HALLO THAR A-GAIN. What's up? This is a story that's been mulling around in my head for awhile now, so when I finally got the time to start, it came pouring out enough to make a decent sized chapter. While I know that there are probably a zillion Wildwing/Nosedive bonding/angst stories, I figured I'd do one that didn't involve foster homes, orphanages, etc...speaking of which, whoever thought that the two grew up without parents? How did THAT start?

P.S. Another question: why does half the fanfic realm believe that Nosedive's middle name is "Nicholas?"

P.S.S. Since it seems that everyone in the MD fanfic realm associates "Birthday" with "Hatching Day", I did my own spin on it (but not without doing research, of course). Enjoy

Disclaimer: I don't own MD:TAS. If I did, I'd be rich. HOWEVER, I do own the "lullaby" that is sung in this chapter. DON'T STEAL IT. Or I shall come after you with a rusty spork!

The three Flashblades sat around an incubator that held an egg about the size of a basketball or so inside. Mother and Father both had stayed in shifts in the Incubation Unit of the hospital to observe and wait.

Their three and a half year old son, Wildwing, who was currently sitting on his father's lap, had been waiting forever it seemed for the egg. His mother had told him a long time ago that he was going to get a new baby brother or sister. When the egg was "delivered" to them, they'd have to wait a little while longer for it to hatch.

Wildwing didn't want to wait. It had already been a little over two weeks since the egg came, and now he had to wait longer! He wanted his brother or sister now!

Suddenly, the egg inside the incubator started to move. Wildwing noticed this. "Dad, look!" he exclaimed. "It's moving!"

Papa and Mama Flashblade both looked in delight and excitement to see that their son was right; their egg was beginning to hatch. They would finally find out whether they would have a baby girl or another son.

"Is it cold?" Wildwing asked his dad, watching the egg continue to move.

Papa Flashblade just laughed. "No Champ, it's hatching," he said, hearing the mother chuckling a little too. "Your brother or sister is finally coming."

"REALLY?" Wildwing exclaimed, looking up at his dad.

"Just watch and see," his father told him.

So the almost four year old turned back and watched the egg in the box-like object. The egg inside continued to wiggle for a few more moments when suddenly…

…it stopped.

Wildwing almost freaked out, but before he could, the egg started to crack. A large spider web of cracks appeared on the side of the egg. Wildwing leaned closer from his seat on his father's lap, who was already pretty close to the incubator to begin with. As the duckling pressed a hand against the incubator, a tiny hand popped out from the egg.

Wildwing gasped in surprise. He had never seen anything like this before! It was kind of neat to him. He continued to watch with his mother and father as the egg continued to hatch.

Another tiny hand popped out, followed by a small foot. More shell continued to fall off as the other foot came out and the baby duckling was revealed.

"What is it, what is it?" Wildwing asked excitedly, seeing the baby. His mother smiled, getting up from her seat and leaning over the incubator. "You have a brother now Wing," she said, lovingly looking at the small duck inside.

Wildwing observed his new baby brother; he was little, with light yellow feathers and a small mop of blonde hair. He wiggled a little, stretching his little arms.

The father laughed a little. "Quite a creature, isn't he?" the older Flashblade asked. "He's your little brother now Champ. It's a brother's job to protect their siblings y'know."

"Really?" Wing asked, looking up at his father. When Papa Flashblade nodded, Wildwing just looked back at his new brother, surprised at what he was seeing.

The baby duckling had managed to turn his head in his older brother's direction and was looking at him. The older brother smiled, keeping his hand on the side of the incubator. "Hiya!" he said. "I'm your big brother now. Do you wanna be my younger brother?"

The duckling just answered with a smile, gurgling a little.

"So, what shall we name him?" Mama Flashblade asked her husband, still looking down at her new son.

Her husband thought for a moment as the child on his lap continued to stare happily at his new brother. "How about Nosedive?" he finally asked.

The mother looked at her husband and let this mull over for a few moments. "I like that," she answered. "It has a nice ring to it." She then looked back down to her child. "Welcome to the family Nosedive."

Wildwing's face seemed to brighten even more. "I'm Wildwing," he said to the other duck. "It's nice to meet you Nosedive!"…

RVRVRVRVRVRVRV

The leader of the group woke up, feeling…weird.

Wildwing moaned and opened his eyes, seeing the bottom of the bunk above him. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. Feathers, what happened? he thought, wondering why he felt so groggy.

He pushed the covers of his bed off himself and turned to touch his feet to the floor. Wing then noticed something else odd. Why am I in my street clothes? Where's the mask?

He moaned again, rubbing his temples while looking at the clock across the room, seeing Drake Ducaine's mask sitting next to it.

2:18 A.M.

Wing wondered why he woke up at such an odd time. "Dive, you awake?"

No answer.

Probably asleep, the unmasked leader thought. He stood up, wobbling a little in the process. What's wrong with me? Wildwing wondered, turning around to face the top bunk. "Nosedive?"

He wasn't expecting an empty bunk to greet him.

Where could he possibly be at this hour of the night? the goalie thought. It took him a moment, but he thought of someplace he might be.

So he headed off towards the kitchen.

RVRVRVRVRVRVRV

"NOSEDIVE! Where are you?"

Wildwing was running through the underground halls of the Pond, desperately looking for his younger brother. When he hadn't found Dive in the kitchen, he started to get worried. He then checked the Rec Room, thinking that maybe his brother couldn't sleep and went to watch TV.

When Wing hadn't found him there, he got worried and started to check every room that he could think of that Nosedive could be in at that time of night. And he still hadn't found him.

There was only one place left that he hadn't checked yet: the Infirmary.

Wildwing practically skidded on the floor to make himself stop. Dive couldn't be there, could he? Why would he need to go to the Infirmary at this time of night?

But then that made the leader wonder why no one had come out of their rooms while he had been searching. He had been practically yelling at the top of his lungs, and no one had left their rooms.

A sick feeling of desperation suddenly filled him as he ran off towards the Infirmary…

RVRVRVRVRVRVRV

Wildwing had just rounded the corner to the Infirmary to see Mallory and Grin sitting outside the doors on the bench seats. "Wildwing!" Mallory exclaimed. "What are you doing out of bed?"

"What are you guys doing here?" He asked back, straightening up.

The other two averted their gaze from him to look at the floor.

"…guys?"

"…it's a long story," Mallory said, a bit uncomfortably. Grin just stared at the floor, his features looking forlorn.

"…where's Nosedive?" Wildwing asked, a sick feeling filling his stomach.

Neither answered.

The goalie's eyes widened, his breathing suddenly stopping. Great Drake, he's…

His world started to go black, and he felt the sensation like he was falling. Wildwing could hear voices from somewhere, calling his name, but he couldn't answer…

RVRVRVRVRVRVRV

A month had passed since Nosedive had hatched. Since then, Wildwing discovered some rather different things about baby ducklings; they cried a lot (for reasons that only his parents seemed to know) and they liked shiny objects.

Or at least the youngest Flashblade did.

Another thing that the older sibling found out was that he could make his brother feel better if need-be by doing silly things. If Nosedive cried and neither mother nor father could get him to stop, Wildwing would come into the room and entertain him.

Despite what other kids his age said about their siblings, Wing liked having a younger brother. Most of the kids in the daycare he went to would say bad things about their younger brothers and sisters, saying that they were stealing their parents attention away.

"My brother's not like that," Wildwing had said to one of the complainers.

"That's 'cuz he's only been there a month. Just wait."

But he still didn't have any idea what the kids meant. Whenever he went to see one of his parents and if they happened to have Nosedive, the adult in question would either include Wildwing or put down Nosedive for a nap (that was another thing Wing discovered; babies liked to sleep a lot and got cranky when woken up.)

Today, Mama Flashblade was sitting in a rocker in the nursery of their house, going to and fro gently with the youngest in her arms, softly singing a lullaby. The older sibling watched from the doorway, smiling a little as he watched his new brother sleeping and listened to his mother sing.

"Painted fields of white and pink,

Like a wanderer, I wander on,

Watching flowers that pass by me,

Seeing people as I travel,

They'll never know just how special these moments are to me."

His mother stopped when she realized that Wildwing was at the doorway. "Hi sweetie," she greeted in a soft voice, not wanting to wake up the younger duckling in her arms. She then motioned for him to enter. "Come over here."

Wildwing obeyed, still smiling. His mother smiled back. "Would you like to sit with me?" she asked.

"Can I?" the older duckling asked, worried that he might not fit since his brother was in his mother's arms.

Mama Flashblade giggled. "Of course you can," she said. With the arm that wasn't holding Nosedive, she helped Wildwing onto the rocker and onto her lap. After a little adjusting, the three were comfortably sitting in the rocking chair, both children on their mother's lap.

Wildwing looked at his brother. The youngest was napping, a smile adorning his face.

The mother watched as Wildwing just observed Nosedive. She then asked, "What do you think of having a baby brother?"

Wing looked up at her. "I think it's great!" he said. "When he gets bigger, we can play together and I can teach him how to skate and play hockey and-"

"Alright my darling," his mother cut off, laughing. Wildwing smiled brightly, relaxing against his mother while watching his younger brother.

As his mother started to hum her song again, it wasn't long before the older Flashblade sibling also fell asleep…

RVRVRVRVRVRVRV

"-easy Wing, just take it easy."

The goalie could hear someone's voice and feel something cold on his forehead. The voice sounded a little far off, but it was trying to comfort him, that much he knew.

"Is he alright?" another voice asked.

"He'll be fine," the voice that woke him up said. "He just fainted. But it's not surprisin', considerin' what happened earli'ah."

What? What happened? Where's-

"-Dive."

"Wildwing!"

The leader opened his eyes to see three faces looking down at him. "You alright Wing?" Duke asked, who was kneeling next to him.

"What happened?" the goalie asked, confused as to why he was lying on one of the bench seats.

"You collapsed," Duke answered, taking the compress that had been on Wildwing's forehead away. "Mallory came and got me after you did."

Wildwing slowly sat up. "How long have I been out?" he asked, rubbing his eyes with one hand.

"About fifteen minutes or so," Mallory answered. Noticing that their team captain was moving slower than normal, she dared to ask, "Still feeling groggy?"

Wildwing looked up at her, somewhat shocked. "How'd you know?" he asked.

"Do you remember the battle earlier tonight?" Grin asked, sitting next to their unmasked leader.

Wildwing paused. "Some of it," he answered, bringing a hand to his head. "Siege and Chameleon were down at the warehouse district, and we were fighting them when Wraith showed up…" He struggled to pass the hazy cloud that blocked his memory. "I…I remember shouting at everyone to be careful, but I can't remember anything other than that."

The others looked at each other uncomfortably, as their leader noticed that Duke was wearing slightly bloody scrubs. "Duke are you alright?" Wildwing panicked.

The ex-thief looked down at the scrubs he was wearing, suddenly remembering the blood. "I'm alright," he said, looking back at Wing. This statement seemed to calm the leader down until Duke spoke again.

"It's not my blood."

After a moment, the goalie dared to ask. "Who's is it?"

It was the gray drake's turn to pause.

"Duke?"

"…it's Nosedive's."