FYI this snippet happened before Huey woke up in the RV.
"Oh, blast it all! Confounded contraption! Why won't you work?" Webby smacked her handheld tracer that was supposed to be leading them to Louie.
"Somebody is turning into their parent," Dewey muttered as he followed her out of the RV.
"What? No, I-" Webby groaned when the electronic device beeped louder. "You infernal piece of counterproductive contrivance!"
He curled an eyebrow, watching her shake the living daylights out of the hightech piece of equipment like it was a vintage vending machine that could be persuaded by brute force.
Feeling his eyes on her, she spun around and hid the tracer device behind her back. "Heh. You may have a point."
"I thought Huey fixed it."
"He did! At least, I thought he did. For the last hour, we've been going in circles. Every time I think we're catching up to him, he's either going the opposite direction or he's nowhere to be seen!" Webby gripped the hair at her scalp and paced in a circle until she began to wear a path in the dirt… again, acting like the Scrooge carbon copy she was. "According to this hunk of junk, we should have crashed into him three times already!"
Oh boy, she's got her crazy eyes going again.Dewey cringed and took a big step backwards to give her some space. "Well, where does it say he is now?"
Webby held the tracer in a death-grip and lifted it to her beak. "Well, according to the coordinance. He should be right over by the-" Her frustrated tone jittered into a gleeful screech. "Hamburger Hippo!" She broke into a sprint.
Why am I not surprised?Dewey folded his arms across his chest as he followed Webby to the al fresco fast food place built in the shape of a giant purple hippo. "I thought you weren't in the mood for fast food."
Webby rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Gas station food isn't food, Dewey. Besides, you know I'm a sucker for a decent hamburger."
"Are you sure we have time for this?"
She shook her hand at him like he was a fly buzzing around her head before hopping onto a bar stool at the Hamburger Hippo counter. "The tracer says he's here so we should at least take a look around, and I'm starving! Besides, it's called fast food for a reason, Dew."
"Funny. One would think that the putrid smell in the RV would have soured your appetite for the rest of the day." Dewey plopped onto the stool next to her.
Webby extended herself awkwardly over the counter to place their order with the waiter.
He scanned the small outdoor shopping mall for any sign of Louie.No sign of him. Maybe Webby's right. Her tracer is probably broken and we're nowhere closer to finding Louie and Philbert.His knee bounced as the minutes ticked past.What's Dad going to say when he finds out the rescue plan is botched?
Webby dropped back onto her seat. "Hey, where'd your dad go?"
He jerked his chin towards the gas station across the street. "He's getting Huey some water." He leaned his elbows back on the counter, feeling Webby's unyielding gaze boring into the side of his head. "Okay, spill. Why are you staring at me?"
"You just seem… agitated. You're not still upset about the chili dog thing, are you? I know it's bad but I don't think either of them hold it against you."
He stared off at the gas station, watching the doors open and close for strangers going about their business. "No, I know. It's not that."Even though that humiliation will stay with me until the day I die.
"Then what is it?"
Dewey heaved a sigh, and threw his head back, avoiding her piercing McDuck-eyes. "I guess it just feels… weird. It's not what I expected it to be like… you know, getting to know my Dad. I thought he'd open up more. It just feels like there's something still between us. Even with the water, he practically begged to go get it, like he was looking for an excuse to get away from me."
"I'm sure that's not it. He probably just wanted to do something for you and Huey. Right now, those small gestures are probably the only things he can do, that Huey will accept anyway."
"You're probably right. I'm overthinking it." Lifting his head again, his gaze burned into the gas station across the street.
"But?"
Dewey blinked off the eyestrain, his heart pounding in his ears. "But why can't I stop thinking about it? It's messed up. I want to trust that he'll come back, that he doesn't hate me… but I can't stop watching and counting the seconds, like I'm fully expecting him to walk away." He flinched when her hand rested on his forearm.
Using her foot, Webby turned his still until he spun to face her. "Relax. You didn't scare him away." Her big, sympathetic eyes only made the doubts swirling in his gut swell and grip his throat. She smirked. "And if you did, I can guarantee you that Huey and I will hunt him down and make him pay for-"
"That's sweet of you, Webby… in your ownaggressively caring way…" Dewey folded his arms on the table and rested his chin on top of them. His eyes traced the warped bubbling across the vinyl countertops as he spoke. "But I'm going off to college in a few weeks. I won't have you, Huey, or anyone to help me out of tough spots. I gotta get a handle on it on my own."
Webby raised her brow.
"Well, you know, more metaphorically than physically. We all know I can handle myself in a fight," he quickly added, throwing a few punches in the air.
She laughed, but her expression softened as if she could see straight into his heart. Placing a hand on his shoulder, Webby said, "For what it's worth, I think you're doing the right thing. Cosmo wouldn't be on this trip if it weren't for you. Giving him a chance shows real inner strength. And if you're worried about handling things on your own at school, trust me—you've got nothing to worry about."
The bubbling in his stomach evened out as he took in words of encouragement. He lifted his head and managed one of his signature, bright smiles. "Thanks, Webbs. No regrets. If I leave any legacy behind, I want it to be that—no regrets. Whatever happens with Dad... no regrets." He glanced over his shoulder at the gas station. Another stranger walked out with a case of pop. "Even if Huey turns out to be about him."
Webby elbowed him with a grin. "We'll never give him the satisfaction of knowing it." As their waiter arrived with the food, she grabbed Dewey's arm and waved her hands in the air. "Hurray for no regrets!"
Dewey laughed, pulling her into a playful headlock-hug that she easily wrestled out of and countered with a swift "snake-bite" to his arm. He yelped, rubbing the spot while she sat back with that innocent, cutesy smile of hers.
"Dewey?"
They both looked across the Hamburger Hippo to see Launchpad sitting with a plate piled high with sandwiches and half a burger stuffed in his mouth. "LP?"
"Dewey!" He scooted individually across every stool to get to them, climbing over people, sitting in their laps, knocking them off their stools–all the while balancing his tower of burgers. Finally, he settled in the seat next to Dewey. "What are you doing here, little buddy?" he murmured around his burger, grabbing him in a spine-crushing hug.
Dewey wheezed. "I was about to ask you the same thing."
He gasped and leaned over, dropping his voice to a not-so-subtle whisper. "Are you also on a covert spy mission from Darkwing?"
"Covert spy mission? What on earth are you talking about?"
Launchpad's eyes narrowed. "Sooooo… you'renota secret spy mission… in that case, I am just stopping at my favorite burger joint on my way back to Duckburg. There is absolutely nothingspy-relatedabout a good ol' fashioned pilot refueling while inconspicuously watching that suspicious-looking RV over there."
Dewey and Webby exchanged a glance, then turned back to Launchpad, unamused.
"You mean our RV?" Dewey rolled his eyes and pointed over his shoulder. "In other words, you've been following us?"
"Wait, that'syourRV?" Launchpad pulled out his phone and looked between it and the RV. "Hmmm…" He scratched his head. "Aw shucks, it must be the wrong RV. What am I going to tell DW?"
"Wait, wait, wait… hold up. Who are you supposed to be following?"
"And how long have you been following us?" Webby added.
Launchpad stared between the two of them. "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."
"LP…" Dewey swallowed hard. "Did Darkwing ask you to follow my dad?"
Knocked out of his stupor, Launchpad's eyes widened. "Wait. You have a dad?"
Dewey groaned and dragged his hand down his beak. "YES! That's why we went on this crazy adventure in the first place! We talked about this."
Launchpad rubbed his chin. "I don't recall. And I know I would have remembered a bombshell as big as my best friend having a dad." He looked Dewey up and down, suspicion weighing on his face. "Man, you think you know a guy…."
"I can't do this today." Dewey stood up on his stool and grabbed LP by the face. "Why did Darkwing ask you to follow Cosmo?"
Launchpad stared blankly into his eyes. After a long pause, his hand shot into the air. "Ooh! I know this one!" He squeezed his eyes shut and grunted like he was laying an egg. "Come on… I know this…. Oh yeah, right! It had something to do with…birds."
Dewey fell back onto the stool. "Birds? That's it?"
Heaving an exasperated sigh, Webby stepped between them. "It's F.O.W.L., Dewey."
What? How does she know?"Our family shut F.O.W.L. down, what are you-"
She silenced him with a finger to his beak, her expression no longer lighthearted or playful. The smile she gave him now wasn't soft or sympathetic—it was apologetic. Almost guilty.
A knot tightened in Dewey's stomach. "Webby...?"
She rubbed the back of her neck, her cheeks flushed slightly. "Let's just say, I didn't come on this trip just for old times' sake."