Evening past and sundown came. And by that time, Canard and Danielle finally reached the base, Exhausted, roughed up, but alive...

At the entrance, Canard typed into a keypad, looked into an Eye Scan, and then spoke to the intercom."Captain Canard Thunderbeak! Returning from my mission, with a civilian."

The steel door slid open with a silent hiss. Canard looked back, and he said to Danielle "Come on in."

Unsure, Danielle followed him inside as the door closed behind them. It was very dim on the inside, the lights were turned down low, but not too low for everyone to see. And there were no windows, to avoid getting caught. Danielle noticed a few more ducks bustling about.

"Hey, Canard!' one male started, then his attention turned to the new duck. 'Who's your friend? She's a real cutie!"

Danielle was caught off guard. This guy had to be joking! She never thought herself cute. Not even pretty. She looked at the soldier and pointed to herself.

"Me?"

"Well, duh!"

Danielle was not sure how to respond to that.

"She has a name ." Canard interrupted, turning the soldiers attention towards him. The tone in his voice was enough to change the attitude in the conversation.' Or have the manners been lost during the war?"

Graybeak laughed hesitantly, "No offense captain-"

He paused and looked at Canard who was smirking. And all three soldiers burst in to huge fit of laughter.

"A little uptight there Greybeak?"

"Canard, you a**!"

The three of them laughed and shared a big hug.

"Good to see you alive!"

"I could say the same for you! I heard you got ambushed!"

The third duck (though looks more like a goose), looked at the bandaging on Canard's arm. And pointed out, "I would say you did."

"Relax, Wally. It's just a scratch."

Greybeak added in," You wouldn't bother to wrap it up if it was a scratch, besides you suck at medical treatment."

Wally was trying not to laugh. Canard stared at Greybeak "Are you ever going to drop that?! I told you, I was in a hurry!"

"The scar on my rear end would say so. But I say otherwise."

Danielle just watched the three drakes in silence. She opened her beak to say something, but changed her mind. Wally, however took notice.

"Yeah?"

"Uh...if you must know. I-I was the one who wrapped his...uh.." She gestured to Canard's arm.

"Oh. So, are you his personal nurse?" He cracked. Wally and Greybeak chuckled lightly.

"Huh? N-no…" Danielle tried to explain.

The drakes however didn't catch on. " You seem attached to him, so it's true, ain't it?" Even Canard laughed a little.

"Um...well…"

Wally slapped his knee, "You know how to pick em, Cap'n!"

"If you like ladies in white and red!" Greybeak chortled. All three drakes then laughed out loud.

"Does he?"

They stopped laughing, and looked at a confused Danielle. Then they just laughed even harder. Canard stopped chuckling long enough to notice Danielle had turned away and was covering her face with her hand. She looked completely mortified.

Clearing his throat, Canard scowled at his friends,"Alright, that's enough!"

Graybeak and Wally were confused "Huh?"

"Now go see to your assignments!"

Fully understanding the situation the drakes saluted. "Yes sir!" They turned around and walked away. Danielle had turned back to watch them leave, slightly more confused than before. She nervously looked up at Canard.

"Uh...t-thanks.' the female whispered.'Sorry,I-"

"Don't be. Our humor Around here tends to be rough around the edges.' He paused. 'It was nothing against you personally."

"Oh, I just... I-I never was good at standing up for myself."

Canard watched her for a moment, only briefly glancing back in the direction Greybeak and Wally walked away. Eventually, he grinned.

"It sounds like you just need some practice."

Danielle had a bit of a shock. Her parents always told her never to talk back at someone, or to mouth off. The last time she tried to tell her parents something was wrong they thought she was just being silly.

"I don't know… uh captain. I mean, what if they think I'm just wanting attention?" She replied, looking at her shoes.

"And what's wrong with that?" Canard asked, raising his brow as he started walking.

Danielle hesitantly followed. "Well, I mean, I-"

"You can't care about what others think, Danielle," Canard continued. "You have to speak up, or you're just gonna end getting walked all over."

"Like I'm not used to being walked all over." Danielle thought to herself. Then two more drakes walked up. When they saw Canard, they saluted.

"Captain Thunderbeak! Sir!"

Danielle looked at them carefully, these two looked like twins. Both had red feathers in their hair, but their eyes and beaks were different .

"At ease, McMallards," Canard answered casually.

One of the brothers looked at Danielle and asked with light surprise,"Hey where'd she come from?"

"I found her in the North East perimeter."

"What? I thought that area was already checked!"

"What?"

The other piped up, "That area had been cleared before the raid, sir. Survivors were sent south for recon."

Canard growled out, "What the hell, Marc-"

Danielle frowned. "Wait, what?"

Marcle turned to his brother, "Thom, wasn't Bluefoot put in that area to look for civilians?"

Thom thought for a moment, "Come to think of it, he was!" He opened up his communicator.

"Bluefoot! Report to the Mess Hall!"

No response for 10 seconds until, "Yes, sir?"

"I just said report to the Mess Hall!"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be right there."

Thom closed his communicator. "'I'll be right there' he says." Canard gestured down the hall, then the four ducks walked toward the Mess Hall.