"Gotta be bothering you, ain't it?"

Danielle gasped within her quiet cries, looking up to see the Commander standing in the open doorway. Had she left it open? She quickly stood up, brushing her tears away even though more began to fall.

"Sorry sir," she whispered to him. He did not respond right away, and as she tried to compose herself, Danielle asked, "Are you going to tell the captain?"

"He doesn't have to," Canard responded from behind the Commander, coming into view. Both their expressions were frightfully neutral.

Danielle felt nervous, and mortified. "Oh, Sir. I...I..."

Then the Commander cleared his throat. "Sit down, Angelwing."

She did as she was told. Canard and the commander entered the room with the door closing behind them.

"Bluefoot's gone, Commander. And we lost so many already. You have every right to be angry at me... I know no apology can be enough Sir, but..." Danielle said as her eyes welled up with fresh tears. Even so, she straightened her back with her hands in her lap. Bracing for a harsh lashing from her commanding officer. She knew she deserved it.

However, instead of yelling at her like she thought he would, the commander put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a comforting look. Like a father consoling his child. "You mustn't keep blaming yourself darlin'. Every medic does their best, sometimes it just happens anyway. Besides, you weren't prepared for field duty. And the responsibility for that is mine." He said, softly.

Danielle was stunned. How can the Commander say that about himself? "But...I-it was me who was out there, Sir. I'm the one who messed up."

"No. As the Commander, I should make sure my soldiers are properly trained. But I haven't done that with you. I only assumed that if you knew how to avoid monitor towers, and could patch up a soldier, that would be enough to go on.' The older duck replied with a steady tone. 'But that wasn't enough. I should have ensured that you had training before sending you out on a mission."

Danielle didn't say anything about that, out of respect for the commander. Though a small part of her acknowledged that some training before hand would have been nice. But she wasn't about to say that.

"'Ah know you did what you could out there. Now, instead 'a focusing on what you couldn't do, you just focus on what you can still do.' The Commander replied to the young female. 'Yer grandfather once told me; 'Don't give up, take it one step at a time, and do the next right thing.'"

"The next right thing…' Danielle murmured, "So in this situation...uh...the next right thing is…" She struggled to think of what she can still do.

"The next right thing,' The Commander continued, as he headed for the door. 'is for you to take care of the soldiers that are still here. And for me to make sure you get properly trained for field missions."

The young female paused. "Oh. Of course, Sir."

Commander nodded to her and stood up. "Take some time to think about it. Good night Angelwing." he gently advised as he turned and left the room. Canard was about to get up follow him when he heard Danielle say, "But even if I do get trained, what if then something else happens? Or, what if I still fail?"

The female looked up at the young male saddened but curious. "You face trials like this every day, Captain. How do you handle it?"

Canard didn't answer her right away, instead looking briefly down from her curious gaze. "I'm not sure that you do."

Danielle's brows creased into a frown. "Well, of course you do. You're still here, aren't you?"

"That's not handling it, though," he gently argued. "That's loyalty."

She seemed more concerned when she asked, "So you're not handling it?"

He shrugged, letting out a sigh. "Some days are better than others. But on the bad days, I ... I just remember who I'm fighting for. What else is there, if I don't?"

Danielle looked at him. "I g- I guess that's good point, but still..."

"Yeah?"

"Aren't you...I don't know...worried, maybe?"

"About...?"

"About being killed in battle? Or even your friends dying?' The dolly tried to hold back a sniff. She should not be crying in the presence of commanding officers, that's just wrong. Right? 'If that happened to..to anyone of you guys, I wouldn't know what to do..."

Surprisingly, Canard let out a breathy laugh. "Every hour of the day." His hand came up to her shoulder, sensing her change in demeanor. "Angelwing, no one expects you to be unaffected by all of this. That worry never goes away, but ... you push through. You go to bed and hope tomorrow is better."

"...okay."

Danielle watched him get up and head for the door and a feeling of fear and loneliness slipped into her heart. Never before had she felt so strongly, this want, this need for him to stay.'I already lost Derek. I can't lose you too.' "Um...Captain?"

He stopped and turned to look at her, wordlessly. "If it's not too much trouble, could you please stay here a little longer? I-I just...I don't want to be alone right now."

Canard didn't say a word at that request. But as he gazed at Danielle's melancholy expression, he could see a sense of pleading in her eyes. She really wanted him to stay. As he just stood there, Danielle started to regret her asking. Embarrassed, she lowered her head in shame. Then she felt someone sitting on the bed next to her, she looked up to find Canard sitting there. So he decided to stay with her. The pair of ducks sat in comforting silence for a long while. And as she was feeling better, Danielle began to engage in conversation with Canard. They conversed quietly, but contentedly.

In the days that followed, Danielle started to feel better, little by little. While the fear of losing anyone else still lingered, it was being pushed into the back of her mind. But one things for certain, her comrades were still here. And so was the Captain.