Later

Mallory felt the covers on her bed stir as she came to in a dark room. Opening her eyes, she saw a small dark shape carefully lay between her and Duke. Careful to not disturb Duke, she moved over to create room for Asher. Sleepily, she reached out and ran her fingers through his hair, feeling it stand up. He didn't even move to fix it like he usually did.

Mallory took a breath, this whole life for Asher was supposed to be smooth sailing. Mox was dead, he couldn't ruin Duke's life anymore, Asher had been rescued from Mox who had kidnapped him at a year old; it was supposed to be done, over. She only wanted Asher happy, but instead he was afraid of every corner and shadow. He was constantly jumping and he was becoming more and more distant by the day.

Mallory didn't know how she could help him. All those years on Earth before she fell in love, all those times, she had harped on Duke for being "untrustworthy" when she first met him during the enlisting of the resistance, what now? Her own father was the leader of the Brotherhood. She was as lost in the world as Asher was.

Asher stretched in his sleep, his fingers curling around her hand. She surveyed him in the dark and then shifted, putting an arm around her son and closing her eyes.

…...

Next Day

Ches didn't sleep, instead he went to the edge of the city where a natural spring had been deviated away from the city, running in a gush. Years of conditioning allowed him to almost ignore the frigid water as he washed himself in it.

Taking care, he dried and re-dried himself so his feathers didn't freeze before dressing in black. He tossed a few items into a sack and slung it over his shoulder.

…...

Mallory was first to get up, leaving Duke and Asher behind to continue sleeping. Coming down the stairs, she got a shock when she saw a silver haired duck standing in her lobby area, his back to her.

He half turned as she approached him. "I understand now why you have an intruder problem. This place has got to be the easiest house I've ever gotten into."

"Don't gloat Ches," she snapped, "it catches up with you."

He gave her a crooked smile. "You right I suppose."

She waited for an explanation of his appearance in her house, he didn't offer anything, instead he refocused on the photos Ravyna had been so interested.

"Someday, you will have to tell me about this Earth you lived on," he murmured, his eyes settling on a picture of Duke with Asher.

"Why." she stated it rather as a demand than a question.

His gaze landed on her again, "you are my daughter Mallory...I think its time I started acting like the father you've been missing."

She found she couldn't meet his stare. She turned away, towards the kitchen, knowing somehow he'd follow her.

"Do you want anything?" Internally, she cringed as her tone came off somewhat brusque.

"No thank you." He drifted into the kitchen, taking in every detail. "Is Duke still asleep?"

"Yeah," she was putting all of her concentration into opening a new coffee bag.

He picked the empty bag of caribou coffee out of the trash bin, reading it. "Strange lettering...was someone illiterate at the label station?"

She paused in her work, "what?" She surveyed him with the bag and despite herself, almost cracked up laughing. "No, where we landed on Earth, their language was similar to ours. But-" she made herself for a second forget the distance she had placed between them, "-some of our alphabet and their alphabet are different."

"I see..." He glanced down at the label. "A weird looking animal."

"It's like our Siidors...they call them deer, caribou, elk...you name it."

"Deer," he repeated. "Interesting."

"This is a caribou. I've never seen one personally," she returned to her coffee making.

"What did you do all that time away from Puckworld?"

Her sense that everyone was untrustworthy flared on her radar. She knew she shouldn't spout off to a stranger, even if that stranger was her biological dad. But never in her life had she ever been able to talk to a parent in the way Ches was giving her the opportunity. Ravyna had tried, however Pu'C always silenced the two of them with a glare.

"We were sucked into Earth's atmosphere because we were following the last Saurian Overlord out of Puckworld. Our original team captain, Canard, gave himself up for us as our-" she paused. "Let's sit down," she suggested.

…...

Duke slowly opened his eyes, seeing nothing. What the-? Then he realized the left side of his face was buried in his pillow. His right eye's appearance may have been fixed so he was no longer restricted to the eye patch he had had for so long, but he was still blind in that eye.

Shutting his eyes for a moment, he rolled over to see Asher passed out beside him with no Mallory. He reached out to run his hand through his son's hair, Asher barely stirred.

Slowly he slid his way out of bed.

…...

Ches listened in rapt interest as Mallory relayed her story of a far away place she called Earth, a place of two-legged non-beaked creatures. She also spoke of how she had been paid to play professional hockey, a game these strange creatures had too.

Being well known for being able to divide his attention, he continued listening to her as he also focused on the floor lightly creaking above him.

A few moments later, Duke appeared, attempting to smooth his hair down. The grey duck paused at seeing him sitting in the kitchen.

"Ches-"

"Duke," Ches returned.

Mallory played with her cup nervously.

More footsteps sounded on the stairs, Asher stumbled up behind Duke, half asleep. Until that moment, Ches had never seen his grandson before.

The child looked like Duke, but had his mother's eyes. His feathers set him instantly apart from any of them. Peach was predominately his color, yet large grey patches dotted his features.

"This is Asher," Mallory murmured, knowing there was no point to introducing her son as Ches would obviously know who he was. "Asher-" she paused, "this is your grandfather."

POV of Asher L'orange

The white haired duck was studying me differently then others who usually scrutinized me whenever my feather issue became apparent. I think it had more to do with the fact that mom had said, 'this is your grandfather.'

He was waiting for a reaction from me, some move that would show what I thought of the situation and truth be told, I had no idea what I thought. All this time I had thought Pu'C McMallard was my grandfather and come to find out this white-haired stranger with extremely blue eyes was my maternal grandfather. 'Which was it?' I wanted to ask, but I remained silent.

The duck rose from his chair and took a half step towards me, mom got up too, her eyes on me and him.

Dad lounged in the shadows near me, his eyes on me.

"Hello Asher."

"Hello," I said back softly. He was a lot calmer that was for sure than Pu'C. I was always counting the seconds to when Pu'C would have a heart attack. This duck was significantly quieter and serene.

I didn't know what to say, neither did apparently mom or the new duck. Dad broke the silence. "How long have you been here?"

"Since around three," the duck sat back down, his eyes returning to me. "Do you mind if I speak to Asher alone? It''ll only be for a moment."

"Sure," dad motioned for mom to follow him, she did so reluctantly.

I moved out of the way as the duck pulled the drawing door shut. He turned to face me, taking slow steps around me in a half circle.

"You must have questions."

I gave a shrug. "about what?"

"About me, your mother..." he paused, "-the Brotherhood."

"I'm not allowed to know about the Brotherhood."

His eyes twitched a little with no emotion on his face. "Do you know who I am?"

I was confused by his question. "My grandfather?"

He cracked a smile, "well, yes but no...that's not what I meant." He swept his loose hair back away from his face. "I'm the leader of the Brotherhood."

…...

Mallory waited impatiently, "what could he possibly have to say that can't be said in front of us?"

Duke was sitting in a chair, watching her, amused. "Asher is his grandson...cut him some slack kid."

"But-"

Duke stood up and pulled her towards him, forcing her still. "What do you think about marriage?"

She froze, her eyes on him. "What?"

He didn't repeat himself, instead he waited for her answer.

"You mean it?"

"Yeah," he brushed her hair back. "I mean it."

She let out a startled laugh, "I-yeah, yes..." she hugged him.

…...

Ches could tell he had Asher Junior's attention the moment he said he was the Brotherhood leader.

"You're the leader?"

Ches nodded, "its a part of you, running long and deep on both sides of your family. I have a lot of respect for your parents, keeping you as far as they have from its roots."

"Yeah, well-" Asher trailed off, "I don't know what I want."

"But you know what your parents want..." Ches responded. "And I brought up this discussion to say, I want what your mother wants and what she wants is for you to stay away from the Brotherhood."

"Wha-?"

"Listen to me," Ches's eyes flickered to the closed door, "the Brotherhood is unstable at this time...there are people who are plotting against me, your father and uncle. This is no time for you to be anywhere near that place."

"That's not fair-"

"Yes it is, I became a member when I was your age Asher. Thirteen years old and I was a Blade member, that was fifty-eight years ago. Your father was a Blade member at fifteen and Drebeer has been in it so long, I lost count of the years...my point is its our life, its all we know." He took a step forward. "But you, you've seen a different life, a life you need to pursue."

Asher tried to show he wasn't put-off by the idea. "Sure."

Ches was interrupted to something like a explosion rocking the front of the house. His immediate instincts were to protect his vulnerable grandson. He grabbed Asher just as the kitchen door exploded, the shock sending them both backwards.

Pain lanced Ches's head as he hit the counter, unable to gather his thoughts together right away, he knew he should check Asher for injuries but his brain wouldn't cooperate.

The boy sat up dazed, and turned over to look at him. "You're bleeding-"

Ches glanced down and saw some shrapnel that had embedded itself into his chest. He coughed, "I'm fine." He stood slowly, his eyes on the darken hallway. "Duke?"

No answer.

Ches listened for a response, a chill settling in. "Mallory."

Still no answer.

Ches gripped Asher's shoulder. "Stay right here, don't move." Carefully, he picked his way through the destroyed house. The room where he imagined Mallory and Duke had been was unrecognizable. Part of the ceiling had caved in, and the wall that bordered the staircase had fallen in, allowing Ches to be able see the stairs which were also destroyed.

Coughing from the dust and floating left over substance from the explosion, Ches looked wildly for some sign of Duke or Mallory. Fingers caught his eye under a large chunk from the ceiling. He went to it, trying to pull and push the slab off who ever was underneath it. Finally it budged and he was able to shove it off into the corner.

His daughter laid, seemingly lifeless, bleeding from multiple wounds. He knelt next to her, "Mallory?" He touched her face. She didn't respond.

Ches closed his eyes, taking her hand. Her hand jerked after a second, startling him. He opened his eyes to see her looking around disoriented, whimpering from the pain she had to be in.

"Shh, its okay..."

"Ah-her-"

"He's fine...just relax." Ches glanced around for some sign of Duke. His eyes finally adjusting to the gloom, he saw Duke was several feet away, also unmoving.

"C-all R-Regl-a."

Ches returned his attention to her, "who?"

She passed out, her hand going limp in his.

…...

Ches didn't know what to do with Asher as the child watched his parents being loaded into the Emergency trucks. He couldn't bring him to the Brotherhood and he couldn't take care of him. His answer came when two separate vehicles pulled up within the vicinity of the destroyed house.

Ducks he recognized from Mallory's pictures got out, their expressions frozen in shock as they caught the tail-end of Mallory's gurney being pushed into the truck.

Asher turned, expecting Ches to be behind him, as he had been seconds before. Ches watched with regret as Asher's face fell upon seeing Ches gone, though he was only feet away in the shadows of a large bush.

"Asher?" A blonde female was first to reach him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," the boy answered, his voice flat.

"Where's Fledge?"

"At a friend's house, Lyght, he's at Lyght's house."

A tan colored duck was staring at the leaving Emergency trucks, then he was staring at the house. "What happened?"

"The house exploded."

Ches took a step forward, listening. He's in shock...and I can't do a damn thing about it.

"Was there anyone else at the house?" the blonde asked.

Asher glanced behind him at where Ches had been seconds before.

The adults noticed, all of them following his gaze.

"Asher?" the female asked softly.

"No, there wasn't anyone else," Asher replied.

…...

Ducaine City Hospital

"They were lucky, both of them," the doctor was saying, though Asher barely registered any of it.

In piecing together what had happened, Duke attempted to shelter Mallory from the blast and for the most part, he succeeded. The impact sent him spinning across the room with minor injuries. Mallory would have been as lucky had the ceiling not collapsed on her.

Tanya took Asher downstairs to the cafe to make him eat. He picked at his food, not in the mood to eat.

"Asher you need to eat."

"I'm not hungry."

She sipped her drink, watching him. "There was someone else in the house, wasn't there?"

He glanced at her dully.

"Who was it?"

"My grandfather."

"The Brotherhood leader?"

Asher nodded.

"Where was he when we pulled up?"

Asher shrugged, "he left."

Tanya felt disbelieving annoyance at the adult who had left Asher when he needed someone most. Just wait until we get ahold of him.

…...

Ches pulled himself with some difficulty up onto the small fire escape outside Mallory's window. Using a tiny tool that looked like a scalpel, he pried the window open and let himself in. Mallory's eyes were closed, as he approached the bed she opened them, surveying him in confusion for a moment.

"How do you feel?" He whispered, sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Drugged," her speech was better, she cracked a smile before grimacing. "Are you okay?"

He nodded, "Asher's fine...no injuries though he's taking this hard."

She remained quiet.

"I found a piece of the explosive, its a bit hard to come by...I don't know that the Brotherhood is behind it."

"-w'at was it?" She asked thickly.

"CW5..."

Mallory felt her stomach flip. "C-W-5?"

Ches nodded again. "You recognize it."

She swallowed and closed her eyes. A click made her open her eyes to see Canard standing in the doorway, a gun pointed at Ches.

Her father made no move to get out of the way, up close she could see how tired he was. Instead he remained still, no expression as he watched Canard.

"Can-ard, no..." she said weakly.

He glanced at her.

"This is my father, don't-" her strength was waning. "-don't shoot him."

Canard advanced into the room, lowering the gun but not putting it away. "Asher said you were in the house..."

Ches lowered his gaze. "I was."

"-and you left him alone."

Mallory focused on Ches, waiting for an answer.

"I left him yes, but I wasn't much farther than where you are now from me. I didn't leave him."

"He didn't know that," Canard snapped.

"Now you understand why its wasn't me who raised Mallory," Ches snarled back.

"Both of you shut it," she said tiredly.

Ches listened, his hand coming to a rest on hers, timidly. After a moment she tightened her fingers around his.

Canard put his gun away, sinking into a chair by her side at the same moment Duke was wheeled into the room.

His left arm was in a sling. Mallory was drawn to that injury first because it wasn't the first time Duke had hurt that arm. He noticed.

"Apparently 13 years isn't enough to make an old injury stronger," he murmured.

Wing set the brakes of the wheelchair in between Canard and Mallory. Tanya appeared with Asher and Grin, followed by Nosedive.

"Are you feeling better?" Tanya asked, steering Asher in the direction of his mother.

Asher had frozen, his eyes on Ches sitting on Mallory's bed.

Mallory nodded slowly, regretting the head movement. "It's been a while since I've been crushed by something..."

"Well at least nothing permanent happened," Tanya let go of Asher.

"We need to figure out who did it," Duke shifted in the chair. "I wish they'd let me out of this."

"No," Canard said immediately. "You and Mal need to heal, she needs to heal... we need to figure out the house situation."

"The house," Mallory echoed suddenly, "what happened to it? Is it okay?"

"It's-" Wing shook his head, "there's no salvaging it Mal, I'm sorry."

Mallory watched him for a second. "Oh well, I was beginning to hate it anyway...thought about moving several times."

"You liked that house kid," Duke murmured.

He was right but she wasn't going to admit it. She felt a sense of loss. She didn't remember the damage and didn't know if she wanted to.

She brought her attention to Asher. "How are you holding up?" She reached out to him, he took her arm, careful to avoid the tubes protruding from her elbow, and sat close to her.

"I'm fine." He was ignoring Ches now, attempting to forget the duck was less than five feet away.

"Wing, will you take him?"

The white duck nodded. "Sure. We should get going anyway." At Asher's face, he added, "we'll be back tomorrow."

…...

Later

Wildwing paused as he went upstairs at survey Asher on the couch. The kid was fast asleep. Sighing, he went to his room and shut the door.

Asher opened his eyes as he heard Wing's door shut. He got up and padded down the hall to Nosedive's room, slipping inside.

…...

Nosedive woke up suddenly,unsure of what woke him. Turning over with a slight groan, he saw a small shape next to him. His eyes adjusting, he was able to make out Asher's features in the dark. Taking a breath, he let his hand come to a rest on the kid's head and then turned over again and went to sleep.