Title: Drunken Confessions

Rating: PG-13 for swearing and alcohol abuse.

Pairings: W/M (duh.) D/M and D/W friendship. FRIENDSHIP. People don't seem to get that word when others write it down, so I will say it again. FRIENDSHIP.

Author's Note: Wow, this was random. I have NO idea where this sprang from, but here it is, the work of about one hour of not moving from my computer screen. Thanks to LadySilver for her beta services, I needed them seeing how this was written at six in the morning. Enjoy.

Drunken Confessions (1/1)

Duke was broken from his slumber by the ringing of the cell phone sitting on the nightstand. "This had betta be important." He grumbled as his hands struggled to open the device. "Duke 'ere, what can I do for ya?"

"Duke L'Orange? This is Tony from Ol' Bob's Bar..."

Duke inwardly groaned. Ol' Bob's Bar was one of the seediest bars in Anaheim, notorious for those loserly, out of luck individuals whose only hope laid in the bottom of their latest bottle. "What's goin' on?"

"Well, there's one of your teammates here, name's Wildwing Flashbade?"

Duke cut him off in alarm. "Wing? What happened to him? Is he okay?"

"Well," The bartender's nervousness echoed in his voice, "He just...drunk himself stupid, he's totally wasted and he's asking for ya. We were wondering if you could come pick him up."

Duke's brows knit in shock and confusion. "Yeah, sure...I'll be right there..." Duke threw on whatever clothes he could find the fastest and ran out of the Pond into his car. As he drove he wondered, 'What in the world could have made Wing stoop to this?'

Duke arrived at Ol' Bob's Bar within 10 minutes, he hadn't exactly abided every speed limit when it was 3 in the morning and his friend was lying wasted in a bar.

He entered and coughed from the thick clouds of smoke wafting through the air of the building. He reckoned that it was enough to give a person lung cancer just from standing in there for five minutes. The site he saw next shocked him. There was Wildwing, hunched over the counter of the bar with his legs entangled in the stool he sat on, his head resting on the cool, polished wood of the counter. He looked a tad green; he had probably consumed more alcohol in this night than he ever had in the previous years of his life combined.

"DUKE! Hesya buddy ol' pal...Howsh it going? Grab shomething to drink! Come, sit!" Duke tried not to look disgusted as Wildwing called him over. This site was more than just troublesome, it was horribly pathetic. Duke pulled up a stool next to Wing and looked him straight in the eye. "Oh! Right...How shtupid of me...Bob! Get my good ol' friend here a drink!"

Duke quickly held up his hand in a gesture of refusal. "No thanks, I don't drink. All the good role model business keeps me away from it, but apparently that doesn't hold true for Mr. Soused over here..." Duke patted Wing on the shoulder and shook his head, Wing tried to imitate the same gesture, but ended up pounding Duke so hard on the back that he almost fell over the counter. Duke spoke as soon as he made sure his diaphragm was still intact and functional. "Wing? What's this all about?"

Wing put his head down on the counter and started laughing, quickly the laughter became one of sadness and tears began to flow from his eyes. "I can't take the pres-pressure anymore Duke, thish leader shit is jus' too much for me to do...I'm sho tired of it...And we haven' even found that fucker...that red dude..."

"Dragaunus?" Duke filled in, mildly surprised. He had heard Wildwing curse more in the past minute than he had heard him curse, ever.

"Yesh...tha'sh the one...We can' get 'im. You know how...how..."

"Incompetent?"

"Yeah, tha'sh it again! How'd you get to be sho shmart, Duke?"

"Um, I don't know..." Duke looked around warily, he didn't like his team captain in this state, but since Wildwing was letting down his guard and telling him what was wrong, he would use the opportunity to his advantage. As soon as he became sober again, the walls would come straight back up.

"I'm a failure," Wildwing hiccupped, "Duke, I can' do anythin' right..."

"Remember what happened when you left us an'..."

"An' then there'sh Mal." Duke paused his thoughts and listened to Wildwing's ramblings. "God, I love 'er Duke. I can' ever tell her how I feel, though...she'd just go nutsh on me. She'd neve' date me, I'm 'er leader, and she's shtuck on all that mili'ary bullshit she's been raished with. But she's all I'll ever shee, ever...God, I wan' 'er Duke, I nee' her...I drank to forget my leadership, and 'er, so I could forget..."

Wildwing's ramblings became incoherent as he slumped over even farther than he already was. Duke tried to lift him up, but he felt like he was lugging a sack of bricks. He then looked to Wildwing's face, the younger drake had finally passed out from all of his rounds of alcohol. Duke looked to the bartender and thanked him, gave him an address to where the tab could be billed, and dragged Wildwing out of the bar and out to his car.

Ten minutes later, Duke had driven home, dragged Wildwing through the front entrance of the Pond, and headed in the direction of the Rec. Room. He entered hoping that all of the building's occupants were asleep, he really didn't want anyone seeing Wildwing like this, least of all a certain red- headed female. As the doors swooshed open, Duke muttered a curse under his breath. He hoisted Wildwing back into his arms, and tried to walk through the room as non-chalantly as possible, for his worst fears were now standing in front of him. There was Mallory, standing with her jaw agape, her eyes sending Duke a question that he was going to have trouble answering.

Mallory decided to come right out with what was flashing through her mind and her eyes. "What the hell happened to him?" Mallory asked her question even though she knew full well what had happened, and she was seething. The stench of alcohol and cigarettes could be detected halfway across the room where she was standing, and Mallory had a hard time keeping herself from gagging. She was furious, her team captain, the one person in charge of their mission had been stupid enough to let his guard down for a night of alcohol. No other leader she had ever been under had been irresponsible enough to pull off a stunt like this one. More than angry, she was concerned, Wildwing obviously had to be feeling pretty lousy to go and do something like this. What on Puckworld or Earth could have caused this? Her concern then translated into more anger. Mallory's brows furrowed questioningly, her arms crossed, and her right foot tapped impatiently on the hard floor.

"Ey, Mal, don't look at me sweetheart, I jus' got the call to pick 'im up, I don't know any more than you do." Duke cast a pitied glance at his team leader as he blatently lied to Mallory, now that he knew what was wrong he wished he had picked up the signals earlier. "He does need some sleep though, I'm draggin' 'im off to bed." He looked down at the fiery red-head who was now seething with anger and hurt. "You calm yourself down while I'm gone, we have to talk." Her anger was the last thing anyone needed in this situation, and he wanted to try and calm her down before she did anything drastic.

"We really don't." Mallory gritted her teeth and shot daggers in Duke's direction with her eyes. There was no way she was going to let a former thief order her around. "Whatever, I'm going to bed. Goodnight." She silently padded down the hallway, the door to the Rec. Room hissing closed behind her.

Duke looked down to Wildwing's unconscious form, "I hope you're happy, Mallory's upset now. She won't be unwound for days." He sighed and readjusted the larger duck in his arms. "She's only mad 'cause she cares about ya, I hope ya know that. I think everyone sees that ya two are attracted to each other but yourselves. Honestly, I hope you two can wake up and smell the coffee one a these days..."

He walked down the hallway and dumped Wildwing in his bed, exiting the room to be faced by a rather unexpected surprise. Mallory was standing by the doorway to Duke's room, wringing her hands and running her fingers through her hair in nervousness. He walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She jumped, startled by the fact that she hadn't seen him approach.

"Jesus, I didn't see you coming, sorry about that Duke."

"S'ok, sweetheart, I was a thief in a former life, 'member?"

"And how many times have I told you not to call me that?"

"I los' count so many months ago..."

"Yeah..." Mallory sighed, her head and her eyes averted to the ground. "Look, I just wanted to...to apologize for jumping down your throat earlier...I didn't mean to be so...like myself. I was just...I'm worried for him, you know? I'm sorry."

"That was hard for ya, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, yeah, it was..."

"Thank ya for apologizin'. And s'okay sweetheart, it's jus' the way ya are, ya know?"

"I wish I wasn't..."

"Well, Wing obviously still loves ya for it."

Mallory turned her head to look him straight in the eyes. Her hard glance softened and turned melancholy, and she turned her head back down to the ground. "He doesn't love me...Never has and never will..." She mumbled, eyes staring and tracing the patterns of the linoleum flooring, as if she was talking to the ground instead of Duke.

"Mal, are ya going blind on us? It's blatantly obvious, kid. Ya jus' need to step out from behind that wall of yours every once in a while to see it."

"I like my wall, thank you very much..." She tried to get Duke off the subject with her obviously poor attempt at humour.

"The rest of us don't, 'specially Wing. He's about ready to go break the damn thing down."

Mallory quickly tried to change the subject, preferably away from her. "I'm so worried about him Duke, how did we not see something was up sooner?"

"I was wonderin' the same thing. Then I 'membered that he's a lot like you, he's got alotta walls around that soft heart a his, and he won't take 'em down for anyone...'cept you a course, if only he wasn't so afraid of ya. He's been hiding whatever's been wrong with him the entire time, I suppose. He's good at that sorta thing."

"I guess, but still..."

"I know, it's tough to not blame yourself for things like this, but we all know it's no one's fault, it's just the circumstances."

"God Duke, all I wanna know is why..."

"Then maybe you should ask 'im yourself when he wakes up." He shrugged his shoulders as he met her questioning look. "Jus' a suggestion, sweetheart. I think if there's anyone that he needs to talk to about this, it's you. I 'ave a feelin' that it'd be good for the both a ya."

Mallory sighed and began to walk away, but Duke stopped her with a gentle hand on her shoulder. She turned her body to face him, but kept her eyes trained to the wall to the left of them as she placed her hand over his. "I love him, Duke." She said it in a rushed whisper, barely loud enough for the older duck to catch.

Duke stared at the doorway to Wildwing's room and nodded his head in its direction, "Then maybe you should go in there and act on it for once. He'll tell you how he feels when he's ready."

"But what if he's never ready?"

"I think he's really close, Mal, just give him a little more time. He won't let you get away. Never in a million years."

For the first time that night, Mallory felt her confidence in her feelings assured, and looked Duke in the eye and smiled. "Thank you Duke, you're a lifesaver." She gave him a quick hug and rushed over to Wildwing's room, fumbling with the keypad in a rush to get in.

Duke watched as she flashed her million-watt smile as the doors opened before her, and his eyes were trained on her as the doors hissed behind her. He smiled and looked behind his shoulder as he walked to his room. "Anytime sweetheart, anytime."

The End.