Duke was visibly angry. Wildwing and Nosedive tried to hold him back. This outburst caused Patrick to carefully study Duke's face. He gasped and stepped back in total shock and disbelief.

"I don't believe it! I simply don't believe it! It - it's you! I can't believe I didn't recognize you," he whispered. "I am so sorry about everything I've done."

"We have to abandon them Lord Dragaunus. Rene is captured, Patrick's having second doubts and Sanyo was never of any use to us," Wraith quietly told him.

Dragaunus growled before teleporting back to the Raptor along with the other three. Grin lowered Rene to the ground. Nosedive and Duke stood on either side of her. She nervously looked at them both before finally staring at Duke.

"Why? Why did you save me Duke?" she asked. "You could have easily let him kill me after all I've done to you. I know you've never been around me that much other than the few times we've worked together. You barely know me."

"Please, come with us to the Pond and I'll explain everything," Duke replied, giving a small smile.

"Duke, what, are you crazy?" Nosedive asked him. "Taking them back with us? That's dangerous since they've helped Dragaunus! For all we know, this could be a trap! They could want us to trust them in order to get into the base."

Sanyo walked up to Patrick's side and looked at his distraught friend with a slightly worried look. Wildwing motioned for Grin, Tanya and Nosedive to gather around him. It was then that he noticed that Mallory was not present and wondered where she was but he decided to start without her.

"What do you guys think? Should we take them back to the Pond? Or should we not on the chance that it's a trap?" Wildwing asked them.

Nosedive shook his head, an angry look on his face. After what they did to him, he wasn't too pleased with what was happening.

"I really don't know Wildwing. I mean, Nosedive is right. They could be fooling us into taking them back with us. On the other hand, Duke could be right in trusting them," Tanya replied.

The four glanced over at Grin, who had remained quiet the whole time.

"Grin, what do you think?" asked Wildwing.

"Answers come to those who ask," Grin simply replied. "Some people have said that what happens in the past, remains in the past. But if one should want to fully understand the truth behind a tragic incident, one should not put aside the only method of finding out what happened."

Wildwing sighed as he motioned for all of them to head towards the Migrator. Nosedive glanced over at Duke with an curious look.

"I must be crazy, Nosedive, I must be," Duke replied, as he climbed into the Migrator. "I've always had an instinct about others. For some strange reason, I never listened to it when it concerned Rene and Patrick until now."

00000

Once there, Mallory walked up to Rene. The teen didn't notice her at first but when she did, she wondered why she had been crying.

"Rene, is that you?" the redhead finally asked her.

"Who are you? Do I - know you from somewhere?" Rene asked her.

Mallory nodded but didn't say anything. She gave a small smile as she handed her a picture. Rene stared at it, remembering when it was taken.

"Mallory?" she replied. "I never thought I'd see you again."

They hugged each other, tears falling from their eyes.

"I've missed you so much Rene. It's been so long I barely recognized you," Mallory whispered into the young duck's ear.

"I didn't even recognize you, I was so young at the time," cried Rene.

Tanya walked up to them as the others gathered around, eagerly waiting for any explanation.

"Rene, what exactly do you know about your parents? Their names, any pictures, friends of the family, occupations, anything will do," asked Tanya.

"I know absolutely nothing about them except for the fact that they were killed soon after I hatched by Thief au Combat," she replied, with a small smile on her face.

The six ducks gasped for they all heard the name before. It was such a known name, who hadn't heard about him?

"Theif au Combat? But he didn't exist! He's a story told to ducks to frighten them from going near Digit San," Wildwing protested. "You must have your names mixed up or something like that."

"He existed all right Wildwing. It's just that no one could find him. Word through the Brotherhood was that he joined some sort of group and made himself scarce many years ago. That's why there haven't been any murders in the past several years relating to him. Believe me, I should know," Duke told him.

"Plus what exactly is your connection with Duke and Mallory? 'Wing and I both know you three from the tour at the jewel exchange. That was always such a fascinating story," Nosedive told her.

"So do I," Tanya put in.

Grin gave a slight nod, indicating that he also knew of the story.

"Well, Mallory took care of me until I was four and Duke was a fellow comrade in the Brotherhood ever since I can remember," replied Rene, confused.

Duke walked up to her, a smile on his face. He glanced at Tanya, who held a piece of paper in her hand. She motioned for him to follow and he did.

"What're the results Tanya? I need to know for sure," he quietly asked her.

She hesitated for a moment, a bit unsure how to tell him.

"I got the results of the test back from the lab earlier. They came back positive," Tanya replied, sighing.

"Test? What test?" demanded Wildwing.

"I asked Tanya to help me with finding someplace that does paternity tests. It looks like I'm - I'm Rene's biological father," he explained, looking at the ground.

"Father? How can that be? My father is dead," Rene asked.

"Please, let me explain. That night, your mother and I were with two friends of ours. Once Combat found us, he thought your mother was carrying jewels when she was actually carrying you. She started to run and I followed, but Combat knocked me down before I could reach her. I thought he killed you both yet it seems I have to thank Mallory for all that she's done to help you. No one really knew this but the other two ducks survived and we all know one of them," Duke explained.

Rene glanced over at Mallory, who nodded. The young duck realized that they were telling the truth for she never saw Duke anywhere near Digit San and he never went anywhere near the place. She carefully walked over to Duke, looking over him for a moment before giving him a hug.

"So that's why I recognized you only just now! I should have seen it years ago! All along! I'm such an idiot. Duke, I am so sorry for all the trouble I've caused you," Patrick told him.

"What? You've never caused me any trouble before. You've always been the type to keep to yourself. I barely came in contact with you back on Puckworld. Only on the odd occasion when the Brotherhood was threatened or a major heist was planned," Duke replied, still keeping an arm around Rene.

"Yes, I have given you a lot of misery, grief and torment before Duke though it had nothing to do with the Brotherhood. We met each other one night many years ago. One night that, in all probability, should never have happened. I'm - I'm Thief au Combat," he told him.

"What the…?" Duke started.

"You're the legendary murderer that we've heard stories about?" Wildwing asked in disbelief.

"Yes, I am. No one could find me, not even the Brotherhood. None of them knew who I truly was, only Rene. Besides, who would expect one of the best thieves on Puckworld to have a double life as a murderer?" Patrick told them.

"Do we really have to worry about anything now?" Duke cautiously asked.

"You don't worry about a thing. Ever since she was four, I've had to take care of her. I've been clean in that department ever since. When I was forced to take care of Rene, I had a choice to make. Thievary or killing, not both. I chose to go with the Brotherhood," he explained.

"I forgive you. Rene is alive. That's all I'm worried about now," Duke said.

Wildwing walked up to Sanyo, Patrick and Rene.

"We would like you to join our team. Help us defeat Dragaunus once and for all," Wildwing told them. "Seeing as how the Saurians abandoned you and it seems that you've truly changed your outlook towards them and us."

"And hopefully, we soon can get home," Sanyo muttered, crossing his arms.

"And how exactly? We're not even sure how the three of you even got here since Dragaunus' gateway generator is broken," Tanya told them.

Sanyo and Patrck both glanced over at Rene, who put on a sad look. She sighed as she stepped away from them.

"How is it possible that Rene has something to do with it? No one on Puckworld that I know of has a generator. Except for maybe the military and they don't give them up that easily," wondered Tanya as he walked up to her.

"I'd rather not talk about it right now," Rene quietly replied. "The pain is too much to remember."

She turned around and Duke walked up to her.

"Come on. Let me show you to your room. Maybe you can talk to me about it, at least," Duke quietly told her.

00000

The next night, the stadium was packed for the game.

"We're waiting for the ducks to arrive," the announcer said.

The six ducks stepped out onto the ice.

"What's this? Three new ducks have stepped out onto the ice. It looks like we have a few more to learn something about," the announcer cried.

Patrick was number twenty-nine; Sanyo was number thirty-two; and Rene was number thirty-one. They skated into their positions, with Wildwing, Grin and Tanya. The referee dropped the puck and the game officially started. Mallory, Duke and Nosedive watched from the bench.

"Duke, who would've thought that all our lives would be brought together by this one single, solitary event?" Mallory asked him quietly.

"I know for sure that I wouldn't have. Sometimes fate, and pure coincidence, are amazing things Mal," Duke replied.

The End

Author's Note - Thank to all that read (and those who reviewed). Hope you all enjoyed it.