Candy: Sorry about this… my Muses of Fanfic and Sports were goofing off on me.

Esmeralda *in Tanya's voice*: Watching the NHL playoffs does not constitute goofing off. Besides, I was brain-dead!

Valerie: And I was working on that saga for your Yahoo! sports slash group, remember?

Candy: Anyway, here it is, chapter #6/ Saturday's story. Kick back, relax.

It was approximately quarter after ten in the morning when Dreva skated out onto the ice. She expected to see the entire team waiting for her impatiently, so she was surprised when Wildwing was the only one there, and even more so when she saw him just going around the rink lap-style. "Did something happen while I was gone?" she asked anxiously.

He stopped and stared at her. "Some things, but that’s not what’s making me go around in circles," he said. "Two of my starters have taken off for the mall and refuse to come back, and two more of them are locked in the bathroom and can’t come out and if they did they seem ready to kill each other. Other than that, everything’s fine."

"What the heck happened? What did I miss?"

Wildwing sighed. "It happened at breakfast, and I still don’t get what it really was about, but Mallory and Duke got into a huge argument. So she and Nosedive teamed up to prank him by stealing his bottle of hair gel. By the way, that’s part of the reason we don’t have a dishwasher anymore, he kept thinking of it as a convenient place to pour stuff when he wanted to play a trick."

"So Dive doublecrossed Mallory and locked her in with Duke so they could kill each other?" Dreva guessed.

"If only it was that easy," Wildwing replied sadly. "You know how Tanya keeps her hair from going totally ninety degrees? Hair gel. Not only hair gel, but the same extra strength brand that Duke uses. She went in there to take care of her hair needs and found Duke in the bottle. Then Nosedive locked the door and took off with Mallory, and that’s the last I saw of either of them. It got too quiet in there, and I got more than a little nervous. Do you have any ideas on how to get out of this situation?"

Lost in thought, Dreva’s smile seemed out of place. With a tone of authority, she said, "Send Grin after the miscreants and get them dragged back here. Warn Duke and Tanya away from the door, tell them not to kill each other in the next minute or so, and blow the door off its hinges. If that doesn’t work, you’ll need to force the key from either Mallory or Dive, and you’ll have to use drastic measures. If you’d prefer not to perform drastic measures on your own brother, let me know and I’ll do it for you. I’d bet, however, that he and Mallory forgot that Tanya and Duke use the same brand. I don’t think they meant to drag her into this at all. Then again…" She shrugged. "I never would have thought that they’d team up, so what do I know?"

Wildwing nodded gratefully, if with a trifle of suspicion. "How do you have such a comprehensive plan ready on such short notice?"

"You’re not the only member of this team who’s had to deal with a younger brother whose purpose in life seems to be solely to drive you completely insane. Mine tried something similar to this years ago."

"I knew there was a familiar feeling about you," he laughed. "You’ve put up with the same kind of nonsense that my brother tries to pull on me."

"Yeah," she agreed tersely. "Now, would you like to shoot the breeze a little more, or would you like to spring our teammates from a fate I wouldn’t wish on anyone? Think about this- if we don’t get them loose, we’ll probably end up short for the next game, and that would be a very bad thing."

Without further ado, Wildwing and Dreva adjourned to the hallway outside the bathroom, sending Grin out on his sub-mission on the way. "Duke! Tanya! If you’re near the door, stop being near the door! We’re about to try to shoot our way into there, and shooting through you would be really bad."

Wildwing shifted into battle gear in order to have access to his wrist launcher, took careful aim, and fired several pucks. Through the thinning metal, Dreva and Wildwing could hear the debate continuing. "Whaddya mean you thought it was yours? It had my band on it, why did you think you had a right to it?"

"’Cause I thought ya were out, Tani, and I didn’t know Dive and Mally had taken mine. Ya don’t have ta bite my head off, ya know."

"It was the last dollop! What am I supposed to think when I see you in my bottle of hair gel, knowing that there’s no more left?"

"Would you two please knock it off?" Wildwing demanded rather sharply. "I sent Grin out for those two pranksters, and once they’re back, I’ll send them to pick up more gel for you. That’s not going to be very useful if you kill each other first."

"Ya know, I think he’s right."

"Whatever gave you that idea? I call dibs on Dive, though."

"No, I get ta kick his tail ta kingdom come, ya can take care of Mally if ya want ta."

"Ah, I don’t think so. Do you want to see me get my tail kicked? You just don’t want to hit a girl, right, is that it?"

This is going to be a very long morning, isn’t it? Dreva asked herself. Barely back, and it’s already turning into a long day. And I haven’t even had breakfast yet. How does Wildwing handle this? She smiled fleetingly.

Wildwing had almost finished with the door, and Tanya said, "Hey, um, be careful, I don’t really, ah, feel like replacing it completely again."

"Do you feel like staying in the bathroom until someone can convince Mallory or Nosedive to give up the key?" Dreva countered. "If not, then please stop complaining. If you want, I’ll help you with the stupid door."

"Would you do the door by yourself if I was off kicking some tail?" Tanya asked hopefully as she climbed out the hole in the door.

"I’d seriously think about it. I might draft those miscreants into helping me out, though. After all, the fact that the door needs replacing is their fault."

An almost dainty beep was unexpectedly heard. Through the sounds of protestation and screams of rage, Grin managed to make clear that he had found Nosedive and Mallory and would be bringing them back imminently. Before either of the pranksters could use that opportunity to put forth an excuse, he cut the connection. "This is going to be a long day, isn’t it? I can feel it already."

"It’s ‘ready a long day," Duke replied wearily. "And my hair is still a mess!"

Tanya rolled her eyes and exchanged an inscrutable female look with Dreva, somehow managing to convey years of experience and exasperation with that single expression. Delicately stepping around the mess left in the hall, she went towards the kitchen, and the other three ducks followed. Once there, coffee was poured and Dreva had breakfast. Wildwing took up the sports section of the Chronicle, as was his wont during the season, in order to see how their rivals were doing. The rest of the paper was already lying scattered on the kitchen table and throughout the rec room. Tanya left the room in search of the technology section while Duke just savored the coffee. In short, they killed time rather successfully.

Soon enough, loud cursing and calm explanation was heard. A dark smile crept over Duke’s face. "I’m goin’ ta get such revenge on that brat…" he growled merrily. "No one messes with my hair and lives ta tell the tale."

"It was all Mallory’s idea!" Nosedive protested loudly. Mallory turned a dirty look on him as best she could from the uncomfortable and unaccustomed position she was in. "She suggested doing it, she told me what to do- I swear, bro, I wouldn’t have done this without her poking."

"Great way to protect your teammate," Mallory grumbled loudly. "Remind me not to have you cover my back the next time we go into battle. Don’t forget that messing with the hair gel was all your idea; you knew just how to strike at his vanity and just when to do it for maximum effect. Don’t try to scapegoat me, because you know I can and will turn it right back on you as needed."

"This is an, ah, ab- absol- really fascinating conversation you guys are having, but would you mind cutting it just the least bit short?"

"Yeah, listen to the nice frazzled, tired, irritated duck with the homemade wrist laser," Dreva pointed out.

"Oh, you’re back. So how was San José? Did you lose your way? Make a lot of friends? Find a place to stay? Get tickets to see the Sharks?" Nosedive inquired brightly.

"Unfortunately, yes and no. I saw the wrong kinds of sharks," the brunette replied. "As for the rest- hey, wait a darn minute, you’re on the poop list, what am I doing being nice to you? You can go darn yourself to heck for all I care."

"Jeez, why are you so peeved at me?"

"You pranked an innocent. More to the point, you pranked Tanya."

"In addition, you pranked Tanya before coffee, which is like stealing from the blind while kicking a puppy. But I’m surprised at you, Mallory. Nosedive I expect this from, more’s the pity, but why you? Explain yourself." The look on Wildwing’s face and the stiff stance he was in should have warned the redhead that she was in a heavy load of trouble. However, she was still her hot-tempered and injudicious self, so nothing would have given her pause.

"You heard what Duke called me before! How could you ask me why I did anything to him after he called me that? In some places I would have been entitled to duel him to defend my honor! Wildwing, an insult like that merits anything I can dish out to him."

The team’s captain shook his head. "It’s not that lethal a comment, and I honestly can’t understand why you so completely flipped out over it. You take words like that too seriously, especially coming from those of us who know you."

"That’s exactly why it hurts!" she flared. "You think he was joking, and for all I know he was, but- Duke, would you get your tail out of here for a second, please?"

"Not on ya life, Mally," he replied easily. "Why should I? If ya goin’ ta say why ya decided ta make my mornin’ even more of a livin’ hell than it usually is, I think I’d want ta stick around, ya know?"

"I can’t say it with you around," she mumbled. The two of them seemed to have single-handedly stolen the scene; everyone else was watching them with the intensity usually only reserved for the climaxes of good movies.

"And since when are ya shy, Mally?" he asked her gently.

"There are things you wouldn’t say in front of certain folks because of whatever. This is one of those things, okay?"

Somehow, through methods incomprehensible to most of the known universe, he understood what she meant. "Sure thin’, Mally, just call me when ya finish, ‘kay, and if ya feel like spillin’ I’m always here."

As Duke walked out of the room, all eyes were on him. "Okay, what did the rest of us just completely manage to miss?" Tanya asked quietly.

"Something that was none of our concern," Grin replied calmly. "Mallory? You were planning to say something?"

Mallory sighed, even now uncomfortable with the prospect of unburdening her emotions. "What if he wasn’t joking? What if he really thinks that I would- that I might- that I am- what he said? I don’t want him thinking that."

"And why would that be?"

"None of your business."

"Touchy today, aren’t we, Mal-mal?"

"Don’t make me kill you."

"You’ll have to get in line," Tanya interjected. "At least three places back."

Mallory winced visibly. "Sorry, Tani. Honestly, I didn’t know you were going to end up in there with him. That was never my intent. I wouldn’t inflict that on you."

"Yes you would," Nosedive interrupted. "I can see you doing that if you were having a bad day and wanted to vent on someone-"

"Enough," Wildwing said. "First, I want you two to apologize to both Tanya and Duke- which is going to require having Duke around- and then, Dive, you are going to have to make the run to the pharmacy to pick up the refill. Mallory, because you initiated this disaster, you’re getting a harsher punishment. When next you see Phil, you’re going to tell him that you’re willing to take on whatever he has in mind."

"That’s cruel and unusual punishment!" Nosedive protested. "Come on, bro, it was only a prank, a joke, a little nothing thing. Why are you torturing Mal-mal like this?"

"Do you want to go with her? It wouldn’t be as bad if there were two of you there to share the pain. But I’m sorry, locking two of your teammates in the bathroom merits some serious penance, especially when one of the teammates is completely innocent and the other is mostly innocent. Now go. The sooner you get it done, the sooner you can go hide in your den again." Wildwing smiled affectionately at his younger brother, but there was steel in his tone.

Nosedive looked at Mallory. "Sorry, girly-girl, but I’m not going anywhere near Phil. You’re on your own for this one. I’m definitely sticking to drugstore duty. Buh-bye."

With that, he left the room, and Mallory glared after him, muttering, "Traitor," under her breath. She shot the glare out to everyone else before turning on her heel to follow her fellow conspirator out the door. On the way out, she almost crashed headlong into Duke, who had been lurking outside the door. "You! What are you doing here?"

"I live here, ‘member?"

"You know what I mean. What are you doing?"

"I’m standin’, what does it look like?"

Mallory rolled her eyes. "Duke, stop it. You’re not amusing."

"Aw, ain’t that too bad? Listen, ya asked me ta get out’a the room, but ya didn’t say where I was supposed ta go. Ya have ta be careful ‘bout these thin’s, ya know?"

She hissed at him. "You are the living end, I swear! You- you- you- oh, go shove a stick where it don’t snow, okay? I’ve just about had enough of you!" With a grunt, she shoved him to the wall and stomped off on her way. He stared at her back, wondering just what he had done to deserve this treatment. Just ‘cause I decided ta listen ta what she was tellin’ the team, that don’t mean she has ta abuse me… Somehow, though, he was vaguely pleased that his opinion mattered so much to her. Stars know how much she matters ta me… why won’t she realize how much she matters ta me? In a distinct mood, he rejoined his teammates. "So what did ya do ta get on Mally’s bad side?"

"Some days, I think just being born is enough to get her mad," Wildwing sighed. "If she could just control her temper-"

"But then she wouldn’t be Mallory anymore," Tanya replied. "Ah, I mean, come on, can you imagine Mallory without her temper?"

The thought did seem a little odd, to say the least. Tanya shrugged, silently apologizing for her disturbing thought before she departed- there was some stuff in the shop she wanted to get back up and running, and since there was currently nothing going on, this would be a good time to catch up on routine maintenance.

Dreva stood up and stretched. "I am absolutely exhausted. I slept as soundly as anything last night, but I’m still tired. I think I’m going to…" She trailed off in confusion, staring vaguely up at the ceiling. Her unfocused gaze wandered to other parts of the room before she finally focused, shook herself, and muttered, "I need to catch a few winks. Would you call me if and when there’s drills?" Without waiting for an answer, she swept out of the room and to the storage space she had appropriated as her own.

The inescapable feeling came over her that she had to get out of there, she had to start running and not look back until she was farther away from that place than anyone could imagine. On her fingers, she felt the air tingling, and there was a funny taste at the tip of her tongue. Something was up, something she hadn’t felt in… well, not as long as she would have ordinarily liked. Powerful forces were gathering over Anaheim. No! It’s too soon for this, unless it’s really the one I’ve been waiting for. I hope it is. I couldn’t take it if it weren’t. She forced herself to slow her steps so that she was walking instead of running to her refuge. That instinct of dignity only lasted until the door closed, at which point she threw herself into the pile of blankets that she had amassed and shuddered.

Sometime as she hid in her fear, sleep claimed her, and had she been aware enough, she would have been grateful for the favor. It allowed her reserves to recharge; even she had her limits, and the events she had been through the day before had brought her to them.

Around noon there came a knocking on the door. "Dreva," someone called. "Hey, Dreva, you said to call when practice was up? Well, it is." Tanya opened the door and shook the brunette’s shoulder. Dreva just buried her face further in the blankets, muttering the usual formula applied when a reluctant person is being awakened. Tanya shook her again, harder this time. Slowly and with great care, Dreva rose from her little nest and glared blearily at Tanya. "Stars, what century is it? I feel like I either have slept for an eternity or that I haven’t slept at all."

"Heh, probably more like the second. It’s about eleven-fifteen. Wildwing wanted to get started with or without Mal and Nosedive." The blonde leaned against the doorframe expectantly, with her arms crossed and an impatient expression on her face.

"Don’t get in a twist, I’m coming, I’m coming. Just let me run a brush through my hair and I’ll be out. If the brush sticks, I’ll be a little longer." Dreva shooed Tanya out of the room and attacked her hair with the aforementioned hairbrush. It didn’t stick, so she joined her teammate a moment later. They changed into practice uniforms in the ladies’ locker room, hearing the silence that Mallory often filled. They knew that she was just out on a temporary road trip, but somehow it felt different, and far too quiet.

The guys were waiting for them on the ice when they left the locker room. "We’re going to try a new twist on the usual plays," Wildwing said. "I want you ladies and Grin to each take turns going through the offensive positions in the drills. Tanya, you’ve gotten stuck in the situation of changing lines, so you take the second position after Duke. Dreva, Grin, you can sort out the other two spots for yourselves." He drifted back into the net, his usual haunt, and gave the signal for everything to begin.

A little more than an hour later, Duke said, "Okay, I’m startin’ ta worry here, even Dive don’t usually take this long ta get anywhere. And Mally ain’t checked in neither, and she always does when she goes out. I don’t like this."

"That’s ridiculous." Wildwing gloved the shot and continued, "Mallory’s probably just being kept busy. As for Dive, he probably decided to hang out at the comic shop, and forgot that he has to come home. I’m not worried."

"You’re always worried," Tanya whispered.

"Sorry?"

Dreva picked up Tanya’s train of thought. "You’re always worried. It’s part of your job description. You’ve got a younger brother, and that’s an automatic stress inducer. Now, you’re also team captain. You have responsibility over your team, and the charge that was passed on to you to kick Saurian tail. Lives at stake, that’s another thing to make you crazy. But not only do you have to fulfill the mission, you have to do it on an alien planet with no guarantee that you’ll ever get home to savor the victory. In fact, your only surefire way of getting home involves making nice to your worst enemy." Dreva cut herself off. "Buried somewhere in all that verbiage I had a point. Oh. Yeah. If you weren’t worried, I would be."

Surrendering, Wildwing said, "Okay, so my worry is only at the usual background level. Now take your best shot."

As Dreva moved her stick back, she snapped, "I think you’re still lying." The puck went to the right, where Tanya stopped it before it could reach the waiting goalie. The brunette continued, "If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have me and Grin and Tanya running through the drill on the offensive side twice out of thrice. You’re afraid we’ll need to make the change."

Duke skated up to her. "Ya better stop this, kid," he warned her quietly. "Ya ain’t earned the right yet to get on his case."

She ignored him, gliding closer to Wildwing in order to better continue her harangue. "You’re afraid that you messed up. That’s one of your worst fears, isn’t it? That you’re going to make a decision and Nosedive is going to end up injured or captured or dead. And now you’re starting to worry that you made the decision already, that you’ve sent your brother right into one of those options."

Tanya blocked her forward progress. "Dreva, quit it. You’re not helping the matter any. Please stop harassing him." Dimly, the brunette was aware that she was being steadily hemmed in and back.

Still she spoke on. "He told me, Wildwing. Didn’t you hear him boasting about how much you love him, so much that you were willing to blow your big chance to get out if you couldn’t take him with you? You don’t know it, but you’ve got a big responsibility sticker on your forehead, at least in your mind, and it reads ‘it’s all my fault.’ I don’t think you think you could live with yourself if anything happened to him."

"Dreva." A deeper voice interrupted her oration. "This is completely unnecessary and cruel. You do not have to disturb him this way." The brunette looked up, realized that she was outnumbered, and decided that she didn’t feel like getting on the bad side of her seven-foot-plus teammate. Besides… well, leave it at besides for now.

"I’m sorry, Wildwing, but I just had to say it. No one else will. No one else is as-" She stopped again, completely unsure of what adjective to use to plug the gap. Blunt? Cruel? Detached? Honest? All those words went through her head, each of them possessing a whole palette of shades of meaning. Since she didn’t know what she wanted him to infer, she left the sentence dangling like an abused participle.

He squatted there silently for a long time, the expressions on his face hidden by the Mask. Finally, he said tersely, "Let’s continue this drill." Without another word said, everyone resumed their positions. There was a bitter taste coating Dreva’s tongue. You’re getting too attached, girly-girl… just listen to yourself! You’re not going to be here for very much longer, so stop worrying so much about them. You don’t belong here and you never did, despite what your traitor heart is trying to tell you. Face it, you’re not and never will be a Mighty Duck. Come to grips with the concept before reality comes up and bites you in the tenderest place.

She had hated herself for a long time now, ever since everything began to go sour, but at that very moment, she loathed herself more than she ever had before. She was out of place again, and she was going to have to leave: that was how it was and that was how it would always be. She didn’t deserve any better, not after… not after… No! I can’t go back to that! No!

An earsplitting alarm sounded loudly in the echoing confines of the rink. "Oh, come on, we were just gettin’ started here, don’t that old lizard have any sense of timin’?" Duke complained.

"I’ll say he does," Tanya replied as they headed for the computer to find out the source of the alarm. "He managed to break up that moment that was happening back there, and I guess we should be grateful for that. I can’t believe Dreva was being so- so-so-"

"Honest," Duke filled in. "It ain’t somethin’ I’d want ta admit, but she was hittin’ the nail on the head. I guess she ain’t been ‘round long enough ta get that sense’a manners that keeps the rest of us from givin’ someone a piece’a our minds. Do I like the way she said it? No way. Do I like that someone finally said somethin’? Ya better believe it, Tani."

"I hate when you’re right. You make it seem so easy, when I know it’s not."

"It’s a gift, sweetheart."

"Please stop calling me that." For starters, Mallory might get either jealous or furious, and I don’t think I could tell the difference. Besides… "It really, y’know, gets on my nerves. And, uh, you’ve spent more than enough time there today."

"Come on, Tani, I thought I ‘ready ‘splained ta ya what happened with the gel, I thought you understood."

"Let the hair gel thing die already, please," Wildwing said with an air of restrained impatience. "It’s settled, it’s taken care of, or at least it will be when Dive comes back, so just let it go."

There was nothing on the screen to merit any alarms. "Tanya, what happened?"

"I don’t know, but I’m getting sick of people messing with the computer. Does anyone have any idea of how much time and effort it takes to fix this whenever it goes down? Two false alarms in one week, this is ridic- ridi- this is insane!"

"And ya still can’t say that word, can ya?"

"Oh, would you stop already? This hasn’t been a very good day for me."

The phone rang tinnily, interrupting what looked to become yet another unpleasant moment in a morning that had been full of them. Wildwing leaped upon it. "Hello, you’ve reached the Mighty Ducks."

"Yes, I know," an oily voice rumbled at the other end. "I’ve been looking for you."

Wildwing’s gasp was heard loud and clear. "Dragaunus…" he breathed in shock and horror. "How-"

"We paid our phone bill this month," Chameleon cracked in the background.

"What do you want?"

"I think it’s more of what you want back."

"What are you trying to imply, Dragaunus?"

"Really, I’m surprised at you. I have your teammates, Wildwing- your brother and that pesky redheaded girl."

"Who are you calling pesky?" Mallory’s voice screamed from somewhere in the room. The sound was suddenly cut off, and a moment later Siege grunted in satisfaction.

"If you and your team- there are five of you left now, correct?- come unarmed to the warehouse district today, you will get your colleagues back. I warn you, though, the sooner you come, the better the condition they will be in. So delay not at your own risk, but at theirs." There was an abrupt click at the other end of the line as the phone snapped down.

Wildwing stood there shaking his head and asked quietly, "How stupid does he think we are? I mean, really, this is ridiculous."

"Are you going to share?" Dreva inquired pointedly.

"He wants us to come unarmed to the worst part of town. He claims that he’s got Mallory and Dive."

"And he didn’t make any ransom demands? He didn’t ask ya for nothin’?" Duke pressed. "I really don’t like this now. It smells fishy."

"Exactly. It probably is fishy." Wildwing could hear the voice of memory taunting in his head: "We could be falling for the old traperino…" "If he’s got that kind of leverage, why wouldn’t he use it to get the Mask? It has to be a trap. This time I’m not leading you into it. I won’t make the same mistake twice."

Dreva smacked a random table. "Maybe I just haven’t been fighting here long enough, but is Dragaunus stupid?"

"Opinions vary."

"In general, though, we find that he’s not stupid, just single-minded and occasionally blind to anything that might hinder his plans," Wildwing filled in. "What does that have to do with anything?"

The brunette shook her head. "After the lambasting I got for letting it rip before, I’m not sure I should say anything. I don’t want to be so out of order again."

"Dreva, quit fooling around."

"If Dragaunus isn’t stupid, why would he make such a bold claim and demand if he didn’t have anything to back it up? I mean, it could be a trap, of course, but if it is, it’s very badly laid and as transparent as a freshly cleaned window. Maybe he doesn’t have both of them, but I would be very surprised if he hadn’t gotten his claws on either Mal or Nosedive."

"Eh, she’s got a point, much as I hate ta say it."

"But, uh, if he does have that, um, kind of bargaining power over us, why wouldn’t he show it to us on screen? He’s patched into our comm systems before, and it would be more powerful with visual effects," Tanya pointed out. "That way, there would be no doubt, and we would definitely come."

"You’re expecting us to figure out how a megalomaniac lizard plans his evil schemes? You guys have some way of keeping track of one another, right?"

"Of course!" Tanya yelled. "The trackers in the coms and the emergency ones I planted in Mal’s launcher and Dive’s skates!" A wistful light came into her eyes as she recalled the mini-adventure that had been. She shook herself out of the reverie and started to input information into the computer. It made strange and unearthly noises for a few minutes, until a map finally came up on the giant monitor with what looked like a radioactive pimple flashing on and off on its face. "I hate to say it, I really do, but I think old scaly-butt is telling us at least part of the truth. I’m getting signals from all four trackers in the same part of Anaheim, and that part’s the warehouse district."

"And there’s no way the trackers could be removed?"

"Well, of course there is, but that would assume that they would be found, and I don’t think anyone would find them without taking apart the gear. I had to be careful putting them in, and if I was careful enough for Mal and Dive not to find them, I think they’ll slide by anyone who doesn’t know what the stuff is supposed to look like."

Wildwing did not like the conclusion that he was being forced to come to. His obsession with finding Canard had led him to bring his entire team into a trap once before, and he didn’t want to make the same mistake by sending them all after his younger brother. At the same time, he knew, he walked a fine line between risking the body of the team and risking Nosedive and Mallory, although he was forced to admit that Mallory’s presence on that side of the argument didn’t weight his opinion much one way or the other. The question before him was painfully and almost obscenely simple: did he let two of his teammates suffer in order to protect the majority, or did he cave in to their hated enemy’s demands?

"Wildwing, what are we waitin’ for? Tani made sure’a what we needed ta know, so why on any planet are we still standin’ here like a bunch’a lost ducklin’s?"

Wildwing suddenly got the distinct and uncomfortable feeling that he was being watched. He turned his head to see Dreva staring at him intently, her amber eyes alight with an eerie glow. What was that word again, eldritch? Sounds about right for her as well as for Andy. She spoke quietly, and once again her words were devastating. "You’re scared again, aren’t you? The two most important things left in your life have both just demanded your attention, and you’re not sure you can give both of them a fair share. I don’t think you’re even sure how much a fair share would be to each. Am I getting close here?"

"Are you reading my mind?"

"I wouldn’t do that, Wildwing. But I have- or had- younger brothers, and I’ve been in charge in other places, and sometimes the two responsibilities have overlapped. And I find that that is one of the worst places in the world to be- right in between the rock and the hard place."

"So while you’re dispens- dis- giving out your pearls of wisdom, what do you think we should do?" Tanya asked tartly.

Dreva recoiled from the bitterness in Tanya’s voice and replied, "If I was in that situation, I tended to use the rock to get me out of the hard place. I don’t think that’s going to work here, though. I don’t think, however, that leaving Mallory and Nosedive in captivity is really a good idea. However, I do understand your concerns about the possibility of a trap. In my deeply considered opinion, I think we should go for it."

"Second that," Duke agreed immediately.

"We cannot leave them in Saurian hands; what would happen to them can only be imagined by one with a cruelly warped mind and soul."

"However, I don’t know if sending the entire team in at once would be a good idea. If you absolutely can’t live without all of us surrounding you, fine, but I think at least two should stay back of the main party. That way, in case things go sour, there’s a backup team ready to pick up the pieces and rebuild something. If I may also be so bold as to suggest it, I think you should be one of the backup people."

"Are you a few feathers short, Dreva?" Wildwing exclaimed. "In case you haven’t noticed, that’s my brother who might be in mortal peril here. You want me to stay behind?"

"You’re irreplaceable, and so is the Mask."

"We’re all irreplaceable, Dreva, perhaps even you. I’m not going to put anyone on this team at risk because I’m hiding like a coward."

"Besides, Dragaunus will be, ah, expecting him, at the very least. Sure, he might be, um, hoping for all of us, but he knows for certain that Wildwing would come at the faintest hint of Dive’s presence." Tanya met Dreva’s gaze with commendable aplomb. "Do you really think I want to put our team captain at risk? But I think if we’re going to have any hope of pulling this off, we’ll need him to do this."

Dreva sighed. If only the Saurians hadn’t spotted me, there are so many things that I could have done to solve this without getting any of the team in danger- well, other than me, but I think it’s already been established that I’m not really a part of this team. I’m just visiting to make everyone’s lives slightly easier and more interesting. Fire and ice! It just doesn’t seem fair that I have power that I can’t use because if I use it, I’ll have to do so much explaining and be so beholden to people that not only might I not as well have it, I’d be the better for not having it. The bitter half-smile that altered her expression was a mystery to the other ducks. Then again, how often have I thought that over these years?

"Dreva, are you all right?" Grin asked gently. "You seem bothered by something."

"Observant of you," she replied. "It’s not something that anything can be done about, though, it’s a long time in the past." Longer than you would conceive of. "It doesn’t matter right now, though. We need to put our heads together and come up with a plan of action with minimal risk and maximum possibility of success."

"Double team. Some of us can go in as decoys, while the other two or three try to sneak into the Raptor. It’s like Tanya said, Dragaunus isn’t honestly expecting all of us to cave to his crazy demands, so he won’t be quite as surprised when some of the team isn’t along for the ride."

"You, however, have no intent- inten- int- idea of being one of the sneakers, do you? Who do you have in mind?" Tanya asked.

"I was thinking that the sub-team comprise Duke, Dreva, and you."

Tanya shook her head angrily. "Wildwing, I’ll stand with you, no matter the jeopar- jeo- danger. Besides, I’m no good at sneaking around, I stick out like a sore thumb." With a nervous chuckle, she ran her hand straight up through her proud blonde ponytail.

"Now ain’t that touchin’?" Duke drawled sarcastically.

"Oh, what do you know about it?" Tanya demanded all a-fluster.

"More than ya might think." Oh yeah, lots more than ya might think, ‘specially if old Lizard Lips really does have Mally. But I ain’t ‘bout ta tell nobody ‘bout that ‘cept maybe her, and that’s only if she’s ever goin’ ta listen ta me. Which ain’t likely, knowin’ her the way I like ta think I do.

"Am I going to have to put you in separate corners like schoolings? Stop acting like you haven’t been able to stand each other for the last four years. It’s silly, it’s absurd, and it’s obstructive. We have to think of a way to make this work out." Wildwing sat down at the nearest table, rolled out a large piece of paper, and grabbed a pencil. "I’ll start taking suggestions now, if you’re not too busy having at each other to give them."

Tanya looked up for inspiration and finally said, "Maybe you shouldn’t, um, have the real Mask on you. I’m pretty sure that the Saurians don’t know how to tell the difference between the real thing and a good fake, and I think I can put together a really good fake. I mean, it’s bad enough to risk losing you, but losing the Mask as well would be unaccept-unacc- un- really, really bad."

"You’re implying that it’s not going to work."

"I have to expect the worst, that way I can be pleasantly surprised when it all works out fine." And because thinking about losing you makes me all the more determined not to. "It’s also my job as the tech person in this group to be the pessimist, because machinery never works the way it’s supposed to. I’m going in with you on this, and that’s probably one of the most important reasons why I want this to go off just right. It’s my tailfeathers I’m protecting as much as yours."

"Yeah, ya just keep tellin’ yaself that, ‘kay, Tani?" Duke said lazily. Once again she shot him a glare, but both of them had had enough of the fighting. Nervously, Tanya looked over at Wildwing, but he was thoroughly lost in thought. Once again, he was the only one who didn’t notice her, the way it always was, and the way it always will be, she finished mentally, with a bitterness that would have surprised her teammates if they could hear her. Why did he refuse to understand? It was completely beyond her.

"We must hurry, if Dragaunus is to be believed," Grin reminded them, yanking them all back into a semblance of common sense. Wildwing looked at him gratefully, glad that someone else was keeping their mind on the problem at hand. I know I can’t. I’m too much into it. I can’t think straight when Dive’s the one in danger. Fire and ice, maybe Canard was right about taking him. Too late now to change that, though, isn’t it? Nice of you to seriously think about it a few years later with Dive’s life on the line. You should have thought about that before you took on the captaincy of this team. You should have thought about it before you decided to go on this mission with your old friend.

A hand on his shoulder surprised him out of his reverie. He half-expected it to be Dreva with her unexpectedly cutting comments, but it was Tanya instead. Behind the glasses, her eyes were unreadable, but she looked pretty concerned. "Wherever you are, please get out of there," she pleaded quietly. "It doesn’t look like a very good place to be." Was it his imagination, or was she blushing? It had to be his imagination. Why would she be turning red with a line like that, beyond the relative triteness of it?

"You’re right, Tanya. And so is Grin. We’ve got to do whatever it is that we’re going to do as soon as is avianly possible. Duke, Dreva, you figure out what you want to do for your stealth mode exercises. If you need to know any details, ask whoever you need to ask."

As Wildwing spoke, he cast a nervous eye at the clock. It was twelve-forty, according to its faintly archaic system of Roman numerals. He was made all too keenly aware of the passing time.

"This is all your stupid, airheaded, half-brained fault!" Mallory screamed.

"How? It’s not like I kidnapped us and am now holding us in captivity, now is it?"

"Going after Duke’s hair gel was all your idea, Nosedive, now stop trying to pull my tail." Mallory twisted her beak into a cruel parody of a half-smile. "There’s too many volunteers for the job already waiting in the wings, anyway. You’d have to stand in line."

"I’ve been having to put up with your griping longer than they have, I should get to go in front of them. Besides, you were the one who wanted to go after Duke, because you thought you had a bone to pick with him. So don’t go pinning this on me, okay? If you want to play the blame game, I can play it just as well as you. Personally, though, I’d rather take this up with you somewhere other than here, if you don’t mind."

Mallory found herself laughing against her will. "I don’t mind at all, but I think Lizard Lips and friends might, just a little. After all, look at all the trouble they went to to make sure we had the pleasure of their company. Would we really want to make it all worth nothing?" She waited for the response.

"That’s the stuff, Mal-mal. If you don’t know what to do, make fun of it. That way, you’re getting something or another out of the whole mess."

"Is that why you’re always wisecracking? Because you don’t know what you’re doing?"

"I don’t have to answer that question," Nosedive blustered. "You’re so nosy, Mallory, honestly."

"I think you should answer the question. What are you going to do? Go find your brother and report me to him? It’s just you and me and a bunch of really unfriendly Saurians."

"So we should be nice to each other, shouldn’t we?"

Mallory shrugged, although she knew he couldn’t see the gesture. "Does it really matter, Dive? Does it?"

"You really are cruel." There was silence for a long moment, then he reluctantly admitted, "You know what I miss most right now? My book."

"You were reading something other than one of your endless comic stash? Stop the presses."

"Mook turned me on to this totally wacky fantasy series called Discworld. People like to think it has nothing to do with reality, but I’ve been reading it and I know better. It’s just like Earth, only even stranger."

"I find that hard to believe. This is a pretty strange planet."

He surprised her by not answering for a long time. Then she heard a tapping on the wall next to her. ‘Mal u understand? Over.’

Her eyebrows rose. ‘Copy. When u learn?’ she replied in the same Morse code.

‘But u and everyone luv me anyway, don’t u?’ Nosedive’s reply had all the insolence that a series of knocks on the wall of a cell could deliver. Aloud, he continued the thread of their last conversation. "You’d be surprised at the depths of this guy’s insanity, you really would. I honestly think this guy would see nothing strange in our lives. It’s so completely wacky and it’s so much fun. If I ever get back to my room, I’ll loan you the first one, it’s somewhere under my bed."

Mallory shuddered. "If it’s been under your bed, I want nothing to do with it. There are entire species that have evolved under there." With her feet, she was adding, ‘Should we wait 4 the team?’

"It’s not that bad." ‘They’re not expecting us back yet, they won’t b looking. Might b 2 long a wait.’

"Really. That’s not what I’ve heard from your brother." ‘Wish I could call 4 help.’

‘Wishes won’t cut ice here.’ "Wing likes to make fun of me. It’s one of his flaws. Come to think of it, it’s his only really glaring flaw."

"I can’t see how it’s a flaw, you’re such an easy target to make fun of." ‘If I had a hairpin, could make mincemeat of this stupid cell. And would luv launcher.’

"If you’re not going to say anything intelligent, don’t say anything at all. I’m not easy to make fun of. I’m perfect just the way I am. If I weren’t, you wouldn’t put up with me the way you do."

"What, by making fun of you and wishing you weren’t here?"

"Here as in Earth, here as in ever meeting you, or here as in this ship? Because as for the last one, I wish I weren’t here either." ‘I think I found something, not sure what, though. Seems like there’s a gap of some kind. Going to try to pry at it and see what comes up.’

"Sometimes Earth. Sometimes I wish I had never met you." ‘Good luck. And most of the time I don’t regret knowing u.’

"You’re so sweet, you really are. Now I feel this powerful urge to throw up. I wonder why." The loud noise of disgust that Nosedive made was partially faked, partially real, and mostly emitted to cover up the sounds he was making prying up the panel of the floor. ‘Nada,’ he reported sadly. ‘Just more floor. Thought it was worth a shot, but it really wasn’t.’

"We’re completely and totally SOL, aren’t we?" Mallory sighed loudly.

It hadn’t taken too long for the team to get together and drive out to the warehouse district. Duke and Dreva spent the entire ride debating stealth methods that Wildwing wasn’t sure he wanted to know about from his team. Tanya busied herself trying to draw blueprints of the Raptor from memory and the few schematics she had in her Omnitool’s memory. Grin, of course, meditated. For the first time all day, Wildwing wondered if he was doing the right thing, dragging Tanya and Grin into the trap along with him. He knew Dragaunus wanted to lure him in, and hoped that he could snare the rest of the ducks. Did he have the right to bring two of his teammates along for the ride?

"Anyone who would like to back out of this, speak now, please. I’m not going to force anyone-"

Tanya and Dreva exchanged a look that was intensely female. "Are you still riding that tired old horse, Wildwing?" Dreva demanded sharply.

"If you’re, um, trying to delicat- deli- hint that you’d like to do this, um, yourself, you can, ah, just forget that. These are our teammates too, y’know? We’re a team."

"It would be wrong for you to do this alone, Wildwing. One for all and all for one."

"And where he heard the Three Musketeers, I don’t want ta know, but he’s got the idea, Wildwing. Ya ain’t goin’ ta do this by yaself, no matter how much ya want ta. I know I ain’t goin’ in ta the trap with ya, but that don’t mean I don’t care what’s goin’ on in it."

"We’ve arrived," Wildwing said, ignoring the support as best he could; it didn’t befit a team captain to cry in front of his team, and the unqualified backing they were giving him was enough to make even a man weep.

They got out of the vehicle. Their chosen destination was actually about a block away from where Tanya had indicated the Raptor to be. This gave Duke and Dreva the opportunity to do their sneaking thing; it also allowed them to keep the Migrator out of immediate danger in case it came down to a fight. They whispered words of good luck to each other, then separated into their two groups. Wildwing, Tanya, and Grin continued on into the jaws of the enemy, while Duke and Dreva kept to the shadows and went around the back way.

"Are you scared?" Wildwing suddenly asked Tanya.

"Who, me? No, I couldn’t be better. I’m fine, really, I’m good, I’m comfortable, I’m dealing well. I’ve never felt more relaxed in my life."

"Then why are you babbling?"

She opened her beak to reply, but no words seemed willing to come out. He had cut her deeply with that remark, and it sickened her almost to know that he didn’t know. She knew he wouldn’t speak that way if he realized he was causing her that kind of pain; as it was, she would hate for him to know, because the knowledge of her pain would hurt him, so it went in a vicious cycle.

Their quiet steps led them finally to the gaping maw of the Raptor. "This is the big one, team. You ready?"

"Is there any other way?" Grin wondered.

"Nope!" Chameleon popped up suddenly in a green blur, for once not doing one of his highly irritating impersonations. "It’s our way or the highway, feather-brains, and it’s dangerous out there on the highway. Come on in, we’ve been expecting you."

"Shut up, would you?" Wildwing asked testily.

Chameleon grinned wickedly. "Be nice, or your brother’s dinner meat, and that redheaded chick too. We’ve got the power here, and I shouldn’t have to tell you that, unless you’re as stupid as I thought." He held out a hand that blurred and turned into a large basket even as the ducks watched. "Please check your weapons at the door, it’s terribly rude to come to someone’s place with weapons."

"Not until I see my brother."

"Did you really think we were going to ask you here and actually give you back your teammates? Foolish fowl!" the voice of Dragaunus boomed. A port opened in the side of the mighty ship, showing Mallory and Nosedive trussed up in their separate cells. Nosedive’s face seemed to literally fall as he saw his brother below. "Aw, man," he groaned. "He came for us, the stupid idiot." ‘What now? We r screwed.’

"He’s team captain, he thinks it’s his duty to do this." ‘Dreva n Duke aren’t there. Wing has something up his sleeve.’

‘Not the point.’ She would have glared at him had he been in the room. As it was, she gave the wall a dirty look. Wonderful. We’ve been captured by Dragaunus, half of our team has come after us, and I’ve got to put up with his wisecracking via Morse code. Why on Earth, or Puckworld, or on any planet, does this have to happen to me? Why can’t someone else get tortured the way I do? I’m getting sick of it! She threw her hands in the air with exasperation. Her eyes were dark with anger and with fear.

Down below, Wildwing demanded, "I want my teammates back. We made a deal, now honor your half of it."

"I asked for your entire team, Wildwing," Dragaunus growled. "I don’t see your entire team here. Until I do, you and the two you were kind enough to bring here will stay with us."

"I don’t know where they are!" Wildwing protested. It was a true enough statement, since he had separated from the dynamic duo before coming to the Raptor. "Don’t you think I want my brother back? I would do anything in my power to bring him back." The pain he expressed was all real. Everything hinged on being able to convince the Saurians of the fallacy that he couldn’t control a good part of his team so that they would not come when he called. It was a desperate, half-baked gamble, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t going to work. The harsh lines of the Raptor seemed to taunt him with the knowledge of what they contained.

Dragaunus imperiously waved a claw to the upper reaches of his ship. The cell doors opened, and there was a flash of hope in Wildwing’s eyes. That died quickly, though, when a pair of drones stepped through each doorway with weapons poised. "Very well, then. You leave me no choice."

Unbeknownst to each other, although they probably could have guessed, the brothers shared a very theatrical gulp. Nosedive gingerly crossed his fingers that for once Wildwing wouldn’t do something heroic and big-brotherly and completely mess up the team. Shyeah, I should know better than that by now, shouldn’t I? Whenever I get my tail in trouble, Wing totally forgets that Mask he’s wearing and turns into superbro to the rescue. Maybe that’s why Canard didn’t want me along for the ride. I mean, besides the fact he was a big jerk. Maybe he just wanted Wing to be free to do whatever he wanted.

Man, that’s crazy talk. I really don’t think Canard was going into this expecting Wing to have to take charge of this crew. Still makes you think, though, don’t it, Divester? Cheerfully, he said to both himself and the drones behind him, "I’ve got to stop talking to myself like this. I could make myself crazy if I’m not careful. Oh. Too late." Mallory’s snickering was all too audible. It couldn’t take his mind off the decision his brother was stuck on down below. He had the very bad feeling that Wildwing was about to something stupid, and short of screaming at the top of his lungs, there was nothing he could do to affect it. Even that probably wouldn’t help, because the drones would shoot him into Swiss duck, or would that be duck cheese? It didn’t matter. Whatever it was, he wouldn’t be around to find out the answer. Plus his teammates would still be screwed, and that all around sucked, at least in his viewpoint.

Sure enough, Wildwing lived up to expectations. "You win, Dragaunus." He shifted out of his battle gear before dropping the whole mess into Chameleon’s waiting basket. Tanya added the launcher she had brought as insurance, then very reluctantly included her Omnitool in the package. A long moment passed before Wildwing took off the fake Mask he had finally been persuaded to wear. He had to make it seem convincing. His only worry about that acting job was that removing the "Mask" too slowly might provoke Dragaunus to do away with Mallory and Nosedive. It seemed to work out for the best, though.

The best adjective he could find for the way he felt at that moment was naked. He was unarmed and Maskless against his sworn enemy. At least the first time they had fought he had had his armor, even if he hadn’t yet been bequeathed the Mask. Now he was out of options, and he hated it completely. I’ve let you down. Again. Why does everyone think I’m such a good leader when all I do is get this team into life-threatening situations? I wish this wasn’t my job. I always have wished that, since the last time Canard handed me the Mask. Now I’ve led the team into a situation untenable at best and deadly at worst. Now we’re all relying on the talents of a former thief and a mysterious newcomer who handles a sword and doesn’t reveal much of anything to anyone. Not good.

As they were herded into the remaining cells in the Raptor, Tanya brushed his arm and whispered as softly as she could, "Don’t blame yourself, it’s useless and leaves you like you aren’t worth anything."

"But I’m not, not all that much."

"You are," she replied firmly. "I have absolute faith in that. Let me be the optimist for once and say that things are going to be okay, okay?" She smiled faintly at him just before they were roughly separated.

Somehow the support made Wildwing feel even worse. Not only was he screwing up, but he was doing so with the good opinion of his team. For a moment that he would never reveal to anyone, no matter the circumstance, he hoped that Duke and Dreva failed and left the team in the lurch. For that secret moment, he wanted to die like he never had before. Only the knowledge that perhaps the other four ducks in the fix didn’t share his sentiments kept him from blowing the metaphorical whistle on the plan.

He heard a pounding on the side of the cell. Listlessly, he said, "The door’s over the other side, go knock on that, okay?" Something an awful lot like an exasperated teenager scroaning came from the other side of the wall. (A/N: for non-Spider Robinson readers, a scroan is a combination between a scream and a groan. You may now return to your regularly scheduled fanfic.)

"Only one of us is supposed to be brilliantly witty in this family, and I’ll give you a hint- it’s not you." The voice was familiar, and Wildwing dared to hope that the Saurians had actually managed to put him next to his brother.

"Nosedive? Is that you?"

"No, it’s his evil twin from another dimension."

"Okay, you’ll do in a pinch."

"I am so hurt."

"What? I’m desperate. As long as you can play left wing, you’ll do."

"Uh-huh. If that was the case, what are you doing here?"

"Chilling, as they say."

"Quit it, Wing. Street talk just sounds so wrong coming from you. I mean, we really are white boys."

"You may be a boy."

"Then what are you, big bro?"

"Old enough to be a drake. Now behave yourself. We are at someone’s house."

"Or you’ll do what, tell mom on me? Bro, I don’t think that’s an option in the big brother menu anymore. Make another selection."

Wildwing laughed, completely unable to believe that just a minute or so ago, he wanted to give up the fight. "Give me a second, Dive, give me a second."

"Ummm… you’re going to tell me that all this brilliant banter is a clever disguise for an escape attempt of great daring and ingenuity, right?"

"I’d hate to disappoint you, baby bro."

"Oh, ice, it isn’t, is it?"

Meanwhile, the remaining pair of ducks, on whose shoulders rested the great responsibility of making the plan work, regarded the Raptor from a nearby shadowed rooftop. "Ya know this probably ain’t goin’ ta go off the way we want it ta, right?"

"Does anything ever?" she replied sardonically. "All we need it to do is get everyone out of there in one piece, along with one of us and preferably both. It would be nice if it went off without a hitch, but I’d be happy with a well-hitched plan that didn’t have a major blooper."

"So ya got any ideas on how ta crack that tin can? I got a couple’a notions, personally, but I want ta know what ya thinkin’."

Oh, yeah, I’ve got ideas, but to use them would be absolutely the stupidest thing I’ve done in a long time. She looked clinically at the target and finally admitted, "I think it’s going to have to be an inside job, because I can’t see a way for us to blow all the cells without attracting too much unwanted attention to ourselves. We’ve already used the decoy thing, too. I think we were actually supposed to be working while Wildwing shot the shit with that oversized suitcase."

"He knows not ta hurry a pro," Duke answered absently. "We’ve been workin’ together for years now, he knows I know what I’m doin’."

I could do this by myself, Dreva realized. Hell, I could do this better by myself- sure, I might have to explain later, but later is always better than now. With him, I’d have to explain now, which I happen to think is major suckiness. Pro he may be, but in some things, he doesn’t have anything on me. Then again, getting permission to go solo would mean a lot of present tense explanation, which is very equally bad. That’s it. If I stay here past tomorrow, I’ll lay all my cards on the table and screw the so-called consequences. It’s not like they haven’t been exposed to some of the cold hard truth already. Aloud, she said, "Have you ever had to sneak inside that thing before?"

He grinned at her with mischief glinting in his one good eye. "Thought ya’d never ask."

"You arrogant son of a-" She choked off the string of invective she had been ready to hurl at him. "And when were you going to share that you had a route in?"

"When ya told me what ya thought might work," he replied calmly. "It ain’t no way for a rookie ta go, and I had ta know if ya know what ya doin’ ‘fore I took ya through there. Ya just got here- ain’t nice ta kill the new girl ‘fore she’s been here long."

"I’ll kill you later," she mock-threatened warmly. "So what is your alternate route?"

He told her. She blinked twice, then said, "Okay. Heh, some days you wish you hadn’t asked, don’t you?"

"Yeah, usually when it involves Nosedive and a taco."

"Sounds like a situation where nobody wants to know." They shared a laugh, and then, as if by mutual agreement, went silent. I can't believe this, this is undoubtedly the craziest, stupidest thing I've ever done in my life… well, except for the time when I tried to prank Shaya while she was cooking, and when I told Tacy's husband the Rangers sucked, and when I tried to get between the boys and a batch of donuts- oh, okay, it's the stupidest thing I've done this week… well, except for when I almost spilled the beans to Chameleon, of all beings. It's definitely the stupidest, craziest thing I've done all day, though. Nothing else on the day holds a candle to it, although telling Wildwing off might definitely rank up there.

He raised his wrist and deftly and delicately fired a grappling hook. With his other hand, he gallantly gestured for her to take the lead. She gave him a mildly dirty look, but climbed up the rope until she was standing sideways on the Raptor's side. "I love these suction cups," she whispered proudly. "Care to join me?"

His only answer was the retraction of his hook to bring him up to her level. Silently he indicated to her that she should follow him down the side of the enemy ship. So what did you do with your day? Oh, I followed the retired greatest thief ever to hit Puckworld up into the engines of a working spaceship in order to help our disarmed teammates escape the clutches of a megalomaniac giant lizard. Man, if I still had a dinner table to relate this fable to, no one would believe it. The brunette shrugged mentally and followed her teammate's lead until they reached the bottom of the engines. She kept lookout while he figured out how to get through the vent at the bottom. He had almost gotten it off when she tapped him on the shoulder. He looked irritably back at her, but when she pointed out the hulking figure of Siege in the distance lumbering towards them, his expression changed and he bit off a couple of curses before the sound could give them away.

He put a hand to his shoulder for his saber, but she shook her head, silently telling him that she could take care of the Saurian muscle. His eye showed skepticism, but that wouldn't stop her from taking one of her own blades in hand and going off. A few minutes later she returned, with an unexpected shadow in her eyes. "Is he dead?" Duke whispered softly.

Dreva shook her head. "I had to resort to measures I don't usually use, though. He'll still be around to pester us in the future." She sheathed her swords quickly and asked, "Found it yet?"

He nodded. "Ya gave me the time." He unfastened the thing and laid it quietly on the ground. This time he took the lead and she followed with more than a little trepidation that something would go wrong in more ways than one. It had almost happened when Siege almost surprised them; it had almost happened a few days before when Wraith had aroused an almost-forgotten side of her. She still lived on the blade's edge with every move she made. Everything hinged on the almosts, the maybes, and the what ifs. One false step in any direction would be the end of her and the character she so assiduously played. But she knew that there was only so far she could carry the pretense in a life-or-death situation. Well, let's just hope that a life-or-death situation doesn't come up, hunh, girly-girl?

So what happens if you-know-who gets himself into a tight squeeze and the only way to save him is to reveal everything that you've been hiding from them? Dreva set her teeth and ignored the taunting thought that spoke in her sister's voice. Whatever would be was fated, and worrying about it would only dull her senses at a time when they needed to be at their sharpest.

As the last piece of that thought clicked into place, he looked back at her. It was obvious that he had been waiting for her for at least half a minute, which was equivalent to eternity in an operation this delicate. She knew that there would be a lecture at the end, and it wouldn't be delivered anywhere where the rest of the team could hear, so she would have no one to turn to and less ways to cover in case she made a mistake.

Not for the first time that day, he wondered what was up with her. She had been distracted the whole way up, as he could tell by the occasional clanks she made when she was otherwise nearly as quiet as he was. And then there was that incident with Siege. He still didn't understand what had happened there, but he was bound and determined to get the truth out of her sometime soon. I mean, come on, I'm the mysterious one'a the bunch, she's hornin' in on my turf! He continued to wait for her. Finally she nodded to indicate her readiness. He slithered into a side passage, and she followed, the fear still stalking her amber eyes.

Something crawled under her hand, and it took everything she had to control a shriek from coming out. He glanced back, murmured, "Lizard," and continued on. Her gorge rising steadily, she started crawling again, with the adamant determination that this absolutely had to reflect positively on her karma. I will not give in to the temptation to do this the easy way. I will not give in to the temptation to do this the easy way, I will keep creeping through this disgusting passageway behind someone who's had years of experience in doing this and knows far more about me than he should. She busied herself in noting the details of the passage- its width, its height, its color, and the number of denizens it had.

In the back of her mind, she heard something searching, questing for the presence of its enemy. So much for disdaining the magic of their ancestors. Wraith's got a spell set on this back door. I should be able to take care of this without even breaking my stride. He's no match for me on sheer Talent; it's only when he takes me by surprise that he's got the advantage. She concentrated on the spell, pushing it away with her fading power. As she got it away, something stronger hit her hard and fast. The double. Of course. I should have seen it coming. If I wasn't so out of practice… no time for that, though, you've got to take care of this before Duke notices and wants to know what's going on, and this is definitely not a good time to explain. On two fronts, then, she fought the Saurians, and the stress was going to get to her any second.

Duke was starting to worry. Not only had her movement slowed and gotten noisier, she was moaning. Quietly, to be sure, but in the duct, every sound was amplified, and they couldn't afford even the slightest error. Their team's lives were resting on getting this right, and by extension, so was the fate of the planet. Yeah, stress, just what ya need ta get this right, right? How many more, should be three, but in this piece'a junk, ya can never be sure. There's one, there's two, so three should be comin' up, and would she quit that racket?

He risked a look back and did not like what he saw. She had stopped dead a few feet back, and as far as he could tell, her face had lost all color except that from her feathers, and there was sweat dripping from her. What scared him the most was that she seemed to be in flux, shimmering like a mirage. "Dreve, ya good?" he asked her nervously.

"Yeah. Wraith left a couple of booby traps, and they're giving me a little bit of trouble. I should have them soon. Can you wait?"

He acquiesced reluctantly, watching her work. Somehow he sensed that she was as skilled at this work, whatever it was, as he was in thieving. He recognized the strain between her eyes and the tension strumming along her body. He knew the pressure she was coping with, and was aware that she wouldn't break, merely bend. Still, it seemed like forever when she finally gave him the courtesy of telling him she was done. The stress still showed on her face, but she ignored it and motioned to him that he should go on to the opening that was their destination.

He retraced his steps to finish at the vent that would let them out into the hall. His glance back met her eyes and her impatience to get going. So he climbed through the hole, landing silently on the balls of his feet. A moment later, she came down beside him, nearly as quiet. Only a second was needed for him to get his bearings before he took a sharp right. She trailed along behind him, with both her swords out and ready for action. At the same time, she had every sense on high alert, because she had a good idea of how Wraith's mind worked, and it had occurred to her that he might have set more traps for them.

The moment still seemed more than a little surreal to her, even considering the adventures she had been through before. She was used to being the one in the lead, the one on whose shoulders the responsibility fell. Taking second place was alien to her. Yet here she was, following someone who had only been legend to her just a week ago into the bowels of an alien spaceship. I thought I had learned not to trust any more… glad to know it's not so. I've only been here a week, and these people are already my team. I can't let them down. It's not even remotely the same, but maybe this can be the beginning of my penance for screwing up my last chance. Thoughts of her family and the way she had failed them caused the bile to rise up in the back of her throat and the feelings of self-loathing to mirror it.

He stopped short, almost causing her to fall to the cold metal floor. Anticipating her confusion, he pointed out the nearby control panel and the drones guarding it. The subdued good humor lurking in his dark eye and its artificial counterpart said volumes to her: "Goin' in there might not be the smartest thing, ya know?"

For most folks, she thought sardonically. If only I could reveal what I've got on me, I could take those guys out sixteen and a half ways from Sunday. Unless… that's it! Ooh, you're so good, chica! She leaned in close to him and whispered, "I've got a plan. Do you remember the holoemitter Tanya built a couple of years back? She was tinkering with it that night we were working on the contacts. I just found it in my pocket, and it's giving me an idea."

He caught on quickly, to his credit, and gave her a long 'have you lost your mind' look. They waged a mute war of wills until he finally surrendered, fixing her with the 'I'm not explaining this if it goes wrong' look before shooing her onward. She took a deep breath, then strode out, timing everything so carefully that it looked like Dragaunus was really entering the jail area.

"Come to gloat, lizard lips?" Wildwing yelled. "You'll never win!"

Under the protective cloak of the new and improved holoemitter, Dreva smiled, and dropped her voice into the deep, booming range of the Saurian Overlord. "I've already won, Wildwing, you just don't realize it." She moved to the panel that controlled the cell doors, made sure that she had it protected from anyone else's entry, and started blasting drones. "Those blasted things always got on my last nerve anyway," she growled. "Now that we're all alone here…"

"Put a cork in it, scaly-butt!" Nosedive suggested rudely. "C'mon, give us your best shot!"

"Has anyone ever told you that you need to grow up? Your petty behavior becomes tiresome with so much repetition." Dreva's fingers leaped over the keys as she puzzled out the code used to lock and unlock the cells. Her brain sped at its highest speed, knowing that time was of the essence. Behind her, not knowing what was going on, Nosedive heckled her. Mallory, Wildwing, and even Tanya joined him. I need this like I need a hole in the head, Dreva decided. She plunged deeper into her work.

She had it! With fingers not in the least discomfited by the long use they had been put to, she tapped the sequence into the keypad and heard the creaky doors swing open. She let her ears handle major sensory input; they informed her that her teammates were at first leery of the chance they had been offered, but had then rushed out of the cells en masse and were ready to tackle her. She eagerly awaited the bum rush, knowing that it would at last reveal the game she had been playing with them. However, she had underestimated just how much it would hurt having most of the team dogpile on her. "OUCH!" she informed them in her own voice.

"You do impressions now?" Mallory asked tartly. "What's going on here?"

"Shut up, get your tailfeathers out of my face, and follow me, would you? We don't have much time until the jig goes vertical." Doubtfully, the ducks unpiled until Dreva was alone on the floor. "A little help here?" When none was forthcoming, she raised herself up, dusted herself off, and started tapping the walls until one section swung open to reveal a secret cabinet containing the basket of weaponry.

"Why are you doing this?"

"To be honest, I'm starting to wonder the same thing, Tani," Dreva replied angrily. "I pull your tails out of the fire, and this is the treatment I get?"

Duke's low laughter finally ended the game for good. "Ya just can't take a hint, can ya? Now come on, we're goin' ta have ta take the hard way out'a here." The basket was passed around, and everyone claimed what was theirs. Mallory gratefully accepted Tanya's insurance launcher, but Nosedive spent valuable time pouting over his lack of armament before Wildwing got him moving.

They almost made it out safely, too. They were about three or four turns away from the nearest exit when a pack of drones suddenly broke from cover and fired away. In their midst were Siege and Chameleon, happily firing away and whooping it up. "Man, those two creepasauri totally suck!" Nosedive exclaimed. "Someone give me a launcher, I need to blow something up!"

"You sound like Mally," Duke complained.

"Yeah, but you have to admit, she does the little pink dress thing way better than I ever could, no matter how lovable I am."

"Okay, that was way too much information," Dreva declared. "Here, borrow this if you need to start shooting at something. Just remember to give it back when you're done, okay? If you don't, really bad and really weird things are going to happen."

"Aw, come on, Dreva, what could be weirder than this?"

"Dive, I don't have time to give you the whole list; let's just say it can totally get stranger than this without the universe even breaking a sweat. Just catch!" Dreva shifted her blade of light into a launcher and passed it to Nosedive. The smile on his face as he took aim and joined the battle was so heart-rendingly familiar to Dreva that it took a sizable amount of control for her to keep her head in the fight.

It was a hard-fought skirmish, and there were moments when more than one of the ducks thought that the end was near. But after all the drones were defeated, Siege and Chameleon lost interest in pursuing the fight and teleported away in green shimmers. "That's just tacky. I mean, come on, this is their own place, they should at least know how to use the door, right?" Wildwing looked back at the team for confirmation of his quip, but it wasn't as well received as he thought it was going to be. "Okay, whatever. Let's just get out of here before the rest of the squad shows up and decides to finish the job."

Duke led the way through some of the more winding and secret passages of the Raptor that not even the Saurians remembered were there. His instincts were as good as they had ever been, and there were no more run-ins with lizards or their mechanical flunkies. The only problem the team had was with Nosedive's constant references to the trip as a hide-and-seek game. Mallory had threatened to kill him twice and maim him three more times for good measure by the time they were out into fresh air.

"Gotta love that clean Anaheim breeze," Tanya wheezed, fanning a hand in front of her face. "I think I'm allergic to about twenty things here."

"Suffer later, run now," Nosedive suggested cheekily.

She tossed him an irritated look. "There's, ah, something bothering me about all this," she whispered to him. "I could have sworn that I put the projector away when we were done with it? So how did she come to have it? I mean, I don't want to think she was stealing from my lab, but that's, y'know, the only ex-explan- reason I can think up."

"Maybe you didn't put it away," he suggested. "That's happened to me. I think I've left something on a table or something, and when I come back, it's not there. And then I turn around and it's there right behind me where I should have been looking but I didn't. You get it?"

"I think so. But, y'know, that doesn't explain how she got it. I know for sure that I didn't give it to her. Something's really bugging me about her. It's getting sort of into my feathers, if you know what I mean."

"Of course I know what you mean. Wing says that about me all the time." Nosedive shrugged. "Tanya, it's not like you can do something about it now. I mean, you can take it up with her later, but let's face it, she saved our tails with that thing. I honestly don't care how she got it, as long as she got us out of there."

"Is there a special exemption from cooking on nights when you've been taken prisoner?" Mallory inquired of Wildwing. He shook his head in negation. "I should have known. This is turning into an absolute disaster of a day. I get kidnapped, I have to put up with Nosedive wisecracking in Morse code, and now I have to cook for seven. Why do these things always happen to me?"

"Because you hate them," Dreva explained with as straight a face as she could manage. "That's the way fate, destiny, and other sorts of furture planning work- they find out exactly what you hate to do, then make sure you have to do it at least one a year every year of your life."

"You are too cynical for your years," Grin rumbled disapprovingly. "Do you believe in good fortune?"

"Not on your tailfeathers," the brunette grumbled. "I used to, when I had something to believe in. After a lot of things happened to me, somehow good luck and the positive side of the wheel of life just didn't seem quite real to me." She turned away and sped up her pace back to the Migrator. Once again, her famed lack of interest in informing people about much of anything reared its head.

Once back at the Pond, with Mallory still annoyed about having to cook, Wildwing tried to call a practice. That, however, lasted about five minutes before more than the usual number of complaints was registered. Everyone had their two cents' worth to add, even Grin. It almost came to blows, and someone broke their hockey stick in anger. Finally, Wildwing gave up the fight. Mallory stalked off into the kitchen, muttering dire threats under her breath on the life of anyone who dared to cross her path in the next few hours. The rest of the team scattered about the Pond. Tanya headed to her shop to clean up the mess that had been made that morning, with Dreva giving her help as promised. Nosedive went to pick up the gel- in all the insanity, he had never been able to get to the drugstore.

All in all, the team was in a fairly bad mood when Mallory finally called them to the dinner table. "Do I dare to ask?" Tanya inquired pointedly.

"Tanya, don't even start with me, okay? It's meatloaf. Either eat it or don't eat it. Whatever you do, I don't want to hear about it." Mallory slammed the plate down and went back for another load.

"Whoa, somebody's in a serious mood swing here," Nosedive cracked. The next thing he knew, the plate had come over his head, the china was scattered on the floor, and he had a major headache and particles of meatloaf in his hair.

"Mallory, stop it," Wildwing ordered. "Nosedive, behave yourself. It's been a long day for all of us, and this is not helping anything. Am I going to have to separate you two?"

Sullenly, Mallory and Nosedive broke it off. The blond excused himself to go to the bathroom to clean himself up, while the redhead sat down and glared at her experimental meal before finally stabbing it with a fork and eating.

"Not bad," Duke declared. "Ya done good, Mally. Hey, what'd ya do ta it?"

"I cooked it," she snapped. "What the puck does it look like?"

"Please… arguing over dinner will only lead to bad karma for all of us," Grin begged.

"And serious indigestion," Dreva added. "Come on, knock it off." She dug into the food, ignoring the nagging feeling that she was allergic to at least three of the ingredients in the preparation. After all, it was obvious that Mallory had tried, if the reports on her cooking were true. A wan smile crossed the brunette's face as she recalled her younger sisters each proudly presenting their first attempts at cooking for the whole family before they learned the secret: that cooking for everyone was not in fact necessary.

But that was a time so long ago that it might as well have never been. Dreva forced herself to focus on the present, the people around her, and the meatloaf. "Who's on tonight on Saturday Night Hockey?" Wildwing asked.

"It's a good game- Hoboken at Dallas," Mallory replied. "I can't wait to see how the Flamingos break the Armadillos' neutral-zone trap. It might provide us with some tips on how to do it. Or how not to do it."

"Don't forget that we're not the Flamingos," Wildwing reminded her.

Nosedive suddenly gasped melodramatically and looked down, patting himself in feigned shock. "Fire and ice, Wing, you're right! We're really not!" he exclaimed. "And here I was wondering why I wasn't pink and standing in some human's lawn!"

"Thank you, Dive, for that display of complete weirdness," Wildwing remarked, reaching over to tousle his brother's hair. Nosedive ducked out of the way in embarrassment. "Ah! Quit it, big bro!" he protested.

"Is everyone done? Okay. Duke, would you get the dishes? I know it's Dreva's turn numerically, but it seems a little sudden to dump the scullery work on her. She can take your turn in the rotation."

"No, it's all right, Wildwing," Dreva said hastily. "I have washed dishes before, you know. It's actually a pretty common practice in most places. I've got it covered. Y'all go watch the game now, y'all hear?"

"Thanks," Duke called back as he dashed into the TV room. Dreva cleared the table, put the plates in the sink, and set to the task of finding lost glasses. Five minutes later, she had come to the conclusion that the labor she had set herself was right up there with those of Hercules. She decided to just work with what she had, so she just scrubbed the plates, silverware, and the glasses that had been at the table. Then she went out and washed down the table and straightened up the mess Mallory had left from cooking. Seeing that she was done, she threw the sponges in the sink and joined her teammates in the rec room.

"No score, first period's almost over, and Hoboken looks totally lost out there," Tanya reported as Dreva entered the room. The brunette nodded acknowledgement and passed around the bag of chips she had brought out from the kitchen with her. "Dreva, have I ever told you you're a wise woman?" Nosedive asked.

"No, but I'll get it on tape later. Shut up, they're doing the analysis at intermission report now, and that would be handy to know, although you guys are probably better at it than they are."

"No one would want ta put us on the tube," Duke replied absently. "Aw, c'mon, that wasn't a penalty, he skated inta the guy's stick ta make it look like he got tripped! A blind guy coulda made that call right!"

"But he didn't," Mallory pointed out. "If this game is still love-all going into the third period, I'll be one surprised duck. The Armadillos have been all over Hoboken's defense, and it's only their goalie who's kept them in it."

"And look- Dallas has had seventeen shots on goal already, and Hoboken's only had four. They're going to get shut out at that clip, especially the way Joe Curtis has been playing this season," Wildwing added.

"He's still not, y'know, the best goalie in this league," Tanya declared. She looked down as everyone stared at her and added, "Yeah, Curtis is, ah, having a spec- spec- spectac- really good year, but, ah, Wildwing's that, ah, um, good all the time."

"We'll find out next week," Wildwing said grimly. "Dallas is coming here on Monday night, remember?"

"And Hoboken on Thursday," Duke added. "Wing, we know our games." A quick silence fell as the second period began.

The game, amazingly enough, went into overtime tied at one; Wildwing had nothing but praise to heap upon goalies Joe Curtis and Roy Patrick. Patrick finally gave up the second goal at around eleven-fifteen- there had been some minor delays with the clock that made the game run even longer- and Dallas won.

"And we've got ta play them in two days!" Duke moaned at the end of the game. "We're goin' ta have ta rest up for this one."

"Sounds like a plan, Dukester," Nosedive yawned. "Night all."

"Night, Dive. Don't stay up with your tacos and soda and comics."

"Awww, Wing, you take all the fun out of it."

"Hate to say it, but he's on to something. I'm calling it a night."

"Um, yeah, what she said, y'know?"

"Hockey cannot be truly played with muddled senses."

"Good night, guys, we've got a mid-morning practice."

"Adios, y'all!"

With various phrases of leavetaking, the teammates went off to their rooms, thus ending the night.

Sweet Spot: This one went on forever and refused to finish up. See the beginning for details of why. Of course, the goalies in the Dallas/Hoboken game are named after Curtis Joseph and Patrick Roy, two of the elite in the net.

Coming up in the next and last chapter: Well, pretty much everything. Finally, the secrets of Dreva and Andy will be revealed. Even more weird stuff will happen, and the reason for this entire saga will become clear to y'all.

Shoutouts: To Icelightning, who helped kick Esmeralda until she started working. Ice rocks! And she knows how to type and write and all sorts of good stuff! And she reviews religiously!

Also, to my bestest friend right now, Ana, who has Toon Disney and provided me with a tape full of ducky goodness, which gave Esme all she needed to finish this chappie. She also let me surf MD fansites on her computer.

Also, just for the heck of it, to Kaeera, who's running a funny RPG at her web site and hosting more insanity than any one girl should be entitled to.

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters (although I wish I did). I don't make any money off them (although I wish I did). I just like 'em a lot. So please, don't sue me. BUT anyone strange you run across is mine, so don't get comfy with them.

Gosh darn it all, e-mail me! My address is Pinballinggrrl@yahoo.com. I like getting feedback! I save and treasure fanfic correspondence!