A/N: When I first started this I had the goal to have it finished before the season finale, and I can't believe I did it. Not only did I do it, but I did it with more than a day to spare. I'm actually feeling kinda proud of myself.

Donald was fairly certain that his boys would be the death of him one of these days. He tried to look out for them, which was really hard to do without being overbearing and overprotective. He thought he did an okay job at it, but then the boys kept on finding themselves in ridiculous and impossible situations that nearly gave him a heart attack every single time.

Donald didn't know whether it had gotten better as the boys had gotten older, or if it had gotten worse. On one hand, as the boys grew more capable of taking care of themselves and each other, they got better at getting themselves out of trouble. On the other hand though, as they grew more independent they ended up getting themselves in more and more situations.

Donald didn't know if they did it on purpose, or if it was just his bad luck rubbing off on them, but the boys were always finding themselves in trouble. Donald did what he could to get them out of it, and nothing really horrible had happened yet. Still, he was their uncle, it was his job to worry about them, whether they wanted him to or not.

It didn't matter if it was something as simple as one of them having a slight cold, or as serious as them getting into fights at school, Donald worried. The thing that probably concerned him most though was when one of his boys went missing.

It didn't normally mean anything big. Most often it was Huey who wandered off because he had gotten distracted by an interesting rock formation, or an uncommon plant in the area. Dewey was the only one of the boys who really left on purpose, and that was more often than not a cry for attention. Dewey didn't really want to leave, he just wanted to know that he would be missed. Louie was probably the only one who didn't walk off for one reason or another. He would much rather stay in one spot, so the fact that he wasn't where he should be had Donald more concerned than he knew was rational.

His boy was missing. Donald thought that any parent or guardian in his position would throw rationality out the window if they were in his position.

It was as though Donald's brain temporarily shut down. He tried to think of possible locations where Louie might have run off to, but each of them felt more unlikely than the last. The only solution he could actually think of was to ask somebody else who wasn't nearly as emotional as he was where they thought Louie might have gone.

Fortunately, Donald knew that the someone he needed was just in the kitchen.

"Huey?" Donald shouted. "Do you know where Louie might have gone if he...wasn't here?" Donald didn't want to concern Huey by telling him that Louie was missing.

"Louie ran off?" Huey shouted back, though he sounded more thoughtful than concerned. Maybe Donald was just overreacting. "Well, he likes the beach."

The beach...Donald hadn't even considered it as an option, but he decided to give it a shot anyways. Huey probably knew Louie better than he did, so if he said he liked the beach, he probably liked the beach.

Donald just hoped that the beach he had in mind was the one that Huey had been talking about.

While Duckberg was right by the ocean, it didn't have a lot of beachy areas. Most of their 'beaches' were just sandy spots that weren't in a convenient enough location for a pier or shipping port to be there. There was such a spot only about a mile or two away. Donald used to take the boys there when they were young, but when Dewey had found a ruined amphitheater near the beach a few years ago, they had stopped going. Donald had gotten bad vibes about that amphitheater, and he didn't want his boys anywhere near it.

But if Huey said that was where Louie was, that was where he would check.

Fifteen minutes later Donald, who had run the entire way, got to the little shore and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a lone figure sitting near the water. Their back was to him, but Donald would be able to recognize the green hoodie anywhere. Donald slowed to a walk and approached his nephew. He knew that he would have to handle the boy with care, because Louie was wearing his hood, and he only ever did that when he felt the need to hide from the world.

Donald stopped when he was a few feet away from his nephew. He wanted so badly to wrap him in his arms and reassure him that everything was going to be okay, but he didn't want to overstep any boundaries. Louie didn't like being babied unless it was on his own terms, and if he was he often reacted by building his walls up even higher, and that was the last thing that Donald wanted.

"Louie?" Donald asked quietly. The slight stiffening in the boy's shoulders was the only indication he got that he had heard him at all. "Is there spot for one more?"

Louie was still for a moment before he shrugged. Donald knew that this was as much of an answer as he was going to get, and he walked those final feet until he was at Louie's side. Donald sat down on the sand next to Louie, though not too close to him, and joined him in watching the sun set over the horizon.

"How are you doing?" Donald asked after a few moments. Louie shrugged, which was much less informative than his previous shrug had been. Donald figured that he would have to try to try another method to get Louie to open up. "Huey and Dewey aren't fighting anymore. It's safe to go home."

"It's not just them." Louie said in a steady, nearly emotionless voice.

"So...what is it?" Donald asked, because he honestly wouldn't know if he didn't. Donald didn't even know what Louie was feeling, let alone why.

Louie shrugged again, and Donald was reminded of just how much he hated that gesture. "Everything."

"...You're going to have to be more specific than that." Donald said, because 'everything' was just slightly too broad a topic to tackle.

Louie raised his shoulders, and for a frustrating moment Donald thought that he was just going to shrug again. When Louie didn't lower his shoulders, Donald realized that he had become extremely tense, and he would have almost prefered that the boy had shrugged at him again.

"I don't know." Louie said quietly. "I just...so much stuff has happened, and it's all just kinda hit me at once."

"What kind of stuff?" Donald asked.

Louie drew his legs up close to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. "Mom." He said simply, and that on its own would have been enough to upset anybody, but then Louie kept going. "And then Dewey found out some stuff about her, and he didn't tell us, and he always tells us everything." So Louie was upset about Dewey keeping secrets from them, just like Huey was. Donald made a mental note to make sure the boys talked this through later.

"And...and when S-Scrooge yelled at us he said that family was nothing but trouble." Louie buried his head in his arms, but Donald still heard the clear emotion in his voice. Louie was getting more and more upset. "We only figured out he was our uncle a few months ago, and now he hates us." Louie's voice had increased in volume and emotion as he went on.

"Hey now, he doesn't hate you." Donald tried to assure him, but Louie continued like he hadn't even heard him.

"And we almost died!" Louie cried out in near hysterics. "The plane was on the mountain, and every movement made it teeter and almost fall off."

Donald felt like he couldn't breath. Launchpad had briefly told him about their latest crash, but it was only now that he was able to form a mental image of just how close he had been to losing his boys. When he got his hands on Scrooge…

"We weren't supposed to move." Louie whimpered "Scrooge told us not to move, but Dewey didn't listen. He never listens. He just had to know the truth about what happened to mom. He almost...he could have…" Louie made a strange noise at the back of his throat that sounded almost like a whine, but more full of pain. "He didn't care. We all could have died, and he didn't...he just…"

Donald instinctively wrapped his arms around Louie and drew him close. Apparently this was the right move to make, as Louie gripped at his arms tightly as though it was a lifeline. The kid really hadn't been kidding when he'd said that 'everything' was bothering him.

Louie shivered and Donald tightened his grip around the boy. "Are you cold?" Donald asked, even though he doubted it was the case. There wasn't the smallest chill in the evening air, and Louie's hoodie had to be warmer than Donald's shirt was.

Louie shook his head. "...I feel funny." He said. "Wrong."

Donald's first guess was that Louie's shivering was just because of how upset he was, but for some reason he felt compelled to look down the beach, towards where the amphitheater was. In the twilight, shadows were more pronounced than they were during the rest of the day, but Donald didn't think that there should be so much darkness over there.

Louie was right. Something was wrong.

"Are you ready to go home?" Donald asked. He had a bad feeling about the amphitheater. Years ago, he would have probably gone to investigate. After what happened to Della, and twelve years of raising her boys, Donald had learned that sometimes it was best for some mysteries to remain unsolved.

"N-not really." Louie admitted quietly. "I like it here."

"Huey mentioned you did." Donald commented. "What do you like about it?" If Donald could somehow replicate what drew Louie to this place, he would gladly do it. Donald didn't want his boys anywhere near potential danger, even if at that moment the only danger was a paranoid feeling he had about a ruined old amphitheater that nobody had been to in years.

"It's quiet." Louie said. "N-nobody ever comes here. Nothing here can j-judge me, or h-hurt me." Louie sighed. "I-it's safe."

Donald knew that when Louie said that he didn't mean that he didn't think that he was safe at home, but it still stung to hear those words anyways. "Maybe I'll start to bring you boys back here." Donald didn't want to, but if the boys were going to come to this beach, he would rather they do it when he was around to protect them. "But I don't want you coming here, or leaving home, by yourself." And that went for all the boys. What if something happened to them when they were gone? Logically, Donald knew he couldn't protect his boys from everything, but that wouldn't keep him from trying.

"I won't." Louie said, and Donald could hear the sincerity in his voice, which was rare with Louie. "I think I'm kinda done being away from home." Donald was relieved to hear that, but also a little heartbroken. Louie was far too young and full of life to already be afraid to venture past his own front door the way that Donald was.

"Come on." Donald slowly and gently pulled his arm away from Louie's grip, and then immediately took his hand instead. Donald got to his feet, pulling Louie up too. "Let's go home."

"M'kay." Louie said quietly. Louie wasn't normally the clingy type, but as they started walking back he stood so closely to Donald that it was almost like he didn't want to be seen by anyone, or anything. Louie was scared, and upset, and in that moment he relied on Donald to keep him safe. Donald was more than happy to protect his nephew, but he still wished that it wasn't necessary. That Louie wasn't so afraid of what had happened.

Donald couldn't change what had happened, but he hoped that he would be able to do something to help his boys get over it all. That could wait until a little later though. At that moment, the only thing on Donald's mind was to get Louie home.

Just before they left the beach Donald felt a chill run down his spine. Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw a pair of moving shadows that were darker than they should be. Donald turned his head so sharply that he nearly gave himself whiplash, but he didn't see anything there.

"What's wrong?" Louie asked.

"I thought I saw something." Donald said. He knew that it had probably just been his imagination, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something else was going on. Something darker, dangerous. "It's probably nothing." The two of them continued on their way home. The farther they got from the beach, the more safe Donald felt. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to happen.

Something bad.

A/N: I know this isn't a very clean ending, but that's kinda the point. This is the end of the story though. The reason why it feels like it's leading up to something bigger is because it is, that something being the season finale in a few days. Donald is just sensing Magica's powers or something.