An Author's Note: So, here we are.

The David Trilogy, minus one David.

Probably the biggest change thus far, aside from Eva. David will not be finding the box, since Wildwing already has, and it's currently being poked and prodded upon. Therefore, the entire trilogy is gutted.

But there is still a lot of world leaders right there waiting to be infested…

But before we get to all of that…

Chapter 12

Deep inside her mind Mallory seethed. It was bad enough that the Yeerk had control of her, and despite her constantly fighting back she couldn't seem to shake the monster, but now the annoying slug was rudely ruffling through her memories. Specifically, her memories of Tanya, attempting to find a weakness. Even if Visser Three wasn't truly taking the free duck seriously, with the news coming from Leera the duck Controllers knew that the last one must be helping the Andalites. Earth animals had been spotted on Leera, and they had lost the planet soon afterwards. It could only be the bandits, perhaps taking a ship to briefly take care of Leera before going back to Earth. And the ducks had no doubt now that their missing member had helped, and their Yeerks believed them.

Nosedive's Yeerk was especially insistent that the others of their kind were not taking the ducks, specifically Tanya seriously enough. The others were coming around to his point of view. After all, if the hyena morph was hers, she had managed to destroy Visser One's host body, a feat that had made Mallory's Yeerk nervous. And that nervousness had driven the slug to rummage through Mallory's brain for something, anything, that might give it an advantage.

So, for the moment, Mallory was being forced to relive the events from the past year as the Yeerk inside Mallory's brain probed for weaknesses…

After a nice refreshing trip to the mall in the immediate aftermath of a certain traitor's attack, Mallory was feeling much better about things. She couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed in Nosedive and Duke at the moment, Duke in particular. Nosedive was still a kid with raging hormones, and Decoy was enough of a bombshell to turn most male's heads. Except Wildwing's and Grin's, thank goodness, but the other two males had spent the entire time making complete fools of themselves. She was particularly disappointed in Duke. Again, Nosedive was still a teen, but Duke was the oldest of them. And you would think a former thief would be able to detect a con a mile away. Mallory had been able to detect the con well enough. But no, apparently a pretty face and the mildest of flirts was enough to make Duke act like a dingbat.

However, shopping had managed to soothe her annoyance in the other two somewhat. For all the confusing and sometimes terrifying things on Earth, it had its perks. The mall was nice and even though she drew way too much attention than she wanted Mallory still had a good time.

Reentering the duck's base through the elevator, Mallory blinked to see Tanya typing furiously at Drake One, Wildwing and the others sort of hovering around her.

"Hey, what's up? Is it the Saurians again?" Mallory asked.

"No, just checking up on something." Tanya said. "…-she- wasn't with the Saurians when we got to, ah, to the warehouse. Don't like it. She might cause trouble down the line if she's still with them."

Mallory nodded. "She did claim computers were her specialty, think she'll try and hack Drake One?"

"Yep." Tanya said, her tone slightly curter than Mallory had expected. It was odd. Initially when she had come to rescue them Tanya had seemed normal. Business as usual. But right after the crises was over, she seemed a bit…off. Mallory couldn't exactly place the reason for the slight mood shift. "Probably teleported to the Raptor before we go there." Tanya looked over her shoulder at Mallory. "You did notice her scent didn't lead away, right? She had to have teleported somewhere, don't you think?"

Mallory nodded.

((Hmmm, interesting.)) The Yeerk said. ((So that's what that smell was…all of these Scaleborn have an odor that human's can't detect, but ducks can…your memory of that odor doesn't indicate is a nasty smell, but it is noticeable. It's how you tell what they are no matter how much they might struggle to look like ducks. They might cover up scales and fangs, but they can't cover the scent…you knew from the moment she stepped off that elevator that this Decoy was a half breed like your friend. How fascinating.)) Mallory struggled with the monster in her head, but it refused to let her go. The memory played no matter how Mallory fought.

She didn't want it to see this.

Mallory watched as Tanya pulled up some security camera footage. "Don't tell Klegghorn I've been spying on the city's security cameras, pretty sure that's, ummmm, some sort of police code violation…here we are." Tanya leaned back and watched the security footage played. Mallory scowled at the sight of Decoy as she sauntered over to Dragaunus, gloating over how she had trapped the team. Mallory saw how Tanya's hands clenched around her folded arms and her eyes narrowed angrily.

Mallory couldn't help but grin in victory as she witnessed the sweet karma coming for Lucretia Decoy. Of course, the moment he thought she might have stabbed him in the back Dragaunus would stab her. Not that she didn't understand the lizard's reasoning. If Decoy was willing to betray her own people, she would have been willing to betray the Saurians as well.

Mallory nodded, satisfied, as Decoy was sent away, but she couldn't help but catch Tanya's sharp intake of breath and small shudder.

The others didn't seem to notice Tanya's reaction. "Ha!" Nosedive laughed "Cool, we won't have to worry about her anymore!" He dusted his hands off. "Flushed her down the dimensional toilet where she belongs!"

Mallory noticed that Tanya shuddered again, and this time she wasn't the only one that noticed. Duke shot their tech a small frown, and it was clear to Mallory he had also picked up the sudden drop in Tanya's mood.

"Suppose you're right, little brother." Wildwing sighed. "It's a shame. We could have used another member on the team…but I guess she made her choice a long time ago."

Tanya suddenly stood up. "Yeah, s-she did." She shut off the camera feed with a decisive click. "I'm just…going to the lab for…yeah, recalibrating the Migrator's steering chips…yeah, that's…yeah." She marched towards the door, her entire stance tense as she strode off.

"…hey, is she okay?" Nosedive asked, suddenly quiet.

"Hmmm…I wonder how she knew." Duke said, rubbing the underside of his beak.

"Knew what?" Nosedive asked.

"Well, I didn't join the Resistance until a few months before the team was assembled. Yeah, I used my skills to free prisoners and steal food to give back to the people, but I wasn't officially in the Resistance. I didn't have the opportunity to get to know everyone in the Resistance, so that's why I never saw Decoy before…I'm just wondering why Tanya's the only one of us who knew who she was."

"We were in the camps." Wildwing said thoughtfully.

"…I worked with the Underground as a liaison between them and the Resistance." Grin said.

"Ya mean the guys who'd transport prisoners from the camps to safe houses?" Nosedive asked. "I remember that. They'd always go for people who were on the verge of death, trying to protect the weakest of us. Me and Wing turned them down three times because there was always someone who needed their help more."

Grin nodded. "My contact was actually another Scaleborn. Fellow named Fang. Bit of an odd one, but he had a good, pure heart."

"Whoa, whoa, you knew Fang too?" Duke blinked at Grin, who nodded. "Hah, so that's what happened to that little creep! He used to bother the Brotherhood all the time, trying to get us in trouble with the cops! Glad to know he focused some of that energy on helping people."

"Most of the Underground were Scaleborn." Grin admitted. "They wanted to help, but they did not trust…" Grin looked at Mallory. "They did not trust your father, Mallory."

Mallory tensed up. "Why would they not trust my father, he led the Resistance!"

"Perhaps because so many in the Resistance could no longer tell the difference between Scaleborn and Saurians." Grin said thoughtfully. "But I never encountered the traitor among the Scaleborn of the Underground."

"I was with the Resistance from the start, but I never encountered Tanya or Decoy once." Mallory pondered. "I only started working with Tanya a few months before the team…kinda like how they only brought you in a few months before, Duke." Mallory thought aloud. "It was a bit…strange." She admitted. "My father and Canard introduced us and she was so weird around my dad…kept calling him by his first name and never looked him in the eye. He doesn't usually let civilians be that informal with him. And after each mission Canard had to do together she'd run off as soon as we got back to base. We didn't get along at first but after a while during those missions she was just fine, but she never stuck around afterwards. It was weird."

"Huh…that…is weird." Duke said. "Canard had us run a few missions with her as well. I think he was making sure each of us could work with the other. Heck, there was one when it was just me, her and Grin here, and she never ran off after we got back to base. Not like the way you describe I mean." Duke sighed. "She had more people walking away from her more than she walked away from other people.

"…we all heard Decoy's story back in the camps." Wildwing said. "She would transmit the Resistance's activities to the Saurians. Almost took them down, but she was apparently discovered by…" Wildwing's eye's widened. "By one of her own. I didn't realize that meant she was Scaleborn and Tanya…"

"Well, I guess there you go." Nosedive shrugged. "If Tanya and Decoy were the only two Scaleborn in the Resistance then maybe they just…hung around each other instead of with the other ducks. When Decoy betrayed the Resistance maybe Tanya found out and turned her in rather than betray us like she did."

"Yeah, if that's the case I doubt it made her popular." Duke said.

"It probably doesn't matter anyway." Wildwing said. "Decoy's not getting out of Limbo, and Tanya is one of us." He gave each of them a firm look. "Tanya's not responsible for what the other Scaleborn do or don't do and as long as I'm leader we aren't going to treat her any differently than any other duck."

"To be fair, when have any of us done that?" Nosedive asked with a small chuckle.

"I know, I know, but she's clearly upset. If we are right this might have drudged up some bad memories for her. I just want everyone on the same page." Wildwing's tone was clear. As far as he was concerned the matter was settled…

((But the matter wasn't settled, was it Mallory?))

((Stop it you creep, I don't want you to see this!))

((To bad…))

That night Mallory couldn't sleep. Even though she had deserved it, Decoy's last scream as she sucked into Limbo was haunting. It bothered Mallory that the traitor had shared the same fate as their first leader. It didn't seem right, somehow. She wondered if Dragaunus would try the same thing on the rest of her team. If he could trap all of them in Limbo, like he trapped Canard and Decoy, then how would they be able to save their friends? Not even Tanya had been able to figure out the portal technology, and without access to the Raptor who knew if she could.

Darn it, she needed a midnight snack.

The kitchen wasn't far from her room, in a central hallway on the way to the main room with Drake One. Their rooms ran along the hallway, each easily accessible to the other in case they needed to find each other in the middle of the night. To Mallory's surprise the light was already on, and she crept cautiously towards the door. Perhaps it was a bit of extra nerves after the day they all had, but Mallory didn't really need another shock in the middle of the night.

But knowing her luck it was probably just Nosedive with the same idea she had.

She quickly stepped through, causing the door to whoosh open. She smiled. It wasn't Nosedive after all, thank goodness. She didn't really have the energy for him right now. It was just Tanya, but to Mallory's surprise her friend suddenly whirled around from where she had been standing, a sandwich in hand, so that her back was facing Mallory. Mallory was almost hurt. The discussion before had reminded her of how Tanya had acted around her back home, but before it hadn't bothered her. Now that she was starting to see Tanya as more of a friend than just an ally, this weird behavior was getting under her feathers.

"…hey, ummm…you okay?" Mallory asked. She noticed that for whatever reason Tanya wasn't wearing her glasses. Odd, didn't she need them to see?

"Yeah, just…couldn't sleep." Tanya replied, still stubbornly not looking at Mallory.

"I understand, it's been a rough day…you need to talk to about it?" Mallory asked. Maybe she could find out what was upsetting her friend so much?

"No, not really, I'll just…ya know, I don't want to bother you, I…" Tanya sort of turned her body to the side, still facing Mallory and almost side shuffling towards the door. Mallory felt her temper flare and strode towards the other duck.

"Alright, what's going on? Come on, you can tell me!"

"I really can't, I-"

"At the very least look at me!" Mallory grabbed Tanya's shoulder and spun her around, determined to get her friend to look at her. The moment Mallory met Tanya's gaze she gasped and let go of her friend's shoulder.

It wasn't just that they were her normal eyes instead of the contacts that Mallory now knew she used ((All that effort for something so stupid...)) ((Shut up, Yeerk!)) But she had seen eyes like that before. Long ago, when she had been a little girl…

((Oh really, have you now? How curious…))

((Stop…))

((Oh, but this is getting interesting! Let's have a nice little flashback in our flashback, shall we?))

((You bastard-))

All of a sudden instead of being an adult trapped on Earth she was a child back home. Specifically, a little ten year old duckling, eagerly sitting in a transport waiting to meet with her Daddy at his work. She was bouncing in her seat. It was all so exciting! The rest of her class had gone on day trips to their parent's work, but for some reason Daddy had been reluctant to let her come to his. But he gave in eventually!

The driver, Hensmorth or Helmswrith or something like that, coughed to get the excitable child's attention. "You remember the rules, right Mallory?"

"Don't go into the yard alone, because that's where you keep all the lizards." Mallory recited. Honestly, she was ten! She wasn't a baby anymore! She could handle a pack of smelly lizards!

"Scaleborn." The driver said, tightening her grip on the steering wheel. "And they're kids, just like you. Some of them are the same age as you…"

"Pfft, no they aren't! They're lizards! Daddy says so!" Mallory retorted with perfect only child logic.

"…yeah, I'm sure that's what the General says." The diver sighed and rubbed the side of her head. But she dropped the subject either way.

As soon as the driver parked Mallory bolted out the door to the fence. She might not be able to go inside of the prison yard, but she could catch a glimpse of the lizards just the same!

The fence didn't look like something that could keep the lizards in for long if they really tried. It was just a chain link fence. It didn't even have any barbed wire or electricity or anything, just a few security cameras. The fence encircled a large area that almost resembled a park, with a jungle gym and climbing trees and slides and a small plastic play fort. There was even a small iced over area in a corner for hockey games. Must be left over from when the prison had housed ducks. Lizards didn't play hockey, everyone knew that. The only thing that separated it from a real park was the fence and the fact that the fence was attached to the side of the large, much more intimidating wall of the former prison. Still, if the lizards had made a concentrated effort they probably could have scaled or flown over the fence.

None of them seemed very interested in that though. Instead, a small gaggle of the smallest ones were running around the fort, apparently playing a game. One of them, a white dragon looking thing with red eyes, stood atop the roof of the fort, a yellow ball clenched in its talons as several others scaled the sides of the fort, grabbing for the ball which the dragon one started juggling out of their reach.

"Earth bound belly crawlers!" The white dragon laughed. "Come and get it!"

"Hah! Got your tail, Sarah!" One of the others grabbed the dragon's tail and gave it a yank. "Gimmie!"

"Never!" The dragon lightly buffeted the other with its (her?) wings. "My treasure!"

Mallory openly gawked at the group, and after a moment or two a few of the lizards started to notice. Each of them frowned at her and shuffled further away from the fence, as if they were afraid or intimated by her. One of them, a big golden scaly one, looked over his shoulder at her to frown at her with a normal looking duck beak. Mallory waved at it, but it snorted, scowled and turned away, whipping its tail around in an almost dismissive gesture.

By now the driver had walked up to the fence. "…doing okay in there, Charlie?" She called to the rude lizard.

"…yep. Just playing." The lizard replied, still not looking at either Mallory or the driver. "Absolutely nothing going on. Just a bunch of kids. Playing."

"…okay, great." The diver sighed. "…Charlie, where are your sisters?"

"They got one of the treasure balls. I assume they're hiding from that lot." He waved at the group of lizards clinging to the fort. "You know Lucy. Being clever."

"But you at least know where they're hiding, right Charlie?" The driver asked.

"I'm not their babysitter, Hensworth. Tee is safe with Lucy, she wouldn't get her into trouble today, and Mercy is fifteen. How can I control a teenager when I'm younger than her?"

"Mercy is the one who should be looking out for you, but I don't see her and I'm asking you where she is." Hensworth sighed again. "Please don't be difficult, Charlie."

The lizard opened his mouth to speak when there was sudden movement on the concrete path that ran along the inside of the fence. Charlie yelped and took a step to the side as something skidded to a halt near the fence, causing Mallory to jump back herself. She blinked up.

She had seen people in wheelchairs before, but never one so young. The Scaleborn in the chair had a long, serpentine body (adult Mallory would almost compare it to Wraith's…in fact many of the Scaleborn in front of her younger self had a tendency towards lengthy snakelike bodies. She wondered what that meant), with deep steel colored scales and silvery claws. She had an ugly, rectangular lizard maw and long sharp fangs. The only thing that indicated her half breed nature was a literal mane of long feathers that started dark red at the base and lightened to almost orange as they reached the tips that surrounded her head like out of control hair. The feathers also ran down the length of her back and ended at her tail, which had a small curved blade at the end (Not as long as her adult self knew an Andalite's blade to be, at least half that, but it still had looked like it could do damage). The creature had no legs, only a pair of stumps that ended where her knees should have been. It hissed up at the driver, Hensworth, eyes wide and horrified.

"Hensworth-"The creature panted out, then switched to a different language that Mallory didn't know, a rapid fire hissy speech that grated on her ears.

To her surprise the other full-blooded duck hissed back in that same language, then frowned in alarm. She stepped forwards and opened the fence gate, and Mallory stared, wide eyed. Was she letting this crippled lizard loose to run free? Maybe it was alright? It was disabled, how much harm could it do?

To Mallory's surprise the legless lizard darted from her wheelchair to land on the ground with both hands and rapidly walked, on her hands, out of the park and past Mallory without giving the duck a single glance. Instead, the lizard raced for the entrance of the prison, yelling at the guards in that weird hissy tongue.

"It's alright, let Mercy through!" Hensworth bellowed, and the guards opened the prison door and let the lizard wiggle on through. It still hissed and hollered through the halls, but it's voice rapidly faded.

"Hensworth?" Mallory jumped again to see the rude golden lizard now pressed against the fence, looking up at the driver with a pleading expression. He hissed something at her, it almost sounded like he was begging the driver for…something.

To Mallory's surprise Hensworth reached through the fence and patted the thing on the shoulder. "Stay here. Keep them calm. It will be alright, I promise." Hensworth clapped a hand on Mallory's shoulder and guided her towards the building. Mallory didn't protest. She wasn't sure what was going on, but it was starting to scare her.

Once inside, Hensworth firmly guided Mallory to what looked like had once been some sort of office space that had been converted into a classroom, complete with desks. She turned the duckling to face her and frowned down at Mallory.

"Mallory, I need you to stay here. There isn't a problem, and you aren't in danger. We just need to take care of something to make sure everything goes smoothly. You get it? Just stay here, don't move, and don't come out unless me or your father come for you, okay?"

Mallory nodded. "Is…is there a lizard loose? A bad one?"

"I…no." Hensworth shook her head. "None of them are bad, but…just stay here. Promise me!"

Mallory nodded, confused but now a little scared. "Okay, I promise."

Hensworth awkwardly patted her shoulder. "Good." The woman then turned and exited the room with long, tense strides.

For a few moments there was silence, then Mallory got bored. She thought she'd be able to spend the day with her dad, watching over the lizards, but instead she got shoved into some boring classroom! She might as well have stayed in school! At least she didn't have to do any assignments here! Curious she started to snoop through the desks, but apparently lizards didn't leave interesting things in desks. They were all clean and immaculate. Not even a wad of dried gum underneath. For vicious, bloodthirsty monsters they were surprisingly neat and orderly.

Or maybe it was because they were being looked after by her daddy. He was always making sure Mallory was clean and orderly, despite her tendency to play in mud puddles.

She wasn't sure how long she was stuck in that room when there was a rustling coming from the closet of the room. She blinked and looked over. There was a rustle again, and a few small scratching sounds. Curious, she started to walk over, then there was a sneeze.

There was something there! It had been watching her! Probably waiting to snatch her up and do horrible lizard things to her!

Well, it was going to find out that Mallory McMallard wasn't going to be taken easily!

With a lunge she darted forwards and ripped the closet door open. Swiftly, she reached in, grabbed the sneak by the shirt and hauled it out, attempting to throw it to the ground, but the thing grabbed her wrist and they both ended up in a heap on the floor. Fortunately, Mallory still had the advantage and landed on top of the mystery lizard.

She looked down and was surprised to see a rather normal looking blond duckling about her age. Aside from the creepy red eyes and the Saurian smell, Mallory might have mistaken it for a normal girl like her. The lizard girl was clutching something to her chest, spooky red eyes wide and almost fearful. That was weird, why was the lizard scared of Mallory?

"L-let me go. I-I-I didn't do anything, let me go!" The lizard girl pleaded, practically begging Mallory and quaking in fear. Taken aback Mallory rolled off the lizard and backed away a step or two. She stared at the lizard girl, who edged away from Mallory, still clutching the whatever it was close to her.

"What's your problem, lizard?" Mallory asked.

"Hey, d-don't call me that, it's rude!" The lizard glared at her.

"No, it's not, it's what you are." Mallory retorted.

"I'm Scaleborn." the girl said sullenly.

"It's the same thing!"

"No, it's not! Why are you so mean!" The girl glared even harder. "Why are pure breed ducklings always so mean!"

"I'm not mean, I'm just telling the truth!" Mallory said. "Daddy says it's always important to tell the truth!"

The lizard girl huffed and turned away. "Y-yeah, I know the General says that, Princess. We, ah, hear it at least twice a day."

Mallory blinked. "Only Daddy calls me Princess."

"Yeah, we know. He t-talks about you at least three times a day. We may be…what we are but we aren't deaf."

Mallory smiled brightly, a wave of glee washing over her. "He talks about me that much?"

The lizard girl sighed and looked sadly at the ground. "Yeah…all the time."

(How could she have not seen it before? She was just a child but how could she not have seen how much her comments and her pride in her father's love hurt the littler version of Tanya? How could she not have seen how -scared- her future friend was of her father?)

Mallory glanced at the thing the lizard was holding. "What you got there, lizard?"

The girl huffed and revealed a small ball like the one the dragon had outside. "Our clutch was playing. We hide these treasures around and whoever finds them has to keep them from the others for, ah, an hour. Whoever has a hold of their treasures by the end of the hour wins…I'm trying to keep this away from Lucy, she always takes it from me." The girl lowered her voice. "Lucy is really, really sneaky but this time I outsmarted her!"

Mallory grinned. "Sooo…anyone who gets one of those is a winner?"

The lizard blinked at her. "Y-yes?"

"It's mine then!" Mallory laughed and snatched the ball from the other girl, who yelped and jumped back. "It's mine now!"

"Hey, give it back!" The lizard lunged for the ball and Mallory ducked away from her.

"You have to take it from me, those are the rules, you said so yourself!" Mallory laughed as the lizard gritted her teeth at her.

"Alright, Princess, let's see how well you fight." The lizard hissed and darted for Mallory.

The two rolled around the classroom, knocking over desks and chairs and occasionally kicking the walls. While at first clearly angry at what she clearly had taken as bullying, the little lizard eventually started to laugh with Mallory instead of hissing angrily at her. At some point it had become a two-person game of keep away, with each trying to snatch the ball away, but neither really trying to get away with it, letting the other attempt to wrestle it from them.

Finally, the two came to a stop in the middle of the floor, this time with the lizard on top of Mallory, holding her down with both hands on her shoulders and pinning her to the floor.

"You know, you're pretty tough for a lizard." Mallory said, her grin huge. She was having so much more fun now!

"And you're almost tough, for a princess." The lizard stuck her tongue out at Mallory and giggled. But then to Mallory's surprise the door opened, and the lizard girl looked up. A look of pure horror crossed her face before she was suddenly snatched off Mallory and pushed harshly to the side. The lizard tripped backwards and slammed her head into a fallen desk. She started to cry as blood began to trickle down her forehead.

Mallory looked up and froze. Her father, despite being a stern military man, had never scared her before. He was always gentle and loving to her, but the look he was giving the lizard scared Mallory to her core. She had never seen her wonderful daddy wearing a look of pure hate before in her life, and it scared her.

(But it wasn't just hate, oh no. It took an adult Mallory, looking back at this incident through the power of an alien slug, to finally notice the flash of fear and horror that had crossed Marcus McMallard's face right before he pushed an innocent little girl into a desk and made her cry. It was also obvious to adult Mallory that he hadn't meant to shove Tanya so hard. But the damage had been done.)

((Just saying, a Yeerk would never do this a grub…))

Mallory had no retort for that.

"You!" Marcus McMallard strode over to the fallen lizard and loomed over her, standing protectively between her and Mallory. "What are you doing out of the field! You were told to stay there until she left! How DARE you touch my daughter! You've been warned about this!"

The lizard stammered, barely able to speak. "P-p-please, I-I-I'm s-s-sorry, I-I-"

"You are not allowed within a mile of my child without a guard present, YOU KNOW THIS!" Marcus bellowed. "If I ever catch you near her again-"

"What have you done!" Someone else yelled, and Mallory felt something brush by her and dart between her father and the crying lizard girl. It was the cripple from before, walking on her hands and now placing her long, thin body between the General and the girl. The older lizard nuzzled the younger and hissed, nose coming away with a small smear of blood. "She's bleeding, you hurt her!" She glared at the General, tail wrapping protectively around the smaller lizard who grabbed a hold of the elder's middle and wept into bright reddish orange feathers.

"You were in charge of watching her, Mercy! She attacked Mallory! I told you to watch your clutch, and you let her loose to attack my only child!"

"No, Daddy no, we were just playing, she didn't…"

"Hush, Mallory, you don't understand what they're like. They'll turn on you the first chance they get!" He glowered at the lizard girl, who was clinging to her caretaker like a miserable burr. "Especially that one!"

"General, sir." Hensworth, probably attracted by all the noise, walked in, frowning slightly at the scene, and shooting the General a vaguely disappointed look. "…perhaps this isn't the place? She's bleeding, and unless you want the punishment for daring to play with another child to be brain damage, she should go to the infirmary."

"Lieutenant, you better watch your mouth. This is still a military instillation and I'm still your commanding officer." Marcus gave the other duck a stern look.

"Yes. Sir. Should I take them to the infirmary, sir?" Hensworth's voice was void of emotion.

"Very well. Don't let them out of your sight." Marcus commanded. The soldier silently saluted, then walked over to the two lizards.

"Let's go, Mercy." Hensworth's tone barely seemed to change, but she scooped up the injured lizard girl, who clung to the duck soldier, still silently crying as blood dripped down her beak. She buried her face in Hensworth's uniform as she marched for the door, the older lizard trailing behind them. The crippled lizard shot Mallory a look of pure hate filled malice as she passed by.

Mallory found herself crying as well as the trio exited, and almost jerked back when her father knelt down to look her over. His stern, angry countenance had fled, replaced by almost panicked concern. "Are you alright, Princess, did she hurt you?"

"I…no! Daddy, we were just playing! It was my fault; I took her ball! She didn't do anything wrong! I'm…I'm the one who was being mean…"

Her daddy sighed and pulled her in for a warm loving hug. "You can't get near them unsupervised, sweety. I…maybe she was just playing. She's still so young, but Mallory." He lifted her beak to meet her eyes. "They might be small and innocent now, but they are still lizards. They're only half Saurian, but Saurians were soulless demons. You know the words of Ducaine. 'Those born of feather and scale are cursed with halves. Half a life, half a spirit, half a soul.' They must always struggle with the fact that they have the Saurian instinct for conquest and domination. It's true some can spend their entire lives fighting their lizard urges and never give in, but that doesn't mean they aren't there. It might have started as a game. She might not have intended to turn on you, but at any time her instincts could have triggered, and she would have attacked you. It's just too risky, Princess. I'd hate to set her up to fail like that. She's trying so hard to be good…"

"But it wasn't her fault…" Mallory peeped.

"I'll make it up to her. It'll be fine. I have to explain these things to her often. She also doesn't really understand, her instincts haven't come in yet. They will one day, and I don't look forwards to it. But the day will come when she'll have to resist the urge to act like a Saurian. I can only hope I've prepared them enough to fight against their tainted blood." Marcus gave her a hug. "I'm sorry, but it's not possible for you to be friends with her. I can't lose you like I lost your brother. You know that."

Mallory sniffled. "…alright, I'm sorry Daddy."

"Don't ever go near them again, Princess. For both your sakes."

"I promise Daddy."

((…sickening.)) The Yeerk muttered.

Mallory had no retort.

Thankfully, the Yeerk decided to switch the memory back to the original memory. It was almost nice and dramatic. While at the time Mallory hadn't had a full on flashback, she did recall the incident, and she remembered those eyes. Mostly she remembered the horror in them when Tanya saw Mallory's father, and to Mallory's shame that same horror was back.

"You…" Mallory stepped closer to Tanya, who looked away, closing her eyes tightly. "What…I remember you, why didn't you tell me we've met before…why do they look different most of the time?"

Tanya gave a deep sigh. "Contacts. Keeps the iris dilated and filters out the redness. Makes them look normal. I…it's easier for us sometimes, to look as normal as possible. Easier to look past the scent then these ugly things." Tanya rubbed her eyes and sighed again. "I didn't want to you…I didn't want anyone to see them."

"And the glasses?" Mallory asked.

"Ah, ummm, opening the iris all the time kinda…hurts in the sunlight. The lenses on the glasses keep the light from hurting them." Tanya shrugged. "I don't wear them at night because, ah, you aren't supposed to wear contacts when you sleep. Could damage the eyes."

"But you don't need them to, see?"

"No."

"Then why use them?" Mallory asked.

"I just told you, it's easier for us to look normal, if we can." Tanya finally looked back at Mallory. "I know how…how creepy they are."

"None of us care about that." Mallory said. "But you haven't answered the rest of my question, why didn't you tell me we've met before? I remember that day, I never got to tell you-"

"Tell me what?" Tanya shook her head. "I was told to stay away from you, if-if you remembered anything about that day you should remember that most of all!"

"…is that why you never talked to me in the Resistance?" Mallory asked.

"Yes, and the General would have…I didn't want to upset him…again." Tanya wandered over to the kitchen table and sat down. "C-canard is the only reason he even let me get close to you…and the fact that there was, ummm, the rest of the team were all real ducks."

Mallory winched. To her Marcus McMallard had been kind and loving, but to Tanya he had been…she didn't even want to think about it. Instead, she sat across from Tanya and sighed.

"I…I never go to apologize to you for that day. I was an idiot; I never knew how he could be around you. He was never like that at home." Mallory started, and Tanya snorted.

"Of course not. He loved you. We were just a job." Tanya sighed. "And we all know that, ah, that Scaleborn can turn on you at any point- "Tanya jumped slightly as Mallory slammed her hands into the table.

"No! No, that's a lie, and we both know it. How many of you were in that prison? Thirty?"

"Thirty-six."

"Thirty-six of you, and how many other Scaleborn were out there? Hundreds, thousands, and only one of you joined the Saurians! Do you even have those 'evil Saurian instincts' that my father kept talking about?" Mallory leaned forwards towards Tanya. "Can you honestly tell me you have some irresistible urge to hurt people?"

"I don't…I don't think so?" Tanya shrugged. "I mean…I do get angry at people but…I don't think I do."

"Well, if you do you do a damn good job of keeping it under control! I don't think it's there at all!"

Tanya gave her a small, sad smile. "I'd like to think you're right…"

"I am right. You know the team trusts you, right? We all do. It has nothing to do with being Scaleborn. You're one of us." Mallory folded her arms. "If my father can't accept that then he's a fool, and when we get home I'd happily tell him!"

Tanya's smile widened. "I'd like to see that…ya know, from a distance."

For a few moments they just sat in silence, and then Mallory couldn't help herself anymore.

"Was…was Decoy one of your clutch?" She asked.

Tanya nodded. "…it's not even her real name. Her real name's Lucy and…at one point she was my best friend." Mallory nodded. That explained why Tanya was so upset. To the rest of them Decoy was just a traitor, but like Duke suspected, for Tanya it was a bit more complicated than that.

Tanya took another deep breath. "She didn't look like she does now, either. When the Saurians came the rest of the clutch just…ran. They didn't join the Saurians, but they thought that the General wouldn't…that he would take out his anger on them. So, they just ran. Heard later they started helping in their own way, but they don't like most ducks and they want to stay away. For a while I was the only Scaleborn in the Resistance until this person calling herself Lucretia Decoy just…popped up. It took me a few months because she kept avoiding me, but I knew it was Lucy. It doesn't matter how much you change your appearance there's just some things you know after being constantly around a person for almost twenty years…"

"And you exposed her?" Mallory said. Tanya nodded.

"She escaped, but…" Tanya sighed again. "That's probably why she decided to…you know, take me out this time. She can't fool me for long, no matter what she tries." Tanya closed her eyes. "I…would almost believe that we really don't have those instincts, but then there's her…she's so different than my friend, it almost feels like she was never Lucy to start with…you remember those Star Wars movies that Nosedive had us watch? In the second one when the spirit of Kenobi told Luke that his father was dead 'from a certain point of view.'? It…it feels like that."

Mallory sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I understand. I mean, I don't know what that's like, but I get what you're trying to say."

There was another long silence, then Mallory spoke up again. "I don't think those instincts exist…but if he was as hard on her as he was on you and that…other one, without the legs?"

"Yeah, Mercy." Tanya said. "That was Mercy. She was older than us, looked after us." Tanya smiled. "Me and Lucy, before she got…weird, we actually built her some prosthetic legs. She doesn't have to use a chair anymore."

Mallory smiled. There was her friend. "If my father was as hard on the rest of you…I can almost understand the other Scaleborn wanting nothing to do us…and maybe it makes sense Decoy would want revenge."

Tanya shrugged. "Maybe…he wasn't as hard on the others as he was on me, Charlie and Mercy…"

"Why you three?"

Tanya tensed. "I…it's just…you do know why were in that prison, right?"

Mallory thought back to the things her father had said and gasped. "Wait…are, you…Lady Frost's?"

Tanya nodded.

"Tanya, you're- "Mallory shook her head, and suddenly she felt Tanya gripping her hand. All this time Tanya had kept her eyes on the table, refusing to look Mallory full in the face, but her strange red eyes were giving Mallory a pleading, desperate look.

"Don't tell the others, they don't know!" Tanya begged her. "Please, I…people aways figure it out, eventually! I look…I look like her, and I hate it! Please, don't tell them!"

Mallory gasped at the sheer panic in her friend's voice. "Tanya, it wasn't your fault, you were just a child…were you even hatched back then?"

"No, I wasn't, but that doesn't matter." Tanya was shaking. "I'm still…"

"Tanya, I…you can't keep it a secret forever, and they deserve to know-"

"NO they don't!" Tanya shouted. "They have nothing to do with it. You, maybe. Your…your brother." Tanya took a few deep, gasping breaths. "Your father hates me and my siblings because of -her-. I don't want them to know. I just…please, promise me. Just let me have this, at least until we get back home! You five are all I have…I can't…I can't…"

She was so upset and hurt and scared. Even though Mallory hated lies, even though she hated to keep things for her team, she relented. So, despite the fact that she hated it, she got up and walked around to Tanya's side of the table. She leaned forwards and hugged her.

"Alright. Alright. I promise…"

((Interesting, who is this Lady Frost, and why does her name cause such a reaction…))

((DON'T YOU DARE!)) Mallory could feel her body twitch violently from where the Yeerk had sat them to do this little flashback session. But the Yeerk soon had her back under control as it dug through her brain, looking for answers.

When it finally found them, the slug laughed and laughed.

And Mallory knew it finally had what it wanted…

A/N: Me: I'm just going to tease the readers with a little glimpse into what the Yeerks are doing because it will be relevant later.

Story: Intended page or two suddenly explodes into a full on chapter prologue for what is to come.

Me:…damnit.

Yeah, there was going to be a section where we go back to the present with the Animorphs but then I realized how much of a whiplashy tonal shift it would be and figured that this chapter needed to be it's own thing.

We get a nice glimpse of what growing up was like for our Scaleborn friends and it's not a good time all around.

In Mallory's dad's defense he didn't intend to slam a kid into a desk but unfortunately he honestly thinks that Scaleborn are more like your pet wild tiger who might, at any point, rip its handler's face off no matter how nice you treated it as a cub. Hence why he doesn't want his kid around them. He's wrong and he did feel bad after the fact but he still values his own kid more than the 'lizard child'.

Course there is another big reason waving from the Land of Foreshadowing, but you probably figured that out.

I really wanted Tanya to have a few disabled characters in her backstory because Ax and his attitude towards the disabled always annoyed me greatly and I thought it would be fun to have a fully capable badass character who Tanya could look up to who also happens to be someone who Ax would underestimate. Because the Humbling of the Andalite must continue.

I do love Ax and he's a great character but sometimes things need a pokin'.

Hensworth is probably the worst name I've come up with but in my defense I suck at duck puns and by the time we reached this chapter my thought of 'just put something and you can change it later' became 'damn, it's her name now and I can't come up with anything better.'

Next time, back to war trauma.