Chapter 6: Unwanted

A police car drove up and rolled down the window. The officer in the passenger seat questioned Gos about where she lived. She tried to avoid giving him a direct answer but after he made her get in the car, Gosalyn reluctantly admitted that the orphanage was her home.

Darkwing followed her out of the car to the door and watched as it closed behind her, seeing misery in every line of her posture.

"Oh, Gos..." Darkwing whispered. As he stood there, the sun sank rapidly below the horizon. At first Darkwing was confused but then he remembered he was seeing all of this as an outsider. He didn't actually live in this world. He sighed.

Then one of the orphanage windows slid open. A moment later, a backpack landed in the grass with a small thump. Darkwing's pulse sped up as he saw Gosalyn follow her bag out the window. She picked it up, looked around, and headed down the street.

Darkwing followed her, watching with his heart in his throat as she avoided coming into contact with other people, including a few shady characters that he would have confronted if he could have. He soon lost sight of her and the scene around him became fuzzy.

"No, wait! Let me see her!" Darkwing protested, trying to outrun the obscuring mist.

Jacob didn't reply but he must have heard because Darkwing found himself next to Gosalyn a second later. She seemed a littler taller than he remembered, and a little thinner. She was looking up at something. Darkwing followed her gaze to the top of Canard Tower. When he looked back at her, Gosalyn was still staring at it, lost in thought. Finally, she straightened her bag and turned around, her steps heavier and markedly slower as she headed back to the orphanage.

Darkwing wondered what exactly it was that looked different about Gosalyn. She seemed tired and discouraged. Was she sneaking out every night? What was she looking for? He decided the only way to get some answers was to go inside and see what was in that backpack.

Gosalyn shared a room with several other children but none of them were aware of Darkwing's presence. He looked through Gosalyn's bag, finding a map drawn in crayon, a cut out newspaper article on Gizmoduck, and a bus flyer for Duckburg. Darkwing realized she was looking for Gizmoduck. She hadn't given up on the hero yet.

The scene changed and Darkwing saw Mrs. Cavanaugh telling Gosalyn there was a woman outside who was looking to a adopt. The woman wanted a girl Gosalyn's age who could keep up with her active lifestyle and get along with new people. Mrs. Cavanaugh gently warned Gosalyn that she might not find a match like this again and begged her to show at least a little spirit. Gosalyn sighed and reluctantly climbed out of bed to meet the prospective parent.

Darkwing watched as the hopeful would-be parent asked Gosalyn questions and gently urged her to play a game of toss. Gosalyn slowly came back to life, throwing the ball a little harder with each pass. Everything seemed to be going fine until the woman remarked that it must have been hard living with her grandpa because he was so much older than Gosalyn and set in his ways. Gosalyn got a hard look in her eye and threw the ball right into the woman's forehead, temporarily rendering her unconscious.

Darkwing was shocked, not by Gosalyn's actions, but by the woman's words. Didn't she know Gosalyn's grandfather had meant the world to her?

Gosalyn went back to her room and time faded around Darkwing, once again returning to night. He saw Gosalyn slip out again and he followed her to a bus station where she tried to buy a ticket to Duckburg. The ticket master started to call social services and Gosalyn took off, hiding behind a trash can until she saw an opportunity to hop on the back of a bus. Darkwing cried out in protest and ran after the bus. He managed to catch it at a stop where he saw Gosalyn help an old lady up the steps. She tried to act like the lady was her grandmother but the driver demanded a ticket from her. The old woman offered to pay the fare for Gosalyn but the driver had already figured out the kid didn't belong to anyone on board and he called the police.

Darkwing found himself back outside of the orphanage. Only this time, something was missing... Darkwing wondered out loud why he was back here when the front door opened.

Mrs. Cavanaugh held it as Gosalyn stepped out, carrying a backpack and dragging her feet.

"What's happening now?" Darkwing asked as he watched his little girl climb into a waiting car.

"Gosalyn is moving to a new home..." Jacob materialized next to him in the form of a mink.

"She was adopted? That's great news!" Darkwing grinned until he saw Jacob's sad expression. "Isn't it?"

"See for yourself..." Jacob gestured ahead.

The scene had changed to show a house full of older kids. Gosalyn was barely acknowledged as she took a seat at the long table. She was given a tray of unidentifiable mush for dinner and the adult walked away. Moments later, the kid across from Gos flicked a pea at her face. Gosalyn wiped it off and shot the boy a glare. He feigned innocence. With a spark in her eye, Gosalyn loaded a spoon with something that looked like mashed potatoes and flung it across the table. The boy ducked and the white mush splattered on the back of the matron's skirt. Some of the kids snickered. The matron immediately grounded Gosalyn.

"Boy, even I never grounded her that fast!" Darkwing commented as a frustrated Gosalyn pushed away from the table to go to her bed.

Darkwing didn't see what else transpired that day, but he did see Gosalyn back at the orphanage later, looking more glum than he'd ever seen her. He wanted to comfort her, but there was nothing he could do.