Guest: Me too. Technically, they never broke up
riverajocabed1: XD, because you need to feel it, Jo, I want you guys to feel the raw intensity of the story. If I just indirectly said it, it would be fine, but that wouldn't too "Jordan" of me, would it?
boss train: I mean, anything involving this sort of thing is hard to 'right', you know?
betrayed666: I will gladly accept this award :)
Guest: :)
RANDOM: I think this was my favourite chapter!
Guest: -ay
Ilovebhna: Hello Ilovebhna, I've spoken to you on Tumblr! I am very impressed by the fact that you managed to finish 50+ chapters in a weekend, jeez! I'm loving your reviews!
Guest: DALEK IS SO AMAZING!
Guest: Yeah, dude, fuck the finale. Fucking Frank... everything about it was so underwhelming, man.
ooo
Pepper finally had enough.
Heron wasn't acting how she normally would be leading a F.O.W.L mission: she wasn't taking serious action against the approaching McDuck Clan, and she hadn't even sent out one Egghead to go after them. She spent most of her time inside her bedroom, letting the red triplet ravage her in the most immodest way. Heron seemed to not care much about the plan, and barely batted an eye at the C.I.L.E's newfound success, so Pepper was determined to get to the bottom of things.
Heron's chamber was a three way room: one went to a large master bedroom, another one went to a small living room, and the third went to the bathroom. Pepper knocked on the door that led to the Living Room, knowing that Heron would be in there.
Soon enough, Heron opened the door, and left it open, signaling that Pepper was allowed to come inside. Pepper gazed around the room: there was a small bar near the corner of the room, and there sat Heron: she wore a tight nightgown that definitely was going to serve a purpose when she reunited with the red triplet. She leaned against the bar, her elbow propping her head up against the table. Chocolate brown locks cascade down her shoulders now that it wasn't confined in its red headband, and Pepper personally thought Heron looked much prettier looking like her natural self.
Heron gazed at her. "I'm assuming you're here to question me." she asked boredly.
Pepper gaped at her, pulling out the stool beside her. "Question?! Heron, the McDuck Clan is here! They'll be sure to shut down the operation, we need to take action now!" she urged, sitting down.
Heron gave her a lousy smirk. "You don't think I know that?"
Pepper's eyes followed Heron's figure as she stood up, and stalked behind the small bar, pouring out a glass of wine. The red liquid sloshed around in the glass, and Heron swiveled it around in her cup.
"What are you playing at, Heron?" Pepper asked suspiciously.
Heron sipped her drink. "This plan was designed to fail. The obvious variables my son didn't account for were pathetic."
She scowled. "Then why did you take over his operation, and more importantly, why aren't you shutting it down if you're so sure it isn't going to work out?" Truth be told, Pepper herself wasn't expecting much success with Henry's whole mind control concept, especially with all the loose ends lying around. But she was curious to find out why Heron didn't pull the plug on the plan to begin with.
"Instead of focusing so much on who he was going against," Heron groused, ignoring Pepper's concern, reaching behind the bar, and producing many thick files. Heron carelessly tossed the files onto the bar, where they came undone, where the identities of each person of interest in the McDuck Clan—Hubert Duck, Dewford Dingus Duck, Llewellyn Duck, Webbigail Vanderquack, Lena DeSpell, and Violet Apollonia Sabrewing—were revealed.
Pepper intently studied Heron's unimpressed look.
"The only information I got out of these lousy files is information on members of the McDuck Clan who don't produce any interest whatsoever," Heron sighed boredly. "He should've focused more on what he was up against."
Pepper pursed her lips. "Like?"
Heron snorted. "Like Scrooge himself, or even his associates!" She took another swig of her drink.
"What do you mean?" Her blood boiled.
Heron shrugged. "Had Henry focused on the fact that his associate Gyro can invent something that can besmirch the C.I.L.E's effects, the fact that McDuck's house is protected, or even the fact that the C.I.L.E's range is limited, this would've made an excellent plan." she spat. "But he ignored it. He was too hot-headed, and rushed into this."
Pepper scowled, and repeated her earlier question. "If you knew all of this, then why did you go through with it?"
"Because, Pepper," Heron grinned. "We need to focus outside of the box. This project is going to fail, yes, I'm aware of that." Heron admitted, much to her chagrin.
"Then—"
Heron cut her off. "For so long I've been working here," she lamented. "It was scheme after scheme, arrest after arrest, prison sentence after another," she swallowed thickly. "I was stuck in an endless loop, and just wanted to get out of it…" Heron's voice wavered, much to Pepper's surprise. "S-so, while I was sitting in prison a few months ago, I just got thinking: what am I doing?"
Pepper scowled.
"So, instead of a lousy scheme, I really got thinking: mind control shouldn't be the motive here. A failing plan should always have an ulterior motive, and that's exactly what I'm doing now. Of course I knew that this plan would fail, McDuck and Beakley aren't stupid, they know how to shut down any F.O.W.L operation."
Pepper frowned. "So… what's the ulterior motive?"
She smirked. "Mental health, Pepper. I need to get in their heads, weaken it so much that they'll become wisps of their former selves."
Pepper paled: something she knew never to mess with was mental health. She knew how severe a negative mental state was, and knew what it could do to a person.
"And Webby and Huey are my main targets." Heron grinned viciously. "It'll be absolutely… delicious." she licked her lips, as if the thought of ruining the mental states of 2 innocent people was enticing.
"Mind filling me in?" Pepper demanded.
Heron ignored her. She gathered her items, and headed back to her room, where she knew Huey was waiting.
"Heron!" Pepper hissed, gripping her shoulder harshly. "What are you talking about?"
"You'll see," she smirked.
Pepper recoiled. "Hundreds of agents are risking their lives for this project to succeed!"
Heron waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, just let them die if they get in the way. They're mere Eggheads, aren't they?"
"But, it's not fair." Pepper voiced her concern.
Heron's eyes flashed dangerously. "I didn't know you cared so much, Pepper."
Pepper's expression grew hard, her F.O.W.L ideologies kicking in. "Not one bit."
"Good," Heron mumbled. "Because I don't either."
"And the red triplet?" Pepper asked, questioning what his role was in Heron's convoluted plan.
Heron gave her a grin. "Absolutely marvelous."
ooo
Sally placed a hand on Webby's chest, looking down at her blueprints, a grim expression on her face.
"This is where we separate, isn't it?" Dewey asked knowingly.
Sally nodded grimly, her emerald green eyes flashing. "Are we all clear with the plan? Team A will be me, Louie, Henry, Lena, Gandra, and Fenton, and we need to dismantle the C.I.L.E," she frowned before sighing. "Team B will consist of Scrooge, Webby, Dewey, and Agent 22. Their job is to find Heron, and keep her at bay."
She turned to Reaper. "Your job is to find that killer robot Violet mentioned, and keep it at bay."
Reaper nodded.
Louie frowned. "Something's just not right, Sally… we've been here for hours. The only 2 Eggheads we've seen are the ones that were guarding the entrance earlier. Shouldn't there be more? I can't help but feel that we're walking into a trap."
"That's because we are," Gandra hissed like she was talking to a 2 year old, giving Louie a dirty look.
He was just about ready to slap Fenton's fiancée across the jaw. "Shut the fu—"
"Enough, you two!" Lena snapped, stepping in between them before a fight could ensue. "Let's all calm down and think: Louie's right. We haven't seen one guard."
Sally glared at her ex-fiancée. "If you know anything about this, and you're keeping it from us, I swear I'll beat you with a cane next—"
"I'm not!" Henry cried. "My dad was known for throwing henchmen around like it was nobody's business. My mom isn't like him, as you can tell."
The two former lovers had a brief standoff before Sally relented. "Any ideas?"
"Maybe she doesn't know that we're here?" Dewey asked hopefully.
"Unlikely." Beakley shut his idea down gently. "Considering she has Huey with her."
"Oh… right." Dewey scratched the back of his head.
Webby frowned. "What is Heron doing?"
Scrooge shook his head. "Well, it doesn't matter now: it takes a while to reach both of our respective destinations. Even though we haven't encountered any of Heron's goons yet, still be on alert."
"We will," Louie said seriously, pulling his Uncle in for a hug. "See you soon, Uncle Scrooge."
After a teary and emotional goodbye, the group separated into their respective teams. Louie watched on as Dewey and Webby as they walked in the opposite direction. Dewey caught his eye, and gave his younger brother a reassuring smile.
Why couldn't Louie get the sinking feeling out of his gut?
ooo
Violet was completely out of it—her entire body felt completely drained, and her heart was empty. She vaguely remembered crying until there were no more tears left to shed, she remembered screaming until her throat was raw; she felt completely powerless over the whole situation revolving Huey, and it showed.
Gyro was easy on her: he didn't address the problem directly, because he knew Violet didn't want to talk about it. He half expected to be running the whole operation himself, while Violet consoled herself, but in fact, it was the complete opposite: she threw herself into work, observing the headphones safety herself, hardly eating or sleeping.
It was around midnight: tomorrow morning would mark the 24 hour mark of the mission, and so much had happened in so little time.
Gyro rubbed his eyes tiredly, and was about to head to bed, until he saw that the lab was still in use. Biting back a sigh, he quietly walked towards his lab, where he spotted Violet sitting at the chair, observing the information that decorated the screen: the headphones were stable, and no C.I.L.E waves were getting in.
"You need to get to bed." Gyro murmured.
She didn't even look at him. "I'm fine. I've slept enough. You go."
Gyro felt extremely uncomfortable: he wasn't good with human emotions, it was part of the reason why he barely interacted with them. It also played a role into why he threw himself into the artificial world—Violet was an actual person with feelings, not Manny, or Lil Bulb. It was only until when Fenton joined his team that Gyro slowly became more and more social. But this was too extreme for him, how was he supposed to console her when her boyfriend was in such a fragile situation?
Gyro knew he needed an objective, and he soon realized that it was to get Violet out of her chair. So, he focused on that:
"I'm not good with people, or any sort of emotions," he confessed. "But I am good with science. Keeping yourself here and not sleeping isn't helping you. You need some rest, and I don't care if you claimed to have slept before." he grumbled.
This time, she did make a move to look at him, and he was stunned by the heartbreak and emptiness in her eyes.
"I know Huey isn't in the best place right now, I really do," he whispered. "But once he's free, and he will be," he reassured quietly. "He wouldn't want to see you like this." He outstretched his hand, inviting her to stand up.
She let the words settle in. Wordlessly, she accepted Gyro's hand, and allowed him to pull her to her feet. She slumped against his body, but he wasn't fazed. Together, they walked towards a 'closet', of some type. Gyro pressed a button, and the metal doors slid open, revealing 2 comfortable looking cots.
As he led her to one of the cots, she prayed that the others were okay.
ooo
Henry hated himself for how he designed the base: he took advantage of how big the Cliffs were, and it was a long walk. Sally decided that they should get some rest, and they camped out inside of the vents. Louie and Lena cuddled up on one side, falling asleep pretty quickly, along with Fenton and Gandra.
Sally leaned against the wall of the vent, shivering.
"Are you cold?" he asked quietly, heading over to her.
"Don't even think about touching me." she snapped quietly, her tone icy.
Ouch.
He frowned. "Sally, I… I don't know what to do to make it up to you. I really don't. I messed up. I thought that after being named after the legendary Henry Vanderquack, I was destined to be F.O.W.L's savior… but I'm not."
She remained silent.
He sat next to her. "I'm sorry I risked our safety. But this life? It's all I ever knew. When Scrooge told me he was going to shut it down, I got nervous… I wanted to go behind his back, even though he just saved me, and regain control of my mission. But I realized that this isn't everything. That there's a life outside of all this."
She glanced at him. Henry scooted closer to her.
"You're the life outside of all this, Sally, I never wanted to upset you."
She finally spoke. "Me neither, Henry, but here we are. Stuck." she sighed.
His dark eyes bore holes into her emerald green ones. "I know. But I promise once this mission is done, I'll find a way out."
She managed a smile, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "I'd like that." She leaned against his shoulder, and shut her eyes.
He kissed her forehead.
ooo
Pepper spent the day completely conflicted over what Heron had told her about the plan: what did she mean by the ulterior motive being mental health? What did Beakley's granddaughter and Huey have to do with any of this? What was her gamble?
It was late now, but she couldn't sleep, so she opted to scan some documents instead.
There was a small tap on her shoulder—Pepper yelped when she saw a tall, shadowy figure loom over her.
"Jesus christ, Blot!" Pepper snapped, though she wasn't too annoyed.
Blot, or Phantom Blot, as people usually referred to him as, was a mysterious agent who worked for F.O.W.L. He was about double her size, and donned loose, drapey black robes. His past remained a mystery, even though he was Pepper's partner years ago. The two were good friends, and had a mutual respect for one another.
He also happened to be Pepper's crush, but she tried not to focus too much on that, as there were more pressing matters.
He smirked. "Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you." his deep voice rumbled, making her heart race.
She sighed. "What are you doing here? I thought you were at St. Canard, hunting down Magica DeSpell?"
He nodded. "I was, but then I got a call from High Command. They wanted some extra muscle here, so they sent me."
Pepper scowled, and dragged him into her living quarters.
"What are you—" he tried as he was sat down on her large mattress.
She motioned for him to shush, peeked her head outside her door, and quickly surveyed the area for any agents lurking around. Once she deduced that there was nobody eavesdropping on their conversation, she sat on the bed next to him, letting out a frustrated groan.
"Man, are you worked up today." he commented offhandedly. Pepper shot him a glare, and he chuckled. "I'm just playing, Pepper. I only accepted the transfer knowing that you were here too, you know?" he nodded, making her blush.
Pepper leaned her head against his broad shoulder. "I know you are, I'm sorry I'm being difficult. I'm just confused, Blot."
"About?"
She frowned. "Heron told me some sensitive information last night… she knows that the whole C.I.L.E thing is a bust, and she's not letting it go because she has an 'ulterior motive'."
Blot frowned. "Which is…?"
Pepper shrugged. "She wouldn't say. Something about mental health."
He frowned. "What?"
She smiled sadly. "Don't ask."
The duo sat there silently, until Blot had her pinned down against the mattress. Pepper grew red, and scrambled for words.
"B-Blot!"
"You need to relax. Let me give you a back massage." he whispered gruffly, and she bit back a moan of compliance. He was completely right, she did need to relieve some of her stress.
Pepper gave him a curt nod, and his hand slithered downwards, over her yellow jumpsuit and uniform. His hand passed her belt, and took off her left boot with excruciating sloth. He worked on her other boot, and tossed it over his shoulder. He pulled her to her feet, and shut the blinds behind him.
He slowly slid her gloves off, and she felt the coolness of the air hit her bare feet and hands. That's when his hand slithered around her waist: one hand slowly trailed upwards, to the zipper of her jumpsuit. He looked at her for permission, and she nodded her head yes. He tugged it down, revealing her bra. She shimmied out of her sleeves, and let the jumpsuit fall, where it bunched up against her waist due her belt.
He looked at her helmet, but she shook her head no, as the wave resistant helmets were the only things keeping the Eggheads from falling into the C.I.L.E's trap.
"Get comfortable," he whispered, before disappearing into her bathroom.
Pepper blushed at what they were doing, but she felt extremely comfortable with him. She lied on her stomach, and waited for Blot to return. He returned with a bottle of essential oil. Pepper took the liberty of unclasping her bra herself, making him swallow hard. Nevertheless, he got to work by kneading his knuckles into her back and shoulders.
"Oh, right there," she moaned as he massaged her shoulder blades. He went up and down her back, getting out all the knots.
"Why are you so tense?" Blot asked, digging his knuckles into her lower back.
"I'm just anxious about what Heron's next move is," she breathed out, eyes closed.
"Do you have any clues on what she might do?" he asked, gently rubbing her back.
She sighed. "I don't know. But she's just as insane as she is intelligent. I'm sure whatever she plans is going to be… well something."
Pepper turned over, so that she was facing him. Blot stared back, and eventually found himself moving in for a kiss. Pepper kissed back without hesitation, and the friends found themselves in the process of becoming more than friends. His mask was halfway off, revealing his lips, but Pepper knew if he wanted this, he had to trust her with his true identity.
Blot impatiently unbuckled her belt, and threw it aside, tugged the remainder of the yellow jumpsuit down her legs, where she kicked it off of her ankles. She wore a lacy black bra and matching panties underneath, and he drooled at her figure. Before he could do anything, she placed two hands on his firm chest.
"What?" he asked breathlessly.
She cupped his cheek, tugging at the fabric of his mask. "When are you going to let me see you? You don't trust me?"
He hesitated. "I… I trust you with my life, Pepper," he said truthfully.
He slowly slid his mask off of his face, and Pepper's breath hitched: she was staring into the eyes of an incredibly handsome man—he had tousled jet black hair that was supposed to be slicked back, but wasn't anymore. He had grey irises, a heavy stubble, and a chiseled jaw. Blot looked away, like he was embarrassed, but she cupped his face and made him face her.
"If I knew this is what was hiding underneath that damn mask, I would've made a move years ago."
He blushed. "R-really?"
She scoffed. "Are you kidding? You're fucking hot!" she cried out loud, and he smirked.
"You're stunning too," he whispered, placing small kisses on her thigh, and she stifled a moan.
"T-then let's do this," she managed.
The Next Morning…
Pepper felt completely sated and satisfied as the morning sun hit her face: was this what Heron experienced every night with the red triplet? Shaking that out of her mind, Pepper cuddled up next to him, and his body melted into her embrace. He wrapped one arm around her figure, and pulled her in close.
"That was amazing… you're amazing." he puffed out, referring to last night.
She smiled. "Really?" she asked sweetly.
He pulled her in closer, gazing down at her. "God, Pep, I've been with so many… none of that could amount to what just happened." Pepper blushed, and he smiled at her abrupt cuteness. Realizing that she couldn't spend the day in bed, she groaned. He realized why she was upset, and chuckled. "We should probably get dressed, huh?"
Pepper giggled, and snuggled into his warm chest. "I really don't want to. But Heron's gonna kill me if I don't."
He smiled warmly. "Then we'll just have to do this another time, hmm?"
"Definitely," she agreed. "Now close your eyes." Pepper said as she disentangled from his embrace, reaching for her uniform.
"Huh?" Blot was confused. "Pep, in case you forgot, I've just seen you naked. Like, literally five minutes ago."
"But that was when we were in the moment. Right now we're just hanging out." she reasoned sassily.
"You're insane," Blot laughed, but closed his eyes as she got changed. His eyes snapped open once he heard the ear-splitting alarm that rang throughout the base.
INTRUDER ALERT!
Blot smiled lazily. "It appears the McDuck clan has found the C.I.L.E."
"Yes, they have," Pepper said grimly, peering into the small window that her room provided, where she indeed saw that members of the McDuck Clan attacked the guards guarding the C.I.L.E.
But that wasn't what scared her, she thought as her gaze drifted upward to Heron's chamber.
ooo
Sooooo, things took a turn. I was disappointed with the finale, and decided to give Huey and Webby my own F.O.W.L based ending.
—Jordan :)