"Hey, LP, what're all these boxes for?" Louie tried to read the labels as he walked through the line of crates. Trying to put the fuzzy letters together only made his headache worse.

Launchpad and Dewey finished pushing the RV into the Sunchaser. "Mr. McD charged me with taking them to St. Canard. I was hoping to get there by nightfall so I could go see my…" he paused and looked over at Dewey, "Other best friend. One can have two best friends. I know because I saw it in a movie once."

Dewey punched him in the arm. "Only if you take me with you! I've been itching for some action and adventure! I hear St. Canard is fighting a whole new slew of villains."

Louie rubbed his temples. Why is Dewey's voice grating on my nerves more than usual today? "Haven't you had enough? We were nearly run off the road by a mad lunatic! We almost died! Huey's in there with a gash in his head as big as your ego and you're over here itching for more?" He shoved his hands in his hoodie and plopped into Launchpad's airplane couch. "Well count me out." His shoulder burned with tension and his head throbbed so much he could hear his pulse.

Dewey crossed his arms. "But we didn't die. We're all here and Launchpad's gonna take us to St. Canard. We can regroup and figure out what to do next while we're kicking butt with Darkwing Duck!" He punched the air.

"You can only say that because you're not the one who got hurt." A thick, heavy silence followed Louie's words until all that could be heard were a few pieces of glass falling off of the RV. Dewey's jaw clenched.

Launch cleared his throat. "Ahem, I'm just gonna… gonna start the plane and see if we can get her back in the air." He inched out of the family drama and climbed up to the cockpit.

Dewey took a few steps closer until he was inches away from Louie's face. "It wasn't my fault," he gritted through clenched teeth.

"That's not what I'll be telling Uncle D when he sees his RV." They both looked back at the rundown vehicle. One of the tires was flat, the engine was still steaming, and both ends looked like a crushed soda can.

Dewey grabbed him by the hoodie. "We were being chased by your arch nemesis! What did you expect? I did the best I could!"

Louie glanced around for Huey before staring him straight in the eye. He lowered his voice. "I saw you choke, Dew. You're always great under pressure and you figure it out in your own weird little Dewey way. But back in that RV, you froze. Why?"

Dewey's shoulders tensed and he let go of him. "Back off and stop trying to make this my fault. It's your dumb mistake that got him hurt, okay?"

Louie fell back into the couch and curled into the corner of it. He flashed back to the RV, when he found Huey laying in a heap of pots and pans, blood leaking down his face and shirt. He swallowed hard. I thought he was dead. The pounding in his head worsened until he couldn't think straight anymore. No, it's not my fault. We could have stayed on the interstate. We could have avoided Gus somehow. It's not my fault. He could feel Dewey's glare burning into the side of his head but he would never be able to get to Louie's thoughts. No one ever could. Sometimes even he wished that he didn't know his own thoughts.

"Um, guys! Some help?"

Louie and Dewey looked at each other with a shared "are we done here?" look. Whose fault was it? Louie knew that if he pressed any further, he'd end up with the answer to that question he didn't want. He preferred the silent denial and Dewey's disapproval over the rest of that argument.

Dewey rolled his eyes. "I'll get him." He went around to the other side of the RV and came back with Huey's arm slung over his shoulder.

Their eyes traveled up the tall ladder to the airplane seats.

"Yeah, you're not making that." Dewey helped him over to the couch. "Launchpad, I know this goes against your very nature, but please try not to crash."

"No can do!" Launchpad called over his shoulder. "A no-crash promise from Launchpad is one that's already broken. I don't make broken promises to my friends."

Dewey rubbed his forehead before a smile broke out across his face.

"Oh boi. I know that look," Louie mumbled.

"I guess I'll be getting my wings a little early, boys!" Dewey raced up the ladder to join Launchpad. "Co-pilot ready for landing duty, Captain McQuack!"

Louie grumbled and stuck his face into the seat cushion until he smelled old cheese and Fritos. After that he tried not to barf and kept his face far away from the cushions.

"Don't worry. I trust Dewey to land a plane over Launchpad anyday. It's in his DNA and it's not like he hasn't done it before." Huey was finally able to open both of his eyes now that his wound was more or less bandaged.

Louie spotted a tint of red seeping through the wrap on his head. "Does it hurt?"

Huey adjusted the bandages to keep it from falling into his eye and shrugged. "I'm just glad you guys are okay and that Launchpad got to us in time."

Ugh, why does that make me feel worse. I hate feeling things! Huey didn't really answer him about the pain, but he wasn't about to ask again. The answer was obvious. The next several minutes went on in silence as Launchpad got the Sunchaser into the air.

Louie laid back and stared at the ceiling, trying with all his might to keep his eyes open. Between his massive headache, the leftover adrenaline rush, and the exhaustion pulling on his limbs, it was like his body couldn't decide whether to fall asleep or not.

"Hey, who are those boxes addressed to? The stamp on the side says it's fragile laboratory equipment."

Louie glanced over at the crates. His vision went fuzzy again. "I don't know. I can't really read them from here."
"Could you go over and read them?"

Louie folded his arms behind his head. "Why can't you?" Silence. Oh wait.

Huey lifted his bum ankle and glared at him. "Take a guess, genius."

Why couldn't it have been Dewey that busted his leg? That would've given us all a break. I mean, besides all of his Dewey-drama where he makes a big deal out of everything. I guess that would have gotten old fast. Louie groaned and dragged himself off the couch and over to the crates. He squinted to try to connect the fuzzy letters.

Owww, there goes my head again. After a few minutes, he was finally able to put the words together. "VonDrake Labs."

"Launchpad, you're delivering these to Ludwig VonDrake?" Huey called up to the cockpit.

"You bet, Dewey's-brother-who-doesn't-wear-a-hat-anymore. He's got a lab in downtown St. Canard. He's actually been dealing with a lot of break-ins lately so Darkwing has been staking out his place."

"Whaaat? Okay, okay. A rock'n pool party with Gladstone, epic car chases, daring stunts, flying airplanes with Launchpad, a stake-out with Darkwing Duck, and we get to talk to Professor VonDrake? This trip is officially the most amazing road trip I've ever been on! What are the odds?" Dewey's voice faded off as he started going into some rant about all the stake-outs he's been on.

Huey smirked. "Coincidence?"

Louie climbed back onto the couch and pulled his hood over his head. "I'm not really in the mood." He couldn't think about Darkwing, Professor VonDrake, or their dad at the moment. Only one thing lingered in the thought space between his exhaustion and his pounding head.

Huey scooted over to make room between them. "You can go to sleep, you know. You look like you could use it, Lou Lou." He teased with a smirk. "I'll keep an eye on you and wake you up when we get there."

Louie swung his legs up onto the couch and rubbed his face. Sleep. Yeah, that would make him feel better. He closed his eyes and tried to get the image of Huey out of his brain long enough to fall asleep. Hopefully when he woke up, the awful twisting feeling in his gut would be gone.