Brothers, You Need Them (Even if you don't always want them - am I right?) - justducky3

Huey opened his eyes as a blinding ray of light shone through the window directly into his face. He lifted his head and blinked a few times. He took in his surroundings as his eyes adjusted. What am I doing at Drake and Gosalyn's house? He scooted up the couch, triggering all of his muscles that started a ripple effect of pain through his body. He seethed through his teeth and fell back.

He stared up at the ceiling. The Duke. Every time the chaotic part of his mind took over for a long period of time, his body went into overdrive. He was always sore the next day.

"Look who decided to join the land of the living." Dewey hopped onto the arm of the couch at his feet.

"Man, I wish I could sleep as well as you do." Louie's head came up from behind the couch. He smirked and hung his arms over the cushions.

Huey rubbed his forehead. The dull ache around his gash had been replaced by a throbbing headache all across his noggin. "How long was I out?" His voice scratched.

"A full twelve hours at least." Dewey rested his elbows on his knees.

Louie yawned and bobbed his head. "We took shifts to make sure you were okay. You didn't stir once."

Huey pressed the heel of his palm against his head and looked between the two of them. Shifts? Was that really necessary? "What happened yesterday? All I remember is…" He swallowed and shivered at the very thought of it. The Duke took over and everything had gone red. He had saved Louie, that he remembered. But what happened after that? His skin went cold. What did Gosalyn see?

"Oh yeah," Louie lazily smiled at him. "You went full Duke on that plant-head, like never before. Not gonna lie, it was kinda epic."

"The Duke 2.0!" Dewey punched at the air. "And then before you could lay your fists into Bushroot, Darkwing sprayed you both with tranquilizer smoke."

Tranquilizer smoke. "No wonder my head is pounding like it's being nailed to a wall." Huey fell back into the couch cushions.

"Guess you even stuck terror into the Terror of the Night." Louie threw up air quotes.

Dewey smirked. "Yeah, Darkwing said he couldn't risk losing Bushroot again and you were clearly out of control. He made a split second decision to knock you both out."

Huey's stomach turned. If even Darkwing saw me as a threat, the Duke must have been in rare form. He closed his eyes and all he could see was the look on Gosalyn's face as he blacked out. His head swirled and his stomach went with it. "Anybody have a bucket?" he murmured before clamping a hand over his beak.

Dewey reached behind him and pulled out a small trash can. "Darkwing said you'd probably wake up nauseous as a side effect from the tranquilizer."

Huey grabbed it and immediately bent over, hurling into it what little was in his stomach. After a few breaths, he wiped his face with a tissue Louie handed him and lifted his head out of the can. "Where is everybody?"

"LP, Darkwing, and Gosalyn took Bushroot to the police. After that I think they were planning to interrogate him and regroup at the lair." Dewey sank down onto the seat beside him, a hint of disappointment on his face from his obvious FOMO.

"And you two…"

Louie handed him a glass of water. "Dewey and I decided it would be best if we both stayed here with you."

Huey blinked. "But what about all the Darkwing stuff? The interrogation, the planning…" He met eyes with Dewey.

"Aw, it's overrated." Dewey threw his arm over Huey's shoulder. "I can call Gosalyn up for a Darkwing escapade any old time but you're my brother."

Huey glanced over his shoulder at Louie.

Their little brother shrugged. "Eh. I couldn't leave you in Dewey's hands, could I? I mean, he's Dewey."

"Hey!" Dewey started to climb over the couch after him before Huey pulled him back down.

"Guys, guys…" He smiled when the two of them looked at him. "Thanks. I really appreciate you guys staying to help."

Dewey rubbed the back of his head. "Well, it is sorta what you'd do if one of us got blasted in the face with enough tranquilizer to stop a mad horse."

"It wasn't that much, Dewey. He'd be dead!"

"Oh shut up, Lou. You don't know! Maybe the Duke's unbelievable strength could make him impervious to that much tranquilizer." Dewey stood up and flexed, making angry eyes like Huey's chaotic self.

"He's not a comic book superhero, you dummy. The Duke is still Huey and he's the same size as both of us. A horse tranquilizer would kill him."

"Then just let it be an expression!"

"You always have to exaggerate to the point where it's no longer an expression."

"I do not. Huey, tell him-"

Oh brother. Huey shook his head, holding back a laugh. "I'm not getting into this."

"Because he knows that it's scientifically impossible." Louie smirked and crossed his arms.

"Who cares? You could have just let me have it but instead you went mouthing off just to prove me wrong."

The constant heightening of Dewey's voice began to cause Huey's head to throb more. Now I understand why Louie can't stand to be around him when he has a headache. He sucked in a breath and laid back on the couch, rubbing his ear to make it not seem like he was covering it.

"Just play along sometimes instead of disagreeing with everything I say. How would you like it if I disagreed with all your dumb little schemes, huh? No, I go along with them. If anything, I add my own artistic flair to them because, trust me. They need it."

"Shhh!" Louie smacked him in the back of the head as he walked around to the front of the couch. "Look, your motor-mouth is making Huey's head hurt."

"But you're the one that got me going." Dewey rubbed the spot Louie whacked and quieted, watching him sit on the coffee table.

"Here." Louie pulled out a bottle of pain meds and sprinkled some in Huey's hand. He shot him the most sympathetic smile Huey had ever seen come from his brother. "The two of us have put you through enough as it is without us making your headache worse. You know, between Dewey's driving and my… well ..."

Huey swallowed the pills and took a swig of water. He glanced at Louie's hand as it lingered in his hoodie pocket. Oh, Louie… Louie, Louie, Louie. He caused Gus to come after them and turned Huey into the Duke right in front of Gosalyn. But those things were small potatoes compared to the big picture. The real issue rested in the fact that Louie Duck had not stopped scheming. It was then that Huey fully realized that Louie had been playing a con on all of them for the last three years. Him stealing the serum was proof enough of that. If prison wasn't enough to stop him, was anything?

"What? What happened?" Dewey scooted closer.

Huey's eyes stayed on their brother as he answered. "How do you think I turned into the Duke?"

Dewey looked between them. "No… Louie, what did you-" Even Dewey was silent as Louie pulled a liquid green vial out of his pocket.

"Heh, didn't get a chance to give it to Gosalyn before they left. I was just going to borrow it. I found it inside VonDrake's desk. I thought that if a few drops could grow a plant in a few seconds, there were endless possibilities. And VonDrake invented it so he could easily make a new batch of growth serum."

Huey sighed. He was still "borrowing" things, taking the easy route, and justifying every bit of it.

"Growth serum?! Isn't that what Bushroot was after?" Dewey squinted and stared at his fingers as he tried to add things up. After a second, he gave up, throwing his hands up. "Okay, guys, baseline, assume I know nothing. What's going on?"

Huey rubbed his temple. "Louie stole the growth serum before anyone knew it was what Bushroot was after."

"And it's a good thing I grabbed it too or Bushroot would have found it before you guys could stop him. Then who knows what would have happened."

"He almost got himself killed. Bushroot almost squeezed the life out of him… literally." Huey and Louie stared straight into each other's eyes, with Dewey on the sidelines as confused as ever.

Louie rolled his eyes. "Oh come on. I knew you'd save me."

What if I hadn't been there? What if I hadn't turned into the Duke? What if… ugh. He's so selfish! He about got Gosalyn and himself both killed. I'm sick of it! Huey sat straight up. "Louie, there comes a point where you have to run out of excuses and admit that you're the problem!"

A flash of the Duke snuck into his conscience. "That's it. Tell him… tell him everything. He's ruined everything for you."

Louie's eyes flew wide for a second before he furrowed his brow and stared at the ground, stuffing his hands in his pocket.

Huey felt a hand land on his shoulder and looked up to see Dewey standing at the ready. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths until his blood felt cool again. Dewey was oblivious to a lot of things but, when it came to knowing his brother, he could spot the Duke from a mile away. Huey sighed. "I'm sorry, Lou. I shouldn't have said that. It's just-"

"I know I'm the problem okay? That's all anyone ever tells me. I don't need you to tell me too." Louie got up to go, his gaze glued to the floor.

"That's not it. I'm just frustrated. You could have gotten killed if I wasn't there." Huey grabbed Dewey's shoulder to help him stand up. "And while I know it was the right move… drawing the Duke was only necessary because you stole the serum. Now there's no way Gosayln will ever speak to me. I get that that's my problem… but…"

"All I do is think of myself," Louie finished for him, his tone thick with sarcasm as he lifted his eyes to glare at him.

"But I know that can't be the case. You and Dewey selflessly took care of me all night and you were the one who noticed I had a headache and you took care of me." Huey smiled slightly. "I know you can be selfless… so, why do you always choose to be destructive to yourself and everyone around you?"

The room fell silent. Louie shook his head and plopped onto the other couch, facing away from them. Huey sighed and looked at Dewey. What are we going to do with him?

Dewey didn't seem to catch that thought, instead, he was stuck on something completely different. "Wait. What did you mean about Gosalyn?"

Oops.