Gosalyn walked over to Gyro Gearloose, Scrooge McDuck's personal inventor, and peered at the computer he was tapping away on. "So? Is it gonna work?" she asked.

"Theoretically," he said, adjusting his glasses on his beak before typing away furiously at the keyboard again.

Darkwing scowled. "I need more than a theory."

"All of this is theory," Gyro pointed out as he glanced at Darkwing with a small smile. "It hasn't been done before."

Gosalyn met her father's eyes, trying to pacify him with a look, but she was just as confused. How was it only a theory? Negaduck had mastered travel between universes with ease. With Magica's help, Negaduck had once managed to bring all the Darkwings from other universes into the Prime St. Canard. Cross-dimensional travel had been so easy for the villainous mallard he could probably do this in his sleep, yet it was somehow beyond this scientist?

If only Negaduck were here…

But Negaduck wasn't here, Gosalyn reminded herself, her chest squeezing painfully at the thought.

She'd fix that.

She had to.

It was the least she could do after everything he'd done for her. Teaching her how to use more than just a bow and some arrows to fight. Getting her through the worst of her nightmares about the Bay. Protecting her from Stellar as the flames died around the three of them, Stellar's face morphed into a terrifying mask of hate as Negaduck's arm tightened around Gosalyn's waist, his fingers entwined in her hair as he tucked her head into his chest.

Gosalyn wasn't able to sleep through the night anymore. Sometimes because of the nightmares about the Bay or drowning, but Darkwing was able to help with those. He'd been especially attentive to her PTSD after she'd told him about it, and did all he could to help her.

It was the other nightmares that he couldn't help.

Those ones that replayed her final moments with Negaduck again. And again. And again. Panic rising in her chest, a cry escaping from her throat, the damp chill seeping into her bones as the warmth of Negaduck was ripped away from her. She often woke up thinking his arms were still around her, that he was pressing their foreheads together in farewell, that he would look down at her as she opened her eyes, his blinding smile dazzling her in the darkness of her room….

"I think that should do it. Wanna flip the switch?" Gyro asked, looking over at Gosalyn and effectively taking her out of her memories.

Reaching forward, she glanced at Gyro and her father. At Darkwing's assuring nod, Gosalyn pressed the button Gyro pointed to.

The portal flared to life, a rainbow of colors swirling in the mechanical doorframe, a faint glow spilling out the front, illuminating the ground in front of it in warm soothing light.

"It works," Gosalyn breathed before flinging her arms around Gyro and hugging him tightly. "It works!" she cried.

"It turned on," Gyro clarified, standing stiffly in Gosalyn's embrace. She withdrew and Gyro pushed his glasses further on his beak as he cleared his throat. "We won't know if it works unless someone goes through."

"Don't wait up for me, honey," Gosalyn said, walking to the front of the portal, eyes raking the colorful glowing doorway hungrily. She'd seen a similar light and the same colors when she traveled from her world to the Negaverse. Gyro might be skeptical, but she was confident that the doorway was doing exactly what she and Gyro had programed it to.

"Gosalyn Mallard," Darkwing warned, that tone clear in his voice.

She looked at her father hesitantly, seeing the lines pulling down around his frown, the deep furrow of his brow. Gosalyn shrugged and sent him a little smile.

"We just turned it on," Gyro pointed out. "It would be better if we were to run a few tests before sending you through…"

"Oh, Gyro," Gosalyn said, grinning over at the inventor. "Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Where it should be," Gyro mentioned, walking around his computers to look at the portal himself. "Underneath a healthy dose of skepticism and my preservation of life."

"Well said." Darkwing followed Gyro, peering through the portal, his eyes sweeping over the doorway with unease.

"You're no fun," Gosalyn groused as she crossed her arms.

"And you're very young." Gyro eyed her. "Youth never believe anything bad will actually happen to them."

"I know bad things happen," Gosalyn muttered. Something bad had already happened. And she had to fix it. Why couldn't Gyro see that?

"And desperation makes us do drastic things," Gyro pointed out.

Gosalyn rounded on her father. "What did you tell him?"

Darkwing shook his head. "He's just intuitive, Gos."

Rolling her eyes, Gosalyn faced the portal and said, "Wish me luck."

"I still think—"

"Gyro. I'm going through."

"With me," Darkwing emphasized.

Gosalyn almost rolled her eyes. Almost. But she didn't want to have this argument again.

"What do you think, Mr. Darkwing?" Gyro asked, looking to the hero. "Fifteen minutes?"

"What?" Gosalyn asked, turning to look at the older ducks.

"You two get fifteen minutes to go in there and walk back out before I call for help," Gyro explained, pointing back to the phone on his console.

Somewhere down in the bowels of Duckburg's science labs, Launchpad was on the other end of the line. Ready to problem solve any issues that arose with the brightest minds in the city. Which included Honker Muddlefoot, Gosalyn's childhood friend. After graduating with his third doctorate from St. Canard University, Honker had moved to Duckburg to work for Scrooge McDuck's science division. The most up-to-date technology and constant funding had been enough of a draw to get Honker to move away from St. Canard — and from crime fighting — to explore whatever he wanted without any restrictions. And he'd been called in for this very experiment, and was currently ready to fix whatever went wrong.

The whole thing was ludicrous.

Honker was a genius. Of course Honker was a genius. But not in this. Gyro was the foremost authority on multiverse travel. In this dimension, anyway. There was no one better to be standing here, making sure she and Darkwing were safe. But if her father and Launchpad felt better for having a failsafe in place, well then, who was she to argue?

"I think—"

"You gotta give us more than fifteen minutes!" Gosalyn said, interrupting her father.

"Gosalyn…."

"We need to explore. Look around. You think we can see anything in fifteen—"

"It's just a test, Gosalyn." Lordy, the tone was back. "We go through, make sure we can walk into another universe, then come back. End of discussion."

"But—"

Darkwing's blue eyes flashed. "No."

Gosalyn itched to argue. She should have started this dimension jumping weeks and months ago. Should have been looking and searching back when this had all happened. And now she was here, literally standing in the doorway, and the adults were going to limit her search to fifteen minutes just because of safety.

There was no safety. No one was guaranteed to walk out of any situation. She'd waited long enough, researching, hypothesizing, testing…. Gosalyn needed to act.

But this test run could buy her more time later. Days. Weeks. She would be left to herself, traveling from universe to universe, looking….

"Fine," she growled out. Darkwing sighed in relief — clearly he'd anticipated a fight — and Gyro nodded his approval. The scientist went back to the screens, clicking on a few things, his fingers flying over the keyboard.

"Okay. I think I've got the connections up and running. Now, I'd find some defining characteristic of our door after you step through so you can find your way back. Some detail in the metalwork, or a landmark nearby."

"Sure, of course," Gosalyn said, stepping up in front of the portal, practically bouncing just to release some of her pent up energy.

A few more taps at the keyboard and Gyro said, "All right. Ready when you are." His hand hovered over the phone, ready to pick it up in a moment's notice.

Gosalyn nodded and inhaled deeply. Releasing her breath, she reached out for her father. She didn't have to reach very far. Grabbing ahold of his hand, she walked towards the doorway.

"Fifteen minutes, starting… now," Gyro called as the two stepped through.

Gosalyn was surprised to find that gravity worked in this portal. She was so used to floating between St. Canard and the Negaverse that it took a moment for her to realize she could just walk to other doors here.

And there were hundreds of those. Probably thousands. She couldn't see them all. Countless doorways to other universes were floating in a cylinder around her. A huge spiral staircase stood in the middle of it all, each step leading to another glowing doorway.

No need to follow Gyro's advice. The doorway that led to her home was at the bottom of the staircase. Easy enough to find her way back. As to how far up the staircase went….

Gosalyn only had to climb to find out.

Stepping up to the first door, she peered through the doorway, trying to see if she could make out anything. Shapes. Colors. Sounds. Smells.

But there was nothing.

Just a bright glow.

Taking in a deep breath, Gosalyn glanced back at Darkwing.

"Ready?" she asked, the grin she'd been holding back breaking free. She was here. It was working and she was so close….

"I-I just want…." Darkwing cleared his throat, tightening his fingers around Gosalyn's hand. "Gos." His blue eyes caught her green ones, a quiet desperation in his gaze. "Just because you try your hardest, it doesn't mean you'll get what you want."

She blinked, her smile dropping off her beak. He waited to tell her this until now? Seriously?

"I… I know," she said.

But she didn't believe it.

Not because she didn't believe her father. He had an annoying habit of being right, especially when it came to life advice. She just couldn't take failure as an option. It couldn't be in her vocabulary, her thoughts, not even in her subconscious.

Because she owed Negaduck this.

And she couldn't say goodbye.

Not yet.

With a reassuring nod from her father, Gosalyn faced forward. Stepping in sync, Gosalyn and Darkwing walked through the portal.

Don't worry, Negaduck, she thought. I'm coming.

A/N: As of now, I don't have a concrete sequel (three-quel?) in place, but it's not out of the realm of possibilities.

But, the big question: Do you think Gosalyn should find Negaduck? I have a poll on my profile if anyone is interested in voting. Or you can just review with your thoughts; I'd love to see what everyone has to say.

I'd like to send out a thank you to my most loyal reviewers: Amelia and Bookwormgal. Thanks for your constant support and kind words. They kept me writing; I just hope this story was everything you thought it would be. And to my Boswell, my Beta, I owe so much of this story to your careful eye and suggestions. Thank you! And THANK YOU to everybody who took the time to read this story! I hope you liked it :)

~RS