Danielle and Canard never said a word the rest of the evening. Over the next day, any time someone asked about Danielle, Canard would tell them to drop it and spoke with venom in his voice. And whenever someone asks about Canard, Danielle only responds with a heated glare. It was the angriest anyone has ever seen her but as the second day went on, Danielle got tired of being mad,until she let it go. By the third day, Amy Abby and Marcel were talking to the cream colored female.

"How're ya doin', Sugarcube?" Abby greeted softly.

Danielle looked up from her paperwork with a gloomy look in her eyes. "Okay…" she replied.

"You don't sound okay to me, dearie.' Amy pointed out. 'Forgive me for asking but, is this about what the Captain said?"

"We all know that answer, Amy!" Marcel reprimanded.

"...No…' Danielle stood up. 'Well...I-it's partly that. It's mostly because I did something very wrong. I didn't want to fight him about his health but... But then he said my brother was stupid."She added the last part with anger and frustration.

Amy walked over to Danielle and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You were right to be so angry with him, dearie."

"Yeah,' Marcel replied, "I'd be mad too, if someone insulted Thom like that."

"The only way that there drake's gonn' admit he's wrong is when he's dizzy with a cold in his head."

"If that's the case,' Amy said. 'Danielle if your mistake is bothering you, would you like to tell him you're sorry first?"

The cream-colored dolly was flabbergasted. She wasn't the only one.

"Yer kiddin', right Amy?"

"Why should Danielle apologize? The captain started it!"

The white goose explained, just because someone was nasty to you doesn't mean you need to be nasty in return. And forgiveness is the big step to letting a problem go. "It's your choice Danielle. Come now Abby, we have a patient to tend to. I'll need your help."

Alone, Danielle thought hard on this. Then she remembered a few squabbles she got in with Derek with her grandmother's encouragement and words of wisdom, the siblings made up, and their bond was stronger. Then she thought about what Abby said, however she wanted this conflict over. "There's no way he's going to apologize first, so I might as well just get it over with."

Danielle looked around for Canard, hoping her apology would be enough. If it is, he'll soften up sooner or later. And then they could be friends again. She was about to turn the corner when she overheard Greybeak, Wally, and Thom talking to Canard. But it felt more like they were yelling at him.

"Just admit that you started it!" Greybeak snapped at Canard, while the tan drake had his arms crossed, refusing to submit.

"Nothin' doin'!"

"But Captain, you can't stay mad at Danielle forever. She was only looking out for you." Wally tried.

"She was the one who friggin' slapped me!"

"Only because you insulted her brother. You took a weakness, and turned it into an act of war. Thom replied gently, yet firmly. Greybeak then asked,

"Yeah, man. Didn't that almost cost you your friendship with Wildwing back in High School?"

The tan drake froze. That was a a really bad memory for him, it bothered him a lot more then he let on. Why did Greybeak have to bring that up? How dare he drag his best friend into this?!

"That was completely different," Canard snarled, "and don't you dare bring his name into this!"

"Captain-"

"No!" Canard snapped, breathing heavily. "Hold your damn tongue."

Greybeak wisely did so. Thom on the other hand, saw how tense Canard got. Figuring that this, Wildwing and the captain were close friends. And if that was the case, Wildwing must have a great deal of patience if he's best friends with a hot head.

"Sir, if your friend was here, what would he tell you?"

Truth be told, Canard missed his best friend terribly. With his ever-growing worry that Wildwing might be dead or even suffering was too much to bear for the tan drake. But he wasn't about to say it out loud, nor was he willing to admit that he was wrong.

"He'd tell you to shut it!"

McMallards were prone to be stubborn, which Thom took it upon himself to be more reasonable. But the captain was more stubborn (and arrogant) than all his own family put together. Now tired and sick of arguing with the drake, Thom stomped his foot.

"Ugh! You and your emotional constipation! You're always looking for an excuse to bite someone's head off! And you wouldn't admit anything, even if your life was on the line! Danielle is one of us! And she's your friend, isn't she?!"

"She is not my friend, Lieutenant!" Canard practically yelled. There was a long, tense pause as those words were digested by the other two drakes in the conversation. Behind the wall, they weren't the only ones. "She is a civilian, and now a medic, nothing more."

Thom looked slightly shocked at that statement, but it quickly turned into anger. Before he could say anything, however, Wally answered instead.

"Of course, C-captain. W-we apologize for the interruption." The drake looked meaningfully at Thom, indicating that now was not the time. Thom sighed.

"Good night, sir."

Canard, looking only minutely surprised that he'd won the argument, nodded back. "Yes. Good night."

Danielle had heard everything, now she didn't dare show herself. 'After all this time... this is how he feels? I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, I just wasn't worth the attention anyway...but...why does my heart hurt?' It took everything she had not to cry as she silently walked back to the medical bay.

The two drakes turned and left, leaving Canard alone in the empty corridor. He was silent, watching them leave and turn the corner, before he angrily ran his hand through the feathers on his head. Frustration crept up quickly and he turned to leave the other direction, stopped, turned back around, and then growled out before slamming his hand on the wall. Canard thought about what he said about Danielle. He never meant it, but the thought of her not being his friend, gave him a heartache.

He cursed, his hand still on the wall and pulling into a fist. As quickly as it came, however, the anger subsided, and he sighed futilely. How long was he going to keep up this stupid charade? He was only fooling himself on his feelings for Danielle.

'Wildwing...Oh, where are you buddy? He would tell me I'm being prideful to a fault. He'd say that Danielle needs to hear the truth, and whether or not she feels the same way doesn't matter. I can't keep hiding how I feel about her anymore….Alright, tomorrow I'll tell Danielle that I'm sorry.'

Later that night.

While everyone was asleep for the night, Danielle found it hard to get some sleep herself. Her stomach was empty, and her mind was full. "Canard doesn't like me anymore. It's all my fault….I'm the one who called him out on his health, and slapped him. Still, he can't talk about Derek that way." The orange haired duck tried to think long into the night, but this was very conflicting for her, and she can't think straight. She was sure as daylight that there was no way Canard would even want to speak to her again, let alone look at her. "I wouldn't blame him." Then she came to a decision."I have to leave. Somewhere I won't be a nuisance to anyone."

10 minutes later, Danielle had sneaked out the secret exit, and over her shirt was a light blue jacket, with a tiny Puckworld Special Forces logo on the back.

In her bag was food, water, a flashlight, among other things. She was gonna make her way to South base to find her family herself. It might be very far, but the dolly was too upset to care. Glancing around for danger, Danielle slowly trekked away from the base."I'm never coming back, but I wish you all the best."

What she didn't know was trouble was heading her way.