#now that i have access to the gallery and everythin

[rasoyas]

summer heatwave. 🍊

[psychosistr]

Talk to Me- Chapter 4

Summary: On their way home, Domino and Steelbeak take a detour through the park. The pair take their time talking, getting to know each other, and reveal old wounds that bring them closer together.

Notes: Slight trigger warning for this chapter for mentions of gun violence, police brutality, and some minor bodily horror regarding Steelbeak’s beak (but it’s nothing overly graphic).

-First Chapter-

“-and I still have all of the dresses in my closet.” Dominic said, an amused smile on his face as he reached the end of his story.

The pair of agents had finished their dinner over an hour ago and, with neither wanting to end the date quite yet, had stopped at the park on their way back home. The gates had been locked as part of the local government’s vain attempts to keep petty criminals, supervillains (particularly Bushroot and the rest of the Fearsome Four) out at night; the locks didn’t slow them down for more than two seconds before they were in. Still, the locks did serve a different kind of greater good now- they allowed Dominic and Steelbeak to have the scenic park all to themselves as they walked wherever they felt like and talked the night away.

Steelbeak laughed at the other man’s tale, shaking his head as he walked beside him. “Wow, that IS crazy. You’ll have t’ show ‘em to me sometime- bet they look real good on ya.”

“I suppose I could model one or two of them for you.” Dominic looked at the other bird expectantly. “Same question: What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever had to do on a mission?”

They’d started playing ��fact trade” a while ago. Dominic remembered it from his school days and thought it would be a fun way for them to get to know each other better. The rules were simple- they would take turns asking each other questions and whoever refused to answer one would lose. Both of them were too stubborn to give up easily, so they’d been going back and forth for over half an hour already.

Steelbeak pondered the question for a moment, tapping the base of his beak before an amused smirk slipped onto his face. “Alright, so, this one time F.O.W.L. High Command’s got me stealin’ all this rubber for- and I ain’t jokin’ on this one- a giant, bouncin’, remote-controlled SUPERBALL.”

“Oh, this is already off to a great start.” Dominic nodded along as he listened.

“I know, right? Think the guys were runnin’ outta ideas.” Steelbeak chuckled before continuing. “So, like I said, I’m tryin’ t’ steal this rubber and- big shocker- Dipwing Dork keeps showin’ up t’ stop me, only he ain’t alone this time.”

“Did he have his sidekick with him?” The loon’s mind wandered briefly to the handsome, well-built pilot that seemed to tag along with Darkwing wherever he went. He’d have to see about getting him alone sometime without his annoying boss around..

“Yeah, but this time he’s got someone else, too.” Steelbeak continued. “See, it’s this weird alien- real’ stupid lookin’ with muscles ten times the size of his brain. The guy’s got crazy powers and takes out me an’ the eggmen all on his own. Second fight with the guy, I get thrown in a closet and hear ‘em arguin’: The guy’s there gettin’ trainin’ from Dorkwing on how t’ be a ‘real hero’, but he’s so annoyin’ that even DARKWING gets fed up with ‘im!” He chuckled a little, his shoulders shaking as he tried to hold in his laughter long enough to finish his story. “So, I figure, why let that much power go t’ waste? I put together a superhero costume usin’ what I got in the closet…and come out with a towel on my back, a plunger in my hand, and a friggin’ BUCKET on my head I’d pecked a couplea eye holes in!”

“A bucket?” Oh, that image would be in Dominic’s head ALL NIGHT. “And that worked?”

“It did! Told that chump I was a ‘superhero trainer extraordinaire’ named ‘Professor Steelcluck’, and he FELL FOR IT!” Steelbeak laughed, holding his side as his laughter left him wheezing. “OH man, I’m tellin’ ya, that was even better than gettin’ Darkwing an’ Gizmoduck t’ fight each other!”

The rooster’s laughter was contagious, making the darker bird laugh too. “I wish I could have been there to see it.” After they’d both settled down, Dominic looked up at the taller man. “It’s your turn.”

“Let’s seeeee…” Steelbeak hummed as he thought his question over. Then, as if the humming gave him an idea, he grinned. “Oh, that’s a good one: What kinda music do ya like?”

“I actually don’t listen to music that often.” He replied. “Sometimes I’ll put on classical music if I want something in the background or I’ll find an artist here and there whose style I enjoy- like the one on the radio earlier- but I don’t really have anything I’m particularly interested in.”

“Classical stuff, huh? I’ll have t’ remember that..” The other bird muttered to himself before holding his hands out in front of himself like he was playing a piano with a chuckle. “I ever tell ya ‘bout the time I had t’ go undercover as a concert pianist for a couple months?”

“No, you haven’t.” So his assumption from before had been correct. “I didn’t know you played.”

“Yeah, can’t do nothin’ fancy like read sheet music, but I got a pretty good ear an’ can play a few songs if I hear ‘em enough times. Spent two months travelin’ ‘round the country playin’ songs so me an’ my ‘entourage’ could break int’ all the swanky hotels, music halls, and galleries the band played at- we cleaned ‘em out an’ snuck everythin’ out in the instrument cases.” Two light fingers lifted up and tapped the side of his beak, producing a dull “thump” like an empty plastic cup. “That’s where I got this one- stands out less than my usual piece. Not as good in a fight, but it works when I gotta blend in..plus it’s heck of a lot better for preenin’ than the metal one.”

“I can imagine..” Dominic winced in sympathy at the thought of trying to preen his feathers with such sharp, jagged metal- he’d probably end up tearing skin with a beak like that. That thought actually brought to mind a question that had been on his mind for some time now and, knowing that it was technically his turn, he felt it was a perfect time to ask. “Why do you use prosthetics, anyway? Were you injured during a mission?”

“Nah, nothin’ that excitin’.” Steelbeak said while scratching at some of the feathers around the edge of his beak with one finger. “Good old fashioned case of police brutality: I was fourteen, got caught stealin’ from this high-end mall. I was faster than the security, but it was one of those places where they had cops patrollin’ the area on speed dial- couldn’t outrun the cars an’ they grabbed me when I tried t’ climb a fence. One of ‘em pinned me t’ the ground while the other one stomped on my beak..said they were gonna ‘teach me a lesson’.” He winced, rubbing a finger over the beak to comfort what was likely a phantom pain. “Hurt like heck..broke most of it off..guess I got lucky it didn’t get infected, but it sure felt like it did..” Dominic saw the feathers on the rooster’s comb fluff slightly before he shook his head. “Anyway, when I signed up with F.O.W.L. I got access t’ all those sweet free doctors an’ surgeons- they whipped up the fakes an’ gave me a new identity. Still got some of the real one underneath, though. Stings sometimes, but it don’t hurt as bad when I cover it.”

“……” Dominic debated for a moment over the request he was about to make. Would it be rude to ask? “..I want to see it.” He finally said after a minute, his curiosity winning out. “If you’re comfortable with it, of course.”

“…” Steelbeak stopped walking to look down at him. “It ain’t exactly pretty t’ look at.”

“I don’t care- I want to see it.” The loon repeated resolutely.

“Alright, don’t say I didn’t warn ya..” He reached up to the sides of his beak with both hands and started applying pressure with his fingertips. After a moment there was a popping sound and the material shifted, looking more like it was loosely resting on something rather than connected now. He took the top part of the false beak in one hand and the bottom in the other and carefully pulled it away.

Once he finally got a full look at what had been hidden under the plastic, Dominic could certainly see what Steelbeak meant: It was not a pretty sight.

A large portion of it had been broken off, leaving behind dark scars that contrasted the natural yellow color. The closest part to still being intact was a long strip along the upper-right side of the rooster’s mouth, reaching almost the same length as the prostheses. Right beside that, though, was a sharp, jagged drop that didn’t go back up until almost reaching the middle of his mouth. After that there were two small slivers of his beak centered around the middle, leading to one last piece on the left that was barely an eighth of an inch longer than the other two. And that was just the UPPER mandible- the lower one was nothing but one half-length sliver in the middle and a few scattered fragments. Then, to top it all off, both parts of his beak were fixed to a thin metallic frame outlining the normal shape of a beak with a wire-mesh connecting the natural pieces to a series of metal posts that had been drilled into the hard tissue at the base of his beak and two small metal bolts at the corners of his mouth.

Looking at it left Dominic with some harshly conflicting feelings. On one hand, while it wasn’t the most beautiful sight in the world, it was quite an interesting feat of medical and scientific engineering. On the other hand, though, it was sickening to think that two fully grown men would pin down a child and permanently disfigure him in such a horrific way.

“It really doesn’t hurt..?” Just LOOKING at it made his own pointed beak ache- the loon shuddered to think what it must actually feel like.

The taller bird gave a calm shrug, able to still speak surprisingly clearly. “Not like it used to. Smarts a bit every now an’ then, but it’s mostly just phantom pains. Talkin’ an’ other stuff don’t bother it, but if I try t’ eat without one of the fakes it feels like gettin’ kicked all over again.”

“I see..” He took one last look at the mix of broken tissue and metal before looking up into the rooster’s eyes again. “Thank you for showing me.”

“Eh, don’t mention it.” Steelbeak brought the prosthesis back up to his mouth and slipped it over the metal frame all the way up to the base, popping the corners onto the bolts with an audible click. After opening and closing his mouth a few times to check it, he looked back down at Dominic as they continued their earlier pace. “Hey, whose turn was it again?”

“Yours.” The loon replied, walking beside him at an even pace.

“Right, right..” Taking a minute to think his next question over, Steelbeak eventually came up with something and gave the loon a curious look. “Why’d ya join F.O.W.L., anyway? Sharp, good-lookin’ guy like you had t’ have options, right?”

“Not really..” Dominic looked up at the moon as they walked. “My mother lost her job right when I was about to graduate from high school. Before I knew it, I was forced to drop out and we were living on the streets. Without a diploma I couldn’t get accepted into the college I’d applied for and I had to beg for money on street corners just to get by.” He scowled a little, the memories of those days still bitter and unpleasant for him. “The recruiter for that sector, Di Amund, approached me after he saw me take down two police officers on my own- they were trying to arrest me for vagrancy and, well, you know what happens when someone tries to pin me to a wall.” He heard a hum of acknowledgement in response. “He told me that I would be paid well, get to travel the world, and even be given a place to live. I took the enrollment bonus he offered, gave it to my mother, and left for the northern academy as soon as I could.”

Their walk had led them to the lake in the middle of the park, it seemed. Once Dominic’s story concluded, Steelbeak crouched down by the bank to pick up a few stones. “Livin’ on the streets, huh? Bet that must’ve been rough.” He split them up, keeping half for himself and offering the other half to Dominic. “Livin’ like that’s gotta be hard..bet ya picked up a few things that stuck with ya, right?”

“I suppose..” Dominic took the offered rocks, picking one and tossing it across the water’s surface to get about three skips before it sank.

“Ya probably have trouble throwin’ food away when it’s stale.” Steelbeak tossed one of his own rocks, getting four skips out of it. “Not the stuff that gets moldy or goes bad like meat, or vegetables, or dairy- I bet ya know just how sick you can get offa that junk- but I bet ya probably still keep the dry stuff like chips an’ crackers after their expiration date ‘cause it don’t make sense throwin’ it away, right? Sure, they don’t taste that good anymore, but they’re still good t’ eat an’ it bugs ya wastin’ that sorta thing.”

While he was in the process of throwing another stone, Domino halted and turned his head to look at the other bird- the resulting toss only getting one skip. “How do you-?”

“I bet ya have a few shirts or pants with little holes an’ tears in ‘em stashed away in your drawers, right?” He wasn’t looking at the loon as he spoke, his eyes on the lake as he threw another stone- five skips that time. “They’re kinda beat up, but they still fit just fine, so ya keep ‘em ‘round for the days when ya know you’re not gonna go nowhere or see nobody. Y’know you could just buy more, but why waste the money when ya don’t gotta, right?” Another stone, six skips across the water. “Ya probably hate not bein’ able t’ shower right after gettin’ dirty, too, huh? Longer ya go without it, the more it bugs ya ‘cause it brings back memories of when you’d have t’ go days, probably even weeks without one.” There was a far off look in his eyes as he threw his last stone, the rock reaching almost to the other side of the water before it sank. “And ya can’t sleep without some kinda weapon nearby..but it ain’t just ‘cause of the trainin’ with F.O.W.L.- it’s ‘cause part of your brain still thinks you’re gonna get jumped, even though you’re in a locked room an’ not in an open alley somewhere, right?”

“…You’re right.” Dominic had been looking at Steelbeak the whole time he spoke. At first he’d been surprised that the other man knew some of his less obvious habits so easily, but now, after seeing the distant look in the rooster’s eyes and listening to the tone of his voice, he understood where that knowledge came from. “You used to live like that too, didn’t you?”

“Yeah..” A small, melancholy smile tugged at the lighter bird’s beak as he watched the ripples slowly roll across the lake from the stones that he’d thrown. “Used t’ live with my old man in a rinky-dink shack way out in New Duck City. Spent most of the time inside ‘cause the old man flipped his lid anytime I tried gettin’ out, for some reason. Never went out t’ eat, never went t’ the doctor, and definitely didn’t go t’ school- had t’ teach myself t’ read an’ write an’ junk ‘cause he sure as heck wasn’t gonna. Only ever got one visitor..” His attempt at a smile started to fall as the last of the ripples slowly went still. “My ma- least, I think she was my ma, she didn’t really come ‘round that much, could’ve just been some broad he liked, but we had the same eyes so I called her ma- anyway, my ma disappeared when I was about eight. Old man got way worse after that..started comin’ home with black eyes an’ bloody shirts, and even askin’ ‘bout what he did earned me a cuff upside the head. Then, one night about two years after my ma stopped comin’ around, there was all this racket outside and I kept seein’ red an’ blue lights through the curtains…got outta bed an’ went t’ see what all the noise was about..” He gave a short, strained laugh and shook his head, the lake finally still enough that both of their reflections were visible in the water’s surface again. “The old man went down swingin’- up ‘gainst ten cops with just a glock and he STILL took out half of ‘em…right before they iced ‘im. After that they started comin’ for the front door. I didn’t know nothin’ ‘bout cops back then, all I knew was they were the guys that just plugged my old man full of holes and thought they were gonna do the same t’ me…so, I ran out the back and kept on runnin’..” He took a deep breath and sighed, finally looking away from the water and up towards the sky. “Didn’t have nowhere else t’ go and no one t’ turn to, so I just kinda drifted ‘round from one alley t’ the next..went on like that for a few years, gettin’ by with what I could get for free and stealin’ what I couldn’t..”

Dominic wasn’t really sure what to say at first.

That was…a lot to unpack.

For all of his flashy style, expensive taste in clothes and cars and gifts, and his general demeanor, Dominic never would have guessed that Steelbeak dealt with that sort of thing from such a young age. Ending up on the streets in his teens had already been hard enough to survive day to day- he could only imagine how much worse it was for a child who should have been just starting middle school…

Black fingers tossed a stone across the lake, distorting the reflections again as it skipped five times. “How did you end up in F.O.W.L.?” A distraction, he eventually decided, would probably be better than sympathy in that moment.

To his relief, Dominic saw the life slowly returning to his partner’s eyes. “Now that,” Steelbeak began with a smile slowly forming on his beak once more. “Is a fun one..” He took one of the rocks the loon handed him and threw it at the lake, getting four skips. “So, I’m skulkin’ ‘round the classy part of Featherton lookin’ for chumps t’ fleece, when I see this guy goin’ off on some poor bird sellin’ hot dogs out of a cart. The guy’s a real jerk, y’know? Yellin’ at the girl, tellin’ her she don’t what she’s doin’, sayin’ she gave ‘im the wrong change- just bein’ a real tool, y’know?” He smirked, chuckling quietly. “Then I see his wallet stickin’ outta his back pocket and think to myself ‘This must be karma’s way of teachin’ ‘im not t’ be such a prick’, and who am I to argue with karma, right? So I snag his wallet when I’m walkin’ past- the moron don’t even notice ‘til I’m duckin’ ‘round the corner. He had over two hundred in there, it felt like I’d won the friggin’ lottery!” He watched as Dominic threw a stone, six skips that time. “I treat myself t’ a nice lunch in one of the lower-class joints on the other side of town, stock up on groceries, then head back t’ the half-finished construction site I’d been crashin’ in for the past couple weeks. I turn in for the night, thinkin’ I had a pretty good day…” He kneels down by the bank and finds another stone. “ ‘Course, that changed when I woke up t’ someone grabbin’ me in the middle of the night.” He found a suitable rock and threw it without standing up, only getting three skips. “It was the guy whose wallet I stole- he’d tracked me down an’ brought his buddies for backup. I see one of ‘em pullin’ out handcuffs an’ think they’re cops, so I grab the knife I keep up my sleeve and start fightin’ back. I get in a few good licks before I bolt, even slice the guy with the wallet right up over his eye.” Unable to find any more rocks, he eventually stood back up. “I almost get away, when BOOM! Some big guy in an egg-shaped helmet clothes-line’s me when I’m goin’ down the stairs. I fall down, black out, and wake up tied to a chair in a dark room. Buncha guys start askin’ me questions ‘bout who I’m workin’ for an’ I tell ‘em ‘Hey, if I had a job, ya think I’d be pinchin’ wallets and sleepin on rebar?’- I figured I was gonna die anyway, so might as well go out swingin’, y’know?” He chuckled, watching Dominic throw the last of his own stones out into the water- beating Steelbeak’s best toss and actually reaching the other side. “Nice shot. So, they keep at it for a while, even start pullin’ out guns an’ threatenin’ t’ kill me. When I don’t break down cryin’, the lights come on and this big TV comes outta nowhere- it was my first time meetin’ High Command. Turns out the chump I pickpocketed was one of their top generals and’ they were impressed ‘cause, not only did I manage t’ steal from a general AND take out a bunch of their guys on my own, but it turns out they can’t find any record of me even EXISTIN’- no birth certificate, no social, nothin’..guess my old man never wanted anyone t’ know ‘bout me, for some reason..anyway, High Command offers me a job. Same sorta thing they tell everyone they pick up off the streets- ‘come work for us, you’ll get money, a place t’ live, blah, blah, blah’. Didn’t have much t’ lose, so I signed up. Was too young for the academy, so they just had me shadow my first partner and learn the ropes from ‘im. Officially joined when I was fifteen, got full agent status a year later, and the rest is history.”

Dominic looked at the lighter bird curiously. “Wait- you were only sixteen when you became an agent?”

Steelbeak returned the questioning look with a proud smirk. “Ye-p. Youngest agent in F.O.W.L. history ever. Earned my promotion after that little ‘incident’ with my first partner: High Command figured I’d proved my loyalty and was good enough t’ start field work.”

“……” Red eyes gazed down at the slowly stilling reflections of the lake before, after deciding there was nothing else to do over there, Dominic started walking down the trail again. “I think I owe you an apology.”

Steelbeak followed after the shorter bird, looking down at him with one brow cocked curiously. “I ain’t gonna argue with ya on that one, but I gotta know- for what?”

“For..how I treated you at first.” He was reluctant to do so, but the loon decided he’d swallow his pride long enough to give the other man the apology he deserved (though he wasn’t willing to look him in the eyes just yet). “When High Command transferred me to Saint Canard, they originally told me that I was being reassigned as the apprentice for the chief officer of F.O.W.L.. I assumed someone with such a high rank would be much older than me, probably someone close to retirement looking for a protégé to pass his secrets on to…and then I read your file. The first thing I saw was your date of birth and I thought ‘Wait, we’re both 33?’. I felt so..insulted that they would want to make me an apprentice for someone who was only two months older than me- it felt like I was being demoted.” A frustrated sigh left him as he ran his fingers through his hair, pushing some of the longer strands back briefly before they fell back into place. “Luckily they changed my title to ‘partner’ by the time I arrived, but the whole thing still left a bad taste in my mouth when I was already in a bad mood…and I’m pretty sure it showed in my attitude. I didn’t realize that, despite our age, you had so many more years of experience.” Finally, he looked back up into the other’s dark eyes. “So..I’m sorry for how I treated you when we first met, you didn’t deserve all of the attitude that I gave you- only some of it.”

“Wow,” Steelbeak said with a quiet snicker. “That looked excrucriatin’.” Dominic was about to tell him that, yes, it hurt him immensely to say that out loud, but he was surprised when the other bird’s cocky smirk softened slightly and he looked away while running a hand over his comb. “But…I gotta take my share of the blame, too. I know I ain’t the easiest guy t’ work with.” He sighed and looked back down at Dominic’s inquisitive gaze. “Truth is, I didn’t expect ya t’ last this long, most partners don’t last a month with me. They usually get killed, get on my nerves so much I just let ‘em die, or I get on their nerves so much that they take the first transfer they see- one guy even took a demotion down t’ eggman in the arctic just t’ get as far away from me as possible. I’m..kinda used to them just comin’ an’ goin’ now, so I try not t’ get attached..I don’t even bother learnin’ their names most of the time.” The corner of his beak lifted up in a half smile. “Believe it or not, you’re the longest lastin’ partner I’ve ever had. I didn’t really know what t’ do with ya after the first month went by and you were still here, so I tried bein’ more social but..well…guess the damage was already done, huh?” The look in his eyes was gentle, almost pleading when he next spoke- an expression that Dominic wasn’t used to seeing on him. “Can we just, I dunno…start over? Start things from this week and pretend everything before didn’t happen?”

Pretend none of it ever happened?

The rude introductions, snide remarks, venomous words, and cold glares that made up the bulk of their first month together…The awkward trips to bars and restaurants where he’d blown Steelbeak off in favor of some good looking strangers…That horrible first dinner where Steelbeak had obviously been trying to impress him like he was another one of his usual arm-candy “dates”…The unnecessarily expensive gifts and the inevitable frustration that followed…

To pretend that none of that happened and just start over from this week- to start from that day in the break room where they’d shared a nice meal and had pleasant conversation while toying with the idea of having dinner at Steelbeak’s apartment sometime in the future- that, honestly, was one of the best suggestion he’d ever heard.

A soft smile spread across the loon’s dark beak, the smile instantly easing the other bird’s expression back into an equally soft look. “I’d like that.”

For a while, neither of them said a word, they just gazed into each other's eyes. They’d bared a lot to each other, exposed old wounds (literally, in Steelbeak’s case), and, with just a couple hours of actually talking to one another, had grown closer than they had in the months they’d worked together. In a way, it was a little silly: If they’d just talked to each other like normal people, they could have avoided so many awkward or unpleasant moments and may have even been further along than a first date by now. Well, they couldn’t go back and fix things, but they could definitely treat this as a new beginning and try not to repeat their past mistakes.

Before they’d realized it, they were at the end of the path back at the gate leading out of the park.

Dominic felt his smile fall ever so slightly. He really wasn’t in the mood to leave yet, not when things were going so well..

“Hey, stripes,” Steelbeak’s voice caught his attention and Dominic looked up at his partner curiously, seeing that the rooster’s focus was set on something on the other side of the fence. “You’re packin’ heat, right?”

“Always.” Dominic patted the side of his shirt, right over where he had his guns holstered beneath the fabric.

A smirk that promised mischief spread across the rooster’s face when he met his partner’s eyes, pointing at something on the sidewalk just outside of the park. “Ya packin’ ice, too?”

He looked at the object curiously, a matching smirk appearing on his own face when he found the object in question. Oh, this was going to be fun.

<-Previous Chapter Next Chapter->

End Notes: This was probably my favorite chapter to write for this story. Coming up with a backstory for Steelbeak was way more fun then it probably should have been, but I couldn’t resist going all out x3

I also had a lot of fun thinking up what his beak would look like under the prosthesis and drew inspiration from the fact that I’ve had A LOT of dental work done in the past and actually have an artificial tooth with a post drilled into my upper jaw, so I thought about using something along those lines for Steelbeak but on a more extreme scale. I’m actually really satisfied with how it turned out, overall ^.^