Duke found Mallory sitting on the edge of their bed, her back to him. "Mal?" He called softly.
She didn't answer, but she straightened up. He sat down next to her, resting his hand on hers. "I've been around enough liars to know she was sincere."
Mallory raised her eyes to meet his. "I know she was...I just wonder at the timing."
"Maybe she woke up."
"Yeah."
He ran his hand through her hair, "Enjoy it while its here kid."
…...
Bronze Lane
Pu'C caught Ravyna by surprise at the coat closet, shoving her by the neck back into the wall. "P-Pu'C-"
"Where were you?"
"I-I was out-"
"Bull shit!" Pu'C slung her away from him, she lost her balance and sprawled across the floor. "Where were you!"
Afraid, Ravyna decided to tell the truth. "I went to see Mal-"
He hit her hard, her head snapping around. "I knew it. Did you have a nice time with the slut and her beau?"
"H-He wasn't there..."
"Really? I doubt that Ravyna, you know better than to lie to me."
"He wasn't." Her hand covered the part of her face that was now hot from being hit. "It was just M-"
"The slut."
Ravyna fell silent.
"Get up and get yourself cleaned up. I'm through with you." He disappeared.
She breathed in shakily, her eyes watering. It had been a long time since Pu'C had raised a hand to her. She had been naïve to think he was cured of his spontaneous rages.
Dazed, she stood slowly, wiping her eyes and went upstairs.
…...
The Next Day
Asher kicked a block of ice aside as he walked to the edge of Twin Heights, a man-made crater at the edge of the city, not far from his house. Fledge glanced down and also kicked the ice when it skidded to a stop in front of him. They watched it disappear over a small mound of snow.
"Well, well, what have we here?"
Fledge rolled his eyes as they turned to see none other than Spaulding and his cronies. "Scoping out your honeymoon spot?"
"You know it," Fledge snapped.
Spaulding shouldered past Asher, momentarily sending an adrenaline rush through the young drake; who was suddenly nervous about how close he was to the edge of the crater with Spaulding also so close. He backed away.
Below them was a herd of monolors, creatures similar to a wildebeest. "You know supposedly one of the many entrances to the Brotherhood is down in that crater," Spaulding was saying.
"Nobody cares," Fledge grumbled, "let's go Ash." He started to leave, but was blocked by two of Spaulding's huge friends, muscle men Asher thought.
"Told ya L'orange... You're gonna pay for it when you least expect it," Spaulding was in Asher's ear, he flinched away.
The depth of Twin Heights wasn't huge surprisingly, but it was a ways to the bottom. Asher found that out quickly as the ground under his feet gave way. He realized with a jolt, he was too close to the edge and tumbled down the side of the crater.
He hit the bottom with a bone-crunching smack, for his credit he didn't cry out. Above him, his name was being called.
"Asher! Ash-answer me damnit!"
Asher coughed, his ribs tinging in pain. "I'm okay!"
"You won't be for long!" Spaulding called down to him. "It's mating season for the monolors...and they get quite territorial."
Asher sat frozen for a moment absorbing the information Spaulding was giving. "Oh shit-" he turned to observe the animals who had noticed him. A big butch male stomped forward, snorting and growling.
"You're gonna get him killed you f***ing idiot!" Fledge was yelling. "Ash, hold on!"
Above him, it sounded like there was a scuffle.
"Let go of me," Fledge snarled.
"Hey!" A new voice interrupted the arguing.
Asher glanced skyward as he recognized Regla's voice.
"What are you doing?" the duck demanded.
"Nuthin," Spaulding muttered.
"Get going, all of you, it's not safe here."
At that precise moment, the male monolor silently challenging Asher let out a ear-piercing trumpet.
Asher thought he could die as he stared into the animal's red milky membrane eyes.
"Asher's down there!" Fledge rushed.
"Asher's what?" Regla's tone switched from commanding to concerned. There was a moment of silence and then Asher found himself staring at Regla. "F***. Hold on Asher!"
The monolor trumpeted again and launched itself into a run with its long curved horns aimed for Asher's chest.
Asher stumbled back and hit the wall of the crater, trapped.
BANG.
He gave a surprised yell as the monolor sank down and pitched forward on top of him.
…...
Regla had been on the last hour of his twenty-three hour shift when he saw a group of kids near the edge of Twin Heights. Turning around, he headed towards them. Getting out, he recognized the kid Duke had taken in for a while, Fledge, who was being held by two kids bigger than him.
"Hey!"
The kids broke apart at his interruption.
"What are you doing?"
"Nuthin," a brown colored duck answered, his challenging gaze not meeting his sullen tone.
"Get going, all of you, it's not safe here."
Something trumpeted below them, bringing Regla's attention to the edge of the crater.
"Asher's down there!" Fledge turned to him, horrified.
"Asher's what?" He moved forward without thought and saw Asher was half standing with a male monolor getting ready to charge the kid, their eyes met. "F***. Hold on Asher!"
The monolor broke into a run at Asher, its horns down, after trumpeting again.
Out of 67 cops employed for Precinct 495, City of Ducaine, Regla ranked far higher than any of them at shooting. That's why he barely saw a bill for his recovery after being trapped in his burning car when it exploded 13 years ago. He was too valuable to lose. No hesitation, he took his gun out and aimed for the animal that was about to impale Asher on its horns. He squeezed the trigger, hitting the monolor dead center in the middle of its forehead. It pitched forward, slapping into Asher.
"Ash!"
No answer.
Fledge slid to a stop next to him. Regla caught him around the chest, "get back. I don't need to rescue two of you."
"But-"
"Go!" Regla shoved him back and went back to his car, pulling a cable out of the trunk. He hooked one end of it to a rig in the wall of the trunk and went back to the edge, taking a harness with him.
Once he strapped himself into the harness and hooked the harness to the cable he released a lever and carefully began to lower himself down the side. Once close enough to the ground, he released the brake and dropped to the ground.
The monolor was stiff in death, its legs out almost straight. Regla aimed his gun again, incase one shot hadn't been enough and slowly approached the animal. He lightly nudged it with his boot and when no response came, he let his guard down, his only mission to find Asher.
Not seeing the kid anywhere, Regla realized the monolor had fallen on top of him. "Shit."
He holstered his gun and tried to roll the animal, knowing it was a moot point. Monolors weighed close to 3 knoes (tons). There was no way Asher didn't escape an injury or even, Regla didn't want to say it, death.
"Come on kid, where are you?"
He spotted a flat boulder resting against the dead monolor's shoulder. Getting an idea, he gave it a kick, hoping it wouldn't shatter. It didn't, instead it loosened. He threw his weight into it, trying to push the monolor with it. Gradually the animal began to shift. Finally, the monolor flipped over, landing in a heap away from Asher who was unconscious.
Regla knelt next to him. "Ash?" He started checking for injuries. As he observed the kid, he happen to see the ground around Asher. The kid had fallen in a divvied part of the crater.
"You are your father's son," Regla murmured, stunned. Had Asher fallen on flat ground, the monolor would have most certainly killed him. But the divit saved him.
Asher coughed, his eyes opening, unfocused. "Where are am I?"
"Just relax."
Regla stood, carefully pulling Asher up with him. "Can you stand?" He let go of Asher, only to catch him as the kid sank to the ground. "Okay, hold on to me."
Weakly, Asher held on as Regla pressed a button on the cable, making it reel in, pulling them into the air.
…...
PSF: Divison 3899
Mallory had just locked the restricted cages for the military's artillery and sat down at her desk when Denisa sashayed up to her.
"You have a message."
Mallory glanced at her, waiting. When Denisa remained quiet, Mallory asked annoyed. "What is it?"
"Line 2." The blonde duck walked away.
Mallory hated having to deal with the new recruits who were snobs. The military wasn't about popularity and when the next manicure was, which a handful like Denisa spent their time at work competing for.
Mallory jerked the communicator off its receiver and attempted to not show her annoyance through the phone.
"Weapon's Specialist McMallard."
"Mal, it's Regla."
"Regla? What's wrong?"
…...
Downtown Hospital
Mallory didn't wait for the nurse to tell her where her son was. Ironically, it was the same nurse from the time Mallory came in here for Regla when he was barely alive from the exploding car. "Ma'am-"
Mallory took the list off the duck's desk, saw Asher's name immediately, as it was the only hyphenated name, registered as L'orange-McMallard and dropped the clipboard.
She found room 47 easily, Asher was asleep on the bed, his right arm in a cast. Regla was sitting next to him, his chin resting on his hands. At seeing her, he stood, guiding her into the hall, and shutting the door behind them.
"It's my fault, I shot the monolor when it was too close to him."
"Don't-" she waved a hand at him. "Thank you."
He nodded.
"Where's Fledge?" She asked suddenly.
"I told him to go get something to eat... he's-" Regla nodded to someone in the hall. She turned to see Fledge.
"I'm sorry," the kid hung away from them like he was expecting a beating.
"What happened?" she asked.
He told her.
…...
The Brotherhood of the Blade
Duke kicked the conference room door in where he knew Boron Flyght was. The members all glanced up and knew immediately Duke wasn't in the mood for games. Ches Longtale stood. "Duke-"
Duke didn't pay heed to his leader, instead he hauled Boron from his chair and slammed the duck back into the wall.
"Whoa, whoa, hey Duke...what's your prob-?"
"Shut your f***ing mouth," Duke snarled. "Your little punk wannabe just hit my nerves which is hard to do."
"Let go of me, you bastard," Boron shoved Duke off of him.
"Duke," Ches got between them, his hand out to Duke. "What's wrong?"
"Spaulding Flyght almost killed my son, the only reason that f***ing brat is still alive is because Asher is."
"Bull shit," Boron snapped.
Drebeer appeared on Duke's right, holding his brother back. His expression cold.
Duke shook him off.
"Where did this supposed close-call happen, huh?" Boron's eyes were still on Duke.
"Twin Heights."
"Then I'd imagine Fledger Patel was with him, since no non-member knows about Twin Heights. Unless-" Boron smiled, "you've brought him there in the past."
"This isn't about me. It's about what you're going to do with Spaulding. Asher held up his end of the deal, keeping the hell out of that little prick's way."
"Ches, you're not standing for this," Boron complained loudly.
Ches had remained frozen. At his name being called, he glanced at Boron.
"You f***ing traitor," Boron growled.
"You have five minutes to get Spaulding."
…...
Spaulding entered the room with a puffed-up attitude as always as the last member of the meeting Duke had interrupted left. Duke was reminded of just how much he couldn't stand the kid. He remained where he was, leaning against the table with his arms folded.
"Take a seat Spaulding," Ches motioned to a chair.
"He's standing," Boron snapped, his hand coming down on his son's shoulder in a vice grip.
"Fair enough," Ches murmured, his gaze swept to Spaulding. "I want you to explain what happened between you and Asher L'orange."
"Nothing. We were all at Twin Heights, looking at the monolors and he got too close. The edge gave out under him."
"Really." It wasn't a question. "The story I've heard is that you set the scene up for him to fall."
"No I didn't..." the duckling's eyebrows pinched together. "Who told you that? Fledger, he's a frickin liar."
"You don't need to know who. How close did you get to him?"
"Why would that even be relavant?" Boron interrupted.
"Answer the question Spaulding," Ches ignored Boron.
Spaulding shrugged. "I can't remember."
"Convenient," Drebeer scoffed under his breath.
"What if I told you that Hutch and Dasanni were scouting a possible heist at the Fleming Cathedral that was within eyesight of Twin Heights and they saw the whole thing?"
Duke paused, trying to decipher whether Ches was for real or not. Spaulding didn't know apparently either. Boron made a disbelieving squeak.
"Then I'd tell you, you know everything there is to know," Spaulding answered belligerently.
Ches didn't blink or even move.
Finally Spaulding broke. "Fine, maybe I did get a little close to him, but I didn't push him. He has about as much balance as my dead grandmother, which is none."
"Well, you're suspended," Ches responded.
"What!" Boron exploded. "Don't give me that...Hutch and Dasanni weren't there,were they?"
"It doesn't matter," Ches turned to pick up his coat. Boron rushed at him, Duke and Drebeer snapped to attention to aid their leader; only Ches did it himself in a second.
Turning, Ches grabbed Boron by the shoulder and propelled the duck's head into the wall. "Don't attempt a fight you cannot win. Spaulding is suspended from any of his classes here until further notice."
"That little brat isn't a member!" Boron ranted. "You can only suspend for attacking a member!"
"Then I guess that'll be punishment for messing with Fledger, who is a member of the Brotherhood." Ches let him go.
…...
Two Days later
Emilia elbowed Rosco who was fidgeting worse than a unskilled duck on ice. "Will you relax?"
"What if he's here?"
"Asher's uncle doesn't live here, why are you so afraid of him?"
"Because he's chicken," Lyghter snickered.
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
Emilia shoved Lyght off the porch in time for it to open. Asher caught the tail end of Lyght toppling off the porch, into a deep snowbank.
"Hi," Emilia greeted brightly.
"Hey."
She took in his arm in a cast. "Is it broken?"
He shook his head, "nah, just fractured."
"Emmy and Ashey sittin' on ice, K-I-S-S-I-N-G...First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes-" Lyght was pulling himself out of the snow, singing off-key.
"Shut up!" Emilia cried, she landed a snowball right into the center of his chest, knocking the wind out of him.
"Oof,"
Fledge appeared next to Asher, grinning at the sight of his friend doubled over. "You ought to know better than to tease her Lyght."
"Eh," was all Lyght managed.
Asher was watching Emilia amused, who was clearly embarrassed. She's cute when she's like this. "I can't let you in the house since my mom's not home...it's a rule."
"Then we'll sit out here," Emilia sat down, pulling a blanket out of her backpack.
"Carry that often?" Fledge sat next to her.
"Enough, at least I'm prepared."
He raised his eyebrows in agreement.
…...
Later
Mallory hated store shopping. Too many ducks with too much time on their hands, lounging around and moving at a snails pace through out the stores. She wanted nothing more than to blow through the store for what she needed and then to leave.
It was about the fifth time of evading the clogged aisle of canned foods, which was starting to annoy her because she needed that aisle, when she saw someone familiar to her. She followed the person to the end of the aisle, only to lose them in the crowd.
"Damn." Looking around she spied them near the meat counter.
She left her cart and tapped the person on the shoulder who spun around, startled. "Mom."
Ravyna glanced at her and then looked away quickly. "Mallory, I-I didn't expect to see you."
"That makes two of us, we have bad timing for grocery shopping."
Ravyna shifted her dark glasses uneasy, not responding to her daughter's joke. Mallory noticed something was wrong. "Mom?"
She frowned and moved in front of her mother, pulling her glasses from her face. An ugly bruise covered her cheek and the bottom half of her right eye.
"What happened?" Mallory demanded.
Ravyna snatched the glasses away from her, shoving them back on. "Nothing. I have to go-" She sniffed, obviously trying not to cry.
Mallory blocked her from leaving. "Mom, don't lie to me."
"Mallory, please...just leave me alone."
Mallory locked her hand around Ravyna's cart, holding it immobile. "I'm waiting."
"It was my fault," Ravyna muttered.
"What was?" It clicked. "He hit you?"
Ravyna swallowed, her silence enough of an answer for Mallory.
"How many times has he done this?"
"Only a few times, its nothing, really-"
"Yes, it is something. Let's go."
…...
Every little creak and bang from the wind made Ravyna jump. "I really shouldn't be here."
"You have your own mind, and you're in charge of what you do...not him," Mallory set a cup in front of her. "Drink."
Ravyna raised the cup to her beak with a shaky grip.
Watching her mother, Mallory felt a barely controlled rage aimed for her father. How dare he hit her. And Kolton! The playboy was as useless as Mallory previously thought. Wait until I get ahold of him.
"I'll set up the guest room for you."
"What?" Ravyna looked around at her. "I-I c-can't stay..."
"Yes, you can and you will. I want you here." Mallory came around the counter and hunched down to eye level. "I want you around Mom."
Ravyna felt her mind go blank for a second. "I want you around too," she whispered, her words getting lost by a wracked sob.
Mallory pulled her into a hug and held her while she cried.
…...
Drebeer gave an older female duck who was sleeping on the couch, a fleeting glance as he passed the living room.
"Whose the oldie?"
Mallory gave him a look, "she's not that old."
"-Wasn't my question."
"My mother Arren, you have a problem with that? Get your own home and then you can boss people around in it."
The black duck stared at her for a moment. "What's with the bruise on her face?"
"My dad is a heartless dick who likes to hit women apparently."
"Huh, I guess the rich life isn't all its cracked up to be. No wonder-" he trailed off, passing her to the coffee machine Tanya had replicated years ago.
"No wonder what?"
"No wonder you got out."
Mallory felt like strangling him even though she knew he was right. "Do you have a purpose here?"
"How many of these do you have?" Drebeer held up a Folger's and Caribou coffee bag. "You'd think after 13 years you'd run out by now."
"Tanya's resourceful, she plans ahead. We had literally hundreds of these crates, filled to the hilt."
He plugged the machine in and turned to face her. "Duke went off on Spaulding Flyght's old man."
"I told him to let it go."
Drebeer shrugged, "why would he? Ash is his son...he's going to go to great lengths to protect him."
"What did he do?"
Drebeer shrugged. "Shook him a bit, exchanged threats, the usual."
Mallory heard footsteps behind her, turning she saw Jenner. "Hi," he greeted softly.
"Hey. Is he here?" Mallory brought her conversation back on track.
"No."
"Mallory?" Ravyna entered the kitchen timidly, her eyes first on Jenner and then Drebeer.
Mallory opened her mouth to say something, only to be interrupted by a ringing. Ravyna pulled her communicator out.
Mallory watched her face slacken in horror. "Hello?" Ravyna answered fearfully.
Someone was yelling at the top of their lungs on the other end. One guess who that'd be. Ravyna slowly backed into the hall, listening wearily. She hung up. "I have to go."
"Don't."
"He's outside...I-" she trailed off.
"How did he even know you were here?" Drebeer demanded.
Mallory glanced at him, surprised. "How did he know?" she echoed.
"He just knows and I have to go," Ravyna gathered her coat and left.
"He's gonna kill her, you know that," Drebeer said after the front door shut.
Mallory didn't answer.