Hi everyone, I hope you're all doing well.

I'm currently trying to complete this story using camp nano, as I only have 5ish chapters left. I hope, I do have a habit of going off on tangents.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this.

TFG

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"Surely you can see it?" Ella asked, pinning her wavy mane partly up by a sparkly clip. She was looking into the mirror that hung on the back of the door in Wildwing's room as he was trying to fix the tie he was being made to wear. He hated ties and would avoid them like the plague, unless his mother forced him. The only exceptions being when Ella requests he wears one when they went to formal dances.

"No way! There's nothing there. They're just friends," Wildwing replied, getting more frustrated with each failed attempt to tie the tie. It wasn't being helped with Ella winding him up about his mother.

"Oh, come on. They've been more than friends for a long time now," Ella said with a cheeky smile looking up into his reflection.

"No way! He was my father's best friend. They're practically brother and sister now!" Wildwing exclaimed, giving up on the tie and throwing it on the bed. He flopped down on the bed next to the discarded fabric and tried to ignore the theory his girlfriend had suddenly come up with.

This made Ella burst into giggles watching her boyfriend look up in irritation. He looked so cute, lying in his childhood bedroom, on his tiny twin bed that seemed too small for his broad frame. His arms flung over his face as he tried to ignore the idea of his mother liking someone else who wasn't his father.

She stepped over to the bed and flung her leg over his body so that she was straddling his hips, the flaring skirt she was wearing fanning out around him. His hands instantly grabbed her hips, to steady her in place as she began to run her hands over his chest.

"We really don't have time for this," Wildwing said as he felt Ella undo his belt.

"Well, then, we better be quick," Ella replied, her hand already finished with the belt and starting on the fly of his pants. The groan of arousal that emitted from Wildwing almost made Ella giggle again at how easily she could get him turned on.

She could feel how aroused he was becoming, and Ella knew that she was getting more turned on by the second as well. It felt good to just let everything go and just enjoy the moment. Getting out of Bardon for a few days had cheered Ella up considerably, especially coming to one of Magda's family celebrations.

"Hey, what's taking you two so long?" came the annoyed voice of Canard from the other side of the closed door after a loud series of knocks.

"Tie issues!" Ella called out as Wildwing frantically tried to tie his tie and redo his belt before anyone else knocked on the door. Specifically, his mother, he did not feel like getting caught in the act with his girlfriend, again.

"Seriously, Wing! Just, buy a clip-on!" Canard called out, sounding more irritated than before.

"We'll be right down, keep your shirt on," Ella said, finishing her hair and fixing her slightly eschewed clothes.

"You better, my dad will kill us if we're late, they have a whole itinerary planned for him," Canard said, before he stomped off down the hallway.

"Who has a whole itinerary planned? I thought we were just going to dinner?" Ella asked, confused. They had all come to Central City the day before to celebrate Cal's promotion. He was being made Chief of Detectives at the Central City Police Department, and Magda had insisted on celebrating. She had also insisted on inviting Ella along to the celebration since she had been part of their family for the last few years.

"Oh, sorry, did I forget to tell you? It's now changed into this big celebration, with most of the police department throwing a congratulations party type thing. That's why we had to get dressed up. There's gonna be, twenty or thirty people there now. But I've been promised that there's going to be a great buffet and giant cake, with the thick type of sugary frosting, in the shape of a Cal's badge. I've also heard that there's going to be an open bar," Wildwing replied nonchalantly, not noticing that his girlfriend had suddenly frozen in fear.

"No, you didn't tell me," Ella replied, physically trying to supress her desire to run back to Bardon.

Wildwing looked up sheepishly, apologising for his mistake. He was sure that he had explained the change when he had explained that the dress code had change. Or maybe she just never asked the reason. It was only then that he noticed how her demeanour had completely changed. She was fidgeting and still at the same time.

"Hey, you okay? I'm sorry I didn't warn you, and I know that you're a little nervous about big crowds, but it'll be okay. It's just a bunch of cops," Wildwing said with a reassuring smile, not realising that that was entirely the problem.

"I, I really don't think it'll be a good idea for me to go. I mean, if it's a big thing with all his work, um, colleagues, then it's probably only be appropriate to bring family."

"You are family, Ella. I mean, well, you're going to be family, one day. Which, I mean, is, well, my mom really wants you to go and she organised it with this old detective, Charles Abacot, and he opened the invitation to family and friends."

As soon as she heard his name, Ella felt the urge to vomit. She started to hyperventilate and didn't even notice that Wildwing had abandoned his attempts to fasten his tie to hold her close. He was whispering soothing words as he rubbed comforting circles over Ella's back.

"Seriously, if you guys are just in there fucking, I'm gonna beat you both over the head with my stick!" Canard yelled as he flung open the unlocked door but lost all his steam once he saw what was happening.

"Hey, you guys okay? What happened?" Canard asked, concerned for the hen that had been such a big part of his life these last three years.

"Don't worry about it Canard, I'm just being silly. I got a bit upset, I didn't realise it was going to be such a big party, that's all. We'll head down now," Ella said, wiping her eyes. She then grabbed Wildwing's discarded tie and begun to tie it for him.

Wildwing tried to say something to his obviously upset girlfriend, but she just shook her head, telling him it was nothing. She then finished tying his tie before she put on her mother's pearls and shoes.

Once they were finally ready, they made their way downstairs to a very irritated Canard and a laughing Magda. It seemed that, even though Magda was the one who organised everything, Canard was more stressed out about it. He was currently yelling at Nosedive to get his feathery butt in gear or he would drag him out into the street whether he was dressed or not.

After they had all passed Magda's 'mother' inspection, they piled into her car. With Canard's driving they arrived far quicker than they should have, but they were still the last ones to arrive. The party having been in full swing for about half an hour by the time they made their way to the upstairs function room.

Opening the door, Ella counted about fifty police officers, all mingling around the large function room and having a good time with their loved ones. Everyone was well dressed, in shirts and ties. You could tell the uniformed officers from the plain clothed officers due to how comfortable they were in these clothes. It was a way for Ella to tell the difference between what were essentially street cops and detectives. That way, she'd know who to avoid.

The room did look quite festive, if police themed novelty store chic was something that you liked. There were silver and blue streamers and balloons strung and dotted about the room, with large silver shields pinned to the wall with the same handwritten serial number on each.

The buffet table, which was where Nosedive had instantly bolted to, was laden with all kinds of food. She could see all of Cal's favourite foods, as well as many of Canard's. The fabled badge shaped, heavily frosted cake had pride of place in the middle of the table and was currently being defended from Nosedive's advances by what looked like the department secretary.

And, thankfully, there was an open bar on one side of the room being manned by three ducks in white shirts and waistcoats. All of whom were busy pouring jugs of beers and opening several bottles of wine. Ella had a feeling she would be needing something a little stronger than wine or beer for this evening.

There were several small tables around the room, each with around six or eight seats. Ella could see that Cal was meant to sit at a table in the middle of the room, which had even more balloons around it, plus a large poster board of what appeared to be his rookie photo and his most recent photo.

"Wildwing, is that you, kid?" came a loud booming voice that made Ella freeze. She remembered that voice, screaming in her face when she was ten. His black plumage was still just as shiny as it had been all those years ago, but this time the face looked happy.

"Chief Baucane! Yeah, it's me," Wildwing replied, not noticing his girlfriend's frozen stance again.

"My Gods, boy, if I didn't know better, I'd say you were the spitting image of Soarin, the Great Mother rest his soul. And, who's this pretty thing? Is this the girlfriend I've heard so much about?" the large chief asked, almost in one breath.

"Um, yeah, this is my girlfriend, Ella. Ella, this is Chief Baucane, he was the chief of police for my dad," Wildwing said, gesturing towards Ella, who was trying to phase through the floor. But, luckily for her, the Chief of Police didn't seem to recognise her at all.

"Absolutely charmed to meet you. I've heard wonderful things about you, from both Cal and Magda. And I've heard some great things about you, Mr Flashblade. Your father would be really proud, especially when you finally join our ranks here. You've got, what, one year left after this one? I'll tell you what, how about we set you up with an internship here for the summer, get your feet wet, and get you known about the station," Chief Baucane said, obviously not as a question or a request, more of a command to which Wildwing could not say 'no' to.

The old chief had thrown his arm around Wildwing's shoulders and was leading him towards a group of older police officers, throwing an apology towards Ella for stealing her date. This left Ella alone in the middle of a room full of police officers, until Magda pulled her towards the star table, which Ella was supposed to be sitting at that night. She tried to shrug that honour off, desperately wishing she wasn't going to be placed in such a conspicuous place. But Magda wouldn't hear any of it, she merely gave her a large glass of white and told her to sit down and she would be back soon.

Not wanting to cause a scene, Ella sat down where she was told and downed her glass of wine in one go. She was very happy when another glass suddenly appeared in front of her, attached to the tan arm of Canard. He then also put down a plate of food and sat down next to her.

"You don't particularly look like you're having fun," Canard said, munching on a few chips.

"Neither do you, actually. Surely, this would be heaven. Surrounded by people who think you're amazing and who have basically set you up for life," Ella answered over the lip of her glass.

"Okay, don't tell Wing. Or my dad, but I don't think I'm going to go into the police force. I think I'm going to go for officer training in the air force instead," Canard admitted with a sad sigh. Ella knew that Canard and Wildwing had initially planned to go into the police force together, like their fathers had.

"Don't let Wildwing know that I told you, but Wildwing's planning to do a masters' back in DuCaine and then join the Bardon Police Department," Ella whispered to Canard, hoping to make him feel better.

"I did kinda guess that, him staying in Bardon at least. I also figured he'd do a masters'; he really does like learning. You know he's willing to change his plans to include you in his life, right? How about you, are you willing to change your life plans for him?" Canard asked, not even trying to be sly in the least.

"I have a feeling there's another question you want to ask?"

"Nothing really, it's not my place to ask. Wildwing, he's just, worried about some things, that's all. I think he wishes that you'd talk to him about what's obviously bothering you."

"I'd say the same to you, he really deserves to know that you don't plan to follow him into the police force, regardless of the city. And it looks like your dad is calling you across."

Canard looked up and saw both Magda and Cal waving Canard over. It seemed that Chief Baucane and Wildwing were there as well, with Nosedive looking sullen. This must be part of the planned itinerary that Wildwing had told her about earlier. She could see small notecards in Chief Baucane and Cal's hands, meaning that there were probably speeches coming up. A mic was suddenly brought out, as well as a projector that began to display several photos of Calford throughout the years.

The first one to start speaking was Chief Baucane, who had a very inspirational speech about what a wonderful addition Calford had been to the police department, and how he has developed over the years into the fine specimen of a super-detective.

Next, it was Canard's turn, who talked about how his father had been the best role model he could have ever wished for. He talked about how his father had worked hard, but had always had time for him, and had pushed him to be the best that he could be and to always follow his dreams. Ella couldn't help the smile that graced her beak, knowing it was foreshadowing for a talk between Canard and Cal that was inevitable now.

Finally, Calford stepped up to the mic and began with a joke that Ella didn't really appreciate as it was a cop joke. He then started to talk about his journey, and the people he had lost along the way, and some of the biggest cases he had taken on. It would have been interesting if Ella didn't wish to be anywhere else on the planet. She also wished that Wildwing had stayed next to her, instead of obviously setting up for another activity off to the side of Cal.

It was the sudden appearance of a glass of wine in front of Ella, and the heavy sigh of someone sitting down that put her on edge. She looked over and saw the fresh glass of white wine next to the large whiskey on the rocks.

"Was hoping to finally have a sit down with you," came a voice that Ella would never forget. All the memories of being sat in a room with the lone detective and angry D.A as a young child came flooding back to her, taking all of her strength and perseverance to stop the tears from falling.

She finally looked over and was greeted with the very calm face of Detective Matthew Abacot, lead detective on the theft of the Mallar Emerald ten years ago. He looked almost exactly the same, same sad blue eyes, same brown plumage with a green mane. And almost exactly the same shirt. The only difference in the ten years since she had last seen him seemed to be the number of white feathers peppering his mane.

"Detective Abacot," Ella said, emotionless as she had been when she was ten.

"Mademoiselle L'Orange, oh, I'm sorry, Miss Piedléger. Surprised that I know that? You really shouldn't be, I have been keeping tabs on you for the last ten years. I don't think I'll ever got those sad, green eyes of yours out of my head, especially when you were taken away. I was, well, happy for you when you got realised so early, and even happier when I found out that you were getting on well on parole. I've spoken to Miss Flocks a few times. But, when Cal came in and showed me the pictures of you and Soarin Flashblade's eldest son, I don't think I was expecting that. It was those eyes, though, I knew it was you."

"What do you want me to say, Detective? I swear, I didn't know it was him. I didn't even remember the name of that detective.'

"Nothing, really, I guess. Just, tickled by the coincidental nature of everything, I suppose."

"Why are speaking to me then?"

"Oh, your quite prickly still, I would have hoped several years out from under your brother's thumb would have softened you up a bit."

"I don't know anything about him. I haven't had any contact with him in years," Ella said, quickly and harshly, getting more on edge every second she was in the old detectives' presence.

"Oh, I know. And I also know that no one else in this room, despite all being detectives and senior police officers, have pegged you for the notorious thief of the Mallar Emerald, least of all Calford and Wildwing. Though, he was only a boy when you were arrested, so I can't really judge him for that."

The mere mention of being connected to her crime in the same statement as her boyfriend's name was enough to turn her blood to ice in her veins. Her head snapped so quickly to face Abacot that the older duck was sure he had heard bones crack. And he could almost laugh at her facial expression.

"Get that look of your face, I'm not going to tell anyone. As far as I'm concerned, you've paid your debt to society and you're working hard to better yourself, despite some obstacles. I'm merely here to say, well, that I'm proud of you, for turning your life around. And to wish you good luck in the future. I'm sure you're going to continue to work hard, based on everything I've heard from Calford and young Mr Flashblade. Though, I do hope you will eventually trust him enough to let him know about your past, especially if you two do indeed end up married. Enjoy your evening, Miss Piedléger."

With that, the older duck picked up his glass and left with a cheery smile. It still did not help the loud and erratic beating of Ella's heart. And it didn't ease for the rest of the night. Everywhere she looked, she saw a reminder of her past. She had found about fourteen officers who she had been in direct contact with because of her arrest, though only Abacot seemed to recognise her.

Everyone was super friendly towards her, as the girlfriend of the son of one of their hero cops who died in the line of duty. Everyone wanted to come up and speak to her, including Chief Baucane who was sitting at their table. This caused Ella to feel so ill that she was unable to touch her food, even though Wildwing and Magda kept bringing her more and more. She couldn't focus on anything that was said and she couldn't concentrate enough to take part in any of the activities, despite urgings from everyone at her table.

It was a great relief when they finally got to leave the hall, accompanied by several drunk police officers, who all came back to Cal's home for a few more drinks. And, as soon as they arrived at the Flashblade home, Ella immediately sought refuge in Wildwing's room.

"Hey, hey, are you okay?" Wildwing asked, having followed his girlfriend to his room.

"Yeah, no, not really, it was a bit much tonight. I'm, I'm really glad that it's over," Ella replied honestly, her shoulders sagging in relief.

"I'm sorry I never told you. I honestly thought that I did. I should have realised though that it was going to be a lot for you," Wildwing replied, taking Ella's hands, and pulling her closer. He knew that holding her close always made her feel better.

When he pulled her closer, he had no ulterior motive, other than making his girlfriend feel better. It was Ella who suddenly started to take it further. She almost ripped open his shirt, without undoing his accursed tie first, before she whipped off her blouse.

"Ella, not that I'm not, up for it, but I didn't bring anything with me," Wildwing replied sheepishly, he had meant to grab a pack before they got home, but he couldn't get away from anyone all night.

"It's okay, I've been on the pill for months," Ella replied sultrily. She had been meaning to tell him, but due to everything that was going on it often slipped her mind. They had had a few incidents over the years. Broken condoms, getting caught in the moment, mad dashes to a convenience store, next day trips to the doctors' office, and pure moments of stupidity. That was why Ella had made the decision to try and minimise these incidents by taking oral contraceptives on top of using condoms. Though, she did have a few instances of forgetting to take the pill.

It seemed Wildwing didn't need to be told twice, his clothes were quickly discarded. It was only the mad naked dash to lock the door that had the two of them break apart long enough to catch their breath. It was lucky that Wildwing remembered to lock the door, as Nosedive did try to barge into the room the next morning. He practically bounced of the closed door, giving both Ella and Wildwing enough of a warning to get dressed.

"I thought I spoke to you about sharing a room Ella," Magda said calmly as she put breakfast on the table, causing both Ella and Wildwing to blush furiously and sputter out an apology, only to be shushed by Cal. His head was slumped on the table, obviously suffering from the worst hangover he's had in a long time.

It was Magda who had to take Ella, Wildwing and Canard to the train station that day, as Cal was not fit to drive. But she didn't mind at all, she enjoyed getting to spend every minute she could with her boys. Even though they would be back in a few weeks to go to her eldest niece's wedding and then it was only another month or so until the end of their third year.

"Hey, you guys go ahead, I need to talk to mom for a little while, I'll catch up!" Wildwing called to Canard and Ella, who only nodded and told him to hurry up.

"What's wrong sweetie?" Magda said, worried that something bad had happened to her eldest son.

"Um, nothing's wrong. I was just, I've been thinking a lot, you know about the future. And, I wish I had talked to you yesterday about this, but, well, I was wondering if I could get Grandma Addie's engagement band?" Wildwing blurted out in one breath.

To say that Magda was shocked, would be a complete and utter lie. She had been expecting this for a while, she just didn't realise it was going to happen so soon. Which she said out loud, causing her son to offer a hasty explanation that he wasn't planning on proposing anytime soon. He just knew that it might take a while to find the band and he had some other things that he needed to do first.

"Of course, but what do you need to do first?"

"I, um, well, I want to find her brother. I think that's what's been bothering her for the last few months. I, well, I want his blessings for it. And, to get that, they kinda need to make peace first, so that's gonna take a lot of time."

"That's a very admirable goal, sweetie, but you might not be able to accomplish it," Magda said with a sad smile, brushing the few man feathers back from Wildwing's face.

"I know, but I want to try. I want there to be some member of her family there when we walk down that aisle," Wildwing said, nodding his head at the thought.

"If I haven't said it recently, I'm proud of you, sweetie, and I'm very much looking forward to having a daughter. But, please, by the Great Mother, you better not make me a grandmother before I'm fifty!"

Wildwing burst out laughing, only being able to promise to do his best. They had had a long talk about that last year, after Magda had come to Bardon for a surprise visit and found her son in a very compromising position with his girlfriend.

"What was that about?" Ella asked, when Wildwing caught up with her and Canard on the platform. He still had a deep blush across his bill, sparking her curiosity.

He merely smiled, leaned down, and run his bill across hers, slowly and softly. The train whistle was what broke them apart, though Canard's disgusted moans almost disturbed them. Without much ado, Wildwing grabbed both Ella's and his bags to prepare to board the train.

During the ride back to campus, both Canard and Wildwing pulled out their computers to work on some assignment, while Ella pulled out a recent received book. After all these years, Mr Trill still sent her books to read and assignments to complete. Every time she received a new book, it would always put a smile back on her beak.

When they finally arrived back at DuCaine the two boys had to rush back to their rooms, to get ready for a late practice. While Ella had to grab her things to do the late shift at the Scene. It was still two months until the end of the term, but the professors were piling on the work, so many of the waitresses had already quit to prepare for upcoming exams.

The run back to her apartment was nothing special, she passed several freaked-out students which wasn't uncommon for that time of year. There were several professors, professionals and tourists wandering around the town as well. No one really stood out, and besides, Ella was entirely strung out from the night before and exhausted for the five-hour trip back. If there had been someone standing out, she probably wouldn't have noticed.

That was why she didn't notice the two drakes sat on the bench pretending to read while wearing very dark glasses. If she had given them another look, she would have recognised the tall grey feathered, broad shouldered drake on the left and the short, white plumed drake with the slight build and blue mane. And, if she had looked closer, she would have noticed them taking her photo.

"I can't believe it's her, Lex," the taller drake said, making a note of where Ella was going.

"I know, Rick. She was here, this whole time. How many times have we been through here in the last few years, and she was here, right here!" the shorter drake answered, photographing Ella's movements.

"Fuck, I can't get over how good she looks. She's a fucking knock-out!"

"Hey, drake, don't let Duke catch you saying that" Lex answered seriously, not even daring to think about what their leader might do to them if their dicks wandered out of their pants.

"I know, but you have to admit, she's gorgeous. Who would have thought that skinny little girl would grow into that," Rick said simply, still recording Ella's movements.

The two drakes spent the next few days documenting Ella's movements and sending the information back to Duke, who had set himself up in a luxury apartment just off campus. He had decided to keep himself away, until he was absolutely certain that this girl was his sister.

He wasn't alone in his new luxury apartment though; he had been joined by his long-time confidante and mentor. The older drake was currently lounging over the plush couch while drinking a very expensive sherry. He was wearing an exquisite cashmere sweater and tailored pants, though he had kicked off his shoes as soon as he sat down.

In the years since he had retired from the Brotherhood, Duiken had kept himself active. He now had seven grandchildren to chase after, as well as three children to nag, on his private beach on one of the Southern Islands. But he was always to fly back when Duke called. He often thought that if he was not there to temper the worst of Duke's impulses then his beloved Brotherhood would fall into something that he would not be able to recognise.

He knew that Duke had had a hard time over the last ten years, since his one reason to live had been taken away from him. Duiken had hoped that his young protégé would find a nice girl to have kids with by this point. Unfortunately, that had not worked out well for anyone involved, least of all the not so nice girls.

"If you stare any harder through that glass, L'Orange, then you're going to have to replace it!" Duiken called from his place on the couch.

His grey feathered companion had not moved in three hours, just watching the park from where he stood at the window. He could see two of his most trusted accomplices from there. And, Duiken suspected, he hoped to catch a glimpse of his sister.

"Come, come eat. You will not do well if you don't eat something. And look, we've had a fantastic delivery from that fine eatery uptown. It would be a shame to let it go to waste," Duiken said, as he picked up some salmon pate.

"She might walk by," Duke simply said, still looking out of the window, utterly expressionless.

"And, from this height, even that fine piece of surveillance equipment that replaced your eye would not be able to see her correctly. So, save yourself the trouble and come and eat, your associated will be by soon."

No sooner had Duiken spoke when Lex and Ricky knocked on the door to be let in. Both entered quickly and lay down their surveillance gear and what they had documented. They had even arranged it into folders with labels like 'friend one', 'friend two', 'boss one' and 'the boy'.

"'The Boy'?" Duiken asked, picking up that folder to open it up and have a look. It contained photos of a very tall, very broad, white drake.

"Yeah, that's, well, we think that's Ellie's, um, boyfriend" Ricky answered, nervously, casting glances towards Duke to see how he was taking the news.

"I don't need to know about some yuppie student. Don't really need to know about the rest of these ducks either. They don't matter. Only she does, what did you find out about Ellie?" Duke answered, gesturing towards the table of information.

"Um, a lot, really, and, I think these guys are important to understand who she is, now that she's, you know, an adult," Lex answered, unsure about how to approach his employer.

"Come now, Duke my boy, these people who your sister has surrounded herself with are important to her and to understand her. I really think you should look through and get a good idea of some of them, don't you think?" Duiken asked, handing over the folder of the supposed boyfriend and hoping that there weren't too many photos of that boy touching Ellie.

"They won't matter, once she's back with me, I'll be all she needs again," Duke said as he accepted the folder labelled 'Ella Piedléger' from Ricky and ignored the look that Duiken shot their younger associates.

Opening the folder, Duke looked into the green eyes of his younger sister, who he hadn't seen in almost ten years. And, they took his breath away. He had spent the years wondering what his sister would look like, if she would look more like their father or their mother, or maybe a little bit like him.

Ellie still had her beautiful green eyes, which looked to be shining in the photo. She looked tall and willowy, like their mother. But she looked strong, like she had still kept up with all her training. She had a beautiful smile, that made her natural beauty glow without a single touch of make-up. Her mane was fantastic, freer than their mother's who would always wear it up in a single bun. Whereas Ellie's mane was always flowing down her back in loose waves of brown and silver.

But, overall, Ellie was the spitting image of their mother.

"She looks like mama," Duke said, almost to himself.

"How do you want to go about this, then?" Lex asked after several moments of uncomfortable silence on his part.

"We keep watching, then I'll make contact," Duke said looking up, as if it was the most obvious path forward.

"Are you sure that's wise, my boy? You didn't part on the best of terms," Duiken said, to which Lex made a comment under his breath agreeing with the older master. Though, the hacker wilted under Duke's cold, one-eyed stare. Duiken could make comments, as they were often very diplomatic, but no one else had the same right.

"What do you suggest?" Duke asked, finally putting down the folder, though not closing it.

"Well, my boy, perhaps I should make contact first. We didn't part well, in fact, I don't think we parted at all. It might be best for me to make your first offers."

Both Lex and Ricky stood stock still, listening very carefully. They both knew that Duke had been desperate to get his sister back, and it had taken a lot to talk him down from just bursting into Ellie's place of work, throwing her in the back of his car and driving off. It was only Duiken who managed to talk him down from that plan.

"That might be the best plan," Duke finally acknowledged, nodding his head slowly and allowing Lex and Ricky to breath a size of relief.

"You should also be aware, my boy, that she might not be willing to listen to either of us. And, we may have to respect those wishes, if you want to be part of her life," Duiken said plainly.

The apartment descended so quickly into shocked silence that you could hear the spring snow falling outside the window. Neither Ricky nor Lex had the courage to breath. Both were sure that Duiken would now be taking his last breath and they were going to see the murder of the old master.

"Why would she not want to come?" Duke asked, standing up to his full height and obviously trying to give an air of intimidation towards the old master.

"The same reason she would not see you before now. She might not have forgiven you."

"I think it'll be fine. I am, after all, her only family member still living, she can't hold onto that resentment forever."

"I do hope you are right, my boy, I wish to see her again. I do believe we should find out as much as we can before we move though."

"Um, I think I might have some more information for you that might give you a better idea. Jesh followed her a few nights ago. And, she, well, she broke into a house. I don't think that she stole anything though," Lex said quickly, handing over a smaller folder that only held the date on the outside.

Duke accepted the plain folder and opened it up. Inside were several black and white photos, obviously taken at night using a night vision camera. They showed Ellie walking around a upscale neighbourhood, surveilling several of the houses. Then, there were other photos of her entering one of the houses via an upstairs window and then exiting the same house, if the time stamps were correct.

"It's the thrill, it's hard to get over it. I believe she might be desiring a little more than what that college jock could give her," Duke said with a smile, knowing deep in his bones that his sister will be with him again soon.

Palacegirl: thank you for all the reviews of all my stories, it was lovely to read. I hope I have done well with the red relationships I've portrayed.

Rocky704: thanks again.

TDG