Launchpad left the Gator outside and stormed into the hanger. "Why am I always so stupid?!" Forget the planes. He just wanted to find something to throw.

Until he stepped inside. He'd forgotten how pristine his parents' hanger was. Unlike the dilapidated hanger he'd been able to afford in Saint Canard, this was tidy and immaculate. Every plane was clean and painted. Every tool had its place, outlined in white paint on the numerous tool boards, so there could be no excuse to not put them back where they belonged.

The nostalgia hit him like a slap in the chest. This was where his love for aeroplanes had started, and grown. And it was impossible to separate those feelings from memories of his family, being here with him, and sharing every triumph and crash along the way. He'd missed this place. He wished he'd come back sooner. Launchpad gulped at the lump in his throat. "Yeah," he said hoarsely. "Why am I always so stupid?"

The only clutter was on the work bench in one corner, which had a half pulled apart piece of equipment on it. And beside the work bench, his father's desk. It had been there for as long as Launchpad could remember. The diagrams and spreadsheets and post its stuck above it would inevitable change, and accumulate, but they were all along the same theme. Ripcord tracked every scrap of maintenance information to do with every plane in the hanger, at least until his wife told him to get rid of all that useless paper and he'd cut it back down to a more reasonable level. There was certainly a degree of organisation to it, be it something only his father could really follow. But, seriously, talk about overkill.

Launchpad picked up the maintenance drawings left out on the very top of the pile. Despite his annoyance at his father's over-complication of what should be a simple task, this was the easiest way to see which plane Mom and Dad were currently working on.

"Okay, I get you're ticked at Mom and Dad. But if you screw around with Dad's paperwork he is really going to lose it."

Launchpad dropped the paper back in its spot. "I wasn't going to." He turned to face his sister and flung a hand out at the wall behind him. "I can't believe he's still doing this."

"I told him last time I visited I could help him computerise it," said Loopey. "But I think he likes it all out where he can see it."

"That's not what I meant. They've barely got a dozen planes. How much time does he waste with this?"

Loopey raised an eyebrow. "Not everyone runs their planes to failure."

Launchpad snorted. "I do not run my planes to failure. I run them until they crash. Then I have to repair it all anyway. That seems to keep on top of it."

Loopey shrugged, then rubbed her arm. "Listen, I didn't know Mom and Dad lied to get you here. I'm sorry."

Launchpad leaned back against the desk. "Its not that they lied. It's just… I was worried! But they're not bothered by the other LP at all. I think Mom may have scared him into behaving himself. They don't need me to keep him in line. And I just… I wasn't ready for this. I came out in a rush. If he wasn't here, I wouldn't have even come!"

"You think, maybe, that's why they weren't honest? I know the last few times I've visited, they missed you. Especially Dad."

He wanted to say it was complicated. That they'd end up asking too many questions, and he just wasn't smart enough to make up something which wouldn't put DW in a spot. "Yeah, well, looks like Dad's got a replacement now, so."

"Oh, Launchpad. Really?"

"Yeah, I know. I'm being childish. But I didn't want to disappoint Dad and I knew he'd be upset that I haven't seen him, or hardly spoken to him. I knew it was going to be awkward. But then he was there with the other Launchpad he just seemed… fine… and I wanted to be able to talk to him like that, but there's all this… stuff… we'd have to go through first. I was going to come back at some stage. It's just… hard. And now everything's blown up. What am I supposed to do?"

Loopey put an arm around his shoulders. "Come on, lets take the planes out. You need to clear your head. By the time we get back, Dad'll have calmed down too. I think you two just need to sit down and talk, you know. It'll be fine. He's just a big softie who hoards maintenance manuals. It won't be as bad as you think, I promise."

Launchpad smiled faintly. "Yeah, maybe. Lets do that. For so long I've just been flying the…" Thunderquack. He cut himself off with a gulp.

Loopey chewed her lip. "Whatever you're doing right now, Mom and Dad are going to be proud of you."

Yeah. If only he could tell them.

"Come on. You pick first. Hint: make sure its something small and manoeuvrable. There's a place I really want to show you."

"If its trouble you're looking for, I've got a few ideas."

Gosalyn whirled around at the familiar voice, fists bunched.

The Negaverse Launchpad leaned on the porch railing behind her, twirling an unlit cigarette in his fingers. She hadn't even heard him approach. "I mean, I kind of owe you one. That was getting awkward. I'll help Gosalyn find the snacks was a perfect excuse to get out of there."

"You don't fool me one bit."

"You don't like me very much, do you?"

"You beat up Launchpad!" Gosalyn jabbed a finger back at the house. "I bet you didn't tell his parents THAT, did you?"

The cigarette slowed in its dance about his fingers, and Launchpad looked down at his boots. "I did, actually. Brought Mrs McQuack to tears. And the look on Mr McQuack's face… I thought he was going to punch me. And I would've let him. But, of course, he didn't. At least I know where Launchpad got his good heart from. I don't know what would've happened to me these last few months if it weren't for these guys."

"What you did was still wrong. And mean."

"I know. But Launchpad and me, we've already talked about this. I apologised, and he accepted it. At least, I thought he had." Launchpad pulled out his lighter, paused, then headed off the porch and down the front path. He looked back over his shoulder. "Well, are you coming? Mrs McQuack will kill me if I light up right outside the house."

Gosalyn chewed her lip. Awkward adult conversation, or the seedy guy her Dad definitely would not want her hanging out with alone? There was really no contest. She leapt down the front steps and jogged to catch up with him.

Launchpad grinned at her.

"Don't look so smug. I said I'd be watching you. I can't watch you if I just let you wander off, now can I?"

The Negaverse Launchpad shrugged. He lit up as they walked, then pointed to a churned up section of dirt just beyond the greener gardens surrounding the house. "That was where I landed when I crashed here."

"I bet you don't crash as good as Launchpad."

"I thought I did a pretty good job for my first time. And with a snapped arm."

Gosalyn immediately stared at his arm.

Launchpad flexed his hand with a slight wince. "It's getting there."

"How'd you snap your arm in an aeroplane?

"Genius that I am, I thought it'd be fun to hang out with air pirates. I figured they'd be a little nicer over in your dimension. They were, sort of. Unfortunately, thanks to your Launchpad, I think I'm developing a conscience. They were nicer, at least until you call them on their crap and tell them you're leaving."

"And they broke your arm…?"

"No. I broke it punching my way out of a poorly constructed jail cell so I could steal my aeroplane back."

"Ow?"

"Yeah." Launchpad sucked on his cigarette. Smoke wafted from his nostrils as he spoke. "But I'll be damned if I let anybody else bully me into staying somewhere I don't want to be."

Gosalyn kicked at a stone along the dirt track. Launchpad had explained to her, back when he'd come back home after setting up his double with his own plane, why he'd done something nice for the guy who'd beat him up so bad it'd left him sobbing on their living room sofa. But she wanted to hear it straight from the source. "Launchpad said Negaduck wasn't very nice to you."

Launchpad looked away. "No, he wasn't."

"So what did…"

"Did you want to get into some trouble or not?"

Gosalyn scowled at him, then folded his arms. Fine, he could change the subject. She didn't have to make it easy for him though. "I don't know. You are still Launchpad, sort of. I don't think you'd be game to get into my kind of trouble."

Launchpad snorted smoke, and laughed. "Seriously, kiddo?"

"Launchpad won't even play baseball in the house with me."

"I ain't your Launchpad."

"Oh yeah? You wouldn't even smoke outside the McQuack's house because you're scared you're going to get in trouble with Launchpad's Mom. So what have you got to offer?"

"There's an art to getting into trouble that I'm only now starting to understand since I left the Negaverse. Over there, you can cause as much chaos as you want. Especially if you work for…" He swallowed, then covered it with a cough. "Well, over here, there's an art. I'm not scared of the McQuacks. They've just been really nice to me and I don't want to upset them by setting things on fire in their front garden. But that doesn't mean I can't set things on fire." He winked. "They just can't find out."

"Hmm. I think you just don't want them to yell at you."

Launchpad shrugged. "That too."

"So, we're going to set something on fire?"

Launchpad rubbed at his beak, then snapped his fingers. "No. I think you'd like the potato gun."

"There's a gun for shooting potatoes? What did the potatoes do?"

"Not for shooting potatoes. For shooting potatoes. AT things. And because if I brought an actual rocket launcher onto their property I would definitely get kicked out."

Gosalyn's eyes widened. "Keen gear."

As the two planes - one red, one pink - climbed into the air, Launchpad felt the lead in his stomach start to dissolve. The wind whipped through his feathers and blew his scarf back. It was cold and clean and it tore away at the last shreds of exhaustion better than any cup of coffee could. This was what he'd been missing in the Thunderquack.

Loopey's bright pink plane pulled ahead of him. She waggled her wings, then tapped the side of her head.

Launchpad adjusted his headset.

"… still testing," his sister's voice came through the radio. "Hey, you big doofus. Loopey is the best."

"Yes, I can hear you now. Squirt."

Loopey snorted. "Seriously. I am not twelve anymore."

"Gee, I don't know…"

"I'm assuming you're feeling better? You seem to have your sense of humour back."

Launchpad settled into level flight. "Yeah. Thanks for this. I really needed it."

"Good. Now, try to keep up." Loopey dropped her plane down to skim the desert floor and accelerated.

Launchpad fell in behind her. His sister flew deliberately; she definitely had a place in mind. He followed her silently for a few moments, thinking. Where the heck had he not flown around his parents' place? Sure, he'd left long before his little sister had been old enough that they could go out flying together, by themselves. Some new obstacle was not just going to grow out of the desert floor. Unless… "Loopey?"

"Yeah?"

"Where are you taking me?"

"The canyon."

It was the only place he could think of. But hearing Loopey actually say it still made Launchpad baulk. "Woah. Wait. The canyon?"

Loopey laughed. "Oh wow. Serious deja vu, big brother. You say that just like Dad used to."

"Um, yeah. When he told us never to go fly there."

"Yeah. When we were kids. We're not kids anymore."

Launchpad frowned. His sister had a point. "What was the reason he didn't like it again?"

"He never said. Look, its a tight canyon. If you behave like an idiot, or you're fifteen and don't really know what you're doing, you're going to get in trouble. I'm not surprised he didn't want his teen-aged kids flying through there and getting hurt. But we're both adults now. We've got thousands of hours under the belt between us. We know what we're doing. I've been dozens of times. You know, when I actually come to visit our parents. And… maybe once… when I was a teenager…"

Launchpad snorted. "Loopey!"

"Don't you dare tell Dad that last bit!"

"Heh. I'm glad we're on our channel."

"He was just worried about us getting hurt. You know what he's like. Trust me, it's fine."

"So, they know you go there now?"

"No, are you kidding?"

Launchpad laughed. "Okay, yeah. I think if I go to the scary forbidden canyon behind Dad's back I can probably just about manage to talk to him when I get back without acting like a three year old. Get the rebellion out of my system. Thanks, Loopey. You really are the best."

"And don't you forget it. Okay. There it is. Two o'clock."

A sheer cliff rose out of the desert surface. Loopey banked towards the crack she'd indicated and Launchpad followed, tight on her tail.

"It varies in height. But deep enough for two planes, so skilled pilots such as ourselves should be able to pass. It you decide you need to bail, check what's up there first, or you'll clip your wing on a branch or a rock or something growing over the edge. There's a few narrow bits. But if you just concentrate, and stay on the line, you'll be fine."

The desert sped past beneath them; the crack raced towards them. "Got it."

"Oh yeah," his sister said as she lined her plane up with the entrance. "It's a race." She darted into the gap.

"Hey! Little sneak!" Launchpad didn't bother sending the message through the radio. He grinned and barrelled in behind his sister.

A pink tail darted around the first bend. Launchpad floored it, and concentrated on eating up the distance. She'd gained a slight lead. And her flying had gotten better since he'd last seen her. Her plane swayed along with the undulations of the canyon, perfectly in rhythm. She'd definitely done this before.

But the canyon walls were no tighter, comparatively speaking, to threading the Thunderquack through the skyscrapers of Saint Canard. Launchpad did that every second night. If he didn't need to cover for DW, he could've told his sister that. Launchpad shook off the thought. He kept on her tail, cutting the corners tighter and tighter.

He saw his chance, he dipped the plane down, wheels just clearing the rocks below, and swooped underneath her, taking the lead. "Hah! You're going to have to do better than that if you want to beat the great Launchpad Mc…"

Loopey shot clear over his head, did a complete sideways roll, rocked left and right, then angled her plane at the last minute to clear the next bend.

"Show off!" Launchpad drew in a breath and focused. He'd underestimated his little sister. But, like most people, he doubted she had as much experience crashing as he did. And experience crashing meant he had experience getting close to a crash without freaking out.

She knew the bends, but she was not getting anywhere near as close to those rocks as Launchpad knew he could. He caught up quickly. The canyon decreased in depth. Loopey was keeping down low, so he pulled up above her. His wings were about a foot or two from the top of the canyon. If he had to bail, he'd lose the race on a technicality. But the position meant he could also keep his sister from pulling any fancy moves on him.

"Launchpad, pull up! I've got to clear that…"

Now that was just low. There was plenty of room to… Launchpad saw the rock jutting out of the canyon wall, down at his sister's level. In the position he'd forced her into, it'd cleave off half her wing.

Launchpad yanked up on the control yoke, at the exact moment his sister slammed her upper wing into his wheels. He shot out and over the edge of the canyon. Below him came the scrape of tortured metal and pulverised rock billowed up into the air. "Loopey!"

Launchpad banked his plane around, bleeding off speed as quickly as he could. He still shot back over the canyon far too fast. A flash of pink caught his eye, bouncing along the canyon floor, but disappeared again just as quickly.

Launchpad scrambled for his headset. "Loopey, Loopey! Come in. Are you okay?" Then he yanked his finger off the send button, leaving the channel open, and forced himself to wait.

The siblings' channel, the one they'd used ever since their parents had given them their first two-way radio set, and they'd called each other from either end of the house, was filled with nothing but static.

"No, no, no…" Launchpad banked around again and landed the plane. He trundled right up to the canyon's edge and leapt out, heart hammering in his chest. He cupped his hands to his beak. "Loopey!"

He caught sight of her plane below. The dents of his wheels were in her upper wing. The very edge of her wing had been sheared clean off. The canyon wall wasn't that steep. He could climb down. Launchpad alternated between sliding and grabbing for handholds. His shoulder slammed into the dirt behind him in his rush and he skidded the last few feet down.

He was on his feet in an instant and ran for Loopey's plane. "Loopey!"

Loopey leaned heavily against the side of her plane, hugging herself and drawing in steadying breaths.

Launchpad barrelled into her. "Loopey, I'm so so sorry."

Loopey threw her arms around his neck. "The hell were you doing, Launchpad? I was telling you to pull up."

"I know," Launchpad sniffed, face buried against her hair. "I thought you were messing with me so I'd lose."

"Not with something like that."

"I know."

Loopey pushed him gently back. Launchpad cupped a hand to her cheek and wiped away a stray tear from her feathers. "Please don't cry."

"Pft." Loopey waved his hand away. "I just scared the crap out of myself. Besides, you are too you big dummy."

Launchpad rubbed at his eyes, then turned his attention to Loopey's plane. "Well, you managed to land in a canyon. That's… impressive."

"I cleared most of that rock after I had to ram you out of my way. Still clipped the wing though. That tends to slow you down pretty quick."

"You're not going to be able to fly that back, you know. Even if we fix it, we can't take off in here."

Both of the siblings turned to each other and winced.

Loopey snapped her fingers. "The jeep. It'll be able to tow it out. And we can bring the parts to fix the wing. Just need some sealant and we can bolt or rivet that loose strut back down."

"We can climb back out of the canyon. I'll fly you back. We might just be able to get it back before Mom and Dad find out." Dad. Launchpad groaned. "I think I need to sit down."

"Woah, hang on." They both sat in the shade under Loopey's wing. She put an arm around his shoulder. "You okay?"

"I don't know what's scarier. The thought of facing Dad, or nearly killing my little sister."

"Hey, this was not all your fault. This was super dumb. I should've at least taken you though the canyon to scout it out before we tried racing each other. That bit of rock I nearly ran into… it wasn't even there last time. Something must've shifted."

They sat under the wing for a few minutes more. Launchpad felt his heart starting to still. Well, turned out crashing was a whole lot scarier when someone you cared about was doing it. Who knew? They still had to get that plane back without letting their parents know what they'd done. It still set him on edge. But… it was better than the alternative.

"Hey, Launchpad?" Loopey said eventually.

"Yeah?"

"You know that awkward moment when you realise your parents were right?"

Launchpad groaned and put his face in his hands.

A/n: Yup, definitely fun writing sibling banter. And also them getting themselves into trouble within like five minutes.

I also started a new DWD forum over in the forum section. Mostly because all of the ones already there seemed dead. In case there's anyone reading stuff at the moment who wanted to talk about Darwking Duck. ;)