Backfire

By Icka M. Chif

This job was going to take all of the skill, timing and sheer luck that Duke L'Orange possessed. And, being the best jewel thief on Puckworld, not to mention the strange backward planet they currently inhabiting, that was quite a lot.

"Almost got it..." He whispered to himself, slipping the worms deeper into Mallory's boots. "Perfect. And now, for the creme de la creme!" He pulled a semi-longish gold hair from a pocket and carefully inserted it where the worms wouldn't shake it loose and Mallory would still be able to see it when she first encountered the mass of slimy creatures. Now all he had to do was sneak out of here without anyone seeing him and watch the sparks fly. He chuckled to himself as he checked his chronometer. Plenty of time. Oh, this was gonna be good! two ducks for the price of one! Nosedive would never know what hit him when Mallory found the worms! Duke leaned against the door, listening for anybody out in the hall.

"Hitting the sack early tonight?" Wildwing's muffled but clearly recognizable voice came through the door. Somebody's yawn accompanied it.

"Yeah. Figured it might do me some good." His eyes widened as Mallory spoke. She shouldn't have gotten out of the gym for another five minutes. He muffled a curse as he glanced around the room for an escape route. None he could get to and out of before she showed up. Dang it! Next best thing... hiding place. It suddenly dawned on him just how spartan her quarters were. There weren't many places for him to hide.

"Sleep well then, Mallory." Wildwing was saying on the other side of the wall. He mentally kicked himself. Getting caught in Mallory's room was not high up there on his 'to do' list. Especially if he wanted to survive to see Puckworld again.

"You too, Wildwing." Another yawn. "See you in the morning." He could hear her enter the access code to her room. No time for anything fancy. He dove for the closest hiding place available. The old tried and true --under the bed.

The door swooshed open just as he got completely hidden. Whew. The lights came on momentarily blinding him. When his vision cleared, he could see her sneakers walked toward him. No! No! No! He mentally chided her. The other way! Go the other way! No such luck. He could feel the bed above him sink down as she sat down on the bed with a contented sigh. One shoe fell to floor, inches away from his beak, then the other.

"Nothing like a good work out." Mallory yawned, rising from the bed. Duke heard a soft rustle above him then a pile of fabric fell next to the shoes. He started at it for a second as he recognized it as her uniform. Oh, boy. If he got caught now, there wouldn't be enough of him left to send home in his eye patch. However, it might be worth the cost...

The choice was taken out of his hands as she climbed back into bed. There was a click, then the room went dark again. He could hear her move around above him, getting comfortable. He grit his teeth together. He was stuck. Mal was a notoriously light sleeper. Even with his skills, facing a groggy, furious Mallory was not something he'd bet on. Especially since she would be in the right.

She finally stopped moving above him and he relaxed a bit. Finally. Duke moved around so that his arm was no longer falling asleep. If he was lucky, he'd be able to catch a catnap or two. Not that luck had been with this endeavor so far.

"Almost forgot!" Mallory suddenly exclaimed, sitting up suddenly and turning on the light. He tensed, ready to make a dash for the door if she got up. Instead, a hand reached down under the bed and began feeling around on the underside of the frame. After a few nerve racking heartbeats, she pulled a slim book out from under the bed. He could hear pages rustling, then the soft scratching of a pen. Occasionally, she'd mutter to herself while writing. She kept this up for several minutes, then closed the book and returned it to its original hiding place. She turned off the lights, wiggled around some more and began to snore softly.

Curious, he reached up and carefully, so not to wake the bed's occupant, pulled out the slim book. Always prepared, Duke reached to his belt and grabbed his tiny penlight. As good as his night vision was, sometimes you just needed a closer look. So he kept one handy.

It was a standard size book, smooth black cover, a bit worn looking. No title or any marks to say what it was. There was a lock on it, but it was un-locked. He opened it a crack. In side the front cover, she had written 'Mallory McMallard' then neatly below that, 'little black book' and a date. It was a few days after they had landed. It must have been one of the first things she picked up when she had gone out to check the mall out. He glanced through it. There were dated entries for just about every day since they had landed. He smiled. It hit him what it was. Mal-Mal would occasionally make a reference to her 'little blackmail book' when ever somebody did something really stupid. Wonder what she'd written in it? He quickly shut it.

No.

This was a teammate's private property. Sneaking in to plant worms in her shoes and framing Nosedive was one thing, reading her diary was another matter entirely. Duke L'Orange may be a thief, but he had some honour. He looked at the cover again, torn. It was going to be a looong night.

***************

"Duke! There you are. Was wondering where you disappeared to last night." Wildwing greeted him as he walked into the dining hall.

"Oh, I was around. Anything exciting happen?" He said easily, opening the fridge. He had snuck out when Mal had gone into the bathroom to take her shower, and escaped scott free.

"Usual. No sign of Dragounus."

"Still pretty early from the last fiasco to hear from him."

"Yeah."

The doors opened and Nosedive walked in and immediately started chewing his older brother's ear off about the latest stuff he'd heard from Thrash and Mook. Duke tuned it out and resumed rummaging through the fridge. He was starved. He had missed most of dinner do to last night's prank. The doors opened again and Mallory walked in.

"Duke." She motioned for him to follow her. "C'mon. Wanna talk to you for a second."

"Oooohh." Nosedive grinned, casting him a sly look.

"You'll get your turn, 'Dive." Mal growled. Nosedive meekly shut up, much to both his and Wildwing's amusement. Duke shut the door, munching on a bagel on his way out of the kitchen.

"What's up, Mal-Mal?" He asked as the doors shut behind him. She held up a grey feather, one of his own, and slowly spun it in her fingers under his beak

"Found this under my bed this morning when I went to find my shoes." She said, a bit of a malicious grin forming in the corners of her beak. "Now, since I don't think Grin could fit under my bed, I was hoping you could explain how it got there."

Duke swallowed. Oh, boy.

Fin.