Skeet11- Thanks again! Lol, that's good. This one was supposed to be the calm before the storm. *evil author laugh* some comic relief. Yeah...just as a warning, this chapter gets pretty depressing, at least I think. I'm thinking about changing the "General" Category to "Angst". Should I?

Chels- Lol... "Thanks Banks"...lol...I *WROTE* it and I laughed at it...sad, aren't I? ^_^ Yeah, I laughed at Guy's sleep-ramblings too...again, I'm a sad person. I laugh at my own jokes. ^_^ I must give Charlie his fare share of evilness. I'm usually busy on Sundays cuz I have church. Fun fun. Thanks bunches chica chica! ^_^

Liz- Ah, I love you! *hugs Liz* You reviewin'! Good, faithful sister-like- figure! I was shooting for the creepy feel. No one is supposed to like stalker-dude. Lol. Yes, this story goe son for quite awhile...I dunno how it'll be but it's not over yet! *evil author laugh*

Joshrox116- Charlie needed a break and had to have some fun. I'm glad you liked it. I noticed it was getting pretty heavy there so I needed a chappy of carefree-ness...the calm before the storm...

Schiz- Yes! PILLOW FIGHT! Yeah, I needed it too. Comic relief. George was dominating there and Charlie needed a rest before I tortured him further.

Jess- Thanks!

Okay, I just got an idea for where this fic will be going. To me it seems like I kinda rushed it but I'm afraid I'll forget. Besides, I need new material. ^_^ And just for the record, "~~~*~~~" means scene change...I just thought I would make sure you guys knew that. ^_^ But there will be a lot of them in this chapter. I don't know why, I guess I just got "~~~*~~~" happy...lol...just out of curiosity, would this classify as angst? I'm to really sure what category it is so if you guys could kindly tell me, it would be very much appreciated!

Disclaimer- What do you think?

-Chapter 7-

Weeks passed and soon enough, Charlie was beginning to get comfortable again. He hadn't had any run-ins with his father and he was relieved. But he still had this feeling the man was up to something. Why hadn't he approached Charlie since that day when he revealed the relation?

~~~*~~~

Casey Conway sat in her kitchen at home when she heard a knock on the door.

Looking at her watch, she realized Charlie shouldn't be home yet and even if it was him, he had a key so he would just let himself in. So who could it be?

She slowly rose to her feet to answer the door. And she stood face to face with the last person she would have ever expected.

"G-George?" she stuttered, face confused.

He smirked slightly. "Hi Casey. Were you not expecting me?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

Casey's eyes widened. She shook her head as she let her weight fall to the side of the door. What on Earth was HE doing there?

"I didn't think so. May I come in?" he asked politely.

She gave him a weary glance before nodding. She and Charlie had a conversation regarding his father after he had come home from the dorms that day three weeks ago. She had been foolish to think he would disappear. But she could only wonder what he had done during the duration for the three weeks...

They both sat at the kitchen table in silence. Casey's mind was racing and her heart was beating wildly. Young nervousness returned. Old fears resurfaced. What did he want?

"I came to discuss custody of Charlie..." he said calmly, folding his hands crisply on the tabletop.

Casey's face immediately changed to one of defiance. "No way. No way are you getting Charlie."

He raised his eyebrows as if in amusement. "Oh really?"

She gave him a hard glare. Charlie was her child and she had to protect him to the best of her ability. "Yes really. I'm not stupid. You aren't getting Charlie. I'll make sure of that." She argued, slamming her small fist on the table. Her eyes were burning with hatred.

He laughed lightly. "Oh, Casey, that's funny. What are you planning on DOING to keep me from doing so? I deserve at least partial custody of MY child."

Casey's glare calmed a bit after a calming breath. She didn't want to lose it here. It would only give her old husband satisfaction.

"Why now?" she asked, her voice now even and calm.

"Why not?" he asked as evenly and calmly as ever. He felt he was totally in control of the situation.

"Because you never cared before." She said. She felt he was completely in control of the situation as well. It gave her an uneasy feeling in her stomach.

"Yes I did. You just never listened. Yes, I had rough edges with you, Casey, but I never stopped wanting my son." He replied, his eyes darkening ever so slightly.

She nearly lost her cool but she kept telling herself to take deep breaths. "Get out." She said angrily.

He cocked an eyebrow. "Pardon?"

"Get. Out." She said with venom in her voice. She couldn't stand him in here anymore. If Charlie came home, he would freak.

"I heard you, I just don't understand why the sudden violence." He said, his face remaining relatively emotionless.

"Now." She said, trying to hold in the tears until he was gone. She wouldn't give him the chance to see her cry. She wouldn't give him that satisfaction.

He held his arms up in defense. "I'm going. I just hope you realize the big mistake you just made. I will get Charlie." He said with deathly seriousness.

"Over my dead body." She said, her voice flooding with malice and anger.

He stood up and walked to the door, letting himself out.

Once the door had closed, Casey laid her head on the table, and cried. She was scared of him and there was nothing she could do. But she also knew she would never let him have Charlie. If he did, it would indeed be over her dead body.

~~~*~~~

The next day Charlie was walking down the street, alone. He was on his way to play some street hockey with the other Ducks and he was in the best of moods. The man, his father, hadn't even so much as shown his face for three weeks. THREE WEEKS! Imagine that. It was almost too good to be true.

Yes, life was good for Charlie. Things were indeed starting to look better for the young Captain. In fact, things were going so well that when he saw two men standing by a black limousine, he didn't give it a second thought. He did however see one man slipping some money into the other man's hand as he got back into his limo.

But life was just peachy for Charlie Conway so he figured that even though he had probably just witnessed an illegal act taking place, it would have no direct effect on his life so why bother caring?

Little did he know...

~~~*~~~

"Alright, here's the money. Now I expect this to get done. And done right. Leave no evidence. I'm counting on you." The cloaked man said as he slipped $300 into the other man's clammy hands.

Both men had their hats down so it shadowed their faces. They also both were adorned in black cloaks and suits.

"Don't worry, it shouldn't be too much of a problem." The man said with a sinister grin as he slipped into his limousine.

Watching this, the man who was still standing couldn't help but worry. What if it didn't work? What if they were caught? No, they wouldn't be caught...and even if they were, they would never pinpoint him...

As the limo drove away, he began to mingle with the crowds. It was only a matter of time.

~~~*~~~

Charlie shot a quick goal into the trashcan and did his victory dance. The others just laughed. Charlie was doing much better and they had all decided it was best to forget about the events before and just move on.

"Hey guys, I think that ties us up. Who's up for some lunch?" Charlie asked as he skated around in a circle.

The others chorused their approval as they all began skating towards the nearest diner.

As they were roller blading down the sidewalk, they noticed a frenzied crowd up ahead. Charlie's curiosity getting the best of him, he stopped to see what was going on.

"Hey um, ma'am, what's going on here?" he asked an elderly lady who was trying to look over everyone else.

"Well young man, a woman was shot in the head while she was walking down the street. People say that a man stuck a gun out of his black limousine and just randomly shot her. It's very sad." The old lady said, leaning on her cane for support.

Charlie and the other Ducks weeded their way through the ever-growing crowd to get a better look.

As soon as he was in the front, while Charlie was glad he had stopped, at the same time he wished he had kept going and ignored the crowd.

In front of him, sprawled out on the sidewalk was none other than his mother...

Julie gasped in horror and all the other Ducks just stared, not knowing for sure if it was real. Connie dug her head into Guy's chest and started to cry. She couldn't stand to see Mrs. Conway dead. She had known Charlie's mom for a large portion of her life.

Charlie began shaking uncontrollably as he stared dumbly at the mangled form of his mom's dead body.

He timidly stepped forward. A policeman tried to hold him back and tell him to step back from the scene but he just pushed the policeman aside as he ran up and kneeled beside his mother's body, pulling her close into a death grip.

He buried his head into her hair and cried. He was visibly shaking and didn't look at all stable.

The other Ducks just continued to stare in terror, speechless. They didn't know what to say. How was it possible? Who would want Mrs. Conway? Who could do something like that?

Adam led the group to Charlie's still quivering form and they kneeled by him. The crowd was still hovering around them and it wasn't helping. Adam could here muffled "Oh, the poor boy." and "That's so terrible. He looks crushed."

Adam was restraining himself to keep from lashing out at them. OF COURSE Charlie was crushed! He just found out his MOTHER had been shot to death on the sidewalk for crying out loud! His SINGLE mother at that! Adam was just boiling. Just when he thought his best friend's trauma had ended...

"Charlie?" Banks said quietly, afraid Charlie would break if he so much as touched him.

Charlie waited a minute before turning to them. His lip was still quivering and his cheeks were stained with tears but his eyes were seething with malice.

"I will find out who did this. I have to..." He said, shaking now out of anger as well as sorrow. His voice had cracked and a tear ran down his cheek.

Julie leaned over to give him a hug. Charlie accepted and let go of his mother's cold, lifeless body. She rocked him back and forth and tried to comfort him as if he were a small defenseless child. The others also said comforting things but Charlie heard nothing anyone said. All he could think of was who could have done it.

His mind was swarming with anger and hate; depression and despair. He didn't know what he was going to do! He had never been without his mother. His mother meant everything to him. And now she was gone...he didn't even get to say goodbye...

He let out another sob and Julie just continued to rock him, crying herself. Even the Bash Brothers were finding it hard not to cry. They could hardly stand to watch Charlie's mother lay there, dead. It was very unsettling.

It was then that Charlie vaguely remembered something that had happened earlier that day. He remembered two men standing by a...BLACK LIMOUSINE!

His head shot up. Could it have been them? No way...it had to be coincidence...it just HAD to be...

The other Ducks just looked at him funny, wondering what the random "shooting up of head" was for.

"What's wrong Charlie?" Guy asked, still cradling Connie protectively.

"Sorry, I just had a thought. It's nothing." Charlie said, refusing to say nothing was wrong at all because something WAS wrong. EVERYTHING was wrong. He couldn't understand why all of this was happening to him.

They looked hesitant but decided not to push it. They looked back at Mrs. Conway's body and saw some policemen investigating, and asking people who witnessed it questions. By this point, news cams were everywhere. Apparently they had the whole thing on tape from Charlie's arrival to them noticing the camera's presence.

One reporter had the guts to walk up to Charlie.

"Excuse me young man, how do you know this woman and do you know anything about her death?" the male reporter asked as his assistant walked after him and put on a questioning look.

Charlie just gave them a full glare before replying with spite, "She's my mother."

Getting the boy's vibe, the reporter's assistant tapped him on the shoulder. "Dan, I think we should leave him alone. He looks pretty upset." She said in a small, unsure voice.

"Naw, ya think?" Russ said, kneeling closer to Charlie. If Charlie wanted them gone, he and the Ducks could take care of it.

The woman just ignored his sarcastic remark. But the reporter also ignored his assistant's suggestion.

"And you are?" he asked Russ.

"One of Charlie's friends. We all are and I suggest you screw off before we do something we might regret." Fulton Reed answered for Russ, his face emitting brotherly concern. He had always been the one to look out for Charlie.

Charlie just turned to Fulton. "It's okay Fulton. We don't want to get into any trouble."

"Charlie, huh? I presume you're Charlie?" the reporter, Dan, said, looking at Charlie.

"Yeah, that's me. Now if you'll excuse us." Charlie said in a tone that screamed 'back off' as he tried to stand up.

He wasn't sure whether he wanted to stay or go though. If he left, he wouldn't know what would happen to his mother. If he stayed, he would no doubt be questioned.

Once Charlie stood up, the others followed in suite. Banks, Russ and the Bash Brothers stood protectively beside him and Connie was hanging on Guy's shirt, trying to stop crying. Julie stood beside Charlie as well but more to offer comfort, not protection.

Charlie then decided to stay after all. He would rather answer a few questions than leave his mother there.

He walked over to the policemen. "Do you guys know who did it?" he asked, slightly afraid. Policemen kind of intimidated him. Especially after knocking one to the side.

But they didn't seem to mind. He wondered if they got that often.

"Not yet. We've talked with some witnesses and we're seeing what we can do. Do you know her or are you just curious?" one of the officers who had just arrived answered.

"I'm her son." He said, trying to hold in another sob. He was still shaking slightly and knew he probably looked like the walking dead...no, he didn't want to think of the word "dead".

The officer's face softened immediately. "I'm sorry to hear that. We'll do our best to figure this out as soon as possible. Were you here when it happened?" he asked.

Charlie shook his head solemnly. "I was playing hockey with my friends. We were on the way to get some lunch when we saw a crowd." He was nearly choking on the words. Adam placed a hand on Charlie's shoulder while on the other side Julie took his hand to comfort him. Russ, Portman and Fulton just looked ready to pounce at any possible threat.

Kenny, Guy, Connie, Averman, Dwayne, Goldburg, and Luis just watched and stood there for moral support.

The officer nodded and wrote it down in a notebook with what looked like other people's words.

Charlie watched as they picked up his mother and put her in the back of a car. His eyes glazed over as his head felt light. Before he knew it all he saw was blackness closing in, swallowing him whole as he slipped into unconsciousness.