I said in Not A Date that I had four ideas that sprung from Let's Get Dangerous alone, this is the only one that didn't have to do with Fenton, Drake, and Launchpad.

Louie woke up sweating, his phone noting that it was four in the morning. He let out a tired groan and slid towards the floor. He just about reached for his toy truck, which he'd used as a comfort and a distraction for years, but he'd recently given it to Boyd to add to his growing collection of normal kid stuff. So he had to search for comfort elsewhere, which meant he was trudging through the manor in his pajamas, sleepily making his way to the houseboat.

It had genuinely been years since he'd had a nightmare and gone to get Uncle Donald. Usually, he just waited out whatever storm was plaguing him on his own. But it had always been easier to weather the mental storms with the gentle swaying of the houseboat. And Uncle Donald gave the best hugs out of anyone Louie knew. He felt a little bit bad for not going to his mom since she slept on the houseboat too, but for now, he needed his uncle.

As he made his way up onto the houseboat he remembered how Dewey had slipped into the pool on one such late-night visit. Louie was extra careful remembering that. He let himself in and crept towards his uncle's room. The door slid open with a creak and Uncle Donald fell out of his bed, looking around for an intruder or a fight. His heart slowed to a normal rate when he saw that it was just Louie, though a different kind of concern immediately took over.

"Louie? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I just had a nightmare."

Donald nodded sympathetically and patted the bed next to him. He was upset he hadn't gone to St. Canard with Scrooge and the boys and worried about the long-lasting effects of all that trauma funneled into what was supposed to be a weekend trip. He was so reluctant to let the boys go off without him after St Canard. At least Launchpad and his friend had been there to pick up some of the pieces.

"Do you want to tell me what it was about?"

"I was with you guys, the whole family, and we were running from FOWL, and there was this villainous laughter that kept getting louder and louder and then… And then the villain was revealed and it was me. I was the bad guy. I was hurting you guys."

"That does sound pretty scary," Donald agreed, rubbing Louie's back.

"It was."

"But it's not going to happen, kiddo. I know you. You've messed up and sometimes you get in over your head but you'd never hurt this family and I imagine that's what you're actually afraid of."

"Maybe it is a little bit, but, also… I am afraid that… Well… I'm afraid I really am the evil triplet, Uncle Donald."

Donald let out a surprised laugh, "Sorry, I don't mean to laugh, but, you know that's not a real thing, right? I promise. There's no evil triplet and you're certainly not stuck in the role. Each of you is so unique and special, you make your own decisions about who you're going to be."

"But what if I don't have a choice, Uncle Donald? What if there's something awful inside of me? I'm greedy and I'm cowardly and I'm cruel. What if I can't stop myself from becoming something bad?"

"Louie, the fact that you can recognize your flaws and are worried about them prove to me that you're not the evil triplet. But I also see that there is actually so much good in you that I don't think you see. You're smart, you're ambitious, and you care about your family. You're going to become something great, Louie. I can tell."

Louie sighed, "Thanks, Uncle Donald. I guess that makes me feel a little bit better…"

"Good," Donald kissed his nephew's head, "you can spend the night in here if you want, or I can walk you back to your room."

"I'd like to stay here if that's okay…"

"Of course, Louie. Anytime." Louie's fears were far from quelled, but he had realized he needed a different perspective. Someone who saw all the angles and failed the same ways he did.

So in the morning, after calming down half the house who thought he had been kidnapped by FOWL, he sat down to talk with his mom.

"What's wrong?" Della was always more perceptive than he remembered and wrapped an arm around him after he failed to answer.

"Louie, are you hurt? Did something happen?"

"I've been thinking about things," Louie sighed, "I'm worried."

"I'm worried about FOWL too, Lou. We all are. But we're going to handle this as a family. We have each other's backs."

"That's not what I'm worried about, mom. Well, it is, but it isn't… Uh… I… We're alike, right?"

Della smiled and nodded, running a hand through Louie's hair, "I think that you and your brothers have the best parts of Donald and me."

"What if… What if we have the worst parts, too? What if I… What if I'm not a good person? What if I end up doing something bad? What if I hurt you guys? What if I'm evil?"

Della was surprised, "You're not evil, Louie. Do you think I'm evil?"

"No, of course not! But you've done bad things and… And I'm afraid that's the part of you that's stuck inside me. Or that I'm even worse than that, that I'm only the bad stuff, that it's all in there, swirling and awful, ready to spew out, a line of casualties in its wake."

Della frowned down at her son, continuing to run a hand through his hair, holding him a bit closer.

"You think that's inside of you?"

"Yeah."

"And you don't want it to be?"

"No, mom… No, of course not."

Della held him by the shoulders, looking square in his eyes, "Do you want to be good, Louie?"

Louie nodded, beginning to tear up.

"Then you're good. We become what we put effort into. Over the years you've become sharp, you've seen who you want to become, and you have put in the work. You were the richest duck in the world, you've outwitted countless supervillains, you're so young and you've done so much, Louie. I believe that you are already good but if you think that there's something inside of you that says otherwise, then you just need to put in the work to prove to yourself what your family already sees." Della pulled him close again, rubbing his back.

"I'm not the evil triplet?" Louie asked, crying into her shoulder.

"No, sweetie. No. Not even a little bit. You were right, I have done bad things. We both have. But the important thing is that we learn from our mistakes and strive to be better than our worst moments." There wasn't a day that went by that Della didn't think about how much of a mistake taking the rocket had been. But that just meant she woke up every day grateful that she had a family to wake up to, a family to hold, comfort, and be there for, be better for.

"I just worry that I'm not good enough for that."

"Trust the people who know you best, Louie. You are more than enough. You're growing into an amazing, thoughtful, and good person. I'm so proud to be your mom."

"I'm proud to be your son," Louie said, finally believing that he wasn't the sum of his worst parts.