Chapter 14: Adult Fear
Children fear the unknown. They're afraid of the monsters they can't see lurking under their beds or in their closets. They're afraid of going to school and being away from their families, fearing that they won't be waiting for them in a few hours at pick-up. They're afraid of the bottoms of swimming pools and bathtubs, for fear of sharks and other nasty sea creatures reaching out from the depths. But as children grow these irrational fears gradually subside and are replaced with much more real terrors.
Adults, well, we fear the known. Adults fear for their job security and bank balances, few things can horrify more than paycheck that's a few days late or a large unexpected expense. Adults fear for the safety of others and the world at large. We understand the horrors of war and violence, and fear for the safety of our communities and nations.
Parents have an additional set of fears-mostly to do with their offspring and the very real dangers they know exist in the world. Fear of a child becoming ill or injured. Fear of losing a child. Fear of a child's untimely death. These are ever present terrors that all parents feel, whether consciously or subconsciously.
For Drake and Fenton, fear was a large part of their existence. Being superheroes didn't lend the safety or security of their day jobs, and they knew well the risk of their own death or injury at the hands of one of the foes they faced. And while they rarely addressed it, aside from a single manila envelope with some carefully worded documents stored in a safety deposit box, there was a fear of what would happen to Gos if somehow both of them ended up getting taken out of the picture at the same time. Rarely though did they fear for Gos' safety. After all, she's a strong kid, and she's not doing any of the hero business until she's an adult. There's no reason for anyone to think she's anything but a normal kid.
Unfortunately, that changed in an instant.
"What do you mean she never showed up for practice?!" Drake shouted as Fenton tried to restrain his fiancée from leaping on the coach and grabbing her shoulders.
Coach Lacha took a step back, "She never showed up. I figured she was doing something with one of you-given how you sometimes hold her after school for a few minutes and she'll show up a bit late. I thought today you needed her the whole time today, y'know since the spring play is next weekend, so I didn't think anything of it."
Drake was nearly hyperventilating at this point. Fenton tried to remain level-headed, despite the numbness starting to spread throughout his body. "No, she wasn't with us. You're sure she never showed up?"
"No, I always check the roster when we do drills. She wasn't here."
Drake locked eyes with Fenton, his breathing getting increasingly ragged as he heard the conversation continue. His vision starting to blur as he heard Fenton continue talking with the coach, but the words were slurring together as his mind struggled to process the fact that his daughter was currently MIA. "Woah! Hey!" Fenton grabbed Drake as he started to lean and quickly produced a paper bag from his backpack-Gracias a Dios siempre guardo cosas aquí-and had him calm his breathing, leaning against the wall of the stadium as he counted. "Drake, in, two, three, four. Hold. Now out, two, three, four…" After a minute he was mostly back to normal, aside from being a few shades lighter than normal.
The two men stood alone, the warm spring breeze and beaming sun a sharp contrast to the rising feeling of panic both were experiencing. Fenton held Drake's hand, helping him back to his feet. "Let's call her. Maybe something came up with Honker and she ditched to do something with him?"
Drake nodded, It's possible, she's ditched before for other things… but she always calls first… He quickly tapped her in his favorites and heard the phone dialing. As he did so a phone started ringing in the distance. Drake's stomach immediately tightened. He and Fenton ran toward the ringing. It was coming from a bush.
No, no, no... Esto no puede estar pasando. Fenton pushed aside a few branches to reveal Gos' backpack and lacrosse bag discarded in the boxwood. There were a few loose feathers also, but most worryingly there was something else splattered across the once pink backpack. "Is that blood?"
Before he could do anything else Drake doubled over and vomited on the grass, the contents of his stomach apparently too much for his body to handle in his current state. Fenton was still, the numbness from earlier quickly spreading to his extremities locking him in place. As he stood he could feel himself shaking, but he couldn't stop it. Drake wiped his mouth of the bile and slowly got back to full height. As he did a frightening look settled on his face. He placed his hand on Fenton's shaking shoulder and tasted the sour acid in his mouth. He spat on the ground and glared at the bush. "Alright Fen, we're finding the motherfucker who did this and burying them."
After Fenton stopped shaking he agreed. He and Drake were going to obliterate the bastard who did this to Gos. While he wasn't her legal guardian, the two had managed to bond over the last few months, and even if they hadn't, no one was going to get away with kidnapping and potentially injuring his fiancée's daughter. Quien haya hecho esto va a morir de una muerte muy lenta y dolorosa.
***DT***
The police had been called as soon as they'd found the bag and soon afterward a search was started. Unfortunately, the security cameras on campus hadn't been particularly useful. They showed most of the route Gos had taken from the back doors of the school toward the stadium, but the bush where her bag was found was in a blind spot-it was too far from either the stadium or the school to have a camera in the area. Drake cursed and nearly punched through a wall in the security office, leaving a sizable dent in the drywall. It was at that point that the police had politely escorted him to his vehicle and made sure Fenton drove him home safely.
The next six hours were the worst of Drake and Fenton's lives. As soon as they'd gotten home they'd started a patrol of the area around the school, but they found nothing. No one had seen anything, there was no physical evidence, and even their usual contacts had no leads. Come on Connie, this is my kid we're talking about here! You've gotta know something! For six hours they had nothing to go on. It was 11:38 when they finally got something.
Fenton's phone rang. It was M'ma. They'd informed her and the McDuck family shortly after they'd gotten home from the school, hoping that maybe one of them would have some luck at tracking down some information or clue on what to do.
"Hola M'ma. Please tell me you have something." Fenton looked over at Drake, who was curled up on the couch. His chin was tucked into his chest as he silently sobbed the few remaining ounces of water he'd managed to keep down, his expression vacant as he stared into space.
"Si pollito, I do. Can you put me on speaker so Drake can hear too?"
Fenton complied and sat next to Drake. "Drake, M'ma says she has some information." Drake's gaze immediately snapped to the phone.
"Did you find her? Please tell me you found her!" He pleaded into the phone, rubbing away the tears and mucous from his face and beak.
"I'm sorry Drake, we haven't found her, but we did get a lead."
"Well, out with it woman! What is it?!" Drake shouted.
M'ma chose to ignore the outburst, knowing the pain that Drake was going through, "We got some security footage from a deli near the school. From what we can tell it shows Gosalyn being carried by a large rooster with a metal beak. She wasn't struggling, but we know that she was alive-her chest was rising and falling when he put her in his vehicle. He disappeared into a black car with spoofed plates. Right now we have an APB on the vehicle and have added it to the Amber Alert."
Fenton's numbness returned. "Did you say a rooster with a metal beak?"
"Yes, you'd figure someone would've reported it, but apparently that kind of thing isn't too uncommon in St. Canard." She commented, knowing well the large number of villains and crooks that had odd affectations in the city.
"M'ma, that's Steelbeak! He's one of our sworn enemies. He was part of FOWL!" Fenton trembled at the realization.
Drake was freaking out. "I thought he was either dead or done for as a result of FOWL collapsing! How the fuck did he find Gos?!" He leapt from the couch and started pacing the apartment, "I mean, he normally isn't nearly smart enough to determine a camera's blind spot, let alone figure out the timing to successfully capture Gos while she had been on school property… How did this happen?!"
Fenton grabbed Drake's arm as he passed the sofa, his own numbness causing it to feel like dozens of small needles were jabbing him as he forced himself to move. "I don't know, but we'll figure it out. We've beat him before. We can do it again." Fenton nodded, clenching his free fist. He whispered, "And when we do we're going to make sure he drowns in his own blood when we're done with him, El bastardo gallo."
After a moment of silence had passed M'ma spoke again, concern evident in her tone, "Boys, please get some rest. I know you save people, but right now you both need to take a break. We'll be working here all night to try and find her, and I will personally call you if we find out anything else."
"Si, M'ma. We'll try."
"Good. I'm sorry pollito. I'm sorry Drake. I promise you I will make sure we are doing everything we can to find her."
***DT***
"Wakey, wakey, brat! You've been out long enough."
Gosalyn felt the place she was lying in violently shift to the side, causing her to slide into something hard. The impact of metal against her back was enough to jolt her awake.
"Wha- where…" She blinked her eyes, they were blurry. What happened? I was at school on the way to lacrosse, and now I'm here? After a moment of rubbing them she'd managed to get them almost as focused as normal. When she did she immediately yelped, despite herself. She's being held in a cage suspended over a large vat of something bubbling menacingly and on a catwalk a few feet away is a face she thought she'd never have to deal with again. "Steelbeak?"
"Dina-a-ling." He mocks.
Her brow furrows, "You'd better let me out of here. When my dad finds out about this he's going to kick your ass!"
Steelbeak rolled his eyes, "I'm so afraid… Why do you think you're in the cage in the first place?"
She was silent, refusing to answer with anything other than a scowl.
He scoffs, "Kids, always a major pain in the ass. Well anyway, since you aren't going to guess, you're live bait." Gos' eyes widened.
He chuckled, glad to get a bit of fear from the girl, "I know you're connected to him, so I figured I'd grab his brat and see what he does. Chances are he'll eventually track you down-well, what's left of you by then-and then I'll make sure I don't have to deal with him again." He gestured to a handful of threatening looking implements on the table beside him.
"You'll never beat him. When he gets here he's going to kill you!"
"Kill me? Kid, what do you think this is, a Tarangertino movie? DW's a total idiot. He believes in the system. And just in case you haven't noticed short-stack, I'm a bit tougher than the average criminal that the purple pajama'd pussy deals with. And ever since Heron's ray I'm also a good bit smarter too." His eyes glinted with pure malice. "And until he gets here I'm going to keep myself occupied. So unless you want to start losing digits, I'd suggest shutting the fuck up and letting me get everything ready."
Gos backed away from the bars, pulling herself into a corner. Steelbeak smiled, "Good call kid. Maybe if ya behave I won't start with your fingers."
***Author's Note***
I told you it was going to get intense! Please keep reading and any reviews are appreciated.
