Author's Note: ... I'm not sure how I did it, but I managed to finish this story in under 24 hours. Don't know how I did it, but I did. And I'm very happy. Ugh. X.x;  Hey, send me an e-mail if anyone sees a grammar error, I was up late doing this and it spilled over to the next morning, so I wasn't thinking while I was writing part of this. icelightning@pcweenie.com  Thanks for the reviews in advance!

Why?

Why did you do it, brother? Why did you do it when you knew I couldn't survive without you, when you knew I wouldn't want to live without you? Didn't you know that? Didn't you?

So why am I the one sitting next to you as you lay on a bed in the infirmary, fighting for you life? Why wasn't it me?

You're stupid, so stupid sometimes! You should have let me take the hit, instead of jumping in front of me like that! Stupid, stupid, STUPID! I swear, when you wake up, i-if you wake up. . . I'll. . . I'll slap you silly! I'll yell at you until my voice is gone! I will, and then you'll be sorry!

B-but. . . If you die, God, you can't die! I won't let you! Not after all we've been through, you can't leave me behind to throw the flowers on your grave! The others need you, I need you! So why the hell aren't you waking up already?!

. . . . Duke came in earlier and said I should eat something, but I told him to fuck off. I'm not leaving you, because I know you'd do the same. I'm not leaving until you wake up. T-that's right, you're going to wake up, and then everything's going to be okay again!

If you die, I swear I'll kill you! You can't die on me! I don't give a shit what the others are feeling right now, I want YOU!

P-please, you can't die on me. . . You don't know how much I need you, how much I depend on you! You have no idea!

Is this how you felt whenever I was hurt? Did you cry like I did. . . L-like I am right now? Were you catatonic, not daring to leave my side, fearing that I might take my last breath while you're gone? Is that why you're always looking out for me, always trying to show that you care?

I know I don't say it often, and I should've said it when I had the chance, but I love you and trust you with all my heart. I think you already know that, but... I should've said it more often -- every night, right after bed -- I should have said it then. I should have told you those three words right before, and after, every battle. I should have given you hugs the second you looked even remotely depressed, I should have done something like that.

But I didn't, and now I can only regret. Hugging you now wouldn't be the same, would you even feel it? Would you even hear me calling out your name, telling you that I love you and I need you? Can you even hear me talking right now? Can you feel my hands holding one of yours in them and the salty tears that are falling onto your cheek?

You're so still, so silent, so peaceful. God, I wish it was me! It should have been me! At least then, I wouldn't have to worry so damn much. You're better at worrying anyways, you know?

God, I'm so tired, I just want to fall over and sleep until the end of time... Crying wears you out so fast, you know? But it's been days since I've had sleep, and it'll be many more before, probably, before I succumb to it. I won't leave you, I promise. I won't give up on you, either! You're going to wake up, and then you'll laugh at me for being so worried over such a silly thing! There's going to be a huge celebration when you wake up, I'm sure. . . And I'm going to make sure that you never do something stupid like that ever again!

It's so painful, the waiting. It hurt's worse than any wound that's ever been dealt to my body. . . My soul itself is hurting, crying, sobbing and begging for you to get back home to me, to the others. I just want you back, the old you, not the one that's lying here, barely breathing, the heart monitor the only thing that tells me you're still alive.

Fight, damn you, FIGHT! Don't you dare give up! I'm right here, rooting for you, waiting for you to wake up and hug me close! You're not allowed to give up, I never did! After all those times, I never once gave up on life, so you're not allowed to either! You have to fight with your all, with your body, mind, and soul! With everything you have! And you're not allowed to stop until you wake up! You're not allowed to die, I won't let you!

. . . . I know you can do it, I know you can win over death. You have to! We're not going to make it if you die, you're so much a member of the team. We wouldn't know what to do without you. Dragaunus would win! You don't want him to win, do you? So fight! Fight like you never have before! Fight, fight, fight!

Y-you're going to win, I know it! You're going to win and then you'll wake up, and we'll all be happy again! You're going to wake up, and then Draggy's going to regret it! You're going to make him beg for mercy, and I'll be cheering you on. C'mon, bro', wake up!

It's been a week since we've last talked, since you've last said a word. . . The last thing that came from your mouth was that scream, that awful, horrible cry of pain that sent me into a rampage. You would've loved to have seen it, I kicked all their asses. They were running away calling to their mommies. Hehe, never thought I'd loose my cool like that, did you?

You've lost your cool a couple of times yourself, usually over something stupid I did, but I don't blame you. Hell, I've done some pretty stupid things, haven't I? Tormenting Mallory like I do I'm surprised she hasn't killed me yet. I'm probably still alive because you're oh-so-good at protecting me, big bro', even when I don't need it.

God, I understand how you must have felt now, all those times I did something stupid and just escaped death, only brushing its cloak. How many times did I make your heart stop? How many times did you feel that your heart was being ripped out as you waited for me to awaken like this? You've always been waiting for me to wake up, to learn, to do something. . . I'm so sorry for being stupid like that. I should've used my head, like you've always been telling me to.

If I had used any one of my brain cells last week, you wouldn't have been hurt and I wouldn't have needed saving! It's all my fault . . . You should have left me behind. Why didn't you?

. . . . Do I really mean that much to you? Am I worth dying for? I would say that I wasn't in an instant, if it would bring you back from your unmoving state; I would give up my life if it would wake you up.

But then what would be the point of your sacrifice? To wake up only to see that I died anyways? You'd kill yourself, wouldn't you? Yes, you'd kill yourself to be with me. I know you would, because I'd do the same.

. . . No, no I wouldn't! I wouldn't this time, not this time. . . You got yourself hurt like this just so I didn't die, I couldn't belittle your sacrifice. I wouldn't do something like that to you, I love you too much.

So I'm sitting here, waiting, never sleeping, never eating, never blinking, waiting for you to wake up. I'm waiting here as you've waited for me. I'm not going to leave you, not now, not ever. I'm not leaving you until you're better, or you're gone.

B-but, if you're tired and feel like you can't make it, then I understand if you just want to die and end it all . . . I only ask you to try for me, okay, Wildwing? I've never given up on life, knowing you would be there waiting for me and that I was your world. Well, big bro', you're my world and I expect you to do the same.

So hurry and wake up. I'll be waiting for you until the end of time if I have to.

~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~
I took a walk around the world to ease my troubled mind,
I left my body laying somewhere in the sands of time,
But I watched the world float to the dark side of the moon.
I feel there is nothing I can do... yeah.

I watched the world float to the dark side of the moon,
After all I knew it had to be something to do with you.
I really don't mind what happens now and then,
As long as you'll be my friend at the end!
~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~

Duke sighed, looking at the clock for the third time in a minute, wishing time would do more than crawl. None of them were eating or getting any sleep, all of them waiting for their team leader to wake up. What else were they supposed to do? They did the same for Nosedive. Now it was time to do the same for Wildwing.

He and Mallory shared a glance of mutual pain before they both turned to regard the door of the infirmary as it opened.

It was Duke who broke the silence.

"How's Wildwing? Any luck?"

Tanya sighed, shaking her head as she poured herself a cup of coffee from the steaming pot Duke had put on earlier. "He's still in critical condition, although stable now."

"Well that's good, isn't it?" Mallory asked, trying to grab on any hope she could.

"Yes and no. He's stable, but barely. He could still go into cardiac arrest any minute." The blonde duck replied, taking a long sip from what had now become her lifeblood.

"You look like shit." Duke stated, frowning, not liking the bags under her eyes.

Tanya sighed a bit. "You should see Dive, he's worse. At least I've gotten a few hours of sleep these last couple of days. He's got none, and he's not going to let himself get any anytime soon, either."

"Damn it!" Mallory shouted, banging her fist on the table, causing both Duke and Tanya to jump. "How the hell does he think killing himself is going to help Wildwing get better?! If Wildwing dies, he's just going to waste away too and we'll be down two team members!"

"He's blaming himself." Grin replied simply as he walked into the room and all eyes were on him. "Nosedive thinks that he should have been the one to be hit full force with that truck."

Mallory shook her head violently and answered hotly. "Oh, and what good would that have done us?! At least Wildwing has a chance for survival! Nosedive wouldn't even had that!"

Grin ignored her and continued. "He feels guilty because he failed to obey Wildwing's orders, and feels that neither of them would have been hurt had he followed them properly."

"He slipped, we all do that!" Duke burst out as he stood up, then looked around sheepishly when everyone stared at him in shock and sat back down again, staring at the table and his own cup of coffee. "Sorry."

Tanya sighed and stood up again, going towards the infirmary once more. However, before she had even taken two steps, Duke gently grabbed her wrist.

"Want me to try and talk some sense into the kid, try to get him to sleep a bit?"

She turned to blink at him, thinking it over. "Do you think you even have a chance of convincing him?"

He shrugged. "Never hurts to try. And besides, if he won't listen, I'll just use a tranquillizer on him."

Mallory frowned. "Duke."

"What? I'm not going to let Dive worry himself to death over his brother like Wildwing did. Wing's going to be furious with me if he finds out, after waking up, that Dive's been doing nothing but sitting there all that time while he's been asleep. It's not good for a kid his age to be doing something like that! He needs to sleep!" He argued.

"What did he tell you to do the last time? Let's see, wasn't it along the lines of 'fuck off' that he screamed at the top of his lungs after you wouldn't leave him alone? He doesn't want to leave Wing's side!" Mallory shot back.

"There's other beds in the infirmary, you know." Duke stated coolly. "He could sleep in one of those while I take watch over Wing for a bit. That way, if anything happens, I can immediately wake him up and he's right there."

Mallory sighed and shook her head. "If you think it might work. . ."

"Well, we won't know until I try, now will we?" He replied, forcing Tanya to sit back down as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "Now you sit and take a break. I'll tell you if anything weird happens, okay?"

"What if he wakes up?" Tanya asked almost immediately, a look of utmost worry on her face.

"I'm sure Nosedive's cry for joy will tell you when that happens," he smiled slightly, and then turned and walked into the infirmary.

Tanya watched him leave until the door shut, and then turned to look at the others. "So what do we do now?"

"We wait." Mallory stated.

"And we pray for Wildwing's life." Grin added and Mallory nodded solemnly in agreement.

~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~
If I go crazy then will you still call me Superman?
If I'm alive and well, will you be there holding my hand?
I'll keep you by my side with my superhuman might--
My aching Kryptonite!
~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~

Nosedive didn't bother to look up as Duke walked into the infirmary, he already knew who it was without looking, Tanya wouldn't have been back yet.

"Didn't I tell you to 'fuck off' already, or am I going to have to repeat myself?" Dive asked scathingly, one hand still holding Wildwing's hand while the back of the other ran across Wildwing's cheek. The leader's face was void of its usual mask, which was instead on the infirmary terminal.

"Yep, but I'm back again." Duke replied, pulling up a chair and sitting next to Nosedive.

The teenager tore his eyes away from his brother and turned to settle a level glare on the older duck. "So what the hell do you want this time?"

Duke was taken aback by the depth of the anger in Nosedive's voice, but he didn't let it show, keeping his face emotionless. "I came to make a proposal."

"Oh? You're going to propose I leave his side again?" Dive retorted, glaring at him still.

"Nope," Duke replied again, causing Nosedive to blink slightly in surprise. "I came to propose you sleep on that infirmary bed while I watch Wildwing." He jerked his thumb back to indicate the bed behind them.

The answer was instantaneous. "No way!"

Duke sighed. This was going to be harder than he thought. "Dive, listen. . ."

"NO!"

So much for going easy on the kid. He resorted to more straight-forward tactics, grabbing the front of Nosedive's shirt and pulling him close so that they were beak-to-beak. "Listen to me!"

"NO! LET ME GO!" Nosedive screamed, grabbing Duke's wrists, trying to pull himself out of the older duck's grip.

"How the HELL do you think this is going to help Wildwing get better?! Nosedive, he didn't jump in front of that truck so you could die worrying about him!"

The duck froze for a minute before his eyes narrowed and he tried to slam a fist into Duke's face. "Don't you DARE talk about Wildwing like that!"

He caught the fist and gave Nosedive a level stare, his voice barely a whisper. "I'm serious. He worries so much about you. Do you really think it'll be good for him to immediately start worrying about your health after he wakes up? Don't you want for it to be a happy occasion when he wakes up?"

Nosedive closed his eyes and looked away in shame. "I. . ."

Duke's expression softened, and he released his grip on Dive's shirt and fist, putting his hands on the boy's shoulders instead. "Look, a little rest will do you good. I'll stay here while you sleep, and I'll tell you if anything happens, okay?"

"I. . . I don't know, Duke. . . What, what if he dies?" Nosedive's shoulders sagged as he looked up to the grey duck. "What if he leaves me while I'm sleeping?"

"Dive . . ."

"I can't lose him!" Nosedive couldn't take it anymore and started to cry quietly, pressing into Duke. "He can't die on me! I need him!"

He looked down at the other duck uneasily, not used to such close contact. None-the-less, he put a comforting arm around Dive as the boy sobbed into him, the other patting his back.

They remained like that for minutes, until Nosedive slowly quieted down and eventually stopped crying, just breathing softly. Duke began to ask Nosedive if he wanted to sleep then, but then realized with a jolt that the teenager had already cried himself to sleep. He smiled slightly and picked up Nosedive, going to place him on the bed beside Wildwing's before he realized that Nosedive's grip on Wildwing's hand was still firm and unyielding.

Duke couldn't help but laugh at the sleeping boy as he placed him back down, gently moved Wildwing a bit, painstakingly slow, before placing Nosedive next to his brother instead.

He stood back, placing his hands on his hips, and looked at his handwork. He glanced at the screen above Wildwing for a second to see if moving the duck had caused any problems, but when satisfied it didn't, he looked back to the two brothers again. He smiled softly as Nosedive curled up against Wildwing, mumbling in his sleep, but never letting go of his brother's hand.

"Cute, makes me wish I had a camera." Duke laughed lightly and sat down on what was Nosedive's seat, running a hand through the boy's hair. "Well, that went easier than I thought it would."

His smile faded and he paused for a minute, looking at them sadly, before turning activating his com-link.

Tanya's worried face came onto the screen. "Duke?"

"Mission accomplished. But you'd better make another pot of coffee because this is going to be one hell of a long night."

~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~
You called me strong, you called me weak,
But still your secrets I will keep.
You took for granted all the times I never let you down.
You stumbled in and bumped your head,
If not for me then you'd be dead!
I picked you up and put you back on solid ground!
~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~

"Damn, the kid's pretty beat, isn't he?" Mallory asked, having joined Duke the next afternoon.

Duke nodded, sipping on his cup of coffee, bags under his eyes. "Yeah. . . And he hasn't woken up since yesterday, either. Aren't you going to take a seat?" He gestured to the chair next to him.

She nodded and sat down, sighing. "Any change in Wildwing?"

"A little, I think. . . If I'm reading this panel-thing correctly, I think that means that Wildwing's brain waves are becoming more like they usually are."

Mallory snorted slightly, despite the situation, rolling her eyes. "Oh how scholarly you sound."

Duke shrugged and smiled a bit. "It's a gift."

She rolled her eyes again. "At any rate, I should probably get Tanya if he's getting better. She'll want to examine him herself."

"Probably. I'll stay here and you can go get her, okay? I kinda promised Dive I'd stand watch over Wing while he got some rest. . ."

Mallory smiled and nodding, standing up again. "Alright." She quickly left, a slight bounce in her step, although she didn't notice it.

Duke however did and chuckled before turning back to regard Wildwing and Nosedive. "Damn, I still wish I had a camera."

He sighed, shaking his head. "You'd better make it out of this alive, Wing. Dive's not going to make it without you. None of us are. You're the team leader and it was a disaster the last time you left us."

Memories of the giant plant nearly eating them all flashed across his mind's eye and he winced slightly. "We really do need you, especially Dive. From what I've gathered, he's had it pretty hard at times, and he's survived through it all because of you. He was able to survive because he believed you would never leave him. Don't fail him now."

It was then that Mallory walked into the room, followed by Tanya, who rushed to the infirmary console quickly and started typing.

"Well?" Mallory prompted after a minute's time went by.

"It seems like he's indeed getting better!" Tanya laughed and looked up to them, smiling widely after she checked the heart monitor. "His pulse is becoming stable!"

Duke and Mallory returned that same happy smile, glad that their leader was finally starting to recover.

"Better wake up Nosedive." Mallory nodded to Duke and he nodded back, reaching a hand for Dive, to gently shake the boy awake.

It was then that Wildwing's heartbeat went erratic before bottoming out, the long tone of the monitor shocking the three ducks and slowly waking Dive.

"What's going on. . .?" Nosedive muttered sleepily, then jerked awake completely as he realized what the tone meant. "Wing! WING!"

"Shit, Tanya, what just happened?!" Duke yelled, pulling Nosedive away from his brother with the help of Mallory, as Nosedive screamed, struggling to get back to his brother's side.

"I-I don't know, he just suddenly bottomed out!" Tanya replied, eyes wide, typing rapidly.

"When then, I suggest you'd better fix it! We're busy holding Dive back from killing his brother!"

Tanya looked at the screen one more moment before nodding and running over to Wing's side, frantic. She immediately started CPR, trying her best to restart his heart.

"Wildwing, Wildwing, NO!" Nosedive screamed, sobbing, trying his best to struggle against Mallory and Duke as they shoved him onto a table and began doing up the restraints. "LET ME GO!"

"Sorry Dive, but we can't have you getting in the way. We'll let you out the second Wing's better again, okay?" Duke apologized, but Nosedive didn't hear over his sobs. "God, Dive. . ."

Mallory looked at Dive with pity, rubbing his shoulder. "He'll be okay, he's Wildwing, isn't he?"

Nosedive didn't reply; he just continued to sob.

Duke sighed and looked over to Tanya. "What should I do?"

"Press the button to discharge an electric pulse to Wildwing's bed! He's not coming back with CPR alone!" Tanya shouted in reply and Duke ran over to the console, grateful that he at least memorized those buttons.

"Alright, clear!" Duke yelled and Tanya stepped back.

He slammed his hand on the button and Wildwing's body jumped, his heartbeat restarting for a moment before going flat once more.

"Again! Do it again!" Duke nodded quickly and again Wildwing's body jumped, but the pulse only remained for a second before dropping again.

"Damnit, I don't think he's coming back!" He stated, looking to Tanya. "He's not responding!"

"Wildwing, don't die, don't leave me behind! Don't die!" Nosedive sobbed, giving up on fighting against the restraints and his body went limp with despair and shattered hope as he continued to sob weakly.

". . . N-no. . ." He whispered through his tears.

Duke took one look at Nosedive and yelled for everyone to get away from Wildwing again before slamming his hand down on the button.

Wildwing's body jerked up for a third time, and they held their breath as the pulse returned, waiting for it to go out again.

"C'mon Wing, you can do it, you can do it!" Duke whispered, the only sounds in the room being the heart monitor and Nosedive's sobs.

A minute, two minutes passed and the heartbeat remained steady, not skipping again.

"Well, that was surely a good recess from the boring wait," Mallory commented sarcastically.

Tanya ran over to Dive, undoing the restraints so he could rush over to his brother and hold his hand. He would've done more, gotten closer to Wildwing, but a look from Mallory showed that she'd restrain him again if he tried.

"I think we should have two people on watch at all times besides Dive." Duke stated quietly and both women nodded their heads in agreement.

Nosedive made no indication that he heard any of them, staring at Wildwing with wide, shocked eyes, his body shuddering with dying sobs.

~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~
If I go crazy then will you still call me Superman?
If I'm alive and well, will you be there holding my hand?
I'll keep you by my side with my superhuman might--
My aching Kryptonite!
~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~

Another couple of days had passed and Duke found himself taking care of Wildwing with Grin and Nosedive, the youngest of the three asleep on the chair nearest to Wildwing. Duke glanced at the boy and chuckled softly.

"The kid's out cold yet again, but at least he's getting some sleep."

Grin nodded, meditating quietly on the floor.

Duke sighed, his momentary happiness fading as he turned to regard Wildwing again.

It had nearly been two weeks now since the fight, and still Wildwing showed no signs of waking up. Nosedive was on the edge of complete exhaustion, only sleeping when the need overtook his desire to stay with his brother. Wildwing needed to wake up, soon.

"I wonder if he's ever going to wake up at this rate. . . He hasn't even twitched or shown a sign of life other than breathing." Duke muttered to no one in particular.

"We must never give up hope," Grin stated, eyes closed.

"Yeah, sure, it's just that the kid's falling apart, he's too worried about Wing to take care of himself. He's barely eaten or drunk anything. He's famished and dehydrated, but he doesn't give a damn. We need Wildwing to wake up before we loose his brother too." Duke sighed, glancing to Nosedive sadly. "And I thought he was scrawny before! Look at him, Grin, he's practically a skeleton!"

"He does not have the emotional strength to survive without his brother." Was Grin's only reply.

"Damn it Grin, that's obvious! Isn't there absolutely anything we can do for the kid?!" The elder duck glared at the other's meditating form.

"He will not accept help. He does not want it."

Duke sighed in frustration and fell back into his chair, arms crossed. "If I had anything to do with it, I would've beaten some sense into that kid about now!"

"That would have only frightened him further and would have not helped him." Grin stated and Duke rubbed his temples, trying to get rid of the exhaustion headache he had.

"If Wing dies, we're all going to follow him. There's no way we'd even have a chance to win against Dragaunus with only four team members. And we can forget about getting money from playing hockey: Dive's one of our best players."

"He will not die."

Duke exploded. "How the hell do you know that, Grin?! He could die any second and then what the fuck would we do?! Dive would die and-"

"- Look and you shall see, my friend." Grin interrupted Duke's tirade.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" He clenched his fists, not even knowing exactly why he was angry.

Grin opened his eyes and glanced to the bed Wildwing was on. "It means turn around."

Duke's gaze followed Grin's slowly, and then he blinked a few times in surprise. ". . . Wing?"

Wildwing was scrunching up his eyelids against the harsh light, groaning softly as he turned his head to the side and away from it.

Grin took the hint and stood up, turning down the lights with a nearby control pad.

Their leader groaned again and slowly opened his eyes, looking the opposite direction from Nosedive. "Where. . .?"

"The infirmary." Duke replied with a relieved smile. "Welcome back."

"Dive, where's DIVE?!" Wildwing shouted, trying to sit up but Duke pushed him back down.

"Easy there, Wing. He's right next to you." Duke laughed lightly. "Poor kid was worried sick that you'd never wake up."

Wildwing looked at Nosedive with affection which quickly became concern as he realized how thin his brother had become. ". . . He looks like shit, what happened?"

"He wouldn't eat, wouldn't sleep, wouldn't leave your side. . . He was so scared you were going to die while he was off doing something, he didn't do anything but watch over you until exhaustion took him. I only managed to convince him to eat something a few days ago, and he hasn't had anything to eat since then." Duke stated with a sigh, patting Wildwing's shoulder sympathetically. "Good thing you woke up, eh?"

Wildwing didn't notice Duke's weak smile, he only stared at Nosedive in shock. "Y-you mean. . .?"

"He didn't want to live without you Wing. With you in the infirmary, he started to waste away himself."

The white duck took a deep, shuddering breath as he closed his eyes. "Oh God, Dive. . ."

"We nearly lost you a few times, but you always managed to come back." Duke stated, gently shaking Nosedive and Wildwing opened his eyes again. "I promised the kid I'd wake him up if anything happened."

"Of course," Wildwing whispered quietly, eyes troubled as he watched Duke. "I couldn't leave Dive by himself. He needs me."

"Yeah, kinda figured that out by how he freaked every time your heart stopped. Kid's pretty stubborn, though. He refused to sleep for about a week before I managed to convince him to take a break." Duke smiled weakly.

"Dive always was like that." Wildwing stated, eyes shining happily as Nosedive stirred.

"Duke. . .?" The boy mumbled sleepily, glancing up at the other duck. "Anything new with Wing?"

He grinned and stepped aside. "See for yourself, kiddo."

The effect was instantaneous, Dive's eyes widening before his face broke out into a huge smile as he jumped out of his chair and threw his arms around his brother's neck. "WILDWING!"

Wildwing laughed and grabbed Nosedive into a tight hug as the younger brother began to sob happily. "Hey there baby bro'. . . Miss me?"

"Miss you?? I thought I was going to lose you!" Nosedive cried, eyes locking onto Wildwing. "Y-you were so still and you weren't waking up. . . I thought you were going to die and leave me behind!"

"Dive-"

"Don't 'Dive' me! What were you thinking?! You're the team leader! What the hell would we have done without you?! Dragaunus would've killed us and then taken over both Earth and Puckworld! And don't you give me any of that 'I was trying to save you' shit, 'cause you should've known in a second that I would've died anyways hadn't you not made it!"

"Nosedive, please-"

"Wildwing, I wouldn't have made it anyways, so why did you try?" The boy's voice dropped to a whisper.

The elder brother laughed lightly and ran a hand through Nosedive's hair. "Because there was a chance that I would survive. There was a chance that I would die, too. But you would have died, you had no chance to make it. I knew you would die if I died, but if I saved you and managed to live, then it would've been worth it."

"But what about the team-" Nosedive began to argue, but Wing interrupted him.

"I would have died if something had happened to you, so therefore I had to try."

Nosedive went silent, eyes filling up with tears again. "I-I'm so sorry, Wing, I should've listened to you."

His brother smiled and patted him on the back. "It's okay, I know you'll listen from now on."

"You better believe it." Nosedive grinned weakly, and then laughed at Wildwing ruffled his hair.

"Duke?" He glanced to them as Wing said his name. "Do you mind getting us something to eat? I'm starving, and I'm sure Dive's feeling the same way." Nosedive nodded enthusiastically to Wildwing's assessment. "I think between us we could eat Phil."

Duke laughed and nodded. "Shouldn't be too hard. I can reheat pizza, at least. We've had it the last few nights."

Dive glared at him. "Pizza? You've had pizza the last few nights and you didn't tell me?!"

"Well, you said you weren't hungry. I asked you if you wanted any, remember?" Duke commented with a sly grin.

Nosedive paused and blinked a few times before slapping himself in the face, a small tint of a blush coming to his cheeks. "Damn it, I can't believe I was that stupid as to refuse pizza!"

"Well, that's new." Wildwing laughed and Dive gave him a small punch to the shoulder.

"Hush, you."

"Wow, never knew you cared so much that you'd refuse pizza without a second thought to stay beside me." He laughed again, winking.

"Well, you're kinda hard to replace, you know?" Nosedive grinned, poking Wildwing in the stomach. "I can always order more pizza."

Wildwing grinned mischievously and grabbed Nosedive into a bear hug, tickling him relentlessly.

"Ack! No no! No tickle! GAH! Wildwing!" Nosedive shouted, laughing and struggling to free himself.

"Don't think so, baby bro'." He laughed, not relenting.

Duke chuckled quietly and shook his head, walking out of the infirmary to tell the others the good news and to get the requested food items.

~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~
If I go crazy then will you still call me Superman?
If I'm alive and well, will you be there holding my hand?
I'll keep you by my side with my superhuman might--
My aching Kryptonite... Yeaah!

If I go crazy then will you still call me Superman?
If I'm alive and well, will you be there holding my hand?
I'll keep you by my side with my superhuman might--
My aching Kryptonite!
~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~ ~~~*~~~