(Author's note: I know I said I wasn't going to use anymore, but I have heard that the problems they have been having were fixed, and that things are back to normal. I hope that the site doesn't go down like that again, and despite how much I love AO3, I have been on for almost two decades and would hate to leave. I plan on staying, but I'm not sure if it will be permanent.

Also, chapters may or may not come regularly in the future. Seasonal depression has hit me hard this year due to several unfortunate problems. I will try to keep this short because I don't like going into my personal life in minute details but this will affect my writing in the future. A few weeks ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I don't know what the future is going to be like for me, but at this point, I have no plans to stop writing this story. I love this story, I love the characters in the DT17 universe and my OC Charity. I want to be able to share everything I have planned and will do my best to keep writing.)

Chapter 12

When the bus dropped him off at the stop just off the highway, Fenton hadn't expected the dirt road that would be before him when he disembarked the bus. It was surrounded by forest on all sides, had two deep ruts on either side, and looked to be uphill the entire way.

Fenton unstrapped his bike from the front of the bus, contemplating leaving it behind. It wasn't a mountain bike, and he wasn't even sure how to work the gears in order to ride the mountain trail better. But the bus pulled away, and it would be at least half an hour before another would be back. With a sigh, he swung his leg around the main support bar and positioned his webbed feet against the pedals.

A few minutes in and after experimenting, he found the right setting that required the least amount of effort, and set a steady pace up the mountain. The road zig zagged back and forth, and Fenton realized that it was going to be more than half of a mile. The map he looked at had lied, showing a direct line from the bus stop to the hospital. He was glad he had taken the bike.

It was coming close to seven o' clock when he finally made it up to the hospital, the sun was low over the ocean but still shining brightly. It was a beautiful sight, and Fenton understood why they decided to build the hospital in such a remote place.

The outside of the hospital was blocky and built with bricks painted white, but the vines and plants that were growing endlessly up the sides almost had consumed the exterior. If it wasn't for the lights on in several windows as well as a nurse walking a patient in a wheelchair, Fenton might have suspected that the building was abandoned.

He walked inside, his nose picking up a mixture of disinfectants, cafeteria food and a type of scent spray that was supposed to cover up unpleasant scents but didn't do a good enough job. It smelled more like a nursing home than a hospital, and Fenton found the former more unpleasant.

"Hello," a female voice called to him. A nurse sitting at a window waved, her eyes locked on him expectantly.

"Oh, hi," Fenton said, walking to the window. He could see the nametag pinned to the nurse's uniform. It said, "Daisy."

"What can I do for you?" Daisy asked.

There was a loud groan somewhere to the left, and Fenton leaned a little to get a glimpse, his curiosity getting the better of him when he should show good manners. He saw a man being gently directed by a large, male nurse to the opposite side of the room. The man was not acting violently but was clearly confused.

"Sir, how can I help you?" Nurse Daisy asked again.

"Oh, uh, I was hoping to visit my friend for a while," Fenton said.

"Visiting hours will end at eight o'clock, so you have less than an hour," Daisy said, smiling. "What's your friend's name?"

"Fethry Duck," Fenton said.

Daisy's face froze in her congenial smile, but it somehow had turned false. She waited for a while, her eyes darting around before going back to Fenton. "Oh, I'm so sorry, sir. But visiting hours are over."

"You just said that visiting hours end at eight," Fenton said.

"No, I didn't," Daisy said, looking down.

"I would like to see Fethry Duck right now," Fenton demanded, feeling far more confident than he had a right to be. "I just need to talk to him for a few minutes."

"Sir, you have to leave," Daisy said, standing up. "Right now."

Fenton clenched his fists, a bad feeling poking a hole in his stomach. Something was wrong. But he couldn't see what he could do about it. Instead he turned around and started to exit the building. But then the guy who had been groaning from before suddenly began throwing up and collapsed on the floor. The male nurse called for help, and Daisy left her station. Fenton used the chance distraction to dodge down one of the halls.

He looked at each room he came across, finding them furnished comfortably for each individual. After a while, he came across a board at a nurse's station that was a map of the hospital with names over each room. None of them said "Fethry Duck."

He had to dodge into a couple of rooms as nurses, doctors or patients walked by. Although the patients looked to be dressed in regular clothing, he was certain someone would realize he shouldn't be there.

After he was sure he had looked at every room, he came to the conclusion that the ground floor didn't have Fethry Duck. He went to the stairs, listening for a while before heading up to the second floor. Just as he opened up the door to the second floor, he came face-to-face with a security gate. He would need to use a card to get through. He grabbed ahold of the gate and shook it, hoping that it might be unlocked this one time.

No dice.

At the sound of the rattling, a door on the other side opened up; a woman peeked her head out.

Fenton froze, waiting for the woman to cry out in alarm.

"Breaking out or breaking in?" the woman asked.

"Uh…neither?" Fenton said. "I just need to talk to my friend. I think he's in trouble." And he may not actually be nuts, and I need him to save the entire city.

"To your right. Bernard usually hangs his card on a hook," the woman said.

Fenton turned to an open doorway that was no bigger than a closet filled with TVs that must be part of their camera security system. Just as the woman said, there was a card hanging on a hook. He grabbed it and also a clipboard that seemed to have a crude floorplan of the hospital.

For added security, Fenton examined the security and camera system, and turned them all off. He wasn't sure if he could do this completely undetected, but on that small chance he wasn't caught, he didn't want there to be any video evidence.

He swiped the card and quickly slipped in, closing the door behind him. The woman who helped him seemed nice, but he didn't think he should let her out. There was a reason she was on this side of the gate.

"So, who's your friend?" the woman asked.

Fenton hesitated. He wasn't sure if he should trust her. On one hand, not everyone in a mental institute was a liar or violent. But on the other, she could be a liar or violent.

Sensing his reticence, the woman held out her hand. "The name's Pepper," she said. "If he's on this floor, I'll know him. But if he's particularly crazy, he'll be upstairs."

"Particularly crazy?" Fenton asked.

"You know, the psychopaths. That's where they take the criminally insane. I heard they even have a serious killer and a bomber up there. You'll need another pass card to get up there. Bernard doesn't deal with the madmen." By her voice, she didn't care if he went up there or not.

Fenton looked through the papers, looking for Fethry's name. He groaned as he got to the third floor. There, in the corner, was a square indicating a room with the name, "Fethry Duck."

"Oh, that's tough. Well, good luck," Pepper said, returning to her room.

"Wait," Fenton called, his heart thumping. He had a sort of idea, but he wasn't sure if it would work. "Just one more question. Is there a closet or someplace that they keep the cleaning supplies?"

Pepper raised an eyebrow.

Despite her good-bye, she not only showed him the supply closet, but she followed him as if her curiosity had gotten the better of her.

The supply closet, like the door, needed a pass card to open. Luckily Bernard had access.

"So, what are you going to do?" Pepper asked, her voice sounded hungry. "Are you going to mix some chemicals and make a bomb? Or mix up a strong acid and melt the lock? Like they do in the movies?"

Fenton almost rolled his eyes. The movies never got things right. In the first place, for either of those things to work, the actors would have to dilute the chemicals they were using to make the bomb or wait a very, very long time for the acid to work. In the second place, no hospital would carry such toxic cleaners. The mental institution's closet had industrial cleaners, but they were only dangerous if mixed incorrectly which would create a toxic gas, which no doubt was the reason they were locked up.

"Not exactly," Fenton said, moving a mop so he could grab the step ladder, which the janitor would need to change lightbulbs.

"Oh, good choice of weapon," Pepper said. "Are you going to knock a doctor over the head to steal his pass card?"

"I'm starting to get a basic idea as to why you're here," Fenton said unkindly, irritated by her presence.

"Sorry. Sorry. This is your mission impossible," Pepper said, stepping back, hands up. "I didn't mean to step on your toes."

Fenton put the step ladder under his arm and headed for the third floor. Just like before, he was blocked by another security gate. He glanced behind him. Pepper had followed and watched with wide eyes. He didn't like her being there. Mostly because he had a feeling that she would just copy him, not to follow, but to escape.

"Maybe you should go," Fenton said, trying not to sound duplicitous. "I wouldn't want you to get into trouble because of me."

"I'll be alright," Pepper insisted.

"No, I insist."

"Maybe I should call for a nurse," Pepper said. "Who knows, you might be a dangerous criminal yourself." Her tone said otherwise.

Fenton sighed and realized he wouldn't be able to hide the trick. Was all this worth letting someone like Pepper escape? He didn't get the impression that she was wholly insane, but she did seem the type to make trouble just for the fun of it. But he had no idea why she was behind the security gate.

But Duckburg might be in trouble.

So he opened the step ladder up against the gate and started climbing.

"Hey, idiot. Do you think you can squeeze through that little gap?" Pepper called.

There was indeed a gap at the top, but only a few inches. But that wasn't what Fenton was after. Instead, he lifted up the ceiling tiles, flimsy things that were a little stronger than cardboard, and pulled himself up. Knowing that the ceiling tiles wouldn't hold his weight, he made sure to move them aside before climbing on the other side of the gate, then replaced them. He was dusty and his fingers hurt from clinging to the gate, but he had made it without any evidence that he had come that way.

He coughed at the dust and brushed off his shirt.

Pepper clapped. "I can't believe I didn't think of that."

"It's basic psychology," Fenton said. "People see that the gate goes from the floor to the ceiling, and they know they can't go under it, they assume over isn't an option. Most security don't think about putting a gate above the ceiling, just the ventilation system."

As he was explaining, Pepper was already grabbing the step ladder, folding it up and taking it to the stairs.

"You're not going to hurt anyone, are you?" Fenton asked, worriedly.

Pepper stopped, looking indignant. "We're not all like that. Some of us are only a little eccentric."

"Then why were you behind the gate?" Fenton asked.

Pepper considered her next words. "Because I don't see the same world that my family does, and they don't want me back unless I'm on some medication that makes me quiet and compliant. Don't worry. More than likely I'll get caught quickly and sent back to my cell. This trick will only work once, so I've got to make it count."

Fenton wasn't sure if he could trust Pepper's interpretation of her mental illness, but it was already too late. He was going to have to hope that Pepper wasn't going to cause any harm during her escape.

He heard the stair's door open and close as he headed down the hallway to Fethry's room at the farthest corner of the hospital. Unlike the rooms on the first and second floor, the patients had security locks on their doors, which meant none were wandering the halls. Fenton had to be careful as he walked around, pondering his new problem. Bernard's pass card probably wouldn't open any of the doors on the third floor, so how was he going to get to Fethry?

Luckily, Bernard had access to all supply closets, which is where he hid as he thought things through. It wasn't until then he wondered if he may have gotten over his head. This was crazy! He had broken into a mental hospital. What would his mother say? Why didn't he question his actions before, back when he was talking to Pepper or even when he was turned away by Nurse Daisy? This wasn't like him at all.

Too late for regrets now.

Then an alarm sounded, causing all the doctors and nurses to pause in their rounds. Then over a PA system, Daisy's voice came through. "We have an escaped prisoner from ward B. I repeated, we have an escaped prisoner from ward B. Everyone except necessary personal is to report to the front desk right now."

Fenton watched from a crack in the door as doctors and nurses rushed away, leaving behind only one person on the floor. He was a big, tall guy, a mixture between a male nurse and a security guard. And around his belt was his security pass, dangling from one of those zip fobs that retracted.

Digging through the supplies, Fenton found a pair of scissors. He guessed it was used to cut the hair of patients since nobody on this floor would be allowed such dangerous but ordinary tools. If he was careful, he could grab that pass card to get to Fethry.

He waited for a long while until the security guard walked by him again. He was very nervous, and he worried that the scissors would slip in his sweaty hands, but was able to crack the door open just as the guard walked by and snipped the pass off. It landed on the tiled floor with a soft click, and Fenton froze, waiting to see if the guard noticed. The halls were really quiet with the only noise being the guard's footsteps, but he didn't turn around or stop.

Fenton slid the card toward him into the supply closet and closed it. He waited until the guard was at the end of the hall and turning the corner before sneaking out and heading to Fethry's room.

His heart banged in his throat, adrenaline coursing through his veins for so long that he was starting to feel shaky. He was finally going to get some answers. He was finally going to speak with Fethry Duck.

And then what? He was supposed to bring Fethry Duck to the mermaid. That wasn't going to happen. Or was it? He did have to security pass cards, and as far as he knew, most of the hospital staff were scrambling to look for Pepper, who for all they could know was hiding in the acres of forest around the hospital or on the highway, hitch-hiking to Duckburg or who-knows-where-else. It wouldn't be hard to sneak Fethry out, would it?

But the question came to Fenton's mind: Should he break Fethry out of the mental hospital? He was locked up in the dangerous, criminally-insane section of the hospital, under all this security. Was there actually a chance that Fethry was really dangerous? Insane? Violent? Was he supposed to be here, for the safety of himself and others?

When Fenton reached the right door, pulling out the card, he hesitated, his hands shaking. Was he really doing the right thing? Already his actions had allowed another patient to escape the hospital, and that weighed heavily on his conscience. Could he bear the burden of another?

But then again, if Fethry was innocent, if he wasn't truly insane and had been locked up here all these years, then it would be just as bad to leave him here. The least Fenton could do was talk to Fethry and find out for himself what was going on with the McDuck family and what Fethry knew about the mermaid.

He shoved the pass card in the reader, hearing the lock disengage, and pushed the door open. No turning back now.

The lights to the room turned on automatically as they were motion censored. He expected either a room like the ones he saw before with furniture, comfortable living space and everything a person needed to feel at home, or a padded room. What he found was neither. It was empty. No padding, no bed, no furniture.

And no Fethry Duck.

It was completely empty.

"What the hell?" Fenton whispered. He wasn't prone to cursing; his mother had seen to that while growing up, but on this occasion, he felt justified.

He felt shocked, then an emptiness filled him as he tried to figure out the75 whys, then he felt angry. Whatever the McDuck family had done to Fethry Duck, Fenton was now certain it was unjust and criminal. They wanted to silence Fethry, and they had left a false trail for anyone trying to find him. He just hoped that Fethry was still alive.

He didn't have time to think more on the quandary that lay before him; he needed to get out before someone discovered him. He crept through the third floor back to the security gate with the card, then pushed the card through the gate so the guard could find it. Nobody would suspect anyone had been there.

On the second floor, he had a harder time moving around. The patients, having heard the announcement over the PA, were shuffling around the halls. Most were talking to what nurses and doctors remained in the hospital, although several seemed to have congregated in a sort of lounge with a TV, books shelves, and tables with board games set up. Fenton dodged into empty rooms to avoid detection, although one time he snuck into an occupied one accidentally. He and the occupant locked gazes, then the patient put a finger to his beak, indicating silence. Fenton nodded.

When he finally made it to the security gate, he came across his biggest problem. Pepper hadn't been as careful as he had, and when she had crawled up into the space above the ceiling, she had come crashing back down on the other side of the gate, leaving a hole in the ceiling. Two security guards, one on either side of the gate, made sure nobody else came that way.

Fenton peeked around the corner one more time before leaning against the wall. How was he going to get out? He supposed he could wait until they caught Pepper, and then security may relax a little, but until that hole in the ceiling was fixed and they added bars above the ceiling to prevent anyone else from escaping again, he guessed that the gate would be watched 24/7.

He needed help. Could he distract the guards? Could he ask any of the patients for help? Or could he pretend to be a visitor and he just so happened to be caught behind the gate when the alarm sounded? All his ideas sounded stupid and would fail under scrutiny.

He went looking for ideas, shamefully going into patient's rooms before he started forming a disguise. A doctor's coat left in the supply closet, glasses on the nightstand in one room, a toupee in another, and he had the perfect disguise. He walked to the gate with confidence, pass card in hand, and only nodded to the guards. They nodded back and let him through.

It took several years of his life to do it, but he had successfully gotten into the hospital and out again. When he turned the corner, he pulled off his disguise, and dumped everything plus the pass card in the nearest garbage before heading to the exit. He was relishing the relief of not getting caught that he relaxed his guard.

"What are you still doing here?"

Fenton jumped at Nurse Daisy's voice, and hunched a little as she marched at him.

"I told you to leave," Daisy said with hands on her hip.

"I was. B-But…my bike was stolen!" Fenton said. This wasn't a lie. He was going to invent an excuse about his bike breaking and he needed to use the phone to call for help, but then he saw that his bike was gone from where he had leaned it against the side of the hospital.

"Did you see who did it?" Daisy asked eagerly. "Was it a woman without any clothes?"

"Er…what?" Fenton mumbled, his eyes going to the police cars parked around the hospital, and several officers and doctors pointing off into the forest, some even looking with flashlights as it was starting to get dark.

Since necessity is the mother of invention, Fenton was able to invent a pretty convincing lie on the spot.

"Oh, yes. I was riding my bike down the mountain, then a naked woman stopped me and stole my bike," Fenton said. He guessed that the woman that Daisy was referring to was Pepper, and he now had a pretty good idea of one reason her family had her committed.

And more than likely, it really had been Pepper who stole his bike.

Daisy gave a heavy sigh, then shouted for an officer. "She stole a bicycle. We need to widen the search."

There was a lot of movement as everyone involved in the search switched directions, most of the police officers heading to their cars. The first ones started down the mountain as fast as they could go, kicking up dust. Many of the doctors and nurses headed inside, leaving everything to the police.

Fenton recognized one of the officers, a man who had been on the force just as long as his mother. From police picnics and other events held by the precinct, he knew most of their names if they had been around for more than ten years.

"Hey, Officer Goodman."

The officer waved to Fenton, and when he asked for a ride to the bus stop, he agreed. Fenton was grateful that he didn't ask any questions.