I Will Always Be There

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Hey ya'll! Got one for you again. YEA!!!!!! This one just popped into my head, a few minutes ago. Oooh. Wowness. Wildwing and Nosedive bonding. Just so you know. It's a little mushy but that's cool I guess. Siblings rule the world. Yes we do. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! Okay. I now relieve you to go read the ficcy. MWAHAHAHA!

Hey Kaeera, good job on your last fic, you too Icelightning. Ya'll are doin great! PapillionStar… are you ever gonna finish yours? I'm having withdrawls!

One more thing… For those of you who are upset at for me killing off Wraith… I'm sorry. But it just kinda' happened. Besides, no one lives forever, no matter how hard they try.

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Mighty Ducks belong to Disney. If they didn't, they'd belong to someone else.

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There were times when he couldn't sleep. Times when all he wanted to do was just end it all. Things were so frustrating when all he wanted to do was be normal for once. When all he wanted to do was shirk every responsibility and pretend that everything was okay. That the whole world didn't exist and he was allowed to just goof off and stare up at the sky, watching the clouds go by. But he couldn't do that. He'd never been allowed that right. Back then it was because he was scared. Scared of losing his only family to a bunch of uncaring adults who could never understand the strength of the love that he and his brother shared. After that it was because of the saurians, because of an energy worm taking his friend and team captain, and then he was passed the responsibility of team leader. Now… now he was cursed with a blessing. Now he was passed on the power of his ancestors. A power that he'd never known of, never heard of… A power he was afraid of. Yes, afraid. No, more like terrified. At any point in time he could become just like Ruben and turn on his friends… again. Then what would they do? How could they stop him? How would they? Would they kill him? Funny… he kind of hoped they would some day. Then he wouldn't have to face another day as a… well; who knew what he was? A duck with seriously dangerous powers that's what he was.

Now he stared up at the sky, wishing he could just relax and enjoy this, but he knew it couldn't be possible. Any moment now some member of the team would come running up, worried about him, and ruin it all. Well, except Tanya. She'd probably sit with him, and so would Nosedive unless he and Chameleon were bothering Mallory again… or the other way around. Who knew? He sighed, closing his eyes. Forget the team. Just for once, don't care about anybody. If only he could. But his heart wouldn't let him, even if it was just his mind racing around like a roller coaster out of control, he could never forget the team. Not even for a second.

"Pretty sky. Huh bro?" came a soft voice. Wildwing opened his eyes and sat up, turning to look at Nosedive. The teen smiled wearily at him, as if something were bothering him. Suddenly he tapped his head. "Did you know that I can kinda' 'hear' everything you're feeling?" he asked softly. He walked over and plopped down next to Wildwing on the grassy hill the tall mallard was sitting on. They were out in the country just outside of town, far away from everything distracting. Two duckcycles sat side by side in silence a ways away, showing how Nosedive and Wildwing had arrived.

"You followed me?" Wildwing asked with a frown. Nosedive shook his head and lay back with a sigh.

"I followed a map in my head." He said softly. Wildwing looked at him for a moment, then nodded in understanding and lay back down, hands resting on his chest. There was silence between the two of them for a while as they stared up at the blue sky, clouds scattered about here and there.

"I wasn't in any danger baby bro." Wildwing said softly, suddenly. Nosedive didn't answer and silence took over again.

"I know." The answer came several minutes later. Silence came again, then… "Everybody's freaking out back at the Pond." Nosedive admitted. "You were just there one minute, and then gone the next. The mask was left on Drake One and there wasn't a note or anything." Silence again.

"I know." Wildwing said softly. Nosedive looked at him for a moment.

"Why'd you go? You're not bailing on us again are you?" he asked. He sat up on an elbow. "Cus if you're bailing, I'm going with you. You are not leaving me behind."

"I'm not bailing." Wildwing stated calmly. "I'd never leave you behind, you know that."

"You did once." Silence again. Nosedive searched his brothers face and frowned when Wildwing suddenly reached up and covered it, rubbing his face as if trying to wake himself up.

"I just wanted to be alone." Wildwing suddenly said brokenly. "Just for once I didn't want to have to deal with anything… even if for just a few minutes!" Nosedive remained still, looking at his brother. Then he suddenly smiled and let out a battle cry as he clomped his brother, embracing him. Wildwing gave a startled cry, one leg kicking up and he laughed as Nosedive started to tickle him. "STOP IT DIVE!!" he pleaded. Nosedive laughed at him for a long while, then merely hugged him, Wildwing slowly hugging him back. They lay in silence for a while again. Then…

"I got an idea." Nosedive stated. Moving away from his brother and putting his arms behind his head as he stared back up at the sky. Wildwing did the same and nodded.

"Shoot."

"How about I be the big brother? I'll worry about you, I'll care about you… I'll beat up my best friend for you. I'll die for you if I have to, I'll shirk life as a teen and forget that I have a life just so you'll have one instead. I'll fight every law any orphanage can throw at us, fight off every abusive nut that takes us in just for the money. Then, when all hell breaks loose because of saurians, I'll never give up that you're still alive. And when you and I meet back up, I'll be there to help you get over your fears and I'll stay by you when your so sick you can't even remember how to stand, walk, and you can't tell who or what anything is except for me. The one who refuses to leave you so you'll die, and then I'll refuse to leave you in the camps when by best friend comes back and offers me a place in the resistance.

"Then, when we're dragged to earth and I'm the leader, worried that I'm no where near as good as my friend could be, you'll be there to back me up because you believe in me. Because I'm your hero and I have every right to be. There are things that happened that I remember that you can't, and sometimes you relive them at night… and I'm there." At this Nosedive looked at his brother. "Because I always will be." He said softly. Wildwing looked at him for a moment. "And if we were to switch back around, and I'm the baby brother again I'd do the same for you bro. I'm not gonna' leave, I'm going to follow you around. I'm not going to let you take on everything that happens to you alone. Even becoming a true DuCaine. When you have nightmares, I'll be there to help you through them. And when you feel that you're no good, I'll be there to tell you the truth big bro. You are the best, and I'm not just saying that because you're my brother or my hero." They're eyes met. "I'm saying you're the best because you are big bro. I'm saying you're my hero because you're strong and you've never bailed on me when someone was beating me and yelling at you at the same time. You never ran when they threatened you. You never left me to deal with anything on my own bro." Nosedive told him. He smiled softly, then looked back up at the sky. "And you've never hated me for screwing up your life." His voice broke and Wildwing started.

"Nosedive! You've never screwed up my life!" he exclaimed. He sat up suddenly. "You're my brother! Have you any idea how many times you have saved me?" he asked. Nosedive looked at him in confusion.

"Is that one of the things I've forgotten?" he asked. Wildwing shook his head, pulling his knees to his chest.

"I never told you." He muttered. He shook his head. "There were so many times I just wanted everything to stop… everything to just end and wrap up. But it never does. It keeps going, and going…"

"That's why they call it life bro. It never ends." Nosedive said softly, sitting up as well. "Even after death…"

"I know." Wildwing said quietly. "Stars I know." He shook his head. "Dive… if it wasn't for you I wouldn't be here." He said suddenly. Nosedive gave him an odd look.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. "What have I ever done for you?" he asked.

"Made me laugh. Gave me something to smile about." Wildwing gave a weak smile. "Gave me luck by wearing my jersey right before every game." He stated. Nosedive smiled, a blush rising in his cheeks.

"It worked." He muttered. Wildwing snickered.

"Yeah. It did." He admitted. Then he quieted, staring at the ground. "Dive…" he quieted. Nosedive looked at him for a moment, waiting.

"Yeah?" he asked. Wildwing stared at the ground, as if trying to choose his words.

"There were times… I just… There were times I wanted to die when we were younger. I just wanted life to end for me." he admitted. "But then you'd come running into the room, and whether you were crying or you were excited about something, no matter how stupid it could have been, you'd show me why I was still living. You'd show me a different way to look at things, like that one time you found a green slug on the front porch and it was just the coolest thing you'd ever seen because when you turned off the porch light it would glow." He smiled at the memory, refusing to meet his brothers gaze. "You gave me something to look forward to. Suddenly I'd not want to die because I didn't want to miss a thing you did. I didn't want to miss what you'd do next, or what you'd find next and what kind of reaction you'd have to it. And I didn't want you to suffer alone when you'd run into my room in the middle of the night suffering from nightmares… memories that you couldn't remember for the life of you, and I'm glad that you can't. It's bad enough that I can." He shuddered, the smile disappearing. Then he shook his head sadly. "Then, the saurians came. And I was separated from you. I saw so many kids your age lying dead on the side of the road where our guards had tossed them. Some of them, there wasn't much left of them because someone had gotten hungry and reverted back to their barbaric ways. I always prayed that the next body I saw wouldn't be yours and thankfully it never was. But I didn't know what had become of you, and you could have been killed and I never would have known." He shook his head silently, tears brimming in his eyes. "I wanted so badly to kill myself." He admitted suddenly. "But I couldn't. I wanted to live because deep down something said you were still alive. The day you came back…" he quieted and shook his head. "Two days. You were all two days early and I thank the Great King every day and night that you were." He whispered huskily, brokenly. Nosedive sat before him, a cold feeling having settled on him during his brothers speech.

"Bro?" he asked. Wildwing shook his head again.

"I was going to kill myself that day Dive." He suddenly admitted, looking up at the teen painfully. "I wanted to die, I couldn't stand losing anymore family, couldn't stand not knowing…" he trailed off and took a deep breath as Nosedive stared at him in shock. "I worked in the infirmary sometimes, and there were times when we had to give ducks something to ease the pain." His eyes shined angrily. "I helped kill some of my own classmates Dive." He said forcibly, furiously. "All because it was too cruel to let them live. They were all in so much pain…" he shook his head. "Dive, I'd stolen some of the poisons. I was going to take them that night. But… you came. You were there…" he trailed off again and shook his head as Nosedive stared at him. "One of our bunk mates found the poisons and took it back to the infirmary. He became part of the resistance not long after Canard pulled us out of the Camp. I made him swear not to tell anyone what I did, and he made me promise not to tell Canard that he was the one stealing morphine." He shook his head.

"Did you?" Nosedive said softly. Wildwing shook his head.

"I told Canard's superior and made him tell Eli that one of the workers had spotted him leaving the other day." He admitted. He gave Nosedive a weak smile. "I kept my promise." He stated.

"Gotta' love loop holes." Nosedive grinned weakly. He watched his brother for a while, the two sitting in uneasy silence. Suddenly Nosedive leapt forward and wrapped his arms around his brother with a sob. Wildwing was startled, then held his brother and cried with him.

It was a long while before they calmed, then resumed their places laying on the ground and staring up at the clouds. Silence was all that was needed at the moment. Neither really knew what to say, but the fact that the other was there was enough for both of them. It was nearly an hour later that Nosedive stretched and yawned.

"You're still my hero." He said suddenly, catching Wildwing off guard. "And you're a lot stronger now than you used to be." He grinned at his older brother proudly. "And that's not just because of that power of yours you know." He snickered as Wildwing ruffled his hair.

"You're strong too baby bro. And brave, for following me when you know Canard's going to chew us both out." He stated. The two looked at each other then burst out laughing.

"Just like old times!" Nosedive exclaimed. "Not only would we get chewed out by our foster parents…"

"We'd hear it from Canard and his family!" Wildwing laughed as well. "He's worse than I am!"

"No bodies worse than you." Nosedive grinned. "You have a head full of white hair."

"All of which I can thank you for."

"Yeah. Must have been from when I jumped off the staircase balcony back home."

"Oh stars. I nearly had a heart attack the day you did that! Whatever go into you?" Nosedive shrugged.

"I wanted to see if I could land like those people in the movie did on TV. Remember? That was the same day you had to explain that just because they do it on TV or in the movies, it doesn't mean I can do it too or that I won't get hurt." He stated. Wildwing shook his head as Nosedive grinned at him. "Still, that was a really good catch." He exclaimed. Wildwing snickered.

"I think I might have broken a speed record trying to race over and catch you." He admitted. "And it took like thirty minutes for my heart to start beating again." Nosedive laughed.

"It was funny though." He grinned. He looked up at Wildwing, the white mallard having sat up at one point or another. "You wanna head back home?" he asked. At the odd look Wildwing gave him he smacked his forehead. "I mean… back to the Pond!" he gave a sound of exasperation and lay with his arms thrown out. Wildwing merely snickered at him.

"I know what you mean. It is home, isn't it?" he asked. Nosedive nodded with a smile on his face.

"Yep. We've got the biggest family ever." He exclaimed, allowing Wildwing to stand and then pull him up. They walked back over to the duck cycles.

"Wonder why the others never came." Wildwing said suddenly. Nosedive shook his head.

"I wanted to talk to you alone. Tanya was worried sick. She'll probably take you and talk to you alone… well, if you two don't decide to make out or something." He cried out as Wildwing whacked him in the arm, a blush rising from his neck to his cheeks.

"You're just jealous." He muttered, getting on the bike. Nosedive shrugged.

"Yeah. You got me there." He stated, then he grinned. "Ah well. Wait till we get back to Puckworld. I'll have women wanting me everywhere I go!" he grinned.

"Keep dreaming baby bro."

"I will." The two snickered started up their bikes, heading back into town. Once they hit city limits they headed back to the Pond, grinning at each other as they took the back ways home so they could race each other. It was probably an hour before they actually returned home, and by then it was starting to get dark. As they were getting off the bikes Canard walked in the door, his arms crossed as the rest of the team stood behind him as he leaned on the door panel.

"Where were you?" he asked.

"Yeah. Is everything okay?" Duke asked, the mask of DuCaine in his hands. Wildwing nodded as he put a hand on Nosedive's shoulder.

"It is now." He stated softly. Canard frowned, but nodded anyway.

"So we still have a team captain?" he asked. Nosedive nodded.

"Yep!" he grinned as he and his brother walked over to them. He gave a startled cry as something leapt off of Mallory's shoulder and into his chest. He caught it and blinked in surprise at Chameleon. The child giggled and threw his arms around the teens neck.

"NOSEDIVE!!!" he exclaimed happily. Then he was leaping from Nosedive to Wildwing and laughing happily as if it were all a big game.

"You smell like grass!" the child exclaimed as he pulled out of the embrace he'd started. Wildwing nodded.

"Yeah. I wanted to get out for a while." He stated.

"Can I go with you next time?" Chameleon asked, nearly pleaded. "I wanna play in grass too!" Nosedive snickered as Mallory giggled.

"We'll take you out to play tomorrow, okay?" Nosedive asked. Chameleon cheered and was soon babbling about something that had to do with a T-shirt and a kitchen towel. It made no sense, but at least it had nothing to do with an evil saurian overlord. Tanya was grinning at him as he nodded and listened, also taking the mask back from Duke at the same time.

"You sure everything's okay now?" Canard asked once more. Wildwing nodded and made eye contact with his brother.

"Yeah. Everything's fine." Because you'll always be there. Nosedive merely smiled at him.

END