The school yard was crowded with kids. Emilia appeared at Asher's shoulder. "Hello,"
He turned, "hey."
"I saw your parents playing against the Wyld Ravens. They were amazing, your parents I mean."
"Yeah, they were," he agreed quietly.
"Hey, the Beckett Pond, three o'clock," Fledge, Lyghter and Rosco appeared. "The loser squad wants another go." Lyghter jerked a thumb towards Spaulding and his group across the yard.
"I can't," Asher replied.
"What? Why?"
"My dad and uncle told me to stay away from Spaulding."
Lyghter made a face and a 'puh' sound. "Do you always listen to daddy?"
Asher glared at him, "yeah, as a matter of fact I do, got a problem?"
"Lyght, lay off," Fledge stuck up for Asher. "It's an excuse for Spaulding to kick his ass and claim it was a hockey mistake."
"I'm not afraid of him, I just don't need to hear about it, especially from Drebeer," The bell rang, everyone began to file into the school.
"Hey freak!"
"Speaking of the drake," Fledge muttered, he wheeled around, he was the tallest in Asher's circle of friends and so confronted Spaulding beak to beak. "Can I help you?"
"I'm not talkin' to you Fledger, get out of my way."
"Sorry, you talk to Asher, you talk to all of us."
Next to Asher, Rosco swallowed, "uh, I'm going to just stand-over there..." He started to walk away, only to be grabbed by Emilia.
Spaulding sneered. "Shit rolls down hill L'orange, Drebeer paid my old man a visit last night...now I wonder what that was about?"
"Drebeer talked to your dad?" Asher echoed faintly.
"Oh don't act so innocent," Spaulding snapped. "You're gonna pay for it when you least expect it."
"And know, when you attempt this rather pathetic vendetta," Fledge spoke up, "you'll have not one L'orange, you'll have two on your ass. But maybe you like being ridden."
Spaulding swung his fist at Fledge's face who ducked.
"Fledge stop!" Emilia yelled. She got in between the two, her hand on Fledge's chest, pushing him away.
"Duke f***ing L'orange doesn't scare me...you forget you little freak, your daddy doesn't run the Brotherhood anymore!" Spaulding's eyes were bugged.
"No, but he and the leader are, what do they call it? Thick as thieves?" Fledge taunted.
Spaulding glared at them before shoving his cronies out of the way and marching into the school.
"I seriously hate that kid," Fledge's eyes stayed on Spaulding's retreating back.
"Don't we all..? Let's go," Asher entered the school.
…...
The Brotherhood of the Blade
Duke slipped through the Room of Reconcile's door as Drebeer held it open for him. It seemed all of the Brotherhood was in the large cavern.
"Your buddy Boron Flyght is looking at ya," Duke nodded to the duck who was staring at Drebeer.
"Must think I'm pretty," Drebeer grumbled.
Duke grinned, "you got it from me."
Drebeer snorted. "No little brother, you got it from me."
The cavern fell silent as the leader of the Brotherhood appeared from a hidden door. Chester Longtale had been leader of the Brotherhood for the last twenty-years. Duke had left him at fifty-eight years old. But now, in Duke's extraterrestrial absence, Longtale was seventy-two and still as fiery.
"I called for a meeting today to discuss some issues," Longtale's voice didn't give away whether the meeting was good or bad. "-I'd like to start by-"
A door to Drebeer's right banged opened, granting entrance to Cerberus Patterrn, drunk as hell.
"Oh damn," Drebeer murmured.
"Isn't that Fledger Patel's dad?" Duke asked.
"The one and only," Drebeer replied. "Your kid's friend."
Patterrn stumbled into the room and glanced around, realizing that it was full of Blade members.
Up front, Longtale sighed, his annoyance made clear. "-Glad you could join Cerberus."
Cerberus gave a over exaggerated shrug, "me too Longhale-I mean tale" he lost his balance and fell into a group of ducks who gingerly pushed him upright.
Drebeer shook his head, just as disgusted as Longtale. A shadow passed by Duke, he turned to see Jenner, a kid that they had rescued 12 years ago from an evil tyrant bent on killing Duke.
His eyes were on Cerberus, like everyone else. "Drunk again?"
"You know it," Drebeer replied.
Longtale had decided to plow on, ignoring Cerberus. "Some of us have grown sloppy in our endeavors beyond this underground cage." His eyes traveled to Cerberus. "I will not tolerate it if someone gets caught. You get yourself a cell, then you get yourself out of that cell...alone."
The meeting lasted close to an hour. As Duke turned to leave, a petite female blocked his path. Marishka studied him, a seductive smile on her beak, "Duke L'orange."
"Marishka," he greeted evenly.
"Longtale wants to see you in his office."
"Okay, what about?"
She shrugged, a teasing gaze still on his face. He began to walk against the crowd towards the east entrance into the cavern where Longtale's office was. She followed.
Several winds in the halls later, they came to a steel door, Duke brought his hand up to press the buzzer, only to have the door open on him and Marishka.
Glydar Timberr glanced at him surprised at first. "L'orange...that was fast."
"I'm a busy person," he replied.
Timberr opened the door wider to let him in. "You may go Marishka."
By her disappointed look, she wasn't happy about being told to go even though she complied with out comment.
Longtale glanced up from moving a few files around on his desk, "Duke...thank you for coming. Timberr you can go too."
"With all due respect Ches-"
Longtale stared at him quietly. Timberr got the point.
"Very well," the duck left.
"Nosy basterds, the lot of them," Longtale stated.
Duke agreed silently. "What did you want to see me for?"
Longtale sat, gesturing to the chair in front of him. "Please."
"I'd ratha stand."
Something passed in the older duck's face, "very well. Your son, I wanted to talk about Asher L'orange Junior."
"What about him?" Duke kept his tone light.
"Have you thought about-?"
"-about inducting him into the Brotherhood, yeah."
"But?"
"I'm not doing it...his mother doesn't want him apart of this place and quite frankly, I don't either."
"I see," Longtale stood. "You do know that you'll receive flack for this decision? I've already been informed by several that they think you think you're too good to have your son here."
"And who would that be? Flyght or Patterrn?"
Longtale gave him a ghostly smile. "The point is you could make your son a target unintentional."
"He already is, Spaulding Flyght got physical with him yesterday."
"Did he now, that would explain Boron's complaint about your brother visiting him last night."
Duke rubbed his neck, "about that-I didn't put him up to it-"
Longtail stood, waving a hand, "don't worry about it...your son wasn't the only reason for this discussion. I have a proposition for you."
"Go on," Duke said carefully.
"The Brotherhood was yours once...how would you feel having it back?"
Duke felt his mind go blank, "back? What about-?"
Longtale waved his hand again, coming close to him, holding his gaze. "I'm getting old Duke. But you, you're almost the same the day you left this place for that mission."
"I-" Duke didn't know what he wanted.
"You don't have to give me an answer now," Longtale rested a hand on his shoulder. "Think about it. It's a one in a lifetime opportunity."
"Thank you, Ches."
Longtale smiled, "your welcome."
…...
Mallory walked into her house around five to see her mother sitting at the kitchen table. "Mom?"
"Hello," Ravyna McMallard stood stiffly.
"I wasn't expecting you," Mallory tugged her scarf loose.
"I know, your father is busy so I decided to come alone..."
"I see."
"Is-he around?" Ravyna asked, peeking around the corner to the hallway like she was expecting Duke to appear.
Mallory looked up from pouring two cups of water. "Mom, I'm thirty-seven years old. I know who and what I want and I'm happy."
"He's a criminal."
"Ex-" Her response came out a little too sharp.
"I can't help but think that you two are-together only because you had a child."
Mallory let the water container hit the counter with a bang. "A child? That child is your grandson."
Ravyna didn't respond.
Mallory snorted, "you've been listening to Dad too much."
"I have not."
"You have too. The moment he learned that Asher was Duke's, he stopped coming here. Duke's made some mistakes in his life, but he's changed and he wants a better life for Asher than he had."
"Then where is he now?"
Mallory fell silent.
"My point, he's still in leagues with that band of murderers and thieves-"
"Mom-"
"-And you let him."
"The quickest way to piss someone off is to tell them how to run their life!" She snapped.
Ravyna's beak snapped shut. "Fine...you're thirty-seven and what do I know?" She marched out.
…...
Regla walked into the kitchen a few minutes later to see Mallory standing frozen at the counter, her gaze far off.
"Should I come back later?" he asked.
She looked up, "what? No. It's fine." She quickly turned away, wiping her eyes.
He was quiet for a moment, then he crossed the room and stopped her in her tracks. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I already told you-"
He shook his head, "you can't lie to me," he paused for a moment, "it's a felony."
She let out an uneasy laugh, at which he smiled. "I've been unofficially ostracized from my family."
"Why?"
"Why do you think?" She asked bitterly, "Duke."
His face softened. "I'm sorry."
She shrugged, "whatever...It doesn't bug me."
"Yeah it does," he let her go and sat on the end of the counter. "Want to talk about it?" He dragged a chair over for her to sit in.
She paused, her eyes on his barely visible burn scars that marred his forearms. "It's my father...he's the patriarch of the family and whole-heartedly acts upon it." She sat down.
"Huh, sounds like my dad, a dick."
She glanced at him, "something like that. He's a retired commander...I'm sure you know how they are."
"Mmm."
"It's not even me that I care about, it's Asher. They don't accept him as their grandson."
"They don't?"
"No," she hid her face in her hands. "It's not fair to him. I don't care if they write me out of the will, but they owe him a chance."
He didn't reply at first. "If you're happy Mallory, you won't let your parents get in the way of what you want."
She stared into his eyes for a few moments. "I know. Why didn't you-" she halted in her words.
He knew what she had been about to ask. "Because you still loved Duke and I told him, I'd look out for you...to me, that didn't include a relationship, though I thought about it."
The front door opened, making them put distance to each other. Asher appeared.
"Hey kid," Regla greeted.
"Hi," Asher came further into the kitchen. "Was Gram here?"
"Um, yeah for a few minutes," Mallory answered distractedly. "She had errands to run. Why?"
"Oh," he shrugged, "I saw her driving down the street."
When nothing more was said, he turned and left.
Regla glanced at her.
…...
The Brotherhood of the Blade
Fledge opened the door of the small two room apartment that he shared with his father. The first thing to hit him was the smell. This is why I never come home. He threw his bag down in the corner and picked up a empty hard liquor bottle.
In the corner, his father was passed out as usual in a lazy chair. Fledge glanced down at the bottle and then threw it onto the counter, not caring about the sound it would make.
In the chair, Patterrn woke up abruptly, getting to his feet. "What the hell are you doing!" He roared.
"Nothing," Fledge answered disappointed. He went to walk away only to be backhanded as his father suddenly appeared next to him. The impact sent him across the room, onto his back.
"Don't you tell me nothing, you good-for-nothing brat!" Patterrn grabbed him by his shirt.
"Let go of me," Fledge yanked himself free.
Patterrn hit him again. "So how was your day with Asher L'orange? Huh?"
"It's none of your damn business," Fledge tried to get away but Patterrn held him down.
"Answer me, you lazy ass!"
"No!" Fledge yelled back. "Go to hell!"
"Oh that's where you're goin'. Real soon."
…...
The next day
Drebeer swept into his office, pulling a folder off his desk. As he went to leave, he paused; turning he saw a shadowy figure through the window of his office, sitting on a vent in the back of the classroom that adjoined. He let the folder fall onto his desk as he entered the classroom.
"Fledge?"
The kid didn't answer right away. Then, "I know I'm not allowed to be here without a teacher."
Drebeer almost asked, 'then why are you,' but thought against it. Something was wrong. He drew nearer, in the dim light he saw the kid's white feathers were darkened. It all clicked.
"Do you have anywhere live for awhile?"
Fledge shook his head.
Drebeer drew in a breath and let it out. "Come."
…...
Fledge sat outside the room as Drebeer confronted Duke. "I can't take him. I have Jenner so I was wondering if he could stay with you."
Duke rubbed his eyes. "This could cause a rift, a bigger rift Drebeer."
"I know. But if Patterrn really cared about him, he wouldn't keep shoving Fledg out at night for days on end."
"Okay, if Patterrn asks, I don't have him."
Drebeer nodded. "I didn't hear anything."
…...
Duke stayed silent as he led Fledge through the city. Something had to be done about Patterrn, there had been many times when Fledge had shown up at class or passed Duke in the hall sporting some injury. He shook his head in disgust, why hadn't he done anything before now?
He glanced down at the kid, who had been as stony as him. "I'm not gonna keep you here kid, if you want to go back tomorrow, then I won't stop ya."
Fledge didn't look up. "I don't want to."
Duke knew what he meant, his own father had beat him a few times in his life before Duke ran away.
"Come on," he put Fledge in front of him as they walked onto the porch.
…...
Mallory paused in her washing of the counter as Duke entered with a blonde haired, white feathered kid.
"This is Fledger Patel, he's one of Asher's friends. He's going to stay here for a while."
"Okay," she said slowly, her gaze took in the child's forlorn expression and more importantly, his bruised beak and slightly swollen face.
Duke half turned to Fledge, "Asher's upstairs."
Fledge nodded and left without comment.
Mallory waited until he was out of earshot before continuing the conversation. "I wish you had told me before you brought him here."
"His father is a drunk and beat on him last night. The Brotherhood isn't known for sticking up for its junior members. Drebeer and I stepped in before anything else could happen."
"His father doesn't know he's here?"
Duke shook his head, steeling himself for her reaction.
"Duke, that's kidnapping."
"I'm a Blade member, what do you expect?"
"That's not the point," she hissed.
"Isn't it?" He returned, "I'm a career criminal anyway you look at it. Besides its not like the cops will come knocking on the door since Patterrn has a long bad history with them...ask Regla."
"Who is Patterrn?"
"His father, they don't have the same last name."
Mallory wanted to push the issue further but decided 'no'. Her own father could be bit of a tyrant. He never hit her, but Pu'C McMallard wasn't known for being soft-spoken. He let others know exactly what was on his mind, regardless of how cruel it could be.
"If you want him gone, I'll find someone else to take him in..." Duke's voice brought her back to her senses.
"No, he can stay here. I didn't mean to sound like I wanted him gone. Just a little of notice would have been nice."
He closed the distance between them, pulling her close to him. "The next rescue case."
She let out a soft laugh, "deal."
…...
Asher glanced up from his mindless tossing of a puck into the air. "Fledge?"
"Hey," his friend came into the room, his hands in his pockets. "Your dad brought me here for a while."
Asher sat up, taking note of his friend's beaten complexion. "Your dad again." It wasn't a question.
Fledge nodded silently.
Asher didn't know what to say, so he said nothing. "I guess we should get the cot then..."
"I can sleep on the-"
"Don't," Asher wheeled his considerably taller friend around and pushed him out the door. "A cot and don't argue."
…...
Later
Mallory paused by her son's room, checking on him and the new kid, Fledge. Asher was on his stomach, one hand drooped over the side of the bed and Fledge was almost completely buried under his own blanket.
Sighing, she shut the door and went to her own room. She could hear the shower going as she passed the bathroom in their room. On second thought she turned around and went into the bathroom, quietly undressing and slipping into the bathroom. Duke had his eyes shut as he let the water spray over his head, one of his hands out against the shower wall.
She stepped in behind him and leaned her head against his shoulder. He shifted, "hi."
"Hi." She pushed her wet hair back away from her face.
He ran his fingers through her hair and lightly pushed her back into the shower wall. Their lips met.
"Where's Asher?" He asked in between breaths.
"Asleep," she answered.
They broke apart and stared at each other. She traced the scar on his shoulder he had received a long time ago in some distant fight.
"We're wastin' water," he finally said and reached behind her to shut the water off.
…...
Mallory woke up abruptly, unsure of what startled her out of her sleep. Her eyes were late to adjust to the gloom, finally she made out a shape standing quite still in their room, next to her side of the bed, facing away. She jumped, stirring Duke, who had his arm around her waist.
"What's wrong?" he asked, his voice low, disoriented.
She didn't answer, so he opened his eyes and bolted up straight, staring at the figure. "Fledge?"
She sat up too, confused. "Fledge?"
Duke got out of bed and slowly approached the kid, his body tense. Mallory watched with growing apprehension as Duke came to a halt next to the kid, studying Fledge's face. He relaxed, turning to Mallory. "He's asleep."
She relaxed too, "asleep? Like sleepwalking asleep?"
Duke nodded, "it looks like it."
"Oh my god, he could have fallen down the stairs..."
"I'll be back," Duke began to try and guide the kid out of the room.
Mallory collapsed back down, for some reason unnerved, and shaky from adrenaline. Fledge seemed like a good kid, but for some reason she was getting the same feeling as she got when Jenner was first introduced to the Mighty Ducks. Meaning no harm, but yet used as a puppet by a puppeteer.