"So, this is it, huh?" T.J asked the two girls, Julie and Naiomi,
as they walked into the building.
"Yeah," Naiomi answered with a nod.
"I know it's not much, but it's a place to live," Julie added,
turning on the lights to her and Naiomi's two-story condo.
"No, I mean....it's nice," the gray duck quickly corrected
himself.
"Yeah," Chase responded as he looked around. "It's smaller
than our place back on Puckworld, but it really is nice though."
It was late at night when the four people had left Cedric's
Bar and Grill and returned to the small condo. Naiomi and Julie had performed that night with their band, Anything Goes
and offered for T.J and Chase to stay at their place. Now, they were showing the two ducks around their home.
Julie led them down to the basement, which was actually a finished room, with both an air hockey and pool table, and a couch.
"This will be your room," Julie told them. Then, she
walked over to the couch and started pulling the seat cushions off. "This pulls out into a queen size bed, so you'll
have to share." The two ducks weren't too keen on that idea, but they kept quiet. Each thinking they would make
the other sleep on the floor. Once Julie finished unfolding the bed, she turned to face them. "I'm sorry, it's
not much...."
"Hell, I ain't gonna complain," Chase responded.
"Yeah," T.J agreed, "it's better than sleeping in our vehicle-
too damn uncomfortable."
Julie just smiled. "I bet." She started heading
back upstairs. "I'll be back, I'll go get you some sheets."
"Right, thanks," T.J replied, grinning. He and Chase
watched as the girl went upstairs. As soom as she was gone, they both pointed at each other.
"You're sleeping on the floor," they both said in unison.
Then Chase frowned. "Alright, this isn't gonna work.
How old are we now?" T.J nodded. He understood exactly what Chase was trying to say.
"Yeah, I know," he said.
"After all she's doing for us," Chase continued, "I think we
can handle sharing a bed."
"True. It could be worse."
A few minutes later, they heard footsteps coming down the stairs.
They both turned to look and realized it was just Julie, returning with the sheets she had promised. The room had gone
quiet as soon as she entered. She looked at the two drakes, sensing the uneasiness.
"Is something wrong?" Julie questioned them, unsure of what
to expect.
"No," they both answered, smiling at her. The singer
looked back at them strangely.
"Okay.....right. Well, here are some sheets, blankets
and a couple pillows." She handed them over to Chase.
"Thanks," he replied. Julie returned the smile with a
raised eyebrow, as if she were silently questioning them.
"What?" T.J asked her, after he noticed the expression
on her face.
"Nothin'," Julie smirked and chuckled to herself. Whatever
it was they were hiding, she figured, it was harmless. "Well, it's getting late and I better be off to bed." She
headed back towards the stairs and looked back at the ducks. "good night you two," Julie waved with a smile before leaving
the room.
"You know, she's even cuter when she smiles," Chase said dreamily,
after Julie had left. He was still gazing at the stairway, where Julie once stood. T.J walked over and snatched
a pillow from atop the pile Chase was holding.
"Snap out of it, would you?!" T.J exclaimed as he hit
his friend with the pillow.
"What? Huh?" Chase looked back at T.J, feeling
slightly confused.
"This isn't like you," T.J continued telling him. "And
quite frankly, it's starting to freak me out."
"What? Oh...." Chase waved him off. "You're just
jealous," he teased T.J, who was rolling his eyes now.
"Yeah, right....jealous." The grey drake took the sheets
from Chase and unfolded them on the bed. "Please, I don't think of her in that way."
"Them how do you think of her?" Chase asked curiously.
"As a friend."
Upstairs, Naiomi was waiting patiently for her friend to return.
She had been trying to figure out what was keeping Julie. She knew that her friend had shown the two ducks to their
room in the basement, but she hadn't seen her since. When Julie finally made it upstairs, she stretched her arms out
and yawned, making her pressence known.
"Jules!" Naiomi exclaimed, turning to face her. "'Bout time!
Where were you? What the hell took so long?!"
Julie's eyes went wide and she took a step back. "Geesh!
What's your problem?"
"I was worried," Naiomi answered her. "Thought something
might've happened, you know?" She turned away from Julie, looking concerened. "We don't really know much about
those two yet..."
"Naiomi, I'm not too concerned about it. I trust them,"
Julie told her. Then, she explained that she was helping the two ducks get settled in. "Don't want them to be
uncomfortable," Julie half smiled. Naiomi was pulling the covers back on her bed now.
"I just hope you're right about them." She sighed.
"I'd hate to have anything bad happen."
"Relax, nothin' bad's gonna happen," Julie reassured her.
"You're worrying way too much."
Naiomi sat down on her bed and smirked slightly. "Funny,
isn't it usually the other way around? You're the one who's always worrying about everything."
"Yeah, I guess so," Julie chuckled a bit. "But not this
time. I've got a good feeling about things this time."
"Well, I guess all we can do now is wait and see what happens,"
Naiomi said before laying down.
"Yeah," sighed Julie. "I just hope I'm right too."
Meanwhile, on a distant planet, in another dimension and universe,
a duck couple were on the search for their son.... At a military base, a tanish, feathered female duck approached a
taller, male duck.
"General DuCaine!"
"Yes," the male duck looked up from his paperwork.
"Sir!" the female duck saluted him.
The General followed suit, standing up straight and saluting
her as well. "At ease Major."
"Yes Sir." The Major widened her stance a bit and held
her hands, loosely behind her back, looking more relaxed.
"Now, what is it?" General DuCaine eyed her carefully.
"I was wondering, Sir, if you've seen my son, 2nd Lieutenant
T.J McMallard, around lately?" She looked up at him with a worried expression on her face.
"No, I'm sorry," the General shook his head. "I have
not."
He looked around and sat back down with a sigh. "Neither
have I seen my own son." Looking back up at the Major, he tried to force a smile. "I'm sure they're alright though."
The female ducks smiled slightly and nodded. Then a voice spoke up from behind the computer.
"Come to think of it, Major McMallard, I remember over hearing
he and Lieutenant Chase DuCaine talking, a couple days ago."
Major McMallard looked over towards the voice. "Seargent
Nightblade?" A falcon-like being, with black feathers, looked up at her from the computer screen. "What were they
saying?" she questioned him.
"Something about going to Earth....to look for someone, I think,"
the Seargent replied, grinning slyly.
"To look for someone? But who?" She stopped herself,
thinking, then she gasped. General DuCaine gave her a questioning look. Noticing, the Major turned back to her
General and whispered. "They've gone to look for Her!"
"What?!" General DuCaine looked over at Seargent Nightblade.
"Seargent, would you excuse us please?"
"Yes Sir, of course." With that, the Seargent stood up
and walked out of the room. As soon as he was out, he chuckled to himself. "Those two are so busted when they
return from their 'little trip'."
Inside the General's office, the conversation between he and
Major McMallard continued on.
"How'd he find out?" the General asked Major McMallard.
"I thought you weren't going to tell him?"
"We didn't," she replied. "He doesn't know for sure,
that I know of, anyway. Apparently, there have been rumors circulating...and T.J heard them."
"Swell..."
The female duck sighed and turned away. "He's been asking
Quaid and I questions about the rumors, about Her..."
"And? What did you tell him?"
"That the rumors were false and that he should just ignore
them." She paused and faced the General again. "But, you know how T.J is, he's stubborn..."
General DuCaine sighed deeply. "Yes, I know...just like
his father. I just wish he hadn't dragged Chase into it."
"I am sorry, General," the Major apologized. "Maybe we
should have told him."
"Don't blame yourself, Sophia." General DuCaine stood
up, walked around his desk, and put a hand on her shoulder. "You know something was bound to happen anyway."
The female duck sighed, unsettled. She didn't exactly
like the idea of her son traveling to Earth. Since the war with the humans, many years ago, the ducks of Puckworld had
cut all ties to humans and Earth. No duck ever travelled to Earth and no human ever went to Puckworld. Fact was,
that Sophia was afraid how her son and the General's son might be treated by the humans. Granted, it had been a long
time since the war, but she still had plenty of reasons to worry, and she had a bad feeling about the whole thing.
Sophia McMallard looked back up at the General when she heard
a heavy sigh from behind his desk, where he had returned to.
"I'm just as worried as you are Sophie. But..." he paused,
debating the issue. "I know they're both good soldiers. I'm sure they'll be fine," he reassured her, though he
really wasn't sure, himself.
"I suppose you're right, Allestair. But, what if they
do find her?" Sophie looked at him, worried again.
"Relax, Dear," a third duck, male, with gray feathers, walked
in casually. "What are the odds they'll find her among all the humans?" He continued on, over to Sophia, ignoring
the General's angry glare. "Slim to none, right?"
"Quaid...." Sophia warned, seeing the expression on Allestair's
face.
General DuCaine stood up once again, looking the newcomer,
Quaid, in his eyes. "Don't you ever knock, Seargent Major McMallard?!"
"Well....I...." Quaid stuttered, searching for an appropriate
answer.
"Or maybe I should just demote you to Seargent!"
"N-n-no Sir. I mean, sorry, Sir," stammered the third
duck, as he quickly stood at attention and saluted. "I was just looking for my wife, Sir."
"Well, congratulations Seargent-Major, you've found her.
Now, out of my office!" General DuCaine growled at him.
"Yes Sir. Of course, Sir!" Quaid saluted again
and quickly made his way out of the office. As he backed out into the hallway, he bumped into someone.
"Hey! Watch it, McMallard!" the voice grunted.
"Sorry!" snapped Quaid, sounding agitated. He turned
to find Seargent Fawkes Nightblade behind him, grinning maliciously.
"Tough say at the office, Sir?" he mocked Quaid, snickering.
"Shut up Fawkes!" he snipped back. "I don't need your
crap today!" Then, he turned on his heels and hurried away.
"Ooh, touchy..." Fawkes smirked, chuckling slightly as he watched
his senior walk away.
Meanwhile, back in the office, the General had sat back down
and sighed. "I don't know, Major...that husband of yours..."
"I'm sorry, Sir."
"What for?!" he looked up at her. "Not your fault he's
an idiot."
To be continued....
Disclaimer: These stories and characters are based on the original Mighty Ducks: The Animated
Series (owned & copyrighted by Disney), however these stories consist of my own characters based on the series.
And I am, in no way, whatsoever, making a profit off this. Thank You!
