Sir, this is my emotional support Angst Fic. Enjoy! I think I know what I'm doing but at the same time, I don't know what I'm doing. It's 1 AM and tomorrow is kind of a snow day so I'm gonna outline the next few chapters before I come back to this A/N. Okay, it's outlined! There will be ten chapters! Let's hope I can pull it off.
"Why can't they see us?" Della asked, standing in front of Scrooge and waving her hand in front of his face.
"Hi, hello? Uncle Scrooge? WE'RE RIGHT HERE," Della bellowed, and then Uncle Scrooge walked through her. Della doubled over in surprise, "That's not normal…"
Dewey and Louie instinctively clung to each other, taking solace in the fact that at least they could reach each other. Huey looked hollow, unable to reach them, and Dewey once again felt like his lungs were filling up with water as he watched tears begin to stream down Huey's face.
"Huey," Louie called out, unable to help himself, "Huey we're right here, we're not gone. We're gonna make it back to you."
Huey continued to sob, otherwise silent, stunned and broken all at once.
Webby wrapped an arm around Huey and tried to comfort him, clearly shaken up herself.
Scrooge looked devastated, almost unwilling to accept that over half of his family was gone. He couldn't lose the boys. He couldn't lose Della again. He didn't hear them screaming out for them; he only heard the sound of the waves crashing like failure against the boat.
Scrooge blinked tears out of his own eyes and pulled Webby and Huey close, "It's going to be okay. We're going to figure out what's happening. We're going to get them back."
"Huey, Webby, Scrooge," Della said, panic rising in her throat, "I'm here, I'm okay... Kids… I'm here! Kids!"
Dewey flinched, remembering what he'd seen. He pulled away from Louie, "Uncle Donald did this. I have to tell mom."
"Tell mom what?" Della asked, smudging tears out of her eyes, she put her hands on Louie's shoulders before he could slink away, and the spotlight was turned on Dewey.
Louie's stare burned through Dewey but he refused to get stagefright now. As hard as it was for Louie to accept the truth, Dewey knew exactly what he'd seen.
He just didn't know how to say it, "Well, um… This morning, I uh, I was…"
"You can tell me anything, sweetie," Della said gently, still holding onto Louie, who wanted to be anywhere but here.
"I saw a ghost. I saw… I saw Uncle Donald's ghost. I think he did this to us."
Della gripped Louie's shoulders tighter, frowning deeply, "No, Don wouldn't have, he isn't- no, no, no, that can't be-"
"Mom, you're hurting me!" Louie yelped, pulling away.
"I'm so sorry," Della said, crouching down and offering them both a hug. Louie and Dewey hesitated.
"Mom? Do you believe me? Do either of you even believe me?" Dewey was having a hard time holding it together when most of his family couldn't see him and the only ones who could were invalidating his experience.
Della took a shaky breath, continuing to hold out her arms for her boys, "I believe you."
Dewey flung himself into Della's arms and Louie took a few steps back, searching for something.
Della cradled Dewey close for a few moments before turning to her youngest, "Lou? You okay?"
"Oh totally. Just great that I can't interact with any of my stuff," Louie grumbled, trying to crack open a can of Pep! in vain.
"I know something else is bothering you," Della said, "I know. This whole thing scares me too."
"I'm not scared," Louie said defensively and then he laughed, "I don't know why I said that…" He was shivering now. Dewey reached out to him, inviting him into the hug, and Louie stood back.
"We're going to figure out what happened and get back to the others," Della promised, "Ducks don't back down."
"I want to get off this boat," Louie whispered.
"We will," Della promised, "We're going to figure this out and then we can go home."
There was yelling from outside the door. It didn't sound like their family and Louie nearly jumped out of his skin.
Della stood up, looking solemn, "It's time to get some answers. Boys, stick close to me."
"I want to stay here," Louie said, making effective use of his puppy dog eyes.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart, I need us to stay together. We don't know what's out there."
The words of the lullaby played once more in Louie's head, the haunting sound not echoing through the boat this time. He nodded slowly and took Della's hand, Dewey taking his other hand, and they forged ahead, a little bit afraid of the unknown.
The world seemed to be split into two, they could see Huey, Webby, and Scrooge, huddled together trying to make a game plan, essentially planning a seance, but they could see the rest of the crew as well, as clearly as they could see each other though with a bit of a vacant look in their eyes.
When they saw Della and the others staring at them, the captain lurched forward. Della defensively stepped in front of her boys, worried about this guy's intentions.
"Why can't they see us? What's wrong with us?" The captain demanded.
Della took a deep breath, "I believe it has something to do with my brother."
"Well, make him stop! I didn't sign up for this!" The captain shouted. Louie and Dewey flinched at the yelling.
"Well, that's a little difficult, you see. Because first I'm going to have to find my brother. And he's sort of dead," Della hesitantly explained.
"We're dead?" The captain asked, turning pale.
Louie and Dewey's heads snapped toward Della, waiting for her answer. She wrapped her arms around them.
"We're not dead," Della promised, "We're going to find Donald and fix all of this. I know he didn't do this on purpose. I'll make it right." Della sounded so sure of herself, Louie finally believed her, taking her hand once more. Della squeezed it and took a deep breath. This was more of an adventure than she ever anticipated, but she was willing to face the unknown.