Hello all! Here is the next chapter!

Not too much to say except please enjoy! I own nothing, all the usual stuff. :)

Birds of a Feather

Chapter 3- Return

Billy stopped. He thought he heard his name being called... and not in a good way. Was it Chick? Was he okay?

"Chick! Hey, where are you?" Billy called out. He groaned. The rain was becoming a pain but it was quickly replaced with pure worry. Chick should've been found by now. It was getting late and a bit chilly, and he was still nowhere to be found.

Rolly and Bantam had checked in- they called Chick's mother and she was out looking as well. No one heard from the little potty mouth all afternoon. Rolly was scared and even Bantam was starting to wonder if something happened while Chick was stewing in his anger.

"Jeez... where are you, Chick?" Billy wondered.

"BILLYYYYYYYY!" He froze. There was no mistaking that voice. "Chick...?"

"Help me!"

Billy listened carefully- the voice sounded like it was coming from the forest, or at least somewhere close by there. Taking off in a sprint, Billy hoped for the best but had a sinking feeling he was going to get the worst.

"Hang in there, Chick..." he thought to himself as he pushed his legs to go faster. "I'm coming!"

Chick was whimpering and crying as he curled into an impossibly tight ball, his head pounding. At least the feeling in his chest was looseing, he tried to reason with himself-not like that was really any better than the pain in his head.

Whatever this was, whatever was happening to him, he knew it couldn't be anything good. But why couldn't he put his finger on that voice...? He knew it from somewhere, he ws certain of it!

"P-Please... get out of my head..." he begged the voice, tears now running down his cheeks. The pain was now boardering excurciating, and he couldn't take it anymore. "Leave me alone...leave me alone..."

'Now I can't do that, little one. Not until you all pay for what you've done.' The voice chuckled darkly, humming as he decided to use Chick fully for his grand return. 'You and your little friends never should have came to Morning Land!'

It was that last line that did it. Despite being on the verge of passing out, Chick finally recognized that voice booming in his skull. He didn't think he'd hear from him again, espeically since he was sure Billy defeated him once and for all- and there wasn't any way to get from Morning Land to the human world!

...right?

"Chick?! CHICK!" Someone came up to him, screamed at him. Touched his shoulder and rolled him over, then tapped his cheek.

"Oh my gosh, Chick! Can you hear me?! Chick!"

'Billy... help me...' The little boy felt that was his friends calling out to him but his energy has finally run out. He tried to warn whoever was above him, but he ended up passing out instead. He was so, so tired.

'Dark Corvo. He's doing this to me... but why? How is he even here?'

When his eyes first opened, it was blurry. Very, very blurry. It made his world look very tilted and he didn't like the feeling in his stomach. His head throbbed, his body protested, and he felt like he'd throw up, athought he was sure he did that before and didn't eat anything-

He slammed his eyes shut and groaned. The thought of food was NOT helping.

"Chick...? Guys, I think he's awake!" A shrill voice screamed. It got quieter as it left and Chick was glad- his body was killing him enough, he didn't want his ears ringing too.

'Wonder where I am... feels nice, whatever I'm laying on...' he thought as he drifted back to sleep. He was soon awakened by a rather large hand on his shoulder.

"Chick...? Hey lil' man, can you hear me?" A softer, gruffer voice asked. Chick struggled to re-open his eyes- he was completely spent so he weakly nodded in answer to his question instead. The person chuckled and Chick knew- that was no doubt Bantam. So that shrill voice he heard before had to have been Roll, he figured. Of course.

'That means that person i heard earlier had to be Billy! So... so he did find me...' Chick felt extremely relieved; at least he was safe and for now, there wasn't any voices ringing in his head.

'I've gotta warn them! If Corvo is back... does that mean Dark Raven is back...? Oh, my head... my body... it all hurts like hell...'

"Chick?" Bantam's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "You okay?"

Chick opened his mouth to say a snarky remark, but quickly closed it as a wave of pain assulted him. He settleed for nodding again, keeping his eyes closed. Bantam chuckled but Chick heard something else...worry?

Was he worried about him? 'G-Guess that makes sense... I did... act like an idiot. Wonder how bad I'm hurt... '

"I can't imagine what kind of pain you're in, lil man. But it's okay; just rest. Billy must've found you just in time..." Bantam trailed off, but his hand never left Chick's shoulder. Chick didn't have any energy to explain what happened. He half nodded, missing a lot of that sentence as he finally drifted back into unconsiousness.

'I have to warn them. If Corvo is back, and he did this... then Raven can't be far behind. I've gotta warn them!'

The next time Chick opened his eyes, it wasn't so blurry and he didn't feel as tired. He looked around and finally got a good view of where he'd ended up.

A hospital. "So Billy... did find me..." Chick mumbled to himself before he coughed- man, his throat was dry and painful!

Next to him was a large cup full of ice. Chick had to move slowly, but was able to get the cup and sit back, letting the cool ice massage his throat and soothe his mouth. He stared at the monitor that beeped on his left as he sat eating his ice.

Nothing on that thing made sense, but Chick wasn't worried about it. He struggled to recall everything that happened so he could explain it to the others.

"So that freaky birdbrain is back. But what did he do to me? What did he mean , "I would be part of his plan?"' He frowned- why couldn't he have learned more information? "Why the hell was he in my head...?"

Chick didn't realize he'd stopped eating the ice- his young mind was racing far too fast for him to worry about things like that. It was then his door opened and a face he'd never been happier to see walked in..

"H-Hey, Bil-!"

Before he could finish, Billy rushed into the room and tackled Chick in a tight hug; Chick was a bit stunned, and a bit more breathless from it, but smiled. "G-Glad to see ya too, Billy." Chick patted his friend on the back. He could hear him sniffling and rolled his eyes in mock amusement.

'Leave it to him to have the waterworks. He's just as bad as Rolly, I swear!' Chick couldn't be annoyed at him for long, though.

Based on that pain he'd felt, he had a feeling things were pretty bad.

"I'm okay, man. Wanna let go of me now?" Chick asked, trying to maintain his usual annoyed tone. Billy shook his head no and Chick mentally sighed.

"Come on, Billy. Forget I'm still kinda hurt here?"

That did the trick, and soon Billy pulled away. Just as Chick guessed, Billy's face was red and damp. Chick would have poked fun at that any other day, but given his current state, decided to let it go.

"I-I'm just glad you're alright, Chick!" Billy explained as he dried his face. Chick lightly smiled at that statement- okay was preeeettty far away from how he honestly felt- but he did feel happy his friends were so worried about him.

"How long was I... you know." Chick gestured to the whole hospital room. "Here?"

Billy wiped his face as he thought for a moment. "Uhhh, just about four days...? Maybe?"

At that, the youngest blinked. Did... he say FOUR days? "I-I was... asleep for that long?" he muttered. Billy heard him and nodded yes. The room fell silent as Billy looked Chick up and down, and Chick struggled to process what on earth had happened to him.

"We told your mom and dad, by the way." Billy conviently mentioned. Chick groaned- not those two!

"Did you have to..." he groaned in disbelief. If there was one thing he couldn't stand, it was them. Billy shrugged- for a kid, Chick sure didn't like dealing with his parents much. The rest of the gang loved them so he never understood the issue.

"Yes... considering you're seven. You know, a minor? Like the rest of us?" Billy frowned. "And speaking of which, where did you get that potty mouth from?!"

Chick gave him the side eye. "Billy, don't start. It's been a long enough day as is."

"I won't. Just as soon as you answer my question." Billy smirked. "Or you can answer your parents. I told them about that, you know."

Billy was bluffling- he didn't think he needed to tell Chick's buiness to his parents, especially since it often got him in trouble around town. But he did have to wonder if his parents knew he had the language of a grown person...?

Apprently Chick believed him, because he sat straight up, glaring at Billy with a look that could kill. "Are you fuckin'-?!"

Billy grinned. "Need to say that a BIT LOUDER, CHICK!" He inched towards the door, intending to open it to embarass his friend. Chick sputtered, his cheeks heating up.

"You're so lucky I'm in this damn bed!" he swore. Billy laughed as he sat back in his seat.

"Ehhhhh, I'm just messing with you." Billy chuckled. Chick grumbled, arms crossed. "Whatever."

The two sat in silence for a few more minutes until Billy noticed that Chick was... oddly deep in thought. He was so deep in thought, in fact, he didn't realize Billy was staring at him while he stared at the sheets.

"Uhm, hellllloooo?" Snapping his fingers in front of his face, Billy called, "Earth to Chick!"

Chick sighed. "Billy, I think... I think we might have a problem.

And done! Took a very long time, but here we are!

I hope you all enjoy! Until next time!