"You going to miss it?"

Wildwing smiled, glancing at his lifemate walking beside him. "No, not really."

"Oh, come on, you know you are."

"Okay, I guess the weather was pretty nice," Wildwing lamented, though anyone who knew him could tell he was being facetious. "It'd be nice to have the option to visit Earth, at least," he added more thoughtfully.

"Yeah," Mallory responded, looking up at the cloudy sky above. She looked over at Wildwing. "I will enjoy seeing your face some more."

Realizing she was referring to the Drake DuCaine Mask, or rather the lack thereof, Wildwing rolled his eyes. "You see me plenty without the mask."

Mallory shook her head. "Not out in public like this I haven't. It was the strongest asset we ever had at defeating Dragaunas, but seeing you without it now is a great reminder that it's all over."

Wildwing smiled in understanding. "I suppose." They walked some more in amicable silence before Wildwing spoke up: "What about you, are you going to miss anything about it?"

Mallory shrugged a bit. "I already miss how sunny it was. And I'm sure I'll miss some of the people." She glanced at the ground, her voice lowering slightly. "Especially Buzz."

Their arms were interlocked as they walked, so when Wildwing slowed to a stop Mallory did too. "Who knows, maybe the Council will find a way to keep a connection between the worlds. After all, we did manage to get back here."

Mallory smiled, but it was forced. "If it was just us, sure. But with the Council, and all the riots that have happened since the war, I'd imagine that kind of power might be better off buried.

"Earth doesn't have the technology Puckworld does."

Wildwing, understanding her implications, nodded and began walking again. "The Council has always been full of good and evil alike."

Mallory hummed in agreement.

Wildwing, looking slightly nervous suddenly, let his eyes wander around the edges of the base as he said his next words: "Maybe, once all this hero stuff is over, we can look into settling down."

Mallory, not noticing his change in demeanor, hummed again. "Somewhere just outside the city would be nice. I don't want to be active duty anymore, but maybe I could instruct." She glanced over at Wildwing and grinned even more. "Maybe you could still play hockey," she added.

Wildwing lightly laughed at that but shook his head. "We'll see about that. That's a lot of travelling, and I think I'd rather be a homebody for the rest of my life. Besides," he glimpsed over at his lifemate as they turned a corner on the trail, "I sort of meant a different type of settling."

Mallory's eyes widened slightly and she glanced back at the ground. "Wing, I—"

She never said her next words, however, as three hooded figures came out from behind some bushes and stopped them in their tracks.

"LORD SLAYER!" one yelled, raising his hand towards Wildwing.

Before either could react, a pair of hands came up from behind Mallory and grabbed her at the shoulders. Instinct kicked in and she flipped them over her head. Wildwing kicked out at another hooded figure that came from his side, sending them flying backwards.

Both Wildwing and Mallory used their hand-to-hand combat skills as best they could, but there were at least eight of them to fight off. Mallory kicked one away from her and gave a swift uppercut to another, but a third snuck up behind and hit her in the head with a scepter.

"MALLORY!"

Mallory fell unconscious and sank to the ground instantly. Wildwing lost his focus, causing two hooded figures to grab him from behind. He growled and struggled but could not get free.

"HELP, WE'RE UNDER—"

Wildwing felt his voice suddenly gone from him, causing him to choke slightly at his sudden intake of air. He tried again but to no avail.

A hooded figure came up to him, removing his obscuring cloth to reveal a dark Raptrin with an ugly scar on his face. He shook his head at Wildwing almost patronizingly.

"Tsk tsk now, we mustn't alert others to our whereabouts," he said, his voice raspy and low. Wildwing again tried to speak but realized quickly that something had been done to him to prevent that.

The Raptrin remained emotionless for a moment as he continued studying Wildwing. Finally he moved, furrowing his brow. "For your gross transgression, Lord Slayer, you will see all your loved ones die before you." The Raptrin smiled, his ruthless expression showing no mercy. Wildwing swallowed hard but his glare remained fixated on the speaker. "We will hide a spell in you that will smolder … when you are all revealed to Puckworld, you will personally kill the heads of the Council and the rest of your teammates.

"You will watch yourself, with no control, as you become the notorious leader of the Strike Force that will live on for eternity."

The rest of the hooded figures chanted a short saying, causing the Raptrin to laugh. "But we mustn't let them know of our intentions, fellow brethren. We will hide the true spell with an apprentice's." The Raptrin turned and looked back at his followers. "Sprocket, come forward."

One of the hooded figures hesitantly stepped forward.

"Come here, child. You must learn sometime."

The hooded figure hesitated again before taking the few remaining steps up to the Raptrin. "Craithin, master, my powers are yours." Wildwing's eyes widened at the voice: Sprocket was indeed a child.

"After my incantation, you must freeze the Lord Slayer. Understood?"

Sprocket stood perfectly still. "Yes, my Lord Craithin."

Wildwing struggled again, realizing what was about to happen.

"But before we do that, my own brethren must not remember the true spell—one cannot reveal what one does not know!"

Wildwing was confused, but watched as Sprocket's eyes widened at his so-called master. Before he or any of the others could react, Craithin began speaking in a language Wildwing had only ever heard from Wraith. He watched helplessly as his own kidnappers fell to the ground holding their heads. The ones holding Wildwing lost their grip, and he instantly used his body to hit Craithin hard.

The two ducks fell to the ground, but Craithin continued to chant, causing Wildwing to lose focus as an excruciating pain erupted from within his head. He tried to hold the Raptrin down, but he grew weak quickly and felt the Raptrin throw him off as he tried to regain his bearings.

"Sprocket, now!"

Wildwing managed to look up and see that Sprocket—along with the rest of the followers—were on their feet again, none the wiser. Sprocket began chanting as Wildwing tried to charge him.

He felt a weight lifted off his shoulders suddenly. Where was he? What was he doing?

A figure in front of him continued to move his beak, even as they faded from existence. He watched with growing relief as the world became a swirling vortex of nothing.

He felt himself hit the ground hard, with warmth radiating on his back. Itchy branch leaves scratched at his face, but he did not move. He was so tired, and so relaxed.

He let the blackness envelope him.

Wildwing's eyes slowly blinked open, finding his head resting comfortingly on a pillow.

"Bro?"

The voice sounded familiar. He blinked a couple more times before glancing to his left. A blonde duck with tan feathers stared worriedly at him.

"Dive," he answered gruffly. As soon as he spoke he felt the piercing stabbing of a headache making its way known. "Where am I?"

"In a cell."

Wildwing opened his eyes wide and tried to sit up. Large straps adorning his chest and legs prevented him from doing so. "What—what happened?" he finally asked, fear causing his blood to run cold.

Nosedive smiled a bit. "You went a bit cuckoo, is all."

Wildwing, unable to move forward, allowed himself to rest back on the cot he was lying on. "Cuckoo?" he prompted.

"Yeah, a wee bit. Sprocket undid his spell, and then you woke up and freaked out about another spell on you, saying you were going to kill us all, so Junip got in your head and figured out what you were talking about."

Wildwing looked confused. "Then why am I here?"

Nosedive grimaced a bit. "Well, you have to remember that Craithin was the one that casted this spell … it was even out of Junip's league."

A haunted look crossed Wildwing's face. "Drake, I'm still cursed?"

Nosedive shrugged. "Maybe? We sort had this crazy idea and went with it."

Wildwing frowned but stayed silent.

"We figured if the only way to trigger the spell was to have the official reveal, we should just have the reveal. A fake one, I mean," Nosedive added when Wildwing's eyes widened even more.

"We didn't tell you, and Junip sort of erased your memory—"

"WHAT?!"

"Temporarily, and only Mallory!" Nosedive added, but cringed a bit at even saying that.

"She had no right—"

"Hey hey hey Big Bro, let me finish! You know Mallory now, don't you?"

Wildwing, looking a bit livid, sighed and nodded.

"See? She reversed it already. ANYWAY, we erased your memory so we could do a fake ceremony and bring the spell out of you. As soon as we were announced you went crazy, trying to kill everyone. Thankfully, we gave you a fake gun and Junip subdued you pretty quick.

"We brought you in here and she's been testing your mind since then, making sure no trace of the spell remains."

Wildwing, digesting the slew of information as best he could, glanced at Nosedive and back at his straps. "Why can't I remember any of this?"

"Junip said she did that to make things go a bit smoother."

"Isn't that my choice to make?" Wildwing asked snippily.

Nosedive frowned. "Well, it was your choice."

"What?"

"You were having a hard time doing this because of Mal, not to mention the fear of, y'know, killing us. She said a little amnesia would help the process go by faster, so you agreed."

"Then why am I still strapped?" Wildwing asked, pulling on his restraints to make a point.

"Junip's sessions with you keep bringing up the last moments before you got teleported. You were having some pretty gnarly nightmares for a while there."

"What about Mallory? Have we—" Wildwing stopped mid-sentence, realizing the most important thing since waking.

He remembered his lifemate.

"Wing?" Nosedive asked worriedly, seeing Wildwing zone out momentarily.

"I—I remember," Wildwing said gruffly. "I remember Mallory. The Strike Force, Earth … I remember."

Nosedive's smile grew wider. "That's like, the third time you've said that since Sprocket undid his magic."

Wildwing gave his brother a cross, albeit sarcastic look. "Well, how many times has someone made me forget?"

"Touché."

"So can I get out of these straps or not?"

Nosedive stood up from the chair he sat in, walking over to the cell door and knocking. "Junip wants to give you one more looksie to make sure you don't plan on murdering us all, and then you'll be good as gold."

The cell doors opened with a hiss and a guard appeared.

"Let me go get her," Nosedive said, walking out the door.

"Dive, wait!"

Nosedive stopped, looking back to Wildwing.

"What about Mallory? Is she here?"

Nosedive shook his head. "She isn't here, but we have a pretty good idea of where she is."

It was ironic that she'd end up back here. But Mallory, with no family and strict orders to change her name, had felt this was the only appropriate place to return to.

She had took the train to the west coast, and a ship to the next continent. Another train ride and a long bus ride later, she had ended up a few miles north of where she'd been a couple of weeks ago.

She was not an outdoors duck by any means. She'd have rather changed her name and gotten an apartment somewhere in a busy city. But if she had done that then she'd be surrounded by the big news of the Strike Force returning to Puckworld.

It would have haunted her, and at this point in time she didn't think she could handle it.

Frank and Danexis welcomed her back, despite their surprise at seeing her. They were angry from her story, and were not surprised at the Council's handling of the situation. They assured her there was very little technology to be had in the village, and while the big news would travel by mouth eventually, she'd be safe from the constant hounding of video feeds and pictures that would surely plague the cities.

She didn't wear traditionalist robes, but she was content helping the villagers gather their food sources. She was taught how to use a spear to catch game, and enjoyed a menagerie of books that Frank had brought with him.

But it felt like a vacation, and a lonely one at that.

She hated leaving the team the way she did, but arguing with the Council was impossible. In the end her teammates would have convinced her to go along with the charade, because they wouldn't want to lose her. She would have had to pretend, in the public's eye no less, that her lifemate wasn't hers.

They'd be celebrities, especially with the plans the Council had in mind for them, and Wildwing would be surrounded by groupies. Eventually they could work on building their relationship again, but … what if he changed his mind?

It was selfish of her to leave, and she knew that. But she had nothing to prove. She was okay with never being a part of history, or becoming a hero. She missed her teammates, but she'd eventually return to be with them, if they allowed her to.

But for right now, she needed to learn to be on her own again.

She did ask to use Wildwing's old room, however. It wouldn't help her move on, but in a way it was comforting to be a part of his past that he actually remembered. When she brought her things in she had found his clothes he'd been found in, from the day they were attacked.

It was his normal street clothes, ripped up and tattered a bit from the grueling desert environment he had faced when he first got teleported here. They'd been washed and folded neatly in the bottom drawer, forgotten about.

She had left them where they were.

Epilogue

A few weeks later

A knock on her door caused Mallory to look up from her reading. "Come in," she said.

The door opened and Danexis walked in. "Hey, Mallory."

"Hey, what's up?" Mallory asked, putting her book down.

"Um, someone's here to see you." Danexis didn't give Mallory time to respond, however. She took a step back out of the doorway, allowing space for Wildwing to enter.

Mallory stood up quickly. "Wildwing?"

Wildwing smiled at her. "I should've known you'd come back here."

Mallory's breath hitched in her throat. She didn't know what to say.

"I have something for you." He took a step forward, his bulky form taking up most of the doorway. He reached into his pocket and pulled out her wedding band.

Mallory looked at it and back at him. Before she could respond, he said, "That night I proposed, when everything went wrong, was one of the best nights of my life. I don't know how I could've ever forgotten it, but I'm sorry I did."

Mallory didn't need another cue. She quickly closed the space between them and jumped into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. Wildwing held her tightly, her ring still in his hand.

"I'm so sorry," he repeated, tears welling up in his eyes.

"You didn't do anything wrong," she replied, her voice slightly muffled with her face buried in the crook of his neck. "Drake, I missed you."

Wildwing gently put her back on the floor, reaching for her hand. He gently placed her ring on the proper finger. "I love you."

Mallory, with tears flowing down her cheeks, smiled up at him. "And I love you."

"Let's go home."

fin