Disclaimer: The show and its characters belong to its creator. I own nothing.

Author's Note: Thanks so much, The Mighty Duck and Ioha, for reviewing. It has been so long since I've written and your reviews were so encouraging. I really appreciate it!

"HERE IS A SMALL FACT:
You are going to die...
Does this worry you?"
-Markus Zusak, The Book Thief

CHAPTER TWO

The first sensation was the sound of a high-pitched squeal. Not from another living thing – sounded more like furniture being moved. Metallic furniture against metal flooring, that was. The sound set his teeth on edge, eyes squeezing even tighter shut. He groaned in relief when the sound disappeared.

The next sensation was that he was floating. Though, floating was not quite the word for it. His shoulders burned in their sockets and his wrists were screaming, but he was definitely floating. His feet sought a surface to rest upon, but there was nothing but air below them. Be nice if I could open my eyes. It'd make finding the floor a whole lot easier.

Finally, the last sensation that swept over him was a combination of extreme drowsiness and a splitting headache. What the hell had happened? Had he gotten into Duke's liquor cabinet again? He couldn't imagine he would be stupid enough to do that again, after the three-hour lecture from Wildwing and the most heavy-handed "drinking is bad!" speech he had ever heard, including PSAs.

Shoulder pain and floating notwithstanding, it did feel similar to a hangover, as little experience he had with the things. His eyelids felt like they weighed eighty pounds apiece, and even when he did manage to crack them open, the world looked like it had been placed under a blur filter. A very bright filter.

"Ugh, Wing, turn the lights down, could you?" he grumbled, wincing at the light as his eyes struggled to open completely.

There was a faint giggle to his right, behind him. "—thinks he's talking to his brother. What a goon." The voice, so familiar, but the pounding in his skull refused to let him place it.

"Wha—?"

His eyes were beginning to adjust to his surroundings. Yes, this was familiar as well, and not in a pleasant way. The bottom dropped out of his stomach. The Raptor. His head lolled back and he peered up above him. His wrists were bound with black rope, stretching up to the ceiling. "Yeah, uhh, you wanna lower me a notch? I think my shoulder's about to pop out," he said, feeling the words slur out of his mouth. So, no drinking. He must've been hit with a tranquilizer during the battle at the movie theatre. Wonderful.

A snort, this time, from his left. "Yeah, gotta make sure our prisoner is comfortable, right?" His mind placed the voice: Siege.

"It'd be a nice gesture." His voice was beginning to sound coherent. Not normal, not yet, but at least it was understandable.

"Chameleon, Siege! Stop talking with our hostage. We'll have plenty of time for that later." Dragaunus. "We must wait for him to wake up, first. No sense starting the…activities when he's still half-unconscious."

"Activities? Like arts 'n' crafts?" His head fell forward. The drowsiness was creeping back up on him. "Seriously, though, down just a touch, could you?"

"I'm afraid not, duck," Dragaunus replied. "If your shoulder was to dislocate itself, think of it as a gift. Something to focus on later. You'll appreciate it, then, I'm sure." Laughter filled the air, and Nosedive swallowed. His brain formed a quip, a clever response, but his body filled with fear, and the words did not come. Sleep engulfed him again.

"Give him two minutes of rest. Then wake him."

"Check again!" Wildwing snapped, pacing yet another path in front of Drake One's screen. Tanya bit her lip, but nodded. With a click-clack, she scanned the city, looking for a source – any source – of energy that would give even a hint of a clue as to where Dragaunus was hiding. She knew it was a fruitless endeavor but she had to keep her leader calm. Well, as calm as he could be, given the situation.

The scan finished and bleeped its results. "Umm, I'm...I'm sorry, Wildwing. There's just...just nothing for Drake One to find. No energy, nothing. It'd probably be faster to check every building in the city in person."

"Don't think I won't."

"My friend, you must calm down. Your anger will cloud your ability to find our young friend," Grim said, placing a hand on Wildwing's shoulder.

Wildwing's eyes narrowed, and he shook the comforting hand away. "Wrong! Wrong, Grim. Anger will help me find Dive, and it'll help me when we find Dragaunus…help me from showing that scum any sympathy."

The four other ducks frowned. "Wildwing," Mallory began, "Nosedive's been taken before, and you never freaked out like this."

"Yeah, because he was taken because he happened to be in the way. This time…this time the entire plan was to take him. Wraith said they needed information. Now, I don't know what information Dive could possibly have that they'd want, but…there's no way this is good. They nab him and then disappear? No energy surges, nothing? I…I don't get it. And there's nothing I can do."

He turned and walked toward the door. "Call me on the communicator if you find anything. I'm going out to patrol the city." Before any of his teammates could voice their objections, the door slid closed behind him.

Wildwing, mounting the duckcycle and snapping the kickstand, took off out of the Pond and into the streets of Anaheim. He snuck a glance at his communicator: 4:39 AM. Nosedive had been missing for around nine hours. He knew it was ridiculous, scouring the city. If Tanya could not pick up on any sign of the Saurians, Wildwing knew there was nothing that could be done at this point. But damn if he was going to sit in the Pond, waiting patiently until Dragaunus decided to give his brother back.

A dreaded two-letter word began to snake into his mind, but he pushed it away. Nosedive would certainly be coming back. The kid had been through worse and come out scratch-free. It would happen the same this time. He would either escape or be saved; he would have a joke or two lined up, and life would go back to normal.

It was useless to worry.

Through gritted teeth and the cold air zipping by, Wildwing rolled to a stop outside Mill Theatre. It seemed the only likely place to find a clue. He and the team had looked over the entire building after Nosedive's initial disappearance, but, as Grin had said, his anger had clouded him. He could not even remember what he looked at nine hours ago. He had been so enraged and so worried.

He opened the door to the theatre and stepped inside. Pitch black. Flipping on a flashlight, he began to peer around the room. It all looked the same, though the darkness could be fooling him. He entered the cinema from the previous night. Since the Saurians were no longer setting their trap, the screen was blank. "Saurian magic," he murmured.

Stooping behind the seat where Nosedive's com had been found, Wildwing strained for evidence. Something, anything...

The fact that they had even thought to remove the communicator made Wildwing all the more nervous. The Saurians never thought their plans out so well. It had taken them less than ten minutes to fill the place with smoke, nab Nosedive, remove his communicator, and transport back to the Raptor. They had not even made a sound. There were no hints, shouts of surprise, laughter...nothing. Just the vanishing of smoke and a missing duck. Or, alternatively, there had been sounds and he just missed them. He feared that even more. I'm usually so focused. Especially with him.

Fingers squeezed the back of the seat. "Dammit," he growled. "Nothing."

Nosedive jerked awake as a hand smacked into contact with his lower-right jaw. "Whoa!" His eyes flew open and he was met with a pair glowing yellow eyes. "Dragaunus," he said with a frown. "Thanks for the rude awakening." He was now, he noted, sitting, and his arms praised the heavens for that. "What is it you want? Information? Cause I'm not saying nothin'."

Dragaunus grinned. "Oh, to be so young and stupid again."

"What's that supposed to me—" Dragaunus cuffed him again, etching a thin gash into his cheek.

"I would ease on the back-talk, duck. I'm sure you'll find it unpleasant enough without your mouth making it worse." Dragaunus turned from him, pacing the floor in front of the young duck. Nosedive let his head drop slightly, and he noticed that all of his armor had been removed. He was clad in nothing but ratty pants and a t-shirt. Boots, gloves, weapons...and of course, his communicator, all gone. He remembered when the com had been lost. Not long after the tranquilizer had hit his neck, he had felt a rough jerk on his arm, and Siege dropping the item on the ground was the last thing he remembered before everything went to haze.

"But to answer your previous question, there is nothing I particularly want from you."

"What? Then why—" Another smack, much harder than the other two had been. His head whipped to the side, and he felt the warmth of blood coating his cheek.

"It was a brilliant realization, I do believe," Dragaunus replied though a smile. "Do you know the best way to destroy a group?"

Nosedive opened his mouth to reply, but, upon the throbbing sensation in his jaw, closed it and merely shook his head.

"You take out the leader. I have seen it many, many times, even with these humans. Their pathetic sports...as soon as the captain or star player is taken down...the rest fall. Without that pillar of strength and leadership, the team dissolves into chaos, and, eventually, into nothing. Nothing but loss."

Nosedive swallowed. Shame swept up into his gut; was he going to back down into fear so quickly? If he knew his brother and teammates — and he did — they were probably already on their way to saving him. "Well, as flattering as that is," he said, keeping his voice level, "you got the wrong duck. I'm not the leader, handsome and heroic as I may be. You'd think you'd know that after spending so long hunting after us. Simple mistake, I'll just be getting along now, if you don't mind."

A hand against his throat, grip tightening. "If you would," Dragaunus growled, "learn to keep silent, perhaps you would figure out what I mean on your own." The duck struggled for breath as the grip around his neck finally loosened. "You are better than the leader. You are his brother, his kin...his last surviving family member. Simply to kill the leader? I think you and the other ducks would rebound from that. But to lose his brother, why, I think that would destroy him. And," he added, noting the look on Nosedive's face, "death is not the only way one can be lost.

"Siege," he said, turning and walking away from the duck, "please put our guest back as he previously was. His arms have had enough rest, I think."

Nosedive's arms exploded in pain as soon as his weight was put onto them. Dammit! What am I supposed to do now? He glanced down at himself, frowning hard at the red splotches that now stained his shirt. Hope that'll come out. Heh. He continued to joke to himself. Had to keep his spirits up. After all, when the team got here he did not want to be out of material. He moaned inwardly, attempting to release some of the ache. Can't think about it, he told himself. That's what the dino-jerk wants. To...break me, or something. Can't let it happen. For Wing's sake, can't let it happen.

To be continued...