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 Part8
Christmas Morning had been a disaster for Gosalyn. She now believed that her father had pushed her aside in favor of his unborn biological child. She knew he had been blindly unfair with her over the baby, but selling her stuff for the baby's things?! What was life going to be like for her once the baby was born?
Gosalyn lay on her bed in the cold little room, shivering under the covers. Why did all
this feel like a Cinderella story? Banished to the storage room by her wicked adopted father for his biological (yet to be born) sibling could be pampered in luxury. Gosalyn could almost picture herself being forced to do the baby's laundry and clean it's room. Her father insisting the whole time that it was some sort of bonding ritual!
Well maybe that was something of an exaggeration – she hoped. Strangely enough. In this Cinderella story the roll of the merciful Fairy God Mother was played by the Step Mother! Morgana really was trying to make things easier on Gosalyn. That was in part because Morgana knew Drake's personality so well. She had put up with his little tantrums in the past. She knew what Gosalyn went through with her father.
Gosalyn pulled the quilt completely over her head and tried to shut out all the pain. She allowed her thoughts to drift back to the events of the day before, when she was alone on Christmas Eve. What she had witnessed in her own home. Those apparitions or what ever they were, had they been real? Perhaps she had imagined it all. She could have still been dreaming. The Duck at the top of the stairs was the same one from her dreams. There had been something familiar about him ..if she could just put her finger on it. The costume he wore. It did resemble her dads ...but yet it was different, like ...Dark Warrior's! He looked like Dark Warrior! Well, the negative version anyway. The costume was different colors, there were no spiked shoulder pads yet, there was a strong resemblance right down to the fedora! Maybe it was his ghost!
OK, now Gosalyn had succeeded in scaring herself. She tried to push the ghost theory out of her mind. Dark Warrior was the future version of her dad, who was very much alive! In this time anyway. Could ghost travel back in time! Gosalyn huddled further into her quilt, wrapping herself tightly in it. She closed her eyes, trying to have some pleasant thoughts, it was Christmas after all. There had to be something good she could think about.
She tried to think about the Christmas the year before, when her dad lay near death in the hospital. The miracle that had happened then had been a true Christmas Miracle. Not only did her father live, but things had changed for him. He had gained the respect of St. Canard citizens. His ego had actually deflated a lot (but not entirely) since that day. Things had been so good. Gosalyn thought things could only get better in their lives. Her father and Morgana were married. Gosalyn was willing to share her dad with Morgana if that's what made him happy. She and Morgana had gotten along very well. They had all spent time together as a family. So what happened? What went wrong? They were having a real kid that's what happened.
Gosalyn felt a tear roll down her soft feathered cheek before falling to sleep and entering yet another dream.
Gosalyn found herself on that same path. The mixed colored rocks under her feet. She stood at the edge where that path ended and another path began. The other path was smaller and more narrow than the main path. She looked ahead of her, down the path, and up the hill where it led. Somebody was coming over the hill. Was it the Duck in White?
No, it was that teenage girl again, the one in the Robin Hood type costume. She walked tot he top of the hill, she looked at Gosalyn, her eyes seemed so sad. The girl dropped her head woefully and turned and descended back down the hillside, out of sight.
Gosalyn felt sorry for her, she seemed so sad and lonely. Where was the Duck in White? Why wasn't he with her? Why wasn't he standing on the top of the hill anymore? Gosalyn looked down at the small path that lay before her. She wasn't sure she wanted to follow it, it seemed do solitary and empty. She took a step back...
Gosalyn awoke from the dream feeling very lonely all of the sudden. Wrapping the quilt around herself, she climbed out of bed and went to the little window to look out. Other kids were outside playing with the toys they'd gotten for Christmas. Even so, the skies were dark and dingy with the gray clouds that hung low over the entire city. Everything around seemed so barren and empty. If it had at least snowed. The soft white snow would have brightened the gloomy surroundings. Gosalyn stared out at the dismal view and wondered if she would ever see the sunshine again.
The day after Christmas, Drake and Morgana had gone down town to get the baby's furniture. Gosalyn had flat out refused to go. She wasn't trying to be a brat about everything the way Drake thought, it just hurt so much to have to give up everything for the baby. Why couldn't her dad see what he was doing to her, why?
Days passed, the holidays ended. Drake had called somebody to come out and look at the furnace as he said he would. However, upon hearing the estimate of how much it would cost to get the heat going in the room, he flat out refused to pay for it. He decided
it wouldn't hurt Gosalyn one bit to leave her door open and allow the heat from the hallway to warm the little room. She was cutting herself off from the family too much as it was, he rationalized. It would be a good idea for her door to stay open, at least that way they would be able to look in on her from time to time.
Of course Gosalyn wasn't giving up what privacy she had. So she opted to keep the door shut when she was inside and tough it out in the cold until spring. Graciously, Morgana had gone out and bought her an electric blanket. She'd even threatened to turned Drake into a Coconut Cream Pie, and invite the Muddlefoots over for dinner, if he said one word to the girl about the blanket. Gosalyn had heard the threat and almost hoped her dad did say something to her in front of his wife! No such luck.
Months passed. The snows fell and melted away. Spring arrived and with it the warm and pleasant weather. The gray clouds were swept away for blue skies and sunshine. The grass and leaves grew anew. Things became lush and green again. The air smelled fresh. It would have been nice if Gosalyn stupid little window opened for she could let some of the fresh air in.
The spring season passed into summer. School let out for vacation. Gosalyn and her father had drifted apart in the months gone by. Gosalyn had made a point of staying away from the house as much as possible. She went with her friends to the movies, the park or where ever she could go to get away from the house. She'd asked to go away to camp, she hated camp, but she also hated that dinky little room. Drake said no, the baby was to be born soon and Gosalyn was to be there for the occasion, like it or not.
Drake himself had had a rough time. Those strange experiences and dreams had continued erratically. In some ways they'd gotten worse! He was having visions of the Duck in White now in broad daylight while he was wide awake. And SHUSH kept him updated on the Time Continuum disturbance. The tear in the Time ans Space continuum was still growing. Dr. Bellum was still convinced that the whole thing circled around DarkWing. She continued to press him about any unusual occurrences in his life. He denied anything happening out of the usual. A bold faced lie, of course. But he was scare to admit to what was happening. He was scared of what the alternate reality might have been. If it meant he and Morgana were never married or that the baby wasn't suppose to be. That was it. The whole thing seemed to start falling apart when they discovered tat they were going to have a baby.
Gosalyn had been shooting hoops the better part of the Friday afternoon in Mid June. Coming home, she found the car gone. Good, she wouldn't have to listen to her father going on about the baby. She went into the kitchen for a snack and found a note on the refrigerator.
"Gos, Took Morgana to the hospital – the baby's coming!
Love; Dad"
As Gosalyn read the note, she felt a knot in her stomach. Her life was about to change forever, and not for the better.
In the hospital...
Drake was pacing nervously up and down the waiting room floor. What was taking so long! Was anything wrong?! They'd tell him if anything was wrong wouldn't they? They'd have to, it was the law! At least, Drake thought it was the Law. He wrung his hands together anxiously. He would have been allowed in the delivery room with Morgana of course, but she insisted that that would make her too nervous!
A nurse stepped out of the delivery room "Mr. Mallard?" she called calmly and motioned for him to come in. Drake walked into the room, more anxious than ever. His wife was lying in bed holding a small bundle in her arms, Doctor and nurses standing around her.
Drake stepped over to Morgana's side. She looked up at him with tired eyes and a big grin. "Drake Mallard, meet your new son," she said softly. Drake looked down at the face of his new born child. The baby had his soft white feathers and his beak (sorry to say) but he had his mothers pale green eyes. "My son. It's a boy ..It's a boy," Drake said almost to himself. He looked at the little miracle that was a part of him. He couldn't put in to words what he was feeling. He'd never felt that way before. He'd never been so proud in all his life. Then he said as if for the first time "I'm a father. I'm really a father!" At that moment,
he had another experience. This time, the setting was all the same, but Gosalyn was standing on the other side of the bed looking on, smiling. She looked at him "Awful tiny ain't he?" she said with a laugh, then she was gone.
Drake blinked. He glanced around the room for his daughter, she wasn't there. It had been one of those anomalies, as Dr. Bellum had called them. Anomalies, more like hauntings. The fact that he'd had another experience just after the baby was born only strengthened his fears. The birth of his son was tied into the whole Time-Continuum-Alteration thing. Well if setting the Time and Space Continuum back in sync meant not having this child, it could just stay out of sync!
Morgana and the baby were allowed to go home the next day with strict orders that the new mother was to stay off her feet for awhile. There was quite a reception at the Mallards home when Drake arrived with his wife and new born son.
LaunchPad, the Muddlefoots, and much to drake chagrin, Morgana's family.
Gosalyn had stayed in her room the entire time. She felt as if she'd been forgotten by everybody now, even Honker, who was waiting with his parents to see the baby.
She could hear the excited voices as Drake and Morgana came in with heir new born child. She heard Drake say quite proudly "His name is Derek, after Derek Blunt the famous SHUSH agent."
"Oh isn't that clever," came Binky's ever perky voice.
"He does favor my daughter, doesn't he." That was Maloculo voice. Which spurred a rebuttal from Drake of course.
She lay on her bed feeling sorry for herself and hoping at this point that they had forgotten her. No such luck "Gosalyn!" Drakes voice boomed from the entrance hall. Gosalyn didn't respond, she lay quietly hoping he wouldn't call her again. A few seconds passed "Gosalyn!" this time there was a trace of annoyance to his voice. With great dread, Gosalyn got up and walked out of her room. Her feet felt like they were caked in cement as she walked ever so slowly down the stairs. Everybody was standing around, making a fuss over the new born Morgana was cradling so lovingly in her arms. Drake was standing next to his wife when he saw Gosalyn coming down the stairs. "Gosalyn, come see your new baby brother."
Everybody turned to look at her. All of them wearing stupid grins on their faces as if she was suppose to be so happy about the baby. Gosalyn doddered up to Morgana and Drake. Morgana leaned down and introduced Gosalyn to her new brother. Gosalyn looked at the baby and instantly hated him! Her feeling must have shown by the expressions on the faces of the people around her. Before anybody could say anything to her she turned and headed back up the stairs without saying a word.
Drake watched her as she went. He wasn't pleased by her reaction to the baby at all.
"All children are jealous at first," Binky offered. "it's just natural. Why I remember Tank was so jealous when Honker was born, he tried to sell our little Honker to the Gypsies."
Drake didn't even hear her. It was happening again. Anomalies, hauntings – whatever they were called. He suddenly saw an apparition of a teenage girl dressed in a Medieval costume standing at the top of the staircase, staring at him accusingly. Her face was veiled in a dark mask, but he could still see the tears in her eyes. Then she turned and vanished.
Morgana saw her husband staring up towards the top of the stares, looking as if he'd seen a ghost or something close to it. She very politely asked if everybody could come back another time saying she and the baby needed to rest.
When everybody had gone, she looked at Drake with concern. "You had another one of those anomalies didn't you?"
"Yeah, I did. I had one in the hospital too." Drake admitted as they put the baby down for it's nap. He put an arm around Morgana as they watched their new born son sleeping. They both stood looking at little Derek with wonder. "Don't worry Morg. Nothing is going to happen to this family, I promise."
At SHUSH Headquarters.
J. Gander entered the Lab where Dr. Bellum was looking at the computer screen. "Why did you send for me Dr Bellum?"
"Take a look." Sara Bellum said motioning to the monitor screen. The spectral light pattern representing the Time and Space Continuum was changing color, growing darker. The tear in the fabric of time covered about 50 percent of the pattern now.
"Oh Dear, is there any way of mending this rent in Time?" J. Gander asked.
"I don't know. If we had been able to repair it when we first discovered it about 9 months ago, maybe." She drew a deep breath knowing that DarkWing had not paid heed to her warnings about finding the cause of the rift in his life. "Well, DarkWing Duck, what ever befalls you now, you have nobody to blame but yourself."
To be concluded...
