Hello everyone!
I have once again pushed myself to finish a beast of a fanfiction that I never planned on writing to begin with. When I created my OC Roxie she was just going to be a friend to Nosedive, as I felt like I couldn't accurately write Thrash and Mookie. She though, took over and became something else. So, I wrote Birds of a Feather and this.
I also did not expect to finish this as soon as I have, I blame my 30 hours of classes and 20 hours of admin that is making me escape into fantasy to unwind. So, covid and the boders all being closed is actually giving me the desire to complete everything. The only good thing that is coming out of this personally, for me.
Anyway, here is the final chapter, which can be summarised as 'and things just got worse'.
Please, do not flame just because this story is not going to end the way you think it will. There is going to be a sequel, bringing everything together, though I haven't started that yet. I still have to finish Resist, Rebuild, Revive. And, I'm sorry for taking up the entire feed of this fandom, I hate it when someone does that, but I'm just trying to finish this.
Also, please have a little read of my other stories, and watch out for the one shot that I've hinted at for the last few chapters of this now completed story.
The Fairy Godmother (TFG)
Yeah, Baby, Give Me One More Night
There was a complete media nuclear fallout once the story had been released. Every network ran the story for weeks afterwards, as the media mogul had kept some things back, so that the story could be added to every few days.
Different shows took different approaches. Some had psychologists and psychiatrists on explaining a variety of deviant behaviours, and why an attractive young woman would sleep with an alien. They had biologists and sports physicians making assumptions based on things that existed in nature on Earth or what they had seen with other sports professionals.
Some shows had even managed to track down some of the witnesses to Duke's and Roxie's amorous encounters. They had the taxi driver from the first instance, a theatre attendant from when they went to the ballet together, a few of the other dancers from the Birdcage, and even Henry, the student from her cohort who Roxie had tried to date. All of whom gave ridiculous exaggerations of the stories that had been published over several printed media.
And, the shows that were willing to pay the most, managed to get Marty and Joey, the two private investigators who managed to sniff out this story. Both looked very reparable in their new, expensive suits and managed to talk professionally about surveillance techniques and some of the problems they ran into. Before they spoke graphically about what they had seen and documented, even bringing on some of the unedited and un-blurred videos, talking the audience through what they two were doing and saying to each other.
The people they had not managed to get on TV to interview were the people closest to the either of the two. There were only snippets of various people saying no comment as reporters flung questions at them. Or videos of the Ducks, the Dean, Lola or Roxie's family coming out of places, heads down, refusing to speak.
Most of these TV shows desperately wanted someone closer to the couple to speak. Everyone had gotten phone calls from producers or the stars themselves, offering them a ridiculous amount of money to come on and tell the world their first hand experience.
And that was nothing compared to the phone calls and offers both members of the actual couple were getting. Johner and Phil were often getting the offers, which had risen to seven figures for an exclusive interview. Even the money grubbing Phil would slam the phone down, cursing his existence and vowing to make the horny drake downstairs pay for all of his sleepless nights.
It was getting to the point where no one could turn on a TV without seeing something about the affair. Diana, Phil's new wife and head of their legal team, did meet with the media mogul to begin legal procedures. But, she came back the same day telling Wildwing and Phil that they better settle out of court.
There was very little that she could do, and the media mogul had held back some other things. If they went to court it was likely that those things would come out and it would do even more damage than what had already been done.
The tiny yet ferocious lawyer had then demanded that she know everything about every Duck that was under the Pond. When Wildwing tried to explain that they valued their privacy, Diana refused to accept that as an answer. She just told him that she couldn't fully do her job if she didn't understand everything. And, if she couldn't be prepared, she would not do her job.
The threat of Diana quitting was enough to force everyone to have an appointment with Diana to explain their full history. Each Duck came out looking like they had played two hundred games back to back, most had tears in their eyes.
They had tried to keep things going as normally as possible, especially as the season would be starting properly soon. They had help exhibition game press conferences, and allowed sports casters to interview the players. But the only question was about the affair.
Eventually, Duke had been banned from being present when any reporter was present. They would all clamber to speak to him, completely ignoring everyone else present. And, it had stressed it out to the point that he had snapped and yelled that it was his personal life and shouldn't be looked at under a microscope.
There was still an unending horde of reporter's campaign outside the Pond. Each one practically jumping anyone who came in or out of the Pond, including the poor city worker who collected their trash. A lot of their support staff quit during this time, due to the unreasonable circumstances. Though, some admitted to their direct manager that they couldn't continue to work due to the immorality of what had been happening for years in the Pond.
One of their janitors had even slapped Duke when he had come out to try and work through some of his emotions by hitting as many pucks as he could. She had yelled that he was a disgusting pervert and that he would burn in hell.
Duke did not argue as the woman got taken away. Nor did he try to worm out of any of the dressing downs that he had gotten. He just sat there, quietly, letting the person who was ranting at him get everything out while he drank from the bottle that was constantly in his presence.
Over the years it had been shown that Duke liked a drink. Most of the Ducks did as the legal age of drinking on Puckworld was a lot lower than in the United States. But, over the days after the case broke, they saw that Duke was never without a bottle of something.
After a few days he had gone from wine to whiskey that they saw he would finish during the day. His teammates became even more worried when they saw that Duke had started to drink at breakfast, or, in reality, for breakfast as he had stopped eating.
Grin, the poor mellow drake, was almost drowning in second hand despair as he watched his friend and team mate attempt a new profession as an alcoholic. He tried every meal time to get him to put down the bottle and attempt to eat some food instead, only to see his friend take a few bites before turning back to his alcoholic beverage.
After a few days, Wildwing finally got up the courage to talk to the older drake about his drinking problem. He couldn't have a team member drunk while they were at practice or playing a game. The start of the season would be soon, but they had a few exhibitions matches before that.
He pulled Duke into his office after their joint practice with their human players. And, Duke had taken about three shots of whiskey before he went onto the ice. It didn't seem to affect him too much, skill wise, but it made him really short tempered.
So, when Ryan said something about Roxie enjoying 'dark meat' and 'duck sauce', Duke didn't hesitate to launch himself at the defensemen. It took Grin pulling Duke off of the young man and Wildwing trying to calm the situation down.
It was lucky that hockey was contact sport, so the black eye that Ryan walked out with could easily be explained as an accident in practice. The young man even admitted that he did deserve it and understood that if Duke hadn't launched himself at him, then someone else would have.
"Listen, Duke, I'm worried about this, you've spent the last four days in a drunken haze," Wildwing said, as he sat down across from the older drake in his office.
"Have I been unable to function in my capacities as centre or financial officer? Have I been unable to perform to the best of my abilities in practice? Have I failed to show up for combat practice? No, I've been working as hard as I ever have. So, what if I've been drinking a bit more, I've not had anything else to help with any of my frustrations," Duke replied with a completely flat affect.
"Duke, I think you might be developing a drinking problem. I know that you've had a, difficult, time recently, but the drinking is not helping. What will the media think about this? What will Roxie think about this?"
"Roxie, I haven't seen or talked to her since this happened! She's refusing to see me! And I don't give a flying puck what the media thinks!"
"Duke, please, I'm worried about you. I really am, I've never seen you like this before. Even after we got stranded here, you managed to find something- "
"I had someone who I loved and who I knew loved me! All I have now is emptiness, and alcohol. Lots of alcohol. I plan to stay numb," Duke replied, finishing his point by taking a swig from the bottle that was under the chair.
But Wildwing managed to rip the bottle from his team mate's hand. He stood up and then poured the amber liquid down the drain in the small sink that was in his office. And, for final emphasis he threw the bottle in the trash can, the glass smashing as it hit the bottom forcefully.
"I don't want to do this, but, until you start to deal with everything, I can't have you jeopardising what we've worked towards. So, I'm going to have to take you off the rota, until myself, Ian and Dr Butcher are satisfied that you've made progress. I've already made an appointment for you to see Dr Butcher, who is going to contact a therapist that she trusts. She's expecting you downstairs in ten minutes."
"Not giving me much wiggle room there, Wing," Duke replied, staring murderously at his team caption.
"No, I'm not. Duke, I've known you for over six years now, and I've never seen you like this. I understand that you've had a huge blow recently, but you can't let this destroy you. I speak from experience; you need to find a way to work through this and move forward. I can't just sit back and watch as you drink yourself to death."
"This isn't the same and you know it. You got separated from your girl by war and circumstance. I got separated from mine cause of the media. Mine, mine is refusing to talk to me, when we need to be together the most. Could you honestly tell me you and your girl would have let something like that get between you?" Duke asked, his rage and jealously echoing through the office.
"No, I would have moved the heavens to be with her."
"So, would I. But she isn't- "
"Duke, you don't know what she's going through. If it's this hard for you, think how much harder it's got to be for her. You've been lauded as someone who can charm anyone regardless of species, she's being touted as a deviant, a pervert."
"That's why she should be talking to me! I can, I don't know, support her, let her know she's not alone. I love her!"
"Then give her the time she needs. And, when she does come back, make sure that you're actually able to support her. Get your head on straight! Get sober again!" Wildwing yelled back, trying to make his centre see sense.
-OMN-
Ever since she left the Pond, Roxie had cried herself to sleep. Her entire body would be wrecked with sobs as she held herself tightly while wearing the training jersey of Duke's that she had refused to take off. It smelled like him and the fact that she didn't have him next to her made her cry harder.
She cried until there were no more tears left to cry, until she was entirely numb. She barely ate and did not leave the apartment at all. She barely showered, or talked to anyone. She barely spoke to Johner, even though he lived in the apartment as well.
She was thankful that he had managed to cancel her cell phone and had gotten her a new number. She was not getting as much hate as she would have gotten otherwise. All she was getting was the occasional text from Nosedive and Lola, as they were the only people who had the number, other than her dean.
It was two days after the news broke that Lola came to see her in Johner's apartment. And, based on what the drag queen was wearing, Roxie knew that it wasn't going to be a good visit. She was wearing plain jeans and a shirt, with sneakers. She wasn't even wearing any make-up or one of her wigs.
"You look different," Roxie said bluntly as she sat down on the couch.
"You look like shit," Lola replied.
"I feel like shit."
"Well, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to make you feel better," Lola admitted with a deep and sad sigh.
The drag queen took a deep breath and went on to explain everything that had happened in the club since Roxie had escaped on that fateful day. The media had instantly descended on the club, asking everyone questions and getting a lot of answers. They had had to close the club that night and the next night to deal with the horde.
The other owners and investors of the Birdcage had called about what they were going to do. And, despite Lola's defence of one of her headliners, their lawyers and Public Relations representative had managed to talk her into acting in the best intentions of the club.
"So, I'm sorry, Roxie, but I'm going to have to let you go. I don't want to though; you are going to be hard to replace and I've loved working with you. But we can't keep having the media causing this level of disruption forever. The amount of money we're losing, I'm not sure I'm going to even break even this month. and, if I keep you on, well, I'm going to lose a lot more employees. I'm sorry," Lola explained, keeping hold of the girls' hand and being as gentle as she could.
"I understand. You've put everything into that place. You shouldn't lose it, just for me," Roxie replied completely emotionlessly.
"Listen, even if you're not working for me, I will of course give you a good reference. And, if you need anything, I'll be here for you. Take care of yourself, kid," Lola said, getting up to leave and letting herself out.
The next day was not that much better for Roxie, as things continued to go from bad to worse for the young woman. She had gotten a call from her dean, demanding that she attend a meeting with him that afternoon.
This was never a good thing. The Dean only got involved when things were either really bad or really good. And things definitely weren't the latter for Roxie at the moment. She desperately wanted to just tell him no, or ask him to come and see her at the apartment, but knew that she couldn't. She would actually have to leave the apartment.
Roxie begun her morning by dying her hair from the rainbow that she usually wore to a dark brown, using a box dye that Johner had picked up the night before. She knew that her hair easily identified her, and would be an absolute beacon for the reporters.
And her natural colour wasn't much better. It was a bright blond on a tiny, curvy girl. She would stand out in a room this way as well. That was why she had decided on the dark brown, it was something that could help her blend into a room and maybe help her be in a public place without having microphones thrust at her.
As she stood in the shower washing out the colour and hoping it would colour the rainbow, Roxie suddenly felt like she was being watched. This was the first shower she had had since the night Duke had come to the apartment and she was not enjoying it at all.
Looking over her shoulder after several moments of feeling uncomfortable, she was met with the flash of a camera. Someone had climbed down from the roof and was taking photos of her in the shower.
She stood frozen in absolute shock for several long seconds, giving the person a full-frontal view of her, until she finally realised what had happened. She gave out the loudest shriek before grabbing hold of her towel to try and cover herself.
This caused Johner to break into the bathroom, breaking down the door, to find a man taking photos from his bathroom window. He leapt across the now flooding bathroom to throw the blinds closed, obscuring the view of the peeper. He then stepped into the tub to grab hold of Roxie, ignoring the water that was still running so that he could carry her back to her room.
As she cried in terror of what was now going to be in the paper, Johner called the police to get them to clear out the horde. He then called Diana, who was now acting as Roxie's lawyer as well, to tell her what had happened and what could be done.
"Do you want me to stay here today? I can call in sick and we can watch terrible movies on the couch?" Johner said, trying to sound soothing from his place on the foot of Roxie's bed.
"I have to head into the university today, I have a meeting with the dean," Roxie replied, trying to towel out the remaining dye from her hair. She had not finished but had no desire to go back into the bathroom.
Before she left that day, Johner had helped wash out the dye in the kitchen sink. She had to try and make herself look like the respectable scientist she actually was. One who had several patents, new inventions, devices on the new Space Station and a medal from the President for helping stop an evil alien taking over the world. She didn't have many options at Johner's apartment though, as many of her things were hanging in Duke's wardrobe, all she had were a few things that Nosedive had managed to grab from her room.
She changed into the most respectable thing that she actually had. A fitted, button down light pink blouse, with a pair of pair of grey slacks. She then put on a pair of black loafers, that were flat and comfortable in case she had to make a break for it.
She managed to get out of the building and to Johner's SUV fairly easily. Her car had been abandoned at the Birdcage and no one had been able to get it back due to the horde of paparazzi. So, Johner had given her his keys and he had accepted the keys to Nosedive's car. The drake saying that he could just use Wildwing's instead until Roxie gets her car back.
When she arrived on campus she saw another group of reporters. This one was slightly sparser and more spread out. They were trying to interview students coming in and out of the buildings, but as her cohort was quite small there were very few students that they could talk to that would actually know anything about her. And, the faculty would hopefully refuse to answer anything.
This time, Roxie did not go into any of the other buildings before going into the admin building. She didn't get any coffee or refreshments, fearing running into another student or reported. Instead, she made her way quickly to the dean's office and waited patiently to be called in.
She didn't need to wait long though, as she was called in almost as soon as she sat down. The department secretary almost sneering at her as she walked by, like he was afraid he would catch her attraction to large, muscular, sports playing, alien ducks.
"Please sit-down Miss Moore," the Dean said sternly as she closed the door behind her.
Roxie didn't need to be told twice; she was already shaking as she took her place across from the large, ornate mahogany desk. The room was very intimidating and she already felt very nervous. She tried to relax in the chair, but couldn't.
"You already know why you're here, Miss Moore, so I don't feel like I need to beat about the bush," the Dean said, his moustache barely moving as his spoke.
"No, sir," Roxie said, her voice sounding tiny.
"This report, across every media outlet and paper, well, it's very troubling. Especially as they named you and this university specifically. Now, I looked the other way when I saw photos of your alter ego in the paper before. It never mentioned your name and I understand how some students need to make a living as they worked towards their postdocturate. But this, this is absolutely unacceptable. What were you actually thinking? I always believed you were an exceptionally intelligent woman, and I had very high hopes for you."
"I understand, Sir. I, I, I cannot offer any explanation or reason for my actions other than I never thought anyone would find out. All I can do is apologise for my behaviour and how it may have negatively affected the university."
"Miss Moore, I'm sorry to have to tell you, but your funding has been withdrawn. All of your scholarships have been suspended, and the job offers that you have gotten from various institutes have also been withdrawn. This, of course, means that, unless you find the money to continue, I will have to suspend your studies."
"But, Sir-"
"I'm not finished. The University has put pressure on me to expel you from this institution due to your inappropriate behaviour."
The word 'expel' froze her blood in her veins. The idea that she might be expelled from the university never even crossed her mind. She thought that she might be placed on administrative leave or something similar, not that she would lose her entire career in one fatal swoop.
"Now, I understand what you have done for the university. You've done some exceptional research and been part of several teams, as well as creating new items for NASA and the Department of Defence. I also know that you are the only person who is qualified and have been granted access to work on various items of alien technology, which is now under scrutiny. And, this is the only reason that we are not going to expel you. We are, however, suspending you from this cohort. You will be able to re-join, depending on if you can find funding, in the winter cohort. You will need to restart your thesis again though."
Roxie didn't know what to say, her mind was racing and she could not keep up. It took several moments before she realised that she had been dismissed and was not to be seen on campus until February.
Grabbing her things, Roxie quickly left the office. She didn't say a thing to anyone she came across. She just made her way to the car park, getting a little lost looking for her car until she realised that she was driving Johner's SUV. Once she had climbed into the driver's seat she burst into tears.
Everything she had worked towards was just taken away from her.
All the work that she had done over the last two years were now invalid and she would need to start again. But that was only if she could scrape together enough money to support her studies. She did have savings, that she could use to try and pay for her studies. It might not be enough though, especially as she was now without a job with no hope of getting a new one.
-OMN-
Unfortunately for him, Duke wasn't willing to listen. He was still too hurt and angry to think of anything that could be good for him. And now he was not allowed to practice with the team and would not be on the rota for the start of the season, taking away one of the few ways he could work through his feelings.
He didn't make his appointment with Dr Butcher, despite the terrifying, petite doctor did search quite thoroughly for him. But he was someone who had managed to avoid capture for years, so hiding from a fuming, stomping doctor was an easy enough task.
He also managed to slip out of the Pond, none of the assembled press managing to catch sight of him. He needed to get out and clear his head, and not be in the Pond during the mixed team practice. This was going to become the norm now that he was taken off the ice.
Duke had parked one of his motorcycles a little way's down the street. A habit that had been left over from his Brotherhood days. They would always have an additional vehicle nearby, so that they could make a quick and easy getaway. Climbing onto the sleek, black vehicle, he kicked it into life and went for a long drive.
He had no destination in mind, he just drove around the city and inevitably coming to all the places that had been important places to them. He drove past their favourite restaurant, where one of the waiters had given an interview describing all the things that he had overheard. He went past the theatre, where they had watched a recent opera and one of the attendants had over exaggerated that recent night on a morning TV show. He drove past a salsa club they often frequented with some of the other Ducks and human allies and where a barman had recounted all the times he had witnessed the two dancing close and ignoring all the dances Roxie had with either Johner or Nosedive.
All those places made his heart hurt. They were now tainted with the betrayal of what had happened, and those happy memories would never be the same again. So, he drove on, trying to clear his head and failing terribly.
Duke wanted nothing more than to go back to Roxie's apartment and try to talk to her again. He knew that she needed time to calm down and start to process her emotions, but he also knew that the constant reminders of how much of an awful pervert she was would stop her from being able to process anything.
It made his heart ache so much, as he wanted to help her get through this. It would be better if they could get through it together, supporting each other as they had done during their darkest moments. The destruction of Raptor and Gateway, the abduction of the Space Station, the death of Roxie's father, were all moments when they grew closer as they helped each other.
But, he knew that she would not appreciate it if he just showed up, especially when she told him to go. He had tried to call her every night since she had left, but so far, she had not answered the call. Johner did assure him though that Roxie had not accepted a call from anyone since the news broke.
Taking a deep breath, Duke made his way back to the Pond, hoping that the practice would be over and that Dr Butcher would have left. He did not want to deal with either the horrifying tiny doctor or the people who had just finished their practice.
When he arrived back at the Pond, he was happy to find it quiet and practically empty. He said hello to the few employees who seemed supportive of him, and avoided all the lingering human players. He also sidestepped Dr Butcher as she rounded the corner with one of their human goalies, who had been hit hard in the head that practice.
Slipping into the elevator down to the underground base, Duke felt a little bit of relief. He was going to hide in his training room until he tried to call Roxie again and work through some of his anger and frustration. He also promised himself that he wouldn't touch any alcohol to prove to Wildwing, and himself that he didn't need a drink.
That plan went entirely out of their non-existent windows when he saw the boxes that had been set up next to the couch in the Rec Room. They were open and he could see some of the books that lived on the bookshelf in Roxie's actual room.
Moving quickly into the accommodation wing, he saw Johner and Nosedive moving in out of Roxie's room carrying some of the stuff that was stored there. He knew that most of her stuff was in his room though, and had no desire to help them take more of her away.
He dived into his room quietly, the two movers not noticing his presence. He quickly went to his wardrobe that hid the fridge and pulled out a fresh bottle of whiskey. He uncapped it and took a very quick swig, not even noticing the burning taste as his body had gone numb.
He looked around the room that he had been sharing with his girlfriend for the past several months. He could see some Roxie touches here and there. The bedspread was a lighter colour than the navy blue that he had originally had. There were more decorative pillows on the bed as well. He could see a few photos that Roxie had added to the desk and shelves, as well as a few models of things that he had no understanding of.
There was a large dry erase board behind the desk that she had usurped from him, his art and finance books being banished to his office to make room for books that she needed for her thesis. He could even see a couple of stuffed animals that she had won when she visited the arcade downtown with Nosedive.
He wanted to destroy it all. He wanted to rip through this room and burn it to the ground. He didn't want to look at the bed where he made love to Roxie a mere five nights ago. He didn't want to look at the desk where he placed the replica of his mother's pearls around her neck. He could still see the two suitcases that were waiting for a trip that were never going to happen. The suitcase that contains the band and the ring that he might have given to her.
He needed to get out of his room and work through his emotions, and destroy things. He needed to destroy lots of things, mainly the training bots that Tanya had adapted from their security bots that had almost killed Wildwing and Klegghorn years ago.
Unfortunately, this time, Johner managed to spot him. The young man called him over, looking guilty about the boxes strewn about and Roxie's things hanging out of them. He tried to say something to Duke, only to have his voice catching in his throat. Even Nosedive was unnaturally quiet, not looking Duke in the eye.
"Hey, what is all of this crap!" Mallory asked as she tripped over one of the boxes on the way out of her room, barely catching herself and definitely not seeing anyone who was in the corridor.
She then looked up to see exactly what was spread around the corridor, and who was standing in the corridor. Seeing Duke's dead expression and the boxes of Roxie's stuff made her feel horrendously guilty. She tried to come up to Duke, to apologise but decided against it, dropping her shoulders and continuing on her way.
"Duke, listen, I hoped we would be finish before you got back. We didn't want to hurt you with this, but Roxie has asked for her stuff," Nosedive explained, sounding so mature that Duke was slightly taken aback.
"That's not all her stuff," Duke replied, completely emotionless.
"Yeah, we kinda figured that. Do you know where the rest of her stuff is?" Nosedive replied, looking up at Duke guiltily again.
Duke looked over to see Johner trying to not make eye contact, busying himself taping up a full box and just looking awfully guilty as well. He knew that the adult thing to do was to admit that Roxie's things were in his room and that he would pack it all up to give it to her.
He couldn't bring himself to be an adult in this situation though. Instead he moved back to his room, put in his eight-digit code, and let the door open. He then gestured for the two to go in and take the things from his room, while he leaned against the opposite wall, drinking from his bottle.
And that was how Wildwing found Duke, having slunk to the floor, drinking straight from his whiskey bottle, watching Nosedive and Johner move around his room. A room that no one had even had permission to enter before.
"Mallory sent you?" Duke asked as Wildwing sunk down to the floor as well, taking the bottle from him and taking a swig himself.
"Yep, figured you might need some support."
"You gonna lecture me bout my drinking, or Dr Butcher again?"
"Not right now, figured you might want to spar. So, how about we go, and leave them to it?" Wildwing said, standing up and holding out his hand for Duke.
Duke though, looked at the hand that had been offered to him, and pushed it away. He made his way back into his room and threw open his suitcase. He then handed the two black, velvet boxes to the two males who should not be in his room.
"These are only for Roxie to see. They were made for her and she should have them. I want her to have them."
"Duke, she kinda, well she told us that we were to leave certain things here," Johner said, his eyes moving towards the large jewellery box on the desk that contained all the expensive gifts Duke had bought her over the years.
Duke then realised that Johner and Nosedive had not taken a lot of the things that he had given Roxie. From the expensive clothes to some of the smaller trinkets. It felt like a slap in the face, that she had specifically told her male friends not to take so many things.
"No, no, you take them to her. All of it to her. They belong to her. If she doesn't want them, she's going to need to come and give them back to me," Duke said forcefully, grabbing most of the things and throwing them into one of the boxes.
Wildwing, ever the peacekeeper, tried to talk Duke down from his anger but even he stepped back. He could see how furious Duke was and knew there was no reasoning with him. Instead, Wildwing gestured for his brother and his friend to mark the boxes with what they contained, so that Roxie could make the decision for herself.
After much arguing, Wildwing did manage to persuade Duke to leave the room and let Nosedive and Johner finish. He didn't want Duke to witness all of Roxie's stuff leaving his room and was going to have to find a way to calm him down before he went back to his room to see it half empty.
The two sparred for hours. Until they were both near exhaustion, so that they would literally fall asleep as soon as they hit their beds that nights. It might have worked for Wildwing, as he had worked through the things that had recently been bothering him but Duke lay there, staring at Roxie's side of the bed and wishing to have her back.
-OMN-
The next day, after once again crying herself to sleep in Duke's jersey, Roxie came to the decision that she needed more clothes. But, as money was now going to be incredibly tight for her, she couldn't afford to replace anything.
Her only option was to get her things from the Pond. But that would mean going into her room and getting everything. This would increase the chances that she would run into Duke or one of the other Ducks, and she didn't think that she was emotionally ready to handle that.
Especially the chance of running into Duke. It had taken everything she had not to just break down and jump into his arms when he came to the apartment the other night. She just wanted to melt into his warm embrace and forget the world around her.
But her rational brain, which can often take a backseat at times, knew that that wasn't a good idea. If it was bad now, it was only going to get worse. Roxie was going to become a symbol of hate and anger from various groups, as she was a scientist who moonlighted as a burlesque performer dating an alien.
The only thing she could do was try and distance herself from everything as much as possible. That was the only way she might be able to recover anything that she had had before the news broke. Even if the two did put up a united front on their relationship, it would always be ripped apart and they would never have any part of a normal life.
"Hey, Roxie, you want me to bring anything back today?" Johner asked, bringing Roxie out of her depressing thoughts.
"Yeah, yeah, I need my things back. I don't think I can go back to the Pond," Roxie said, still entirely emotionless.
"Are you sure? Roxie, I know it's been hard, but, well, what about Duke? What about the rest? That place has been your home for years, how can you just leave it?" Johner asked, turning to face his friend.
"If I don't leave, I'm never going to move forward. I need to try and rescue my entirely tattered academic career, and if I continue to live there, well, no one is every going to take me seriously, I'm just going to be a complete joke," Roxie replied, rubbing her arms.
"That might still happen, Rox, you understand that, right? And, it might actually help, normalising your relationship, letting people know that you do love him and he loves you. That it's not just a sexual thing. I can set up a press conference for you two to actually tell your story, together," Johner said, trying to help his friend.
"I know. I know, I just, I can't, I don't know, I just can't," Roxie said, falling down on the couch. She was sure that she would have cried if she had any tears left, but she didn't.
Johner didn't know what to say, he knew that he should try and help her work through her feelings, but there was no way to do that as she was still too upset. The only thing that he could do was support her until she was ready to deal with it. And hope that Duke was doing okay during this time, even though he knew he was doing just as badly as she was.
"Okay, I can get Nosedive to help me, then we can get things made pretty in the spare room. You can stay here as long as you need to, Rox. Then, how about we go somewhere, disappear for a few days and reset?" Johner said, gesturing around the room slightly.
"I was supposed to be in Napa, with Duke this weekend," Roxie said, looking out the closed windows. Since the incident with the shower yesterday, they had kept all the curtains closed.
He didn't know what to say. He had not actually known anything about that trip, other than what Roxie had told him afterwards. She had spent the other night crying about all the plans that the two had made and how they were not going to materialise now.
Johner had tried not to say that he thought it could still happen, as he knew how much Roxie loved Duke and vice versa. They could probably get through this, if Roxie was not her own worst enemy and managed to get her head on straight. He had honestly come to the opinion that Duke must have the patience of a Saint to deal with all of Roxie's crazy.
Leaving her alone, Johner went to the Pond to tell Nosedive what was happening. They waited until they knew that Duke had left the Pond before they cleared out Roxie's room, which was ridiculously empty for someone who had been living there for three years.
That was when Duke had allowed them into his room, something that had never happened before, to take Roxie's things. This was where all of her things were and it was more evidence to just what kind of a relationship the two had been in.
The room looked lifeless and slightly bare when they had removed all of Roxie's things and packed away in several boxes. It took the two several trips to load everything into Johner's SUV, they even had to rope Grin into helping load everything.
The two had then driven back to Johner's, and now Roxie's, apartment to unload everything. And, the girl was exactly where Johner had left her hours ago, staring blankly at the switched off TV from the couch. He could see that there were balls of paper strewn everywhere, she had obviously been trying to do something and just gave up to go back to staring blankly.
"Hey there, Roxer-Roo, how you doing?" Nosedive asked as he started to bring things into the apartment.
Before he knew what had happened, Roxie had moved across the apartment and thrown her arms around her friend. Who just held her tight while she cried, it seemed that she did have a few tears left to cry. It took a while for Roxie to calm down enough to be left on her own as her stuff got brought in.
The boxes had all been labelled, and when she saw the box labelled 'gifts and jewellery' Roxie demanded that it be taken instantly back. She couldn't' look at any of the things that Duke had gifted her, especially all of the sweet, meaningful things. Like the pearls that had been commissioned to look like a set his mother and sister had. Or the brooch that she had mentioned in passing that her grandmother had had. Or the necklace that had been designed to look like a hydrogen atom that he had engraved all the important academic dates on the back. Or the star, that he had given her before the NASA mission, that had the tracker hidden in it so that they could find her and save the world when the Saurians took over the Space Station.
"I'm sorry, Roxie, Duke said that if you didn't want these, you would have to give them back yourself," Johner replied, still holding the box. He then put it down in front of her, hoping that this would finally break her out of her daze.
Unfortunately, that was when there was a loud pounding on the door causing everyone to practically jump up. There were few people who could get through the police guard which Klegghorn had placed outside.
Roxie feared that it might be Duke, to try and argue his love for her again. And, with how she was feeling, she might give in. That was when the voice behind the door sounded out, signalling that it was Father Peter.
Roxie raced forward to throw open the door to let her friend in. Over the last few days he had come to visit Roxie everyday. He merely sat with her while others were at work, or listened when she needed to talk. He had told her he will keep everything in confidence, as if it was a confession, which helped Roxie a lot.
The person who stood behind Father Peter surprised her though, it was her oldest brother, Jacob. Over the last few days, Roxie had tried to get into contact with her family, any member of her family, but she had been unable to speak to anyone as no one was answering the phone.
so, to see a member of her family in Anaheim, ready to support her, made her feel so much better and so much lighter. With a deep, relieved sigh she walked past a smiling Peter to hug her brother hello with tears already falling from her eyes.
The tall, blond man did not allow Roxie to hug him though. He stepped back with such a look of disgust that everyone else in the room was shocked. Especially Father Peter, who had brought his old friend to see his sister under the guise of familial camaraderie.
"You, you couldn't stop with everything you've already done. You had to make it so much worse!" Jacob spat with so much venom that Roxie practically recoiled, as if she had been slapped across the face.
"Hey man, there's no need for that," Nosedive said, coming forward and channelling Wildwing's peacekeeping traits as best as she could.
"You've even got another one here! What are you trying to do! Make yourself and our family an even bigger laughing stock than You've already done!" Jacob roared, causing Father Peter to try and calm down his oldest friend.
"No, no! This has been coming a long time! Not only did you whore yourself out, getting pregnant then aborting- "
"To save my life! If I had had the baby I would have died!" Roxie yelled back, tears falling down her face freely.
"I wish you had died. We all do. What You've done, it's, it's sick! Do you even care about anyone by yourself? Do you care about my mother, who hasn't been able to leave the house? I'm so happy dad died before he could see how depraved you really are," Jacob spat, causing everyone to gasp. The level of hate and anger was something that no one had expected.
"Jake, please, I'm sorry, I didn't think any of this would happen. You've come all this way, let's just sit down and talk," Roxie pleaded, trying to move forward to her brother again.
"I've come all this way to tell you that we're done. Everyone is done. You are no longer a member of our family or welcome in our homes. We're all getting restraining orders against you, so you can't visit or call. You've been written out of our wills, and we don't want you to use our name. This is the end, Roxanne. None of us want to ever see you again."
The icy silence that rang out across was oppressive. No one knew what to do or what to say, until the angry blond man threw a bag full of things down at Roxie's feet and stormed out of the apartment. He was followed quickly by Father Peter, who was looking entirely confused and guilty while he stuttered out pleads to his retreating friend.
Sinking to her knees, Roxie reached down and opened the bag. In it, were legal documents, striking her from her mother's will as well as several other family members. There were items that she had kept in Chicago, in her mother's house and the restraining order that she had been informed of, stating that she cannot go within a hundred feet of any one of her family members.
Letting the tears, Roxie stayed on the floor, not knowing what else to do.
-OMN-
Later that afternoon, Father Peter had come back, apologising profusely for what had happened. When his friend had arrived that morning, he had assumed that he was there for a mission of peace and support, not to disown Roxie from her family.
When he left, he promised to come back soon. He promised that he would also contact Roxie's family as well as Father Patrick back in Chicago to try and make them see sense. But Roxie had very little hope of that happening.
She did try and call her family again, but they refused to answer any calls. It made Roxie feel worse than she had been feeling. She had lost everything in such a short time, and did not know how to fix anything.
That was when she caught sight of the box that contained all the jewellery that Duke had given her. She knew that she shouldn't open it, she should just return it, unopened and close that chapter on her life.
But Roxie had never done anything that she should have. That was why she was in the predicament she was in now. So, she pulled it closer and opened the box. The first things catching her eye were the two black velvet boxes set on top.
She knew that she hadn't received these before, as it looked like a bracelet box and a ring box, and Duke had never given her either of those things. He knew that rings meant something special on Earth the same way that Roxie knew that bracelets meant something special on Puckworld. And, to see them both, made Roxie's heart break.
Putting everything back in the box, Roxie grabbed her jacket and the box and made her way down to the garage. She jumped into Johner's SUV and made her way back to the Pond. She drove quickly before she could change her mind, managing to make her way through the ever-present throng of paparazzi.
Entering the Pond, she saw that it was empty. It was quite late at night, so everyone should be asleep as there was no threat of Dragaunus anymore. She quickly made her way through the rink and down the secret elevator.
She hoped to just leave the box of things outside of Duke's room and leave, without having to confront the drake. Or anyone else, she didn't think she could stand speaking to anyone else either. She didn't think she could handle their sympathy or pity.
She managed to make her way through the dark Pond, not meeting anyone, and placed the box in front of Duke's door. She did feel awful for the drop in the middle of the night, but could not cope with anything least of all her alien boyfriend.
As she was making her way back to the elevator, she was suddenly stopped by the cry of her name. She recognised the voice immediately and should have known that Duke wouldn't have been asleep when everyone else was. She turned around to see him coming out of his training room, sabre in hand, catching sight of the box in front of his door.
"Roxanne, Angel, what the hell is going on?" Duke asked, deactivating his sabre and placing it back on his shoulder. He picked up the box, opened it and saw everything that was in the box, including the unopened black, velvet boxes.
Roxie opened her mouth to answer, looking remarkably like a dull fish out of water, then shook her head and turned around. She obviously planned to just make a break for it, only to have her upper arm caught by the much fitter and much faster drake.
"Roxanne, please, talk to me, whatever's happened we can get through it, together," Duke pleaded, turning Roxie to face him.
"I can't," Roxie replied simply, trying to pull her arm out of Duke's grip.
"No, no, you came here, and I'm not accepting that as an answer. Roxie, this isn't something you can just ignore or fuck your way out of. This is something we need to actually face, together, to get through."
"I'm sorry, Duke, I can't, I'm not strong enough for this," Roxie replied, tears falling again, thinking of all the people who had been yelling and screaming hate at her over the last few days. Including her oldest brother, someone who was supposed to protect her.
"No, Roxie, no, you're one of the strongest, bravest people I know. You went to space! You stared down an alien invader! You spoke out as the only woman speaker at a huge symposium! You went to college over two thousand miles from home when you were fourteen! You dance in front of hundred every night! You are strong! That's why I love you!" Duke exclaimed, as he took hold of Roxie's hands, holding them close to his heart.
"I, Duke I can't do this, it's too difficult!" Roxie exclaimed back.
"Things that are worth having are difficult! Being here, being with you taught me that!"
"You don't understand! I've lost everything! I've been fired from work! My scholarships and funding have been withdrawn! The university has suspended me! I've got very little chance of finishing my PhD now and even if I did I have no job opportunities! And my family, my family, they've, they've disowned me now. What do I have left now?" Roxie said, tear freely flowing and gesturing wildly.
"You have me. Please, don't throw this away cause of anyone else's narrow minded views," Duke said, practically sinking to the floor, his head resting on Roxie's stomach.
He could here someone moving around somewhere in the background, but he didn't care. He needed her to stay with him, to confront this problem together with him. He couldn't lose yet another person in his life due to his own stupidity and arrogance.
"I'm sorry, Duke, I can't. I have to go," Roxie said, trying to pull away but failing as she had no desire to actually move away from him.
"Please, Roxie. I love you. I converted for you. I want to marry you and have a life with you. I, I don't think that I can be here without you," Duke whispered, causing Roxie to close her eyes to stop the tears.
"I'm sorry," Roxie said again, finally pulling away to leave.
"Please, Roxie, just tell me, tell me you don't love me, tell me you didn't want to be with me, and I'll stop. I'll leave you alone and I'll take all the responsibility of what happened. But, tell me that you Don't love me," Duke pleaded, his good eye blurring with tears.
"I, I can't," Roxie said, turning to leave.
She didn't look behind her, knowing that if she did she would not be able to leave. She knew that Duke was still on the floor, the box that she now knew contained the engagement ring next to him.
-OMN-
It was the yelling that caused Wildwing to leave his room. He had not gone to sleep that night, as he was working on the team rota for their first few games now that Duke was not going to be playing. He was also working on an ad for a new financial officer, if Duke was not up for that either.
The sight of his centre, someone who never let anything affect him, who kept up such a high wall even after all these years, kneeling on the floor begging his girlfriend not to leave him was heartrending. The sight of Roxie crying and admitting everything that had happened to her was heart breaking.
Then hearing just how much Duke loved her and knowing that she felt that way too, but wasn't able to find the strength to be with him was what made Wildwing start to cry himself. He would move every planet in the universe to be with his girlfriend again, and he knew that she would too. To see something being thrown away was something that he couldn't take.
He did understand though. He knew that it was so hard for Roxie to admit to her feelings, and to express them. Wildwing was sure that they had her family to thank for that. And he knew that the media was hitting her harder than they were Duke. He had lost very little over the last few days and probably gained a few more fans, which was disgusting. Roxie seemed to have lost everything she held dear and there didn't seem to be a way for her to recuperate any of it.
He waited until he knew that the elevator had delivered Roxie up to the rink before Wildwing came up to Duke. He helped the completely despondent drake up from the floor and directed him back to his room.
When they arrived back at his room, Duke stood stock still, taking every inch of the room. Every inch that had once held something of Roxie's which were now bare. Wildwing could see his eyes darting from place to place, until Duke turned around and made his way back through the Pond to the elevator.
The only other place Duke would go, if he wasn't going to stay underground, was his office. Somewhere that still felt safe, and had not been changed from Roxie's departure. He gave him a few moments of being alone before he got into the elevator himself and walked towards Duke's office.
Wildwing did find Duke there, sitting on his dark leather couch, drinking from one of his cut crystal glasses. He could see the bottle sitting next to Duke on the floor and felt just as bad as he had earlier.
"You know, I don't want this drink, I need it. I need it to forget the way she felt. I need it to forget the way she sounded when she said she loved me. I need it to get through the day," Duke said, staring into the half drunk glass of whiskey.
"I've had days like that. Days when I missed my girlfriend so much that it hurt. Days when I regretted pressing the button that blew up the Raptor and trapped us here. They get better though, eventually," Wildwing responded, picking up one of the glasses and filling it with whiskey. He then joined Duke on the couch.
"I don't want to need this drink. I want to just want it, not need it."
"Well, what are you going to do then?"
"I'm going to talk to Dr Butcher about seeing her colleague, start talking some things out. I've done some terrible things in my life and I honestly thought that I had done enough to be happy. But, I guess I can't really be happy until I put some things to rest, right?"
"That does sound like a good point. I'm still taking you off the rota until then. I'm also going to hire someone to give you a hand with the finances, so that you can focus on healing."
"That's fair. I need to make something right. Can you make sure that Roxie's tuition is covered though, I don't want her to loose her career because of this."
"I'll make a call tomorrow, or have Johner make a call. You're going to have to do some damage control soon. You're going to have to have a press conference."
"I can do that."
"Is, is there anything I can do?" Wildwing asked, honestly wanting to give his friend something, anything, to make him feel a little better.
"Not unless you can turn back time? No, how about one more night? One more night, before the news broke?" Duke answered honestly, throwing back the last of his drink.
-OMN-
The next few days were still a blur to Roxie. She didn't know how she had gotten through the last week or so without going crazy. She was actually sure that she might have gone crazy as very little was making sense.
There was still a large horde of reporters and paparazzi outside of the Pond and the Birdcage, though they were starting to thin out. The news had not gotten any new parts of the story from anyone, as everyone who could give them more personal details had created a wall of silence.
It also helped that Duke and Wildwing had given a press conference addressing the press. They had honestly answered several questions that were deemed appropriate, that managed to paint them all in a positive light.
At the end, Duke asked that any further inquiries be directed towards the Mighty Ducks team, as Roxie was taking time away from various things to focus on her studies. And he would be taking a break for a few weeks to work on himself.
This struck Roxie as very strange, as Duke knew that she had been suspended from the university, and her funding had been withdrawn. It would be easy for the press to find this out as well, as it would all be public record.
But, the next day, Roxie had been called into the Dean's office again. She had quickly gone to the University and found herself sitting across from the older man, shaking in the leather chair twice in one week.
This time though, the older man explained that funding had become available for her to continue her studies, and she would be able to re-join her cohort later that month. New funding had even become available for her, as the Department of Defence wanted her to research some of the new parts that had been discovered from the wreckage of the Raptor.
Roxie was absolutely flabbergasted, as she was not expecting such a quick turnabout. She even asked how both new parts and funding had become available on such short notice. But the Dean did not manage to give an adequate answer making Roxie realise that it must have something to do with Duke.
She still had the problem of being unemployed, but that was mitigated later that week by the out of court settlement Diana managed to achieve. It was a large amount of money, that Roxie was sure would have been split around the Ducks and various other members of the franchise.
Johner however, explained that the Ducks had decided to give most of the money to her, as she was the one who had suffered the most due to the release of the photos. He told her that this way she could continue her studies and live comfortably enough until she could get a new job.
"Why isn't Duke playing the start of the season?" Roxie asked Nosedive when he came across for a visit.
"He, well, he's taking time off to get better. He might have started drinking heavily once you left, and he realised that he couldn't rely on something so, um, destructive?" Nosedive replied, practically reciting the reason his brother had given him earlier that day.
It made Roxie's heart hurt that she couldn't be there for Duke when he needed her. The whole situation made her heart ache and she was not sure when it would stop. She wanted to just go to him, but she knew that if she did, she would be back at square one. Her Dean made that crystal clear, that is any more inappropriate behaviour got back to them, she would be expelled.
So, she had to start her life, without her family, without dancing, without a job or prospects for a job, and without someone who she now knew that she loved. And, she didn't know if she would find someone who loved her as much as Duke had.
It was when she had managed to leave the apartment to get some things to decorate her new room. She had barely left the apartment in days, but she needed something to do while she was still suspended. She settled on making her new room more of her room.
When she came back she saw that something had been left on her bed. She was taken slightly aback when she realised it was the box, she had left the last night she had gone to the Pond. The box that contained all the gifts that Duke had ever given her.
Roxie knew that she shouldn't have been surprised though, as she knew that Duke would have had no problem getting in or out. She wouldn't be surprised if not one person downstairs had spotted the drake as he broke into her new apartment in the middle of the day.
She wasn't upset or afraid of the behaviour though, as Roxie also knew that Duke would not be doing it again. He obviously just wanted her to have what was in the box without making her see him, or without seeing her. Both would be equally painful.
Moving across the room, Roxie noticed that there was an envelope on top of the box. She could see Duke's elegant script on the envelop that bore her name. She took a very deep, calming breath before she took the envelop off the box and opened it, taking out the letter to read.
"Roxanne, Angel, I know that you don't want to see me at the moment. And, Angel, I understand. This is really hard for me too, and I don't want to make it harder by not giving you the space you need to work through what has happened.
"I'm truly, deeply, sorry for what happened. I should have been more careful; I should never have allowed us to be in that situation. I knew that if we were discovered, then the media would hound us. I was warned enough times, but I didn't care. I wanted nothing more than to be with you. Angel, you made being on the planet worthwhile and I thought it was worth the risk.
"Angel, I can honestly tell you that I've never really enjoyed being around humans. During that first year I wanted to leave you all to your own devices and go home. I'm glad we didn't though. I would have never have met you. I never really thought that I was good enough to have had someone like you. You are smart, vivacious, lively, loving, challenging, beautiful and just plain good. I'm not that good, but I thought I had done enough to have been worthy of you. Clearly, I was wrong. If I was good enough, then we might have made it.
"I do believe that we might still be able to make it though. I just need to make myself worthy enough, and be the one that is strong enough, for both of us.
"I know that you didn't want these things, but Roxanne, I had them all made for you. No one else would be able to wear them. I want you to keep them, all of them. As I gave them to you out of love.
"I love you, Angel, Roxanne. Duke."
She couldn't' help the tears that fell on the letter, smudging the ink, as she finished the letter. Roxie put it aside, and sat on her bed, determined to go through everything in the box, giving it the proper respect that the feelings that had created them deserved.
She set up the jewellery box on the chest of drawers, looking over each piece and remembering when it was given to her. She then saw photos, and trinkets, and tickets, things that were cheap that had been collected over various nights outs together. She put each of those pieces in a special place.
The last thing she saw were the two velvet boxes that she had not opened. She knew what they contained and she didn't know whether she should open them or not. but, Duke would not have given them to her if he didn't want her to have them.
The first one she opened was the larger box, the one that contained the bracelet. She had only seen something similar worn by Tanya but this one was very different. It had a spiral pattern in rainbow gemstones around a centralised diamond. The metal band would obviously sit quite snugly on her wrist, and Roxie had a feeling that the metal had been merge with a compound that the Ducks used in their armour to give it more flexibility without compromising stability. She could probably wear it, without anyone knowing what it was.
The smaller box contained a beautiful ring that had a very similar design. A centralised diamond surrounded by multi-coloured gemstones. It looked absolutely perfect, something that proved that Duke knew exactly who she was and what she wanted.
Closing both of those boxes and putting them delicately in the bottom drawer of her bedside table, Roxie let the tears fall freely. She needed to let these feelings out, or else she would go crazy.
She wished that things were different. She wished she had never started the affair with Duke all those years ago. She wished that she had not walked away from him that night, a few nights ago. She wished she had been more sensible. She wished she had not been as sensible and had just gone with the flow and let him in.
But most of all, she wished she could have had one more night with someone who loved her as much as he did.
I may have reduced myself to tears when I wrote this. but that might be due to my insomnia, overtime, stress and the sheer heat of the summer.
Leandra L'Orange: I don't know, that sounds like something a supervillain would do.
Palacegirl: they are they're own worst enemies! And they really can't just hide and hope it all goes away, but try telling her that!
RandomReviewer: it hurt me to write! It literally kept on going from bad to worse.
Starrat: thanks again.
Thanks to everyone for reading this mess! I hope you all enjoyed it and if you cried as I did, please let me know!
TFG