Disclaimer: I do not own DarkWing Duck or any other Disney character.

If you haven't read "The Path Chosen", this story isn't going to make sense to you.

This fic derives directly from the original story. It's a look into one of the DarkWing realities that could have been. This is the story of the one called Tracker.

Tracker's Story Part 6

Though DarkWing Duck had been out on patrol that night, he had not been gone any longer than necessary. He'd returned home just before Midnight. Both Gosalyn and Morgana were asleep. He peeked in on Gosalyn spending her first night in her new room.

She was bundled up in an old quilt she'd dug out of the old hope chest in the hall closet. It smelled like cedar, but it was warm. Drake noted just how cold the room was, he could almost see his own breath, but they could have the furnace fixed after the holidayes. It wouldn't be intolerable until then, he decided. Though the troubled look on young Gosalyn's face said otherwise.

Well, Drake was sure all that would change Christmas morning, she had a wonderful surprise awaiting her. Drake was convinced, she'd be as excited about it as he was.

He closed the door to Gosalyn's room and headed for his own. Morgana was actually asleep this time. Drake changed his clothes and crawled into his side of the bed, quietly so not to wake his wife. Settling in for the night, he looked over at Morgana's face. It was said that expecting mothers had a glow to them. Indeed, his wife did have a radiant glow to her face.

Drake couldn't help but smile, wondering if anybody ever said the same thing about the father. He knew he felt a glow inside of him just thinking about the baby. He couldn't wait until it was born for he could hold it in his arms. He didn't care if it was a boy or girl as long as it was healthy. It would be happy, without a doubt, he'd make sure of that! Life seemed so wonderful right now......He drifted off to sleep with that thought.

"Dad! Dad!" Drake became aware of Gosalyn's voice ringing out. He tried to see where she was, why she was yelling with such alarm. He realized he was back in that

same dream. He was wearing his DarkWing costume, Gosalyn was with him. There was a large path branching off into several smaller ones... but something was wrong. He looked down at the walk under his feet. It was then that he realized he had walked onto one of the smaller paths. "Dad!" he heard Gosalyn's voice and felt something tugging at his cape. He looked back to see Gosalyn desperately holding onto the dark cape, yelling for him to stop. "Come back, you're going the wrong way!" she cried.

For some strange reason, he didn't feel compelled to listen to her. He glanced up at the hilltop the main path led to. The duck in the white and silver costume was still there. He was watching them with some apparent concern. He was shaking his headed

worriedly. Seeing the Duck in White's reaction to his wandering off the main path, DarkWing felt fear rise up inside of him. Maybe he shouldn't be on this path. He looked again at the colored stones under his feat. Dark Blue, all of them. Rather dull, really, and DarkWing thought them somewhat unattractive to the eye.

Well, he had only taken a small step onto a different path, surely no harm was done. He turned to step back on the main path with Gosalyn when he heard something in the distance. It was faint, but he could have sworn it was a baby's cry! It was coming from the path he now stood on. DarkWing looked down the blue stones path. He couldn't see anything, but... There it was again, the baby crying. It was his baby. It had to be his baby. Instinctively, he started to go in the direction of the crying.

"Dad NO!" Gosalyn cried out in panic pulling hard on her father's cape.

Turning sharply to the girl DarkWing hissed "Let GO! NOW!" The surprisingly harsh tone in her fathers voice made the child release her hold on his cape. Without giving her or the Duck in White a second thought, he turned back to the dark path and took another step..."

"Dark, Dark, wake up!" Morgana called from her side of the bed as she gently shook her sleeping husband.

"Wha ...what's wrong?" Drake asked opening his eyes to see his wifes worried face.

"You were dreaming." Morgana said softly. "and you sounded angry."

"Angry?" Drake asked sitting up, rubbing his eyes. His mind was still fuzzy.

"Yes, it sounded like you were yelling at somebody."

Drake now recalled the dream. "Ah yeah, just yelling at Gos!" he chuckled.

"In you're dreams too?" Morgana asked. Drake would have laughed at the remark but she sounded serious."

Smiling he leaned over and gave his wife a peck on the cheek. "What time is it?" he asked with a yawn.

"6:30. Not quite time to get up yet." she told him as she lay back down.

Drake lay back in bed as well. "Well, it's Christmas Eve, Morg. Our first together as a family." he said affectionately. He reached over and pated his wifes hand adding "And next year, we'll have to hang another stocking by the fireplace."

Morgana smiled at the thought. "That sounds wonderful. But we have this one to look forward to for now."

"Mmm," Drake uttered a muffled sound and lay his head back in his pillow "Christmas Eve, the craziest day of the year. We'd better get what rest we can. It's going to be a long day!"

Christmas eve came with an air of sorrow for Gosalyn whose first night in her new room was a restless one. It didn't help that she woke up to dingy walls, cramped quarters and the intense cold. Gosalyn bundled herself up in her Quilt. "I hope they have the decency to give me an electric blanket for Christmas!" Morgana had suggested that she leave her door open for the warmth could come in, but that meant giving up her privacy and she felt she'd given up enough as it was! She lay in the bed and shivered. As cold as she was, she wasn't in any hurry to get up and face her father. She was still upset with him for doing her so wrongly. "Can't he see he's being totally unfair!"

"Gosalyn breakfast!" Gosalyn heard Morgana call from the kitchen. "Since when does she fix breakfast." Gosalyn thought, still not in a hurry to get up.

"Gosalyn Breakfast, Now!" her fathers voice boomed from the kitchen. That was it, time to get up and face the drudgery of the day. Gosalyn prepared herself, making mental recollection of where she'd put her clothes the night before. "OK on a count of three, ....one, two ..three!" She threw off the warm quilt, bound out bed, grabbing her clothes from the floor and charged out the door into the well heated hall and then to the bathroom, to dress someplace warm.

She drug herself down the stairs knowing she'd get an ear-full from her father if she didn't get down to breakfast while it was still warm.

She entered the kitchen to find her father and stepmother already eating. Without a word, she climbed into the chair at the end of the table. She took a couple of waffles, though she wasn't too hungry. She hoped to eat quickly and get away from them before the subject of how did you sleep your first night in you new room, came up. unfortunately, that's the first thing Drake asked. "So how was the first night in your new room."

"Here we go," Gosalyn thought with much dread. She wasn't about to lie and say it was fine and she knew what would happen if she was honest. She shrugged, avoiding eye contact, hoping he wouldn't push the subject he did.

"So what's that suppose to mean?" he asked and awaited an answer. Gosalyn was convinced he was looking for an excuse to start yelling at her. She stared at her plate of waffles, she really didn't want them. Right now, she didn't want anything which gave her an idea. "My stomach hurts," she said feigning a tone of unwellness. She pushed the plate of Waffles away and slid slowly back out of the chair.

Drake looked at her with incredulity "What do you mean, your stomach hurts! It's Christmas Eve!" As if that fact alone made it impossible to be sick that day.

"Drake," Morgana cut in. She reached down and felt Gosalyn's forehead. "She's not warm. But she was outside all afternoon without a coat, yesterday."

"Oh great." was all Drake said.

Gosalyn was excused to go back to bed. Go back to bed! The room was freezing! But it was that or have to face the wrath of a displeased father when she finally told him what she really thought of that stupid room.

She crawled back under the quilt, keeping her clothes on for warmth. She cuddled herself up in the quilt and closed her eyes. This was going to be a very joyless Christmas, she could feel it.

To be continues....