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psychosistr · 5 years

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The Third Caballero- Chapter 7

Summary: After their confusing and mildly disappointing/heart-breaking encounter with the strange duck in the old mansion, José and Panchito learn his story...well, at least..what there is TO know of it.

Notes: Finally going to be introducing another key character this chapter other than the caballeros x3 Also, just in case I didn’t make it clear enough in the last two chapters, Donald has the Don Cheadle voice from the season 1 finale just so he wouldn’t be instantly recognizable (and because, lets be honest, Don Cheadle singing the “Once Upon a December” song would sound better than regular Donald singing it xD)

-First Chapter-

<-Previous Chapter Next Chapter->

Managing to be the first one to somehow choke down all of the confusion and disappointment weighing down his tongue, José was the first one to break the awkward silence that was left to hang in the air after Panchito let go of the confused duck. “My apologies,” He began with a sad smile. “I am afraid we mistook you for someone else.”

“Y-Yeah.” Panchito said while rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish smile. “At first we thought you were a burglar, and then we thought you were..well..” He looked at the picture on the wall for a moment with a slightly sad smile of his own. “We thought..you were HIM…”

The duck frowned, rubbing the back of his head in an equally nervous way. “Um..yeah..sorry about that.” He grabbed his hat off of the ground and brushed the dust off of it. “If it helps anything- I’m not a burglar.” He gave a nervous smile and held up one hand to convey his honesty. “Promise. I just kind of..ended up here and wanted to get out of the rain for a bit. I didn’t know anyone lived here.”

Panchito recovered his usual brightness and laughed with a shake of his head. “Oh, we don’t live here.”

The duck looked between them, clearly confused. “You don’t? Then..are you..?”

“We are not robbers either, meu amigo.” José chuckled a little himself as he guessed the duck’s follow-up question. “We are in a similar position as you, I suppose. You see, our boat is in need of repairs and this house belongs to a relative of our friend, so we-”

“You have a boat?!” The duck asked, looking at José with big eyes filled with something akin to..hope? Relief? Desperation? He wasn’t sure, but the duck certainly looked eager.

“..Sim…?” José answered after a pause, a bit thrown off by the duck’s sudden change in mood.

“Have you ever been to America? What about Duckburg?!” He almost tripped again when he left Panchito’s side to stand in front of José instead, looking at him with wide eyes.

“Y-Yes, we have. Many times, in fact.” José leaned away slightly from the over-excited duck. “Why do you ask?”

“Can you please take me there?!” The duck asked while taking one of José’s hands in both of his own, looking at him pleadingly. “I have to get to Duckburg! I’ve been trying for years, but-but things just kept happening and-!” He fumbled with his words for a minute before reaching into his sweater and pulling out a small bag. “Here, I know it’s not much, but I can help pay for the trip!” He opened the bag and poured the contents- which happened to be a handful of gold coins- into his trembling hand. “I’ll help cook and clean and do repairs and whatever else you guys need me to do, just, please, I-!”

José frowned and put his hands on the duck’s shoulders gently but insistently. “Breathe, pato, BREATHE.” He said softly, concern for the stranger overriding his earlier discomfort from the other man’s proximity. He frowned when he felt how skinny the duck actually was under his clothes, the frown deepening when his thumb brushed against what felt like a bandage under the fabric- the suspicion confirmed when the duck in front of him winced slightly. “……” His frown softened into a smile and he patted the duck on his shoulder gently. “How about we get to know each other first, hm? We just finished having dinner and have plenty of leftovers. We can discuss transportation and everything else after we have become better acquainted. Isso soa bem?”

The duck hesitated for a moment before a growl from his stomach seemed to make the decision for him. He looked away, clearly embarrassed by the noise, but nodded. “Isso seria bom. Obrigado.”

José blinked with a surprised expression, not expecting the stranger to reply in such perfect Portuguese. This whole meeting was becoming more and more interesting…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After José set the food back on the stove to reheat, he returned to the bedroom with a bottle of water and offered it to the stranger, the trio taking a seat at the small table set by the room’s balcony so they could talk.

“Now then,” José said as he took his seat next to Panchito, across from the as-of-yet-unintroduced duck. “Let us start with some introductions. My name is José Carioca, but many of my friends call me Zé.”

Panchito went next, smiling at the duck seated across from them. “And I’m Panchito ‘Pistoles’ Romero Miguel Junipero Francisco Quintero Gonzalez III, but my friends call me Panchito.”

The duck uncapped the bottle of water given to him by José and took a sip before introducing himself. “Most people just call me Donato. Or Don, for short.”

José raised an eyebrow, picking up on the way the other bird worded his reply. “That is what they call you? Is it not your real name?”

Don looked down at the bottle in his hands with a slight frown. “Well..that’s the thing..” He frowned a little more while looking at his reflection in the plastic bottle. “I don’t know my real name. I…I can’t remember it…”

José frowned too. “You do not remember your own name?”

Don shook his head and looked back up at the pair seated across from him. “Nope. I don’t know my name, where I’m from, or anything else about myself. I just woke up a few years ago on a fishing boat somewhere near Brazil with no memories at all.”

“Near Brazil?” José asked curiously. That was quite a coincidence… “So that is how you know Portuguese?”

Don nodded with a slight smile. “The fishermen that pulled me out of the water were really nice, but they only knew Portuguese and I only knew English. Talking was pretty difficult for the first year, but we eventually figured it out. After I learned enough to talk to them, I asked them if they knew where Duckburg was- they told me it was all the way in America.” His smile fell slightly and his fingers went to the pendant around his neck. “They said they would try to get me there..but..our boat was attacked…” He gripped the pendant tightly in his fingers, the pain of that memory very clear on his face.

“Attacked?” Panchito gasped. “Who would attack such nice fishermen?!”

“Pirates.” Don answered, his frown turning into a scowl. “A pirate ship led by a horrible man called Capitán Karnage. He’s from a family of pirates that terrorize everyone from South America through Mexico.”

Panchito shook his head with a frown. “I have heard of that family- they once tried to attack the ship my father sailed on when he travelled to Havana. He beat them back, but he always warned our family to be careful on the seas..”

“And in the skies.” José added while folding his arms. “There is a pirate by the name of Don Karnage that my own family has run into before- he attacks planes and robs the passengers of their valuables.” He looked back at Don with a troubled frown. “If this Karnage is anything like the rest of his family, I imagine things did not go well. What happened?”

Don took a deep breath to calm himself and another sip of water before he spoke. “He attacked our boat..and..when we told him we didn’t have any treasure, he threatened to make us walk the plank. I fought him off long enough for the fishermen to get away, and, to make sure he didn’t follow them, I told him I’d work for him as long as he left them alone.” Don sighed heavily, one hand going up to press against the bandaged spot that José felt earlier. “I’ve been stuck as a prisoner on that ship for the past couple of years. I actually just escaped today..” He smiled slightly and gave a small laugh. “When you guys kicked in the door, I thought for sure they’d found me and..I was gonna be dragged back…or worse…”

“……” Panchito and José frowned more, feeling horrible for jumping to conclusions and terrifying someone who had already endured so much.

Clearing his throat to break the silence again, José looked across the table at Don with a soft smile. “You have quite a remarkable story, meu amigo. Would you mind if I asked you a couple of questions?”

Don looked back up at him curiously with a shake of his head. “Nope. Go ahead.”

José held up one finger to start with. “First, I wish to know about your name. Was it something the fishermen gave you?”

Don tapped his fingers against the table as he thought the question over. “Kind of..? Once I started to understand Portuguese, they asked me what my name was. I couldn’t remember it, but something told me it had ‘Don’ in it. So, they started calling me ‘Donato’, kind of as a joke since I was ‘given’ to them by the sea.”

“Hmh, I see.” José said with a slight chuckle at the Latin joke. “Now, my second question..” He looked at Don seriously. “Have you been to Bahia, Donato?”

“Bahia, Brazil?” Don thought that question over just as seriously. “Umm..not that I can remember..” He closed his eyes and counted off countries on his fingers as he muttered. “Started in Sao Paulo…stayed over in Santa Catarina…pit stop in Uruguay…crashed by the Falkland Islands…two weeks in Chile during the storm…that layover in Ecuador…crossed over Panama…a night in Belize…aaaand then here…” He opened his eyes and shook his head. “Nope, don’t remember going to Bahia. Then again, for me, that doesn’t mean much, huh?”

“I suppose not..” José said quietly, leaning his beak against his hand as he thought everything over. There were just so many odd coincidences… He looked back up at Don for his final question. “Lastly, I must know: Why is it so important that you go to Duckburg?”

Don looked back down at his necklace. “I think…I think I know someone there..” He hesitantly reached behind his head and untwisted the clasp so he could take it off, but still kept a firm grip on it as he turned it over to show the other two birds the inscription on the back of the pendant. “I’ve had this necklace since I woke up. I feel like it’s..it’s important to me. No matter what, I made sure to keep it with me and never let it out of my sight. It doesn’t look like my handwriting on the back, so, I figured, someone must have GIVEN this to me..and, whoever that person is, they might still be waiting for me in Duckburg.” He put the necklace back on and looked at them pleadingly. “I know it’s a long-shot..but..Duckburg is literally the ONLY lead I have right now. If I can get there, maybe I can find the person that gave me this necklace and they’ll know who I really am..”

José looked down, mulling over all of the information in his mind: A duck that looked just like Donald, but sounded completely different and with no memories of his past. He felt like his name contained the word ‘Don’ and was found at sea near Brazil. Not to mention the fact that he had some sort of connection to Duckburg and just HAPPENED to find his way to the mansion the one time he and Panchito were there.

That was far too much for this to be a mere coincidence: This was fate.

“¿Algo está mal, Zé?” He heard Panchito’s curious voice and turned to see the rooster looking at him with a tilt of his head.

José gave him a calm smile and shook his head. “Está tudo bem, querido.” He stood up from the table and pushed his chair in behind him. “Your food should be ready by now. I will be back in a few minutes.”

“O-Oh, um, thanks..” Don said with a quick nod of his head while watching José leave.

José partly closed the door behind himself and slowly made his way back to the kitchen. There was just so much information to process, he needed the time and space by himself to go over everything.

For starters, WHO was this “Don” person, in reality? He looked exactly like their missing Donald down to the smallest of details (aside from his apparent malnourishment, but that was easily chalked up to abuse from the pirates he’d been living with for the past couple of years), and the only thing that really seemed different about him was his voice. José didn’t feel like he was lying to them about who he was or what happened in his past, so that left them all equally confused about who he was.

Secondly, WHY was he there, of all places? Not just in the mansion, but in DONALD’S room. Out of every possible room he could have wandered into, he just happened to go into the one place that was most familiar to Donald. That felt like some sort of instinct- similar to an un-domesticated bird such as a pigeon finding its way back to a previous location.

Finally, there was the most important question on José’s mind: WHAT was this strange feeling that had been gnawing at him since setting foot in the mansion? He felt like something was happening around him- something bigger than just himself in a way that he had not felt since the loss of his magic. Maybe the gods were trying to send him a message? If they were, then what was it? This duck had to be connected to Donald in some way, but he wasn’t exactly sure HOW.

“……” He arrived in the kitchen and heaved a heavy sigh as he grabbed Don’s food from within the oven. “Ay caramba…” He muttered and rubbed tiredly at his eyes once the food was safely on the counter. “That bruxa was right: Some things are worse than death…”

He leaned heavily against the counter, lamenting- and certainly not for the first time in the past decade- the loss of his magic. If he had his powers, he could’ve had any number of ways to find Donald by now, or help this new person sort out his missing memories, or done literally ANYTHING to help those around him. He just felt so…so…useless.

He knew that wasn’t true, of course. He knew he was still clever and skilled and capable of many things. He could fight and make plans and cook and help in any number of ways..but, without his magic, it felt like he was missing a vital tool that made him even more useful to those around him and he hated it.

As if to distract from his melancholy mood, he felt a sudden buzzing in his pocket and heard samba music playing. Picking himself up off of the counter, he fished his phone out of his pocket and saw a name on the screen that he hadn’t even thought of in years.

Swiping his finger on the screen to answer the call, he held the phone closer to his head “Gladstone?”

He heard the Gander’s familiar, slightly-arrogant voice in the speaker. “Hey, hey, big Jo! Long time no speak! How’s it hangin’?”

“Fine, I suppose.” He tried not to cringe, but Gladstone’s attitude was a bit off-putting to him. He certainly understood why Donald wasn’t a fan of spending extended periods of time with his cousin. “It has been a while. Did you need something?”

“Straight to business, huh? I like that!” The overly-lucky guy said with a laugh before his tone shifted into something slightly more serious. “Actually, yeah, I did need something. Are you an’ ‘chito still looking for Donald?”

José frowned slightly at the question. “Of course we are- we never stopped.”

“Good, good.” Gladstone sounded pleased. “That is EXACTLY what I wanted to hear. So, you guys got any leads?”

José was about to say no, but he remembered Don waiting in the other room and decided to tell the truth. “…Maybe..” He shook his head slightly and decided to serve up Don’s food while he talked. “Why are you calling about this NOW, if I may ask?”

“Because I think that we can help each other out.” José could hear shifting on the other end of the line, as if Gladstone was sitting down and getting comfortable for the rest of the conversation. “You see, old Scroogie McDollarsigns and Dellsie are on the up-and-up, so Scrooge decided to start searching for Donald again.”

That was certainly news to José. Good news, but still surprising to hear.

“Really?” He questioned while holding the phone against his head with his shoulder so he could carry the food back towards the bedroom. “That is good to hear.”

“Oh yeah, definitely. What makes it even better to hear is that old McMoneybags is offering a reward to anyone with leads on poor Donnie. Pictures, phone calls, even guys that look like him- he’s offering like 50k a pop on that last one.” He paused for a moment and José could hear him shifting his position again. “Anyway, that’s why I called you. Well, actually I didn’t call you- I kinda dropped my phone and it just HAPPENED to call you. Pretty weird, huh?”

“Sim. Weird…” José was very familiar with how Gladstone’s luck worked. It was a very special kind of magic that, ultimately, only benefitted him, and often in ways that even Gladstone himself couldn’t always see.

“You said you guys have a lead, right? What is it?” Gladstone seemed to be done tip-toeing around the subject and got straight to the point.

José paused outside of the door to Donald’s old room where Panchito and Don were still talking inside. “……” He hesitated to say anything, wondering if it would be right to tell Gladstone, of all people, before the rest of Donald’s family. Then again, Gladstone’s luck was an odd phenomenon and there was likely a good reason why he just happened to call when he did. Perhaps this was also fate? “We..met someone that looks just like Donald.” He finally answered. “He sounds different and has no memory of who he is, but he thinks he knows someone in Duckburg and wants us to take him there.”

Gladstone hummed in thought, then was quiet for a moment. “Can you send me a pic?”

“Um momento.” José said before quietly prying the door open enough to peek inside without being seen. He had a clear view of Don and Panchito across the room and snapped a picture with his phone, standing back from the doorway before sending the picture to Gladstone. “That’s him.”

There was a ding on the other end when Gladstone received the picture, followed by a low whistle. “You weren’t kiddin’- the guy looks JUST like Donnie. Alright, how about a deal? You guys get him to Duckburg and we’ll split the reward money three ways? Sound good?”

“I..I do not know..it feels wrong…” José frowned at the proposition. Cashing in on not only their closest friend’s disappearance, but also this poor down-on-his-luck stranger’s odd situation? It felt like it would leave a bad taste in his mouth…

“Aw, c’mon, don’t look at it like that.” Gladstone urged him. “Think about it this way: You guys are probably strapped for cash right now, right?”

“…Yes..” José answered after a moment’s hesitation.

“And this guy REALLY wants to go to Duckburg, right?”

“…Yes…” José knew he had a point, but it still felt wrong..

“I’m not saying we lie to anyone here- all I’m suggesting is you bring him here and let Scrooge and Della take a look at him. If it turns out he’s got some sort of connection to Donald, great! If it turns out he doesn’t, then he still gets to come to Duckburg and we all get some easy money. It’s a win-win!”

“..I..suppose you are right..” It did sound like a fair trade, all things considered. “I will talk to him and Panchito about it and see what they think.”

“Woah, woah, woah!” Gladstone’s tone stopped him from ending the conversation. “You CANNOT tell that guy about the money.”

“Huh? Why not?” José asked with a confused frown.

Gladstone heaved an annoyed sigh. “Ol’ Scrooge is getting sick of dealing with fake Donalds just acting the part so they can get a place in his will. If he thinks this guy’s another moocher, then he’ll have that buff house-keeper of his stop us at the gate. Just get him here and let me handle the rest, capiche?”

“We will do what we can.” José finally relented. “But, as you said, our financial situation at the moment is rather sad. What if we run out before we reach Calisota?”

“Huh? Oh, hold on one sec, J-Z.” Gladstone said, sounding distracted. José heard talking on the other end, though it was further away. After a minute, Gladstone returned. “Looks like I just won a free one-way trip to Panama, as well as a couple thousand in traveling expenses. It’ll be a bit of a trip, but do you think you guys could swing down that way then just take the Canal around to the other side an’ shoot up to Calisota from there?”

José thought over how much gold he’d seen in Don’s bag. It would be a stretch, but they were used to making their money last as long as possible. “I think so.”

“Great!” Gladstone sounded much more pleased with José’s compliance now. “I’ll be in touch. Ciao!” And, with that, he hung up.

José took a deep breath to settle his nerves and thoughts as he hung up the phone and put it in his pocket. He would definitely need to talk this over with Panchito, but it sounded like the right course of action to take.

They finally had a half-way decent lead and a way to get to Duckburg had presented itself at the most perfect possible moment.

While it still felt wrong to accept money for such a tragic situation, he decided it would be best to heed the call of fate this time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, all the way in Calisota, Gladstone was staying at Scrooge’s mansion along with a few of his other cousins. The multi-billionaire had started inviting many of their relatives over after making the decision to start looking for Donald again, both to make forming search parties easier and because December was right around the corner, so they might as well stay for the holidays and save on travel expenses (not that that last part was ever a problem for Gladstone, but he wasn’t about to turn down good fortune whenever it came to him).

Calling José had been a strange stroke of luck, but he had learned years ago to just roll with whatever fate gave him, knowing it would ultimately turn out for the best. Well, for him, anyway- he couldn’t say for sure how it would turn out for the rest of his family.

Eh, whatever, might as well play his cards and see where the chips land. Like he told José on the phone- it would be a win-win, no matter what happened.

The only minor hitch in his plan was having to go all the way to Panama. He REALLY didn’t feel like traveling all the way down there just to pick up some Donald look-alike. Maybe he could talk Fethry into it or something, the poor guy needed some more fresh air after being cooped up in the sea-lab for so long-

“Oof!” He bumped into a somewhat shorter someone while rounding the corner. Looking down, he saw that it was a young duckling in a striped sweater and died hair that looked close to the age of Della’s kids. “Geez, would it kill you to watch where you’re going?” She complained as she sat up from where she’d fallen on the ground.

“Oops, my bad.” Gladstone offered her a hand up, which she reluctantly took with a roll of her eyes at the lack of genuine apology in his voice. The girl seemed familiar, but looking at her for a moment afterwards did nothing to jog his memory about who she was. She wasn’t the same girl that came with Della and the boys to save him from the luck-vampire, he knew that much. “Sorry, but this is gonna eat me alive if I don’t ask- are you a relative or..?” He trailed off, waving his hand in a prompting manner.

The girl rolled her eyes again. “No, I’m not. I’m Scrooge’s house-keeper’s granddaughter’s best friend.” She paused for a minute to let all of that sink in. “Yeah, I know- this family is confusing.” Reluctantly, she held a hand out towards him. “Lena Le Strange.”

“Gladstone Gander.” He replied while giving her hand a quick shake. Realizing his hands were empty, he looked around at the floor. “Darn it, where’d it go..?”

Lena was the one to spot it, as it landed by her foot. “Looking for this?” She asked while retrieving the phone. When she picked it up, though, she happened to see the screen and, by extension, the picture from José that was still open. “Hey, who’s that?”

Gladstone took back the phone when she handed it to him and looked at the picture. “Oh, just an old friend of my cousin and some guy that looks like him. I’ve gotta head down to Panama to pick ‘em up. Anyway, nice meeting you. Later.” He said, already walking away and looking back at his phone to plan his trip.

“Yeah, whatever. Bye.” Lena said and continued on her own way…until, once she was out of sight, her shadow suddenly rose up on the wall behind her and formed a different shape entirely. Looking up at the shadow, Lena stuffed her hands in her pockets with an annoyed expression. “What is it now? I thought you agreed to keep quiet here.”

The shadow formed a female silhouette with a different haircut and figure from Lena, a wickedly excited smile spreading across its face. “That picture! Those idiots actually found the REAL THING!”

Lena raised an eyebrow. “You sure about that? His cousin didn’t seem too convinced.”

The shadow folded its arms, the smile turning into a scowl. “I recognize that pendant. Trust me- it’s hard to forget the last thing you see before you’re sealed away. You need to get to that duck and retrieve the dime hidden in his locket BEFORE he gets back to Duckburg! Once he’s reunited with his family, Scrooge will take back the dime and lock it away for safe-keeping. Getting it now is our best chance!”

“Okay, okay, I get it.” Lena said while leaning away from the shadow that had started to grow bigger against the surface of the wall. “But how am I supposed to get all the way to Panama? You got a spell for turning water into plane tickets or something?”

“Well, not water, but there is that one spell using a zebra- ah! Wait! There’s no need for that.” The shadow pointed in the direction that Gladstone had gone a moment ago. “That fool Gladstone is the only ticket you need. He absolutely loathes hard work. Offer to go in his place and he’ll probably see it as a lucky break.”

“Come on, it can’t be THAT easy.” The girl said with a doubtful look at the shadow.

“Trust me, it will be. Gladstone Gander is nothing if not predictable.” The shadow groused with a roll of its “eyes”.

Lena smirked slightly at the shadow on the wall. “You seem pretty confident about that. You know him or something?”

The shadow looked away from her, almost pouting. “It’s a long story and we don’t have time. Besides, we don’t talk about it…” She gave a shooing motion with her hand. “Now, go on, get to it before your one chance gets away!” And, with that, the shadow returned to Lena’s original shape.

“Whatever you say, Aunt Magica..” Lena said with an air of both annoyance and resignation. Backtracking, she found that Gladstone hadn’t gone too far yet. “Hey, Mr.Gander!”

He turned to look at her with one eyebrow raised in question. “Just Gladstone’s fine- Mr.Gander makes me feel old. What’s up, short stuff?”

Lena rubbed at the back of her neck, trying to give off a casual air while figuring out her own words. “It’s just..I was wondering if I could, y’know, go to Panama to pick those guys up for you..?”

Gladstone blinked, clearly confused by the sudden offer. “Why would you want to do that?” He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. “Lemme guess- you want in on old Scrooge’s reward money? Look, I understand the appeal, really, but I’m already splitting it three ways and four just seems like too much-”

“No, it’s not like that!” Lena cut him off, trying to quickly think of a good excuse. “I don’t care about the money, I just..uh..I want to travel! Yeah!” That excuse seemed feasible enough, so she ran with it and gave him her best excited smile. “Webby’s always talking about the places she gets to go with Mr. McDuck and the boys- I want a turn to go on an adventure too.” She looked down slightly, bringing her hands up to twiddle her fingers together in the best approximation of nervousness she could manage without feeling sick. “I’ve never even left Calisota before. My aunt doesn’t exactly have a stable job, so traveling’s out of the question on our budget.” She looked back up at him with a frown, hoping she came off as troubled and embarrassed to be asking for something. “I can’t really pay you back, but, when you bumped into me and said you were going all the way to an exotic country, it felt like, I dunno, fate or good luck or something?”

Gladstone only took a moment to think it over before he shrugged. “Okay.”

She blinked in surprise and stared at him. “ ‘Okay’..?” She repeated back to make sure she heard him right. It couldn’t have seriously been THAT easy, could it..?

Gladstone pulled something up on his phone. “Yeah, sure, why not? You want to go there, I don’t- it all works out. Hey, what’s your number?” He held his phone out to her and she put the information in. Once he got it back, he pressed a few more things and her own phone went off in her pocket. Pulling it out to check, she saw that he’d sent her the confirmation code for a free plane ticket. “Flight leaves in a couple days, make sure to keep me posted. Oh, and you’ll need this.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a credit card. “International card,” He explained nonchalantly while handing it to her. “Has a couple g’s on there. Should be enough to get you there and back with the guys. Good luck.” He left with a wave over his shoulder and that was that.

Lena blinked again, looking between him, her phone, and the card in her hand. Once he was out of sight, she finally said to herself “Okay, so maybe it IS that easy…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

José pulled Panchito out into the hall while Don eagerly ate his meal, giving the excuse that they had to take a phone call. Making sure they were out of earshot, he caught Panchito up on the conversation he’d had with Gladstone a few minutes ago and what he’d agreed to do.

Panchito frowned a bit when José finished his story. “I don’t know, Zé..it feels kind of…” He trailed off with a glance to the side, apparently searching for the right words.

“Wrong. I know, trust me.” José sighed with a matching frown before placing a hand on Panchito’s shoulder to get the other bird to look at him again. “But..we need the money, you can’t deny that. Besides, it’s like Gladstone said- whether Don has any connection to Donald or not, he still gets a ride to Duckburg. Also..I feel like something is PUSHING us to do this. Everything is falling into place too perfectly: Don’s appearance, his desire to go to Duckburg, Gladstone’s call- it’s all too good to just be a coincidence, don’t you agree?”

Panchito nodded after thinking it over for a minute. “Well, if you think it’s the right thing to do, then I trust you, querido.” They shared a brief, tender smile before Panchito did a quick fist pump to show he was ready. “So, what’s the plan?”

José chuckled at the cute display of excitement and gestured for the rooster to follow him back in. “Just follow my lead.” The pair walked back in, gaining Don’s attention as he finished his food. “Our sincerest apologies, it was rather rude of us to just walk out like that.”

Don swallowed what was in his mouth with a shrug. “Oh, it’s fine. Sounded important, anyway.”

José sensed a perfect opportunity to broach the subject and decided to go with it. “It was indeed. The call was from an acquaintance of ours in Duckburg.”

That instantly got Don’s interest and he set down the bowl and spoon, looking at them expectantly. “Really?”

Panchito nodded, easily catching on to what José was doing after years of working cons with him. “Yeah, he wants us to head up there and see him.” He took a seat on the foot of Donald’s old bed casually.

Don began to look excitedly hopeful and it tugged on both birds’ heartstrings to see such an adorable look on that face. “Do you think I could- I mean, could I come with you guys?!”

José frowned slightly, both to keep up appearances and because he felt a bit bad for what he was about to say. “Well…I’m not sure..”

Don’s expression fell instantly and he began to look worried. “What? Why not? Like I said, I-I can pay for some of it!”

He began to pull out his bag of gold coins again, but José placed a gentle hand on his arm to halt his movements. “I know you can, my friend, and we really would like to help you, but this will be a very long and costly trip. Our acquaintance has agreed to fund the trip on the condition that we find someone for him.”

“Who is it?” Don asked quickly, desperately grasping onto any chance that he could still go with them. “Maybe I can help you find them!”

Panchito pointed over to the portrait on the wall that Don had originally been drawn to. “Him.” He stated simply, getting up to stand in front of it so he could look up at Donald’s oh-so-familiar face. “He wants us to find him, or at least someone connected to him..”

Don looked at the picture as well, frowning a bit. “Oh..”

José paused for a moment to appear as if he was thinking about something. “Hmm..you know..you DO look a lot like him, Don..”

Don blinked a bit in confusion, looking between José and the picture. “I do?”

Panchito looked back at Don with a grin. “You do! I mean, I actually thought you were our Donald when I saw you.”

“As did I.” José admitted with a sigh. “The resemblance is uncanny. You could probably pass for him quite easily.” He snapped his fingers as if the idea was just now coming to him. “That’s it!”

“What’s it?” Don asked while looking back at him.

Panchito gasped in fake surprise. “José, you don’t mean-?!”

“Oh, I do indeed, Panchito.” José replied with a confident nod.

“Mean what?” Don asked as he looked back to Panchito.

“But could it really work?” Panchito asked with a tilt of his head.

“We won’t know unless we try.” José said while crossing his arms.

Don finally exploded with frustration and yelled out loud while flailing his fists to emphasize his irritation. “Could you two just tell me what you’re talking about?!!”

José held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Calm yourself, my friend. Now, listen-” He placed one hand back onto Don’s shoulder and gestured to the portrait with the other. “You look like Donald, yes?”

“I guess so..” Don said while looking back at the picture for a moment.

“And you want to go to Duckburg, yes?” José asked while leading him slowly towards the picture.

“More than anything..” Don answered immediately in a soft voice, his hand coming up to touch his necklace.

“And Donald has family in Duckburg.” José stopped with Don while standing in front of the picture, Panchito standing on his other side while José spoke. “In my opinion, you look too similar to him for this to be a mere coincidence…”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Don looked up at the picture in front of him, staring at the face that matched his own with a confused expression. “You really think that I’m HIM?”

Panchito wrapped an arm around Don’s other shoulder, the duck held in place by both his and José’s light touch while the two gestured to the picture with their free hands. “Who knows? You could just be related to him. Either way, you’d have family in Duckburg that could tell you.”

“……” Don still looked skeptical, his hand tightening around the necklace. “What if you’re wrong…?”

José shrugged and waved the idea away with one hand. “I doubt we are. But, on the VERY unlikely chance that we are, you still get a ride to Duckburg. It would be a win-win, sim?”

“I..guess you’re right..” Don said quietly.

“Of course we’re right!” Panchito said enthusiastically while giving Don’s shoulder a squeeze. “We know Donald and his family better than anyone else, so we can tell you everything you want to know about them on the way there- it might help jog your memory!”

“Okay.” Don said once before repeating it with more conviction, finally looking excited about the idea (if the way his tail visibly wagged behind him was any indication). “Okay! Let’s do it! Teach me everything about my potential family!”

José and Panchito smiled while giving the excited duck their nods of affirmation, pleased that their little con was starting off so well.

<-Previous Chapter Next Chapter->

End Notes: Not much to say about this chapter other than 1.) Sorry it took a bit longer to publish, 2.) It’s my first time writing Lena as a character so let me know if she seems OOC, and 3.) The whole reason I picked the setting for the beginning of the story was solely so I could have José ask the “Have you been to Bahia?” question in this chapter because I’m a sucker for stuff like that xD

Translation Notes:

Isso soa bem? - Sound good?

“Isso seria bom. Obrigado.” - "That would be good. Thank you."

“¿Algo está mal, Zé?” - "Is something wrong, Zé?"

“Está tudo bem, querido.” - "It's fine, honey."