Colors expanded and contracted, blindingly bright and then dull with no synchronized order to it. He tried to move but the weightless suspension in midair kept himself getting anywhere. He tried to call out but it felt the air was sucked out of the voided abyss. Where was he? He tried to recall what led to his current predicament; after some hard thinking an elusive memory returned.

The aerowing was tipping violently as the large magnetic worm grabbed on to it, sinking deadly spines into the metal so the ducks had no hope of getting rid of it. Up ahead at the controls Tanya was saying something needed to be jettison from the plane in order for the worm to let go, otherwise the gateway would shut with them still in it. Something or someone needs to go… He turned to the side door and with surprisingly not much fear, hit the keypad. A blast of cold air swept into the plane as the door opened, nearly taking him out with the strong vortex.

"Canard! What are you doing?" Wildwing grabbed his shoulder.

"You heard Tanya, that thing needs to be shut down." He pulled the Drake Ducaine mask off and held it out to his best friend. "Take it Wildwing."

Wildwing shied back, shaking his head. A glowing tail swung around the side of the ship and grabbed onto the first thing it could reach. Canard hit the floor hard, his boots held together with a crushing grip; before he could be yanked out Wildwing grabbed his arm with Grin behind, holding the white mallard, ensuring two of them wouldn't wind up in Limbo. Canard felt his grip beginning to loosen from fatigue of fighting the worm's strength. He looked up at Wildwing, willingly letting go of the duck's hand. Now only the mask was between them. "You're team captain now." His fingers slipped and the frigid air rushed around him. He had enough time to feel satisfaction as the worm let go of the aerowing before it coiled itself around him and in a blinding flash, disappeared.

Canard shot upright, feeling like his lungs were constricted as he gasped for air. The dream, like all the others felt so real and also left a lagging nausea behind. It was a chore to get the twisted sheets off him and knowing from experience he wouldn't make it to the bathroom in time, he doubled over a bucket he had swiped from the construction supplies accumulated from the remodeling and renovation of the house. Of all the moments in time, now is not the time to be getting sick. He straightened shakily, looking at the time. 7:45dm. If he didn't make an appearance upstairs Nosedive would be sure to come in and it most likely wouldn't be a quiet wakeup call. Asher's 12th birthday had been graced with pots and a spoon. He glanced at his phone again. They could wait fifteen minutes.

It took Mallory a moment to register the long squeals whistling in her room were the screams of the high winds warned about on the news. It was 8:16 dm, a time where there was plenty of daylight and yet her room was shadowed as if it were night. The weather casters said it'd be bad, but it appeared they misjudged how bad. She slowly disentangled herself from Duke and stood, going to the window, shivering. Was the heat even on? There wasn't much she could see in the whiteout, but what she could make out her backyard was covered in snow. Makes Earth's snowstorms look like nothing. Small cracks spider-webbed up the glass windows from where the extreme cold compromised it; she just hoped they wouldn't shatter.

"Hate this time of year." Duke stretched and quickly retracted back under the blankets. Deciding against going downstairs to start breakfast, she went back to bed and moved in close to Duke, waiting for the numbing cold to leave her lower limbs. He jumped. "God, you're cold. Screw getting up, I'm not leaving this bed."

"Sorry." He grumbled a reply and was interrupted from saying more by a knock on the bedroom door.

"We got an issue." Drebeer disappeared from the door, not waiting for a reply.

"If I lose fingers-"

"You won't have to worry about losing fingers if we don't find that excess pipe. The guys in the basement will be first to go with the gas poisoning." Drebeer had climbed out a second story window to dig a path away from the door so when it was opened a heap of snow wouldn't fall into the kitchen. Over head the wind threw the snowdrifts around, pelting them with snow and ice; in response the ducks pulled their hoods down. Wearing many layers, it still felt like Nosedive was dressed for a California summer; he almost missed Anaheim.

"Well let's get digging, shall we?"

Inside Mallory felt she was being useless in not helping locate the excess pipe but Duke forced her back into the house and told her to keep Ches inside as well. The older duck only shot him a look from his seat at the table. Close to nine dm the pipe was dug out enough she could safely turn on the stove and start making food when she realized Canard was missing. She hoped he hadn't froze, Wildwing and Nosedive emerged from the basement shaking. "I'll be back." She headed for the basement door. "Canard?" She waited with no answer before starting her slow descent and knocking on his door. "Canard?" She didn't hear anything at first but then there was a slight shuffle.

"Door's open."

Quietly, she pushed the door open, the room as cold as the rest of the house. "Are you okay?" He didn't move from the bed.

"Yeah."

She didn't leave, instead drifted into the room. The tan duck was acting odd, he was always stoic when it came to being under the weather, very rarely showing any sign of weakness as she remembered him calling it once. "What's wrong?" She paused when an odd smell hit her in a cloud, she looked down. Vomit. "Are you sick?"

"I got dizzy." He muttered.

"Come on, you need to get up." She lightly tapped a lump she assumed was his leg. "Canard."

With a groan laced in annoyance, he slowly sat up his feather immediately puffing up from the frigid temperature. "Did the power go out?"

"No." She picked up a hoodie, tossing it at him. "It's just thirty-nine below out, last I checked. The house can't keep up with my glass windows cracking."

He pulled his sweatshirt over his head. "You need to get thicker glass."

"When I win the lottery." She started for the door and turned, waiting for him to follow.

He didn't move. "I've been puking a lot and… and dreaming."

"About what?" A sudden pang of unease flooded in her stomach when he didn't answer right away and she switched the light on. The brightness blinded him and she waited for him to take his hand away from his eyes. "When was the last time you actually slept?"

"Lost count." He leaned in on his knees, running his hand through his hair. "Been dreaming about-Limbo."

She sat on the bed next to him. "You know you're here though with us?"

"Yeah, I know." His reply was soft.

"Come on, come eat." She reached out, laying her hand on his back and was surprised to feel his backbone easily through his clothes. Had they been too wrapped up in all the bullshit to see he was suffering? She tried to think back to any signs he may have showed in the past that something wasn't right, but she couldn't think of any. Canard was as involved as the rest of them, even going and doing a stake-out with Grin and Arren on the outskirts of Mordri in subzero temperatures. A long ago memory surfaced.

Outskirts of Ducaine City

Puckworld Resistance

23 years prior

"If you think you're gonna get the courtesy of a sick day, you're delusional. If you think period cramps are going to get you sympathy and a sick day, you're also delusional-"

Around Mallory, she felt the vibes of insult spread across a few women. "Singling us out?" One hissed. "The raw nerve. They either want us here or they don't. Look at them, still taking advantage of the gender roles, bastards."

Mallory rolled her eyes. The commander had a point, there were a few women in the Special Forces, before the invasion, who used their time of the month as an excuse to get out of working. Not being one of them, Mallory quickly stood out and became a favorite among the brass, much to the chagrin of the others.

"Think you can handle it?" A new voice whispered in her ear. The unexpectedness startled her and she jerked away. A tall tan feathered male stood next to her; she recognized him only because he had been around the commanders. Canard Thunderbeak.

"Yeah…" She was confused as to why he was even conversing with her. Shouldn't you be up there with the other officers? "Can I help you with something?" She was intensely aware of the other recruits, particularly the females, staring at her. His personality along with his good looks hadn't gone unnoticed by her fellow female comrades; but it didn't faze her.

A smirk crossed his face. "No. Just asking a question."

"Alright then." She turned back to the commanders still speaking on stage. Her hope of him leaving was dashed as he stayed by her shoulder. Just go away you frigg'n creep.

"We are dividing you into two groups. This side of the room-" The commander gestured to her area. "Follow Canard Thunderbeak."

Mallory realized in an instant his motive. She turned to him but he had vanished to the far side of the room. Son of a bitch… he purposely stood here so the Commander would choose this side, ME, to go with him. What an manipulative asshole. Trying to keep her emotions in check she did as she was asked and followed the crowd with Thunderbeak and two other officers in front.

Sparring came first and there were quite a few wimps who went down easily after brutal punches from the officers; Canard stood back observing. For the first time since she showed up for the resistance she felt some unease. The officers meant what they said about gender not mattering. Males and females alike got the same punishing beat downs. She just hoped she wouldn't follow the rest of them. She did have hand to hand combat fighting experience from the Special Forces, maybe that would enough.

"McMallard!" Shit.

She took a breath and made her way to the mat, the crowd parting wide as she walked. There were a few snicks she knew were directed at her size, so small and petite. The officer outmatched her in weight 3x at least. "Ain't goin' easy on you, just like the rest of them." The duck warned.

"I don't expect it any other way." Her response sparked a moment of surprise before his facial features went blank. The first punch almost connected with her face but she jerked out of the way and moved; he was fast in redirecting and the strong kick came next. She wasn't expecting such a quick rebound. His boot sunk into her stomach and threw her back, slamming her into the ground; she laid there for half a second gagging for air before forcing herself to sit up and stand. The officer's eyes narrowed.

"You sure you don't want to sit out bitch?"

"You know what, fuck you." She ran at him and slid between his legs, catching him off guard, she came to a skidding stop behind him and kicked out at the middle of his back. She thought she heard something crunch as he fell forward onto his knees. "How's that, bitch?" She stood, waiting for him to stand. "Sure you don't want to sit out?" She heard him mutter some curse word involving her before he spun around almost round-kicked her in the face. She dodged and put a solid punch into his pectoral muscles and added a second to the side of his head. He managed to throw another hit at her, slapping her in the face, throwing stars around her vision but she refused to go out like the others. She ran her fingers along her tongue and saw red stain her fingers. By now she had the crowd's attention. He came at her again, kicking out. She spun and grabbed his leg, bringing her elbow down on his knee; he grunted and then let out a surprised squeak as she twisted his leg hard to the left and he lost his balance. She didn't give him time to recover as she wrapped her legs around his chest and then leaned her forearm down with all her weight on his neck. He tried to pry her off him but he couldn't move his limbs from her deceiving vice grip. She purposely cut off enough of his air supply he struggled to breathe. Just as his eyes began to roll back into his head she let go, standing. The murmuring of the crowd ceased as Canard came forward, his eyes on his down comrade.

"Get up Gene." The duck slowly sat up, annoyance clearly on his face but the beating he got from her interrupted the emotion as he tried to recover. Canard turned his attention to her. "That is the kind of disposition we need in the Resistance. If you cave within the first few minutes of fighting these mangy lizards, you're not only going to kill yourself, you're gonna kill your comrades too." He looked at her and without words, jerked his head, silently telling her to get off the mat. She did so and was handed water by some unknown face. She still was reeling at the outcome of her turn on the mat. She actually kicked the shit out of a senior officer and was still standing. "You don't show weakness no matter the situation….."

Present

"You okay?"

She blinked, having not realized zoning out. "Yeah." She stood. "Come on." She took his arm, pulling him to the doorway. He hesitated at first but then followed her. About the time she reentered the kitchen, Drebeer, Duke and Nosedive came in, shaking and covered in snow. Wildwing leaned out of the way of his brother slapping the snow off his arms, the white mallard having started food on the stove.

"I can't feel my fingers."

"Oh quit whining." Drebeer moved by. "I can't feel my god damn chest."

Nosedive paused, his eyes travelling to the black duck's chest, namely the area where his sternum had been replaced with stehl after the axe attack. "Oh-"

Canard took a seat by Ches, quickly rearranging his face to appear fine. Mallory took the opportunity of the guys taking their winter gear off, and grabbed some anti-nausea meds putting it in front of Canard. Ches watched her but didn't say anything, catching her eye; she shook her head once. The unexpected arrival of Regla at that exact moment brought heat to her face and she quickly turned away, she grabbed a stack of plates for busy work and saw the cop's attention on the medicine and then the back of Canard's head before seemingly ignoring the scene.

"Bathroom." She answered Nosedive's unasked question as he finally shed all his winter clothes. "Where's Tanya upstairs?"

"Think so."

She left the kitchen, intent on getting Asher and Fledge up too but came upon Grin first who for once did not look as calm as he usually was. "Hey-what's wrong?" Any time Grin looked rattled was bad.

"Is the snow as bad as it looks, I can't see out the window too well."

"The storm? Yeah, Arren just dug about five feet away from the kitchen door, why?" He didn't move for a moment, his unresponsiveness unnerving her. "Why Grin?" He gestured for her to follow him and led her to the room he shared with the tech genius.

"Because she went into labor this morning and she thinks the baby is stuck."

His words sounded like a foreign language to her. She had known the baby was coming soon and even dragged some of Asher's old baby things out of the attic but now, during a ridiculously stormy morning, now? Is this what the Twilight Zone feels like? She felt like somewhere along the way she had missed some crucial piece of the current events. First Canard, now Tanya. She pushed the door open to see her friend sitting on a bed of towels. "When did this start?"

Tanya wilted. "Around 4 dm."

"4 dm?!" Mallory echoed louder than she meant to. "Tanya, why didn't you come get me?"

"I don't know." The blonde female said miserably. "I thought….I read- I don't know. I'm not ready for this."

"Well, you're gonna have to be." Mallory rounded the bed. "The baby is stuck?"

Tanya shrugged. "I don't know… nothing's happened now for almost thirty minutes…. I was hoping it would fix itself somehow."

Mallory felt at a loss. "I had a c-section."

"I remember." Tanya shook with labor pains.

"I'll be right back." She left the room in time to run almost into her son and Fledger.

"Hey mom."

"Hi." She greeted distracted. "Go downstairs, both of you."

The two kids looked at each other and then back at her. "Okay." Fledge said uncertain. She followed them in a fog, unsure of what to do. The last thing Tanya needed was the house in an uproar, her answer came in the form of an older white haired duck heading to his room.

"Ches."

"You've never dealt with this?" Even to her, her question sounded stupid.

"I led the Brotherhood of the Blade, not a maternity ward. She needs the hospital." Ches glanced at Mallory.

"And how the hell do you suppose we get her there, in that, mind you?" She gestured to the blowing snow. He didn't have an answer for her, not a good one.

"How did you have Asher?"

"Jacked up on the best drugs a hospital can give you when you're pushing a kid out your vagina and when that didn't work, a c-section."

"The only one even remotely skilled in cutting up things is Arren-"

"No." Tanya interjected, sitting up straighter; Grin laid a hand on her shoulder keeping her from moving much more.

"You may not have a choice." Mallory hated sounding so callous, but sometimes Tanya understood callous over sweet-talking; now seemed to be one of those instances as the female duck sunk down again.

"I'll go get him." Ches left the room. It seemed no sooner had he left, he reappeared with the black duck.

"You're kidding me-you volunteered me for this?" Mallory heard him hiss on the last stair.

"You gave Sera Floq a c-section."

Drebeer scoffed. "And it was a god damn miracle she even pulled through…. I didn't know what the fuck I was doing. I only stepped in because Marshall passed out from all the blood."

"So do it again." Ches growled in his face. As the two stared at each other she became aware of how quiet it was downstairs.

"Do they know?"

"They do now." Drebeer stepped around his leader, addressing him again. "What about you? You've dealt with difficult births."

"In a monolor, about thirty years ago." Ches snapped. "Last I knew, they were a little different in anatomy."

Drebeer grumbled curses under his breath. "How long's it been since your last push?" He felt her stomach.

"Thirty minutes… maybe- I don't know." Tanya quailed. The black duck rolled his eyes.

"I don't expect a straight answer, you're entitled at this moment to not know which way is up or down." He glanced down at what he was doing. "You're going to be fine." He looked up at Mallory. "Get the tub running, warm water not hot."

She left quickly, going to her bathroom and running the bath, all the while kicking herself. Why hadn't she thought of that? A guy thought to do that over her, a female. Idiot. It took some coaxing to get Tanya to stand and walk down the hallway to the bathroom. Helping her sit in the tub Mallory noticed Grin just outside the doorway. "I know." He murmured and sat in a chair by the door. The room was small enough without him being in there too. Next to her Drebeer clicked a heavy-duty lighter to life, running the flame along a wicked looking knife until the blade began to glow red.

"You've never done this before?"

He didn't even look up from his work as Ches handed him some stitching material from the downstairs bathroom drawer. So many people in this house have sported wounds serious enough for sutures, it's amazing I don't have more of it laying around.

"I've stitched up a million different types of injuries." He answered absently. He looked at her. "Never a c-section injury." He took her arm and pulled her around to the other side of him and handed her a cloth. "You're gonna need to bite down on that."

Mallory cursed the shit weather. Why did this need to happen on this day, of all days…. Of all storms. Wordlessly she worked the wash rag into her friend's mouth and took her hand with her free one. "You'll know when to stop, right?" She wished her words didn't shake.

He glanced at her, hitting her again with the recognition of how much he looked like his younger brother. "I'm not looking to kill her." He paused. "Tanya-if this goes south…my only priority is going to be saving you, you understand that?"

Tanya stared at him for a moment, unmoving, before finally slowly nodding her head. Drebeer took a breath.

She entered the kitchen after what seemed like forever. "What time is it?"

"2 nm." Nosedive answered almost immediately like he was ready with a response the moment she asked the question. She only nodded and went to the kitchen closet and dug for the bottle of Metax she knew Drebeer hid in the way back of the first shelf.

"Late enough." She sat down and unscrewed it. Silence.

"Well…?" Nosedive finally prompted her. "You aren't bawling your eyes out, so she's doing okay?"

Words were hard to form so she nodded, swallowing her second swig of the burning liquid. "The baby was feet first with the umbilical cord almost around his neck-"

"His?" Nosedive interrupted her, a slight smile spread across his face. "Is she naming him after me?"

"You really want competition?" Canard seemed to have recovered from his earlier rough start to the day.

Nosedive paused. "You're absolutely right. There can be no other Nosedives. I'm it." Amusement flickered around the room.

"So Arren can be called upon as a midwife now." Regla smirked, hearing the duck's footsteps coming closer and closer. "Look at that, a new career when he gets tired of his current profession."

"First of all, fuck you." Drebeer entered the kitchen, swiping his liquor bottle back from Mallory. "And second of all, I could never get tired of my current profession."

"True… A conflict of interest. Killing people and bringing people into this caf world."

Drebeer paused. "Caf?"

"Cold as fuck." Regla grinned, earning an eye roll from Drebeer and a victory high-five from Duke.

"Nicely done."

"Thank you." Regla sobered. "Lex's father-in-law is a doctor, has some armored, all weather vehicle. I could give him a call since no matter how good you are, there's still risk of infection."

"Later." Drebeer was surprisingly attentive to the situation. "Not right now, she's out of it."

Duke ran his fingers through his hair. "I thought she was due in like a month or something. Am I the only one who feels like this was a sudden thing?"

"No." Wildwing answered. "She's so self-reliant, sometimes I forget she still needs help like any other person."

"She was early." Mallory answered. "By almost a month. Stress can make you go into labor early."

"That's an easy solution, she's off of the planning board for Mox." Canard stated. "Don't mention jack shit in front of her."

"That's only going to fuel anxiety Can." Mallory stood to get a glass of water, hoping to wash down the after taste of the alcohol. "Make her worry."

"Too bad we're all here…." Canard paused. "We could move her, her and Grin."

"To where? We don't know what Mox is watching or not watching." Drebeer leaned against the far wall, his arms crossed.

Regla looked up. "I know where."

Upper East Side Ducaine City

"Why am I being moved out? I thought the idea was we were to stick together." Tanya didn't put up much of a fight when Mallory made her sit on the couch.

"The house is crowded. And you need a calm environment, you and Finn." Tanya glanced down at her baby, cooing in the thick blanket to beat the frigid cold outside, silent. "It isn't to get rid of you, I promise."

"The Precinct got paranoid after the car bomb." Regla reappeared from a side hallway. "So they spent a ridiculous amount of money turning this place into a dual safe house. It's not registered either as an address so literally this apartment doesn't exist." He hit a button on a wall console and in response, heavy duty shutters slid down, blocking the windows.

"So I'm being locked in here." It wasn't a question.

"I'll be with you." Grin murmured.

"Tanya, you just had a baby early and a c-section to boot. Remember mine? I could barely move." Mallory sat next to her friend. "I'm going to stay for a few days and then I'll have to return to the house. You both need a place to decompress and focus on yourselves and him, not the Melvin Mox situation."

Regla laid an electronic radio-like device. "This is a panic button, patches right into the precinct and every patrolling car." He glanced at Grin. "Not that I think you'll need it. He's not as focused on the two of you."

At the kitchen counter, Asher and Fledge sat quietly, Mallory looked over at them. "And they're going to stay. They've already promised to not be in the way."

"They're never in the way." Tanya took a breath. "Thank you."

Regla gave a slight smile and drifted towards the door. "You need to stay in contact with us, or at least me. I don't care what time it is or how many times you've contacted me." Mallory nodded, following him to the door.

"Thank you for this."

"Sure." His eyes flickered over her head. "Don't open this door to anyone unless you're sure of who they are or if I contact you, telling you one of us is coming."

"Okay."

He took her arm. "That includes Duke." She felt her stomach flip. Was he that worried about them being away from the house, that he'd tell her not to trust her own mate if he contacted her? "I know it sounds strange, but I mean it Mal. Mox has allied himself with maverick Blade members who have a mess of abilities like hacking."

She blinked. "Alright."

"I'll come over tomorrow morning." He rose his voice so Tanya and Grin heard him, before opening the front door and leaving.

"Bye." Mallory whispered, wishing he heard her but the door had already shut.

Regla returned to the house as Duke shoveled the high snow off the porch before the weight began damaging it. "Maybe this snow storm buried him and he died, that'd be the best case scenario."

Duke snorted, straightening from his lean on his shovel. "If the collapse of a concrete high rise didn't kill him, this storm unfortunately isn't going to kill him either.

"True." Regla climbed the porch stairs. "Wishful thinking."

"They doing okay?"

"Yeah. I told her what you wanted me to. She was a little put off by it."

Duke nodded. "I knew coming from you though, she'd listen." He pushed the shovel, scraping the last bit of snow off the stairs. "Thanks for letting them stay there."

Regla nodded. "Sure." He smiled. "Cold?"

"No." The grey duck said indignant.

The cop made a face. "Well, I am. And I cannot in good conscience leave you out here."

Duke rolled his eyes. "Fine." He laid the shovel against the exterior wall. "Get going."