In The Line Of Fire

Drake sighed as he looked at his watch. Launchpad should have been back from the shops an hour ago! He had been mooching around, while Drake was cooking, when Drake suddenly realized he had no eggs and had sent LP out to get 1/2 a dozen. Drake had long finished the vegetables and now had nothing to do. Gosalyn had had a soccer game that afternoon, and they’d won. She’d gone with the rest of the team for a celebration at McDonalds(tm). She wouldn’t be back home for another hour.
Drake sat on the lounge and turned on the 7 o’clock news.
“Gang violence has resulted in death of innocent standbyer. Shoppers were shocked just an hour ago when two opposing gangs shot at each other outside St Canard Mall. The man killed was just coming out of the front when a stray bullet caught him in the chest There were no other injures, and all gang members escaped. The dead man is unidentified. He is tall and muscular, with red hair, and is wearing flying goggles and a scarf. If anyone has any information about his identity, they should ring 1800 2374982.”
Drake stared at the TV. It could be Launchpad. Who else wore those things? And Launchpad always liked going to the mall, even though he admitted that the Avian Cornerstore was much closer.
Drake slowly reached for the phone, on automatic. He dialed the number that was still on the screen.
“Hullo, St Canard Police Hotline.” said the voice from the phone.
Drake swallowed hard. “Launchpad McQuack.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Launchpad McQuack. The man who was shot’s name is Launchpad McQuack.”
“Would you like to hold the line for a minute sir?”
Drake wondered what he was doing. Launchpad...dead? It didn’t seem real. Everything was slower, like in a dream.
“Hi, Detective Lucky Piquel. I hear you have information for us.”
“Yes. The man who was shot is called Launchpad McQuack.”
“Do you know his address?”
“Oh yes. He lives on Avain Way.”
“And who are you sir?”
“His best friend.” Drake’s voice broke.

Drake stared down at the lifeless figure. It was Launchpad allright He nodded almost imperceptibly to the detective, and he was covered again. Drake felt rising nausea rising in him. He raced outside the small room, and threw-up in the hall, until he had nothing left inside except his pain. He started to sob, heavy sobs that shook his whole body. He curled up on the floor and pressed himself into the wall. He cried for about two minutes before he remembered where he was. He looked up, and saw Lucky Piquel watching him pityingly.
“Can you take me home now?” Drake asked. Lucky nodded.

Gosalyn ran to the top of the stairs. “Was it...” She couldn’t finish the sentence, for Drake’s face showed the news plainly. Drake held out his arms, and Gosalyn raced into them, and they shared their grief.

Drake sat on the sofa. It was 1am, and he hadn’t gone on patrol, but he was so used to being awake, he couldn’t sleep. Gosalyn was nestled in his lap. They’d been there for 6 hours now. It had been a whole day since Launchpad’s death. He hadn’t eaten since lunch yesterday, and Gosalyn hadn’t had anything since lunch today.
He gazed down at Gosalyn, her tear-stained feathers drying hard.
He carefully gathered her up, put her to bed, and kissed her good-night. He wrote a note, went to the tower, and picked up his Dimensional Changer. He set it for the human world, and tossed the note through. He then went back home to work on a list of people to invite to Launchpad’s funeral.

That morning Drake woke up from his seat at the kitchen table. He looked at his watch. 8. He checked on Gosalyn, still fast asleep. He went back to the tower.

At the tower he found an answering note to the one he’d sent Thlayli, informing her of Launchpad’s death. It said:
“My heart has joined the Thousand, for my friend stopped running today.”
I’m coming over as soon as school is finished. Thlayli.
Well, thought Drake, that was another one of her strange rabbit quotes. But he was glad she was coming over, simply because he needed someone to lean on.

The chapel was not overly filled, but it wasn’t empty either. Drake had realized that Launchpad had had more friends than he’d thought. Those present were the Muddlefoots, the Queen of the Galaxy, Morgana, Stegmutt, Neptunia, Fenton Crackshell, Gyro Gearloose, Scrooge McDuck, Huey, Duey, Louie, Webby, the nice man from the Avian Cornerstore, Thlayli and Lucky Piquel. Oh, and Gosalyn. The service went deathly quiet as the pastor spoke his part. Just before it was time for the eulogy, Drake went to the back and in a flash, changed into Darkwing Duck. Darkwing Duck walked to the front. He cleared his throat.
“Launchpad was my sidekick. He was also my best and only friend that I ever had, and probably ever will. He was the most compliant, hard working, gentle, simple, kind, truthful, humble, willing man I have ever met, or ever will meet. He helped me when I ever I needed, and never once lost faith in me. I hope he was happy working with me, because I sure was happy working with him. He was the best guy you could have met, and he always will be. Launchpad McQuack, Fly in peace.”
Darkwing quickly walked down the center aisle and out the back, ignoring the curious and accusing stares of those present. He got out of his suit, grabbed a tissue, and started to wipe his eyes with it as he went back to his seat, to give the impression that was why he had left. He vainly kept his mind of Launchpad and tried to remember exactly how many of those “and ever will” bits he had put in his speech. Darkwing Duck at a loss for words...never happened before. Of course, this was the first time Darkwing was at a loss when it came to friends, or the first time he missed one anyway.
He sat poker-straight in his seat, keeping his eyes firmly at the stained glass high up, and not on the coffin below. But his eyes slowly went down, and he thought of what was in that wooden box. He started to weep silently, tears rolling down his face. Gosalyn put her hand in his, and he grabbed her, and held her close, trying to keep back the pain in heart. Thlayli, on his other side, found a tissue that hadn’t already been used by her or anyone else(not an easy task) and gently wiped his cheeks free of them as he calmed down. By then, Gosalyn had started crying again, so there was a repeat of Thlayli’s performance. The poor pastor, she thought, no one’s listening to a word he says.

Thlayli was increasingly thankful that she had come, even though her presence was slightly weird to Gosalyn. A childhood friend, Drake had told Gosalyn. This increased Gosalyn’s suspicion, owing to the fact that Thlayli was not much older than her. But Drake and Gosalyn needed help, dinner had to be cooked, clothes had to be washed, plates needed cleaning, vacuuming was required....the list went on. There was no one else to do it except her, Drake was just staring into space, and Gosalyn was only watching TV. After 3 weeks, Thlayli decided to take action.
“Drake.” she said, when Gosalyn was in bed.
“Yeah?” he answered, without taking his eyes of the wall.
“Look, I know this is really hard for you. But don’t forget what you and Launchpad did together! Just because Launchpad isn’t there to help with the crime, doesn’t mean that the criminals are going to stop! The longer you hang around, the harder it’s going to be to get back in shape. You know Launchpad always wanted you to be happy, you don’t look very happy right now.”
“I sent him to his death.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I sent his to his death. I sent him to the store to buy eggs. It’s my fault.”
“Oh Drake dear, you never knew what was going to happen! It can’t be your fault. It’s the gangs fault, not yours. And Launchpad’s already forgiven you.”
“But Thlayli, you can’t know what it’s like! It’s like there’s a constant ache in my side, and it’s always there, it never leaves.” Drake turned to her, his eyes full of hollow pain.
Thlayli put her arm around him. “I think you’d feel better if you did something. Gosalyn needs a father, St Canard needs a hero, and I need to go home to my dimension. You have one week Drake. One week till you are fighting crime, cooking dinner, and washing sheets. Got it?”
Drake closed his eyes for a few moments. Then he opened them and shook hands with her. “Deal.”

1 week later Thlayli waved good-bye to Darkwing and Gosalyn.
“Bye Darkwing, and good luck! Come visit me sometime! See ya in a few years Gos!” She stepped through the portal and was home.

That night Drake kissed Gosalyn good-night and went out on patrol. Without a friend to back him up and feeling lonely. The nights were going to be longer.

Gosalyn sighed as she went to sleep. Her dad was out there with no one to bring him home safely, to make sure that he didn’t just disappear into oblivion. The nights were going to be longer.

Story Copyright Rachel “Thlayli” Baker. All characters copyright Disney and used without permission, except for Thlayli, who is copyright me.
Sorry to all Launchpad fans, this story wrote itself one night.

Back to Fiction

Back to the Main Page

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page