G12

The Prince of Mongo

By Marzena

Chapter 6: Safe

"LJ, how about you take us home?" Flash suddenly asked, leaving the pilot seat of the Terry. "I know you have been practicing your flying a lot lately. Show us what you've got!"

LJ's face immediately lit up. "Seriously?" he asked, jumping out of his seat. "All right then! I'll fly you all home safely, just you wait and see!"

"Just don't pull any stunts, LJ," Lothar quickly warned his son. "I better take the co-pilot seat to make sure."

LJ groaned, but Lothar took the co-pilot seat nevertheless. He also knew that Flash hadn't just given up the pilot seat because he was so interested to see any new flying techniques LJ might have learned. Flash just wanted to have a chat with his daughter to make sure Duffy was alright.

Duffy was sitting in the back of the Terry, staring out of the window with a blank look on her face. She didn't even react when Flash took the seat next to her. The two seats in front of them were unoccupied, so nobody could hear their conversation.

"Duffy."

"Daddy..."

Flash shifted in his seat uncomfortably, not really knowing what to say. He wanted to make sure Duffy was okay and he wanted to make sure she knew he would be right there next to her, no matter what, that she was safe now and that he would protect her from ever having to face Prince Krotan again. But Duffy, usually so cheerful and happy, just sat there so lost and helpless and gloomy, it was just heartbreaking and every father's nightmare.

"Duffy, I... are you okay?" he finally managed to say.

Stupid question, he told himself. Of course she wasn't okay. She'd been kidnapped, forced to marry some brute, she'd probably been humiliated and... and most likely... well, if that was the case he would hunt that bastard down, he swore to himself. He would tear Mongo apart, stone by stone, rock by rock, snowflake by snowflake. He wouldn't rest until Krotan was all done for.

She nodded. "Yeah, I... I'm just so glad being back with you guys. So, so glad."

"Are you hurt?" Flash wanted to know, trying to study her pale face. "Did he hurt you in any way? You need to tell me the truth, Duffy. Because if he did, I swear I'll make LJ turn the ship around and Krotan's not going to see the light of another day!"

He really meant it. Ming had killed Dale in the cruelest way possible, with Duffy watching, no less. Duffy was all Flash had left and nobody would take her away from him or hurt her ever again. Especially not Krotan. Flash was angry at himself for not listening to young Kit when the boy told him about his bad feelings regarding Dan, the boy Duffy had been dating. But Flash, realizing that Kit might just be crushing a little on Duffy, had thought that it was just a teenage thing – a little bit of jealousy, a teenage crush, nothing more. He also hadn't known just how much time Duffy had spend with this Dan guy. If he had known, he would have asked her to bring the guy over so he could meet him properly. He would have tried to find out more about Dan's family, too. But he'd been busy with his job and Duffy had seemed fine, happy even with this new guy she was interested in. It just hadn't occurred to him to intervene. He'd done a lousy job as a parent. He didn't protect her enough. He'd failed her. He'd failed his own daughter just as he had failed his wife.

"No... no, Daddy... I don't want you to go after him!" Duffy protested, finally looking up at him, all teary-eyed. "I want this nightmare to be over, Dad. Please. Let it be. Ming's back and I highly doubt that Krotan will have the chance to try something like this ever again. Let it go and let's go home. I want to forget everything as soon as possible."

"Duffy, if he did something to you..."

"No..." she quickly assured him. "I mean, he was... cruel and... everything but nice... and he tried to... you know... but he didn't succeed, and since you interrupted the wedding just before my vows, there obviously wasn't a wedding night, so..."

"Oh, thank God!" Flash inhaled deeply and allowed himself to close his eyes for a moment. At least Krotan didn't do that to her. Not that anything else she'd been through was less horrible, but still... at least rape wasn't something she would have to add to the list of things she'd gone through as well. But she'd said that Krotan had tried to, which was almost as bad – he'd tried to rape her and her father hadn't been around to protect her. It was something he would never be able to put behind him. He'd failed Duffy as he had failed Dale.

"It's okay, Dad..." Duffy muttered. "We're finally going home and we can put this behind us. We'll never have to face Krotan again."

"For his sake, I hope not," Flash growled, thinking of all the things he'd do to that scumbag Krotan if he'd ever have the chance.

Impulsively, Duffy turned to him and threw her arms around him. "I'm just glad to be back home, Daddy. To be back with all of you."

He wrapped his strong arms around her, holding her close. "I'm glad you're safely back with us. And I will make sure it stays that way."

She stayed right next to him for the duration of the flight, taking comfort in his strength and protectiveness, and he held her tight, vowing to never let her down and fail her again.

----------

Article

Author

Chapters

1: Worried

Kit disapproves of Duffy's bond with her new romantic interest.

2: Aftermath

Duffy is left reeling after the truth comes out.

3: Vanished

The Defenders are stunned by Duffy's disappearance.

4: Imprisoned

Duffy rejects her captor's advances.