chapter 6, just like we promised. read and review, ok?

Peace and Peaches,
            Kristine and Cimmy

disclaimer: the Ducks belong to Disney. Fred and Cecilia belong to Cimmy. Lex, Jeff, Matt, Chris, Anthony, Anna, and Sammie belong to NYgoldfish54.

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Chapter 6: Broomsticks, Beatings, and Barf
By NYgoldfish54

Lex's POV

Fabulous. Just fabulous. Jeff and I must have been crazy to bring the Ducks as our guests on this trip. It's not that I don't like them, I love them quite a bit, but they're hard to handle…and until I took them here for a ride in that limo, where Fred just about crushed my spleen, I didn't realize how many of them there were.

It's not even that I don't want them here. I'm glad they're here. Most of my family couldn't come. My 18 year old brother, Robbie, will be coming down the day of the show, but until then, none of my family is here. That's right; none of my family is here. Not my parents ("We're too busy at work," they'd said. My mom was genuine. My dad wasn't.) My brother, Steve, is 25 and getting married soon, and he's busy with wedding plans. Laurie's 22 and can't get out of an extra college class, and the twins, Jay and Izzy, at seven years old, are too young. Jeff, Anna, Sammie, Anthony, Chris, and Matt's family are here- granted, on a totally different floor of this hotel and clear out of the way of the Ducks- but they're still here. So the Ducks are sort of my substitute family.

I'm searching for Cecilia, who (according to Fred) is drunk, but she's also got the other card key to room 118. Fred's drunk too, and he's asleep on my bed…asleep or unconscious. I'm not sure which, but I sat with him in there until he stopped moving around. The first thing I'll do after Fred gets back into his room is empty the mini-bar. I can't have Fred and Cee drunk on this trip. They're in a strange place and could get into a load of trouble, and Steve and Laurie will not be happy if they've got to wire money down here to bail them out…not that Fred couldn't bail the pair of them out, but still, I don't want them in jail. I don't have time to make prison visits in between rehearsals. Thankfully, today we have off.

I've got to find Cee before Anna or Sammie get back to our room and find Fred sleeping there. If they don't beat him senseless themselves, they'll go get Matt, Anthony, and Chris and then those three will beat the hell out of him. Jeff's gone out to pick up an order for some new instruments, so he won't be around to stop the chaos. He's the only one of them who knows who Fred is and will save him from three guys who have learned to fight on the streets of New York.

I've checked the area by the pool, where Connie, Portman, Fulton, and Guy had said they hadn't seen Cecilia. I told them to keep an eye out for her, and not just because I need to find her. If she's drunk, she may accidentally drown. That'll be a fun disaster.

I checked out the club where Russ, Goldberg, Julie, Luis, and Charlie were having a good time. They hadn't seen Cecilia either and I told Charlie to watch for her. I figure he keeps track of the team during the season, he can help out a little here too.

Finally I went to the game room, where Adam, Averman, Kenny, and Dwayne were playing all these different arcade game. No sign of Cee, and I put Adam on watch. He seemed to be the only one who was able to pull his eyes away from the machines for more than ten seconds.

I don't know where else to look. I've searched the hotel and I can't find her. Maybe she went with Jeff? Who knows? Oh well, she can take care of herself, Cee is pretty tough, and I probably just keep missing her.

I head back upstairs and walk down the hall. I hear hollering coming from…oh shit! My room! I sprint down the hall and the door to my room is open. Sure enough, Anna and Sammie got back before I did. If I wasn't so genuinely concerned for that obnoxious prick, Fred, who is being swatted at and hit with brooms, I would laugh.

"WHO ARE YOU?" Anna yells as she swings her broom at Fred.

"GET THE HELL OUT!" Sammie bellows, and she too, swung her broom.

Fred, holding his head, gets to his feet. I am just about to go in a say something when Anthony shoves me aside and hurtles into the room.

"Who's this guy?" Anthony demands.

"We don't know!" Sammie cries.

Anthony swung and hit Fred, hard in the stomach. That was too much for Fred, and he hurled all over Anthony.

"Gross," says Anthony backing away in disgust and looking at his vomit covered clothing.

Anna and Sammie are about to swing their brooms again when I yell, "STOP! ANNA, SAMMIE, STOP IT!"

Both of them stop, so surprised that I've actually told them to stop, that Anna drops her broom and Sammie stumbles backward.

"Lex, this dirt bag was sleeping on your bed when we walked in!" Anna exclaims.

"Yes, I know," I say, walking over to Fred and putting my hands on his shoulders to steady him. He really doesn't look all that healthy.

"Lex, you know him?" Sammie asks in disbelief.

"Yes," I answer. There's silence for a moment.

"Lex, you didn't…pick this guy up, did you?" Anna asks tentatively.

"Pick him up? Are you kidding?" I say, "No, he's actually a guest of ours that got locked out of his own room. He's a Duck. Anna, Sammie, Anthony, meet Fred."

I watch the color drain out of Anna's face as she realizes who she had just been whacking with a broomstick. Sammie's eyes went wide, and Anthony sort of grimaced. Once again, if I wasn't so worried about Fred and how he looks like he may hurl again, I'd laugh.

"Hi Fred," says Anthony putting out his hand. "I'm sorry I hit you. I didn't know who you were and the girls were screaming. The dark haired one is Anna and Sammie's the blond, and now, I'm going to change my clothes."

Fred opened his mouth but didn't answer. He looked rather pale. He shook Anthony's hand in stead, and nearly toppled over. Anthony left to change…and quite possibly shower.

"He's not really in any shape to talk to you now," I say, saving Fred from more humiliation or the need to talk. "He'll be better later. Come on, Fred, let's go see if I can get you back into your room," and putting my arm around his waist, I slowly begin to lead him back toward his own room. He's leaning on me a lot, and damn, he's heavy.

As we walk by, I notice the cleaning woman. She must have a key to get in!

"Excuse me, miss?" I say to her. She turns around. "My friend here," I jerk my head at Fred, "has managed to lock himself out of his room. Is there any way you could use your key to get him inside?"

"Yes, of course, which room?"

"Um…118, I think," I tell her. Fred nods slowly.

The woman opens the door, and I tell her 'thanks' as she goes back to what she was doing. I release Fred and he falls on to the bed. Then he gets up, brushes past me, and stumbles into the bathroom. I hear him retching again and I peer around the door to make sure he's alright. He's pale and he's bent over the toilet. He gets up and flushes and I quickly get away from the door to make it look like I wasn't invading his privacy. He staggers back to the bed and lies down. I see the mini-bar and I dump the alcoholic contents down the sink drain in the bathroom. I come out again and Fred is still lying on the bed and hasn't moved. I feel kind of sorry for him, so I wet a paper towel and put it on his forehead. Hangovers suck.

"Thanks," he murmurs.

"You're welcome," I say.

"Cecilia usually takes care of me," he murmurs again.

"Really?" I say, not at all surprised. I'm just asking to be polite.

"Yes," he mumbles and then says, "Lex, the room is kind of blurry."

"Well, how much did you drink, Fred?"

"Too much," he says quietly.

"Yeah, well, next time maybe you won't drink so much?" I ask.

"Yeah maybe," he says rolling over. I turn to leave, annoyed at him, but feeling sorry at the same time. I can't believe I feel sorry for him. I'm not usually like that. He's obnoxious most of the time. I don't know how I managed to be his lab partner all last year and not kill him. I mean, we got along, but it's sort of hard not to get annoyed with someone who continuously drops the glass science beakers on the floor.

"Lex, since Cecilia's not here, will you sit with me until I fall asleep?" he asks me as I reach the door.

"Fred, I've got to go-"

"Please?" he whimpers.

I look between the door and Fred. He looks so pitiful that I give in. "Oh fine, I guess so," I say.

"Cecilia drank too, she started it, then she got bored with me, I think," he slurs.

"Well, I've noticed Cecilia gets bored fast sometimes," I say, which is the truth. She does tend to get bored quickly.

He smiles and opens his mouth, as if to say something. Then he hurls into the small trash can by his bed. Watching him puke, I feel annoyed again, but this time not so much at Fred.

Cecilia, where ever you are, stay there. If you get back soon, I'll beat you senseless.

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crazy4nc128: Adam and Charlie, huh? well, it's definitely worth considering, but we'll se where it ends up.

Xixie: glad you like the Bash slash. more to come. *cheers*