Drake could hear the soft sobbing of a kid who had her hopes ripped out from under her.
He paced around the base as quietly as he could, hoping not to disturb her much.
What could he do?
What should he do?
After the incident at the lab, the Duck family and LP had gone back to Duckburg to discuss the F.O.W.L. situation, but he had stayed in St Canard, I mean how could he protect the city if he wasn't there?
And then there was Gosalyn.
Dear Gosalyn, who as tough as she seemed to be, was still a kid. A kid who was now all alone, with no family left to turn to.
Then there was Drake, who had been there when she lost the last piece of that family.
Who had seen her fall to her knees, as she took a decision no one should ever have to make.
Especially on their own.
The ride from the lab to the tower had been a quiet one. Gosalyn hadn't said anything, and after they arrived, she went up to the rest area and stayed there.
Which left us here, with Drake pacing around trying to figure out what to do.
Should he just leave her be?
An image of the crying girl in his arms, as he tried to do his best to provide comfort after she destroyed the ramrod flashed in his mind, and as much as he tried to shake the image, it stuck to him.
It reminded him that as much as skilled, brave and confident as she was, she was still vulnerable and needed support.
She needed to know that someone was in her corner, and that she didn't have to go through this alone.
Drake stopped his pacing when his stomach grumbled.
Food.
He didn't really have much for comfort food around here…Gosalyn was probably hungry too.
Checking in on her, he was glad to see she had fallen asleep. Surely he could leave her alone for at most an hour, right?
Drake rode out into the night as Darkwing Duck, trying to find someplace that was open.
It was easy to spot the fast food restaurant that was open among the dark buildings that surrounded it.
Hamburger Hippo.
Darkwing had come here once or twice and had enjoyed it.
The only problem was, he didn't know what Gosalyn would want, it was something he would have to guess.
"Darkwing Duck!", the attendant said excitedly, "How may I help you?".
Darkwing felt joy that someone had recognized him, yet it was odd. He wasn't as happy as he usually would be, he was probably just tired.
Darkwing got his order and drove back home, after making sure everything seemed calm of course.
Walking into his headquarters he could feel a pair of eyes following him as he moved about.
After quickly changing he headed to the rest area to check on the little spy he detected earlier.
"Can't sleep?", he asked awkwardly.
Gosalyn shrugged, "Where'd you go?".
Drake couldn't tell if she had been worried or not, but he might want to leave a note next time, if there even was a next time.
He placed the bag on the table and took out his food, "I was hungry, so I decided to get us some dinner".
Gosalyns' interest sparked and she grabbed the bag, peeking inside.
"I-I wasn't sure what you would like so I just picked their signature burger and some fries. I hope you don't have any allergies, which now that I think about I should've asked".
"Thank you", she interrupted before taking a bite of her burger, "This is good".
Drake smiled and watched her dig into her meal before grabbing his own.
The room remained quiet, Drake shifting every few minutes, glancing over to her, trying to figure out what he should do.
He cleared his throat, "Do you want to talk about it?".
"I'd rather just eat, thanks", Gosalyn said, not looking at him.
Drake nodded, "Right, right, I respect that".
"At what time does patrol start?", she asked.
Drake was glad about the subject change, "Depending on how tired we are, tomorrow at sunset. Before that W.A.N.D.A. will inform us if we are needed".
"Could we use that time for training? Maybe we could work on different ways to use your cape against bad guys", she said.
"Not a bad idea. But we should rest up first. I have a room here you can use, I'll stay here on the couch", Drake said.
"Are you sure?", she asked, "I think I'd rather stay here".
Drake could see her arms slightly shake and understood, "You know what? My room is kind of a mess. I'll deal with it tomorrow. Are you good on that couch?".
Gosalyn nodded, "Wouldn't be the first night I slept here".
"Right. You might enjoy the computer, it's where I've been sleeping".
"Or maybe just, not sleeping?".
Drake rolled his eyes, "Don't take after me kid, your energy will thank you".
"Only when it's absolutely necessary", she said before settling down, "Good night Darkwing".
"Good night Gosalyn".