"Donald!" His name echoed in the vast darkness that surrounded and threatened to swallow him up. Donald knew what this was, he had had this nightmare before, even before the incident. But just like every time before, some part of him deep down tried. It had to. No matter how hopeless or pointless he knew it would be, that didn't mean anything once he heard the shout.

"Don!" Donald Fauntleroy Duck was so many things and a good number of them weren't all good but he would say the most important thing he was was never alone. At least, he could have said that once. He struggled in the freezing grasp of the shadows, feeling the familiar heat of anger rising in his chest. With a deafening quack, he broke free and landed hard on the invisible ground.

"Donald!" He ignored the pain and raced towards the voice. The world around him began to change with harsh winds attempting to blow him away and the ground itself trying to hold him in place. The shouting got more desperate as he pushed ahead, every step a struggle with the very air growing heavier.

"N-no… Della!" He shouted as he forced himself through the pain and reached out for his sister only for a wail to shatter the illusions around him and he began to fall. He shouted out his sister's name one more time before everything went dark.

. . .

"Della!" Donald gasped as he sat up while on his hammock. He was breathing heavily and held a hand against his racing heart as he relaxed and took several steadying breaths. He was in his new houseboat, out in the Duckburg Marina. A wail was shattering the silence of the night, with what sounded like sniffles following it. Donald ran toward the sounds, sighing when he saw the crib.

Two of the ducklings inside were crying, with the last sniffling on the edge of crying as well. Louie had been a bit sick lately and it seemed to be keeping him from sleeping. Dewey looked to had been asleep but Louie's crying woke him up. Huey seemed to have been trying to calm Louie with a hug but it wasn't working and now with Dewey crying he was about to too. Donald shushed them gently and carefully took Dewey and Louie into his arms.

"It's okay, it's okay. I got you. I'm here." He whispered over and over while rocking them. Dewey quieted down quickly and snuggled against his uncle but Louie kept wailing. Donald put Dewey down next to Huey and he began to move annoyed but Huey hugged him and he just laid against his brother. Donald smiled at them before focusing on Louie and kissing him on the forehead. He rocked him and patted his back, quieting him down to a few sobs.

He could feel his heart aching, he hated seeing one of his boys in pain and Louie was usually the one quickest to cry. He sat in an old rocking chair he had placed next to the crib, Louie's favorite. He gave the boy a pacifier and began to sing.

"Look to the stars my darling baby boys

Life is strange and vast

Filled with wonders and joys

Face each new sun with eyes clear and true

Unafraid of the unknown

Because I'll face it all with you…"

Donald smiled seeing the boys had all fallen asleep and he looked out at the stars and at the moon shining down at them. He felt tears pricking at his eyes. This wasn't meant to be his place, Della was meant to sing the song. She was meant to be their comfort and their caretaker but even if she came back at the moment he was unsure if he'd be able to give them up. If he could go back to how he was.

"Look to stars and gaze up at the moon,

Even as these days pass,

She's always thinking of you…

Face each new day and keep your hope alive

I promise she will be here soon,

It won't be long till she's with you…"

He carefully turned Louie onto his back and laid him beside his siblings before giving them all a goodnight kiss and going back to his room. He may not have asked for this but this was how things were and he refused to let life beat him down. Whatever it took, he'd be there for them. No matter what.

. . .

Bradford Buzzard wasn't happy, then again he rarely was after a long day of dealing with Scrooge McDuck. He entered Fowl Headquarters and got to work on preparations for future plans. The door slid open and he gave a small growl to show he wasn't in the mood, though that rarely ever stopped her. Black Heron sat beside him and smiled, twisting her arm. Seems she had been upgrading it.

"Bradford. You seem tense, what's wrong? The pencil-pushing for McDuck not paying off like you wanted?" Bradford rolled his eyes and scoffed at his oldest partner.

"Firstly, it's as you wanted. Second, everything has gone exactly as I expected. The plan to break the McDuck clan was successful but Agent Twenty-two managed to destroy our final hideout, I believe she stole the clone." Black Heron laughed which made Bradford glance up, he knew how much she hated Bentina Beakley so why laugh now? "What did you do, Heron?"

"As it turned out dear director, I was at that last hideout working on exactly what you said not to, plans for a new kind of ray."

"Of course you were." She ignored that comment as she continued.

"When I realized we were under attack I took the child and ran, but Agent Twenty-two did manage to catch a glance at the girl. It's unlikely someone as persistent as she will allow that image to just be forgotten. We have the clone and I prepared two backups from her DNA just in case but you know she'll be looking for us." Bradford rubbed his brow in frustration but he was relieved they still had the element of surprise. He had to admit she was right though, Beakley would be a problem and was on the lookout for a child.

Even with the backups maybe it would be wise to have some different plans in play. Scrooge McDuck was broken for now but that duck had lived through worse and there's no telling when his spirit will return. FOWL will need to be ready for that day.

"I have a plan. Seems that having April around may be more trouble than it's worth but if we can place her in Clan McDuck that will give us a future asset. Of course, we'll still need an heir to McDuck so how does a switch sound to you?" Heron smirked and leaned close.

"Absolutely Villainous."

. . .

Donald woke to someone knocking on his door. He grumbled and walked over while rubbing an eye.

"What!?" He quacked just as something shot in his face and he began to cough. He was punched in his stomach and kicked away. Three figures entered his home, two masked eggheads and a hooded one. His sight was blurry and his movements sluggish. "S-sleeping gas…" He muttered incoherently as he rubbed his eyes, fighting to stay awake.

"Are you still up? I'm amazed, that was enough gas to put a full-grown lion to sleep." A female voice spoke but sounded far away. Donald gasped as he saw the eggheads enter the triplets' room and one began to cry.

"NO!" Donald shouted as he ran towards the room with a fist when the hooded figure jumped in the way and took the punch. They were knocked to the ground but kicked his feet from under him. Donald grunted but grabbed his childhood guitar that was nearby and swung it wildly at the intruder but they dodged expertly before raising their arm to block the swing and the guitar shattered before the strength of their arm. Donald looked at the remains of his beloved instrument before looking back at the figure who only smiled and punched him, harder than any arm should be able to punch.

Donald groaned on the ground and cursed tasting metal in his mouth. He saw the eggheads take a bundle and he grabbed the figure's leg before they could leave.

"I-I won't let… you…"

"Sorry Duck, orders from above. Thank your old Uncle for us." The figure raised their foot before smashing it into his face.

. . .

Donald woke to the sound of crying. His head was pounding and there was the taste of blood in his mouth. He was in pain, not really uncommon of a feeling but it had been less often since he left Scrooge's side. He was on the ground and he froze as he remembered what happened.

"N-no… please no!" He used the wall to lean on as he waddled to the crip, sighing in relief as he saw three babies but then his tired mind caught up to what he was seeing. There were three babies, but they weren't all his sister's. Dewey and Louie were there crying but the third child wasn't Huey. Wasn't even a boy. It was a girl who was still asleep but seemed to be waking up from the boy's wailing.

"W-wha… who…" Those attackers, they had stolen Huey and left this girl in his place! He felt rage in his gut as he swore to hunt them down. They had mentioned something about his uncle, figure this was his fault. Just as Donald was prepared to go to his uncle's house and order him to find Huey, he saw the girl wake up. She opened his large eyes and seemed scared as she stared at Donald. His anger vanished as he realized he was focusing on anger over family, again.

"Shhh, it's okay, I'm here little ones!" He tended to each child, ending with the girl as he sighed and wondered what he should do with her. He had lost one of his sister's children. He had failed her and Huey. He didn't want to fail again. He'd use every resource he had to find the oldest triplet and when he returned, he'd have a new sibling.

"It's okay… Webby."

. . .

Heron smiled as she put Huey on the table, the baby fast asleep after the car ride. Bradford stared at the boy and leaned back in his chair.

"Hmm, now it seems all we have to do is wait. We may be able to turn this child into our greatest weapon against Scrooge. Raise him to see the truth of this world. Of FOWL. Of course, it will all go more smoothly if we give him reasons to stay. Heron, introduce Hubert here to his… "Sisters."