Huey got to his feet and then helped her off the floor. "I knew it was really you when we passed you on her motorcycle. Now where's Dewey so I can rub it in his smug little face?"He's been such a know-it-all lately and it's about time I put him back in his place. After all, that'smyjob.

Gosalyn fixed her jacket. "Haven't seen him. As soon as I caught up with you, the RV was parked and, from the looks of it, you're the only one here."

"Eh, whatever, they're probably getting something to eat." As he looked around, he caught a glimpse of his bed head in the rearview mirror and quickly tried to tame it before she raised her head. "How did you find us anyway?"

Gosalyn raised a small hand-held tracking device and smiled slightly. "I may or may not have snuck a tracker into your brother's hat before you left. And before you cringe at how completely weird that is, just remember who my dad is. It's sort of an ingrained distrustful habit."

Huey eyebrows lifted. After a moment, a small smirk slid across his lips, a blend of both amusement and disbelief. "Okay, I am going to totally ignore the fact that you planted a tracker on my brother and instead focus on the fact that… he's not here."

"He's not-what do you mean he's not here? He's not with you?"

He shook his head. "He was kidnapped with my dad's clone son outside of a Wiggly Walters grocery store. We've been tracking him for the past day. For some reason, girls love hiding trackers on Louie—Webby stuck one on him too, and that's how we've been following him. What's up with that? I mean, am I not tracker-worthy?" He raked his hand through his hair.

Gosalyn's green eyes grew wide. Honestly, if the situation wasn't so serious, he would have been struck dumb by how cute she looked, all shocked and confused. "Dude, I just saw you two days ago!"

Huey rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeaaaaaah, I think it's time that we compare notes." He glanced out the window to see they were parked just outside a Hamburger Hippo.No surprise there. That's one of Webby's favorite places to eat.He straightened the collar of his jacket and leaned his shoulder against the wall, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Wanna grab a bite to eat?"

Gosalyn folded her arms and shifted her weight to one hip. "At Hamburger Hippo?"

"Do you have anybetterideas, miss vegan princess?" He mocked her tone.

"First of all, I'm not vegan."

"Well, your fridge full of crunchy grape nuts and salad says otherwise. Come on, live a little."

"And this is coming from a guy who was nearly taken out by a chili dog."

Huey straightened. "Hey! Who told you that?"

She sent him an aloof smile. "I have my ways."

He raised his eyebrow. "Webby. It was Webby, wasn't it?"

"Maybe, but what did you expect? You're in the hot seat now, Hue. You kinda asked for it when you asked me out. Girl talk forms bonds–and humiliates boys, that's how it's been since the dawn of time. Now you've got all the girls talk'n, Webby, Mrs. Muddlefoot, your mom, probably Daisy, you can't expect-"

Huey held his hands up. "Woah, woah, I have no idea who this Mrs. Muddlefoot lady, but what do you mean by my mom?" He took a deep breath.My mom? My mom can't know about Gosalyn and I. She'll make a huge deal about it, try to facilitate it, and then if something happens, it'll be the end of the world as we know it.As he watched Gosalyn's face turn from a playful smile to a hesitant one, he groaned. "Please tell me you didn't."

"You know what?" Gosalyn hooked her arm through his. "Hamburger Hippo it is!"

He moaned as she dragged him out of the RV.Goodbye, love life, you were great while you lasted.

"Okay, okay, it's kinda a long story but your mom came to visit our house and in the end, dad told her about us. There's more to it than that but, it doesn't matter. The fact is, she knows and she's more proud of you than any parent I've ever met. Seriously, I wish my dad was as excited about it."No joke. He's been a wreck ever since our first date.She looked up as the waitress brought her a hippo burger with a heaping pile of fries.

Huey stared at the food and looked like he could heave more of his guts out right then and there. Whether it was from the sight of food or the reality that his mom knew about them, it was probably a toss up.

"Listen, we have bigger problems, if Louie isn't with you, where is he and why didn't my track-" She glanced down at her tracking device and then back at Huey. She set it on the table and pushed it towards him. The monitor went crazy. She pulled it back and it quieted down. One little shove towards him and the device buzzed again.

She snatched the tracker and looked him up and down, her eyes narrowing.Hmm… Huey or Louie… or even Dewey… isn't that a thing triplets do?

Huey's expression remained flat, eyes half-lidded, one eyebrow slightly arched. "Before you say it, NO, I'm not Louie."

She tucked a strand of her red hair back and shrugged. "Whaaaat? No, that's ridiculous! I wasn't thinking that. I know which one you are."To be fair, I did warn him about the whole distrust thing. Besides, I don't know how all the triplet stuff works.

"Suuuuuure." He patted his jacket, fingers searching until he pulled out the tracker Gosalyn had stuck on Louie, hidden snugly beneath a decorative pin on his lapel. "There's the answer to that mystery. Louie's sleight of hand has gotten significantly better in recent years." He placed it on the table between them. "He must have known you were on to him."

Gosalyn smiled a little. "Looks like we both know we were conned back at my house when hesupposedlygave me the formula back."

"Yeah, you would think I'd learn my lesson with him. I guess I give him too much room for error." Huey rubbed the side of his head, staring down at her burger and fries. His face turned green. He not-so-subtly slid his hand over his beak.

She brushed her food off to the side. "I can't blame you. He's your brother, and what he did was a little out of left field. If Bushroot was after that formula, then why steal it and put a target on your back?" As soon as the question left her lips, she scanned his face. "Huey…" She hesitated, her heart swelling at the sight of his intelligent, caring eyes. "The last thing I want to do is hurt you or turn you against him… but the evidence suggests…."

He rested his chin on the table and let out a long sigh. "Alright. Hit me with it. I can take it."

"Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe he's not involved at all. I really don't want to think the worst of him. After all, he's your brother—and Dewey's." Her words faltered as she felt his hand gently wrap around hers, warmth flooding her cheeks.

His eyes focused solely on hers, giving her goosebumps from head to toe. "You don't have to justify it for me. I know Louie and it's not the first time he's put the world in danger. I want to hear your theory."

His calm, sympathetic voice eased the flutter in her stomach. She cleared her throat and nodded. "Putting two and two together, it didn't make sense to me that Bushroot was alive, real, and in our dimension. He was created by the ramrod, which I destroyed."

Huey nodded. "Right, and the solego circuit plans were also confiscated at the Bulba's lab, so recreating the ramrod would be nigh impossible."

Gosalyn flushed a little.That's right. He's got way more experience in both dimensional sciences and robots than I do. Whew, it's okay, Gosalyn, you've got this.

He slid his arms under his chin and smiled at her. "Go on. I didn't mean to interrupt."

Taking a deep breath, she powered on. "So the way I see it, there's only two ways for Bushroot to have survived that dimensional wormhole, much less the blast. Either the ramrod closed before he got sucked inside and he was just transported to a different time in our dimension from the ramrod blast, or…" She gestured his way, seeing the lightbulb moment shine through his eyes.

He sat straight up. "Or someone recreated the solego circuit and brought him back through!"

"Ding ding ding!" Gosalyn nabbed a fry from her plate while he was distracted and popped it into her mouth.

Huey spun around in the bar top seat, his knuckles running back and forth along his chin. "Both are interesting theories and entirely scientifically possible, considering the solego circuit is such a volatile source of inner-dimensional power. It hasn't been widely studied enough for anyone to know for sure.

Gosalyn rested her elbows on the counter and watched him, holding in a giggle. He was so immersed in his own little "theory-tank," completely unaware of the world around him, the smell of food, or his own queasy stomach. She continued to eat her food and listen to his monologue as he talked himself through the possibilities.This is so much easier than trying to figure this out on my own. He's doing all the research for me—just in his own head.

"Taking into account that we don't know the full capabilities of the ramrod or the solego circuit, we can't rule out the ramrod blast theory, however, without the ramrod plans to study, we can't confirm the theory either. In other words, we're stuck where that theory is concerned."

Gosalyn spun around in her chair, propping herself up on her elbows against the counter as she chewed bites of her burger. "Mmm, true, but you said it was possible," she murmured after swallowing.

"Well, yeah, it's possible. Without running a true test, we'd never be able to know for sure if that's what actually happened though. On the other hand…" He went down some scientific rabbit trail that was totally lost on her.

Finally he came back around to the one theory she was interested in.
"F.O.W.L. created the Solego Vortex months after the ramrod was destroyed. But instead of pulling things from other dimensions, Bradford recreated the circuit to erase things from existence. This is pure theory, but what if someone got a hold of those plans and was able to set it back to the original circuit." He rubbed his temples and spun back around to face her. "But that would mean that… either someone is gathering up all of the old F.O.W.L. intel or… F.O.W.L. is still in existence."

Gosalyn dropped her cheeseburger. "Yes! I was thinking the same thing!"

Their eyes locked, and a spark of excitement flickered between them. Her lips curled into an uncontrollable smile, as if the energy bubbling inside her had nowhere else to go. His grin quickly followed, wide and infectious, lighting up his entire face. A shiver went down her spine.Wow. Maybe we really are good for each other.

Huey's face slowly fell sullen. "So, let's say F.O.W.L. is operating behind the scenes… what does that have to do with Louie?"

Well, the moment was good while it lasted.Gosalyn leaned forward with her hands folded on the table. "If F.O.W.L. is still operating and they wanted the Von Drake's formula, it begs the question… is Louie a F.O.W.L. agent?"