Here We Belong, Fighting to Survive

by puck1919

Negaduck has been broken out of custody. Darkwing finds a girl who knows more than she says. There's a new player on the board and there's something wrong with the Gizmoduck armor. At the center of it all, a question: who is FOWL? Sequel to "Slowly Learning That Life Is Okay"

Here We Belong, Fighting to Survive
Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at /works/23513170.

by puck1919

---

Chapter 1: Heavy Into Your Arms

"Well I came home
Like a stone
And I fell heavy into your arms"
— Mumford & Sons, "I Will Wait"

Fenton put his shirt back on as the doctor walked into the room.

"Well, everything seems to check out," the doctor said, looking over her clipboard. "Your heart's back to full functionality and you should be okay to go back to work."

"Really?" Fenton said.

"His work has him pretty physically active," Drake said, crossing his arms. "Is that going to cause problems?"

"I would take it easy the first couple of days," the doctor said. "Maybe not lift anything over 25 pounds this week, but that's mostly to make sure you don't tear the scar tissue. If you were 50 years older, I'd have concerns, but you should be fine."

Drake nodded, looking at Fenton, who smiled.

"Thanks, doc," Fenton said.

The two left the clinic and got in Drake's car.

"This is great!" Fenton said. "I've been itching to get back in the suit again."

"I don't think she was talking about being Gizmoduck when she said you could go back to work," Drake said. "However, I do think it means we can go back to my apartment and have sex."

"Sorry, what ?!"

Drake grinned. "Only if you want, of course."

"I-I... sure," Fenton said, turning red. "I just..."

"Look, I have the day off," Drake said. "Gyro's not expecting you until tomorrow. Your mom's got the afternoon and evening shifts. We can... you know... disappear for a few hours."

"How romantic," Fenton deadpanned.

"I think you'll be surprised."

They got to Drake's apartment and then Fenton walked in, the lights were dimmed, there was soft music playing in the background, and there were rose petals everywhere. Fenton smiled, laughing softly.

"I love it."

"It's not too cheesy?" Drake said.

"Maybe a little," Fenton said. "But that's one of the things I love about you. But what were you going to do if I wasn't cleared?"

"Take you back to your place." Drake took Fenton by the waist and kissed him. "I also—"

"Bought champagne?"

"...Maybe?"

Fenton kissed him. "I love you."

Drake smirked. "I know."

The sun had set and Fenton rested against Drake's chest. Drake kissed Fenton's forehead.

"Te caro, mi amor," Drake muttered.

Fenton tried very hard not to laugh.

"What?"

"You just said that you're expensive," Fenton said.

"Well, if I had a price..."

They laughed.

"It's 'te quiero'," Fenton said.

"Te guierro?" Drake tried.

"Now you're saying that you keep me, which I guess goes with the 'expensive' theme," Fenton said. "Also, you're not rolling your 'r's properly— quiero."

"Te quiero."

"There it is," Fenton said, smiling. "Te quiero, te quiero, la ausencia no mitigó mi ardor, te quiero y en el mundo entero no habrá quien me robe las dulces horas de su amor."

"Oh, now that is unfair."

Drake kissed him and pulled him close. He traced Fenton's surgical scar. Fenton put his hand on Drake's.

"It's not going to go away just because you want it to," Fenton said.

Drake laughed softly. "Out, damned spot, out I say... What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?"

"The Scottish play," Fenton said. "Not very romantic."

"Hey, you quote Spanish opera, I can pull out Shakespeare," Drake said.

Drake went back to tracing Fenton's scar.

"O, never say that I was false of heart," Drake whispered, "though absence seem'd my flame to qualify. As easy might I from myself depart, as from my soul, which in thy breast doth lie."

Fenton hummed. "There it is."

He looked up and kissed Drake. Drake pulled him close, not wanting to let go.

Drake's phone buzzed on the bedside table.

"Really?" Fenton muttered. "Please don't..."

"It's your mother," Drake said.

"Definitely don't, then," Fenton said.

"It's only a text, just let me..." Drake picked up his phone. "Oh, no..."

"What?" Fenton sat up as Drake got out of bed.

"It's Jim, he got out," Drake said, grabbing the Darkwing costume. "I'm sorry, I..."

Fenton sighed. "I get it. Go."

Drake put on the mask and kissed Fenton. "I'll be home before you know it."

"Just watch your back," Fenton said. "He wants us dead."

"I know."

Drake went out the window and down the fire escape. In a hidden compartment behind a dumpster, he pulled out a motorcycle. He looked at the GPS on his phone.

"Let's get dangerous."

He drove off towards Cabrera's location.

The police had set up floodlights and blocked off the street. Darkwing turned into an alley a block down and lurked over towards the scene. Several squad cars surrounded a prisoner transport vehicle. There was also a van from the Medical Examiner's office. He saw Det. Cabrera at the edge of the scene.

"Detective Cabrera."

She jumped and turned to face Darkwing.

"You came?" she said. "I didn't tell you to come!"

"He killed someone, didn't he?" Darkwing said.

She sighed. "Lieutenant Bayer. He'd just been assigned to this post."

Drake's shoulders fell. "I'm sorry. When did this happen?"

"About an hour ago," she said. "We set up a perimeter 15 minutes later, but he's in the wind. Look, I knew you were with... you know, and I just wanted you to let you two know what happened."

"I'll head back to the warehouse," Darkwing said. "He's probably burned it, but there might be some hint as to where he'd go next."

He turned to leave and Det. Cabrera took his arm.

"Dra-Darkwing," she said. "He couldn't have done this alone. Someone's helping him."

"Good to know," he said. "I'll keep a look-out."

"Tell... Gizmoduck, too," she said. "I know he was involved, last time—"

"Of course," Darkwing said.

Darkwing disappeared into the shadows and Det. Cabrera turned back to the crime scene.

"Was that Darkwing Duck?" one of the other officers asked. "Hanging out with caped cooks again, Gloria?"

"Blow it out your hole, Jonny," she said. "We need him."

---

Chapter 2: No Man Can Be My Equal

"I have no rival,
No man can be my equal"
— Queen, "Princes of the Universe"

Darkwing headed into the warehouse. Month-old blood stained the floor and there was still a lingering scent of burnt feathers and flesh. Darkwing looked around the warehouse for something, anything. The phone that Negaduck had used to control the Gizmoduck armor was still smashed on the floor. Darkwing pulled out an evidence bag and collected the parts. If anyone could get information off of it, it would be Gyro and Fenton.

A red-lined cape fluttered past in his peripheral vision. Darkwing stood up.

"It's over, Jim," Drake said. "Only one of us is walking out of here."

There was no response, which seemed odd. Negaduck wanted the last word. That was the whole point.

"Come on," Drake said. "Isn't it time to get dangerous?"

Something yellow flashed past his face and he caught it. It was a boot, surrounding something... metal? Darkwing looked over and saw a woman in a blue and red hooded cape, with a black suit and yellow gloves and boots.

"Who are you?" he asked.

She gritted her teeth and hit him in the face. He let go, staggering back. He shook it off, jumping at her and pinning her to the ground.

"Do you know what you've done?" Darkwing asked. "What kind of monster you unleashed? He wants me dead, and he's going to kill anyone who gets in his way."

"What makes you think I have anything to do with it?" the woman asked.

She pushed him off of her and forced him against a crate. She twisted his arm behind his back.

"If you don't, why are you here?" Darkwing asked.

"You have more friends than you think," she said. "They call me Paperinik. I'm trying to find the guy that killed Gizmoduck."

Darkwing pushed against the crate with his free arm and shook her off of him. He grabbed her arm and put her in a headlock.

"Gizmoduck isn't dead," he said. "I think you know that. And I think you're looking for something to finish the job."

She bit him, which got her out of the headlock. He tightened his grip on her arm and pulled her back, grabbing her by the waist.

"What are you doing here?" he asked

She exhaled. "Fenton is a good man. Someone just broke out the man who tried to kill him. I want to know why."

"Who's Fenton?" Darkwing lied.

Paperinik pushed him off of her and took his hat.

"I know more than you think," she said. "Let me handle this one."

There was a sound outside the warehouse. Darkwing took his eyes off Paperinik for a second. She threw his hat in his face. When he looked back up, she was gone.

"Damn..." he muttered, before going to investigate the noise. "Probably a cat or something... stupid..."

He went outside and there was another sound by a pile of trash cans. A young girl with red hair wearing a sports jacket fell to the ground. She had wide green eyes that were locked somewhere between angry and scared, brown feathers that looked ruffled and worn, and she didn't look much older than the triplets...

"Hey," Drake said, going over to help her up. "What are you doing out here this late?"

She stood and looked up at him. She growled and kicked him in the shin, running off.

"Ow! Hey!" He ran after her, easily catching up and grabbing her by the collar of her jacket. "I asked you a question!"

She stomped on his foot and slipped out of her jacket, taking off again. He grabbed her arm before she could get far.

"Are you going to cut it off or are you done?" Darkwing asked.

"Fine," the girl huffed.

"You got a name?" Darkwing asked.

She didn't say anything, just scowled at him.

"Where are your parents?"

She still didn't respond, but her face fell. Oh, no...

"Sweety, where are your parents?" Drake asked.

She shook her head, tears forming in her eyes.

Drake sighed. "Okay. No parents. No cops. Just you and me. Can we work this out?"

She looked up at him, still glaring. "Fine."

---

Chapter 3: The Dance of a Mad Man

"It's the dance of a mad man, until his heart stops.
It's the voices of angels, chained to the rock."
— Joseph DeLuca, "Can't Go Home Again"

Det. Cabrera headed down to the morgue. Chasing a cop killer was always tough. The morgue seemed colder and the scent of formaldehyde all that more pungent. But it didn't help that this one also tried to kill her son. She understood that Drake had a... complicated relationship with Starling, but after what he did to Fenton, Det. Cabrera just wanted him behind bars.

Dr. McCallum had covered the body with a sheet, so at least she didn't have to see the autopsy scars. The medical examiner puttered across the room from his desk.

"Did you know Lt. Bayer?" Dr. McCallum asked, a slight lilt to his accent. "A nice young man, came down here quite often ferrying evidence and samples to and from the lab. Very reliable."

"I'm afraid I didn't know him that well," Det. Cabrera said.

"Well, based on bruising patterns I am reasonably certain that cause of death is strangulation," Dr. McCallum said. "The assailant's fingerprints have been sent to the lab for identification."

"Probably not necessary," Det. Cabrera said. "Starling was already in for attempted murder and kidnapping. It's a predictable escalation."

"I wouldn't be so certain," Dr. McCallum said. "Normally when there is a strangulation there are defensive wounds. The body's natural reaction is to fight back. But there are no signs of a struggle."

"How do you explain that?" she asked.

"If he were sedated first, that would explain it," Dr. McCallum said. "But there's an odd discoloration that I can't quite figure out."

"What do you mean?"

Dr. McCallum pulled back the sheet, revealing Lt. Bayer's face. The color had been completely drained from his face— as in, his beak was a faded grey and his pelt completely white. Even the bruising on his neck was a splotchy patchwork of black and a dark gray.

"That's not normal," she said.

"My thoughts exactly," Dr. McCallum said.

"Is it magic?" she asked.

"Being a scientist, I would not know," he said. "I might consult with an expert on magic, were I leading this investigation."

"I think I know where I can find a few of those," Det. Cabrera said. "Is there anything else?"

"Not from my end," Dr. McCallum said. "I've sent samples up to the lab for analysis, you should be getting those results by the end of the day."

"All right, thank you," she said, leaving the morgue.

She went and sat on a bench outside of the precinct. The sun had come up over the hills to the east, hanging behind McDuck manor. She pulled out her phone and dialed.

"Sabrewing residence," Violet said.

"Hi, Violet, is your sister there?" Det. Cabrera asked.

"Certainly," Violet said. "One moment, please."

Det. Cabrera waited for Lena to get on the phone.

"What's up?"

"Do you happen to know any spells that can sedate a person with a side effect of draining them of all color?" she asked.

"Um, should I have a lawyer?" Lena said, half-laughing.

"No, it's... it's for research," Det. Cabrera said. "I'm trying to find a bad guy."

"Okay, well, it sounds like a form of color vampirism," Lena said. "Usually it's specific to one color, though."

"Color vampirism?"

"You know, like a vampire, but they drain color instead of blood," Lena said. "Wait, Violet's got something."

"Officer," Violet said, "I have been doing quite a bit of research on Eldritch creatures and there is one that fits the description of 'sedation and color drainage'."

"You're telling me a former actor who had a psychotic break has teamed up with Cthulhu?" Det. Cabrera asked.

"Actually, this creature doesn't have a standard name," Violet said. "Some called it a shadow, or a phantom. No one actually knows what it calls itself."

"Does it kill people?" Det. Cabrera asked.

"No, it... absorbs them."

Det. Cabrera cringed. "Well, that's a pleasant thought this early in the morning."

"You're welcome," Violet said. "Do you require anything else?"

"No, I think I'm good," she said.

"Happy hunting," Lena said, sounding unsettled. "Hey, Vi, where did you—?"

Det. Cabrera hung up.

"A criminally insane actor and an Eldritch god." She sighed. "What I wouldn't give for the Beagle boys right now."

Her phone started ringing with a call from Fenton.

"Morning," she said. "Sorry I'm not home, pollito, I—"

"Actually I'm... well, ah... You see there's this thing that happened, um..."

Det. Cabrera sighed. "Is anyone hurt?"

"No."

"Is anyone dead?"

"Why is that the second question? No."

"Okay," she said. "What do you need?"

"Can you come over to Drake's apartment?" Fenton asked.

She paused. "Are you sure no one's hurt?"

"Pretty sure, yeah," he said.

"Okay," she said. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Great," Fenton said. "Oh, and can you leave your badge and gun in the car?"

"Am I going to want to shoot Drake when I get there?"

"No, M'ma," Fenton said. "Just... it's hard to explain."

She sighed. "Okay. I'm on my way."

She hung up and started moving to her squad car.

"These boys are going to kill me," she muttered.

---

Chapter 4: Since the Living Room

"Three days since the living room
I realized it's all my fault, but couldn't tell you"
— Barenaked Ladies, "One Week"

Fenton woke up and found that Drake wasn't in bed with him. He went out to the living area to find his boyfriend sleeping on the floor in front of the couch, still in his Darkwing costume. A young girl with red hair sitting on the couch flipping through TV channels on mute.

"...Hello," Fenton said.

"Hey," she said.

"I'm Fenton."

"Okay."

She stopped on a rerun of Darkwing Duck and her grip on the remote tightened. She turned it over to Ottoman Empire.

"Okay, then," Fenton said. "You want something to eat, or..?"

"I'm good," she said.

The girl turned the TV off mute. Darkwing stirred and jerked awake.

"Hn..?" he said, blinking.

"Morning to you, too," Fenton said, going to the kitchen. "Can we talk?"

Darkwing stood up and followed. "What is it?"

"Who is she?" Fenton whispered.

"She was at the warehouse," Darkwing whispered. "I think she saw something."

"And you brought her here?"

"Well... yeah," he said.

"So you're going to stay Darkwing the entire time, or..?"

"I hadn't planned that far ahead," Darkwing said. "I think she's in trouble. A runaway, probably. Think your mom could leave the badge at home and come over?"

"Yeah, probably," Fenton said.

"Hey," the girl said. "What are all these petals doing all over? Were you two on a date or something?"

Drake sighed. "I'm gonna change. Talk to your mom?"

"Fine," Fenton said.

Drake went back to the bedroom. Fenton looked over at the girl.

"Sure you don't need anything?" Fenton asked.

The girl paused. "You got any Pep?"

Det. Cabrera wasn't sure what the hell Drake had dragged her son into, but asking her to come over without her badge and gun was incredibly suspect. Sure, she trusted Fenton, but she also knew Fenton was far too trusting. She certainly didn't expect to find a 13-year-old girl in the apartment.

"Hey," the girl said.

"...Drake!" Det. Cabrera said.

Drake walked out of the bedroom. "Hey, Mrs. Cabrera, I know this is—"

She pushed Drake back into the bedroom and shut the door. The girl turned to Fenton.

"Your mom really doesn't like your boyfriend," she said.

"She doesn't like anyone I date," Fenton said. "I've gotten used to it."

The girl looked at her soda can. "Why... why is he doing this? He's not worried I'm going to, I dunno..."

"Worse thing you could do is run off," Fenton said. "And that's just going to put you right back where he found you, I'm guessing. He helps people. We both do, technically."

"He doesn't know me," the girl said. "If he did, he wouldn't..."

"I thought that too, once," Fenton said. "And I can't tell you how happy I was to be wrong."

In the bedroom, Drake scrambled for something to say.

"Okay, I- look, there's a totally rational—"

"Did you kidnap her?" Det. Cabrera asked.

"What? No!" Drake said. "No! I wouldn't do that."

"Who is she?" she asked.

"I have no clue," Drake said. "She hasn't told me anything about herself. But I... I'm pretty sure she's an orphan or a runaway."

"And how do you know that?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"I just know , okay?" he said. "Look, between Jim getting out and this Paperinik chick and the girl, I—"

"Paperinik chick? As in a girl?" Det. Cabrera muttered something in Spanish under her breath. "... es una loco— let me handle Paperinik, okay?"

"O-okay," Drake said. "What about the kid?"

"Find out what you can," she said. "Technically, I can't talk with her without her legal guardians, and you are certainly not that."

"And what do we do if she has no one?" Drake asked. "I can't— I can't just let her..."

Det. Cabrera sighed. "Listen, mijo, you and Fenton aren't ready for this. Trust me. She'd be better off."

"She wouldn't, and you know it," Drake said.

Det. Cabrera paused. "I gotta go. Just keep her safe?"

"Of course."

Det. Cabrera left the apartment, still muttering to herself. She got in her squad car and hit the steering wheel.

"Chica loca se va a matar..."

She put her badge back on and started the car. Luckily, she knew exactly where to find Paperinik.

---

Chapter 5: Inside My Head

"I'm so tired I can hardly think
So I feel instead and let you loose
Inside my head"
— Jesus Jones, "International Bright Young Thing"

Fenton walked into the lab, which was a sight for sore eyes. True, the average organizational capacity of one Dr. Gyro Gearloose was horrendous— papers everywhere, the Gizmoduck suit in pieces on three different lab benches, at least five L'il Bulbs with burnt out bulbs piled on Fenton's workspace— but after being on bed rest for over a month it was like... well, coming home after being in the hospital.

"About time," Gyro said. "Come on, time to debrief."

Gyro took Fenton over to the supercomputer. Fenton sat down and Gyro moved his hair to reveal a computer port in the back of Fenton's skull. He hooked Fenton up to the supercomputer and went over to the view screen.

"Okay, and... last mission."

"You're going to kill me."

"Not at all, young man. That was just enough not to kill you. "

"Where's the visual?" Gyro asked.

"Whatever Beaks did to the suit cut the visual," Fenton said.

"We'll have to fix that," Gyro said.

"Just promise me one thing. After you kill me, you let him go."

"Drake, no. I've almost got this, we can—"

As Gyro watched, he grew more and more visibly uncomfortable. There still wasn't any visual and yet he looked away as much as he could.

"This was always going to be dangerous."

"So let's get dangerous."

The sound cut out and the video skipped.

"What happened there?" Gyro asked.

"Darkwing did a hard reboot," Fenton said.

"How ?" Gyro said. "Your brain is the CPU."

"He pulled my helmet off."

The video started back up again and the visuals and HUD showed up on the viewscreen. Gyro recoiled at the sight of Negaduck.

"He looks..."

"He's not well," Fenton said. "We did what we could."

"He looks like he'd been living in that warehouse since he disappeared," Gyro said.

"I... maybe," Fenton said. "I wouldn't know."

"Jim, what did you do?"

"Beaks left a little surprise in the code. A bit of insurance."

"This is when it happened?" Gyro asked.

"Yeah," Fenton said.

Gyro paused.

"You have to leave. Drake— "

Gyro turned off the feed. "Okay, that's enough."

He unhooked Fenton from the supercomputer. He looked... different. Fenton had never seen this emotion on Gyro's face before. Gyro muttered to himself.

"Idiot duck... told him to bring you back alive—"

"Dr. Gearloose?" Fenton said.

"Let's get you in the suit," Gyro said, shoving the helmet into Fenton's chest.

Fenton gave a small smile. I knew he cared.

"Blathering blatherskite."

Nothing happened. Fenton looked down at the helmet.

"Blathering blatherskite?"

Nothing again. He put the helmet on.

"Blathering blatherskite!"

The helmet didn't dock. He took it off.

"That's not good," Gyro said. "What did you do to it?"

"Beaks and Jim used it as a conduit to give me a near-fatal electric shock," Fenton said. "Maybe something fried?"

"No, I fixed all the physical components," Gyro said. "And it's not software, because that would mean you have permanent brain damage, and the red kid didn't mess your brain up that much..."

"That's a nice thought," Fenton said. "What about the firmware?"

"You think Beaks bricked Gizmoduck?"

"Not, like, intentionally," Fenton said.

"Reminder, the intention was to kill you," Gyro said. "I'm pretty sure the side-effects weren't thought through all that well."

"If it's a firmware issue, it might be in a boot loop," Fenton said. "I can wipe it, reinstall the last backup, and go from there."

Gyro nodded. "Don't use anything open-sourced for the data recovery. I don't want a repeat of the 'BUDDY system' incident."

Fenton hooked the helmet up to the supercomputer and it booted up right away.

"That's... okay, that's interesting," he muttered.

He looked through the code to see what might be preventing the normal boot-up sequence. He came across a coding style that didn't match his, Gyro's or Mark Beaks'.

"Dr. Gearloose? Do you know what 'FOWL protocol' means?" he asked.

Gyro paused. "Seriously? What are you looking at?"

Fenton pointed out the foreign code. Gyro adjusted his glasses.

"Well, that's interesting," Gyro said. "Someone has made it so that if your suit gets hijacked, it won't respond the next time you try to boot it up. I think, at least, this code is incomplete at best..."

"So Gizmoduck is out of commission?" Fenton asked.

"No, we just have to remove the code," Gyro said, typing into the supercomputer. "And... done. Try it now?"

Fenton unhooked the helmet and put it on.

"Blathering blatherskite."

Nothing. Fenton sighed, taking the helmet off.

"I guess Gizmoduck is still grounded," Fenton said.

"Well, who's had access to the armor?" Gyro asked. "You, Me, Scrooge, the red kid, the pink kid, Drake, Beaks—"

"Gandra," Fenton said. "Gandra had access."

"The spy?" Gyro said. "Who trashed my lab, attacked you, and nearly got us all killed?"

"Technically it was Beaks that did all that," Fenton said. "But yes."

"Well, can you get in contact with her?" Gyro asked.

Fenton sighed. "I've tried. I think the number she gave me was for a burner."

"So how do we get to her?" Gyro asked.

"You don't," Fenton said. "I've been trying for... well, since the last time I saw her."

"So... while you've been with Drake," Gyro said.

"It's not like that," Fenton said. "I'm worried about her. With her skills and tech, anyone could try and force her to... I don't know."

"You act like she'd need forcing," Gyro said. "She did nearly kill us. That's us, including me."

"I know, I know," Fenton said.

Gyro paused. "Does Drake know?"

"It's a security concern," Fenton said. "Gizmoduck stuff. He doesn't tell me everything Darkwing is investigating."

"Yeah, you're scared of telling him," Gyro said.

"I mean... this is still pretty new," Fenton said. "And people get threatened by stuff, and I don't want it to seem like I'm—"

"Okay, I don't actually care," Gyro said. "I'm not your therapist, but you might want to maybe mention that you've been looking for a girl you had one date with almost a year ago. Might look bad."

"Dr. Gearloose, I am fairly intelligent, I had figured that out myself."

Gyro blinked. "You got laid last night."

"What does that—"

"You just talked back to me without skipping a beat," Gyro said.

Fenton replayed the last few moments in his head. "I... oh, god, I am so sorry, Dr. Gearloose, I—"

"There you are," Gyro said.

---

Chapter 6: Convinced You To Change

"I was more than convinced I'd convinced you to change
So I stood, and I waited, and I dug my own grave"
— The Ballroom Thieves, "Bullet"

Huey answered the mansion door.

"Detective Cabrera?"

"Hi, Huey," Det. Cabrera said. "Is your mom around?"

"Is she in trouble?" Huey said.

"...No," she said. "I just want to talk with her."

Huey nodded. "She's in the houseboat."

Det. Cabrera had never been to the mansion (except for the invasion, but she was pretty sure that didn't count). She counted at least 12 hazards to children in the foyer alone. Huey led her to the courtyard pool, where a full house boat was parked, taking up most of the space in the water. She walked on board and Della came out from down below.

"Hey, Gloria!" she said. "It's been a while!"

"Not long enough," Det. Cabrera said. "Can we talk in private?"

Della nodded and led her into the living space of the boat. She put on a pot of coffee and Det. Cabrera sat in the booth.

"So, how's your son?" Della asked.

"He's recovered nicely," Det. Cabrera said. "I'd like him to keep out of the suit for a while, but..."

"Heroes, y'know?" Della asked. "Just can't keep 'em down."

"Yes, about that..."

Della sighed. "Drake told you about last night."

"Yeah."

"Well, that was fast," Della said. She poured two cups of coffee and brought one to Det. Cabrera. She sat down across from her.

"Della," she said. "You can't do this. You have kids. Does Donald even know you found his old gear?"

"Donald finally got that vacation we all thought he was on. I put him on the boat myself," Della said. "And since when did having a kid stop you? I babysat for Fenton while you were at your job. You get shot at."

"I wear protection."

"So do I," Della said.

"Della, what happens to them if you—"

"Die?" Della asked. "I'd imagine the same thing that would happen if I stole a spaceship and was stuck on the moon for ten years."

Det. Cabrera paused. "Is that why you're doing this?"

"What do you mean?"

"Gizmoduck wants to help people," Det. Cabrera said. "Darkwing wants to inspire people. You're Paperinik because you have a death wish? What's going on, Della?"

Della looked away. "Watching Gizmoduck and Darkwing... They were covering for each other while they were going through their medical issues. Two people can't keep an entire city safe."

"So you're going to round it off to an even three?" she asked. "You realize that Duckburg has, you know, police?"

"One of your officers died last night," Della said. "And the man who killed him tried to kill your son. Are you saying you don't want help?"

"Not from you," she said. "You have to think about your family, Della."

"I am," Della said. "Mark Beaks has targeted my kids because they're friends with your son. I'm not letting a murderer do the same. Especially not one connected with FOWL."

Det. Cabrera paused. "FOWL is involved?"

Della nodded. "I got an alert on the old SHUSH device. I think FOWL broke Starling out."

"Why?" Det. Cabrera asked.

"Best guess is that he nearly succeeded in killing both of them," Della said. "Gizmoduck and Darkwing are our best defences against them right now."

"They don't know about FOWL," Det. Cabrera said.

"They're heroes," Della said. "They'll figure it out soon enough."

Det. Cabrera sighed. "Della, we can't pretend like things are the way they were twelve years ago. The boys don't know. And they won't unless one of us tells them."

"You're not going to tell Gizmoduck for obvious reasons," Della said. "And Darkwing's following Jim's scent. So it's up to me."

"Look, I don't know what's going on," Det. Cabrera said. "My best lead is that Starling is not working alone. I don't know if it's FOWL or what— crazy kid was saying something about a phantom shadow or whatever—"

"Crazy kid? What kid?" Della asked.

"Violet Sabrewing," Det. Cabrera asked. "There was something not right about the body. Wanted to see if there might be a magical explanation to it."

"Handling magic and curses is what our family does," Della said. "I can ask Mrs. B if anyone from FOWL matches your 'phantom shadow' description."

"And I'll follow up on the transport," Det. Cabrera said. "There was no reason for Starling to be moved. Oh, and then there's the kid."

"Another kid?" Della said. "That's what, seven now?"

"Drake found a kid just outside the warehouse where I'm assuming you were last night," she said. "I need to find out if anyone's looking for her. Without implicating my son's boyfriend in a kidnapping."

"Oh, good luck with that," Della said.

---

Chapter 7: Watch Me Break

"Now watch me break
Break down this time, this time again"
— There for Tomorrow, "Remember When (Used To Be Used To It)"

Drake couldn't keep the girl in the apartment all day. For one, he had to go to work. And his actual job, not just Darkwing work. She sat on the couch in his office and he handed her his phone.

"Passcode is 9891," he said. "Don't do anything illegal with it?"

She shrugged. "Sure."

She unlocked the phone and started scrolling through something.

"Is this... every episode of Darkwing Duck?" She looked at him. "No wonder you're so weird."

"I am definitely not the weirdest about Darkwing Duck," he said.

There was a knock on the office door.

"Come in," Drake said.

Launchpad opened the door.

"Hey, DM."

"Speak of the devil, hey LP," Drake said. "This is... ah..."

The girl looked up and scowled.

"This is Red."

"Hey, Red," Launchpad said. "DM, Mr. McD wants you down at the Money Bin."

"Really?" Drake looked to Red and back. "Now?"

"Yep."

Drake sighed. "Hey, Red. Ever ride in a limo before?"

Red looked up from the phone. "No."

Scrooge McDuck looked over the police report. Technically, he wasn't supposed to have it, but after reading the paper that morning he asked Mrs. Beakley to... acquire it for him. Drake entered the office, looking nervous.

"Sit down, laddie," Scrooge said. "I'm not firing you."

"Well, that's... something at least," Drake said, sitting across from Scrooge. "Is this about my work, or the... extra-curriculars?"

"Unlike with Gizmoduck, I don't pay you to be a hero," Scrooge said. "But it is convenient to have Darkwing Duck on the payroll. Now, what do you know about the murder of a police officer last night?"

"I went to the scene," Drake said. "Detective Cabrera called me down. A Lieutenant Bayer was killed when someone broke Jim Starling out of his prisoner transport."

"So you don't know if Mr. Starling is responsible or not," Scrooge said.

"Jim..." Drake sighed. "At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if he was. He was serious about killing me. If I wasn't there to help, he would have killed Fenton with that shock."

"Attempted murder can turn into actual murder," Scrooge said. "Do you know anything about the suspected accomplice?"

"I..." Drake wasn't sure if he should tell Scrooge about Red. Then again, if he couldn't trust Scrooge...

"There was a witness," Drake said. "I went back to the warehouse and I found... She's not much older than the triplets and there is no reason for her to have been around there."

"Where is she?" Scrooge asked.

"Out in the lobby with Launchpad."

"Curse me kilts, you took her with you?" Scrooge said.

"She's... I'm not sure she has anyone," Drake said. "We're checking with missing persons reports, but if anyone's looking for her, I don't know that she wants to be found by them."

Scrooge nodded. "I'm going to delay your deadlines for the moment so you can focus on this. I'll have someone contact your staff."

"Thank you," Drake said. "But are you—"

"From what I understand Gizmoduck is still out of play," Scrooge said. "And this... this Paperinik is a loose cannon. You are, surprisingly, the most reliable of the bunch at the moment."

Drake didn't even think to ask how Scrooge knew about Paperinik.

"Thank you?"

Scrooge nodded again. "You can go now."

"O-okay."

Drake got up and left the office. Scrooge picked up his phone and dialed.

"Go for Della."

"Darkwing has no idea about FOWL," Scrooge said. "But from the sounds of the reports I'm getting from Gyro, he will as soon as he gets down to the lab."

"That's okay," Della said. "If FOWL's involved he should know as soon as possible."

"Dearie, why not ask their help directly?" Scrooge said. "I'm certain they would do whatever they could."

"Knowing about FOWL and actively hunting them down are two different things," Della said. "Fenton's got the Gizmoduck angle, Drake's tracking Starling, I can deal with the secret band of evil spies."

"If you get in over your head, you know you can call them, right?"

Della paused. "Yeah, of course."

Drake took Launchpad and Red down to the lab. Red ran over to one of the windows.

"Are we underwater?"

"Yep," Fenton said, walking over to the group. "Hey, Drake."

"Hey, Fen." Drake put a hand on Fenton's waist and kissed his cheek. "How's your day going?"

"Not great," Fenton said. "Can I show you something?"

"Sure, yeah. Launchpad?"

"Yeah, DM?"

"Can you watch Red?" Drake asked.

"Sure thing."

Fenton took Drake over to the supercomputer, where several parts of the Gizmoduck armor were hooked up, including the helmet.

"I'm guessing this is not normal?" Drake asked.

"No," Gyro said, looking over one of the gauntlets. "Tell Drake what you found."

"I've been locked out of the Gizmoduck armor," Fenton said. "There's something in the code called 'FOWL protocol' that... I think it was put in to keep me from accessing the suit if it had been hijacked."

"You think?" Drake asked. "That would be really good to know for certain."

"I'm going to follow a lead this afternoon," Fenton said. "I think I can track down... the person that put the code in it."

Drake paused. "So it wasn't Beaks?"

"Well..."

"The most likely source is Gandra Dee," Gyro said.

Drake looked to Fenton. "Your ex?"

"I mean, we weren't really... it was only one date and not even that," Fenton said.

"How would she have gotten the code in?" Drake said. "I'm obviously not as smart as the two of you, but doesn't that require access to more than just the physical armor?"

Fenton and Gyro looked at each other.

"Her specialty is nanotech," Gyro said.

"And biomaterials," Fenton said.

"Wait," Drake said. "You're saying she hacked Fenton?"

"I'll need a blood sample," Gyro said.

"Sure," Fenton said.

"It doesn't explain how Beaks and Starling were able to hijack it in the first place," Drake said. "Or how Gandra was able to do... whatever the hell it is you're talking about. But if it helps..."

Drake pulled out the evidence bag with the smashed phone. Gyro took the bag.

"Think you can do something with this?" Drake asked.

"With this? I can do pretty much anything," Gyro said.

"Let me know what you get off of it," Drake said. "My guess is Jim had other information outside of the 'Waddleduck' app."

"Sure thing," Fenton said. "So, what are we doing about the kid?"

Drake looked back to Red and Launchpad, who were watching a school of fish pass by the windows.

"LP and I will watch her for now," Drake said. "Your mom's looking into missing children cases. But I don't think we're going to find anything."

"You seem pretty certain," Fenton said. "What makes you think that?"

"Because..." Drake looked away. "It's not easy to talk about this, okay?"

"Whenever you're ready," Fenton said, taking Drake's hand. "I'm here for you. Always."

Drake nodded. "You should get back to work. We're gonna need Gizmoduck."

Fenton kissed Drake. "Be careful."

Drake laughed sharply. "Hey, it's me."

Drake walked back to Launchpad and Red.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"You know, his mom doesn't like you," Red said.

"Yeah, I knew that," Drake said.

---

Chapter 8: Fly Away Home

"Hey little bird, fly away home
Your house is on fire, your children are alone"
— Tom Waits, "Jockey Full of Bourbon"

Det. Cabrera looked over the missing persons files from the past several months. Nothing was matching the description of the girl she had found in her son's boyfriend's apartment. In fact, there was no record of her in any of the systems. Not a runaway, not a kidnapping victim, not a ward of the state. It meant no one was looking for her, which, while sad, meant that Drake was in the clear for now.

Or that her parents didn't know she was gone, which was worse.

"Hey, Gloria."

Det. Cabrera looked up from her computer at Det. Falco. "What is it, Jonny?"

"Captain wants you," Det. Falco said.

Det. Cabrera entered Capt. Callaham's office.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" she said.

"Yes," he said. "Go ahead, sit down."

She sat across from him. He looked over a file.

"Why are you looking at missing persons reports?" he asked.

"I... sorry?"

"You have the Starling break out and murder," he said. "Where do missing minors figure in that?"

"Sir, I—"

"It's okay," he said. "Just want to make sure you're focused."

"I am, sir," she said. "I've also been looking into who requested and approved the transfer, but I'm coming up empty."

"I did," Capt. Callaham said.

"Sorry, sir?" she asked. "He was already in a maximum security facility."

"I know," he said. "Gloria, you've been with Duckburg PD for how long now?"

"Almost 30 years," she said. "What does that have to—"

"Have you thought about what you might do when you retire?"

Det. Cabrera felt like she had just been slapped.

"Sir?"

"Just think about it," he said. "Everything you've done for Duckburg, you deserve a quiet life when you're done."

Det. Cabrera paused. "Why did you approve the transfer, sir?"

"Jim Starling is a dangerous man," Capt. Callaham said. "And you've got a family to think about."

"My adult son will be okay," Det. Cabrera said, standing up. "Are you taking me off the case?"

The captain didn't respond. Det. Cabrera nodded.

"I understand," she said. "I'll let you know what I find, sir."

Det. Cabrera left Capt. Callaham's office and grabbed her things from her desk. She had to get out of the precinct. She paused when she walked outside. She couldn't take her car. She definitely couldn't go home. She could walk to the Money Bin's bridge, that was probably the safest bet. As soon as she was out of reach of the precinct, she called Fenton.

"M'ma? Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Pollito, I need you to stay at Drake's for the next couple of days," she said. "Is that okay?"

"Sure," Fenton said. "What's going on?"

"Just a work thing," she said. "Te quiero, pollito."

"Te quiero, M'ma," he said.

She hung up. Next call was Della.

"Go for Della."

"It's Gloria," she said. "I'm going to be at the Money Bin bridge in ten minutes, can you meet me there?"

"Sure," Della said. "What's going on?"

"Not over the phone," she said. "I think you were right about one thing, though. Darkwing and Gizmoduck aren't enough."

Della paused. "Okay."

"See you."

Det. Cabrera hung up the phone. On the other end, Della started heading towards the garage. She passed Mrs. Beakley in the hall.

"Hey, Mrs. B," she said. "Can you come with me for a sec?"

"Certainly," Mrs. Beakley said, following her. "What's going on?"

"Why would FOWL try and recruit Jim Starling?"

"Jim Starling? The Darkwing actor?" Mrs. Beakley said. "Why on earth would you ask something like that?"

"Because we're pretty sure he's the one that broke him out of prison," Della said.

"And who exactly is 'we', if I may?" Mrs. Beakley asked.

"Darkwing Duck, probably Gizmoduck at this point, Detective Cabrera..."

"Detective—" Mrs. Beakley sighed. "Della, have you been going through your brother's things again?"

"Since I was five, but what would—?"

"Detective Cabrera was Donald's contact when he worked for SHUSH as Paperinik," Mrs. Beakley said.

"...ah."

"I do know that a man who could kill Darkwing and Gizmoduck would be immensely valuable to their organization," she said. "And he nearly succeeded. Does Gloria have any suspects?"

"Something about a 'phantom shadow', she wasn't very specific," Della said.

"The Blot, then," Mrs. Beakley said.

"Sorry?"

"One of the longest serving current members of FOWL," Mrs. Beakley said.

"Did you ever run into him?" Della asked.

"Goodness, no," Mrs. Beakley said. "I'm still alive, aren't I?"

Della's heart sank. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"The agents that SHUSH sent to stop the Blot all ended up dead or worse," Mrs. Beakley said. "The ones who died were the lucky ones. The ones that didn't were... drained."

"Drained?"

"It's what we called a catatonic state that they ended up in," she said. "It was like a living death."

Della scratched her neck. "Great, just great. So, fighting him is not a good idea?"

"It's a good thing you haven't put every superhero in the city on his trail," Mrs. Beakley said.

"I mean... technically, Darkwing is looking for Jim and the Gizmoduck suit is busted or something."

"The question I would be asking is what, if anything, can stop such a creature?" Mrs. Beakley said.

"That's... a really good question," Della said. "You wouldn't happen to have an answer, would you?"

"Unfortunately, no," Mrs. Beakley said. "But I would go back to the source of the information. How did Gloria come by this description?"

"Violet, actually," Della said.

"Interesting..."

"What?"

"Well, that means that she suspects magic," Mrs. Beakley said. "And Violet and Lena are invaluable resources on magical apocrypha and ephemera. I must say, SHUSH hadn't considered that angle when we investigated him..."

"So it's worth pursuing?" Della asked.

"Anything is at this point," Mrs. Beakley said. "One can never be too careful."

Della nodded. "Not sure Darkwing would agree with you, but you're probably right."

Della borrowed Donald's car and drove to the Money Bin. Det. Cabrera was waiting outside.

"Get in," Della said. "What's going on?"

Det. Cabrera got in the passenger's seat. "I think FOWL has gotten into Duckburg PD."

"Really?"

"I've been trying to figure out why Jim Starling was moved," she said. "My captain... I asked him and he started asking if I'd thought about my retirement."

"Not a great sign," Della said. "We'll get back to the mansion and talk with Mrs. Beakley. She'd know better than us."

"Right," Det. Cabrera said.

"Where's Fenton?" Della asked.

"He should be at work," she said. "I told him to stay with Drake for the next few days."

"That's good," Della said. "Drake can keep him safe while the armor's out of play."

"Sorry, what?"

"The spike that nearly killed him," Della said. "It activated some 'FOWL protocol' that locked him out of the suit. It's unusable."

"I can't—"

"Scrooge knows," Della said. "He's keeping tabs of the situation. I need you to help me with the FOWL angle."

Det. Cabrera sighed. "I suppose I don't have much of a choice."

"You don't have to—"

"No, I do," Det. Cabrera said. "You can't do this alone, and neither can they. We have to figure out what's going on before it gets us all killed."

---

Chapter 9: Not Your Fault But Mine

"But it was not your fault but mine
And it was your heart on the line
I really fucked it up this time
Didn't I, my dear?"
— Mumford & Sons, "Little Lion Man"

Chapter content warnings: Anti-Latino microaggressions, biphobic microaggressions

Drake set Red's ice cream down in front of her. She started eating barely before he got his hand away.

"Woah," Drake said. "If you're that hungry, you should have said something, I'd've... When was the last time you had something to eat?"

She barely stopped long enough to mutter "Been a while."

Launchpad sat down at the table. "So, DM—"

"Why does he call you that?" Red asked.

Drake paused. "Ah, it's my name. Drake Mallard, DM."

"I thought you called yourself Darkwing," she said. "You know that name is trademarked, right? You're gonna get so sued..."

"I'm not too worried about it," Drake said. "But when I'm not being Darkwing, I'm Drake. Anyways, what were you going to say, Launchpad?"

"Fenton just called me," Launchpad said. "He said his mom is real freaked about something, wants him to stay with you for a while? He said he called you, but—"

"Red has my phone," Drake said. "You could have mentioned someone was trying to call me."

"I don't see what the big deal is," Red said. "Boys are gross, and I don't need anyone."

"Do you have money?" Drake asked.

"No?"

"Then you need at least one person," Drake said.

Red paused. "You know you're not Darkwing, right?"

Drake exhaled. "Yeah, I figured that one was coming."

"Of course he's Darkwing," Launchpad said. "Why would you say that?"

"Darkwing doesn't hurt good people," Red said. "And you did."

Drake paused. "What do you mean, sweety?"

"You hurt the other Darkwing," she said. "You said he needed help and then you hurt him."

"...You were there?"

She nodded. "I don't want you to hurt him anymore."

"He's going to hurt a lot of people," Drake said. "He already has. He hurt Fenton."

Red blinked. "He hurt Fenton?"

"Yeah," Drake said. "Fenton... Fenton almost died."

She looked down. "Oh..."

Launchpad took the empty ice cream bowl. "You want some more, Red?"

"O-okay," she said.

Launchpad went back to the counter. Drake reached across the table and took Red's hand.

"I do want to help him," Drake said. "But he's trying to hurt a lot of people, people I care about, and I have to stop him before I can help him."

"But it's not fair," she said, pulling away. "Why would Dad try to kill Fenton?"

Drake's heart dropped and Red's eyes went wide.

"No," she said. "No, I didn't... Please don't..."

"You're Jim Starling's daughter?" Drake asked.

"Don't take me to the police," she said quietly. "Please, I don't want to go."

"That's not going to happen," Drake said. "Look, Red, your dad is sick. Not like having a cold, it's... his mind is sick. And so when he thinks about things, or feels certain emotions, he can't always make the right decisions. You know that feeling when you get mad, and you want to hurt someone?"

She nodded.

"But you can stop yourself, right?"

"Yeah," she said.

"Your dad can't stop himself anymore," Drake said. "And... me being Darkwing makes your dad very angry."

"But why did he hurt Fenton?" she asked. "If he's mad at you, why..?"

"Because I love Fenton," Drake said. "And hurting him... almost losing him... that hurt."

"But it's not fair," she said.

"I know," Drake said. "But... your dad is very sick. And he has a hard time understanding these things because of it."

"Will he get better?" she asked.

"That's a tough question," Drake said. "And I don't know the answer. I hope so. Your dad meant a lot to me growing up."

"He did?"

"Sure," he said. "Darkwing was... is my hero. I'm just trying to do right by who your dad used to be."

"Before he got sick?" she said.

"Yeah," he said. "So, can I ask your name now, or—"

"Gosalyn," she said. "Gosalyn Starling."

"Okay, Gos," Drake said. "I think we should talk to Fenton's mom now."

"She doesn't like you."

"I know."

Fenton entered Mark Beaks' office. The lights were dimmed and the curtains were down. Beaks' face was illuminated by the light of his phone.

"Howdy, muchacho," Beaks said. "Didn't expect to see you so soon."

"You tried to kill me, Beaksy," Fenton said. "Was I not supposed to take that personally?"

"Ha! Good one," Beaks said, standing up and walking over to him. "So what brings Gizmoduck over here to Waddle?"

"What else did you ask Gandra to do to my suit?" Fenton asked.

"Megabeaks was all I wanted from Gandra," Beaks said, typing on his phone. "And I hashtag-nailed-it!"

"Sure, let's go with that," Fenton said. "So what's 'FOWL protocol'?"

Beaks burst out laughing. "FOWL? Those guys? Like I would— like any Duckburg billionaire would get involved with those guys."

"Really?" Fenton asked.

"Chico, I just tried to kill you," Beaks said, shrugging. "Why would I lie?"

"I'm sure there's some universe where that makes sense," Fenton said. "So who are they?"

"The Fiendish Organization for World Larceny," Beaks said. "They steal stuff. From people like me. If your girlfriend is working for them, she did not tell me."

"She's not my girlfriend."

"That's right, you're dating that purple guy now, right?" Beaks said. "What, did she break your heart so hard you went gay?"

Fenton rolled his eyes. "Do you know how to get in contact with Gandra?"

"Nope," Beaks said. "She gave me the same number she gave you."

Fenton sighed. "Okay. Thanks, I guess."

"Until next time, amigo."

Fenton groaned and left Beaks' office. He called Gyro.

"Well, that went nowhere," Fenton said.

"I could have told you that," Gyro said. "Oh, wait, I think I did."

"Yes, Dr. Gearloose," Fenton said, pinching the bridge of his beak. "Was there anything you found in the blood sample?"

"Well, for starters, your red blood cell count is low," Gyro said. "You need more iron, your heart meds are dehydrating you... Oh, and Gandra filled your blood with self-replicating nanites."

"She what?" Fenton said. "How? Why?"

"Don't know and don't care," Gyro said. "How do we get them out? I mean, without draining your blood and replacing it with radiator fluid."

"Wouldn't that kill me?"

"Not as much as you'd think," Gyro said. "What did you do to burn out the nanites that Beaks used?"

"She supercharged a sample of Fentonium and stuffed it down his throat," Fenton said. "It looked pretty painful."

"You've survived worse."

"That doesn't mean it's not gonna hurt," Fenton muttered. "The only way to stop them is a total protonic reversal. I might be cleared to work, but that much energy going through my heart would be too much."

"And Drake would kill me if you died," Gyro said. "Though speaking of, he called just a minute ago. You need to meet him at McDuck manor."

"Why?" Fenton asked.

"Something about the kid he was with when he came to the lab," Gyro said. "But he needed to talk with your mother and that's where she is so—"

"Why is she at McDuck manor?"

Fenton could almost hear Gyro shrug. "Guess it's the place to be tonight."

---

Chapter 10: Blow Us All Away

"If we lay a strong enough foundation
We'll pass it on to you, we'll give the world to you,
And you'll blow us all away."
— Hamilton, "Dear Theodosia"

Fenton walked into the foyer of McDuck manor just in time to hear his mother screaming at his boyfriend.

"Of all of the self-centered, egotistical, BRAINLESS things you've done—!"

"She's a material witness and I didn't know!" Drake yelled back. "How could I have known?"

"You know that man better than anyone, and you didn't know he had a daughter?"

"People miss things," Drake said. "He never mentioned her in interviews, his wife has been dead for years—"

Det. Cabrera started swearing in Spanish and looked just about ready to lunge at Drake's throat, which was when Fenton chose to step in.

"What's going on?" Fenton said.

"This hijo de puta of a boyfriend you've found kidnapped Jim Starling's daughter!" Det. Cabrera said.

"Wait, Red is Starling's daughter?" Fenton asked.

"Yes," Drake said. "Gosalyn Starling. But Jim has been in prison for the past month, which means that she's been living on the streets, with no one looking out for her. Did you just want me to leave her there?"

"You should have brought her in," Det. Cabrera said. "The system—"

"I am not putting that girl in the system," Drake hissed. "She watched her father nearly kill a man— your son, by the way— I am not going to let her be traumatized further—"

"You don't know—"

"Yes, I do!"

The sound echoed through the hall, and Fenton could see the signs of distress in Drake's eyes. He put a hand on Drake's arm.

"You were a foster kid."

"I..." Tears were forming in Drake's eyes. "I just... I know what it's like to have no one. I had no one for... most of my life. I'm not letting that happen to her. Damnit, she's just a kid, I... she's just a kid."

Det. Cabrera sighed. "Mijo, I understand it's not perfect. But you are just going to make things worse for yourself."

Fenton saw Gosalyn hiding on the stairs. He left Drake and his mother to discuss what the hell they were going to do and sat with her.

"They're fighting 'cause of me," she said.

"No," Fenton said. "No, pollita, they're... they're fighting because they're scared."

"Because of my dad?"

Fenton nodded. "Yeah, partially."

Gosalyn nodded. "What was that word she called him?"

"What, hijo de—"

"No, the other one," she said.

Fenton paused. "Mijo. It means 'son'."

"I thought she didn't like him," she said.

"She doesn't," Fenton said. "But I love him. So she loves him just a little bit too."

Gosalyn looked over at the two of them. "What's going to happen to me?"

Fenton put an arm around her shoulder. "I think that, no matter what, Drake is going to make sure that you're safe. And loved."

Gosalyn hugged him, burying her face in his shirt. Fenton looked up to the other side of the staircase. The triplets and Webby were looking around the corner.

"Hey," Fenton said. "Want to meet some friends of mine?"

Gosalyn looked up and hid behind Fenton as the other kids approached.

"It's okay," Fenton said.

"Hi." Webby extended her hand. "I'm Webby."

"Gosalyn Starling," Gosalyn said. "You're the McDuck kids."

"Yep," Huey said. "Fenton, are you guys staying here?"

"I think so," Fenton said. "We need to lay low, and this is the safest place in Duckburg. Except for the Money Bin, of course."

Webby squeed. "So that means—"

"Oh, no," the triplets muttered.

"Sleepover!" Webby said. "I'll call Lena and Violet!"

Webby ran off to get her phone and the triplets sighed.

"What was that about?" Gosalyn asked.

"It's better just to go with it," Louie said. "Come on, we'll show you around."

Gosalyn looked to Fenton.

"Go ahead," Fenton said. "These kids have saved the world more times than I can count. You'll be perfectly safe."

Gosalyn nodded and ran off with the other kids.

Fenton went back over to his mother and Drake.

"You two have to stop arguing in front of Gosalyn," he said.

"We weren't—"

"Drake, you were yelling so loud they could hear you on Ithaquack," Fenton said, crossing his arms. "Now, what's the plan?"

"Gizmoduck is still out," Drake said. "Did you find anything about this 'FOWL protocol'?"

"Gandra used nanites to hack the suit," Fenton said. "We're still not sure why. Do we know anything about how Jim managed to break out?"

"I'm pretty sure it was an inside job," Det. Cabrera said. "FOWL's gotten into Duckburg PD, they arranged it. Weakest point of any security is in transit, they used that as cover."

"Who is FOWL?" Drake asked.

"Thieves and spies," Det. Cabrera said. "They've been active since the mid-40's, possibly even earlier. If they take the two of you out, Duckburg is theirs."

"So they disable Gizmoduck," Drake said. "And they break Jim out so he can kill me. It's not a bad plan."

"I don't know that 'FOWL protocol' was meant to stop Gizmoduck," Fenton said. "I was looking at the timestamps on the backups, the code was loaded into the suit during the moon invasion. I think..."

"A group of technologically advanced aliens landed on the planet and your ex-girlfriend took the time to keep them from doing exactly what Jim did a month ago?" Drake said. "Why didn't it work when I rebooted the suit during that fight?"

"The code's really buggy and you didn't reboot it properly," Fenton said. "It wouldn't kick in until after I regained control of the suit and was able to shut it down, which I'm guessing Dr. Gearloose did when he got the suit back after it was hijacked again to try and kill me."

"She named it because she's trying to keep you out of FOWL's hands," Det. Cabrera said. "You can't get hurt if you can't be Gizmoduck."

"That's a lie," Drake said. "But a comforting one, I'd imagine."

"And this is your friendship bracelet!" Webby said, presenting a crimson, violet, and green striped bracelet. "It's a magical totem that keeps you safe from Lena's aunt Magica, and other magical stuff too, sometimes."

Gosalyn looked around at the other kids. "So... you're not worried that my dad is going to hurt you?"

Lena shrugged. "My aunt is an ancient magical evil, your dad is trying to kill your other dads. We all have our issues."

Gosalyn's eyes burned.

"Thank you," she muttered. "Though Drake and Fenton aren't my dads."

"Well, consider this your welcome to the family," Huey said.

"Family?"

"Well, sure," Louie said. "Family doesn't have to be who you're related to."

"Sometimes family is an extended line of uncles and nephews, their cousins, a British housekeeper, and her granddaughter," Dewey said.

"And her friends!" Webby said.

"And their pilot," Dewey added.

"The scientist and his intern," Huey added.

"The intern's boyfriend," Louie said.

"The intern's mom," Lena said.

"A very intense librarian," Violet said.

"An adopted con-artist aunt," Louie added.

"The mom that got stranded on the moon and her alien roommate," Dewey said.

"Her brother's college band," Webby said.

"Okay, I think I get it," Gosalyn said. "Big family. But I'm not..."

She looked away. Lena walked over and sat next to her.

"My Aunt Magica," Lena said, "tried to kill pretty much everyone in this room. But even after that, those two—" she pointed to Webby and Violet "—dragged me back to the land of the living anyways."

Lena put a hand on Gosalyn's shoulder. "You'll be just fine."

Gosalyn put the friendship bracelet on. "Do you really think Drake and Fenton want to be my dads?"

"Fenton is using the same pet name his mother uses for him and Drake just announced to the whole house that he's not putting you in the foster care system," Huey said. "They just need the paperwork."

---

Chapter 11: If You Don't Feel Right

"Trains and cars and chemicals
Exploding at night
Time to be more cynical
If you don't feel right."
— Lunascape, "Chemical Lingo"

Gyro burst into the foyer, dragging the Gizmoduck armor in a wagon behind him and waving his phone.

"I've got it! I've got it, Fenton— a faraday cage."

"What?"

"Look at this." Gyro plugged a cord into his phone and plugged the other end into Fenton's port. He showed Fenton the phone screen.

"I'm on a network?" Fenton asked.

"You are a network," Gyro said. "The question we weren't asking was 'how did she get the code into the armor'?"

"The nanites," Drake said. "I literally asked that question and that was the answer."

"Ah, but how did the nanites do it?" Gyro said. "They self replicate, using the iron and carbon in your hemoglobin, and create a nervous system-like network in your bloodstream— sending messages to the Gizmoduck armor, to your body, to whatever the hell she wants."

"I'm anemic because Gandra is using my blood to sustain an entire mechanical organ inside my body?" Fenton said, a look of amazement washing over his face. "That's..."

"Messed up?" Drake offered.

"...Sure," Fenton said. "How will a Faraday cage solve this?"

"We have to block the signal," Gyro said. "If we block the signal, we get the suit working."

"How do we put a Faraday cage in me?" Fenton asked.

"Hadn't gotten that far yet," Gyro said. "But it could work."

"Sure it could work but..." Fenton looked away, scratching his neck. "We'd need an expert in biomechanics."

"Gandra," Drake said. "You'd need to find Gandra."

"Leave that to me."

Della walked down the stairs in the Paperinik costume, mask in hand and hood pulled down.

Drake paused. "Why didn't I put that together?"

"I can think of a few reasons," Det. Cabrera said.

"Give me an hour, I'll get your girl," Della said, putting on the mask. "Keep the kids safe."

"Understood," Det. Cabrera said.

"Della, wait..."

Drake walked out with her.

"I'm not sure it's safe to bring her here," he said. "What she did... what they'll need to do... It could kill him."

"If I've learned one thing from my kids, it's that life has a lot of risks," Della said. "But you can't save anyone if you're not willing to get dangerous."

She pressed a button on her belt and a motorcycle drove to the front of the manor. She got on it and rode off. Drake felt someone take his hand and he looked to see Fenton standing beside him.

"You know, you're pretty cautious for a guy who says 'let's get dangerous' every other sentence," Fenton said.

"Only when it comes to the people I love," Drake said. "Let's get back inside."

Gandra locked the front door. The windows were boarded up, the lights were out. If FOWL found out what she'd done, they'd kill her. And Fenton... Fenton would understand. He wouldn't like it, but he'd understand. She went down to her lab in the basement and Paperinik was sitting on the lab bench.

"How did you—?"

"I really don't have time for this," Paperinik said, getting up and grabbing Gandra by the collar. "You're coming with me."

Gandra ripped off her glove and shocked her.

"Get off!"

Paperinik staggered back. "I'm not going to argue with you."

Paperinik threw a punch and Gandra blocked. She grabbed Gandra's arm and put her in a headlock.

"Fenton's in trouble!" Paperinik said. "You need to disable your nanites so the armor will work."

"Fenton almost died!" Gandra said.

Paperinik threw Gandra against the wall and pinned her there.

"If Fenton can't use the armor, a lot of people are going to die," she said.

"That's not my problem," Gandra said.

"I'm about to make it your problem," Paperinik said.

Paperinik bound Gandra's hands and dragged her out of the safehouse.

Gyro and Fenton set up a lab in the Sun Chaser's hanger. Paperinik rode in and dumped Gandra on the floor before riding off again.

"Gandra!"

Fenton ran over and helped her up, hugging her.

"It's so good to see you again!" he said.

"You're not mad?" Gandra said.

"Not as much as he should be."

Drake walked in and put a hand on Fenton's shoulder. His grip was firm.

"Hi," Gandra said, backing up. "You must be the boyfriend."

"Yeah," Drake said.

Fenton put his hand on Drake's. "It's okay. Trust me."

Drake sighed, then nodded, letting go.

Fenton walked over to the lab bench. "So the idea is to create a biological Faraday cage to block the signal coming from the nanites."

"Why not just disable them?" Gandra asked. "You know how to do that."

"I suggested that," Gyro said. "There were objections involving his recent cardiac arrest."

"A protonic reversal would need a lot of energy," Fenton said. "My heart isn't strong enough to go through with it. And there are too many to simply flush them out."

"You really screwed him," Drake said, crossing his arms.

"I don't need the editorializing," Gandra said.

"Do you think what we're suggesting is possible?" Fenton asked.

"Probably," Ganrda said. "But it would take some time."

"How long?" Drake asked.

"A few hours," Gandra said. "If we start now, it'll be done by midnight."

"Then let's get started," Gyro said. "Fenton, on the bench."

Della walked in, out of her costume, and stood next to Drake.

"How's it going?" she asked.

"They're about to get started," Drake said.

Della nodded. "Well, let's go."

"What?"

Della took Drake's arm. "They need to work without distractions. Gyro's not going to let anything happen to him."

Drake gently pulled his arm away and sighed. He walked over to Fenton.

"Della and I are going to head back in. You'll be okay?"

Fenton leaned over and kissed Drake.

"I'll be fine."

Drake nodded and left with Della. Fenton looked over to Gandra.

"So how is this going to work?" he asked.

"The nanites already know how to make other nanites," Gandra said. "I can reprogram them to create a wire mesh around all the existing nanites. That should interrupt the signals they send to each other. But it would also shut down my defense system."

"Is 'FOWL protocol' part of your defense system?" Fenton asked.

"That is the defense system," Gandra said.

"Why did you do it?"

Gandra paused.

"You're a good scientist, suit," she said. "But you're a terrible judge of character."

"She's right," Gyro said.

"Thanks," Fenton muttered.

"It was only a matter of time before FOWL got a hold of you," Gandra said. "And even if I... I wasn't going to let that happen. Of course, I hadn't counted on an alien invasion, so the code still had a lot of bugs when I uploaded it."

Fenton looked away. "You thought I couldn't get hurt if I couldn't be Gizmoduck."

"Something like that," she said.

Fenton paused. "I did look for you."

"I know," she said. "I... I'm very good at not being found. You were right to move on."

"That doesn't mean I wanted to," Fenton said. "That doesn't mean I don't still care what happens to you."

"You shouldn't," Gandra said. "I'm nothing."

"Look, we didn't work," Fenton said. "For whatever reason, you... didn't want it to work. But you're not nothing, you're brilliant. And if FOWL can't see that—"

"What makes you think I'm with FOWL?" she asked quickly.

"Because you're trying to protect me from them," Fenton said. "And you haven't given me any information on how to take them down."

Gandra paused.

"It's okay," Fenton said. "I'm sure you have your reasons. Just remember there's at least one person out here who cares."

Gandra looked down at her notes. "I... I need you to lie flat on the table."

He did, and looked over to Gyro, typing something on his laptop.

"I have the projections," Gyro said. "I calculate a 35% chance of success."

"Well, that's better than usual," Fenton said.

Gandra stood next to the lab bench and looked at Fenton.

"I've got you, suit," she said.

"I know," he said.

---

Chapter 12: Last Night's Clothes and Tomorrow's Dreams

"And I slept in last night's clothes and tomorrow's dreams
But they're not quite what they seem"
— Fall Out Boy, "Uma Thurman"

Drake knocked on the door to Webby's room.

"Can I borrow Gosalyn for a minute?"

She ran over to him and he led her down the hall.

"You know I have to ask you a few questions now, right?" he said.

Her face fell. "Yeah, I know."

"Do you know who helped your dad escape?" he asked.

"It was dark," she said. "I didn't really get a good look at him."

"That's okay," he said. "Anything you can remember will help."

She nodded. "They stopped at the red light. He... he jumped on the truck and picked the lock."

"Who picked the lock?" Drake asked.

"He looked like a shadow. A living shadow, like when Magica attacked, but with green eyes," Gosalyn said. "He moved like... like he was made of water or something. The officer driving the truck got out to see what happened. Dad..."

Her breathing got shallow and she started to cry. Drake knelt down and put his hands on her shoulders.

"It's okay," he said. "That's good, that's enough."

"Do I have to talk to Mrs. Cabrera?" she asked.

"If I promise not to argue with her, can you tell her what you just told me?" he asked.

She nodded.

They started walking towards the foyer, running into Della and Det. Cabrera on the way.

"Hey, we were actually just looking for you," Drake said.

"He promised not to argue," Gosalyn said.

Det. Cabrera crossed her arms. "Did he now?"

"Look, I know we don't have the best relationship, but—"

"Mijo , best way not to argue with me right now is to stop talking," Det. Cabrera said.

"Drake, how about you come with me," Della said, not sounding like a suggestion.

"...sure."

Della took Drake by the arm and guided him in the direction of the dining room.

"Look, being a parent is hard," she said. "And none of us are perfect at it. But one of the benefits of having all the co-parents that I do is I try to take an hour for myself at least... once a week."

"What are you talking about?" he said.

"You need a drink, and Uncle Scrooge has a fantastic cellar," she said.

She walked into the dining room where Scrooge McDuck was waiting with a bottle and a trio of shot glasses.

"We drink it straight," Scrooge said. "No chaser."

"I'm not going to try and outdrink a Scotsman," Drake said.

"Of course not," Scrooge said. "You're not an idiot. Now sit."

Scrooge poured the shots and Drake and Della sat at the table.

"Now," Scrooge said. "What are the angles?"

"Sorry?" Drake said.

"You can see the angles," Scrooge said. "I've seen it in your work. Now you've got to make them work for you. So, what are the angles?"

"Um... well, Gizmoduck," Drake said. "Gandra hacked Fenton and put in some code that would brick the armor, but it was incomplete, or something, when she uploaded it, and it didn't work right."

"Paperinik," Della said. "FOWL infiltrated Duckburg PD and arranged to have Jim Starling aka Negaduck—"

"Are we really calling him that?" Drake asked, cringing.

"Starling was scheduled to be transferred and FOWL sent one of their most dangerous agents to break him out," Della finished.

"Darkwing," Drake said. "In addition to many other things, Jim also left behind a daughter, Gosalyn, who has now watched her father try to kill two men and successfully kill another."

"They wanted Starling because he almost killed the both of you," Della said.

"And they had to do it before Gizmoduck was back online," Drake said.

"But how did they know Gizmoduck was down?" Scrooge asked.

"Gandra's FOWL," Della said.

"Obviously," Drake said. "But I don't think that's it."

"I don't either," Della said. "She was hiding from them when I found her."

"So why wait until now?" Scrooge asked.

"Because..." Drake thought for a moment. "Fenton went back to work today."

"So they had to get him out before Gizmoduck was back," Della said. "But wanted him back for..."

"Unless they knew what Gandra did," Drake said. "How did you find her?"

"The nanobot network has a particular energy signature," Della said. "FOWL can probably trace it too."

"But there would have been two energy signatures," Drake said. "Hers and Fenton's."

"I don't think that's it," Della said. "It's easy enough to see which is which based on location."

"How does Gosalyn fit in?" Scrooge asked.

"Jim's gonna want her back," Drake said. "He's gonna hate that I have her. That's why we're here, this is the safest place in Duckburg except for—"

"The Money Bin," they all said.

Drake paused. "Who's at the Money Bin right now?"

"Night security, cleaning crew," Scrooge said.

"...World Larceny," Della muttered. "This isn't about Starling, they're going to knock over the Money Bin."

"No," Scrooge said. "FOWL doesn't just want money, and they'd never go at my money head on."

"What else is in the Bin?" Drake asked.

"The archives," Della said.

"My office," Scrooge said.

"No..." Drake thought for a moment. "The lab. They weren't just tracking Gandra, they were tracking Fenton, they were waiting for them to be in the same place."

"They wanted Gizmoduck out of the lab," Della said. "Not just Fenton, but the armor."

"We need to go, now," Drake said.

When Darkwing and Paperinik got to the lab, it was a complete wreck, even more than usual. Scrooge walked in, looking around.

"So what was taken?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," Darkwing said. "I'm not even sure they found what they were looking for."

Paperinik looked over where Gyro kept unfinished projects.

"Shouldn't a paddle ball have, you know, a ball?" she asked, picking up a paddle with a string.

"They got the Fentonium," Drake said.

"Fentonium?" Scrooge asked. "I haven't heard anything about this."

"It's a work in progress," Drake said. "You try to power anything more than a L'il Bulb with it and it does exactly what you'd expect an experimental power source to do."

"With FOWL, I'm gonna guess that's the point," Della said. "Anyone we know able to track it?"

"Yeah, he's lying on an operating table back at your house," Drake said.

"What's the timeline?" Scrooge asked.

"It'd have to be tonight," Drake said. "While Fenton's distracted. They're going to blow up Duckburg, whether they intend to or not."

---

Chapter 13: Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail

"Lying here in the darkness I hear the sirens wail
Somebody's going to emergency, somebody's going to jail"
— Don Henley, "New York Minute"

Gyro watched Gandra like he was a hawk, as opposed to a chicken, which is what he was. It wasn't that he didn't want to help, but Gandra's system was set up so differently to how he would normally set things up that trying to help would just mess it up and the last thing he wanted to do was mess up another assistant. He'd never be able to keep anyone around as crazy or as enthusiastic as Fenton and certainly none that would allow Gyro to stick a computer port in the back of their skull. Though that last bit was not so much Gyro as it was Gyro making what the red kid did to Fenton a more sustainable system.

"How much longer?" Gyro asked.

"45 minutes," Gandra said. "And, no, I can't make it go any faster."

Darkwing and Paperinik rode into the hangar. Darkwing jumped off his bike and ran over to Gyro.

"Do you know how to track Fentonium?" he asked.

Gyro paused. "They were in my lab."

"Gyro, I need you to focus—"

"They were in my lab?!" Gyro yelled.

"Hey, take it outside!" Gandra said. "I need to concentrate."

Darkwing dragged Gyro outside by the vest.

"Do you know how to—"

"No, I don't know how to track Fentonium," Gyro said. "I just... they took out my assistant, they stole one of our projects, they were in my lab—!"

"They're going to blow up the city," Paperinik said. "We need something."

There was a bright flash of magenta light from one of the windows of the mansion.

"What was that?" Drake asked.

"That's Webby's room," Della breathed. "The kids!"

Lena was still a light sleeper. She couldn't help it— there were still nightmares, just real ones this time. Most of the others had gone up to the loft to sleep, but Lena and Gosalyn had stayed down in the room to talk about magic and dads and a million other things until they fell asleep in more or less a pile on top of each other.

Lena woke up hearing the scrape of wood on wood. She stood between the other girls and the window, where two figures climbed in. One immediately rushed towards Gosalyn and Lena moved to block him.

"You do not touch her," Lena said.

Negaduck snarled. "That is my daughter, young lady."

"I have dealt with way worse than you, mister," Lena said.

"Ah, yes." The taller figure's movements were fluid, like smoke, and his voice was a deep whisper that chilled Lena to the bone. He stood tall, and looked almost exactly like one of Magica's shadows.

He grabbed Lena's chin. "The De Spell girl. Your aunt is... fascinating."

"I'll be sure to send her your regards," Lena said. "Now, get out. Before I call—"

"Who? Scrooge McDuck?" the figure asked. "Hardly worth my time."

"Agent 22."

The figure paused. "Ah... now that would be interesting. But I am afraid we have more pressing matters than nostalgia. Starling?"

Negaduck pushed past Lena..

"No!"

Lena reached for her, when a sharp pain went through her chest. She looked down and a shadow pierced through her.

"You have heart, dear girl," the figure said. "But it's useless to struggle against me."

She held up her hand and tried to blast Negaduck away from Gosalyn. Her magic sparked at her fingertips and faded. Negaduck gave Gosalyn an injection and slowly picked her up.

"What did you do?" Lena asked.

"Just a minor sedative," the figure said. "For damage control. Unfortunately, that includes you now, too."

The color around the spike through Lena's heart drained and spread as she felt the breath leave her lungs and her eyes get heavy. Her pendant burst with a bright flash and faded to grey. She collapsed to the floor.

Drake and Della burst into Webby's room. Webby was holding Lena, tears in her eyes, and the others were up. The triplets ran over to Della. Drake knelt beside Lena and Webby. Lena had turned almost entirely grey.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I... I don't know," Webby said. "I w-was asleep..."

"That's okay, it's okay," he said.

He checked for a pulse.

"She's still alive," he said.

Webby nodded. "Yes, but I... I wasn't there. I should have been there."

"It's not your fault, Webbigail," Violet said, putting a hand on Webby's shoulder.

"Mr. Mallard, they took Gosalyn," Webby said.

Drake nodded. "I know. I'm going to get her back."

"Where's Mrs. Beakley?" Della asked.

Webby sniffed, standing up. "I'll get her."

"Have her take all of you to the Money Bin," Drake said, standing up. "Break in at the lab or not, it's still the safest place in Duckburg."

The kids followed Webby out. Lena lay on the floor, immobilized. Della took her up to the loft and put her in Webby's bed.

"I can't believe this," Drake said. "I can't... this was all a set up. They wanted me distracted so they could get her back. This was... I got played."

"We can get her back," Della said. "Give me some time, I can—"

"We're getting her now," Drake said. "Because you know what Jim doesn't know?"

"What?"

Drake pulled out a GPS tracker. "Gosalyn has my phone."

---

Chapter 14: Born to Be Kings

"Here we are, born to be kings
We're the princes of the universe"
— Queen, "Princes of the Universe"

Gosalyn's back was flat against the metal and the rope on her wrists burned her skin. The large electric cannon hung over her head.

"Dad, please, don't do this," she said.

"Shh, shh," Negaduck said, finishing the last knot. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you, remember? We're together now. I'm not letting him take you from me, no... no, he can take my life, my title, my name..."

"Dad," Gosalyn said. "Daddy, he didn't take me."

Negaduck's hands shook as he reached up to hold her face. "Sweety, we're going to be together once this is all over. You and me, just like before."

"It was never like that, Dad," Gosalyn said. "After Mom... it was never like that."

Negaduck backed away slowly. His whole body was shaking now.

"It will be."

Negaduck walked over to the Blot, who was looking over the power plant that they had taken.

"It's done," Negaduck said.

"Good." The Blot put a cold hand on Negaduck's shoulder. He shuddered at the touch.

"I know this was difficult," the Blot said. "Be certain that FOWL will... generously compensate you for your participation."

"And I get to kill Darkwing," Negaduck said.

"Of course. I believe you will have the opportunity very soon."

The Blot turned to the electrical cannon. "Throw Duckburg into shadow and utterly destroy its heroic infrastructure at the same time? Perfection."

"Darkwing's going to stop you," Gosalyn hissed.

The Blot laughed— a low, screeching sound like a string bass being bowed with a saw.

"Ah, there is nothing quite like the faith of a child," the Blot said. "And I am sure your hero will be charging to your rescue at any moment. But I am afraid that Drake Mallard is going to die tonight. And, if I am being truly honest..."

The Blot leaned in, inches away from her. "I will not promise that you and your father will survive either."

Gosalyn's breath hitched in her throat. A too-wide smile split open with sharp teeth that dripped black like ink off the end of a fountain pen.

"You are frightened," the Blot said. "I understand. I have been told that I am a particularly frightening presence. But what you must understand is that there is nothing personal about this. I can just as soon spare you as kill you. And I will not consider one more optimal than the other."

A smoke bomb went off in the middle of the plant, filling the area with smoke.

"And here is his entrance..." the Blot said.

But there was silence.

"Come on, you perfidious pretender..." Negaduck muttered.

Negaduck's hat was ripped off of him and his cape thrown over his head.

"What the—?"

"Stay focused, Starling," the Blot said.

The Blot turned around and Gosalyn was gone.

"No!" he hissed.

"I am the terror that flaps in the night."

Darkwing's voice echoed across the plant.

"I am the shadow on the dark side of the moon."

The smoke cleared and Darkwing stood between the Blot, Negaduck, and the cannon.

"I am Darkwing Duck."

Negaduck lunged at him, dragging him to the ground.

"What did you do with her? " Negaduck screamed.

Darkwing hit him across the face and Negaduck staggered back.

The Blot slid up to the cannon controls and aimed for the towers. Paperinik jumped down on top of the canon.

"The Duck Avenger?" the Blot said.

"Dodge this."

She kicked him in the face with her metal foot and he fell off the platform. She climbed down to look at the control panel. It was a mess of buttons, screens, and levers.

"Um, DW?" she called.

"A little busy!" Darkwing forced his way out of a headlock and grabbed Negaduck's arm, twisting it behind his back.

Paperinik looked over the panel.

"It's cool, it's cool," she muttered, trying every control she could reach. "Come on, you flew a spaceship and taught yourself rocket science, you can handle a little doomsday weapon..."

The Blot rose up from the platform, pushing Paperinik away from the controls. She grabbed at the Blot, but her hand went right through his... surface..? She tried pulling out but she was stuck in the thick fluid that made up his body. The Blot's smile split across his face.

"Something the matter?" he asked.

Negaduck pulled Darkwing to the ground, hands around his throat.

"You. Will NOT. Take her from me!"

Drake was losing consciousness, he could barely breathe—

Something threw Negaduck back. Darkwing was helped to his feet. He looked up.

"Fenton?"

Gizmoduck grinned. "Need some help there?"

Darkwing looked up to the cannon. "Della. Then me."

Gizmoduck nodded. "Right."

Gizmoduck flew up and hovered over the cannon. He extended his arms down and picked Paperinik up, dragging the Blot with her.

Negaduck struck Darkwing across the face with his elbow. He grabbed the back of Darkwing's head and slammed his face against the guardrail, splitting his eyebrow. Darkwing grabbed Negaduck by the wrists and wrestled him to the ground.

"You're only making it worse on yourself, Jim," Drake said. "I can help you if you just let me."

"I don't need your help," Negaduck hissed. "You're not taking Gosalyn from me!"

"She's been living on the streets for a month," Drake said. "But yeah, you're doing a great job."

Negaduck snarled and punched him in the beak.

"If you turn yourself in, you can still see her," Drake said. "I won't let them take her away."

"You took her away," Negaduck said.

"I took her off the street!" Drake said.

Negaduck punched Darkwing in the gut, knocking the wind out of him.

"That oughta shut you up," Negaduck muttered.

Paperinik kicked at the Blot, who simply laughed.

"I can't get him off me!" she said.

Fenton looked through his HUD to analyze just what he was looking at. He recognized those readings...

"Cover your ears," Gizmoduck said.

Paperinik brought her free hand up to her head. Gizmoduck opened the armor on his shoulder and a speaker blasted a low note. The Blot released Paperinik's hand and fell to the ground.

"He's not non-Euclidian," Gizmoduck said. "He's non-Newtonian. Sharp and fast hits."

"Right," Paperinik said. "The cannon runs on Fentonium, think you can take care of it?"

"Pretty sure."

Gizmoduck landed, releasing Paperinik, and went back up to look at the cannon.

"Where did they put you..?" Fenton muttered.

He pulled the cover off the compartment under the control panel. The Fentonium was moving at a dangerous speed inside a glass tube built to convert the mechanical energy into electrical power. He disconnected the tube and pulled it out. The Fentonium slowed and the cannon powered down.

"No!" the Blot said.

Paperinik threw a handful of cherry bombs that exploded in the Blot's face. The Blot staggered back and disappeared into the shadows.

Negaduck threw Darkwing across the ground. He kicked Darkwing in the chest and there was a loud crack as his ribs broke. Negaduck's breathing was heavy as he raised his fist up again.

"Stop!"

Gosalyn ran between Drake and her father. Jim stepped back.

"Gos..." Drake said, coughing. "I told you to run."

She looked back at Drake.

"Darkwing doesn't hurt good people," she said.

She turned back to Jim.

"Daddy, please..."

"Gosalyn, I..." Jim sighed. "I can't lose you. I've lost... I've lost everything else. My life, my job, your mother, my m-mind..."

Drake struggled getting up from the floor. He could feel his ribs swimming in his chest.

"I'm not going to let..." Drake's breathing was heavy. "...anything happen to her. I promise, Jim, I'm not..."

"How sweet ."

A sharp pain went through Darkwing's chest. Jim grabbed Gosalyn and pulled her away, putting himself between her and the Blot. The color around the spike through Darkwing's heart drained and spread as he felt the breath leave his lungs and his eyes get heavy. He collapsed to the ground, unresponsive.

"No!" Gosalyn yelled.

"Drake!"

Gizmoduck wheeled forward and punched the Blot in the face. The Blot staggered back, laughing. The Blot rushed over to Jim and grabbed him by the lapels, dragging him into the shadows and disappearing into the night.

Fenton forced his way out of the armor and ran over to Drake.

"No," he whispered. "No, no, no, no..."

Drake's pulse was there, but weak and fading.

"Drake, please..."

Gosalyn knelt next to Fenton.

"I'm sorry," she said in a small voice. "This is—"

"No, pollita," Fenton said. "This is not your fault. It's not my fault, it's not..."

Fenton's eyes burned.

"I just don't want to lose him," he said.

Gosalyn put her hand on Fenton's. Fenton smiled.

"Hey," he said. "They made you one of their friendship bracelets."

"Yeah," she said.

Fenton pulled her into a hug.

"I'm going to take care of you," he said. "No matter what."

He pulled back, holding her hands. The bracelet glowed blue. The glow grew to surround Gosalyn entirely. Fenton looked to Della.

"You're going to want to step back," Della said.

Fenton stepped back. Gosalyn looked at her hands then looked at Drake. She barely touched him and the glow surrounded the two of them and burst into a bright light. Fenton and Della shielded their eyes. When they looked back, Drake's color was restored. He coughed and sat up.

"Drake!" Fenton rushed over to him. Drake held his hand up.

"Ribs still broken, Fen," he said.

"Right, we should—"

"Hospital, please," Drake said, lying back down. "I'm gonna pass out now."

Della put a hand on Gosalyn's shoulder. "Good job, kid."

Gosalyn smiled.

---

Chapter 15: Paint Your Dreams

"Rest your head, little girl blue,
Come paint your dreams on your pillow."
— Darkwing Duck, "Little Girl Blue"

Drake ran up to the door of Fenton's house— not Fenton's house anymore, Drake, he moved in with you— and went for the doorknob. The door opened first and Lena was on the other side.

"You're late," Lena said.

"Yeah, I know," Drake said. "Can I come in?"

"Sure."

Drake walked in. "I know I'm late—"

"You were supposed to be here three hours ago," Fenton said. "M'ma is not happy."

"Is she ever happy with me?" Drake asked.

Gosalyn ran over to the door to hug Drake. He winced, but hugged back.

"Ribs are still sore, sweety," he said. "Say goodbye to your friend."

Gosalyn waved to Lena. "I'll see you at the sleepover next Saturday!"

Drake closed the front door. "Where is your mother, Fen?"

"She got called into work," Fenton said. "Someone left the Fifth Avenue Meanies tied up at the front door of her precinct and she had to deal with it."

"I see," Drake said.

"Drake."

"Yes?"

"Did you happen to run into the Fifth Avenue Meanies on your way to the house?" Fenton asked.

"Now what would make you say that?" Drake asked.

"Fenton said he was going to make you wash the dishes," Gosalyn said.

"Did he now?" Drake said.

"But first you gotta put me to bed," Gosalyn said.

"I think you're old enough to—"

"Please," she said, clasping her hands together.

"Fine," he said, feigning exasperation.

He gave a look to Fenton as he let Gosalyn drag her back to Fenton's old room, which Capt. Cabrera had given her while they were waiting for the family court to make their decision. Gosalyn jumped into bed.

"See, you can get into bed all by yourself," Drake said.

He tucked her in and sat next to her. She softly hummed a song to herself.

"What song is that?" Drake asked.

"Something Mom used to sing to me," she said. "Close your eyes, little girl blue—"

"Inside of you lies a rainbow," Drake finished. "I know that one, my sister would sing it to me when I was little."

"Your sister?" she asked.

He paused. "Yeah. Close your eyes, little girl blue. Inside of you lies a rainbow. I'll be near to chase away fear, so sleep now and dream 'til tomorrow."

Fenton stood just outside the door, leaning on the frame.

"Rest your head, little girl blue. Paint your dreams on your pillow. I'll be here to chase away fear, so sleep now and dream 'till tomorrow."

Gosalyn closed her eyes and turned over.

"Goodnight, Gosalyn," Drake whispered.

He got up and left the room, closing the door behind him. Fenton smiled.

"You're a good dad," he said.

Drake looked away. He walked over and sat on the couch, leaning against the armrest. Fenton came over and laid across his lap.

"Hey," Drake said.

"Hey," Fenton said. "So... we still haven't talked about it."

"Talk about what?" Drake asked, starting to play with Fenton's hair.

"You were a foster kid."

Drake sighed. "Yeah. I grew up in St. Canard. My mom was never in the picture. Our dad... he died when I was five."

"Our dad?"

"My sister," Drake said. "Half-sister, really, but her mom was the only one that made the distinction. Mostly because of how the divorce went down. And when Dad died... that was the distinction."

"She took your sister and put you in foster care," Fenton said.

"I was five ," Drake said. "She was thirteen. It's not like she would have had... I don't know. But Mallory would come over to my foster home every day after school. For five years, despite her mother, I still had my sister. And then... I don't know. She stopped coming."

"Did you ever look for her?"

"No," Drake said. "No, I spent the next ten years just... furious. At her, at the world, at myself. Coming out didn't make things easier either. I didn't even think about if she wanted to find me when I moved here and changed my name."

"You changed your name?" Fenton asked.

"Yeah, I..." Drake sighed. "I was mad. Plus, I didn't think people would print 'Drake Waddlemeyer' on a poster."

"So, 'Mallard' is a stage name," Fenton said.

"I mean, it's my legal name," Drake said. "But yeah, more or less."

"Mallard," Fenton said. "Mallory, Mallard."

"...Yeah," Drake said. "Mallory, Mallard."

Fenton took Drake's free hand in his. "You're going to be a great dad."

Drake could feel his eyes burn and he gave a short laugh.

"Closest thing I had to a father figure was Darkwing," Drake said. "And look where that got me."

Fenton leaned up and kissed Drake.

"I think you turned out just fine."

"Te quiero, Fen," Drake said.

"I love you, too, Drake."

END

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Afterword

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