A/N- This is in response to the Guild of the Fantastic Quill's Fourth Challenge, AKA The Question Challenge. Out of a list of pre-selected fandoms, you had to choose ONE and use the character listed with that fandom as the main character. Then, you had to answer one of the four questions given using that chosen character/fandom. I chose, obviously, the Darkwing Duck option, which had NegaGosalyn as the character. And the question I chose to answer is, well, the title of this little ditty. If anyone is interested, the link to the blog where all our challenges are posted can be found under the homepage link on my profile. And one final note, although this is set in the Negaverse, I'll still call the characters "Nega (name)" to avoid confusion with Darkwing's world.

Does It Hurt?

Bruises and broken bones mend in time. Memories rarely fade.

"Does it hurt?"

I remember staring at NegaTank when he had asked me that. For the longest time, I merely sat and stared at him. I may have blinked a couple of times. But I didn't speak, of that I was certain.

Now, I tasted blood in my mouth. It recalled his question to me. I dared to sit up. My eyesight was blurry, but it was starting to focus again. But I don't make another move. Not so much as a twitch. I won't even wipe the blood away. My curly red pigtails were matted and askew. But I remained still. Like death. Because I feared that was what would become of me.

Negaduck stood before me, raging. His path to the Normalverse—Darkwing's beautiful St. Canard—had been destroyed. He was blaming me as his hand landed across my beak once more. I fell back to the ground, crying out as quietly as possible. For a brief moment, while my head reeled from his blows, I wondered if he heard me...if he cared. My guardian. My dark father.

At least it was actually my fault this time. This time, I decided to just stay down. My beak still hurt. And laying flat on the floor of our dark, dirty house made me a more difficult target.

"…all your fault, you ungrateful brat!" Negaduck growled, looming over me.

I didn't argue. I merely stared up at him, wishing that I could just go away. Wishing that I had left with Darkwing. Negaduck glared at me. He was waiting for an answer, a plea, or something. I knew I should speak, but I couldn't find my voice. With another growl, he landed a kick in my ribs and stalked off. I curled up, holding my side. Tears welled up in my eyes.

So, does it hurt?

Always.

End Notes: Okay, so how was that? So, this is obviously set after "Life, the Negaverse, and Everything." If any of you who are reading this are also reading my fic "All Fall Down," you can think of this as a kind of prequel, if you want. However, I didn't quite mean it to be that way. Well, please review!