A/N: No one asked for this in particular, but there have been questions concerning Christine, so this happened.

She moved her eyes from the barrel of the gun to Negaduck. To the unforgiving hard lines crisscrossing his face and his cold lifeless stare. She had seen him in many states of agitation, of anger, of frustration. But never had she seen him look so empty. Oblivion really had changed him.

"Please," she begged, figuring one more time couldn't hurt. "Don't do anything you'll regret later."

He flicked the safety off his pistol and leveled it between her eyes.

She immediately held up her hands in surrender. "I know I've been a disappointment. That you'll never feel for me what you feel for her. But…." Christine swallowed, keeping her gaze on Negaduck's unyielding stare and not on the firearm. "But please. If not for me, then for her. Think of what you'll have to tell her later. Don't put her through that—"

Negaduck fired.

The bullet whizzed by her ear, she felt the force of it even after it disappeared through the open doorway behind her.

Christine gasped, unsteady on her feet and wishing for something to hold onto. But there was nothing behind her except the glowing doorway.

Through all of this, Christine couldn't figure out the why. Why blindfold her and the Friendly Four? Why drag them across town to this endless spiral staircase with an untold number of doors stretching farther than the eye could see? Why force the Friendly Four through this door? Why force her? She had no idea what lie beyond and wanted something anything to elude to the reasons of Negaduck's actions.

"Don't you dare," Negaduck snarled, the sound low and deep in his throat, "use her against me." Taking a step forward, nearly pressing the weapon to her forehead, he hissed, "Go."

She blinked up at him, tears fogging the edge of her vision. "Please don't make me leave."

He grit his teeth. "Go."

Sniffling, Christine turned toward the faceless glowing doorway.

Inhaling a shaky breath, she closed her eyes and stepped forward.

Feeling the crunch of snow beneath her shoes was surprising enough to force her to open her eyes.

She was standing in St. Canard, but a version that was free of crumbling buildings and cracked streets. She'd seen a St. Canard like this before. The one where Darkwing lived; the Prime Universe.

But this was not the Prime Universe.

These buildings were cleaner, the streets dotted with a few citizens scurrying from shop to shop. There was a sense of order and control that Christine was not accustomed to. She was used to chaos. In the Negaverse and even, to some extent, in the Prime Universe.

But here.

Everything had a place and was sitting in its place.

Except for her.

Standing in the middle of a random sidewalk in the snow.

"Christine!" Bushroot exclaimed, running over and scooping her up into a hug.

Liquidator splashed over, concern etched in his watery features. "Are you all right?"

"Negaduck didn't hurt you, did he?" Megavolt asked, a spark of electricity sputtering amongst his fingers as he studied her carefully.

"No," she assured her guardians, smiling at Quackerjack as he joined the rest of the group. "No, he didn't hurt me."

Bushroot set her down as Quackerjack glanced around, asking, "But where did he bring us?"

"I don't know." Christine said, also taking the chance to study the city further.

The crisp winter air wasn't polluted. Everything shone, not just from the forest of lights hung up all along the street, but from cleanliness. And even with the soft snowfall, there was a warmth to this winter that was new. She was used to desolate. But this….

It was the winter wonderland from the song. The Christmas decorations, though brooking no argument in their placement, were full and colorful.

This.

Was everything Christine had wanted for the Negaverse. The vision that had kept her fighting for what she thought was right.

She glanced around, her companions doing the same, as if there was a sign somewhere that would broadcast what world they'd been transported to.

The towering buildings were decorated in greens and golds and reds, stretching impossibly above them. Christmas lights had been strung with military precision along trees and lampposts. Wreaths were hung over doorways in the exact center. Garland with red satin bows stretched across the streets, criss crossing one another at exact angles.

Christine didn't remember ever seeing a real Christmas. Until recently, it was the holiday that wasn't mentioned for fear of getting drawn and quartered by Negaduck. And even the small attempts that had started to trickle into the Negaverse more recently were nothing compared to this.

Her study of the city around her came to an abrupt halt when she saw a man about to cross the street without using the crosswalk. Or even looking both ways to see if the path was clear. Which it wasn't.

Running over to him, Christine pulled him back onto the curb and hit the crossing signal. "Sir, please wait until it's clear for you to cross."

A distant rumbling shook the ground under Christine's feet. She glanced around, wondering if there was an earthquake and what she was supposed to do, but the man squirmed frantically in her grip and her attention was immediately focused back on him.

"Let me go! Let me go!" the citizen exclaimed, eyes wide as they roved around the city, the rumbling increasing with every passing second.

Should she be looking for shelter?

The Friendly Four rushed over to her, glancing around for the source of the commotion as they made a barricade around her.

Christine grabbed the citizen with both hands to keep him from falling back into traffic. "It's not safe," she insisted.

"Please, you've gotta let me go." What little color that was left in the man's face drained away as the rumbling came to a sudden halt.

Christine turned back to ask her guardians for assistance, only to find herself face to face with a tank.

The man finally yanked himself free with Christine adequately distracted and he stumbled away, bolting across the street.

Machines with claws extending from underneath their duck-shaped heads flew out from behind the tank, grabbing ahold of the j-walker and bringing him back over to the tank. He was stammering and stuttering, pleading to be released and promising to never do it again.

The top hatch of the tank opened and Christine took a breath to steady her nerves. If she could face Negaduck, she could face anything.

But she blinked as the driver climbed out.

The driver looked like some sort of weird hybrid between Darkwing Duck and Negaduck. He wore purple but with a large armored chest piece and the shoulders had spikes mounted in them. He still sported a violet fedora but his eyes… glowed red?

"G-Gosalyn?" he asked, his voice closer to Darkwing's than Negaduck's.

"I prefer Christine," she said, standing fully and facing the tank.

He nodded, a stunned look on his face. "Your hair is different."

He was clearly a Drake Mallard. He knew who she was, but she couldn't say the same about him.

And still why echoed through her mind. Why had Negaduck sent her here?

"I don't think I'm who you think I am," Christine said, eying the hybrid as he walked down the length of the tank that was shaped like his face.

"You may look a little different and go by a new name, but I'd recognize you anywhere," the hybrid said, his tone hesitant and words gentle. "Have— are you back? For good?"

Christine, all too familiar with this, shook her head as disappointment sliced through her. "I'm not her. I'm… a version of her. From another universe."

"Did you bring them with you?" he asked, nodding to the Friendly Four standing around her, each standing in their own defensive pose, ready to jump into action to protect her if they had to.

"They're my guardians," Christine said. "The Friendly Four."

The hybrid narrowed his red eyes. "Where did you say you were from?"

"The Negaverse."

His expression didn't change, eyes regarding the group warily. Studying their police uniforms. "Everything's backwards there, so…. They're not villains?" he asked.

Christine shook her head. "No! They've been helping me try to bring justice back to the Negaverse."

The hybrid's eyes returned to Christine. "Justice, huh? I saw you handle that pathetic j-walker. Pipe down, you!" he said to the citizen still clutched in the robotic claws. "You know the punishment for j-walking and have no one to blame but yourself. Take him in." The robots zoomed down the street, the citizen's pleas to be released echoing around the buildings.

Christine glanced up at the hybrid Darkwing-Negaduck. "Where are you taking him?"

"To jail," the hybrid said with a shrug of his spiked shoulders. "He knows the punishment for j-walking is imprisonment."

"That seems harsh," Bushroot said.

The hybrid sneered. "There's no such thing as too harsh when it comes to safety."

"I think we just found the line," Megavolt murmured, glancing down the street where the j-walker had been taken away.

Quackerjack nodded. "And this guy's definitely crossed it."

Christine squared her shoulders. "People make mistakes," she said. "You should try to teach them right from wrong before dolling out punishments."

"People aren't usually so cooperative," the hybrid sneered.

"That doesn't mean you don't try first," she said.

The hybrid studied her for a moment before a siren went off somewhere within the tank, a mechanical voice saying, "Citizens spotted ice skating on Audubon Bay."

Liquidator glanced at Christine. "There's no way the ice is thick enough to support them."

"I'll handle them," the hybrid growled, turning around, his cape flying out behind him as he stalked back into his tank. "You should go back to whatever world you came from."

"Are you going to arrest them, too?" Christine demanded, ignoring his warning and taking a step closer to the tank.

"They knew what they were signing up for when they decided to break the law," the hybrid said, not turning back to look at them.

"Then I'm coming with you," Christine demanded, climbing up onto the tank.

The hybrid whirled around, red eyes sparking. "You're what?"

"Coming with. You aren't about to arrest some people for ice skating."

The Friendly Four followed Christine's lead and started piling into the tank, much to the hybrid's chagrin.

"Listen, Christine," he said, frowning, "this is my city and I'll deal with the misbehaving citizens as I see fit."

"If you keep arresting everyone, then there'll be no one left to protect," Christine pointed out, crossing her arms. "If you really value safety so much, then you should teach them how to be safe, not send them off to jail for j-walking."

"He knew what he was doing!"

"He was so terrified of getting caught by you that he almost threw himself into traffic!" Christine insisted, confused as to how this duck could be so blind to the real issues at hand. "Is this really how you run your city? Through fear?"

"It's the only thing that works," he bit back.

Christine studied him for a few moments in silence, but took a small step closer and gently asked, "What's your name?"

He was taken aback by that, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise. But he answered. "Darkwarrior Duck."

She nodded. "Well, Darkwarrior. How about we do an experiment? I'll teach the ice skaters about the dangers of skating on open bodies of water and you won't arrest them. Then we'll keep an eye on the j-walker you imprisoned and we can see which method works better."

"I already know—"

"Can I come with you?" Christine asked.

He rolled his red eyes and threw his hands up into the air. "Doesn't seem like I have much choice."

She smiled. "Thank you. And you'll see. Teaching really is the best way."

"Yeah, yeah." He stomped into his tank, Christine eagerly on his heels.

-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-

It wasn't until a few days later that Christine even thought about going back to search for Negaduck. She'd been so busy running around with Darkwarrior, so desperate to prove him wrong in his "shoot first, ask questions later (or not at all)" mentality that she'd nearly forgotten that she hadn't come to this universe by choice.

So she wandered back to the storefront she was sure he had arrived from, and pushed opened the door.

And found nothing inside. It was an empty building.

No spiral staircase.

No rainbow colors.

It was just an abandoned shop with empty shelves.

She'd been so sure. Thought this was the angle she'd first seen the city from, but she must have come from somewhere else.

Christine was ready to close the door when something glinting on the doorjamb high above her head caught her eye. Discovering it was one of Negaduck's knives stabbed into the frame with a note pinned beneath it, Christine reached up and pulled the weapon free. She caught the piece of paper that had been stuck beneath it, eyes scanning the page.

On it was Negaduck's untidy scrawl. "He's a fanatic for justice. Thought you two cub scouts would probably get along. —ND."

The part of her that was already bruised from rejection didn't flinch at the farewell.

Because, yes, she hadn't lived up to his expectations, but he hadn't lived up to hers, either. Neither of them had tried very hard at making any sort of relationship work.

So he had bowed out. Gave her a new start with a different version of himself. One that was as passionate about doing the right thing as she was. Darkwarrior was definitely an authoritarian, even a tyrant, but she was willing to try to prove him wrong.

And who knows? Maybe she'd build some sort of working relationship with him.

But she wanted to see where this led.

And maybe fight harder this time.

Walking through the pristine St. Canard with its too-perfect Christmas decorations, Christine promised herself that she would keep trying.

A/N: For me, this is the end of Christine's journey. Or the beginning if you want to look at it that way. I wanted to give her some sort of send off since we didn't know what had happened to her in "Living On a Prayer"; hopefully this is satisfying for everyone.

See you all tomorrow!

~RS