The Winter-Soldier. A Ducktales fanfic.

2. Grief.

The family spent months looking for Louie, with Scrooge spent almost as much as he did on searching for Della when she'd gotten lost in space. Search parties were formed and funded, and the ravine was searched time and time again, as they hunted for there lost member.

Time passed, and the McDucks grew more desperate, though they had been looking for ages, they hadn't found a single trace of Louie. 

"Mr. McDuck!" - One of the ranger's called, as he entered into the tent that Scrooge had been using as his command-centre during the search.

"What is it?" - Scrooge snapped, not taking his eyes off the map stationed on the centre table.

"We found something, Sir."

Snatching his cane from the off the chair beside him, Scrooge followed the taller man out into the cold. - "This better be important." - He growled, fed up with chasing leads provided by men he had been hundreds of thousands to find his great-nephew, who'd proven to be ineffective at their job.

"It is." - The ranger said solemnly, causing Scrooge's snarl to drop and his face form the feeling of worry.

"What is it."

He hesitated. - "It's better if I show you." - Turning he began leading the Scotsman over to a what looked like a cave entrance. - "We found this recently," - He lead him deeper into the cavern. - "It seemed to be a wolves den, but now it's abandoned.

Scrooge felt a sliver of hope when he said abandoned, that meant that Louie possibly used this cave as a camp, staying out of the cold and away from the predators.

Crouching under a group of icicles, the ranger led him down another portion of cave, before gesturing over to another tunnel. Scrooge followed his directions, and traveled down the narrow path, eventual arriving at a small hollow. What was there made him collapse to his knees and weep.

It was Louie's parka, it had been torn in two and the left side was soaked in blood, there were a few bones which had been licked clean, and with his phone, the screen cracked.

----------

 The service was a small one, with less than 20-people in attendance. They lowered an empty casket into the grave, due to having found no body. There was a small shrine dedicated to their youngest in the manor's main hall, complete with a portrait of him, along with one of his hoodies and his phone, which they'd managed to repair.

Each family member mourned his death differently: Dewey and Huey grieved the loss of their Brother tremendously, they'd grown up together, been together their whole lives, and were now missing their 3rd.

Donald had put up a strong front, he had to be there for his everyone else. But on the inside, he was dying. While Della was unconsolable, she'd spent 10-years trying to get back to her sons, only to lose one of them in less than 5.

Scrooge who had spent all of his time leading the hunts for Louie, unconvinced that he'd perished in the fall, threw him himself into his work, in an attempt to ignore the though he'd lost another family member, this time for good.

And Webby? Webby was unconvinced that Louie was really dead. Every possible scenario that proposed that he'd survived the fall and the ravine, was written in her journals.

The McDucks took a break from adventuring after the accident. In the break, they finally took the vacation, Louie was always suggesting, it was unfortunate that he never got to experience it.

After the trip, Scrooge focused on his work, focusing on a series of new projects he'd created just after the incident. The first of which, was a new train running over the Serbian mountain-tops, a much newer and safer model, accompanied with a large, net built over the ravine, the one that  had caused the family so much grief.

But once he was finished with that, he turned his attention to the many ancient books that he'd collected over the years, the ones that had recently collected a fine layer of dust. That led him to slowly getting his family back into the adventuring game, which eventually led to the situation happening now.

Scrooge busted into the family room. - "Pack your bags kids!" - Attracting the attention of Huey, Dewey and Della.

Dewey groaned, and stepped down from the coffee table he was standing on. - "Uncle Scrooge, I have to learn my lines before opening night."

"And I've got to help Gyro with an invention later." - Huey mentioned.

Scrooge look disheartened at first, but he was soon cheered up.

"Come on boys, I think an adventure would be good for us." - Della remarked, trying to entice her two children into the trip. - "Dewey, I've been running lines with you all week, you're fine. And Huey, Gyro can go one afternoon without you."

The Brothers took a moment to decide their choice.

"Fine."

"Yeah, so where are we going?" - Dewey asked, a small smile forming.

Scrooge pulled a folded map from his jacket. - "We are going to an unexplored island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, which apparently has millions in lost treasure hidden somewhere on it."

"And how long will we be gone for?"

"Oh, I don't know... A day or two." - He estimated.

"So will need spare clothing and rations, I'll go begin gathering supplies." - The oldest triplet got up from his chair, and left the room."

Dewey watched his older Brother leave, before following him out. - "I'll go get Webby." - He said, as he passed Della and Scrooge.

-----------

 Webby was busy adjusting the board she had been using for her investigation into Louie, it consisted of a large photo of Louie, with different coloured strings connecting it to other pictures and pieces of information.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Come in!"

The door opened slowly, and Dewey entered in. - "Hey Webs."

"Oh Dewey, perfect." - She cheered, turning her attention off of the board and onto him. - "I've just come up with a theory that Louie has been living with a colony of Yetis for the past two years."

"Webby." - He said sadly. - "We've talked about this."

"He's not dead Dewey."

"Just because we didn't find a body, doesn't mean that he's not dead."

"Dewey-"

"Webby!" - His tone shifted to one of anger. - "Just- Just be ready to leave in an hour... We're going on an adventure."

Before she could retort, he'd left the room, leaving Webby to begin packing her bag for the adventure. Once she was done she'd slung the purple backpack over her shoulder, and left her room and descended down the grand staircase. Taking a second to stop at the memorial for the family member she knew wasn't dead. After she left the manor, and joined everyone else in the limo.

----------

 The McDuck's boat sped along the water, unaware of the submarine following from a distance.

"McDuck." - Bradford Buzzard spat, watching the family joke and laugh as they headed towards the unexplored island. - "On another adventure are we?" - He turned back to face a large polar bear dressed in military garb. - "General Zhukov, is he ready?"

"He is ready, Sir." - The man replied coldly. - "Prinesite aktiv!" - He shouted.

Three men entered the room, two of them, were wolves dressed in uniforms similar to that of General Zhukov, and stood on either side of the third. The third person, a duck with long head feathers, wore dark tactical gear, which included a mask, and had a metal arm emblazoned with a red-star on it.

The vulture looked at FOWL's gladiator in glee. -  "Perfect." - He smirked. 

Thanks for reading Ch.2 of 'The Winter-Soldier' I hope you enjoyed it, and possibly comment, vote, follow-me and read Ch.3! - MM