Even Nosedive wasn't so oblivious that he missed Airika's scandalized expression upon entering Captain Comics. Was it Mookie's bright Mohawk or Thrash's mullet? He didn't know. He briefly thought about asking but his brother's entrance followed by Mallory made his beak stay shut.
"Hey Dude! Haven't seen ya around much. You forget we exist?" Thrash stretched over two precariously leaning piles of comics and magazines on the register to see him.
"Maybe he got his brain rearranged like in that one comic we read." Mookie appeared from around a dozen boxes, all containing new reading material. "You know-"
"No. We don't know." Mallory's hiss reached Nosedive's ears. Instead of ignoring her like he usually did whenever she subtly insulted the humans, he prayed they didn't hear. It looked like his prayers were answered.
Before he was able to say anything the fiery redhead beat him to it. "Listen up. I'm only saying this once." The two teenage humans instantly shut up and became attentive. It had to be instinctual self-preservation that kicked in every time she was around. If they didn't listen then they knew she'd have no problem kicking their asses or at the very least escalating the tension. "This is Airika. She's going to stay here with you for a little while. Two hours at the most. If either of you make her feel uncomfortable in any way, you won't like it when I come back for her pickup, you get me?"
"Okay." Thrash's face was serious for once. It's strange to see him serious…weird. "She's new?"
"She from your planet too?" Mookie's eyes were huge.
"Yes." Mallory's reply was short. She turned to Airika purposely putting her back to them. "It's only until we can get rid of the city officials."
Airika nodded but otherwise said nothing.
"Amuse yourself." Nosedive whispered on his way by her, following his brother. "Creep them out with your future-reading skills." He was sure he saw her face crack a little in a small smile.
…..
The Pond
Wildwing tried to ignore the piercing stare Klegghorn sent his way every few minutes as the Anaheim lead attorney gathered her notes and occasionally prodded someone's legal documents spread out on their galley table with an overpriced pen. He knew it was only a matter of time before the police captain pulled him out into the hallway; from Duke's expression he knew it too. Wildwing wasn't disappointed.
"Can I see you out in the hall for a moment?"
Wildwing forced himself to not react to the condescending tone the human's words dripped in. He thought they were past all this after he and the human were locked out of the headquarters during Dragaunus's takeover and forced to trudge through the sewer system to gain access back in. Without a word he followed the diminutive cop outside the galley.
"Where's that girl?"
"What girl?" The counter question came out before he knew it. He honestly hadn't known how he was going to respond once the subject of Airika was brought up. He knew the cop was going to take the evasiveness as an insult of his intelligence but he didn't care. Right on cue the short-tempered cop's face turned rudy as his hands balled into fists.
"You know very well what girl, that new alien duck who looks like she hasn't eaten a meal in six years. You know I can arrest you for this? You can be charged for purposely hiding an illegal alien. "
"We're all illegal aliens." Wildwing snapped. He allowed a split second to mentally thank Tanya for engineering the automatic doors to be so thick, otherwise he was sure everyone on the other side would be listening in. "That piece of paper the lawyer is looking at doesn't mean crap. We're the only ones of our kind on this planet. We weren't born here. We dropped out of the sky literally from an entirely different dimension; but you already know all this because Phil filled you in our first month here."
The human's lips puckered like he was trying very hard to hold back a retort. Knowing his temperament Wildwing was sure he was doing just that; and the white duck wasn't done.
"Airika is no different. And if hiding her from the likes of you and those other humans is going to keep her from winding up in some detention center then so be it. Your laws really don't matter to me on this particular subject."
"Well that's obvious." Klegghorn finally growled. "Otherwise she'd be here now wouldn't she?" The human started an aggravated pacing in front of the Mighty Duck goalie. "Honestly your rash decision Wildwing annoys me. It annoys me to think you wouldn't trust me to help you out with something like this."
Wildwing hadn't expected that. "What?"
Klegghorn stopped pacing. "You didn't even know about this girl until a few months ago, am I right? She wasn't with you when you-excuse me-dropped out of the sky, so I imagine she came from those sleaze bag overgrown lizards, meaning her arrival here wasn't any more planned than yours. You really think I'd let Lisa Femino just haul her away?"
Wildwing had thought that but it was too late to deny it. He'd look like an idiot if he did try to. Finally he found something to say. "Why? That would be a big risk to take with your career status."
Klegghorn pursed his lips again. "I don't know to be honest. I guess inspite of everything including you and your posse of birds having the inability to call proper authorities when needed, I know you aren't a bad guy-bird-whatever." He itched his head. "Where did you leave her?"
Wildwing took a breath. "It's better if you don't know. That way you aren't lying when you say so if questioned."
Klegghorn watched him for a moment. "Fair enough."
…..
Anaheim Mall
Captain Comics
Airika couldn't stand to be bored. Surprisingly, as strange as they were with their weird fashion statements and hair, the two kids seemed to pick up on her soured emotions. The guy came over to her within the first half hour, not scared of her at all something she found odd, and asked if she would want to help them organize the new shipments to pass the time. She hesitated before tentatively saying yes. Thoughtfully, they set her up in the back room with her own box so she wouldn't become a sideshow for the customers. Sifting through the different comics she paused to look at every other one and was reminded of Nosedive reading his own stack in the Rec room. What's the draw? She didn't know. Maybe it was because she was older, twenty-two same age as Mallory she found out not too long ago, and Nosedive was for all intent purposes still a kid, seventeen.
A sudden urge to go to the bathroom made her pause. She weighed the options of waiting until she got home. Home. Is it really my home? Or just using the employee bathroom. She couldn't wait. She stood just as a bright green flash lit up the room and she found herself looking at herself. She couldn't move stunned for a moment as Lucretia stared back at her. Their hair was the same color. Briefly Airika wondered how many hours it took for her twin to wash the purple dye out. She even looked skinnier-like she starved herself to look like me…malnourished? The woman's ostentatious outfit was even gone, replaced with an exact replica of her own reserved fashion. A smile that didn't reach Lucretia's eyes split her beak before a familiar sting zapped her wrist. She didn't have to look down to know it was a transporter bracelet back to the Raptor.
"You just can't leave me alone, can you?" She wasn't scared, only tired. She was getting what she wanted wasn't she? She had told Duke it would be easier if she returned to the Raptor. It isn't what I want.
"Oh honey." Lucretia purred, her empathic tone totally fake. -Like everything else about her. "What makes you think this is all about you?"
Airika didn't reply. She tried to convince herself she hadn't had time before she felt herself transport, but that was a lie.
…
Half hour later
"Hey Airika. Oh god. They roped you into this?" Mallory stopped dead in the doorway of the backroom before coming closer.
It was easier than Lucretia thought to mimic her sister. -Years of being around her pathetic excuse of a being I suppose. She gave an embarrassed smile. "It's okay….Kept me busy."
"Hey we asked!" Thrash could be heard from the registers where Duke was sending him not-so-amused looks. "We'll pay her if she wants. Not like we weren't doing the same thing. Look at all these boxes! We've been busy all day!"
"Yeah, yeah you're just buried aren't you?"
"Exactly!" The teenager missed Duke's sarcasm but saw his eye roll. Thrash paused. "I totally missed the true meaning of that statement, didn't I?"
Mookie had her head resting on her hand, propped up on the counter. "Like totally dude."
"Oh. Well-"
"Anyways, Thank you for taking care of her for us." Mallory purposely rose her voice to give Duke the message that the moment was over.
"Any time." Thrash scratched his head awkwardly as the three ducks left.
….
The Pond
The underground setup hadn't changed much Lucretia noted upon reentering the duck's living quarters. She tried to not look so obvious as she took in every little detail of her surroundings. No doubt the team leader- Wildwing changed all the codes in the place after her last botched attempt at taking them down. She didn't know if she liked him or not. Like and hate are strong words. He reminds me of Canard…that's it. He's just like him except for the no nonsense get-your-shit-done attitude. Laid back or is it something else? He had fleetingly shown a different side of him twice before during her first encounter with the ducks. He's hesitant…hesitant at calling the shots. Trying to measure up to Canard I see. She had heard about the former leader's unfortunate demise, being pulled into Dimensional Limbo. At one point she overheard Dragaunus speaking into the Raptor log microphone, talking about how the ship readings told him the duck landed back in Puckworld. How unfortunate he wasn't stuck in Limbo. I was. Anger filled her stomach in an instant. What made Thunderbeak different from her? The Lord hated Thunderbeak; he wouldn't have intentionally let the duck off the hook like that. A mishap in the gateway sequence I suppose.
"Hey A. You hungry?" The obvious teenager of the group was staring at her, waiting for an answer. A? What kind of nickname is that?
She forced herself out of her nip-picking thoughts. "No-thank you. I'm a little tired."
"Okay." Nosedive hesitated. "Hope they didn't overwork you." He added, lightly teasing.
She shook her head. "No." She wandered towards the hall where she remembered the bedrooms were laid out and promptly remembered she hadn't the faintest clue where hers was.
"You know I have you figured out." A voice said.
Despite her haughtiness, she felt her stomach drop. Had she failed so soon in her mission? The Lord was going to kill her this time for sure. "You do?" She tried not to stammer.
Duke appeared. "Yeah. Your polite evasiveness with the kid."
"OH." Relief flooded her. "I-I don't want him to get i-ideas. You know how teenagers are these days."
A quick smile flickered across his face. "He may think he's the main mallard of love, but in the end he's an okay kid. It wouldn't hurt to stop avoiding all of us like you do."
She had been so wrapped up in his statement of 'main mallard of love' being reminded instantly of her first meeting with the ducks while the teenager and this one vied for her attention. The teenager had used that exact comment, referring to himself. This duck though, Duke she remembered, was different than the last time she met him. More reserved. Interesting. Then her brain caught up to the rest of his words.
"I don't avoid-"
"Yeah you do." His response was quiet. "What ever you've been made to believe, that you aren't as important as the rest of society, it isn't true. And your demeanor screams that you believe the lie. Hang out with us more. I won't force you. You have to want it."
She realized he stopped walking and turned to see a closed door. Must be my room. HER room. Please let it be. I can't screw this up. "Well. I guess I'll see you a little later."
He gave a nod before turning back the way they came.
Lucretia watched him go before tapping the touchscreen that opened her door. Once the door was shut behind her she pulled a small device free. "I'm in my Lord."