A/N: Happy Boxing Day! ;)
*
Chapter 3
"Jerry, is everything packed?"
Belinda towered over her suitcase, taking great care with her stomach. Today was the day - she was off to the hospital.
"Yes, I should think so", said Jerry, coming into the bedroom from the kitchen. He bowed before Belinda and took her hand to kiss it.
"At your service, M'Lady", he said, as Belinda giggled.
"Now I know why I married you", she said, giving him a gentle tap on the nose.
Jerry got up and put both his hands gently on her stomach.
"I love you", he whispered in her ear.
Belinda's smile faded and she melted against his chest. "Oh, Jerry, I love you too. I just don't want to lose another baby".
"I know", Jerry replied softly. "But our child WILL survive".
It just HAS to, he added to himself, as he lowered his head to kiss Belinda on the lips. As he wrapped his arms carefully around her, he crossed his fingers behind her back.
*
DM stared down at the framed photo of Damien as he lay back on his pillows. His brother's brown eyes seemed to be staring a hole right through him.
"What am I going to do?" he suddenly asked the picture. "I mean, I know it's wrong to dream about you and not do anything about it, but they're my last living memories of you. But I certainly don't want to get sick; who would defend London then?"
Damien's eyes seemed to adopt a sad look. DM sighed and rolled onto his stomach.
"I miss you more every day", he said. "And all those years I spent recovering from your death; they were the longest and most painful years of my life. To dream about you again is both wonderful and frightening; it just seems to be the only way to have you with me, even if it's just at night. But the other dream...I really do want to get rid of it. What do you think I should do? If I'm treated for one dream, then the other is treated for in the process; and then I won't have the dreams again. I wish I could just keep the happier visions, and erase the bad ones. But I can't.
"So...what am I going to do?"
As DM would have expected, there was no reply.
Maybe I am going mad, he thought to himself as he put the picture back on the bedside table. I'm talking to a picture. Pictures can't offer you advice. In fact, I don't see how Damien can offer me advice at all.
DM left his bedroom and went to the lounge, finding it to be deserted. Frowning, he left, calling for Kim and Penfold.
"Kim! Penfold! Where are you?" he yelled as he passed the bathroom door.
"I'm in here, DM!" called Kim's voice from inside the bathroom.
"Oh, hello Kim!" DM called through the door. "I just wondered where you were. Are you alright?"
"Just taking a shower!" she replied.
DM gulped and stepped away from the bathroom door. He hadn't been expecting that.
A few minutes later, Kim came out wearing a bathrobe and with a towel wrapped around her head.
"Hey, you OK?" she asked. DM was avoiding her eyes, trying not to let them rove over Kim's robe.
"Yes, fine", he said nervously.
"Oh, you wanted to talk to us about something?" added Kim.
"Um, yes - um, I'll see you and Penfold in the lounge in ten minutes", said DM. "Where is he, by the way?"
"On the phone to his auntie", chuckled Kim. "I think we're going to have a large phone bill at the end of the day!"
DM smiled. "I'll go and get him". He walked off down the corridor, half- relieved and half-disappointed. After searching through two rooms, he found Penfold in the guest-bedroom talking on the phone.
"So auntie, I think the Chief's not very well", the hamster was saying. "I mean, he always looks tired in the morning and after..." His voice trailed off when he saw DM in the doorway.
"I've got to go", he said quickly. "Bye". He hung up.
"Penfold, I have to see you in the lounge", said DM, rasing an eyebrow at the guilty-looking hamster.
"Right Chief. Erm - ". The hamster made to leave, but DM gently took him by the shoulder and spun him round to face him.
"Penfold, you're not worried about me, are you?" asked DM gently.
"'Course I'm worried about you!" cried Penfold suddenly. "Every morning, you're tired and hagged. And I'm not expecting you to just move on after what Crumhorn did to you!"
"Penfold, I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine, really", replied Danger Mouse.
"No you're not", said Penfold quietly. "We've known each other for four years; you and I both know you only act like this when there's a good reason. So don't you dare tell me that everything's alright".
"Penfold, if I told you, then you would start to worry even more. And you're still young".
"I'm old enough to know how the world works. And I KNOW that you miss Damien".
Penfold suddenly looked and sounded so adult that DM couldn't come up with a reply. His friend really was full of surprises sometimes.
"You really get the better of me sometimes, Penfold", said DM to his friend. The young assistant's eyes filled with tears.
"I just don't want to lose you", he sobbed as DM drew him close and allowed him to cry into his shoulder.
"It's alright, Penfold", said DM quietly. "It's alright...it's alright...". He closed his eyes tightly, the only way to stop the threatening tears of guilt and sorrow.
"Guys?"
Penfold and DM looked around to see Kim standing in the doorway, fully dressed. She came in and sat on Penfold's other side. She gave him a hug as the hamster wiped his eyes.
"You'd better tell him about your dreams, DM", she said quietly.
"Dreams?" Penfold looked between them.
"Penfold, I've been having these nightmares", explained DM.
"About Damien?"
"Yes".
"What do you see in them?"
DM explained the visions that he always saw in his sleep.
"Professor Squakencluck wants to help me", he said. "He wants to use 'dream therapy'".
"What's that?" asked Kim.
"Apparently I have the dreams without going to sleep", said DM. "He uses a sort of 'dream machine' - he told me".
"That's great!" enthused Kim. "You can get more sleep and stop worrying so".
"I suppose so..." sighed DM.
"Chief?" asked Penfold, noticing his friend's hesitation. "Don't you want the therapy?"
"Yes and no", said DM. He explained the problem.
"I DO want to have the Halloween replay treated for", he concluded. "But...I don't want to lose the other. I guess you could say I like reliving my childhood memories".
"But if you don't get rid of the dreams, you'll get sick!" pointed out Penfold. "You might go mad!"
"Yes. I just don't know what to do".
"I'll make us some lunch", said Kim, standing up. "Maybe we'll be able to come up with something between the three of us. After all, aren't we a team?"
DM smiled. He was sure that whatever decision he made, his friends would stand right by him.
*
Two figures stood on the top of a hill. Both were dressed in oversize anoraks and had their hoods up to keep out the rain that was coming down. Below them, a car was parked by the side of the road. The two figures were watching it intently.
"I think they might be lost. Perfect. Are you ready?" asked the shorter of the two suddenly.
"Si, of course", replied the taller in an Italian accent. "You-a heard-a what the Boss said. We kidnap-a Taylor and-a his-a wife, and then bring them to-a him".
"Last time we kidnapped someone, it was Taylor's sister, but she escaped", muttered the shorter.
"Alright-a, Leatherhead, that's-a enough!" snapped the taller, throwing back his hood angrily to reveal the face and beak of a crow. "It-a was not- a my fault! Danger Mouse-a, he and his-a assistant, they come and-a save the sister! And-a they managed to escape one of Greenback's-a cleverest traps-a yet!"
"Alright, Stilletto, sorry. But just remember", said Leatherhead, thowing back his own hood a bit to reveal his own crow face. "I'm giving up a comicbook convention for this!"
"Oh, for goodness-a sake!" snapped Stilletto, grabbing hold of his partner's hood and throwing it firmly over Leatherhead's head. "Come on. The Boss, he get-a impatient if we are too long".
He took Leatherhead by the arm and led him down the hill where the red car stood.
*
"We're lost", said Jerry, sitting back in his seat.
Belinda, sitting next to him, gave a growl. "You idiot! I told you to turn left back at Gilligan's Road, but you didn't listen. Now we don't know where we are!"
Jerry, his patience running short, turned to her and snapped: "It's not my fault! I can't see anything for this blasted rain!"
"Well, what do you expect me to do about it? You know, sometimes, you really are a moron, Jerry!"
"OK, alright, look, let's just calm down", said Jerry, not wanting his wife to get too stressed. "Let's just think for a moment. Now I turned left at Gilligan's Road, and then took the first right bend in Swedey Street. Where are we?"
"I don't know. None of this looks familiar to me". Belinda cleaned a patch of moisture from her window and peered out at the heavy rain.
"We'll have to ask someone".
"Jerry", said Belinda, turning back to him fiercely. "Pray tell, who exactly is going to be out and about in this weather?"
"Him, for a start", replied Jerry, pointing out of the windscreen. Belinda followed his gaze and saw a tall person in an over-sized anorak standing next to the car. She couldn't see the person's face as the rain was too heavy and besides, the stranger had his hood up.
"What's he doing out here?" she cried. "He's mad! Don't ask him, Jerry. Let's just go on and - "
"Hey, maybe he's stuck out here", said Jerry, undoing his seatbelt and grabbing an umbrella from the backseat. "Maybe we can give him a ride in exchange for directions. And besides", he added, as he opened his door, it's worth asking him, right?"
Belinda watched worriedly through the windscreen as her husband walked over to the figure outside, shielded by the umbrella.
"Excuse me", said Jerry as he approached the stranger. "Erm - my wife and I are on the way to hospital, but we seem to have got a bit lost. Can you tell me where we are?"
"Oh, Si, Senure", said a muffled Italian accent. "I will-a tell you where we are alright".
Then he threw back his hood and Jerry gasped when he saw a beak poking out from underneath.
"Now-a, Leatherhead!" yelled the crow as Jerry stood gaping.
Someone else came up behind Jerry and stuck something in his face - a substance of chloroform!
Jerry smelt foul cloth before feeling dizzy, and then he passed out. Before he fell unconscious, he heard Belinda screaming.
Down the road, a St. Bernard was sitting under a tree to shelter from the rain. He pricked up his ears when he heard screaming not far away. He stood up and took to his heels through the rain, and was just in time to see an open van parked next to a car. As he watched, two crows came out and shut the doors, both cackling. Then the shorter of the two spoke.
"We've got them! Greenback will be pleased!"
"It's Stilletto and Leatherhead, Baron Greenback's henchmen!" the St. Bernard hissed to himself. "Whatever they've done, it must be something big! Better alert headquarters!"
He quickly lifted a paw and turned on the communicator on his collar.
"Headquarters? This is Agent 14 here. Something's going on - and it involves Greenback!"
*
A/N: No, Agent 14 is not actually my character. He had a small part in the episode 'Duckula Meets Frankenstoat', just so you know. I thought it would be nice to use him again, as I took a liking to him.
*
Chapter 3
"Jerry, is everything packed?"
Belinda towered over her suitcase, taking great care with her stomach. Today was the day - she was off to the hospital.
"Yes, I should think so", said Jerry, coming into the bedroom from the kitchen. He bowed before Belinda and took her hand to kiss it.
"At your service, M'Lady", he said, as Belinda giggled.
"Now I know why I married you", she said, giving him a gentle tap on the nose.
Jerry got up and put both his hands gently on her stomach.
"I love you", he whispered in her ear.
Belinda's smile faded and she melted against his chest. "Oh, Jerry, I love you too. I just don't want to lose another baby".
"I know", Jerry replied softly. "But our child WILL survive".
It just HAS to, he added to himself, as he lowered his head to kiss Belinda on the lips. As he wrapped his arms carefully around her, he crossed his fingers behind her back.
*
DM stared down at the framed photo of Damien as he lay back on his pillows. His brother's brown eyes seemed to be staring a hole right through him.
"What am I going to do?" he suddenly asked the picture. "I mean, I know it's wrong to dream about you and not do anything about it, but they're my last living memories of you. But I certainly don't want to get sick; who would defend London then?"
Damien's eyes seemed to adopt a sad look. DM sighed and rolled onto his stomach.
"I miss you more every day", he said. "And all those years I spent recovering from your death; they were the longest and most painful years of my life. To dream about you again is both wonderful and frightening; it just seems to be the only way to have you with me, even if it's just at night. But the other dream...I really do want to get rid of it. What do you think I should do? If I'm treated for one dream, then the other is treated for in the process; and then I won't have the dreams again. I wish I could just keep the happier visions, and erase the bad ones. But I can't.
"So...what am I going to do?"
As DM would have expected, there was no reply.
Maybe I am going mad, he thought to himself as he put the picture back on the bedside table. I'm talking to a picture. Pictures can't offer you advice. In fact, I don't see how Damien can offer me advice at all.
DM left his bedroom and went to the lounge, finding it to be deserted. Frowning, he left, calling for Kim and Penfold.
"Kim! Penfold! Where are you?" he yelled as he passed the bathroom door.
"I'm in here, DM!" called Kim's voice from inside the bathroom.
"Oh, hello Kim!" DM called through the door. "I just wondered where you were. Are you alright?"
"Just taking a shower!" she replied.
DM gulped and stepped away from the bathroom door. He hadn't been expecting that.
A few minutes later, Kim came out wearing a bathrobe and with a towel wrapped around her head.
"Hey, you OK?" she asked. DM was avoiding her eyes, trying not to let them rove over Kim's robe.
"Yes, fine", he said nervously.
"Oh, you wanted to talk to us about something?" added Kim.
"Um, yes - um, I'll see you and Penfold in the lounge in ten minutes", said DM. "Where is he, by the way?"
"On the phone to his auntie", chuckled Kim. "I think we're going to have a large phone bill at the end of the day!"
DM smiled. "I'll go and get him". He walked off down the corridor, half- relieved and half-disappointed. After searching through two rooms, he found Penfold in the guest-bedroom talking on the phone.
"So auntie, I think the Chief's not very well", the hamster was saying. "I mean, he always looks tired in the morning and after..." His voice trailed off when he saw DM in the doorway.
"I've got to go", he said quickly. "Bye". He hung up.
"Penfold, I have to see you in the lounge", said DM, rasing an eyebrow at the guilty-looking hamster.
"Right Chief. Erm - ". The hamster made to leave, but DM gently took him by the shoulder and spun him round to face him.
"Penfold, you're not worried about me, are you?" asked DM gently.
"'Course I'm worried about you!" cried Penfold suddenly. "Every morning, you're tired and hagged. And I'm not expecting you to just move on after what Crumhorn did to you!"
"Penfold, I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine, really", replied Danger Mouse.
"No you're not", said Penfold quietly. "We've known each other for four years; you and I both know you only act like this when there's a good reason. So don't you dare tell me that everything's alright".
"Penfold, if I told you, then you would start to worry even more. And you're still young".
"I'm old enough to know how the world works. And I KNOW that you miss Damien".
Penfold suddenly looked and sounded so adult that DM couldn't come up with a reply. His friend really was full of surprises sometimes.
"You really get the better of me sometimes, Penfold", said DM to his friend. The young assistant's eyes filled with tears.
"I just don't want to lose you", he sobbed as DM drew him close and allowed him to cry into his shoulder.
"It's alright, Penfold", said DM quietly. "It's alright...it's alright...". He closed his eyes tightly, the only way to stop the threatening tears of guilt and sorrow.
"Guys?"
Penfold and DM looked around to see Kim standing in the doorway, fully dressed. She came in and sat on Penfold's other side. She gave him a hug as the hamster wiped his eyes.
"You'd better tell him about your dreams, DM", she said quietly.
"Dreams?" Penfold looked between them.
"Penfold, I've been having these nightmares", explained DM.
"About Damien?"
"Yes".
"What do you see in them?"
DM explained the visions that he always saw in his sleep.
"Professor Squakencluck wants to help me", he said. "He wants to use 'dream therapy'".
"What's that?" asked Kim.
"Apparently I have the dreams without going to sleep", said DM. "He uses a sort of 'dream machine' - he told me".
"That's great!" enthused Kim. "You can get more sleep and stop worrying so".
"I suppose so..." sighed DM.
"Chief?" asked Penfold, noticing his friend's hesitation. "Don't you want the therapy?"
"Yes and no", said DM. He explained the problem.
"I DO want to have the Halloween replay treated for", he concluded. "But...I don't want to lose the other. I guess you could say I like reliving my childhood memories".
"But if you don't get rid of the dreams, you'll get sick!" pointed out Penfold. "You might go mad!"
"Yes. I just don't know what to do".
"I'll make us some lunch", said Kim, standing up. "Maybe we'll be able to come up with something between the three of us. After all, aren't we a team?"
DM smiled. He was sure that whatever decision he made, his friends would stand right by him.
*
Two figures stood on the top of a hill. Both were dressed in oversize anoraks and had their hoods up to keep out the rain that was coming down. Below them, a car was parked by the side of the road. The two figures were watching it intently.
"I think they might be lost. Perfect. Are you ready?" asked the shorter of the two suddenly.
"Si, of course", replied the taller in an Italian accent. "You-a heard-a what the Boss said. We kidnap-a Taylor and-a his-a wife, and then bring them to-a him".
"Last time we kidnapped someone, it was Taylor's sister, but she escaped", muttered the shorter.
"Alright-a, Leatherhead, that's-a enough!" snapped the taller, throwing back his hood angrily to reveal the face and beak of a crow. "It-a was not- a my fault! Danger Mouse-a, he and his-a assistant, they come and-a save the sister! And-a they managed to escape one of Greenback's-a cleverest traps-a yet!"
"Alright, Stilletto, sorry. But just remember", said Leatherhead, thowing back his own hood a bit to reveal his own crow face. "I'm giving up a comicbook convention for this!"
"Oh, for goodness-a sake!" snapped Stilletto, grabbing hold of his partner's hood and throwing it firmly over Leatherhead's head. "Come on. The Boss, he get-a impatient if we are too long".
He took Leatherhead by the arm and led him down the hill where the red car stood.
*
"We're lost", said Jerry, sitting back in his seat.
Belinda, sitting next to him, gave a growl. "You idiot! I told you to turn left back at Gilligan's Road, but you didn't listen. Now we don't know where we are!"
Jerry, his patience running short, turned to her and snapped: "It's not my fault! I can't see anything for this blasted rain!"
"Well, what do you expect me to do about it? You know, sometimes, you really are a moron, Jerry!"
"OK, alright, look, let's just calm down", said Jerry, not wanting his wife to get too stressed. "Let's just think for a moment. Now I turned left at Gilligan's Road, and then took the first right bend in Swedey Street. Where are we?"
"I don't know. None of this looks familiar to me". Belinda cleaned a patch of moisture from her window and peered out at the heavy rain.
"We'll have to ask someone".
"Jerry", said Belinda, turning back to him fiercely. "Pray tell, who exactly is going to be out and about in this weather?"
"Him, for a start", replied Jerry, pointing out of the windscreen. Belinda followed his gaze and saw a tall person in an over-sized anorak standing next to the car. She couldn't see the person's face as the rain was too heavy and besides, the stranger had his hood up.
"What's he doing out here?" she cried. "He's mad! Don't ask him, Jerry. Let's just go on and - "
"Hey, maybe he's stuck out here", said Jerry, undoing his seatbelt and grabbing an umbrella from the backseat. "Maybe we can give him a ride in exchange for directions. And besides", he added, as he opened his door, it's worth asking him, right?"
Belinda watched worriedly through the windscreen as her husband walked over to the figure outside, shielded by the umbrella.
"Excuse me", said Jerry as he approached the stranger. "Erm - my wife and I are on the way to hospital, but we seem to have got a bit lost. Can you tell me where we are?"
"Oh, Si, Senure", said a muffled Italian accent. "I will-a tell you where we are alright".
Then he threw back his hood and Jerry gasped when he saw a beak poking out from underneath.
"Now-a, Leatherhead!" yelled the crow as Jerry stood gaping.
Someone else came up behind Jerry and stuck something in his face - a substance of chloroform!
Jerry smelt foul cloth before feeling dizzy, and then he passed out. Before he fell unconscious, he heard Belinda screaming.
Down the road, a St. Bernard was sitting under a tree to shelter from the rain. He pricked up his ears when he heard screaming not far away. He stood up and took to his heels through the rain, and was just in time to see an open van parked next to a car. As he watched, two crows came out and shut the doors, both cackling. Then the shorter of the two spoke.
"We've got them! Greenback will be pleased!"
"It's Stilletto and Leatherhead, Baron Greenback's henchmen!" the St. Bernard hissed to himself. "Whatever they've done, it must be something big! Better alert headquarters!"
He quickly lifted a paw and turned on the communicator on his collar.
"Headquarters? This is Agent 14 here. Something's going on - and it involves Greenback!"
*
A/N: No, Agent 14 is not actually my character. He had a small part in the episode 'Duckula Meets Frankenstoat', just so you know. I thought it would be nice to use him again, as I took a liking to him.
