Chapter Two
Author's note and disclaimer: Apparently, this is happening. I do not own MDAS.
Update: I'm just putting this out there because I had no idea where the chapter was going, but this is a trigger warning for drinking and suicide.
While Tanya and Wildwing looked after Duke and Rhynie, Nosedive shared the story about their past. Explaining why Duke went into shock when the love of his life, who he thought had died over a year ago, suddenly appeared before them.
Mallory held up the teleporter that zapped Rhynie into their base. "So how'd she get her hands on one of Draganous's teleporters?"
Nosedive opened his beak to reply, but then snapped it shut. "I actually have no idea."
"She could be a spy." Grin offered calmly, not meaning any harm.
"Like Lucrecia." Tanya added, as she held a scanner over the girl's body. "From what I can tell she's not under any spell or a mind control chip."
"So what are the chances that she is a spy?" Wildwing asked.
"Slim." Duke suddenly spoke, sitting up in his bed. "Rhynie would never work for that monster."
"Up until a few hours ago, you thought she was dead. So how can you be sure?" Mallory asked.
"Because I've known Rhynie for years. She's always put the needs of others before her own, how do you think she ended up dead in the first place? She may have been one of the best out laws, but she never hurt anyone, not unless she was defending herself."
Duke and Mallory were inches away from each other, glaring each other down until Wildwing and Grin forced them apart. "Knock it off, both of you. We can't be sure about anything until Rhynie wakes up. Until then, everyone watches her in shifts. Grin you're first."
"Wildwing there's no need for that, I can watch her." Duke offered.
"I'm sorry Duke, I know how much you want to be with her right now, but there are some things we need to discuss." Wildwing noticed Mallory glaring in Duke's direction, "Alone."
"Wildwing you can't be serious." Mallory objected. Wildwing approached the red headed duck and whispered in her ear, "I understand."
Mallory left the infirmary, followed by Duke and the boys, leaving Tanya and Grin to look after Rhynie. Eventually Tanya left when she couldn't find anything medically wrong with her, needing something to eat and offered to bring something back for their muscle. Duke and Wildwing drove around until they found a secluded location, a few miles out of Anaheim, to talk.
"Are you positive Rhynie would never work Draganous?" Wildwing asked.
"Just gonna soft ball it in there?" Duke replied sarcastically, "I'm positive Wing."
"You were positive that she was dead, but now she's back. Why would Draganous save her?"
"We're not sure if he even saved her at all." Duke retorted angrily.
"She had one of his teleporters." Wildwing loved playing the devil's advocate, maybe a little too much, but it was the only way to get Duke to talk to him.
"She could have been one of his prisoners." Duke suggested.
"So then she survived getting shot and blown up? How?"
Duke paused and then sat on the ground in defeat, "I don't know Wildwing. I honestly don't have a clue."
Wildwing sighed and took a seat next to his comrade, "I don't mean to be harsh, Duke. I'd just hate to see you get involved with her again, only for her to work for the dark side and get your heart broken again."
"Dark side? You and Tanya have been watching Star Wars again, haven't you?" Duke chuckled, but his light mood quickly switched to a depression vulnerability that he had never shown anyone before. "I had such a hard time letting her go, Wing. I don't know if Canard told you, but when he recruited me I was a drunken mess. If he hadn't talked me into joining I probably would have died weeks after meeting with him. And honestly I would have welcomed it."
Wildwing was at a loss for words, but he knew where his friend was coming from. Watching Canard die before his eyes helped him understand Duke's point of view even better than their teammates.
The leader gripped his friend's shoulder, "For right now, we'll just keep an eye on her. The last time we trusted someone we almost drowned."
Duke groaned, remembering the fight he and Nosedive had over Lucrecia, only to end up in a tank and almost drowning in it. "Don't remind me."
When the boys returned Nosedive sprinted up to them, "Yo, she's awake and I don't know how much longer Grin and Tanya can keep Mallory from interrogating her."
The three ran for the infirmary where they saw Grin pick Mallory up and toss her over his shoulder after apologizing. She struggled to get free while Tanya and the others went inside and locked the door.
"What's going on?" The four turned on their heel to find Rhynie standing, aiming a gun at them.
"Take it easy Rhynie, you're safe." Wildwing spoke quietly with his hands up.
Rhynie panicked and locked her gun onto the fearless leader, "Who are you? Where am I?"
"We're from Puck World just like you, but we're on Earth now fighting Draganous." Wildwing stopped moving towards the scared girl when he heard her take the safety off.
Duke stepped in front of Wildwing blocking her shot. Rhynie's eyes widened in shock. "He's telling the truth Rhynie. We're not going to hurt you."
"Duke?" Her voice was barely a whisper, "What's going on?"
"We'll get to that. I just need you to put down the gun, so we can talk, okay? I promise you, no one is going to hurt you, sweet heart." Duke spoke gently as he slowly approached the shaking girl. He gripped the trembling gun and slid it out of her hands, handing it backwards to Wildwing and as soon as the gun was gone Duke embraced Rhynie; tucking her head into his chest while his arm wrapped around her back. Rhynie crumbled into him, letting go of her fear and hooked her arms underneath his arm pits—clutching the material of his uniform in her hands.
Author's note: The amount of love I have for this chapter, especially the ending, is sickening.