"What? You know all that about our dad and you never told us?"

Gladstone leaned against the counter and popped a grape into his mouth. "I shouldn't be telling you now, but here we are."

Dewey laid on top of the counter, his head propped in his hands like he was twelve years old again. "Do you know what happened between him and Mom?"

"No, I kinda stayed out of all that. I was also traveling with monks in Indonesia at the time. I didn't even know they got together until after I got back from my world trip. By that time, you boys were eggs and everything was a closed case."

"Another forbidden topic." Huey folded his arms on the counter and rested his chin on them. Seems like a common theme in our family.

"Another dead end," Dewey grumbled, rolling onto his back.

Huey noticed Louie squirm in his seat while watching out the window.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help more, boys. There's not much else to say."

"You told us more about our dad than we've ever heard. I mean, granted, we came here knowing next to nothing. Anything is better than nothing!" Dewey sat up, grabbing a handful of grapes. "And he likes baseball?! That means he was into sports, how cool is that?!" He stuffed the grapes into his mouth.

Huey watched him chew out of the corner of his eye. Dewey was how old? Yep, and he was still liable to choking.

"But where do we go from here?" he mumbled from around his mouthful of grapes.

Gladstone rubbed his chin before smiling. "Heyyyy, I know who you can talk to! Von Drake was heavily involved in McDuck Industries before he disappeared, and his time there would coincide with when your parents were together. Now that he's back, I'm sure he could give you some insight. But don't tell your mom or Don that I told you any of what we've discussed here today, k? Della will kill me."

Huey's ears perked up. The last time they had seen Von Drake was during the war against F.O.W.L. He knew more about Uncle Scrooge, Webby, and F.O.W.L. than anyone. Who's to say he doesn't know more secrets about our family? "I don't know why we haven't thought of it before. Uncle G, I've never said this-" and probably won't ever again "-but you're a genius." He pulled out his phone to research the old geezer. He's got to have a list of laboratories somewhere. Maybe in Uncle Scrooge's directory or something.

Louie groaned, covering his head. "You guys are joking, right? Professor Von Drake is like hundreds of years old or something. He was old when we were kids. You can't expect him to still be alive. And even if he is alive, he'd have to be a decrepit old man! He might not remember anything. We should just… j-just go home!"

The three of them stared at him.

Huey sighed. Here we go again. "Louie, you really need to get a hold of yourself. You're slipping."

"Yeah, maybe you should go back to the RV and lay down for a bit." Dewey shrugged as he dangled a string of grapes over his mouth.

"Stop telling me what to do!" he snapped. "At this rate, I'm never going to sleep again!" With that, he grabbed the can of Pep Gladstone had offered him and walked back out onto the patio.

Huey threw his arms into the air. "What's with him lately? Even at his worst, he's never this bad."

"Who knows? Last night he was like this too." Dewey tossed the grapes back in the bowl and shimmied off the counter.

Gladstone watched as Louie yanked a pool chair into the shaded spot closest to the window. "When Donaldo got this tired, he'd get mad about the littlest things and then throw a fit. Louie isn't acting like that. It seems more like he has something on his mind."

Huey watched as Louie slumped in the chair and held his head. From the sound of it, Louie wanted to give up on the search. I mean… that gives me an out. He never really wanted to go on the trip anyway. Uncle Donald was "dad" enough for him and always would be. Adding another dad to the mix just seemed impractical and like it would lead to a let down, especially with the three of them now tackling adulthood.

But we started on this trip because both Dewey and Louie wanted to try to find him. It seemed like it was going to give him some closure. If he's changed his mind, I need to know why. "I'll go talk to him." Huey hopped off of the bar stool.

"Me too."

Huey cringed and looked back at his brother. "Maaaaybe it's best if you stay here. He seems to be a little… on edge with you today. It could have something to do with last night."

"What?! Come on… I only sat on him. He's just being a big baby!"

Huey paused for a second before patting him on the shoulder. "Yeah, we'll unpack that later, bud."

"It worked, didn't it?! Ughhhhh, so under-appreciated." Dewey crossed his arms and walked back to Gladstone.

"Heyyyy no hard feelings, True-blue, but your brother's right. Green Bean probably doesn't need ganged up on today. How about you and I figure out where that old bird Ludwig went, huh? Your social media is killer. Let's start there!"

Huey plopped onto the patio in front of Louie, resting his arms on his knees.

Louie barely looked up from his hands. He shifted and hugged himself.

"Hey, what's up, dude? What's going on? I know you're not just tired." Huey smirked. "I've seen that enough to know the difference."

He pulled his hood over his head and rubbed his temples in silence.

Come on, Lou, what's up? You rarely lose your cool and when you do it's 'cause your scared. Huey gave him the silence, knowing that's what his little brother needed most to get his thoughts together, compared to Dewey.

"I don't know what to do. I always know what to do… or I at least figure it out. But not this time." He bit his lip and hugged his hoodie around himself.

"What do you mean? We've got a lead. Dewey and Gladstone will find Professor Von Drake and we'll go find him… unless that's not what you want." But that doesn't make sense. He was onboard-excited even at the prospect of finding Dad.

Louie stared at his legs. "That is what I want… but… ugh, you don't understand."

Huey groaned and ran his hands through his hair. "Then help me understand! What are you so scared of?"

"I can't tell you!" Louie burst out of the chair and hurled it over. The metal chair skittered across the patio.

Huey fell back. What in the world is going on with him? This was the kind of behavior he could expect from the Duke, but that was him. Not Louie. Never Louie.

"For once would you just leave me alone?! I need to think."

Huey jumped up and faced him. "No! You know wha? I'm sick of all the lone-wolf business. I'm not going anywhere until you start spilling the beans."

Louie pushed him back as he paced around the patio. "Leave me alone, Huey. I mean it. I don't have time for this."

Don't have time? You've got to be kidding me. Huey huffed through his nostrils and clenched his fists. He wants to duke it out, then we'll really Duke it out. "I'm not leaving. You're going to tell me what's going on with you or I will seriously pick you up and throw you in this pool." He tried to keep his voice level despite the rising temperature in his chest.

Louie gripped the air in a deadlock and yelled at the sky. "Ahhhgh! Because if I tell you, you're gonna have to fix it and you can't! If I can't figure a way out of it, neither can you."

"Whatever! Stop being so self-centered. You've been acting like a baby for half the trip and now you're throwing a fit like one!" Huey's chest filled with air. He could feel the Duke rising by the second.

"If he thinks he can treat you like you're stupid, he's got another thing coming," the Duke's thick, raspy voice whirled in his head.

"Self-centered?! That's rich coming from the guy who's making everyone's lives harder just because he 'doesn't want to go to college'." Louie threw up air quotes.

"Oh, now he wants to play that card? Does he really not know that you're doing it all for him? What a spoiled blockhead! Grab him by the hood and dunk him in the water. Do it!"

Huey closed his eyes and breathed. No, no, he's just saying that because he's scared.

"So what? He's saying what he really thinks. He doesn't need you… doesn't want your help. You're just making a mess of it… so why not let me out? Let me talk to him?" The Duke's voice hissed until Huey's thoughts jumbled.

The barrier between himself and the Duke blurred as he snatched Louie by the collar of his hoodie and shoved him against the wall. "What did you do, Lou?!"

Louie's eyes changed and the fire extinguished. His breathing picked up between coughs as the impact against the wall knocked the wind out of him. Huey could feel his brother's heart pumping through his fist against his chest.

Ugh, what am I doing? I'm scaring him more. He dropped him, staring at his hands before stuffing them in his pockets.

"He needs to be scared to see your authority. You're in charge."

Huey rubbed his head and tried to shake the Duke back to where he belonged… the darkest recesses of his mind. He sighed and looked Louie in the eyes again. His brother looked absolutely terrified, like they were 12 again and about to face an angry, undead mummy. But it was the tinge of guilt in his face that hit Huey the hardest. His tone softened. "What did you do?"

Louie sank against the wall. "I can't talk my way out this time… I tried. It didn't work. And now I'm out of time." He covered his head.

Huey's chest tightened like a giant sea worm was squeezing the life out of him. He was supposed to be done. What did he get himself into now? How long has this been going on? How did I miss it? To keep himself cool, he slid down the wall and sat beside him. "Explain."

Wincing, Louie laid his head in his folded arms on top of his knees. "I may not have been totally honest about the whole… prison thing."