Hello everyone, here's the new chapter for this week! today I've a kinda busy morning, so I tried to have it ready and update before do all what I've to do. Back on time YAY Idk how many of you want to see what's going on with Huey, since we haven't seen him since Graves' chapter – I don't think Fenton's dream count. For that reason, here you can know now, what is happening to the poor kidnapped triplet. I've to warn this can emotionally hurt you. Also, there's a piece of art on Tumblr related with this chapter. I'll leave the link on the bottom of this chapter.

As always, I'd like to thank Empro-8 for helping me editing this story. Honestly, without her help this wouldn't be as good as it is, so thank you very much Empro-8 you're amazing!

Welp, I'll stop talking and let you read the chapter, enjoy it!

19.- Destroy what you love

Huey was sitting, hugging his knees against his chest, staring at the door in front of him with fear. The duckling didn't understand. He didn't understand why they had locked him up again in that small, dark room. Just a few days ago, Beaks had allowed him to leave, allowed him to eat whenever he was hungry. Let him go wherever he wanted, just so long he was accompanied (except when he went to the bathroom, of course). He was even allowed outside the building, Beaks claiming it would do him good to breathe fresh air.

To be honest… Huey was deeply grateful that Beaks allowed him to do all those things. But he couldn't stop thinking about what he dreamed about after watching those video clips. In that dream, his brothers seemed so real, and also so convinced of what they were saying... but, on the other hand, Huey didn't know if he could trust what he had dreamed. He had already dreamt of finding his family and being rescued so many times, but had always woken up to the same reality: that he was still locked in this horrible place.

Once he dreamed that Uncle Donald appeared kicking the door, ripping it off its hinges and charging in to wrap Huey in a big, protective hug. He also dreamed that it was Webby, using her tools, who cut through the door and appeared with her characteristic night vision goggles. His desperation to escape reached such a point that he even dreamed that of Duckworth floating through the door and somehow gave the duckling the ability of intangibility too. How could he trust that dream when his own mind had already deceived him before?

And yet what Dewey and Louie had told him made sense... It was true that he had been locked up for an indeterminate time. Huey was also very aware of how much isolation weakened him. And after that, Beaks suddenly reappeared and started treating him kindly. But was that really part of some crazy brainwashing plan? It was hard to believe, and reflecting on those videos, Huey realized now that many of them seemed to end suddenly. As if a part of them were missing, could it... could it have happened that Mrs. Beakley forced his brothers to help her clean somewhere else? To be honest, that day, Huey didn't see them all afternoon. Although, that could've been because he'd been locked in his room picking it up himself, and his brothers, knowing that, avoided going there.

Arg, it was all too confusing, and what Graves had started doing now wasn't helping him at all.

Flashback

On the third day after Beaks allowed Huey out of the dark room, while Huey was still asleep, the bedroom door burst open, instantly awakening the duckling. The oldest triplet jerked up and froze, scared, because Graves had appeared wearing a sailor suit like his uncle Donald's, wearing a mask of his uncle's face. What was Graves doing here? And why was he disguised as his uncle Donald? Where was Beaks?

The duckling watched with fear as Graves approached him. He said:

"Come with me."

Huey's fear increased exponentially at the tone the hawk used to say those words. And the fact that his voice sounded slightly muffled due to the mask he was wearing didn't help make him seem less creepy.

Swallowing thickly, the boy asked:

"To... where?"

Again, more menacing than before, Falcon replied:

"Somewhere where someone like you deserves to go."

Huey's eyes widened and he anxiously asked:

"W-what?"

Graves's voice rose to a threatening level when he replied:

"What you've heard boy, come on, quickly."

Without warning, Falcon grabbed Huey by the wrist and dragged him out of bed. Falcon literally drag him down the hallways, something that seemed to have become a habit every time an adult took him out of a room. This time, however, Huey could barely keep up with the hawk, as the big bird was moving fast and didn't care that the boy couldn't match his long strides.

Huey's heart was pounding. He didn't know where they were going this time. Actually, he didn't know until Graves stopped in front of... No! Why there?! The older triplet felt his breathing quicken and instantly tried to escape Graves' grip by pleading:

"No! no! Please, not there again!"

Huey could feel tears gathering in his eyes and then rolling down his cheeks. He didn't understand, Beaks had taken him out of there. Why was Graves locking him up again? Despite his struggles to escape, the hawk didn't seem willing to give in. He tightened his grip on the boy and barked harshly at him:

"You are in no position to argue."

That said, the large bird opened the door, revealing the dark space that he feared, and instantly, he threw the duckling inside. Then he said:

"You'll stay here, grounded."

Huey got up instantly, turning to look at the hawk. His face stained by the dirt on the ground and the tears that kept pouring out of his eyes. He asked then, tremblingly:

"Why?"

Graves's voice was deep and full of hatred when he replied:

"Because you are nobody, you don't deserve anyone to waste time with you."

End of flashback

After locking him away, Graves had visited him on several occasions, always disguised as a member of his family. The truth... Huey had the impression that the hawk visited him even more frequently than during his first stay in that room, and strangely, the boy would prefer that he didn't. Being locked up there again, Huey had returned to the routine of being fed with very little food. But also, every time the muscular bird entered, either to bring him food or simply to control him, he always said something to him, extremely hurtful words.

The older triplet felt much more tired than before. Although he didn't know if it was because of how alteration left him Graves' words or because he was hardly resting. Seriously, sometimes he had the impression of having slept only few minutes before the hawk appeared again to tell him one of his sentences:

Graves-Dewey: "You are a disaster."

Graves-Webby: "No one wants to be with you."

Huey believed- no, he was convinced that his family would never say such things about him...

Graves-Louie: "You are just a nerd and nobody likes nerds."

Graves-Donald: "You're too whiney, a cry baby."

But... every time Graves entered through that door, every time he spoke, the little red-dressed duckling found it more difficult to convince himself that it wasn't his family who told him that. Or that they didn't at least think that.

Graves-Scrooge: "You are a shame to this family."

Graves-Duckworth: "You're worthless."

Huey closed his eyes and covered his ears. He wanted to silence the voices in his head. Everything that Graves had told him, but no matter how hard he tried, each and every thing he had said kept ringing and ringing in his mind.

Graves-Donald: "Your place is this."

Graves-Scrooge: "You deserve everything that is happening to you."

Graves-Beakley: "You are weak."

The duckling felt moisture running down his face... he was crying again. But he didn't care anymore, he didn't care if they saw him like that, because... maybe... maybe he was a weak boy. It could be that he really didn't deserve the respect and love of his family... it could be that they actually hated him and everything Graves said to him was true...

No! He couldn't think like that! Dewey and Louie had told him at their outer body… meeting? that this was all Beaks' tactic to brainwash him. He couldn't lose his trust in his family. They loved him, but still… what if it had just been that? A dream? What if everything his brothers had told him was just the fruit of his imagination? Just a feeble attempt of his mind to keep hope's flame alive for his loved ones. What other explanation could there be-?

Huey's thought process was interrupted by the sound of the door slamming open. Fearfully, Huey opened his eyes and looked up. As he did so his breath hitched. Before his eyes was Graves again, only this time the costume he wore wasn't from anyone in his family or from the mansion. No, the costume the hawk wore was Gizmoduck's costume. And the truth is that it was a very, very realistic. It almost looked like the authentic suit.

Truthfully, if it wasn't for the beak and the plumage being darker brown than Fenton's, Huey would've believed that this certainly was the real Gizmoduck before his eyes. The duckling stood up as the hawk entered the room. Why was he now disguised as the superhero he admired? What did Falcon plan to do?

Graves moved closer and all Huey could do was press his back against the wall. He couldn't escape. There was no way out. He was cornered. The duckling began to tremble slightly, but he didn't take his eyes off the disguised falcon.

The bird with brown plumage approached until he was in front of the boy. Once there, he reached out. Huey squealed his eyes shut, fearing of being grabbed, but Graves reached over his head and only took his hat. Opening his eyes in surprise, the boy looked at the adult, who was now holding the only piece of clothing that didn't make him feel strange and reminded him of home. What did the hawk intend to do with that?

"Hey! Give it back!" Huey yelled angrily, stepping forward, even though that might've not been the smartest move to make.

Although his face was covered by the mask, Huey supposed that the hawk was glaring, as he replied in a hard, dry voice:

"No."

Falcon's response seemed so full of hatred that Huey felt a chill run down his spine, and he immediately backed away, eyes wide. His back touched the wall again. Huey didn't understand anything. Why had the hawk taken off his cap? Swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat, the boy stuttered:

"W-why n-not?"

Graves leaned slightly towards the frightened boy and deeply replied:

"I'm going to teach you a lesson."

Shivering even more than before, Huey felt his breathing speed up, so before speaking, he tried to control his inhales and exhaled. When he managed to re-establish himself enough, the older triplet asked:

"What… kind of lesson?"

Graves straightened up again and simply replied:

"One that will teach you respect."

And then, raising his free hand, he revealed a lighter in it, which he proceeded to light. A yellowish flame shine bright in the dark space. Huey's eyes widened in horror as he guessed what Graves's intentions seemed to be. So, leaping forward in a failed attempt to grab his hat, the boy yelled in alarm:

"No! Wait! What are you going to do?"

Graves replied:

"I told you brat, Teach you a lesson."

Seeing that the hawk was bringing the flame closer to his beloved garment, Huey jumped up and grabbed Graves's arm with which held the cap. At the same time as he did that, he exclaimed:

"How can burning my hat be a lesson? Please don't do this… don't take it from me!"

Graves regarded the boy as if he was a pesky fly on his arm. Then, with a jolt, he literally knocked Huey off him, knocking him to the ground. The boy stood up quickly, only to witness Graves set the cap on fire and drop it to the ground. Seeing this, the duckling immediately tried to run towards his burning garment while screaming:

"NO!"

But he didn't go very far because Graves lifted him off the ground and imprisoned his small body to the abdomen of the false Gizmoduck armor. Huey was literally caught in an iron hug, but that didn't stop him from fighting to try to break free while saying:

"Hey, no, release me! Let me go! I have to put out the fire! I have to-"

But the hawk disguised as the superhero he admired so much cut him off, saying:

"No, what you have to do is watch that hat be consumed until there is nothing left."

Huey stopped fighting and looked up to see Falcon's face. Although he was hidden under the helmet, the duckling could tell by his features that the hawk was enjoying what was happening. The boy turned his gaze back to his burning hat.

He couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe they were doing this to him. Why? Wasn't it enough for them to keep him prisoner there? Why did they have to burn his precious cap? For what seemed like the millionth time, Huey felt something liquid running down his face. And his blurred vision confirmed that it was undoubtedly tears. Although distorted, he could see the bright orange of the flickering flames, and how slowly these flames were getting smaller and smaller, until finally there was nothing but ashes.

As soon as it finished, Graves released him, and Huey fell to his hands and knees, head down, his body trembling with pain and rage. He was crying, a bitter cry mixed with hiccups. He hated him, hated Graves, hated that hawk disguised himself, hated that he treated him in such a cruel way, hated that by using his family members he said such horrible things to him. He hated his family and Gizmoduck...

Wait

Did he hate his family and Gizmoduck? No! That was not true! He didn't hate them! It was Graves, it wasn't them, none of the them. But... deeply in his mind, a thought was getting stronger. It could be that what Graves was saying, each and every one of those things, was what his family really thought of him; so, in fact it would be his family who would be saying those things to him. And what had happened just a few minutes ago... it could be that Gizmoduck didn't really want to help him. Maybe what the duck superhero wanted was to harm him. He thought that because of everything that had happened, the action done by Graves with the pseudo-hero costume had been the only one to carry out the actions, more or less physical against him.

Gizmoduck must also think that he was useless. And not only he should think it, but must believe that he deserved to be punished for it.

Huey looked up again. There in the middle was a pile of ashes with what used to be his cap. If Graves wanted to harm him using his family and Gizmoduck, he really had. And Huey no longer knew if he could trust the real superhero or any of his loved ones again.

I'll be honest, write this chapter, broke my heart. After finishing it, my first thought was: 'Wow, that's really cruel!' But on the other side, this is exactly what Beaks ordered Graves to do with Huey's cap… In fact, after this, and after what Graves is doing now to Huey, is just a matter of time the little duckling will give up and only trust Beaks. Will his family find him before it is too late?

Linked with this chapter, there's a piece of art made by localscissors from Tumblr, if you want to see it, you can find it here: localscissors. tumblr / post/ 186437436188/ these-are-gifts-for-a-very-fantastic-person (withous spaces and .com after tumblr)

Okay, after say that, I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I also would like to thank you all those who've read this story, those who follow it or have it among their favorites and I'd like to especially thank: GiddyReflections, LunaWolf44 and Waffle for their reviews. Thank you very much, I really appreciate it!

LunaWolf44: me too, when it happens is one the worst things I remember, at those times I remember to think I'd lost too much time. About Fenton's nightmare, I thought since being terribly worried for him, he'd have a nightmare where the fear he's feeling is totally visible. Welp, the idea was good, they just didn't expect Beaks could have had this into account, and yeah, this couldn't be THAT easy. Honestly, I wanted to show how they're doing efforts on finding Huey, but on the other side, I "need" Huey a little bit more of time with Beaks. That's why I made them have another apparently failure. And about having jinxed it… well, the story is already finished, so all what can I say is they'll- no wait, that'd be a spoiler. You'll have to wait.

puppydogs68: Yeah, I remember he was really scary in the episode, and I thought he would fit perfectly well in this chapter – which was the one I was about to write at thar moment. So, yes, this chapter was aired in the perfect moment. Thank you for your review

See you in the next chapter