Chapter 7

Like always, Amelia was up and about before everyone else that morning, but stirring instinctively enough to look up at the clock, she fell back on the pillow knowing she was too anxious to go back to sleep. It was four o'clock and with only seven hours of restful sleep, Amelia got up for the day and immediately sensed that something else was off … Or, that someone was trying to sneak in.

Pulling on her robe over her gown, she stepped out of her bedroom just in time to see Chase tiptoeing back into the apartment as she turned back around to quietly shut the door and lock it.

Turning on a small light right behind the caped heroine so suddenly, Amelia watched as Chase jumped almost a foot in the air before she turned around and sighed, hearing Amelia's stifled giggles. Looking back up at Amelia, however, she noticed that Amelia had calmed enough to show her annoyance as she crossed her arms.

"What happened to no more late nights?" Amelia asked, all joking aside as Chase only smiled and removed her mask, which she immediately put into her pocket as she stretched.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault that Megavolt decided tonight would be a good night to steal from the bank," Chase said, lowering her voice as Amelia let her know that the kids were still asleep.

Grinning a bit, Amelia noticed something else, too, as she said, "Well, surprisingly, you don't seem as tired either today."

"Because not only did I have to deal with Megavolt but I also had to deal with Darkwing and his enormous ego," Chase said, telling Amelia about her night as she watched her friend laugh at when she sarcastically said, "With how much he enjoyed my company, he was bold enough to say to the media that he was the one who had Megavolt all 'tied up', to which I said, 'My grapple, my gun.' And, don't worry about me being tired, Mila: I'm too energized. I took a 2-hour nap at my hideout before I came back over here, too."

With a sigh, Amelia only said in reply, "Just take it easy at work today is all I ask. And, please make sure you get a good night's sleep tonight."

With a nod, Chase said, "I think I can manage that." Stopping short in front of her and Skye's bedroom door, Chase turned back around to say, "Lia, Skye was wondering if she could invite her new friend, Gosalyn, over one day soon."

Smiling, Amelia mimicked Chase's choice of words with her reply, "I think we can manage that."

As Chase disappeared into the guest room and Amelia went back to her room to get dressed, the door to Jordan's room shied open as he looked out to see only the mantle light on near the main door as he gingerly stepped out, having heard his godmother's voice a minute earlier.

Hearing Skye yawn from behind their door, Jordan shied a little closer to the guest door to overhear her also say, "Morning, Aunt Chase. What time is it?"

"Still pretty early," he heard Chase chuckle as she pulled Skye's back over her a little bit as she handed a small package.

"What is it?" Skye asked, shaking it a bit as she rubbed her eyes a bit.

"Well, you're going to have to open it up to see, aren't you?" Chase said, letting a twang of her American accent slip through as she then cleared her throat and corrected herself, to which Jordan listened closer at the door to his curiosity.

"No way, it's Pop Quacks!" He heard Skye exclaim, totally awake now as she reached down to hug Chase around the neck, right as Chase had dropped her tied-up cape and kicked it under her bed. "I love this album. Thanks, Chase!"

"You're very welcome. Now, come on, let's get you ready for school," Jordan heard Chase say, right as he felt a hand on his shoulder that caused him to jump, only to turn around and see his Mom's disapproving face.

"Jordan Athan Swallow!" Amelia chided him for only a second, before he only sheepishly skittered past her and ran to take his morning shower. Only shaking her head in spite, Amelia looked up to see that it was only five-thirty. "Well, this morning is starting early."

Heading into the kitchen, Amelia went about their normal routine, wondering what had her son so curious that it had him listening at Chase's door. Did he know that Chase was the heroine, Twilight Drake? Watching Chase offer to the take the kids to school instead of them riding the bus that day, Amelia found herself alone for a couple of hours to debate whether she wanted to go to the office or work from home that day, but a knock on the door silenced her plans as she opened it after a quiet minute to see a sight that made her cry out loud in shock.

"Admit it, I so can beat you at Wing Riders," Skye said to Jordan as both of them were walking the hall at noon.

"No way, you got lucky," Jordan said as the both of them looked up just in time to see Gosalyn racing over to them with Honker.

"Guys!" she called, racing over with Honker panting to keep pace with her. "We didn't see you guys earlier on the bus. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, Skye's aunt, Chase, just dropped us off instead on her way to work. She wanted to get there early to cover for some big story," Jordan said, looking over to see Skye making a wistful forlorn sigh. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Skye said, shaking her head a bit to clear her thoughts as she saw the look of concern on her friends' faces. "What?"

"You looked like you were far away," Honker said, feeling a kneed in his elbow to which he reacted to and stumbled. "Ow!"

"Honker!" Gosalyn said, getting his attention real quick as she sighed and whispered, "She's missing her parents."

"You told her?" Jordan asked Skye, not surprised, to which she only nodded her head and felt Gosalyn wrap an arm around her shoulder in comfort.

"What happened to them?" Honker asked, curious, as Jordan silently gave Skye a look that asked if it was alright to tell, to which she consented to.

"They got killed in a car accident," Jordan said, filling Honker on the story of what happened. "Skye was at school in Duckburg when it happened. That's all we know. She doesn't like talking about it."

"Oh, sorry," was all Honker said as they both watched Gosalyn hug Skye as a tear slid down her face, all four of them unaware of the shadow that lurked behind the recess door hall and heard everything.

Outside, Jordan watched nearby as the two girls sat at two of the conjoining swings and talked about their guardians, sharing common ground. Looking up from a book, Honker noticed their smiles, too, as they both overheard the small snippets of conversations coming forth from the both.

"Gee, I'm glad you have your aunt," Gosalyn said, looking straight at Skye as she sadly smiled. "I didn't know much about my parents, because they passed when I was pretty small. Grandfather took care of me for the longest time, until I lost him, too, and ended up in an orphanage, until …" At that word, Gosalyn halted but immediately noticed the look on Skye's face that told her that she, too, had experienced being at a home, even if it was temporary. Correcting herself, she said, "What I mean is, we're both pretty lucky, you know. Having someone in your corner who cares, that's awesome. You can count me as one of them you know."

"Thanks," was all Skye could say before she felt two rough hands push her out of the swing and onto the ground, scratching her face as she pushed herself back up enough to hear Gosalyn yell, "What's the big idea, Tank?"

Hearing the commotion, Jordan balked as he saw Skye on the ground as he only looked to see Honker drop his jaw and said, "Uh-oh. Honker, don't just stand there. Get help!"

Immediately, Jordan was at Skye's side in a second as he helped her to her feet as they both turned to hear the big bully shout, "I knew there was something off about you. You don't belong here. You're only here because your aunt brought you here. She's an orphan just like you, Mallard!"

"You take that back!" Gosalyn shouted while turning beet red, tackling him to the ground from off of the swing and catching him off guard enough to pull him down and yank at his hair.

"Skye, you alright? Skye!" Jordan tried to ask her, before she got up and rushed over, too.
"Gosalyn!" Skye cried, running over to where she where she grabbed ahold of her friend's hands, getting between their squabble as Tank managed to get to his feet. "Please, stop, there's no need to …"

"Seriously? How …" he started to say before he felt a punch land in his face, reeling him backward to both his and Skye's shock.

"Don't even think about finishing that sentence, Tank," Gosalyn said, standing up next to Skye in defense. "She's not pathetic and she doesn't deserve this, especially from you!"

"Whoa!" was all Jordan could say as he looked back in time to see Honker come out with Mr. Avery as well as Principal Farnsworth, who heard the commotion from all the way inside the cafeteria. "Hey, guys … Guys?!"

"Stay out of this, Bluecrest!" Tank shouted from the side, to which Gosalyn only shot herself at him, again, this time joined by Skye, who got roused up when she heard Tank's berate towards Jordan. Together, their tackle was enough to bring all three of them to the ground when the sound of a whistle was heard all over the playground.

"Alright, that's enough! Break it up!" the principal shouted, striding over to fold her arms over her chest and saw the scene in front of her. "Tankard H. Muddlefoot, what is the meaning of this? This is the third time in one week that you have caused trouble. And Gosalyn … Girls … I'm sorry, but I've going to have to call your guardians. This kind of behavior is not acceptable here, and I will not have any of it. Are we clear?"

When all three of them nodded their heads, Jordan had just barely put his hand on Skye's shoulder before he heard, "Jordan, would you come with me, too, please?"

"Me?"

"I was just about to send for you," she said, allowing Mr. Avery to appear at her side with a smile. "Your mother is here. Since it's near the end of the school day, I granted her request. She has someone waiting to see you in the car."

"Someone?" Jordan asked, almost curious. However, as he looked over to see Skye's anxiety, he said, "But, Skye …?"

"Jordan, your friend will be alright, okay? You did the right thing," the principal said reading his concern, leading the three of them away with Tank no doubt in the front to allow no further conflict between the three of them. "Come along now you three, let's go."

"Jordan?" Mr. Avery said, gesturing towards the door for him to follow him to which he finally did, all in an anxious daze.

It wasn't until he had his stuff and was out of the building that he saw a sight that made him find his smile, again.

Standing there with Amelia all dressed and still crisp in his Wingfond uniform, David turned his regal head of plumage towards his son and said, "Hey, sport."

Dropping his bag, Jordan only ran towards his Dad as David dropped to his knees to hug him tight, a sight that made Amelia tear up ever more in relief. A second later, she was brought into their tight little circle as David then had his son pick up his bag long enough to say, "I am here in town for a meeting and I do have to leave tonight, but I had to see you guys. I missed you both."

"We missed you, too," she said, kissing him tenderly for a moment as they all three got into the car and decided to enjoy this brief window of time they had together.

Putting aside what happened out of his mind, Jordan decided that he wanted to enjoy this time with his father although a part of him was still worried about what was going to happen next with the girls. Looking at his watch, he saw it was only a little past one, but it didn't matter when he saw that a few minutes later they were pulling up to their favorite place to go in town as a family: Max's Diner.

This chapter is more of a filler chapter, too, but a surprise. As I was filling in some of the missing scenes from my perspective of Chase's story through Amelia and Jordan, I then had a small burst of inspiration I wanted to do for those two. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and see you next time!

And from a familiar line of advice, always remember to tell an adult if you ever have trouble with bullies. You can always stick up for yourself, but sometimes it's safer to have someone in your corner that can make sure that it doesn't happen again.