'Kay gang, I got some of ya want'n a little more detailed background on Duck...so here it is! ^^;

So just to set the scene...Zadavia's already come and everything but he's still in the hospital. And, please don't hate me for giving him the past that I did...remember, he's supposed to have abbandoment issues and everything so...yeah...well, ENJOY! OH, and don't forget to R&R please and thank you!

Ch. 15: Found

Duck sat up quickly in the hospital bed. He had thought he heard footsteps. He narrowed his eyes as a tall figure, just a shadow since he was seeing it through the blinds of his window, walked towards his door. It opened slightly and he mentally got ready to defend himself. He didn't know why, but whenever he was left alone in a hospital; whenever his team mates went home for the night, he got extremely paranoid; like he knew one of the Evil Kenevil Gang was going to jump him while he was unconscious or something, to finish the job of cutting him out of the picture for good.

As the door opened he raised his hand. Screw the doc's telling him not to use his powers; if he was attacked, you better believe he was going to do everything he could to save his skin. Now that there was no one around to shield, he didn't feel like giving up his life so easily; specially not after finding out how the others had felt about him. But instead of Mastermind or Dare or even Syfer walking through the door, it was a tall female duck. She had black feathers, like him, and black bangs swept to one side out of her face and a black ponytail tied up at the top of her head. She wore jeans and converse sneakers and had a light green denim jacket over an orange tank. She stared at him through pretty blue eyes. They were the same shade of blue as his. All he could was stare at her. He hadn't seen her in over…god he had to think. Let's see, he was a year older than Lexi who was twenty one last month, so that made him twenty two, same age as Ace. That meant that the young woman he saw before him would be about 18 or so, no wait, that couldn't be right. Twenty two minus 18 is…four. He had been six the last time he saw her, and her barely two. Six minus two was four. Nope, it was right. Which meant that it had been 16 years since he last laid eyes on her. He couldn't believe how much she'd grown, or that she was here. As far as he knew, she had no clue who he was except for being a member of the Loonatics. He really hoped she wasn't a fan girl. Normally he wouldn't mind, but not this girl, anyone but her.

"Hello." She said a little nervously.

"What's up?" he replied.

"They said I could find Danger Duck in this room." She said, a hint of questioning in her voice. "Are you him?"

"Well kid, I'm sure not a bunny, road runner, coyote, or devil, now am I?"

She laughed a little at this.

"Why'd ya wanna find me?" he asked. "If you need my help with something, I'm sorry, I'm a little…uh…tied down at the moment. But if you go to the tower in the center of the city, my team-" she cut across him.

"Oh, I don't need any assistance in that way." She said, looking down at her feet. "It's just, god I'm sorry, I was so bent on finding you I had no idea what I was going to say to you when I did."

"What's your name?" he asked her hesitantly.

"Lena." She whispered. He felt his face fall. They had changed her name, after he begged them not too and they told him they wouldn't, they had lied. But then, it was a firm possibility that this girl could not be who he thought so he tried not to show his frustration and bitterness as he spoke.

"Nice to meet you, Lena."

"I'm sorry." She said again. "But, do you mind if I ask you a…slightly personal question?"

His mouth went dry. "Depends on how personal it is." He replied causiously.

"Well, I was just wondering…you didn't happen to grow up in Granny's Sunshine Orphanage, did you?" she asked, hesitant at first but then she pushed her words out as if she couldn't get them out fast enough.

"Well, no." he said. "I was adopted about a year or two after I went there. Why?" he was trying to catch her eye now, but she was still looking at the floor.

"I…was told…well…not really, let me rephrase. I discovered…that I had a brother there. I just found out I was adopted and decided to do some digging to find out who my real family was, and why they didn't want me."

His heart sank faster than the city had when Dare ushered in that earthquake. "Lena." He didn't know what to say, what he could say, that would fix it all. "Please…you have to understand something…"

Now it was his turn to look down and hers to try and catch his eye. "So, you are my brother then." She asked heavily. He nodded. She came forward and he readied himself for a punch, a scream in the face demanding why he hadn't stuck by her or at least tried to find her after he had gotten out of the orphanage. But, he did not ready himself for what she did do. Warm, gentle arms wrapped him in a hug, so loving and kind he felt that he did not deserve it. It was just another thing he did not deserve, for here before him was just another person he had failed, whom he had burdened and hurt. God he hated himself so much right now nothing else seemed to have any feeling except his aching heart and the warm arms around him. Suddenly, tears welled up in his eyes so suddenly he couldn't stop them before they landed on his lap.

"Lena, wasn't your first name, you know." he said softly. "It was Marina, Marina Sheldon Duck."

"I saw that on the orphanage papers." She told him quietly. "I'm thinking of going back to it, I like it, it's pretty."

There was a pause, neither one knowing what to say next. "So…" she said slowly. "What do I need to understand?" More tears fell from Duck's eyes and it took him a minute before he could control himself again.

"It wasn't that they didn't want us." He said, now wrapping his own arms (the best he could seeing as how he was stilled tied to machinery) around her, holding her close the way he used to do when they were kids and she'd come seeking him out because she had had a nightmare or couldn't handle the arguing. And, just like in those days, she laid her head on his shoulder, one arm draped over his neck, the other under her cheek. She was too big to fit in his lap now, but she sat next to him, listening to his words. It was like no time had passed at all to Duck. He looked down at her and their eyes met. She might be an adult now, but he could still see the innocent curiosity in her eyes, seeking for answers he once again did not have.

"Mamma loved us very much. It was dad that had the major problems. He loved us too I guess, in his own ways. He was a real hero, helped fight in a big war I can't remember the name of. But I do remember running around the house, chasing after you who had his war helmet on. It slid over your eyes and Mamma and Dad would sit around, laughing as they watched us. Then eventually you would bumb into something and I'd try and catch you and then we'd both fall down and start crying. Then Mamma would come running up, along with Dad, and both of them would pick us up; Mamma usually had me and Dad would hold you. They'd hug us and tell us they loved us and Mamma would smother both of us with kisses until we stopped crying. But it wasn't always like that…" here he trailed off, wondering how he could explain the horribleness of what had happened.

"What do you mean?" she asked him. Damn those innocent blue orbs of hers. He sighed heavily before continuing.

"One night, it was raining. Mamma was on her way home from a conference she had had with a client. I can't remember what she did, but I remembered that after the war she was the only one who ever worked. She was the one who also did the shopping and cooking and cleaning. Dad, he never did much but drink and occasionally play around with us. Infact…there was only one time I can remember where I heard him say anything kind to her." Here he couldn't go on. This was getting painful.

"When was that?" he had forgotten what a persistent little creature she could be. Even as a baby she had a way of pressing him for things she shouldn't even have known about at such a young age, exposure to domestic violence or not.

"At…her funeral." He whispered. She looked at him, horrified. "Of course, her death wasn't his fault. He didn't do anything to her unless you count a few beatings here or there. He always said that he was sorry though, and did his best to never hit her again. All he had to do was hit her once and then it was like he would come out of this trance and run out of the house. We wouldn't see him again until the next morning. I assume he spoke forgiveness and love to her when he came back, but she never let us hear such things. But…that night, when she was driving back home… A drunk driver swerved and she didn't make it." His face was soaked with silent tears. He had to be proud of this, even though he cried like a baby it took more then bitter, painful memories to get him blubbering like one. "At her funeral, Dad hardly said a word. That is, until he went up to say goodbye to her. I heard him say 'Anna, I'm so sorry. I promise I'll never drink again, if I hadn't hit you and caused your eye to swell shut you might have…I'm so sorry, my dearest love.' And then he turned and walked away."

"What happened to us? He took us home with him, didn't he?" Marina was now looking at her brother, needing to hear 'yes' come from him. But Duck just shook his head.

"He…didn't even look at us. I tried to call after him but a friend's father held me back. You were sitting in a chair, your fingers in your bill crying, calling out for Mamma. I broke free, grabbed you and ran after Dad. I'd be damned if he left us too. But…when I finally placed you on the sofa and ran through the house looking for him…" he couldn't go on. It was more painful then he wished to remember. His father was supposed to stay with him and Marina. He was supposed to love them and take care of them, give them hugs and kisses like Mamma did and say how much he loved them. He was supposed to pick them up and say that even though their mom was gone she was still with them in some strange way and that she would always look after them. But instead…his father…in a fit of grief, torment, and remorse for he had thought he had brought about, had…

"He was hanging by the ceiling fan when I rushed into his and Mamma's room. A picture of them, their wedding picture was lying on the ground beneath him. He was probably holding it when he…" Duck had been staring straight ahead, seeing the images he was describing in his mind's eye. He felt like he was back on that cold, rainy funeral night where he had buried both parents. Holding on to his sister for dear life. There was no way she would be taken from him. But of course, he had said he'd be damned if he let his father leave and since then…well, his life had been pretty much damned, hadn't it?

"What happened to us? Did we have any other family we could've gone to?" her face was now soaked as well. He absent mindedly whipped her tears away as he shook his head again.

"Both sets of grandparents were gone and we had no aunts or uncles who could've taken us in. So, we went to Granny's Orphanage. We were separated almost the moment we walked through the door, because of our age groups. I tried to fight them but what could a six year old do against authority like that? Besides, from what I gathered after a few days there, sibling separation was almost a day to day thing, it tore me up to see all those kids lose the last tangible thing in the world left to them. You were luckier than me, you know. I tried to visit you one day, about a month after we were locked up in that hell hole, but they told me you had already been adopted. I planned on getting to you the moment I was adopted, but like I said before, it had taken me a year or two. I finally got picked by tricking an ex-friend of mine with Dad's double headed coin. It was the only thing I took, only because I thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. I didn't take for his memory or anything. To this day, I still hate him for leaving us like that. When I got out, I told the family to took me, the Millers, to take me to an address." Duck looked down at his sister and rambled off some numbers and a street name.

"That's my address." She said in wonder. He smiled a little.

"I know." He said. "I had nicked it from the supervisor's desk after I found out you were gone. I needed a way to know where you would've been. But…" his eyes filled with more tears. "The Millers, they were cool with it, but your family wasn't. When we approached, you didn't remember me very well, you looked like you were trying, like you knew somewhat that you had seen me before, but you were little so you probably had forgotten. You parents didn't want me around because they said that they wanted you to be able to move forward and not have to deal with the truth. 'Let her live a good, happy life with out knowing what her parents had done.' Your father said. "You might have to live with the memories, but you have the chance to liberate your sister from that horrible burden.' You mother told me. What could I do? I didn't want any pain or hardships for you, so I left with my family and you stayed with yours."

Marina buried her face in his shoulder, crying her heart out. He shushed her, soothingly stroking her back and telling her that it was alright. He wanted to know if her parents knew she was here, if they knew she had tracked him down. But, he thought better of it. He didn't want to get her more upset than she already was. Once she was calmed down enough she looked up at him.

"Oh, Erin." He was surprised she knew his real name. No one knew that, not even the team knew. Once he became a superhero he had to get a new title. Erin Mathew Duck just did not scream intimidation to the bad guys. Danger Duck though, that was a name to fear.

He stroked her back, trying to calm her down. "Shh, little mermaid, it's alright." He felt her smile at the old nickname for her. He doubted she remembered, but was glad to see that it still held comfort for her to hear it.

She finally looked up at him again. "so…my brother 's one of the Loonatics."

He smirked. He knew she would stay, he feared more than anything she would leave again, or that she would be taken again…but hearing the interest in her voice, seeing the light curiosity in her eyes, he knew, deep down, that she was never planning on abandoning him again. And he silently vowed, a vow he prayed he could keep for once, that he would never abandon her either. And as he talked with her about becoming a superhero, as he asked her questions about herself, wanting to know every detail of her life; he knew, beyond a doubt, that if he hadn't had it before, now he deffentately had something to live and fight for.