"What happened, DW?"

Launchpad had been watching TV when Drake stormed in, mumbling something about superstitions and stubborn women. His white feathers looked singed.

"Morgana barbecued me again. What else is new? Well, this is the last time! I've had it! I'm going to find someone I can actually talk to without being fried every time I say something the least bit contrary to her crazy opinions!"

Drake was in a fowl mood all day. Launchpad and Gosalyn stayed out of his way as much as possible. Unfortunately for Gos, her Math teacher called Drake and said she was in danger of failing. He grounded Gos for as long as it took to get her Math grade up. Gosalyn stormed off to her room to do her homework, giving her father a look that rivaled Morgana at her angriest.

"What?" Drake asked when he saw Launchpad looking at him. "You think I'm wrong?"

"It doesn't matter what I think," Launchpad said, trying to be diplomatic. He did think DW was wrong. Yes, Gosalyn needed to get her Math grade up, but Drake didn't have to treat her like she'd just hit a hockey puck through the window and lied about it. She needed help; he should be trying to find out her weaknesses in Math and then help her strengthen them, not punishing her. "You're the dad. It's about time for me to give the Thunderquack a tune-up. Do you want me to give the Ratcatcher one, too?"

"Yeah, OK," Drake said distractedly.

Launchpad really was going to give the vehicles a tune-up, but his main reason for going up to the tower was to avoid Drake. He was angrier than Launchpad had ever seen him and he thought it was totally out of proportion to the argument he'd had with Morgana. He didn't want to unintentionally say or do something that would make Drake even angrier.

There were two sides to every story. Launchpad wondered what Morgana's take would be on what happened the night before. It sounded to him as if they'd both over reacted big time to a fairly small situation.

He was almost finished with the Ratcatcher when Drake called to him from one of the spinning chairs and told him he was going to the grocery store. He said they needed potatoes for dinner. Launchpad finished with the Ratcatcher, then went down to the house, wanting to talk to Gosalyn before Drake got back.

Gosalyn's bedroom door was closed. She didn't respond to his first knock, so on the second knock he said, "it's me, Gos."

"Oh, OK," her muffled voice came back. She sounded both sad and angry. "You can come in." Her tone on the word "you" said he wouldn't be able to come in if he was Drake.

He opened the door and looked around the room. He knew she kept booby traps around in case any zombies or super villains showed up and didn't want to get caught by one of them.

'Don't worry; they're gone," she said grumpily. "Dad made me get rid of them this morning."

He came in and sat on the edge of her bed. Her books were all closed and he wondered if she'd actually done any of her homework, but didn't ask. He'd leave that to "Drake.

"Did he tell you why he's in such a bad mood?" he asked.

"He had a fight with Morgana. What else is new?" she asked, in the same tone Drake had used when he'd asked that question before. "Why is this one different? He never took his fights with her out on us before."

"I don't know what's different about this one. The only thing I can think of is that this time they broke up. He hasn't actually said so, but I think he loves her."

"Well, he's got a pretty weird way of showing it. I mean, I don't blame Morgana for getting mad at him. Dad never thinks before he talks."

"No, a lot of the time he doesn't, but we've both known that for a long time and I think Morgana does, too. The problem is they both have such short tempers."

"Tell me about it! One lousy Math grade and Dad goes critical!"

Launchpad ignored that comment, not wanting to point out that it was more than one lousy Math grade if she was on the verge of failing.

"I mean, do you really think it's fair for him to ground me? It's not like I brought a mutant slug home to keep as a pet or something!"

He smiled, feeling a mixture of sympathy and amusement. If given the chance, Gosalyn would do something like that. But he did think the punishment was unfair.

"Besides, I'm doing OK in all my other subjects."

"Well, I really don't think he'll hold you to that punishment, Kiddo. I think once he cools down he'll realize he wasn't fair and let up."

As he finished, they heard the blue Sedan pull into the driveway.

"Just be patient with him," Launchpad said, patting her shoulder, then standing up and heading for the door. In the mood Drake was in he might think they were comparing notes, which was kind of what they were doing, and they didn't want to make him any angrier.

Drake was quiet the rest of the night. He barely spoke during dinner and Gosalyn didn't give him the chance to kiss her goodbye before they went up to the tower. As Darkwing, he only spoke when he had to.

Launchpad was relieved that it was a slow night. Essentially, they were on guard duty. There were no super villains and the only crime they saw in progress, a purse snatching, was being handled by an off duty cop who had seen the whole thing. Darkwing grumbled a bit about missing the action, but Launchpad had the feeling the grumbling was more out of habit than anything else. DW's heart just didn't seem to be in it tonight.

"I don't think we're going to see any action tonight, LP," DW said after a few hours. "Let's go home."

"OK," Launchpad said, starting to feel concerned. Patrol was only half over. DW's anger seemed to have been replaced by depression. "In a way, maybe that's good," Launchpad thought. "Maybe now he'll come to his senses and make up with Morgana."

Launchpad hoped so. He was very sensitive to the moods of the people around him and his natural optimism was enough to cheer them up most of the time, but he'd never seen DW like this before. Drake's bad moods caused enough tension in the house, but when they caused fights with Gosalyn the tension doubled. Launchpad didn't care as much if DW was mean to him; he knew DW didn't really mean it and he was also used to that kind of treatment from Mr. McD. It wasn't as frequent or as intense with DW, with the exception of a time or two in the beginning. But he couldn't stand the hurt look in Gosalyn's eyes when she fought with her dad.

The next morning, Launchpad and Gosalyn met each other in the hallway.

"Morning, Gos."

"Hi," she said, surprised. "What are you doing up so early?"

"We had a quiet night, so we came home early."

Launchpad didn't need to ask why Gos was up early. What kid would sleep through Saturday morning cartoons?

"Do you think Dad'll be sane today?" she asked in a whisper, afraid to let Drake hear her.

"I think he'll be better than yesterday," Launchpad whispered back. "He seemed more sad than angry last night."

They found Drake sitting on the couch, slumped over, looking as sad as he had when Launchpad said good night to him the night before.

"Didn't you sleep?" Gosalyn asked, feeling worried now. She almost would have preferred Drake angry to the way he looked now.

"No," he said quietly. "Listen, guys, I'm sorry I was such a grouch yesterday."

"It's OK, DW," Launchpad said, sitting on the couch next to him. "We know yah didn't mean it." He knew that wasn't the real reason DW looked so upset, but he just couldn't think of anything else to say that might make him feel better.

Gosalyn sat on Drake's lap and put her arms around him, wanting to do anything she could to make him feel better. He kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back, knowing she was trying to help. A small part of her wanted to ask if she was still grounded, but she thought that would be insensitive. She'd only seen Dad in a state like this once or twice before. "He'd lost his confidence then," she thought hopefully. "Maybe all he needs now is a good crime to get him active and feeling better."

"You're not grounded anymore," he said, as if picking up some of her thoughts. "I know that was too harsh, but I do want you to get your Math grade up. Did you do your homework last night?"

"Uh-oh!" she thought, feeling her stomach drop. "Busted! I can't lie to him; he'll ask to see it."

"Well, I got most of it done, but not the Math. I just don't get it. I thought about asking Honker to come over and help me, but I didn't think you'd want me having a friend over while I was grounded."

"I wouldn't have," Drake admitted. "You can have him over later today."

Drake figured that would make up for grounding her unfairly yesterday, at least in his mind, and Honker would be able to help her with her Math.

"But would it make up for it?" a nasty voice asked in his head. It sounded like Negaduck's voice, which made him very uncomfortable. Drake wasn't thinking much of himself as a person right now. As a crime fighter, he was great, but as a boyfriend, father and best friend, he didn't feel like much.

How could he have been so mean to Morgana? It was bad enough that he'd used her past against her, but his parting shot was worse, in his opinion, than anything he'd ever said to anyone. Morgana was a sorceress; he knew that going into the relationship. The magic was part of who she was. He couldn't believe he'd been thoughtless enough to tell her he wanted a normal girl just so he could have the last word.

Then he'd compounded his thoughtlessness by taking out his anger on Launchpad and Gosalyn. Launchpad hadn't even said or done anything; he'd just looked at him and Drake had snapped at him like a mean spirited terrier. It made him feel worse that Launchpad and Gosalyn had forgiven him so easily; he didn't think he deserved to have anyone be nice to him today.

He suddenly wondered what was wrong with him. All his feelings were so out of proportion over the last couple of days. He was over reacting to everything. On some level he knew he was being too hard on himself, but that didn't change anything; he still felt like the worst person in Saint Canard.

Drake was distracted all day. He couldn't seem to concentrate on anything for more than a few seconds and Gos and Launchpad had to repeat themselves a few times to get him to hear them. When Honker came over and he and Gosalyn went upstairs, Launchpad sat on the couch next to Drake again.

"You've both had time to cool down, DW. Why don't yah call her and try to make up? And don't give me any of that stuff about how she's gonna have to make the first move!" A thread of surprise peaked through Drake's depression. Launchpad's tone had turned almost scolding. "You were both wrong and you know it."

"No, that's not it, LP. I want to call and apologize, but-"

He trailed off, slumping even further against the arm of the couch.

"But what?"

Drake looked over at Launchpad with an expression that would have been comical under other circumstances. He'd seen that look on love sick teenagers in very old sitcoms. But on Drake's face, the expression didn't look funny at all.

"Why should she accept my apology?" Drake asked hopelessly. "I said some horrible things. I was a creep. If I was Morgana, there's no way I'd ever take me back. I acted like everything she's done since she came over to our side meant nothing."

"So it wasn't really Morgana you were so angry with yesterday, was it? You were mad at yourself."

"Yeah. Well, not at first. When I got home I really was mad at her, but I did feel kind of guilty for the things I said. Then I started thinking after you went to bed and realized how cruel I was. Then I topped it off by treating you and Gos like-"

"You didn't do anything to me," Launchpad said, hoping this was the kind of pep talk DW needed, "and you and Gos are OK now. You and Morgana have had fights before."

"Yeah, but she was right; I've never thrown her past in her face before and I am closed minded and egotistical. I don't even know why I said the things I did; I just reacted. She was crying when I left," he finished, looking as if he might cry himself.

"Maybe there is something to that stuff about Friday the thirteenth," Launchpad said, trying to think of something that might make DW feel less guilty by explaining his behavior. DW was his best friend; he hated to see him so down on himself. This was worse than the times he'd lost his confidence, first when he'd gone temporarily blind, then at his High School reunion when his classmates found out the one they had always called "Drake the Dweeb" was Darkwing Duck.

If Drake had been in a better mood, he would have scoffed at the idea again, but he just said, "maybe," in a defeated tone that made Launchpad wish he'd just stayed away from the whole Friday the thirteenth subject altogether.

After a period of silence that was making Launchpad feel increasingly uncomfortable, he asked, "is there anything I can do for yah, DW?"

Drake felt a rush of affection and sympathy for him. Launchpad wanted so badly to help him, both as Drake and as Darkwing, but in this situation there was nothing he could do.

"Just kick me if I get crazy again."

"Dad," Gosalyn called from the top of the stairs, "we finished the homework and I think I get it now. Can we go to the park?"

"Yeah, if it's OK with Binky, but I want you home before dark."

Drake was so distracted that he burned dinner. He spent about a minute mumbling under his breath, berating himself.

"Calm down, DW; it's just dinner. You didn't burn the house down. I'll go pick up some Hamburger Hippo."

"OK," Drake said with a tired sigh. He hadn't slept the night before, and the night before that his sleep was restless after the fight with Morgana. He was exhausted.

Launchpad grabbed the keys to the Sedan and headed for the door. As he passed the couch, where Drake was sitting again in the same spot as before, Drake put a hand on his arm to stop him. They looked at each other for a beat.

"Thanks, Pal," Drake said quietly. "Sorry about my behavior the last couple of days. I-"

"You've already apologized," Launchpad said, putting the hand not holding the keys on Drake's shoulder. "Don't worry," he said gently. "You and Morg'll fix this."

Drake tried to smile, but couldn't quite manage it. As Launchpad closed the front door, Drake sighed again and turned on the TV. He didn't care what was on; he just wanted some noise so he wouldn't feel so alone with Gos and Launchpad gone. He also hoped it would distract him from the guilt he was feeling over the way he had treated Morgana. The first real relationship he'd had in years was over and he had no one to blame but himself.