Katie skipped through the halls of FOWL. She was bored waiting for Huey. There wasn't much to do without him. She stepped into his office. "Hey, grandpa, I-"

Bradford raised a hand to quiet her, and she realized he was on the phone. She frowned and left.

Half an hour later, Huey came back. He was drenched in water. "What happened to you?" she asked.

Taking of his cap, he shook water out of his hat. "Shot a bazooka at a sub," he said. He wrung out his shirt.

"That sounds amazing!" she smiled.

He nodded in agreement. "I'm going to go change," he said, walking off to his room. Katie rocked back and forth on her heels patiently.

From around the corner she heard Black Heron and Steel Beak talking. She stopped and listened.

"We finally beat the Ducks," Black Heron said.

"We did? How?" Steel Beak wondered.

"Who do you think was on that submarine?" she said. Katie let out a gasp.

"Wait... I thought it was just information on that sub," he said confused.

"No, it was the kid's family. No one told you because you're too stupid to not tell him," Black Heron sneered.

"I'm not stupid!"

By that time, they had walked too far that Katie couldn't hear. She held her breath, biting her lip. Huey appeared behind her. "I'm back!" he smiled.

Katie jumped startled. "Huey!" she exclaimed.

He noticed her strange expression. "Is everything alright?" he asked.

"Huey, there's something I have to tell you," she began.

"Alright, shoot," he said.

Katie put her hands on his shoulders. "No! Like something really important!" she went on.

Huey looked at her with a confused face. "What is it?"

"Huey... I'm so sorry..."

"What? Just tell me already!"

"Huey... Your family is..."

"..."

"Your family is dead."

Huey went quiet. Katie waited to see what he would do. To her surprise, Huey let out a small chuckle. "That was a joke, right?" he said.

Katie bit her beak. "Huey..." She looked at him solemnly.

The boy in red was speechless. "Right?" he asked again. Katie shook her head. Huey just stood there. She could see all the gears turning in his head, trying to process what she had said.

"No," he said simply. He took a step back. "No, no, no, no. No!"

Katie reached out a hand to him, but he pulled away. "How? How do you know?" he asked.

She folded her hands. "I heard Black Heron and Steel Beak talking about it," she replied. In one swift movement, his hands balled into fists and he spun around and ran. Katie watched after him sadly.

...

Huey burst into Bradford's office. The vulture started to greet him, but Huey jumped on top of his desk. "What did you do!?" he demanded. Huey's face was red and steam blew out of his ears.

Bradford held up his hands defensively. "I don't know what you're talking about, Hubert," he said.

Huey glared at him. "Don't play stupid! You killed my family!" he shouted.

Bradford nonchalantly shuffled some pages on his desk. "Huey, I did nothing of the sort," he said.

Huey narrowed his eyes. "Don't lie to me! How did you kill them!" Huey looked just about ready to punch the nearest thing, which happened to be Bradford.

"Oh, Huey. Sweet, not so innocent Huey. I'm telling the truth in saying I didn't kill your family," Bradford said softly.

Huey raised an eyebrow. "So they're alive?" he asked hopeful.

Bradford smirked while shaking his head. "Oh, no, they're gone. It just wasn't me who killed them."

That second confirmation of the status of his family was enough to shake Huey to his very core. "They really are gone," he said under his breath. His voice cracked and tears began to form. He would never help Dewey on an adventure again. He would never involuntarily help Louie with a con again. He would never feel their sweet embrace again.

"I told you if anyone got hurt, I was done!" he cried, turning his back to Bradford.

"Huey, I don't know why you're so mad at me. Like I said before, I didn't do it," the vulture defended.

"Well if you didn't, who did!" Huey demanded.

Bradford chuckled.

"You."

Huey stopped. "What?"

"Do you really think I'd just send you to shoot some random submarine in the middle of the ocean? They were on that sub Huey. And you pulled the trigger," Bradford said.

A million things broke deep down in Huey. "I- I- " The duckling found himself at a loss for words. He just stood there on the desk. He stared down at his feet. All he could get out was, "I hate you."

Through gritted teeth, he repeated, "I hate you!" Tears came rolling down his face. "I quit all this! I hate you!" he shouted.

Bradford clicked his tongue. "You can't quit. We have a contract."

Huey couldn't speak, but Bradford could tell he wanted to protest. He pulled out the contract from his desk. "Huey, when you read through this contract, you forgot a very important junior woodchuck rule. Rub all documents with a pencil."

Huey let a gasp escape him. Bradford took out a pencil, and rubbed over the contract. "I, Hubert Jet Fergus Duck, hereby promise my life to the advantage of FOWL. If I break this contract, I accept any punishment and/or torture the director has for me. And nothing else may change that," he read.

Then looking back at Huey, Bradford said, "Now, if you ask me, quitting would break that lifelong contract, and I don't think you want to suffer the consequences, do you?"

Huey glared down at him. If looks could kill, Bradford would be dead a thousand times over. "I hate you!" Huey shouted again.

"Yes, you've made that very clear. So, will you obey, or not?" Bradford asked.

Without thinking, Huey jumped at Bradford. But before he could actually do anything, two muscular eggheads grabbed the boy. He tried to wrestle them off of him, causing his cap to fall to the ground. "I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" he screamed.

Bradford sent the two eggheads away, saying, "Send him to cell 25."

...

The sun was beginning to descend into the bay. The sky turned a mix of purples and blue. All the citizens of Duckberg were turning in for the night, and most lights were off. The wind nipped at Violet, Boyd, and Drake's beaks. Violet rubbed her arms to comfort herself. She couldn't help but feel something was off. It sent chills down her spine.

They were sitting together on the steps to the mansion, waiting. Waiting for their friends and family to return safely. Waiting for everything to go back to normal, wrapped up in a neat little bow. But it seemed like they would have to wait a lot longer for that.

Violet and Boyd exchanged a look. "Don't you think they should've been back by now?" Boyd asked. "I wonder what's keeping them."

Drake Mallard sat next to them. "I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. They're probably fine," he assured. He was waiting for Gosalyn to come back with them.

"But what if something went wrong? What if it was a trap?" Violet questioned.

Drake was about to say something when they heard the sound of a window breaking in the mansion. "What was that!" Drake exclaimed, jumping to his feet.

Using his robotic strength, Boyd managed to open the door. They ran inside the mansion.

In Scrooge's office, they found two eggheads rummaging through his stuff. The kids and Drake gasped at the scene. "What's going on here?" Drake demanded.

The eggheads looked at them. "Hey, I thought the boss said no one was home? That he had taken care of them?" one said to the other.

The kids stood behind Drake. "In case you didn't know, breaking and entering is a crime," Drake said.

Without answering, the eggheads went at him. They were ready for a fight, their hands balled into fists. They lunged for him. Drake threw a few punches at them. A quick kick to the gut sent one egghead back. The other one swung for Drake's head, but he ducked. Then he swept for the egghead's legs. The FOWL agent fell on the ground, joining his partner.

Boyd smiled up at Drake. "Where did you learn how to fight like that?"

The adult rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, I... I do all my own stunts, that's it," he said, smiling nervously.

Then he turned his attention back to the eggheads. "What do you mean they took care of the Ducks?" he questioned.

The egghead let out a chuckle. "Oh, he blew the family out of the water," he sneered.

Drake thought. "Like... like he blew them up!?"

The eggheads laughed a bit as confirmation. Drake glanced at Violet and Boyd behind him. They both had looks of disbelief on their faces. He was dealing with his own emotions, but he couldn't show it. He had to stay strong and not let the enemy know he was hurting.

"What are you doing here? What do you want?" he asked.

The eggheads wouldn't talk so easily. Instead, one kicked Drake in the stomach, sending him back. Then they jumped to their feet and ran for the window.

"Hey!" Drake shouted.

"I'll get them, Mr. Mallard," Boyd said, going after them. His feet transformed into rockets and he flew up. He just barely missed them as they jumped out of the window. But one dropped his phone.

Boyd took it and rushed back to Drake and Violet. "They got away but dropped this," he said, handing it to him.

"Great work, Boyd. Let's see if it has any clues on it. Come on Violet," Drake said. She didn't move. He glanced at the hummingbird. She was frozen in place.

"Violet?"

Her beak quivered. She looked up at him, tears brimming her eyes. He gave her a sympathetic look and knelt to her level.

"They're gone," she said. Drake let his guard down, and his eyes watered too.

Boyd joined them. "Huey and Louie," he whispered.

"Webby," Violet spoke under her breath.

"Launchpad and Gos," Drake added. Then he gave them a determined look. "We're going to put a stop to FOWL."

...

Stepping into her grandfather's office, Katie spoke up. "Where did Huey go?" she asked. It had been a while since she'd seen him and she thought she heard shouting from the room.

He looked up from some pages on his desk. "He... left," he said.

Katie raised an eyebrow. "Left? Left where?" she questioned.

"He went home," he said.

"But I thought he was staying here at headquarters," she said confused.

"Well, he decided he missed his family, but he'll be back eventually," he said.

Katie bit her beak. "I thought his family died."

Bradford stopped. "Where did you hear that?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I heard some agents talking about it," she responded. She nervously glanced around the room. One thing that caught her eye was Huey's cap. It idly sat on the floor. She watched it carefully.

Bradford shook his head. "You must've misheard them," he said. Her gaze shifted from the cap to him. Katie put a finger to her chin thoughtfully. "Now, why don't you go play or something. Grandpa's busy," he said abruptly.

Confused, she left his office. "That was weird," she said to herself. Closing the door, she saw Black Heron pass by. Katie smiled. She could always talk to her. And so she followed her.

...

Tapping her foot, Webby hummed the Darkwing Duck theme song. "Ba, buh dum, ba ba bah dum, bum bum bum ba bum," she sang.

Gosalyn joined in. "Wah! Wah wah!" she exclaimed, playing and imaginary saxophone.

Black Haron banged her robotic hand on the iron bars to their cell. "Will you two shut up! That song is driving me nuts!" she shouted.

Gosalyn smirked at her. "That just adds to the fun of singing it," she sneered.

Black Heron sighed, rubbing her temples. Then she turned around and started work on a project at the table. Gosalyn found joy in annoying this woman. She exchanged a look with Webby. The girl in pink nodded.

"So watcha working on?" Gosalyn asked. Black Heron ignored her and stirred some stuff in a beaker. "I bet it's some kind of cool potion. You know, once I accidentally sat in a potion that turned me into a slime monster!" Gosalyn went on.

Webby exaggerated her face. "Oh ma gosh, really! That must've been toats amaze!" she said in a high pitch voice. "Once, I fell into some magic water that made me the size of a skyscraper!" she added.

"Oh! This one time, I was shot with this experimental ray, and it split me into three parts, each with a different aspect of my personality!" Gosalyn said.

"Once, I got hit with a shrink ray, and I rode an ant!" Webby said.

"I was once turned into a monster by my dad's girlfriend's crazy family!"

"Well, I was-"

"Shut up! I am trying to think!" Black Heron let out. The girls clamed up. But they both let a smile cross their faces.

"So, B.H., what do you plan to do with us?" Gosalyn asked.

Black Heron rolled her eyes. "Don't call me that," she grumbled.

"Well?" Webby asked expectantly.

Black Heron sighed. "Well, since Bradford doesn't want you, and no one is coming to save you-"

"Wait, what do you mean?" Webby asked.

Black Heron stifled a laugh. "Oh, nothing. Anyways, he said I could use you girls as test subjects for my experiments," she said with an evil laugh. Gosalyn and Webby exchanged a look.

Finally, Black Heron left, leaving the girls alone with their imagination. And imagination can sometimes be a dangerous thing, especially when you've just been told you'll be used as a guinea pig.

...

Watching from around the corner, Katie saw everything between Black Heron and the girls. She bit her beak. Several things ran through her mind. Had her grandpa lied to her about Huey? She had seen his cap by the floor, and she knew Huey wouldn't go anywhere without it. Had they kidnapped two girls? Black Heron had said that no one would save them. Katie contemplated helping them after Black Heron had left.

Taking in a deep breath, she decided against it. Her grandpa knew what was going on, and it was probably good. She trusted him. One hundred percent. Mostly. Sort of. Kind of. A little bit.

A thought passed Katie's mind. Wait... are FOWL the bad guys? She laughed at the silly thought. She walked back to her room, mentally arguing with herself. Back in her room, she held a picture frame. The photo was of her, her older sister, and her grandfather. They all looked so happy. Then why did she feel so weird now? She couldn't be working for the bad guys... right?

She walked around in circles, contemplating everything.

Song (To the tune of Everything I ever thought I knew from Tangled the series)

Katie:

I thought I was on the right side

The good side of the war

Thought we could beat anyone

That I was meant to soar,

I thought I had a family

And how could I have known I was wrong

Oh so wrong

Katie's mind wandered to Huey. He was trustworthy. He could tell her what to do. Except he had left. And she didn't know when or if he would even come back. She sighed. Maybe he knew it all along. And she was left alone in the dark.

And then I thought I found it

A dream that could share

I thought I was so lucky

It almost wasn't fair

I thought I knew my purpose

I thought that I knew where

I belong

But I was wrong

Setting her picture back on her desk, she threw herself onto her bed. She held a pillow tight to her chest.

Everything I ever thought I knew

Where I've been

Where I'm going

Everything I counted on turned out to be untrue

Could've guessed

Should've known

Now I do

Katie frowned. She had never had a mission, but from the other agents, they sounded so cool. All she had wanted to do was go out in the field. But now...

Everything I've yearned for

Everything I planned

All my sweetest memories were castles made of sand

Now that it's all crumbling

Help me understand

If none of it was really true then what am I supposed to do?

To her surprise, one tear escaped her eyes. She quickly wiped it away. She bit her beak, her heart being torn apart. To stay loyal to FOWL or to go against everything she had ever known.

And everything I ever thought I knew

Every hope

Every feeling

Love and trust and happiness

They're done, they're gone, they're through

And what's left

Me alone

Once again

Should've known

Now I do

END SONG

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