“Age Difference”
“So, your visas checked out,” Phil
reported with an exaggerated sigh. He
looked briefly at Nosedive, who sat on the console of Drake One, his legs
dangling off the side and not touching the floor. Sending the youngest duck a
commiserating gaze, Phil hated what he had to divulge, but he couldn’t let it
go. No—the
Wildwing gave him a sideways glance. “What? Don’t tell me they want to study us.”
Phil let out a dry chuckle, then glanced at the two brothers. He quickly averted his eyes and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Uh, no, but…I don’t know what’s it’s like on Puckworld, but here, the legal age for an adult is eighteen.”
“So?” Duke dismissed, shrugging. “Kid’s the youngest, and he’s twenty.”
Despite not looking directly at the kid, Phil still saw as a horrific expression that twisted onto Nosedive’s face and the teen bury his face in his hands. “The applications the government received? They say you have a sixteen year old in tow.”
“Oh, come on, Phil,” Tanya chuckled. “Do you think we’d bring a sixteen year old with us to fight an evil Saurian over…lord…” Her voice trailed on as everyone slowly turned as one to the youngest duck, head still in his hands.
Hesitantly, Nosedive peeked upward, only to cringe at the harsh expressions on his teammates’ faces.
“You’re sixteen!” Mallory clamored, her hands forming fists at her side. She scowled when Nosedive simply looked down, crestfallen. “How could Canard even think to bring a sixteen year old on this mission?”
The teen’s head shot up, and he opened his beak to retort but stopped when a solacing hand fell upon his shoulder. Knowing who it was, Nosedive refused to meet his brother’s worried gaze. “I’m sorry, Wing.”
“Kiddo, I thought we had an understanding,” Wildwing replied soothingly, despite the incensed expressions from his teammates.
“I know, okay! But when they separated us and that huge guy came into the room, I just scribbled down the first thing that came to mind, so I c—could—I—I c—could—”
Wildwing instinctively bent down and nuzzled the top of his brother’s head, relaxing the teen. “I know. I didn’t want to be separated from you, either. We’ll just deal with whatever we have to.” He sighed deeply, then thumbed toward the door. “Tell you what, baby bro. Why don’t you head to the mall, and I’ll catch up with you. Okay?”
Nosedive glared at his brother pointedly. “You’re going to talk about me, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am,” Wildwing agreed nonchalantly. “Did you think anything different?”
Nosedive glowered at his brother but obeyed, jumping down from the console. As he passed in front of Wildwing, the older brother ruffled his hair. Nosedive whirled to him with a mock-angered look and racked his hair out of his eyes, then switched to his normal clothes.
Once the elevator doors shut, Wildwing sighed despairingly, while his shoulders slumped. Shaking his head, he didn’t look at Phil. “How bad’s the damage?”
Phil shrugged. He really didn’t know. “They wanted to know if you were his guardian on Puckworld.”
“Yes,” Wildwing said instantly, “I was.”
Taking out his cell phone, he paused before calling. “They might want to talk to you and Nosedive again, probably separately to make sure your stories coincide.”
Wildwing nodded. “Thanks. We’ll be ready.”
Sparing the younger man one last look, Phil gazed at the team. While Grin sat on the floor, seemingly not having moved, the rest of the team wore strained and even hostile—on Mallory’s part—expressions. Not wanting to hear the conversation, he dialed the number the government agent left and headed above ground.
*^*^*
The elevator doors shutting was the initiative.
“You brought your sixteen-year-old brother on this mission?” Mallory accused, her arms flinging to the side. “How could you even—”
Wildwing whirled to her, his eyes blazing with fury. “What do you want from me, Mallory!”
“For starters, not a sixteen year old kid here!”
“So I was just supposed to leave my baby brother in a work camp?”
“When it’s your baby brother and we’re going up against the overlord that took over our planet, then hell yeah!”
Wildwing growled at her, shaking his head in disgust. He leaned back against the console, silent and reserved. He wasn’t demoralized; he was pissed as hell and was afraid if he said anything, he’d regret it later. After all, he was the leader. He couldn’t...He had to be…
Oh, at that moment, he wanted Canard there just to tell him what he could do with his Mask and the leadership.
“So,” Tanya started contemplatively, “you kept this from us because—”
“—this exact problem,” Wildwing finished in a bitter rejoin. His body heaving with a deep sigh, he beseeched the group, “Look, Canard came up with the idea. After he rescued Dive and me from the work camp, he thought the Resistance wouldn’t be very inviting of a sixteen year old, so we bumped up Dive’s age by four years.”
Duke chuckled wryly. “I thought he looked young.”
“I’m just impressed it worked this long. When Canard said that, I didn’t think it would fly. Dive’s always looked so much younger than he is, and I thought, maybe, he could pass for eighteen, but twenty? I literarily laughed in Canard’s face,” Wildwing scoffed. “After all, I’m only twenty-three. That would make Dive three years younger.”
“Yeah,” Tanya concurred with a small laugh, “I guess it was a little risky.”
“I’m so glad you guys can laugh about this,” Mallory seethed, crossing her arms over her chest. “I don’t know if you realized this, but that means we have to watch out for a teenage duck who’s not even old enough to drive by himself.”
Duke wrapped an arm about Mallory’s shoulders, drawing her close. “Sweetheart, from the looks of it, it’s not like we really have much of a choice. He’s here now, so we might as well make the best of it.”
“And it’s not like he’s any different,” Tanya agreed.
“Yeah, but—”
“Once the manifest truth is shone true will the light of acceptance be at its brightest,” Grin’s stark yet gentle voice proclaimed.
Wildwing rolled his eyes but then focused directly on Grin, who still was mediating, his eyes closed. “Is that an ‘I already knew’?”
Grin shrugged. “The knowledge was present to those who had an open mind to perceive.”
Duke smirked. “I think that’s a ‘yes.’ ”
“He still shouldn’t be here,” Mallory griped.
Wildwing glowered at her, his eyes narrowed, his position of leader forgotten. “Look, Mallory, my brother has already been through enough. He worked as a personal slave for General Raath. The guy used to beat him and flog him, and every day tell him I was dead. Of course, Raath would know because he was a general and had access to slave records.” Wildwing paused for a moment, too distraught to continue. He closed his eyes, attempting to hold back his fear and the quivering in his heart. “I can’t imagine what it was like for him. I know how bad it was just thinking that he might not have made it through the Invasion or worse—that he had and he died from punishment or torture, but to be told that he was dead day-in and day-out…” The feeling overwhelmed him, and he shivered noticeably. “So, now that I have him back and he has me, I’m not letting him go, especially because of his age. If anything, that should make me cling to him more for the sheer fact that he can’t fight back like I can.” Glaring, he focused all his anguish and resentment at Mallory. “So, if you have a problem with that, it’s yours, not mine. Deal with it. I don’t want to, and I don’t have to.” Changing into his civvies, he headed toward the door. “Right now, I have a more important matter—spending the day with my little brother.”
He left, not even glancing over his shoulder at his disgruntled teammate.
The team stood in silence.
Abruptly, Mallory scowled and stormed out of the room. “He still shouldn’t be here.”
Duke watched her go before turning to Tanya. “You don’t think she had a crush on Dive, do ya?”
The End