"You should be looking for Jim," Angel winced as Barbara poked and applied pressure on her middle. "Not taking care of me." As soon as the others left to search for Jim, Barbara ushered Angel up to her own room (after convincing\ordering her to stay and rest her surprisingly light injuries after getting slammed on the ground multiple times) to examine her.
"I can't look as well as Toby, or Claire, or Walt," she sighed. "And honestly, if you weren't dealing with broken ribs, I would've just tried to keep from attacking Merlin."
"So, I guess was right something breaking," Angel chuckled but immediately winced. Luckily, Barbara was done with the poking and prodding. Angel pulled her shirt back down and let herself fall back on the bed.
Though the tears from the phoenix/Flapjack seemed to heal her surface injuries like the wound on her head and nose, her ribs didn't heal at all. Either because his tears didn't touch her chest or they only healed the surface, she didn't know.
She knew the answer but her mind was so muddled and exhausted that she couldn't be bothered with remembering. Angel spent a little time talking with Barbara but couldn't keep her eyes open. At some point, Flapjack flew over to nestle next her face. She absently pet him, the few seconds of her consciousness wondering if he'd always felt that warm.
. . .
At nearly one in the morning, Barbara quickly hurried down to the door being practically banged on. The only thing she thought of, the only person she thought could possibly be at the door was Jim. Merlin was still watching the TV curiously, not a care in the world for someone who was supposedly protecting it.
Barbara didn't care either, she just threw the door open.
"Oh. Douxie," she said, a bit disappointed to see the wrong boy. But he himself seemed just as worried as her, the bags under his eyes almost matching Angel's and a few worry lines now on his forehead. "What are you doing up so late?"
"Hey, Dr. Lake," he waved weakly, either just ignoring her question or not hearing it. The boy was exhausted. "Um, have you seen Angel? I've looked everywhere for her and she isn't returning my calls or any of my texts and the last time this happened-"
"Wait, she hasn't told you?" Barbara asked, pushing up her glasses again. "She's been on and off here for the past couple days." Douxie's look went from worried for her safety to confused and slight hurt.
"She- she has? Why- why wouldn't she have told me?"
"It's not for anything bad- well, not in any way that- what?" Merlin had scoffed and groaned, so she glared at him, but that caused Douxie's eyes to widen and try to sneak a peak inside. "Um, that's just my Uncle Merlin visiting from the uh, mo- mountains of-"
"When you're done with that fabrication, you can go ahead let my apprentice through," Merlin said as he turned off the tv and wiped his hands like he had just finished with something dusty and dirty. Barbara hardly had time to even process the sentence before Douxie pushed himself in. He froze by the stairs as he looked to the man in front of him.
"Master..." Douxie breathed, the only thing he seemed able to say. In his eyes there were mixed emotions and she couldn't tell what it was at the core. "You- how long have you-"
"A few days, Hisirdoux. Not long enough to contact you."
"Really? You couldn't have sent a raven? Or- or a text? There's texting now, you know!"
"I was busy, as you know!" Merlin countered.
"Yeah, right, you're always busy," Douxie mumbled, but it was just that. A weak defense that Merlin quickly took down.
"The situation is most dire. And now that Morgana is free-"
"Thanks to you," Barbara interrupted, slamming the door. "And the thing you've been busy with is sending my son who knows where!"
"Unfortunately, that part of the spell is not able to be controlled. At least he won't leave this small little town."
"What exactly did that spell do to him, anyway?"
"I told you this already. He's become a true trollhunter." Douxie, who had been following the conversation, gasped suddenly.
"You mean, you perfected it?" He asked with barely contained awe. "That was only a theoretically possible spell the last time we met."
"Last time you met?" Barbara asked and Douxie instinctively winced. "But he's- oh." Merlin only rolled his eyes at the development. "That makes a lot of sense now, with Angel and all."
"Angel- where is she?" Douxie asked suddenly. The knowledge that Merlin was there had distracted him from her, but the mention of her name brought her back to the forefront of his mind. "She's fine, right?"
"All good, especially with that phoenix of hers," Merlin answered before Barbara could, now perusing the nearby shelf for a book. Barbara glared as she shut the door, both ignoring Douxie's confusion.
"Yes, just nursing some broken ribs is all," she said, crossing her arms after pushing her glasses up. "That girl up there, who is smarter than you thought, came to Trollmarket alone to save me and Walt because you didn't let Jim tell his friends where we were!"
"Of course the girl is smart. She wouldn't have been able to learn the spells she has at her age if she wasn't. And that situation was entirely necessary for the good of the world."
"You mean to get your magic back."
"Can you both stop arguing for a minute and take me to my bloody girlfriend?" Douxie interrupted without thinking, blushing and looking uneasy at his own words but standing his ground. Barbara, and even Merlin, became slightly embarrassed and guilty at what the outburst implied.
Barbara quickly ushered Douxie upstairs and to her room were Angel had been for a couple hours. She had fallen asleep horizontally, her legs curled up so they weren't dangling off the side. Flapjack was nestled in her almost tangled hair above her head. Her face was screwed up in unease and quite possibly fear.
Barbara said something after a moment about leaving the two alone (and him to to get some rest), closing the door behind her. Douxie sat carefully on the bed so as not to disturb her sleep, no matter how many questions he wanted to bombard her with.
He had been constantly searching for the past two days, the first day just worried about her whereabouts, but thinking she was fine. A total of two and half days. Zoe didn't know until the end of their patrol (which weirdly at the time but not anymore, was uneventful) that Angel had not been answering any of his calls that day.
Zoe had become worried herself, but said to give it a day. He did and she still didn't answer. The time Angel had been kidnapped ran through his mind and he'd become anxious to find her. He'd gone to all her favorite spots, asked Mary and Darci if they'd seen her, and then searched the Gazebo he'd made her. It looked a little disturbed but she wasn't there. It was nearly sunrise anyway.
Finally, he found out that the last place she had been seen was Jim's house. Unfortunately for himself, and Darci because it was 1am and was because he had bugging her and Mary constantly; Finally, Darci found out that her dad was doing a play with her in it.
That's what brought him here. With an almost too loud sigh he laid back on the bed and look at Angel again. Gently, he placed his hand on her cheek. Instinctively, she grabbed it and held it close. Her face calmed, so she was likely no longer having a nightmare.
If she woke up, he'd blame it on his sleepy brain, but the thought that he had nearly lost her again was too much. Douxie moved over enough so he could hold her closely but carefully as to not hurt her ribs. It was to make sure she couldn't leave during the night and disappear again, so no one could take her, so she would be safe.
Before falling asleep, he planted a tender kiss on her forehead that earned a sleepy yet satisfied sigh and her nuzzling into his chest.
. . .
Douxie didn't get more than a couple hours sleep. Toby had come up there hurriedly, bursting in the room and startling them both awake. Douxie before Angel since nights of sleeping on the streets of Camelot had made him a light sleeper. A habit that had never been broken even with stability and calm.
Angel had blushed when she realized how close they had been, but with the "cuddle with your boyfriend later, Jim's back!" from Toby, she had seemed to forget that she was injured and rushed out. It sounded like she had nearly fell down the stairs but used her teleportation to save herself last second. Douxie and Toby followed her quickly.
Douxie stopped at Angel and tried to help her stand as she was leaning on the railing and holding her ribs. He backed up a little when she said she was fine, Flapjack somehow right beside him though he had been at the top of the stairs just a moment before. He perched on his shoulder just as part of the railing gave out and she fell down. Flapjack beat Douxie to helping her up, grabbing the side of her shirt and keeping her on even footing.
The back door burst open, revealing Arrrgh's angry features. Blinky pushed him aside gently to calm him and get inside himself.
"Promise? Promise? You promised to help Jim!" Barbara yelled, almost attacking Merlin again. Merlin dodged every swipe of the broom before Douxie ran to take it away. Strickler beat him to it.
"What has happened? And who is he?" Blinky asked, looking from Merlin to the newcomer.
"Ask the wizard." Barbara pushed up her glasses as Blinky glared at him. Douxie was about to say something, but Claire's voice interrupted his train of thought.
"Um, guys. He's waking up." The group rushed to the living room as Jim turned to lay on his back, opening his eyes wide.
"Great Grumbly Gruesome," Blinky gasped as Douxie muttered "Bleeding Balroths.."
His eyes were still a vibrant blue, but his face was now pale dark blue. His nose was long and looked remarkably like Blinky's. In fact everything about Jim's troll form, from the horns and hair on his head to the underbite of teeth, looked a lot like the four armed troll. Jim sat up and put a hand to his head.
"Honey?" Barbara asked as she came to sit next to him, putting a hand to his face gently. "Do you feel ok?"
"He's fine," Merlin said as he sat on a dinning room chair. Everyone, including Douxie though it wasn't as mean as some others, glared at him.
"We're not asking you," Blinky said.
"I-I'm fine..." Jim said as he held his mother's hand close. But that proved to be a mistake as that revealed his troll digits. "Ah! What's wrong with my hand?"
"Nothing's wrong with your hand," Claire blurted quickly.
"It's just a little... Meatier," Douxie chuckled nervously. Before Jim could even process his presence fully, Toby interrupted.
"In a good way! It's like you leveled up." Arrrgh began sniffing Jim, trying to get used to the new form, new Jim. He backed up after, declaring that he did not like the Troll Jim.
"The elixir transformed you into something not quite human, but not exactly troll, either," Douxie said before muttering. "I'm surprised it was even possible."
"Seems I missed a lot," Jim said, fighting the uneasiness he felt and focusing on something else for a minute to try and calm himself. "Don't you work at the cafe?"
"Part time. Thanks for always tipping by the way." Douxie gave him a two fingered salute and a small smile.
"He's Merlin's apprentice," Claire offered before Jim questioned more. That only rose more questions in his mind.
"So, Jim is like a changeling?" Toby asked, clearly wanting the conversation back on Jim's new form.
"No," Strickler said as he walked up to examine Jim closer. "Changelings switch from fully troll to fully human. Jim is neither." Jim growled after his words settled in his mind, jumping over the dinning room table and over the bar to the kitchen. As everyone followed, they saw him checking his reflection in the toaster.
"Get you a haircut, some sunglasses, maybe a good dentist, eh?" Toby offered. "I know one. You'll be right back to normal."
"I'm hideous," Jim said. Claire came up beside him and pushed some hair behind her ear.
"You're really not," she argued. Just then, Arrrgh must have realized what Jim being a troll meant because he began running back and forth in the living room, knocking things over. Douxie and Angel winced as Barbara made a silent but desperate attempt at damage control.
"Forgive Arrrgh; he's emotional," Blinky apologized for his friend before putting a hand to his chin. "And, I'm, at a loss. Why would you do this to him?"
"To prepare him for the final battle," Merlin said, unfazed by the troll in his face and aggressive question. "He is now capable of feats we never thought possible."
"Like what?" Jim asked. And with that question, they were outside.
"Now then, we don't know the limits of Master Jim's- or shall I say 'Troll Jim's' new form. So, let's try to take this slowly and carefully." Arrrgh and Jim were play fighting, it culminating in Arrrgh yelling 'Troll!' and punching Jim through the fence and into the woods. Everyone either winced or gasped. Blinky glared at Arrrgh. "Are you even listening?"
"Sorry," he apologized.
"Master Jim?" Jim popped up from the bushes after hearing his name, a big, almost goofy smile on his face
"Huh. I didn't feel a thing!" He yelled before sprinting to Arrrgh.
"I like new Jim! Troll!" Jim tackled Arrrgh as he said that, the two wrestling and laughing.
"Half Troll, full hunter," Merlin said as he walked past them. "You're welcome." Blinky just glared at the man as he walked off. But he quickly let go of his grudge to get them all to train/experiment with Jim's new form. Angel, with some convincing from both Claire and Douxie, stayed back to rest.
"He seems to be handling this well, right?" Barbara laughed nervously as she closed the door behind Angel. Flapjack chirped something to the young wizard, but she ignored him as she picked up some books and handed them to Strickler.
"Sure," Strickler said as he put books back on the shelves. Barbara walked over to him, knowing the dismissive tone.
"What's wrong?"
"It took me years to handle the diverse emotions of either troll or human, but I've never had to deal with both at once."
"Walter, will I ever get my son back?" Strickler just looked away as Barbara let out sob. He put up a fake smile to assure her. Angel quickly and quietly excused herself, Flapjack being the only one that noticed.
"But, I've been wrong before. What do I know about being human?"
A bright flash of red startled the both of them, and Flapjack was suddenly at the door. He was chirping wildly at them, but neither could understand or even tried. They just gave each other confused looks. Flapjack chirped something of an exasperated sigh and flew behind Barbara to push her towards the door.
"Oh, ok, ok," she muttered, struggling to keep up with the pace of the surprisingly fast and strong bird. Once at the door, Flapjack sat on the handle of the door and chirped pointedly. "You wanna go outside?"
Chirp!!
"Ok, ok." As soon as she opened the door, a gust of wind shuffled her clothes and hair; Flapjack was nowhere in sight.
. . .
Angel shouldn't have teleported. For some reason it was making her ribs worse, as she found with the last minute save she made at Jim's. But she had to get out of there. It was her fault Jim was a troll, that he may never be the same again.
That Morgana was loose...
I'm selfish, I only think of myself.
I'm a horrible person.
I shouldn't-
No! She was not going to think like that. Never again. It wasn't fair to the people who cared about her.
They don't care about you, they just pity you.
"I'm a mess," Angel muttered as she stepped into the protective veil of the Gazebo. Flapjack was somehow already there, his brown eyes glaring at her. "Oh. Hey bud... " she muttered as she cast a spell to light up the area. Just a glowing pink ball of light in the middle of the ceiling.
Chirp!
"Yeah, yeah, I gathered that." Angel sighed as she sat down on the steps, facing away from him. He perched on her knee and chirped again. "I know, a couple ribs are broken and teleporting hurts. I just couldn't stay in that house....
"So, you're a phoenix, huh?" Angel asked, trying to distract herself. Flapjack eyed her carefully for a moment before nodding. "That explains a lot."
Seeing a phoenix in real life, without their hidden form, was a rarity, even for the creatures who lived hundreds of thousands of years. They were reclusive and picky about who they were around. Gently, she picked him up in her hands and made him level with her face.
"Can I see it? Your- your... You as a phoenix? I probably worded that horribly wrong, but you get what I'm saying. Right?" She gave him a nervous half smile and she could've sworn he smiled back.
Heat waves distorted her view of the little bird, the red becoming a bright beacon against them. It almost became too hot to keep holding him but Flapjack had become as light as a feather though he was about double the size of his cardinal form. His feathers became a glistening sunset of red, orange, and yellow. The red ones had now taken the place of his black and three feathers popped up on his head.
If it weren't for the heart shaping the big brown eyes, she'd call him a completely different bird.
Before she could say anything else, the ground shook with the force of a giant stomping.
. . .
"You felt that right? That wasn't just my stomach grumbling?" Toby asked as the group finally steadied themselves.
"I don't think so," Douxie muttered, his tone nervous as he watched the birds flying away from the trees hurriedly.
"Agreed," Blinky agreed. "I fear those rumblings are far more sinister than your digestion, Tobias." Just then, a shadow portal opened up and Claire jumped out. Alone.
"He didn't come back?" She asked as she looked around the group. Douxie's eyes widened in realization of the situation.
"I thought he was with you!" Toby accused, harder than he meant it to be.
"He was so fast; I lost track of him," Claire defended, hugging her staff. "I couldn't find him with the staff. It's like it doesn't recognize him anymore."
"Because it isn't him," Douxie offered, hand to his chin. "At least, not the one you knew." Toby glared at him for a second then at the ground, Claire, Arrrgh, and Blinky just stared at him confused but somehow getting the gravity of his words.
"I don't know what Merlin did to him, but once this is over, he's changing him back," Toby declared, crossing his arms and shaking his head. Douxie winced before could stop himself, causing all eyes to turn to him.
"What?" Blinky asked accusingly.
"What aren't you telling us?" Toby asked, pointing a finger at him. "Spill it."
"Douxie?" Claire asked. Douxie sighed and looked down dejectedly.
"As far as I know, there's no going back from this," Douxie mumbled, upset that he had to be the one to deliver this tidbit of information. "Merlin was never able to work out that part. But, I can try and work something out if you like."
"We would very much like that," Blinky said before ordering everyone to begin searching for Jim. As Douxie headed back to the house to tell Barbara and Strickler and check on Angel, he kept a hand to the back of his neck.
He had tried to give them hope, but the main reason Merlin never made a way for the spell to be reversed was because he never found a way. Douxie only hoped he would have better luck.
. . .
Douxie knew where Angel went the minute he found out she wasn't at Jim's. At least, he hoped so. He wasn't sure about much right now.
"Angel?" He asked as he stepped into the illusion that kept the Gazebo hidden to see her with Flapjack. At least, he assumed it was Flapjack only because of the comments about her having a phoenix around. Honestly, he felt stupid for not realizing it before.
Phoenix's were notably picky, were extremely stubborn, and almost never showed themselves to anyone. But the ones they did, they were extremely protective of.
"Hey Douxie," Angel mumbled, refusing to meet his eyes. He sighed at her slumped and tired form, settling down next to her. They were quiet for a few minutes, just watching the sun rise. It was a much needed bit of reprieve from the past few days for them both.
Claire, Toby, and the others could handle searching for Jim for now. Douxie barely knew him well enough to know where to start searching. And he really just needed to talk to Angel; make sure she was ok and maybe get a few answers.
"I'm sorry," Angel said, making Douxie jump. Flapjack had decided to go to his nest and curled up to sleep some more. "I-I should have told about Merlin being back. I should answered your calls, I should have just- been better at- whatever.
"I hated lying to you! I hate lying in general, and that's all I've been doing the past few months. First to Jim and Claire and Toby. I was sorta fine with that because I know how important it is to keep my magic hidden and I've had to keep it hidden for years.
"I just... I don't wanna be her..." Angel hugged herself and looked down and Douxie was silent for a moment more.
"Your mother?" He asked as he put a hand on her shoulder. Angel shook her head but didn't pull away.
"She always did this. Always lied about the situation she was in to others, broke her promises to me, put my sister's and I in dangerous situations. And now I've done the same thing to everyone in Arcadia and possibly the world."
"How?" Douxie asked, trying to put his arm around her and pull her close in comfort. She didn't let him. The whole thing confused him. Sure, she had been a little reluctant to share what her feelings and threats that came her way, but she always tried to help others.
She helped Jim without him knowing at first, risked fighting Bular more than once, fought Angor when she was going through her worst fear and just the other day to save Barbara and Strickler (whom he wasn't completely sure deserved it but was glad he didn't make that decision). She was a moment too late to stop Gunmar from releasing Morgana-
"Angel, what did you-" he started, but Angel interrupted, getting up from her spot and walking a few feet.
"I let Morgana loose! I-I-I was there- I was right there, and I couldn't do it. I could have grabbed both Barbara and Strickler, but no! Merlin has to be one of those jerks who make fucking sense!
"I mean, it makes sense to get it over with and stop the loop of trying to stop Gunmar or others from freeing her over and over and over again. I just wish there was a way to do it without risking the world. There's nothing and just- just- ugh!"
Angel grabbed the sides of her head and resisting the urge to pull out her hair as she fell to her knees. I just want it to stop, she thought thought but she couldn't put a name to what she wanted to stop. Everything? Nothing?
A warm embrace stopped her thoughts cold and the familiar smell of cloves brought them back. She had made Douxie worry, she had lied by omission about Merlin being back, she had let Morgana loose for God's sake! She didn't deserve him at all.
"I'm sorry," Angel mumbled as she let herself selfishly fall into his embrace. She wiped her wet eyes to keep his shirt from suffering the same fate. "I should- should have told about Merlin, about everything. B-but I didn't want to hurt you with the answer- I was scared myself- then he just-"
"Shh, darling," Douxie whispered so softly that she wouldn't have heard him if she wasn't right next to him, in his arms. She felt him sigh and lay his head on hers. "I know how Merlin is. And, I know how you are.
"You only did your best, love; you always try and put others needs before yours. It's one of your bigger flaws from time to time." Angel sighed, about say 'I know', but Douxie cut her off. "It's also one of the reasons I love you." Angel hugged him tighter and sobbed silently. She couldn't do anything else.
She truly didn't deserve Douxie.
. . .
It was sunset and they still hadn't found Jim. Could he even be in the sun anymore? All the trolls hadn't seen him, no one at school (not even Eli who was always on the lookout for Arcadia weirdness) had seen him or any troll.
Claire jumped out of the portal onto the bridge to look around, but had to quickly step back in to avoid being hit by a speeding Toby. After making sure he was stopped completely, she hopped out and looked into the canal.
"This is nuts!" Toby exclaimed as he followed suit. "How can he just disappear- hey, is that Merlin? What's captain crazy armor doing now?" Toby turned around for some answer from Claire, but only saw her retreating form enter a portal. He didn't even have to look to know where she went.
"You!" Claire yelled as she jumped out of her portal, pointing the staff like it was a spear at his face. "It's all your fault! Jim's gone and now my shadow staff can't find him! Are you even listening to me!" All Merlin had been doing while she had been screaming at him was examine the dark colored staff.
"You can't find Jim because there is no Jim," he said at last. "At least, not the one you knew."
"Douxie already told me," Claire said as she pulled her staff back, glaring daggers at him. He was unfazed.
"Then he also told you that there is no going back from this, right?" Claire growled, giving him his answer as he continued to search the ground for something.
"You can't just turn my boyfriend into a troll and leave him like that!"
"Boyfriend?" Toby asked, startling Claire as she hadn't noticed him come down into the canal. Now that she thought about it, she had heard his scream. "Time for status update, huh?" Claire rolled her eyes.
"He's half Troll, half boyfriend," Merlin said before dropping to the ground and licking it. The two teens grimaced.
"What's your deal, dude? You trolled Jim, you have an apprentice that lives in this town, you lick cement: are there any other secrets your keeping from us?"
"Oh, plenty," Merlin stated simply as he stood.
"Tell us," Claire ordered after sharing a look with Toby.
"Then they wouldn't be secrets." A tremor shook the ground and Toby grabbed onto Claire for support. After it stopped, he quickly went back to his original spot.
"Are those quakes coming from Trollmarket?" He asked
"It was Morgana. We need to find the Trollhunter."
. . .
"He's home," Strickler said as Barbara hung up. Angel, Douxie, who still didn't trust him, and of course their familiar's accompanied him through the alleyways of the city. The trolls taking refuge wherever they could were now moving about through the city.
"Thank goodness," Archie, the black cat that was perched on Douxie's shoulders, said. Flapjack, the little cardinal/phoenix that sat on Angel's shoulder, chirped his agreement.
"Now I just need to tell the others."
"I'll call Claire," Angel offered. "Then I'll get on headcount." Douxie's expression became soft and concerned at the prospect of her going alone. "I'll be fine, Doux." She hesitated but quickly stood on her toes to give him a peck on the cheek before she walked back down the alley. Douxie sighed once she was out of view.
"She's a strong girl," Strickler offered as they walked on the street and away from the dark alleys. "She can handle a few unruly trolls."
"That's not why I'm worried," Douxie muttered, absently petting Archie. "I just don't want her to disappear again."
"Yes, I will be having a conversation with her about that later," Archie said, flicking his tail.
"She had good intentions."
"Angel could have at least made up something up to quell your worries instead of leaving you without a trace!"
"She doesn't like lying, Arch. You know that as well I do."
"Still, she didn't have to go through all of this alone." Douxie made to argue, but found he couldn't. "Why she didn't at least tell someone else before- well, you know." The cat eyed Strickler carefully, afraid to say much more due to his distrust of the changeling.
"I am aware about her panic attacks, you know," Strickler said as he rolled his eyes. Douxie and Arch glared at him, the latter almost hissing. It made sense considering familiar's often knew what their humans felt and expressed it tenfold. "I was her teacher. And as for the whole being alone predicament, I feel it is more of a habit for her."
"What does that mean?" Douxie asked, looking more genuinely curious than distrustful and angry. Archie was still close to hissing, but he too had a curious glint in his eyes.
"Whenever I would give group projects, she would often work by herself. In fact, even when she was in a group, she often did her work on her own and just turned it over to the other group members."
"Pray tell, what does that have to do with anything?" Archie asked, matching Douxie's confusion head on.
"I've noticed that things like that are habits, ones that are hard to break. Especially for one her age. I'd just give her some time and always be there if she needs it."
"I've known her longer than you," Douxie shot back. "And anyway, what makes you think I'll trust your word? You kidnapped her, raised Angor Rot, and tried to kill Jim multiple times." Strickler hesitated, his expression becoming remorseful and small.
"I know I don't deserve it," he sighed. "But Angel has spoken of you many times. You are a good person, so I hope you will see that I am trying to be one. Still, I'd understand if you never trust me again."
Douxie didn't get to answer as Strickler's phone rang again. He answered only to hear Barbara's franic and worried voice.
"Walter? It's just like you said. I don't recognize my son."
With quickly telling her that he would be there in a moment, he hung up and moved to the alley to quickly transform. He flew off, leaving Douxie and Archie completely confused. A few minutes later, Douxie got a call from Claire telling him to meet her and Toby at the school.
(As you can see, we've diverged a bit from cannon. I couldn't find a good reason for Doux to stay away any longer, so here he is)