Hello, Themusicmaniac here!

I, like many of the characters here, am exhausted.

But, we shall keep moving forward!

SciFiGirl253: Val definitely needs a break. Unfortunately, she still has quite a bit ahead of her before she's going to get it. Thanks, and stay dangerous!

Guest: Ngl, your pun made me laugh:) Thanks for the pick-me-up!

So, even when I've had a tiring night/week, I'm going to keep moving on and pick myself up. That's definitely what Darkwing would do. Keep going until things turn around for the better. Persevere.

Hope you all have a great week this week, drink water, make sure to take care of yourself this week, even if it means taking a break, and keep moving forward. Enjoy!

We pulled into the tower, wet and exhausted.

Well, at least Darkwing, Launchpad, and I were. Gosalyn was excited.

"Whoo! We're getting close, I can feel it!" She exclaimed as Darkwing and I hopped off the motorcycle.

"I need a nap." I yawned, wiping the water off my face.

"I thought being repeatedly slapped in the face by a giant water fist would be more refreshing." He said, trying to wring his hat out before taking a step and falling on his face.

I helped him back up, as he said, "You three get some rest, I have some… things to take care of."

"You mean 'Okay everyone change your clothes, because we're going back out there!" Gosalyn said, jumping off the motorcycle and running through the hideout.

"You guys have other clothes?" I looked at Launchpad in horror.

"I thought you were the mom friend."

"The mom… what?"

"I'll tell you later, just…" I stared at him, "We need to get you more clothes."

"Okay, Why?" Launchpad asked.

"Because we clean them."

"You clean your clothes?"

"Well… usually." I replied. "I haven't really been able to because I've been on the run from villains and stuff but, yeah, I do."

"Oh. I guess we'll both have to clean our clothes after this."

"Yeah, we will." I said, turning towards the couches. I started to walk over, as Gos wandered up by WANDA, and a video of Fenton appeared on the screen.

"Hey! Is… this a bad time?" He asked, unsure.

"One sec!" Darkwing held a finger up to him. "Young Lady." He addressed Gosalyn.

"Young Lady?" Gosalyn asked in disgust.

"If you're fighting crime under my roof and using my smoke bombs, you will play by my rules. And if you won't listen, you are staying here until this is all over!" Darkwing swiped a smoke bomb from her, and stepped forwards as he made his ultimatum.

"You can't make me. You're not my family!" Gosalyn ran up the loft, as Darkwing sat at the desk and sighed in frustration. Launchpad and I looked at each other, and looked at each of the others. We knew what we needed to do.

I walked up to Darkwing as Launchpad walked up to Gosalyn.

"Hi Fenton, can we just have a sec?"

"Oh, uh, sure." He said, logging off for a second. DW looked up at me.

"What?"

"Darkwing, I see that you're doing everything you can for her, for me, but…" I paused, sighing "You've got to give Gosalyn some time to adjust. Heck, I still need some time to adjust. We've been separated from our families, and hunted down by villians for the last two weeks."

"Yeah, but… the whole city is overrun and I don't know what to do. I keep getting back up again, but at the end of the day, I'm just… me."

"And that's all you need to be. The old Darkwing never had superpowers. He fought villains with his wit and his own strength. And right now, you're Darkwing Duck. Step into his shoes and fight. If not for anyone else, for Gos." I said, looking back up at her and Launchpad, who were sitting in silence.

"Launchpad wants us to be an adventure family, and that may happen someday. Or it may never happen. We just don't know. But, what I do know is that you want to protect Gosalyn, while she has amazing strength all her own. You should treat her as an equal, rather than a father."

Darkwing sat in silence for a little bit.

"It must be hard for you too." He said, looking downward.

"Well...I haven't had too much time to think about family, considering I've had to learn how to be a duck, have been kidnapped twice and hunted down multiple times in the short time I've been in this dimension, but… yeah. I'm sure it'll hit me sooner or later."

"Well, when it does… let me know." He looked back up at me, "If you need to talk, you can trust me."

"Thanks, I'll...consider it." I said, looking at the screen in front of us. "You should probably call Fenton. I've got someone I need to talk to." I looked up at Gosalyn, before looking back down at him.

"Yeah…" He said, staring at some distant object.

"DW?" I asked, waving my hand in front of his face. "Darkwing?" I snapped in front of his face and he startled a bit.

"What was that for?"

"You were falling asleep. Speaking of which, when was the last time you slept?"

"Ee...ays...o..." He mumbled.

"When?" I asked again.

"Three days… ago."

"Oh my gosh! Do you know what that does to your health?" I nearly yelled. "You need to sleep. Now."

"I need to call Fenton first." He pressed a button and dialed Fenton's number. "Then I'll sleep."

"Promise?" I asked, as he yawned.

"Promise. You should go to bed too."

"I will." I climbed up to the ladder, and as I did I saw Launchpad glance at me. I let my eyes move to Gos as he nodded and said,

"I'm gonna… make a burrito. You want anything?"

"No thanks." Gosalyn said, as she looked out to the city.

Gos watched as he left and I sat where he was a few minutes earlier.

"Hey." I said, as she watched the city.

"Am I the "problem child" tonight?"

"Who said you were the problem child?" I asked as she shrugged.

"Both of you are coming to talk to me, I assume it's because I'm being unsafe or something. You all are acting like parents and it's really…"

"Overbearing?"

"Annoying! I just want to save grandpa and be a normal kid again." Gos put her legs to her chest, and looked away as I scrambled for what to say.

I looked out at the city and sighed. "That-" I sighed, "That isn't what I wanted to talk about Gos. I understand that we talk about family, but we don't want to replace the one you've lost. Or the one I've lost. Family can be people we choose as well as those we are given."

She was silent for a while after that. "I just don't want to forget about Grandpa by getting wrapped up in a new family. He's too important to me. It would be like betraying him or something."

"And you won't. That wasn't Launchpad or Darkwing's intent. They just love hanging out with you and we all want you to be safe. Speaking of which…"

"Speaking of what?" Gosalyn looked at me with an eyebrow raised.

"I know you were hurt by the comment I made before we fought Liquidator. I wanted to apologize for being so negative about your plan."

"Well, you were right. It failed." She looked down at her knees again, and played with the zipper on her jacket.

"But maybe if I'd had a more positive mindset about it, we could have succeeded. Or at least gone into it with more confidence. I could have added to your plan to make it more sound instead of putting it down like that. I'm sorry."

Gos looked away for a little while, and I wasn't sure she was going to say anything else.

"I.. guess I'm gonna get some rest. Goodnight." I stood up, and took a step before I felt arms come around me from behind.

"I forgive you, Val."

Tears formed in my eyes, and I turned around to hug her.

"Are you crying?" she asked, as I pulled away and wiped my eyes with my sleeve.

"Nope! No. That was… Launchpad. Yep. Launchpad was definitely crying."

"I was what now?" Launchpad was standing a few feet away from us, carrying a few burritos.

"Uh..." I said as he walked over.

"I figured you'd want a burrito."

"Even though I said no?" Gosalyn asked as I giggled.

"A "no" after an adventure like that is always a "yes." Like Mr. McDee always says, 'An adventurer must always be prepared to face every challenge. Especially hunger.'"

"Really?" I asked as he handed me a burrito.

"Besides, DW really needs some food too. I thought I'd just make dinner for all of us." We all nodded, as I walked towards the ladder.

"Thank you, Launchpad. I need to go get some rest, so… I'll be on the couch if anyone needs me." I climbed down, walked to the couches, and finished up the burrito. After putting the wrapper in the trash and washing my hands I sat back down and snuggled up one side of the couch, resting my head against the armrest. I closed my eyes. I hadn't really thought much about home since I left. I hadn't really had the time. But I know that I will if I can't get back to my own dimension. I missed my family. I missed my friends. I missed my classes.

"By my calculations, Bulba can only use the Ramrod one more time." My eyes snapped back open. What?

"Then we'll just have to be there when he does to find Dr. Waddlemeyer and get Valerie home."

"Except, you don't know either the dimension he is in, or the one that Valerie belongs to. There may not be time to search for both. The longer the Ramrod is on, the more unstable reality gets. There's no safe way to find Dr. Waddlemeyer, or Valerie's home dimension."

This… this can't be happening.

"That's unacceptable, I can't accept that." Darkwing slid his hand down his face and made a fist on the computer console.

"Sorry, but that's the reality." My vision grew blurry as I turned towards the couch cushions. I never considered that the Ramrod's instability may prevent me from getting home all together. I...I might be stuck here forever.

"I can't let them down." His face slammed on the computer keyboard as he nearly fell asleep and started with a "I'm awake! And ever… vigilant."

"Yeah, I know." I heard Gos' voice say softly from across the room. "I was just gonna get some rest, and I thought you could use some too."

I heard footsteps and felt the other side of the couch sag. I groaned in protest, but knew that the only other space for sleep was the armchair. I curled up tighter in my corner of the couch.

After some shifting around, I was going to go back to my previous chain of thought, but I heard Gosalyn humming something familiar.

"Hmm hm hmm hm hm hm hmm…" It was the song.

That song.

The song that Darkwing sang with Gosalyn when they first met. I felt a tear leave my eye, as I tried to remain calm. I was emotionally overwhelmed… yeah that was it. I heard Launchpad crying from the other side of the hideout, too, so it wasn't just me.

Come to think of it, the two that were sleeping beside me were a lot different than I thought they would be. A near teenager and a washed up actor fighting crime. I almost chuckled to myself about the many changes I've seen. Yet despite those changes, there was still that same sweetness to their relationship that the duo from my dimension had. I started to sing the song in my own head.

Close your eyes, little girl blue,

Inside of you lies a rainbow.

Yellow blue red blue purple too

Blue purple and green and the yellow.

Rest your head, little girl blue

Come paint all your dreams on your pillow.

I'll be here to chase away fear,

so sleep now and dream til tomorrow.

I'll be near to chase away fear,

So sleep now and dream til tomorrow.

Seems that now they chase away each other's fears.

And I personally think it's better that way. I yawned, as I tried once again to embrace the sweet sleep that I truly needed.

THIS. CHAPTER.

It's one of my favorites.

So much family love, so much cute stuff! Every time I read it I feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Thank you so much for your continuing support. I love seeing each and every one of your reviews, follows, and favorites.

See ya next week!