Darkwing Duck is copyright The Walt Disney Company. This story is not meant to infringe on the copyrights held by Disney.
"Gosalyn!"
Drake Mallard sat straight up in bed, sweat dripping down his face. This was the sixth night in a row he'd had the nightmare of Taurus Bulba dropping Drake's adopted daughter to her death
In reality, Gosalyn hadn't died, of course; she had been saved by his sidekick, Launchpad McQuack. But Gosalyn wasn't the sort to play the protected observer; she was bound to get into the middle of any confrontation he, in his secret identity of Darkwing Duck, had. Somehow, in the week during which he had planned Gosalyn's adoption he had forgotten that; since the adoption he had been reminded nightly of Gosalyn's propensity for getting into troubleand of the near-consequences.
He didn't want Gosalyn to change, though life would have been immeasurably simpler if she were a "proper" little girl. She was enough like him to be his daughter in fact as well as in name. Undoubtedly, that was how she'd managed to get so much closer to him than anyone else in years.
But she was still only a child.
Drake wiped a hand over his face. There were so many things he simply hadn't thought of when he had been inspired to adopt Gosalyn: he had seen only a child whom he had come to love in need of a family, and that had seemed enough. Drake sighed with a mixture of fear and guilt. Gosalyn needed a parent, true, but did she need him, someone who was almost certain to put her in constant danger? Someone who lived a double life? Someone with a better-than-average chance of getting killed and leaving her alone again?
Had he, in fact, done her a disservice by adopting her?
Hours later, sunrise found him no closer to answers than previous sunrises had. He dragged himself downstairs and started breakfast, barely responding to Gosalyn's exuberant arrival and greeting.
Gosalyn cocked her head. "What's wrong, Darkwing?" When Drake didn't answer, she frowned and continued, "Aren't you even going to lecture me about protecting your secret identity?"
"Not this morning, Gos," Drake replied quietly. He patted Gosalyn on the head and deposited a plate of eggs and toast on the table.
"What's wrong, Dad?"
"Gosalyn," Drake began, and paused. "Honey, I've been thinking that maybe this adoption thing isn't such a great idea."
She froze. "Don't you...want me?"
"Oh sweetie, of course I do. But my life as Darkwing Duck is very dangerous. I just don't want you getting hurt as a result of my secret identity."
Gosalyn picked up her fork. "Oh, that. You're Darkwing Duck. You won't let anything happen to me."
"I can't guarantee that. Youyou'd be safer with another family. A real family."
The fork hit the table without touching the food. "You're going to send me back to the orphanage," Gosalyn accused.
"Someone else will..."
"If someone like you doesn't want me around, who will?" Gosalyn shouted, jumping up from her chair. She ran past a startled Launchpad and through the kitchen door; Drake followed in time to see her vanish up the stairs.
"What's with Gosalyn?" Launchpad asked.
"I just did something really stupid," Drake said, slowly thumping his forehead against the doorframe. "I told her I didn't think the adoption was a good idea, that she'd be safer with another family."
He began to pace around the kitchen. "It's true, you know. What kind of life can I give her? A masked crimefighter. Hah! What kind of job is that for a parent? What happens if I get killed? I could get her killed; you know she won't stay out of trouble. If she got caught in a crossfire..." His voice broke; he leaned his hands on the table and, head bowed, whispered, "If she got caught in a crossfire, I don't know what I'd do."
"Slow down, DW," Launchpad said. "You're so busy worrying about what could go wrong that you aren't thinking straight."
"I wasn't thinking straight when I got Gosalyn involved with me," Drake sighed.
"Slow down," Launchpad repeated. "First of all, there's no guarantee that someone else will adopt Gosalyn. You don't want her to grow up in an orphanage, do you?"
"No, but..."
"Secondly," Launchpad continued, ignoring him, "you said yourself that she won't stay out of trouble. She was in trouble when you first met her! Isn't it better if you're around to keep an eye on her?"
"Well, yes, but..."
"Finally, if you get killed it's going to hurt Gos whether she's living here or not, but at least if she's here...well, she'll have had some time with a family that loves her, and I'll be here for her."
Drake looked up, anxious and hopeful. "Do you really think I'm doing what's best for her? That I'm not just being selfish?"
"DW, I really believe everything I said. Especially the part about Gos being hurt if you go get yourself killed." Launchpad scratched his head thoughtfully. "Unless she hates you now."
"Launchpad, why didn't you tell me this before?"
"Because I didn't think you were stupid enough to actually" Launchpad began, but Drake was already dashing up the stairs.
"Gosalyn!" Drake pounded on her closed bedroom door. "Gosalyn, sweetie, open the door. We need to talk. Gosalyn!" He opened the door and poked his head into the room. "Gosalyn?"
The first thing he noticed was the sheets tied together and hanging out the window.
"Oh great. I knew I shouldn't have let her watch that jailbreak movie," Drake muttered, then saw the shattered piggy bank on the dresser. He dashed to the window, but Gosalyn was nowhere in sight.
"She can't have gone far; she only ran up here a little while ago," Drake said to himself. He swung out the window and slid down the makeshift rope.
His intense gaze quickly spotted Gosalyn's footprints in the flowerbed, and he ran to the corner of the house. A hasty search revealed that Gosalyn hadn't ducked into the backyard; Drake ran to the sidewalk and looked up and down the street. When there was still no sign of Gosalyn he dashed back into the house.
"Launchpad! Gosalyn's run away!" Drake shouted as he entered the kitchen.
"Whoa, she moves fast!" Launchpad scooped the last forkful of Gosalyn's eggs into his mouth. "Okay, DW, I'm right behind you."
The pair split up outside, goingdown the street in opposite directions.
Drake moved at a quick jog, almost a run; his eyes scanned each cross-street while he listened for Launchpad to call out that he'd found Gosalyn.
How could she get so far so fast? he wondered. Unless...
Unless she hadn't.
He stopped and considered. Gos was clever enough -- and certainly fast enough -- to have set up her room, slipped back inside, and used the secret passage to Darkwing Tower.
That little brat's trying to manipulate me!
Drake charged back into the house, dove into the chair, and smacked the trigger. When he reached Darkwing Tower he ran up the stairs, prepared to yell at Gosalyn as soon as he found her. What he wasn't prepared for as he emerged onto the outer tower ledge was the sight of Gosalyn perched on the edge, crying. The lecture flew out of his head, and he gently placed his hands on her shoulders.
"You had me worried," he said softly.
Gosalyn wiped her eyes. "I didn't think you'd figure out where I was so fast. I thought I'd have time to leave."
"Don't go," Drake said, still softly. He shifted so he was sitting beside Gosalyn with his arm wrapped around her. "Gos, I was wrong before. It's just that..." He took a deep breath. "Gosalyn, I'm scared to death something will happen to you because I'm Darkwing Duck. I...don't know if I could live with that."
"You haven't let me down so far."
"Yes I have. If it weren't for Launchpad..."
"I'd be street pizza," Gosalyn finished matter-of-factly, looking up at him. "But that's only because Taurus Bulba was after me in the first place. To everyone else, I'm just another kid."
"You'll never be 'just another kid', honey." Drake tightened his hold into an embrace. "I love you, Gosalyn."
Gosalyn returned the hug, a rare display for an image-conscious nine-year-old. "I love you too, Dad."
--END--