eyes he saw the drone sit up suddenly, taking aim at the closet duck, which happened to be Mallory.
"Look out!" He shouted, alarming the others to danger. He charged head on at Mallory tackling her out of the way of the laser fire. Colliding with her heavily, he ended up knocking them both off their feet and unintentionally down some sort of metal shaft. Mallory cried out as they fell.
"Canard! Mallory!" Seeing them fall, Wildwing went to help them, but the drone was still active. It shot at Wildwing, making him jump back. Opening his shield, he blocked the drone's weak attempts to kill him and quickly disabled it.
While Wildwing was doing this, Grin and Tanya ran over to see if their two teammates were okay. Luckily, the fall wasn't far but they would need to find their friends to make sure they were okay. Tanya pressed a button on her omitool, opening the auto tracker. "L-let's go find them." She looked at Grin who nodded, following the blond.
…..
Wind whipped by them as they fell, Canard clutched Mallory close to his chest and turned them so he took the brunt of the fall. They landed on a discarded pile of sheets and towels, used for cleaning the products the factory made. Both breathed heavily from the adrenaline rush of fall two stories. "Are you alright?" Canard had yet to let her go, realizing she was practically laying in his arms on top of him, the redhead jumped up, dusting herself off.
"I'm fine." She mumbled. He only nodded, standing and dusting himself off a little as well, though not nearly as much as Mallory. She was trying too hard to dust herself off and not look at him. "We should find the others." She grumbled.
"Wait." Canard grabbed her wrist before she could walk away. "Now that we finally are alone, I need to speak with you."
The redhead was upset. "Are you saying you knocked me down that shaft on purpose?"
"What? No!" He seemed offended. "I was trying to save your life! You're welcome by the way!" After everything she still didn't trust him, this was getting very frustrating.
"Thanks for almost killing us. Now let's go."
"What do I have to do to gain your trust?" He ground his teeth.
"Nothing. There is nothing you can do."
"I just want your trust Mallory!"
"Well I don't trust you!" She growled.
"Why? I'm back to normal now!"
"I'm not sure you are."
"You are the most stubborn duck I've ever met in my life!" Canard clenched his fists in pure frustration.
"Then same could be said for you. Besides why do you care so much!" She threw her hands up in exasperation.
"Because obviously I want to be with you!" He yelled. "You'd think it'd be pretty clear with everything that happened on the rooftops that one night you captured me and then all the dropped hints."
"I thought you were just messing with my head."
"No. I was confused. I was supposed to kill you, but I couldn't. At the time, I thought it was illogical to desire an enemy that had been responsible for the miserable fate of being thrown in limbo. I didn't understand how my hate for you could turn so quickly into desire, so I tried to take you out first, so you wouldn't get in the way but every time I got close I couldn't. There was a part of me that remembered you and didn't want to hurt you."
"Canard…" She wasn't sure how to go on but needed to tell him how delicate the situation was. "I was dating Wildwing before that happened." He blinked, processing what she said. "I told him what happened between us on the roof and he broke up with me."
"… I didn't realiz-"
"Let's just focus on finding the others. We have no idea where we are." Mallory interrupted and opened her com, seeing the others signals. "Two are heading toward us, the others are heading around. Come on. We'll meet the two closest halfway."
The tan drake only sighed, defeated he didn't bother to argue. Now he felt bad because he had caused his best friend pain and didn't know all this time. Canard silently fell into step behind her as she led the way out.
Mallory glanced over her shoulder at Canard, he looked to be lost in thought. The frustration and confusion on his face was obvious. "Whatever. He wants to be friends now after he has tried to kill me so many times and was a major cause of Wildwing breaking up with me." She stopped suddenly, realizing what she had just thought. "Do I really blame Canard for my breakup? Is that really fair?" She did. She blamed Canard, it was one of the reasons she held a grudge against him. Truth was, she couldn't blame anyone but herself and Mallory had told herself this many times over but deep down it didn't work. "Dammit McMallard." She grumbled, looking down and feeling a little guilty for the way she had been treating him. He really had been trying to win her over, but she stubbornly refused. She sighed. "Canard… I don't know how to trust you at this point." She omitted.
The sentence was unexpected but appreciated. "Just give me a chance." He stepped forward seeing that she was finally listening.
Watching him a little nervously she nodded. "Alright, I can't promise anything, but I'll try."
"That's all I'm asking for."
"Hey guys!" Tanya yelled from down a hall, clearly on the same level as them now. "You guys okay?"
"We're fine now Tanya." Mallory answered, seeing both Tanya and Grin step out from around a corner. "Right?" She looked back at Canard who smiled.
"Right." He answered.
Tanya and Grin glanced at each other, wondering what had changed in the short amount of time between the two but didn't comment. "Everyone is worried. We split off to try and find you." Grin spoke up.
"Let's not keep them waiting then." Canard nodded, telling them to lead the way. Walking back, they were surprised to find Tanya and Grin had to go up a floor then going back down in order to reach them. One stairway had collapsed during the fighting causing them to have to take a round about way.
"You two okay?" Wildwing asked, watching as Canard and Grin both jumped down from over the crumbled stairs to their level.
"Yeah." Canard answered, not looking his best friend in the eye.
Grin jumped down being careful of his footing, not wanting to trip on a stone and hurt his ankle. Canard did the same but recovered quicker than Grin. Tanya moved to jump down next but didn't see a good spot to land. "Here I'll help." Wildwing offered, giving Tanya a hand by placing his hands on her waist and gently placing her down. She nodded her thanks and got out of the way so Mallory could get down.
Tanya stumbled a moment but Duke was quick and caught her fast, helping her keep her balance. "You alright sweetheart?"
"Uh ye-yeah." She stood on her own, a blush on her cheeks.
Duke put and arm around her shoulders. "Good, wouldn't want anything to happen to you." Grin watched the interaction. Keeping quiet about his dislike of Duke being so close with the blond.
Seeing Tanya was okay, Wildwing turned back to help Mallory only to find Canard already helping her. The tan duck placed his hands on Mallory's waist and set her on her feet carefully but in doing so he set her down very close to his body. The move was almost intimate and Wildwing felt his feathers bristle at his friend for the first time since he was here. Mallory nodded her thanks, but Canard had yet to release her waist, he stared at her a moment then finally let go and backed away.
"I didn't imagine that. Somethings going on." He hadn't forgotten when Mallory told him what happened between her and Canard on the rooftops. Until now there hadn't been cause for concern about a repeat because Mallory had kept Canard at a distance, now he wasn't so sure. Seeing this only brought forth fresh feelings of hurt. Yes, he was still mad at Mallory but that didn't mean he didn't have feelings for her. On the contrary, he had every intention of mending their relationship so if Canard was going to be a problem, he would need to speak with him alone. He would observe their interaction before pulling Canard aside. He didn't want to jump to conclusions and accuse his bubby before having solid evidence to back his concerns.
Only time would tell.
….