Hi Guys,
So, here is the next chapter, there should be either one more after this, or possibly two if the word count gets excessive and then another story is done! I'm currently working excessive amounts of overtime and this is my destress for that, so the amount of words directly correlates to my stress levels. Make of that what you will.
there are references to another one of my stories, which I haven't actually written yet. I have had most of my time line written out since I was fourteen, only adding the sexy parts after I understood what sex actually felt like. so, keep an eye out for that!
Please also remember I am not catholic, I am agnostic from the C of S (Church of Scotland), family members and friends are Catholic so I have been to Catholic Mass and services, but not as a Catholic.
Anyway, enjoy
TFG
So, I cross my heart and I hope to die that I'll only stay with you one more night
The night that Roxie's parents left was the night that Duke fully realised how deep his feelings for Roxie had become. And it was their final battle with the Saurians that made him finally acknowledge just how much he loved her.
That night, when he had almost lost her and had definitely lost any way to get home, Duke knew that he was completely in love with her. He would give up everything to make sure that she was okay, including his only way home.
While everyone else mourned the loss of the dimensional gateway generator as well as the loss of their home world, Duke spent the night sleeping in Roxie's hospital room. She had been taken to the same hospital with all the other astronauts and NASA employees that Dragaunus had captured during his final plan for domination. It was a private room and her parents were not due to arrive until the morning, so Duke felt fairly safe being there.
As Roxie slept in her medically induced coma to combat both the injuries and the psychological trauma of almost dying in space, Duke held her hand and proclaimed his love for her. He told her that he didn't care that he couldn't' leave the Earth anymore, as he couldn't leave her. He told her that he would wait an eternity for her to be ready to admit what he knew she also felt, and that one day they would proclaim their love for the rest of the world to know.
"Angel, I love you, more than you could possibly know. And, I know I don't deserve to have someone like you reciprocate, but by every god and goddess in the universe, I'll spend the rest of my life proving that I'm worthy of your love in return," Duke said to the unconscious, badly beaten and bruised girl lying deathly still in the bed.
That was why, seven months later, Duke was going slightly crazy when no one had seen hide nor hair of Roxie since she left to work a shift at the Birdcage the night before.
Duke had expected Roxie to come into his room that night, as she had slept most nights in his room since she had gotten out from the hospital in Texas. She didn't sleep every night in his room though, so when she didn't show up at her usual time Duke assumed that she just slept in her room.
When he checked her room the next moment, it was to find the room cold and untouched. Her bed was made and the pile of clothes in the corner was exactly the same as it had been the previous day. There was also no trace of the clothes that she had worn to work that night.
The next stop on Duke's freak out tour was Tanya's lab. There had been a few occasions when Roxie, as well as Tanya, had holed up in that room after an empathy. The rest of the Ducks would have to practically smoke them out. Or else they would be stuck bringing sustenance until they had finished whatever they were working on.
But the lab was empty, everything still in place. There were no new projects, or old projects out. The whiteboards were even clean of equations, showing that no one had worked in the lab in a few days at least. The garage was equally empty, with all the vehicles in one piece and their maintenance logs showed that no one had touched them for a few days.
The last place Roxie could physically be, outside of the Pond, was Johner's apartment. It was possible that the two had gone out after Roxie's shift and that Roxie had simply crashed at his new place. It was closer to the Birdcage, so it would make sense.
"Hey Johner, it's Duke, yeah I know it's early, I was just calling to check if Roxie was at your place?" Duke asked their human friend once he had sleepily answered the phone.
"What, no, sorry, I was busy last night. Those damn endorsement contracts, I was chained to my desk until two. Why you asking? Did something happen?" Johner asked though several yawns but suddenly sounding a lot more awake.
"Trying to figure that part out. If you hear from her, let me know, and I'll do the same. I'll talk to you later," Duke said, sighing heavily as he hung up the phone.
It seemed that Roxie was not in any of her usual places, which left only one place where she could be. It was still really early in the morning and Duke knew that Nosedive was probably still asleep, but he still pressed the buzzer to see if his wayward lover had crashed in Nosedive's room after watching movies.
"What the actual hell, Duke! It's seven am!" Nosedive groaned out after he opened the door in his rumpled pyjamas. Duke had to press the buzzer at least five times before he managed to get the drake up.
"Sorry bout that, listen, is Roxie here?" Duke asked, very aware that it would seem strange for him to be asking about Roxie's location at seven in the morning.
"What? No, she's probably in her room! Why would she be in here?" Nosedive answered angrily.
Taking a very deep breath, Duke explained to his younger team mate that Roxie was not in her room. In fact, she had not returned from her shift at the club, and was not answering her phone. This caused Nosedive to check his own phone for messages or missed call, but saw none.
"She might have stayed at Johner's last night. Or in the lab," Nosedive rationalised knowing exactly how Roxie could be when inspiration suddenly struck.
"Already checked. She's not with him or in the lab. Called campus security too, she didn't log in," Duke admitted without looking his friend in the eye.
"Hang on, how do you know that she wasn't here? It's barely passed the ass crack of dawn," Nosedive finally asked, the suspicion oozing off of him in waves.
"Does it really matter, the point is, no one has seen Roxie since she left for the club last night. And yes, I know, Dragaunus is gone, but his human allies aren't. What if Dr Droid took her, or Viper? You know they are still looking to finish what old Lizard Lips started," Duke justified, becoming more and more worried with each word.
"Fine, calm down man. I'll call Lola to make sure she made it to the club, and you get Wing up, let him know what's going on," Nosedive said calmly.
Duke conceded to the plan and left to wake up their team captain and explain the situation. Nosedive stood at his door, listening to the dialling tone on his phone and watching his team mate. He could see how worried Duke was and it was concerning.
Over the last three years he had noticed how Duke and Roxie acted with each other, and over the last two things had changed a lot. He would see their small touches, and how close they stood to each other. He would see them coming back from the theatre or chatting, both smiling conspiratorially at the other.
He had first put it down to the two having a lot of things in common that no one else did. He had then put it down to the two pushing themselves to work through their uncomfortableness after their one-night stand. But now, it was getting harder to rationalise why they were so close.
It had gotten worse after the Saurians had been destroyed. They had all mourned the loss of their way home, but Duke didn't seem to be that concerned with never going home. He was more concerned with Roxie and her recovery. They were all concerned about her, but Duke's concern seemed to be different. He was acting more like he was concerned for a partner rather than a friend. And Nosedive had never seen the older drake once join in on their grief. He just seemed to shrug it off and get on with everything else.
And, months after that incident, Duke and Roxie always seemed to be together. It had gotten to the point where Roxie had to often cancel plans with Duke to spend time with Nosedive. And Duke seemed to know more about Roxie than he did.
Nosedive had wanted to ask Roxie about it a few times, as he was sure that his friend was keeping something from him. But he had chickened out every time. He was afraid that what she was going to tell him might be what he suspected. That over the last few years Duke and Roxie had developed into something far more intimate.
"Hello?" suddenly came the voice of Lola over the phone line, pulling Nosedive from his thoughts about his teammate and best friend.
"Hey there, Lola, it's Nosedive, listen, we're looking for Roxie, we don't think she came home last night, do you happen to know where she went?" Nosedive asked, trying not to sound too worried.
"Oh, hey Dive. Um, no, not really, sorry. She showed up at the club at her usual time, then she got a phone call around elevenish, I think. Then she left, I believe. Should I be worried?" Lola asked, suddenly sounding just as concerned as Nosedive felt. The MC obviously knew that Roxie's relationship with Ducks occasionally put her in quite a lot of trouble.
"I don't know yet. I'll keep you posted. Talk to you later, bye," Nosedive said, hanging up the phone. He could see his brother in the hallway, having a very quiet conversation with Duke and he really wanted to know what they were talking about.
"So, she didn't come to see you last night after work and you think she's been taken?" Wildwing asked through a large yawn, he was still in his pyjama pants having just been woken up by a near frantic Duke.
"Yeah, and I've checked, she's not anywhere. Look Wing, I'm worried. I know she can disappear off into her own world for days at a time when she's got an idea, but we always know where she physically is."
"That's fair. Try to university again, she might be signed into a different lab than the one she usually uses. I'll get Tanya up to scan for her communicator," Wildwing said, dismissing his older drake, but still giving him something to do while they started to get organised.
-OMN-
By the time ten o'clock came and went, everyone was assembled by Drake One in a palpable sense of concern. The university had confirmed with Duke that Roxie had not entered any of the buildings for the last forty-eight hours, as she would need to swipe into a lot of the buildings and it was very unlikely for someone to hold the door open for every building that she needed.
They had then conducted a scan of the city for Roxie's communicator, only to have it ping inside of the Pond. This sent Duke on a mad dash back to his room to see that communicator with the rainbow striped strap was sitting under the book that was on the bedside table that Roxie used.
When he brought the communicator back into the Command Room everyone vented at their young ally's stupidity. It was even worse that they had given her that communicator in case she went missing, so that they could find her more easily.
"Of all the idiotic, irresponsible things to do! This is why she has one!" Mallory yelled out in frustration, hitting Drake One with a forceful pound of her fists. Yes, she didn't get one with Roxie most of the time, but she was still part of their team.
"Can w-w-we sew it onto her wr-wr-wris-wrist!" Tanya exclaimed, her stutter getting worse the more worried she got.
"Okay, plan B, can you track her cell phone?" Wildwing asked, keeping an eye on Duke, who was fidgeting with everything he could get his hands on. It seemed stress made Duke anxious for something physical, so he had to keep his fingers busy to keep himself thinking straight.
"Well, that's the prob-problem. Cell phones are so new here, that cell phone tracing is in its in-infa-infance, uh, new, its new. If Roxie had been using a cell phone from Puckworld I could do it, but she's using an Earth cell phone. So, it won't p-p-p-ping a tower until it's connected to a call," Tanya explained, getting more and more frustrated as she widened searched on Drake One, looking for anything.
"What about the tracer in her necklace?" Wildwing asked, causing everyone to look at him. Only Tanya, Duke and Wildwing knew about the tracer in the small star pendant that Roxie had warn to the International Space Station, it was how they were able to lock in on her location during the Saurian's siege of the station.
"She's not wearing it, found it next to the communicator," Duke replied, taking out his phone once again and trying to make another call.
That caused another angry tirade from Mallory in which Grin actually joined in. If something got Grin angry or worried, they all knew that it was bad, as normally he was unflappable. The gentle giant was practically yelling at the stupidity of Roxie, and he might have thrown in a few curse words for good measure.
Then, suddenly, Drake One made a connecting noise and the map of America suddenly zoomed onto a red dot that was flashing in Chicago. It startled everyone so much, as they didn't understand why Roxie's phone had suddenly pinged a mast in Chicago.
"Roxie! Where the hell are you?" Duke exclaimed over his phone causing everyone to suddenly swivel around, except Tanya. She had tapped into the phone call and brought it up on Drake One, along with the feed from a security camera near their wayward friend.
"Hey, Duke, sorry, I, something happened," Roxie said, sounding exasperated while she leaned against a wall.
"Angel, just so you know, you're on speaker phone, everyone's listening and we can see you through a security camera," Duke said, not wanting Roxie to say anything that she didn't want everyone to hear.
The girl seemed to look confused, then she looked around the area she was standing until she was staring straight at the security camera in front of her. They could see her shake her head and roll her eyes, but they could also see that she was safe.
"I'm sorry, I bet I've got you all on high alert, right?" Roxie said, looking up at the camera with an apologetic smile.
"You could say that, where the hell are you and why didn't you call? I've been trying to reach you all morning!" Duke said, completely ignoring the looks from his team mates as he berated his young lover.
"I'm sorry, I got a call last night from Jess, my dad had a heart attack. He's in the ICU now. I just, you grabbed my stuff and headed straight to the airport, I didn't even think about calling anyone, just about getting here," Roxie replied, looking around the hallway she was obviously on.
As soon as the word 'hospital' was mentioned, all the fight left every single duck. They all knew all about the problems that Roxie had with her family, but they also knew that she loved them. And most of the drakes knew what it was like to lose a father, as they had all lost their fathers before the age of twenty.
The map now showed that Roxie was in a downtown Chicago hospital, and they could see doctors and nurses moving around the corridor on the security camera feed. They had been so focused on seeing if Roxie had been harmed, they had missed the hospital setting entirely.
"Oh, Angel, I'm sorry, I'm sorry I yelled."
"Don't worry about it, Old Duck, I'm sorry I worried you, all of you."
"Do, do you need anything?" Duke asked, turning his back to his team mates and wishing that he wasn't on speaker phone or around anyone.
"No, it's fine," Roxie replied.
"Hey, what the fuck do you think you're doing? You can't use a cell phone in a hospital!" came the sudden, unpleasant voice of Jessica, Roxie's sister.
"They called me!" Roxie called back; they could all see the argument that was about to ensue on the camera feed.
"I gotta go, I've already pissed everyone off by arriving three hours late and now she's mad at me. I talk to you later, and thanks for the concern, bye," Roxie said, hanging up her phone then waving at the camera before heading in the direction of her sister.
The assembled Ducks breathed a sigh of relief, finally knowing that their friend was okay, at least physically. Wildwing called for everyone to go about their day while he called some people to let them know what was going on with his charge.
On his way out, he patted Duke on the shoulder, who was still staring at his phone. He whispered something to him before he went back towards the accommodation wing. He was still in his pyjama pants, he had only thrown on a t-shirt to cover up.
As everyone else left, Nosedive watched as Duke seemed to sink in on himself in both relief and worry. The drake was just standing in the middle of the floor, still looking at his phone. It was only after several moments that he seemed to come back to himself and headed in the direction of the gym, or his own training room. Probably to try and work through his emotions with physical activity.
That was when Nosedive made a mental note to ask someone about what was going on with Duke and Roxie. By the looks of it his brother seemed to know something, but even Nosedive realised that this might not be the most appropriate time to do that.
-OMN-
It was around three in the morning when the ringing of Duke's cell phone woke him up instantly. The problem with being a light sleeper meant that anything could wake you up. He reached out to his bedside table, picked up the phone and answered the call.
"Hello?" Duke asked, still a little groggy from suddenly being woke up in the middle of the night.
"Hi, Duke, it's, I, I had to," stammered the very distressed voice of Roxie, causing Duke to sit bolt upright in concern.
"Roxanne? Angel? What's wrong?" he asked, reaching for the light switch on his bedside lamp.
"My dad died."
"Oh, Angel, I'm so sorry," Duke said, resting his face in his hands, knowing exactly how his lover was feeling. He had lost his own father suddenly at age ten. It was a pain that felt far too raw.
"He, they said he was stable. And that we should go home, you know, rest. So, we left! We weren't here when he, when he went. No one was! He was all alone when he died!" Roxie cried into the phone.
"Angel, he knew how much you loved him, how much you all loved him. He wasn't alone, he had that."
"But he was alone. He died, alone. How, how could we, why did we go home? We shouldn't have left! If we had stayed, he might have- "
"Don't think like that, there was nothing that you could have done. Listen, do you, do you need anything? Do you want me to head over? I can catch a red-eye and be there in the morning."
"No, no, you don't need to drop everything for me. I just, Duke I just needed to hear your voice."
"When's the funeral. At least let us be there for that."
"Well, I know that if I said no you would still turn up. It's on Friday. Could you, could you let everyone know what's happened? Let them know I'll be here for a while longer. I can't believe I need to get ready for a funeral. Fuck, I need to go shopping tomorrow. I don't have any clothes with me, let alone any appropriate for a funeral."
"I can bring you some. I'll fly out early."
"No, it's fine. You guys have practice and a game on Saturday. If your taking Friday off, you'll need the time to practice. But thank you, I really, really appreciate it. Duke, I, I just, this is, I didn't think I'd be saying this, Duke, I l- "
"You still can't use a phone in an hospital you freak!" the high pitch screech of Jessica sounded, breaking off what Roxie was about to say.
"Sorry, Duke, I, I gotta go, the bitch is angry with me again. Bye," Roxie said with a sigh, hanging up the phone before Duke could say anything.
"I love you too, Roxanne," Duke said to the dial tone.
He made a mental note to punch Roxie's sister Jessica in the face the next time he saw her. He was absolutely sure that she was about to admit her feelings to him. It seemed to be a stalemate between them now, as he knew how she felt and he was sure that he knew how she felt, but both were unwilling to be the first to break.
Duke got around it by accidentally letting it slip out in Rouenin, his first language. Though he had to still be careful as Nosedive was now fluent in it. Whereas Roxie would always manage to slip in times when he was unsure what she had actually said, such as when they were making love. She always just brushed it off as saying that she said that she loved that, rather than you.
One of them would have to break soon, as Duke didn't know how much longer he could take of being in this limbo. He had promised her that he would wait as long as she needed, but he at least needed some leeway. Some evidence that she did feel the way he felt.
-OMN-
When Duke explained what had happened that morning over breakfast everyone looked heartbroken for Roxie. They did all agree that they should go to the funeral, to show their friend support. They knew that she wouldn't get it from anyone in Chicago, as she was not on good terms with any member of her family.
Duke also said that he would call around and make sure everyone who needed to know was informed that Roxie was going to be taking some time off. He then told everyone that he would also tell Johner, as the human would definitely want to accompany them to Chicago.
Wildwing informed Phil that they would all be taking a trip to Chicago on Friday, but was interrupted by Duke saying that they should head over on Thursday night instead. When asked why, the older drake replied that the funeral would actually be starting the day before.
"What, why?" Phil asked, looking between the two drakes.
"She's Catholic, the vigil starts the night before," Duke replied, crossing his arms as if to accept a challenge.
It must have seemed strange for Duke to know something so specific about Roxie's religion, as she rarely spoke about it. Most of the other members of the Mighty Duck franchise didn't even know that she was Catholic, only Mark did and that was because they often went to mass together. But, since the visit from Father Peter last year, Duke had made an effort to understand this part of his lover's identity.
Then, a few months ago, he had approached Mark about converting.
To say that the human was surprised would have been an outright lie, he was positively dumbfounded. He had no idea why any of the Ducks would want to convert to an Earth religion. He did understand that they were now going to be on Earth permanently and would probably want to integrate more, but this was very unusual.
He had explained the process of entering the Catholic Church though, which Duke greatly appreciated. He then told him he should probably go to some services and mass, to make sure that he wanted to commit to such a lifelong decision.
Once Phil had left to make a few phone calls, mostly to his fiancée Diana, Wildwing asked why Duke knew so much about Earth funerals. They had never been to one before, and had only entered a church three times, each for a special event for one of their staff members.
But Duke shook off the question. No one needed to know that he was converting to Roxie's religion for her. She should be the first one to know that, and he hadn't told her yet and in fact he had no idea when he was going to tell her. He still had a long way to go in converting, he was sure his confessional was going to take the better part of the next year.
Instead, Duke asked for the plans, which now had to be amended to include Thursday, but the basics would be the same. They would fly to Chicago in the Aerowing, then spend two nights in a hotel near Roxie's family home. Then fly back Saturday afternoon so they could take part in the game. All the publicity things would be postponed for Friday and Saturday and they would instead give their interviews after the game.
"Who's all going to be coming?" Duke asked.
"Um, us six, plus Johner, probably Lola, she's called me about three times already," Wildwing replied, looking over his notepad. They all assumed Phil wouldn't attend, as he had to make sure everything was organised for the game, without the help of his PA.
"You'd probably want to invite Mark too, he goes to mass with her, and we will probably want to send a wreath from the team. I can make that call, gonna be checking on Roxie soon anyway," Duke said, leaving the room before any more questions could be sent his way.
In Chicago, Roxie had managed to escape her family and the funeral plans for a little while. She had to get some clothes, as she was still wearing the clothes that she had worn to the club two nights ago. and, I wasn't like she was really making any decisions for her father's funeral. It seemed that he had already decided on a lot of the what he wanted years ago, one of the perks of being a firefighter she supposed, having to face your mortality almost constantly.
She was browsing some of the racks of Nordstrom, hoping that her bank balance could afford a whole bunch of new clothes and things when her phone began to chime. Over the last two days she had gotten several calls, which she had mostly ignored and sent to voicemail. She didn't feel like dealing with most people.
The only people she would answer her phone to now were her mother, for funeral related things, Johner, Nosedive and, of course, Duke. The three guys had called her fairly regularly, checking up on her and making sure she was doing okay and it seemed that it was now Duke's turn.
"Hey Duke," Roxie answered, having saw his name flash up on her screen.
"Hey there Angel, how are you getting on? You haven't gotten into a fight yet?"
"What, no, that's the entertainment for the wake. I'm doing okay, I guess, just taking a break and shopping. You know, I have literally nothing here to wear, all my clothes that are here are from when I was fourteen, and well, let's just say I was definitely going through a phase."
"Right, you shopping at Nordstrom right, fourth floor?" Duke asked, causing his lover to still in the store and look around, even though she already knew that Tanya had probably set Drake One to show her location whenever she answered her phone.
"You know, that's really creepy right, and slightly stalkerish. Tell Tanya that for me," Roxie said, throwing a quite middle finger towards the security camera she had spotted.
"Will do, Angel, have fun shopping. And don't worry about the cost, it's already taken care of. Oh, and make sure to sign a good tip for Brenda, bye," Duke said before he hung up.
Roxie didn't have much time to dwell on his comments before a middle-aged personal shopper with the most vibrant corn rows she had ever seen came up, asking if she was Roxanne Moore. It seemed Duke had called the store, and gave them his credit details so that one more worry could be taken off of her shoulders.
She couldn't help but smile, in his own way, he was always looking after her. And, the personal shopper that had been assigned to her was amazing. She had pulled everything that she could have needed, shoes, underwear, accessories, even socks. Though, Roxie did notice a theme in the underwear.
"Yes, well he was very specific about the lace. And, he was incredibly insistent about me not showing the price. He said you were to make the decision based on what you wanted, rather than worrying about anything else," Brenda replied, pulling down more fine clothes in very muted colours.
By the end of her shopping trip, Roxie had a new, full suitcase of everything she would need. She even had a lot of new jewellery and make-up. Duke really did think of everything. He had also told Brenda to bring a selection of crosses, as she never wore hers around normally.
Her next stop was to have her hair stripped completely, putting it back to the blond it naturally was. She hated being her natural colour, as she looked exactly like every other member of her family, but she couldn't argue. Her mother had specifically requested that she respect their mourning, and that bright colours were simply inappropriate.
It didn't help that her brothers and one of her sisters had chimed in saying that she looked like a clown. Even after all she had achieved, including going to space, they still needed to put her in her place. That had been why they had pointed out that she would be the only one walking the procession alone, as everyone else had a partner.
Most of her older siblings were married, with a few having children. Even her twin sister had been in a long-term relationship for a year now, so would be walking up the aisle of the church with her boyfriend. Her mother was very happy about this, saying that their next trip up the aisle would probably be for a wedding.
During this effusion, Roxie had almost let it slip that she was in a long-term relationship. But, she had stopped before she had even gotten a word out. It had been several months since she realised that her and Duke were no longer just physical and hadn't been for a long time. She still wasn't ready to admit it though, especially to her family in their time of mourning. She didn't want anyone to have a heart attack and be the cause of another funeral.
-OMN-
The day of the funeral was a beautiful day. They all knew that Chicago was known for crazy weather, but it seemed to be a beautiful fall day as the Ducks and a few of their friend stood outside of the church.
They had managed to leave on Thursday night, but due to some difficulties they had not managed to land until late Thursday night. There had been an issue with their flight plan and then with their landing clearance. It sometimes happened when plans got submitted at such late notice. The cars that were supposed to pick them up were also late arriving, so when they got to the hotel all they wanted to do was get to their rooms and sleep.
The hotel was mostly empty, though they suspected a few out of town relatives of Roxie were also staying there. They managed to get several rooms fairly cheap, as they Johner had dropped their names to get a better deal. Each person had their own room, which allowed them a lot of privacy for introspection.
They had all seen a lot of death during their last year on Puckworld, but had not been able to mourn any of them. They had been too worried about survival. This would be the first funeral many of them had been to in a long time and the first Earth funeral they attended.
The Ducks were sure that mourning was similar the universe over, but the specifics were probably going to confuse them. Luckily, Mark and Johner had spent the flight going over what was to be expected of them and Duke had told them all that they had to wear dark colours to the funeral, as many mourners Puckworld often wore white or pastel colours.
"It all looks so depressing," Nosedive whined, as they waited outside of the church. He could see several people milling around in dark colours, all glancing their way.
"It's supposed to be, it's mourning. Man, when I go, I don't want any black. I want everything to be bright, glittery, and sparkling, with all the colours of the rainbow and feather boas. Sorry, I didn't mean to, sorry, I forgot," Lola said, though everyone brushed off her comments on the feathers.
Even Lola, the most exuberant drag queen the Ducks had ever met, was dressed as demurely as she could. She was wearing a finely tailored suit of black, with a black shirt and tie. She was still wearing black, sparkly stilettoes though, and had a full face of make-up, but that was her true self.
Everyone else who had flown out from Anaheim was similarly dressed, except for the stilettoes. They were wearing suits or dresses of black, with black, sensible shoes. The accessories were also in dark colours, such as grey or black, and Nosedive had even tied his mane back with a black hair tie.
When the long, black limousine pulled up, the group finally caught sight of their friend. They had not been able to go to see her the nigh before, but Duke and Nosedive had both called, separately, to check in on how she was doing.
The girl that climbed out of the limousine looked nothing like the Roxie they were used to seeing. This girl had her long blond hair tied back in a simple bun, with long black ribbons dangling down her back. She was wearing a calf length, A-line, straight-necked dress with an open weave black shawl covering her bare shoulders and high, black court shoes on her feet. Her make-up was so light that is was almost nude, the only colour was a slight dusky lip stain.
As soon as she saw her Avian and human friends, Roxie couldn't but smile. She had felt so alone for the last several days, with no one saying a single kind thing to her. Her mother had been at her most critical and her twin sister had been the bitchiest she had ever been. It was usually her father that managed to get everyone off her back, but he was no longer there to help.
Quickly waving off her family, she made her way to her friends. The first person to approach was Mark, who took her hands and held them up, saying how sorry he was for her loss. Lola then descended and took her into a bone-crushing hug, telling her that she was there whenever she needed her.
Surprisingly, the next to embrace Roxie was Mallory, who told her that she lost one her brothers during the Occupation. That she still mourned for him, but she valued all the time she got to spend with him, even if he drove her crazy by calling her 'midget carrot-top'.
"Thanks, Mal, I really appreciate that," Roxie said, once Mallory had moved away with tears in her blue eyes.
Johner came next, telling her that he was here whenever he needed her, and Grin simply said that nothing could take away our love or memories. Tanya held both of Roxie's hands, not needing to say any words. Wildwing came forward and hugged his young friend, telling her that he had lost his father young, and that he knew that Jack would be proud of Roxie.
"I'm sorry, Roxer-Roo, I never really knew my dad, he died when I was really young. I know you and your dad had issues, but you had over twenty years with him, and there must be some great memories in there," Nosedive said as he hugged his best friend tightly.
The last person to step up was Duke, who took one her hand and smiled sadly at her. He then commented on the necklace she was wearing. It was one that he had bought for her when she went shopping the other day, and she was sure he had also been very specific about what was to be brought out to her.
"Thanks, its new," Roxie said with a small smile.
"Yeah, it's nice, but, I don't really think it's appropriate for the occasion. Here, figured you might want this one instead," Duke said as he pulled out a simple silver cross from his pocket. It had mother of pearl details on the front, and was engrossed with the date of her baptism and first communion on the back.
Roxie could barely hold back the tears on seeing the cross that her father had gifted her for her first communion. She hadn't worn it since she was fourteen, when she left Chicago for good, and was surprised that Duke had remembered which cross was which. Her mother gave her a new one every Christmas, hoping that she would finally start acting more Catholic.
Without a second thought, Roxie threw herself forward and wrapped her arms around Duke's middle, going under his suit jacket. She could feel his arms coming down to hold her tightly. And she felt safe and warm and right, despite standing in the middle of the street, outside the church where her father's funeral would be taking place. In the moment this felt right.
"What are they doing here?" came Jessica's voice, disturbing the embracing couple and making Duke his vow to punch the woman in the face. She was accompanied by an older man, who was obviously one of Roxie's brothers and a man in a robe. This must be the priest who would preside over the funeral.
"They're here for me, you know, for support," Roxie said, one arm dropping from around Duke's waist but the other still under his jacket gripping the back of his shirt.
"Listen, Roxanne, I know that they came all the way out here, but this is our father's funeral, we Don't need to make it into a spectacle," said Roxie's brother, who didn't even bother to introduce himself to the assembled group.
"Now, now, Jacob, there is no need for this. Why, this is obviously a way to introduce these visitors to our faith, and from what I understand they are dear friends of your youngest sister. If your mother does not protest, and I don't see why she would, then I welcome you into my church," the old, robed, man said with a big smile, making everyone feel at ease.
"Fine, they can come, but they're not to make a scene. And neither are you. I got to go and talk to mom," Jacob said, turning and leaving without a word of goodbye, followed by a sour faced Jessica.
"It's the stress of the situation, My Child, do not take it personally. And, allow me to welcome you, I am a huge fan of yours. I try to get out to see hockey as much as I can. It's wonderful to meet you. I'm Father Patrick," the priest, Father Patrick said, shaking the hands of each one of the Ducks, before he blessed the humans that were present. He even commented how much he loved Lola's shoes before he left.
All the while Roxie still kept her arm around Duke's waist while he kept an arm over her shoulders. From any outside observer, it would just look like a friendly gesture as none of the humans present could possibly think otherwise. The Ducks present thought otherwise though, this was a clear declaration of a slightly deeper relationship.
"Hey, Roxanne, we have to go!" called someone who was obviously another one of Roxie's four brothers.
"Coming, John. He's really concerned about me walking up the aisle alone, apparently that would be the real tragedy. Ignore the coffin of the man who died unexpectedly from a heart attack, there's a single, capable woman walking up the aisle," Roxie joked with a smile that did not reach her eyes.
With a sigh, Roxie let go of Duke's back and headed towards her assembled family, a gaggle of blond heads dressed in black. All the Ducks watched her go and all agreed that this was going to be difficult to get through, as they could all see that their young friend was already being beaten down by her family.
Walking into the church and sitting down on one of the pews in the middle of the church the Ducks tried to make themselves as small as possible. They had hoped that they were sitting at the back of the congregation, so wouldn't be in anyone's way. Unfortunately, after they had sat down several more people filed into the church, filling up all the pews behind them. They couldn't move, or that would cause more of a scene than staying put.
"So, um, is that her dad?" Nosedive asked, pointing towards the coffin at the front and centre of the church, surrounded by photos, candles and flowers.
"Yep, that's him. Try not to stare, we're going to be here a while. And don't kneel when you see everyone else kneel, we're not Catholic, so we can't kneel, we have to stay seated. and, when they call for communion, we can go up, but don't take the bread or wine. Again, we're not Catholic, all we can take is the blessing for the priest," Duke explained, even though Mark had gone through everything on the plane journey over.
The funeral was really long, for the Ducks standards, but even Nosedive was well behaved. They were, after, representing both their species and Roxie. If they did anything wrong, it might be in the papers the next morning.
Most of the family read a passage or lead the congregation in a prayer, Roxie's mother and eldest spoke about Roxie's father. They could see most of the people assembled crying along with many members of the blond family.
The priest then took communion, in which most of the Ducks and their friends came up. When they sat down, Tanya did comment on how strange it was, but did not say it very loudly. The priest then called everyone's attention for a final reading, where he listed the family.
"We will all miss Jack, and please say a prayer for his family. His wife, April a prominent dance instructor in Chicago. His eldest son Jacob, who followed his father into the fire service. His eldest daughter, Courtney, who is a registered nurse. His sons Allen and Jeffrey, both also firefighters. His youngest son, Adam, a member of the marine corps. His youngest daughters, Jessica, a dancer at Julliard, and Roxanne," Father Patrick stopped there, suddenly looking up to the family, then at Roxie, before he looked down and continued to list the family Jack had left behind.
"They couldn't even acknowledge what she does, what a slap in the face," Mallory said as quietly as she could. The rest of the Ducks could see Roxie looking at her oldest sister in anger, before she shook her head and continued to look forward.
Duke refused to comment, if he opened his beak, he was probably going to cause a huge scene. He felt incensed about how his lover was being treated by her immediate family. And really wanted to give each one of them a piece of his mind.
Finally, there was the final commendation, signalling the end of the service. The priest then signalled the bearers to remove the coffin, after he had sprinkled it with holy water, then he began to lead the family out of the church. They were then to be followed by the rest of the congregation out into the graveyard so they could bury the coffin.
The family walked solemnly behind the priest, mostly two by two. Roxie's mother was being held by someone who looked like they could have been her brother, while all of Roxie's siblings were walking with their spouses or partners. This left Roxie walking alone, and she did not look like she was coping.
The poor girl had tears freely flowing down her face, and she barely looked like she was managing to keep one foot moving in front of the other. She was holding herself tightly as she began to openly cry, her eyes fixed on the coffin of her father moving in front of her.
It had all finally hit her. She would never see her father again. She would never have another argument with him. He would never come to her defence. He would never see her achieve her PhD or achieve her lifetime goal of winning a Nobel prize. He would never walk her down the aisle or give him a grandchild. She would never have another moment with her father, all she had were the memories that she already made. And she wasn't proud of them.
There were quiet murmurs around the congregation about the youngest daughter of the deceased looking like she was going to collapse in grief. The Ducks were all really concerned, as they knew that Roxie would not show her hurt feelings often but when they did, they came out in a flood.
Without a second thought, Duke leapt out of his seat as soon as Roxie was close, grabbing her and pulling her close before she could collapse. His steadiness kept her walking, though she grabbed onto him as tightly as she could, not caring that anyone was watching or what her family was going to say. She needed him, and he was more than willing to give her what she needed in her time of grief.
And Duke did not let go, not during the burial or the final prayers. He only let go when Roxie had to climb into the limousine with the rest of her family. He stood and watched as the car pulled away before he got into one of the cars that they had rented.
The family held a wake in their own home. It was a rather large house in the suburbs, and it had to be. Jack and April had seven kids after all, a bigger house would have been necessary or else someone might have murdered someone else.
"Hey, look at the Princess of Darkness," Mallory said, when they arrived at the Moore home, pointing towards a family portrait that had everyone but Roxie in matching clothing. Roxie, on the other hand was wearing the most punk outfit ever, with black and red poker-straight hair.
They couldn't find Roxie though, or Duke. As soon as he had entered the house, the older drake had disappeared upstairs to look for Roxie who was hiding in her old room, crying her eyes out. She was lying face down on the bed when Duke managed to quietly to sneak in, but he didn't say a word. All he did was lie next to her, so that she could cling to him as she cried. He merely stroked her back as calmly as he could as he whispered any song that he could remember.
That was how Nosedive found his friend, in a very intimate embrace with one of his team mates. He tried to be angry, but he now at least had his answer, and it seemed that Duke was being as good to her as he could be.
Leaving the scene, Nosedive tiptoed back down the stairs, making a mental note to ask Roxie about it when everything had passed and she was feeling better. They didn't see Roxie appear until almost an hour later, which caused her oldest sister to admonish her as quietly as she could. Duke appeared on the side of the couch next to Mark, who was listening to stories about the Moore family from Father Patrick, who had been the family's priest since Jack and April got married. He had many funny stories about each of the Moore children, including Roxie, who had apparently threw off her dress one Sunday Mass when she was three and ran through the church naked.
-OMN-
After Roxie arrived back from Chicago following her father's funeral and the reading of his will, she never slept another night in her own room. She essentially moved into Duke's room, and even when they had an argument she would still stay in Duke's room.
One of their biggest arguments was after Phil's wedding, when the two had had a blazing row about making their relationship public. The argument had resulted in Roxie storming away in sheer terror about admitting her feelings out loud while Duke drank three bottles of champagne with Wildwing next to the decorated rink.
When Roxie finally came to bed that night, she curled up next to Duke who was already in bed, and apologised for her behaviour. She whispered into her chest that she did care, but she just wasn't ready yet.
"Well, do you have any idea when you will be ready. I know I don't have many options here, Angel, but even I can't wait around forever," Duke asked, stroking his lover's free-flowing rainbow hair.
"Sooner than you think," Roxie replied from her place next to him, before falling into a slightly fitful sleep but still cuddling into Duke.
And she was right, only a few days later did Duke receive a phone call from a local hospital. It seemed that Roxie had listed him as her emergency contact. The nurse on the other end of the line explained that Roxie had injured her ankle during her dance practice and one of the barmen had taken her to the hospital to get it checked out.
"Okay, I'll be right there, give me a few minutes," Duke said, grabbing his keys as he left his room. He waved goodbye to Grin, who was sitting in the Rec Room watching some travel documentary, which was his new hobby.
Duke managed to arrive at the hospital fairly quickly as it was fairly late at night and the roads were quite empty. He had driven there in his new BMW rather than his sports car, as it would be a lot more comfortable for Roxie to get in and out of. Walking into the emergency room he spotted Roxie, as she was fairly easy to spot, sitting with a group of doctors and nurses at the nurses' station.
"Look, look, I told you it was really him! Duke, they didn't believe me that you were you, I think they were going to get my psychologically evaluated for being delusional!" Roxie exclaimed as soon as she caught sight of the tall drake.
"I'd still say that might be needed, Angel, hey there, can you tell me what happened?" Duke said, shaking the hand of a young doctor who was looking at him with his jaw still dropped.
"Yeah, yeah, sure, um, she took a fall from a prop."
"Fell right off it, splat, on the stage in my costume. You could totally see my entire ass!" Roxie exclaimed though several bouts of laughter.
"Is she on something?" Duke asked after regarding his giggling lover. She was no longer dressed in her performance costume, the barmen who brought her in obviously donated a large t-shirt and the hospital had given her a gown, which Roxie was wearing as a jacket.
"Well, we've given her some painkillers which seem to be having a very strong effect on her. I have some more here, she might need to take these if the pain gets a bit too much, but make sure she doesn't exceed four doses in one day," the young doctor explained as Duke stripped off his own jacket, to give it to Roxie.
"Right, sure, is there anything I need to sign?" Duke asked with an exasperated sigh. He was then handed a few forms by one of the nurses and a bag full of sparkly clothes. Roxie had obviously stripped off her costumed while she was waiting.
The girl herself was explaining to everyone who would listen how great of a guy Duke was, and how caring he was. That he was always willing to try to do anything to make her happy. Before she could then start explaining how exactly she was making her happy, Duke wheeled her out of the ward as the high girl waved goodbye.
It took a few attempts to get Roxie into the car, as she was rather high. He had had to leave the wheelchair at the door of the ward, and instead of letting her limp along, Duke merely picked her up and carried her to his car. This made her want to dance and sing as loudly as she could, drawing as much attention to them as she possibly could.
When they were both in the car with the doors closed, Roxie began to stroke Duke down his chest, quickly getting to his pants and undoing his belt. She was babbling about how she needed to thank him properly for coming to her rescue and she couldn't wait until they got back to their room.
"Angel, stop, this, this is not right," Duke said, trying to stop her needy hands.
"Why not, I want you so much, and you want me back, this is entirely natural," Roxie replied with a slight huff.
"Is that all this is, Angel? Just that we want each other and want to satisfy each other?"
"Of course not! Surely you've figured that out by now!" Roxie exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation.
"Explain it to me, cause I'm slow. Half the time I'm not sure what you want from me, from us. I just, I need you tell me, at least once, what I am to you, Angel, cause you're everything to me now."
"Duke, you know it's hard for me to express my feelings. I just, can't you just accept it, and, just continue," Roxie asked, looking up into Duke's eyes.
"Roxanne," Duke said, taking hold of her hands, "Roxanne, I love you. I can't imagine my life without you. I would do anything to make you happy. I'm even converting to Catholicism for you, so I can understand your life more. But I need to know that you can see something more than just us sneaking around and having sex."
"I can't believe you're so dense that you actually need to ask! Fine, fine, Duke, I do love you. I really do. I think you might be the only guy I've ever actually loved, but can't you tell I'm absolutely terrified about this. I Don't know what to do with these feelings. The only way I can work through these feelings is by physically expressing it! So please, Duke, let me express my feelings for you in a physical way so I Don't need to verbalise it again," Roxie asked, her hands moving back to Duke's belt and zipper.
"Fine, fine, but we're talking about this, tomorrow. We're gonna sit down and hash this out when you're not high on prescription drugs!" Duke said, his head falling back onto the headrest as he felt Roxie coaxing his dick to life.
"You can try!" Roxie said, his head going down, only to be stopped by Duke grabbing hold of her hair.
"Say it, say it once again, let me hear you say it, and I'll be content for at least a little while," Duke said, looking Roxie directly in the eyes.
"I love you, Duke. Now let me blow you," Roxie said, batting Duke's hand from her hair and finally making contact with the exposed dick.
"Ah, ah, fuck, great, fine, fuck, oh Roxanne, I love you!" Duke exclaimed as he felt Roxie's tongue working his tip. He had to grab hold of the headrest behind him to stop from gripping her hair in a death grip. But he couldn't stop his hands from wandering.
His right hand went to Roxie's backside, gripping the globes before his hand wandered further down to start to digitally get her off as well. Before she could finish him off though, Duke grabbed a hold of her and pulled her onto his lap, and thrusting up into her waiting core.
He then managed to quickly and efficiently fuck Roxie to completion, the girl almost screaming out loud but biting down on his collarbone to muffle her cries. He followed very quickly, climaxing hard into her.
It took a few moments for the two to calm down enough for them to actually move. Roxie finally moved off Duke's lap, taking off his jacket to clean herself up a little. Duke, meanwhile was breathing heavily, trying to focus on actually driving back to the Pond.
-OMN-
"Please tell you saw that as well?" asked the short, brown hair man from his position in the front seat of the SUV in the hospital parking lot.
"Yeah, yeah, I saw that. Please tell me you filmed that?" replied the taller, grey haired man, form his seat next to the shorted man.
"Yeah, yeah I filmed that. Did we really just see the centre of the Mighty Ducks getting blown, then getting fucked in a carpark by a burlesque dancer?"
"Yeah, Marty, that's what we saw. We just saw an alien having sex with a human in a hospital carpark."
The two partners, who had been staking out the hospital carpark for the last three weeks looked at each other with the same shell-shocked look. They were private investigators hired by the wife of one of the attending cardiologists at the hospital as she thought he was having an affair. The two partners were staking out the hospital to get her proof for her inevitable divorce.
"This is the biggest story of the year, if not the century, Joey, you know, that right? We could make a fucking fortune! Who have thought we'd document this! We were only paid to catch a doctor having an affair with a nurse!"
"Hang on there, Marty. We have to be careful about this. This could backfire on us really, really badly."
"How, we have proof! We got photos and everything!"
"Yeah, we have photos taken in the dark from a car into another car. That is one of Anaheim's hero's and one of the groups that saved us all from near death. Someone who got a medal of freedom from the president not that far back. We have to be careful. We need more proof of this affair. Then, we'll go to one of those glossy magazines and sell the story for an absolute fortune! Now, let's get out of here, we've got bigger fish to fry!"
As soon as the two pulled out of the carpark they started to plan and plot. They had a lot of work to do to get all the necessary proof. From what they were aware, that girl had been on the scene for a few years and they began to work off the theory that she had been with Duke L'Orange for most of that time.
"But, from what the papers were saying, that girl was with the right-wing, Nosedive," Joey said, as they wrote on their large whiteboard.
"I bet that threw everyone off, they were so busy looking at this girl and Nosedive that they missed the signs of her and Duke!" Marty theorised, with a giant smile on his face.
The two private investigators spent the next few months researching everything they could. They managed to get all the information on Roxanne Moore, so they were able to write a very thorough bio for the girl. Complete with everything about her family, scholastic achievements and academic career.
After that, they managed to contact a few people who had some interactions with the Mighty Ducks and stories that were often dismissed. The first person they interviewed was a taxi driver who had driven Duke and Roxie home after picking them up outside of a club. The story he told, which was from several years ago, was of two very drunk people practically getting it off in the back of his cab.
There were then a few waiters and theatre attendants who informed Joey and Marty about nights that Duke and Roxie went out together. They reported that they had often heard very sexual noises coming from their private box, and one had even looked in to see Roxie straddling the Duck during the last performance of the season.
There next goal was to go into all the places that Roxie and Duke frequented and plant some recording devices. The first stop was the Birdcage, where Roxie had a semi-private dressing room. Joey was absolutely sure that they had had sex in this room at least once.
They then bugged the private box that Duke had at the theatre, and luckily, there were going to be a few performances coming up. The problem was planting devices in the Pond, they knew they had to bug several rooms in the stadium to fully catch the two in the act and had to take out a loan to cover the cost of these extra, high end devices.
"Don't worry, when we sell this story, we will definitely earn this money back, with interest!" Marty justified.
The two managed to infiltrate the Pond dressed as janitors. There was a big clean up going on, as there had just been a game the night before, so no one noticed two extra janitors milling around. They had decided to bug the locker room and the bathroom, as well as Duke's office upstairs.
These devices were constantly on and would send audio constantly. They would also send several photos, but it was the videos that were more difficult. These would not record to be stored, they physically had to turn on the recordings to save anything, this meant that the two were constantly monitoring the screens from the new surveillance van they had just purchased.
They even followed the Ducks to their away games, bribing a member of staff at the hotels that they stayed at so that they could film their hotel rooms. These trips were always worth it as they would always see something.
After each game, Duke and Roxie would spend the night having sex in various positions across his hotel room. The two private investigators were in awe of the Duck's stamina, and Roxie's flexibility.
"Fuck, look at them go! I Don't think I've ever made a woman scream like that!" Joey said from his place next to the recording devices. The devices that they had had full audio and the two could hear the screams of pleasure echoing around the room. They could also here the declarations of love and devotion that spilled along with the sexual fluids.
"They can't actually love each other, right? I mean, that's really wrong," Joey asked, looking over at his older partner who refused to answer the question.
The two private investigators had spent thousands of dollars investigating the relationship of Duke L'Orange and Roxanne Moore. But, within five weeks it had been well worth the price, as they had hours' worth of recordings, interviews, audio, videos and photos.
The two presented these to the CEO of a huge media conglomerate, refusing to speak to anyone but the president. But also refusing to give away any information about what they were going to show, only saying it was worth his time and multi million dollars.
And, the media conglomerate president agreed. This was one of the biggest stories that had been put on his desk and he was more than willing to sign over their starting offer of ten million dollars each for all the original files and lists of witnesses. He already had a full media campaign worked out to justify the cost.
When the two men left, having signed several contracts and being given their cheques that day, the media mogul looked through everything again and called his most trusted writers to turn this evidence into the biggest story to rock the world that century.
It's all going tits up! And yes, I know that the funeral scene was taken from a very popular HBO show, but when I first watched that this scene came into my head, so I had to put it into my story.
Review thank you:
Leandra L'Orange: thanks! I hope this was just as suspenseful.
masharfsky: thanks, I'm trying to keep up the quality, but I've already spotted so time line holes that I will need to go back and fix across all of my stories, but that is a task for another day!
starrat: thanks for the follow and favourite!
palacegirl: yep, I am a ninja updater at the moment! in my head, Roxie's mother is like Monica's mother in friends, a right bitch, and her siblings are quite resentful of Roxie, both for her terrible behaviour and then for being exceptional.
TFG