Gosalyn was speechless and Webby had tears in her eyes. "What do you mean they're dead!?" Gosalyn exclaimed. Webby looked around at her friends.

Her eyes came to Katie, who bit her beak and rubbed her arm nervously. After reading her body language, Webby frowned at the robin. "You knew?" she said. Katie nodded.

Searching for something, Webby bit her beak. "Where's Huey?" she wondered.

Violet looked at her confused. "FOWL got Huey, remember?" she said.

Webby shot a look at Katie. Katie's eyes widened defensively. "I thought he was here," she said.

Gosalyn glared at her. "You lied to us! I wouldn't be surprised if you were working for FOWL," she said. Then she crossed her arms and turned away from her.

Katie stared at her feet and Webby gasped. "You are!" she exclaimed.

Everybody shot Katie a disapproving look, causing her to tuck in her tail. "Look, it's complicated! I rescued you, didn't I! It's just a long story," she said.

"Well, then we have time. What's the complication?" Drake said, his hands on his hips.

Katie took in a deep breath. "My grandpa is Bradford," she explained.

Nobody was in a good mood, and frankly, everyone was taking out their anger and sadness out on Katie. They started yelling at her, throwing insults. They blamed her for all the mess. She tried to defend herself, but they wouldn't listen. She started to cry.

Finally, Drake let out an exasperated breath. "It's been a long day, and we're all tired. We'll figure out what to do in the morning," he said.

Webby motioned for the others to follow her. "We can sleep in my room," she said. Katie moved to follow, but Gosalyn stopped her.

"You can sleep on the couch," she said. Katie frowned, and went to the front room. Webby gave her a sympathetic look, but then went with the other kids up the stairs.

In the morning, Black Heron threw the door to Bradford's office open. "Sir, they're gone!" she exclaimed.

Bradford answered without looking up at her. "I know," he said sternly.

Gandra came in and leaned against the doorway. "Hey, those girls we kidnapped are gone," she said.

Bradford rolled his eyes. "I know!" he said.

Black Heron put her hand on her hip. "Then why didn't you stop them?" she questioned.

"Because I didn't know until this morning," he said. Gandra glanced up at a surveillance monitor behind him. It was playing a recording from the night before.

"Hey, you'd never guess who helped them escape," she said. Bradford looked at the screen behind him. He gasped along with Black Heron.

"Katie!?" they said. Bradford turned back to his fellow agents, keeping his cool.

"Why would she do that?" Black Heron questioned.

"I told you red would have an influence on her," Gandra scoffed.

Turning to leave, Black Heron said, "I'll go with some eggheads to take her down."

"No one touches her!" Bradford stopped her.

She spun around to face him. "But sir, she betrayed FOWL," she debated.

"No one hurts her," he said sternly.

Gandra rolled her eyes. "Don't you think it's a little funny that it was your granddaughter that betrayed us, especially when you're always yelling at us to-"

Bradford slammed his hand on his desk, silencing Gandra.

"No one hurts my granddaughter, is that clear?" he shouted.

Black Heron and Gandra stiffened. "Yes sir," they said in unison before leaving.

After they were far away enough from his office, they spoke. "Director Bradford's gone soft," Black Heron said.

"Yeah, but don't you think it's a bit much to go after a little girl?" Gandra said.

Black Heron glared at her. "You've gone soft too. Look at yourself! Defending children, falling for a super hero," she sneered.

Gandra balled her hands into fists. "That was my cover," she said, crossing her arms. Black Heron scoffed at her. "Please, I can read you like an open book. Speaking of a cover for a mission, what ever happened to that red nephew?"

Breathing heavily, Huey ran through a tall forest. A looming darkness hung over him. The grass around him was brown and withered. Several brambles scratched at his feathers. Some crooked roots poked up out of the ground, causing him to stumble. He even scraped his knee on a few rocks. There was a high pitch screech from bats and owls, and other such night creatures. He kept running, short breathed.

He could hear his brothers calling for him. "Huey! Huey!" Dewey and Louie yelled. Huey searched for them, unable to find them. They sounded so scared. As the eldest, it was his job to protect them, to make sure they felt safe. More bushes and tree branches scratched at his arms, leaving blood cuts, but he kept going.

When he finally found his brothers, he was too late. Their dead corpses lay on the ground, a pool of blood around them. Huey gasped. A figure stood before them, a knife in his hand. Out of anger, Huey jumped on the figure. But after he got a better look, Huey's heart fell. The killer had been himself.

Huey shot awake from his nightmare. His breathing was uneasy, and his eyes were a tired red. He bit hard on his beak to keep from crying. He couldn't see anything. The cell he was in was pitch black. After one night, Huey was in worse than low spirits.

There was a high pitch beep in the room. Huey frowned and covered his ears. That beep occurred every several minutes. Huey had once read about a form of punishment where a single drop of water landed on someone's head every so and so. Until finally the water droplet felt like a sledge hammer. Huey assumed this beeping was the equivalent of that. After several beeps, Huey's mind felt like it was exploding.

Huey was so exhausted. He hated this place and everyone in it. He stopped himself. Not everyone. Everyone except Katie. In the dark, a thought crossed his mind. Had Katie been playing him too? Huey tucked himself into a ball on the cold floor. That was another thing with this room. The temperature randomly changed. It'd either be extremely cold or extremely hot. One hour he would be sweating, the next his teeth would chatter.

Right now, Huey didn't know what to think. He was mad, and frustrated, and sad, and some weird mix of all three. But for some reason he wouldn't cry. He hated himself for not crying. He hated himself for wanting to cry. He hated himself for... being the end of his family.

Huey's eyelids grew heavy, and he longed so much to sleep. But he was scared to. Whenever he closed his eyes, he had nightmares of his brothers. They would somehow die, just for Huey to discover it was himself who caused their death. Because that's what he was. A murderer. Worse than that. He hadn't killed just anybody. He hadn't killed a friend. He hadn't even killed one family member. He killed them all. He killed them all and took joy in his victory.

All his rage and sadness bundled up in him. He wanted to punch someone or at least talk to someone, but he couldn't. He had lost his voice. He had lost his will. The boy became emotionless, just a boy in the dark cell. When it was cold, he huddled in the corner. When it was hot, he laid out on the floor. When they tried to give him food on the most random cycle, he refused. He had no reason to keep on. Everyone he loved was dead or an enemy. There was no one left for Huey Duck.

Gandra marched down the hall upset. She grumbled under her breath, impersonating Black Heron. "'You and Bradford are going soft, neh, neh, neh!'" she said, using her hand as a puppet. "Soft? She thinks we're going soft? He straight up made the kid murder his own family, and she says we're going soft?" she argued. Gandra was already upset that she was the one who had to watch Huey.

She stalked down the dark hallway. The only light she had was her phone light, because Bradford has insisted that they keep it pitch black in there to scare the duckling. Gandra carried a tray with a stale roll and some unidentifiable thing. When she reached the door, she opened the slot and shoved the tray in.

"Here's food," she said, a hint of annoyance in her breath of her previous argument.

"I hate you," he called through the door.

Gandra rolled her eyes. "I don't care, kid," she said. Bradford had strictly told her that she could only talk to him to get his attention for food, but she didn't care about listening to him either.

"No one cares," Huey said.

For some reason, that statement triggered something in her. "Huey, are you alright?" she asked out of nowhere.

"What do you think?" he said snarkily.

Gandra was taken back. That didn't sound like Huey. The Huey she knew wasn't bitter. "...Look, if it's worth anything, I'm sorry for you family," she said. Her mind was screaming, what the heck are you doing?

"Well, it's not. Now get out of here, you suck," he said.

Gandra frowned and stomped to Bradford's office. "Sir, you have a suicidal kid in there and you have to do something about it," she demanded.

Bradford chuckled. "I know, I've been watching him," he said. He pushed a button on a remote, rewinding the footage. "This is when we first put him in there," he explained. The footage showed Huey banging against the door, demanding to be let out. Bradford fast forwarded, and it was Huey startling himself awake from his nightmares. Then bit more present, Huey just laid there.

"Sir, the kid won't eat anything, he hates everything, and he's made it painfully clear that he especially hates you," she said.

Bradford folded his hands together. "And you want me to let him out? If I do that, he'll probably kill me," he said.

Gandra put a hand on her hip. "Well you have to do something, or else you'll have a dead duckling," she said.

Bradford glared at her. "I needed him to take out clan McDuck, which turned out easier than expected, he's served his purpose, so I don't care if he kills himself or not," he said. Gandra bit her lip to keep from shouting at him.

She opened her mouth to say something, but Bradford stopped her. "I know you've got a soft spot for the kid. In fact, your the weakest agent here. Even Steel Beak has bigger guts than you. And I know why you like the boy," he said.

Gandra hesitated.

Bradford went on. "He reminds you of yourself when you were younger." Then his voice got creepily quiet. "But, Gandra, don't make me regret saving you that day. Now leave."

Gandra stiffened and nodded. Then she left the room, closing the door behind her.

Ten years ago...

Letting out a sigh, a raven reclined in her chair. No one else was in the hospital waiting room. The teen bit her beak. She already knew what was going to happen. It wasn't a surprise to her. But it didn't take away the sting.

The image of what had happened rung in her mind. She and her older sister were chatting. They came to the corner of the packed street. Her sister pressed the button on the traffic lights. They waited for the ghost man to appear on the small screen. The girl went on about random stuff, not really paying attention to her surroundings.

The image of the digital walking man was displayed, and the two crossed the street. They were halfway down the walkway when it happened. "Gandra! Look out!" her sister shouted, snapping her out of her thoughts. Fifteen year old Gandra looked up to see a large truck coming straight for her. At the last second, her sister shoved her out of the way, taking her place. And then...

Gandra was startled out of her thoughts when a carrier came past the hallway. The doctors were stressing to keep the patient alive. They took the woman on the bed to another room. Gandra jumped to her feet.

She trailed after one doctor. "Where are they taking that woman?" she asked one standing in the hallway.

"Miss Dee, they're going to have to take her in a helicopter to St. Canard for a special doctor," he said.

Gandra bit her lip. "Is she going to be alright?" she asked, her eyes starting to water.

The doctor went silent. The girl's lip quivered. "No, she has to live. She's all I have left!" she cried.

The doctor put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, miss Dee, but we're doing everything we can." Gandra pulled away from him. Tears went down her face. She looked after where the doctors had taken their patient.

Later that night, Gandra got the call. Her sister was dead. And somehow, the silence of her apartment was even quieter.

Seeing as she was a minor living alone, it didn't take long before the CPS came to take Gandra. She sat in their car, her face downcast. She hadn't even had a proper goodbye. She missed her older sister. She always knew how to cheer Gandra up. But now she was gone. She clutched the light blue jacket in her hands. It was all she had left of her sister.

The adults stood outside the car, discussing what to do with her. She couldn't take it anymore. She climbed out of the car and ran. The adults called after her, but she kept running. She had no clue where she was running to. She had nowhere left to go, no family left alive.

Finally, her legs gave out and she stopped running. She sat down in the alley she found herself in. Then she tucked in her knees and cried. She cried out all her pain and sadness. What if she had done more? She could've stopped her sister from getting hit by that truck. She could've done something, called the ambulance faster. But she didn't. And now she had nothing left.

A hand went out to her. She looked up to see a vulture there. "What's wrong, miss?" he greeted, pulling the teenager to her feet.

She wiped her tears with her sleeve. "My- my sister. She..." Gandra hiccuped from her previous crying. She couldn't bring herself to say it. The man nodded, needing no more explanation.

"I- I know the pain of losing someone, but it'll get better, I promise," he said.

Gandra shook her head. "No, she was all I had left. I'm all alone now, and I'm going to a new home," she sobbed.

The vulture held out his hand. "I wouldn't mind taking care of you. At least, until you can figure out where to go from here," he offered.

She hesitated before taking his hand. And that was how Bradford and Gandra met. She had gone from a first impression. But in the words of Lemony Snicket, first impressions were usually wrong.

Leaning up against the door of Scrooge's study, Katie tried to listen to their conversation. They hadn't allowed her to go in with them because they were all still mad at her. In fact, Gosalyn and Violet had wanted to tie her up, but Webby and Boyd wouldn't let them. And then Drake had told her that he had his eye on her.

Through the door, it was really hard to hear anything anyone was saying. Katie felt a buzz in her pocket. Pulling out a silver phone, she looked at the caller ID. It was her grandfather. She cringed at the thought of facing him. So she waited until it went to voicemail and put her phone on silent.

She bit her beak. Was this really better than being at FOWL? She shook her head, trying to clear her uncertainty. Then she pressed her head up against the door, trying to hear.

"Now, is everyone on the same page?" Drake asked. Webby and Gosalyn nodded after he had told them everything that had happened while they were captured.

Then the adult turned to Webby. "You knew Scrooge best out of us. Do you know where he might keep Finch's journal?" he asked.

Webby thought a minute. "I know it would be somewhere hard to find. He knows we have access to the other bin, so he wouldn't put it there. I- I mean, he knew..." She drifted off. Violet put a hand on her shoulder.

Webby pulled herself together and went on. "And he knew other villains would try to get their hands on it so he wouldn't put it somewhere obvious."

Gosalyn jumped up with a eureka moment. "I know where it could be!" she said. Everyone looked to her. "It's never the place you most suspect. But! It's also never the place you least suspect! From that logic, I can conclude that it's in the place we most medium suspect!" she deducted.

Webby, Violet, and Boyd tried to follow her logic. "Yup, I taught her everything she knows," Drake said proudly with his hands on his hips.

"Well then where is it?"

"I... have no idea."

"Really Gos?

They dismissed their meeting, realizing it was hopeless. While Gosalyn and Drake trying to find the place they "most medium suspect" had the journal, Boyd decided to get acquainted with the new girl.

He stepped up to Katie, sticking out his hand. "Hi, I'm Boyd, a definitely real boy!" he greeted. Katie was taken back by his kind gesture. He stood waiting for her to respond.

Then she shook his hand. "I thought you guys hated me," she said.

Boyd was about to respond when Violet stepped between them. "Hate is a strong word. Now, strongly dislike on the other hand," she said.

Katie frowned. "Why won't you guys just trust me!" she pleaded.

"Because you killed our family!" Violet said loudly.

Katie folded her hands. "I didn't kill them, Huey did!" she said on impulse. Then she slapped her hand over her mouth, realizing what she said.

Violet seemed unmoved. "She knows how to lie too? A girl of many skills," she said. Though Violet didn't speak with much emotion, Katie could still tell she wasn't being very friendly. "A skill you got from Bradford, I presume?" the hummingbird added, raising an eyebrow.

Katie bit her beak. "I'm not a liar! And I'm not even sure my grandpa was lying when he told me about you," she said crossing her arms.

Boyd tried to separate them. "You guys! Fighting won't help!" he said.

Violet glared at him. "Neither will talking with the enemy!"

"Why can't you see I'm trying to help you!" Katie exclaimed, tugging on her dark hair.

"Because your family messed everything up!" Violet pressed.

After a minute, Boyd stopped trying to split them up. Throwing his hands up, he shouted, "¡Basta! ¡Katie quiere ayudar! ¡No creo que signifique ningún daño!"

The girls stepped back and gasped.

Boyd's eyes widened. "Pourquoi je parle en espagnol ? Je ne fais pas ça exprès !" he exclaimed.

Violet, who had learned several languages and could understand him perfectly well said, "Actually, I don't think it's Spanish anymore. It might be French."

The robot boy started to freak out. "Cén fáth a bhfuil sé seo ag tarlú!"

Katie looked around nervously. "I can't understand what he's saying! Should we get help?" she asked. Boyd nodded up and down.

"I'll do it, we don't need your help," Violet said. She started dialing on the phone, but Boyd smacked it out of her hand. She shot him a look. "Boyd! What are you-" she began, but then realized he had no control over his body.

He was now repeatedly walking into a wall like a broken video game. "Ktoś mi pomoże! Zadzwoń dr Gearloose lub Fenton!"

Katie moved to help him, but Violet stopped her. "I already told you, we don't need your help!" Violet and Katie glared at each other.

Webby came into the room. "What's going on in here?" she asked. Boyd ran up to her, in control of his body again. "Mae fy cylchedau cyfieithu i gyd yn rhyfedd ac mae fy araith yn llanast!" he explained.

Webby had learned as many languages as Violet, possibly more, and could understand him. "Violet! Katie! Why didn't anyone get help?" she questioned, looking to the two girls.

"I was going to, but Violet wouldn't let me leave," Katie explained.

Violet put a hand on her hip. "That's not true, in fact I'd be very happy if you left," she said with a smirk.

"And I did try to call for help, but Boyd smacked my phone out of my hand and it slid under the fridge," she added.

Webby took hold of the robot boy. "Alright, then we'll go get Mr. Mallard. Then he can take us to Gyro," she suggested. Boyd nodded. Then he started making a clicking noise.

"- ... .- -. -.- / -.- - ..- -..- / .- - / .-.. . .- ... - / ... - - . - -. . / -.-. - ..- .-.. -.. / ... . .-.. .-. / - ."

Webby raised an eyebrow at him. "You can speak Morse code?" she questioned.

Katie jumped up. "Oh, I know that one!" she smiled, happy to know at least one of the languages.

After they had gotten Drake, he looked at the kids. They stood in the foyer, and the front door was open.

"Alright, I only have enough room for four in my car, and one seat is for me to drive and Boyd has to come. So who's staying?" he asked.

Webby looked past him to the wore down car out front. "Aren't you a movie star? How come your car can only fit four people?" she asked.

Drake narrowed his eyes. "I'm not rich and famous yet. And you can't go wrong with a simple car," he said. Just as those words came out of his mouth, the bumper of his car fell off. He winced. "Unless you let Launchpad drive your car," he added.

Then he turned back to the question at hand. "So who's coming?"

Violet raised a hand. "Can I go?" she asked.

Drake nodded. "Alright, one more," he said.

Katie was about to speak up, but Gosalyn interrupted. "Webby can go, and I'll stay here and keep an eye on our prisoner," she said.

Katie put her hands on her hips. "I'm not your prisoner, you didn't even capture me. I came on my own free will," she corrected. Gosalyn ignored her.

Thanks for reading and thanks for the support!