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psychosistr · 5 years

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The Third Caballero- Chapter 5

Summary: A decade goes by as José and Panchito continue to search for their missing caballero. Their search (and an attempt to earn some money gone wrong) leads them to stay in a familiar building where they run into an equally familiar face.

Notes: Here’s another link to the sketches by @levtuve that inspired the fic, as those are the outfits they’re wearing in this chapter xD

-First Chapter-

<-Previous Chapter Next Chapter->

Hope, José learned, was a fleeting resource for many people.

While he and Panchito kept true to their promise of never giving up the search for their missing boyfriend, as time wore on, many others did.

The first to give up were Donald’s extended family members and more distant friends. It wasn’t that they didn’t care, per se, it was simply that, after the first year or so, they had to move on with their lives.

Another year went by and some of Donald’s closer family members stopped holding out hope for his return, too. They were sad, but they felt it was time to grieve and move on.

After a few years of searching, and against his will, Scrooge was forced to give up, too. He’d sunk billions of dollars into search and rescue missions, using his company’s money as well as his own for the search. He chartered deep-sea expeditions, set up underwater base stations and labs, and had even bought out entire fleets of ships to find his missing nephew. Unfortunately, his money began to run lower than his board of directors were comfortable with, and they forced him to stop the expeditions and focus on his company.

Giving in to that decision did not help the old duck’s relationship with his niece in the slightest, judging from what Panchito and José heard. She still blamed her uncle for Donald’s disappearance in the first place, and hearing that he was giving up the search for her brother just widened the emotional gap between them even further. She still talked to the other caballeros every now and then, even if they never had anything more than dead-end leads or false-sightings. She still hoped, however distantly, that they would be the ones to find her brother like they promised.

The years piled up, however, and their communications with the pilot became less and less frequent as time wore on. It wasn’t anyone’s fault that they drifted apart from one another, really, they just had different things to focus on. José and Panchito had to focus on finding their dearest friend, as well as a way to restore José’s magic should the opportunity present itself, which would ultimately aid them in their primary goal.

And Della…well…Della had to look after her kids…

After she’d been fitted with her prosthetic leg, Della slowly cut off her contact with Scrooge until she didn’t even speak to him at all. She resolved to raise the kids on her own, using her trusted plane, the Cloud Slayer, as a sort of mobile home. It allowed her the freedom of flight and gave her the flexibility to keep her work-life and family-life together, often working odd jobs delivering cargo for small companies. While she did still hope that Panchito and José would be able to track down her brother, over time, her smile became less and less genuine and more forced. After almost a decade, they stopped hearing from her altogether.

It seemed, José would often think, that time could wear everyone thin eventually.

Well, except for Panchito, that is. The rooster was ever the optimist, always talking about the first things they’d do after they found Donald. No matter how many dead-ends they ran into, or how many leads turned up short, he would just smile at José and say the whole ordeal would be another funny thing they could tell their third caballero about once they found him again.

There were no doubts that, had Panchito not been by his side, José may have also given up hope by now, too. Not because his feelings for their missing comrade had diminished at all over the years, certainly not- if anything, he felt that his feelings had grown stronger due to longing. He knew Panchito felt it, too, from the way he would gaze up at the sky at night and play his guitar while singing all of Donald’s favorite songs (he said he didn’t want to get rusty while they looked for him).

No, if there was any reason he would give up hope, it would be because the sting of loneliness hurt worse the longer they went without seeing the brave duck’s smiling face.

He had Panchito by his side to help lessen the pain, of course. Ever since that horrible night the pair had become practically inseparable from each other. Maybe it was because they both sought comfort to ease the dull, aching pain in their hearts. Maybe it was because they were all they had left to each other and didn’t want to risk losing one another. Whatever the reason, they were by each other’s side every step of the way as they searched their world and any others they could find for their beloved.

Unfortunately, while they could find comfort and solace in each other to ease the pain on their seemingly endless journey, there was one thing that became more and more difficult to deal with as time went on:

Money.

Living as vagabonds was nothing new to the pair, but doing so for such a long period of time with no set location to hold down a job in proved challenging. They would scrape by selling whatever treasures they came across, stretching the little bits of money they acquired out for as long as possible. Thankfully they didn’t need to worry about housing, as Della allowed them to keep Donald’s houseboat to aid in their search (she’d smiled so sadly at them while giving them the keys, saying that Donald promised it as their home, anyway), but they still needed money for food, water, clothes, their phones, and any building supplies and tools needed to repair the boat along the way.

To help supplement their meager income, José had taken up to one of his old methods of earning quick cash- being a con-artist. It was something he had stepped away from many years ago, even before meeting Donald and Panchito. Conning innocent people out of their money always left a bad taste in his mouth, often leading to an overly-guilty conscience that would compel him to donate as much money as possible to the first person who asked him for a few dollars (often leaving him broke). He hated himself for resorting to such tactics to earn money again, and hated himself even more for dragging Panchito into his scams, as well.

Panchito was never a very good liar. He was honest and blunt and trustworthy, all qualities that José adored about the sweet rooster. However, these qualities also made him a good plant in the audience. His genuine wonder at whatever fake product or hokey slight-of-hand trick or rigged challenge that José set up would get peoples’ attention and draw them in. He was also really good at the more physical challenges, so, when he won, people would believe everything was fair-and-square, not realizing that the only reason the rooster won was due to his impressive strength and skills honed by training as a knight and his many adventures over the years.

Some scams went better than others, though, hence their inevitable need for disguises. They would pretend to be foreigner travelers as often as possible (which, depending on the country they were in at the time, wasn’t always far off). They collected pieces of clothing over the years that allowed them to pass as a multitude of cultural stereotypes, helping to further sell the illusion they were creating.

It was why, on the day they ran into someone rather interesting, they were dressed up as Russian tourists in Panchito’s homeland…

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

Panchito and José ran around a street corner and headed for the beach, a mob of angry people chasing after them. Still dressed up from their last attempted con, which involved “genuine Russian circus bear training courses”, Panchito was wearing a simple pair of black pants with a heavy red overcoat and a black Russian ushanka hat while José had lost most of his outfit in the ensuing chase, leaving him in an opened brown button-up shirt with a white undershirt and a pair of thick dark blue pants.

José spotted a way out of their current predicament and pointed to a ship down by the docks and then to a tall building a few feet away. “I believe it is time we ‘flew the coop’, so to speak.”

Panchito looked up to where his partner was pointing and grinned, quickly grasping what the other bird meant. “Ohhhh, good one, Zé!” He reached into the thick coat and pulled out his trusty lasso. He swung the rope around and tossed it into the air, easily hooking the crow’s nest of the ship and wrapping the end of the rope around his own hand for a little bit of leverage. “Hold on tight!” He said while scooping the smaller bird up into his arms.

“!!” José held on as tight as he could, clinging for dear life when Panchito took off running before leaping into the air.

The momentum and the odd properties of the lasso allowed them to swing through the air, easily crossing over the ship before the lasso released its hold and they rocketed up onto the building. Thankfully, they’d done this sort of thing enough times by now that they knew how to properly roll when they landed as well as how to stop before they reached the opposite edge of the building.

“Whoo!” Panchito laughed and sat up after they stopped rolling. “That could’ve gone better!”

“Agreed.” José said while rubbing his eyes, trying to dispel the dizziness he felt. “What’s worse, we have hardly anything to show for our troubles..” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the few pesos they’d gathered during their last con.

“Aw, don’t sweat it, cariño.” Panchito said while patting the parrot on the back encouragingly. “How were we supposed to know someone would try our lessons out on a REAL bear?”

“Você está certo.” José sighed, putting the money away. “Still, I wish we could have gotten more- this will hardly be enough to patch up the boat, and I’d rather not sleep under that hole in the roof with the storm tonight.”

“Don’t worry about that- I know somewhere we can stay.” Panchito said with a cheerful smile as he stood, offering the smaller bird a hand up.

José smiled slightly in return and took the offered hand, letting himself be pulled up onto his feet. “I am certainly open to suggestions.”

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

“This is not quite what I had in mind..” José said while eyeing his namorado’s suggested resting place for the evening and adjusting his overnight bag on his shoulder.

It was a large mansion along the coast, a twin to one that resided in Brazil. And, just like the one in Brazil, this one was in an equal state of disrepair. Originally, the matching vacation homes were set up as a bit of a joke- one located in Brazil and one in Mexico, both buildings located in areas called Veracruz. Well, part of it was a joke, at least, the main reason they were set up in such a way was so Donald could visit his boyfriends in their homelands easily while technically calling it a “work expedition” for his uncle.

Now, though, the unattended building and messy grounds served as a reminder that no one had visited or lived there since Donald’s disappearance. Apparently it was too harsh of a reminder for his family about what happened, so both locations were left to rot. Even José and Panchito had not stopped by to see the old buildings for a long time…

“I know, I know.” The rooster’s voice cut through José’s reminiscing. “But it’s close to the docks, plenty of rooms to stay in that don’t have holes over them, there’s no one here, aaaaaand-” He spun around so that he was standing in front of his partner, almost hitting him with the large hiking pack he wore on his back, and held up a single key that was by itself on a series of keychains. “It’s free!”

José could not help but chuckle slightly at his boyfriend’s cheerful demeanor. “Are you sure Senhor Scrooge will not mind?” He questioned. Even though dark storm clouds were already covering the sky and threatening to unleash their torrential downpour any minute now, he did not want to trespass on the property owned by one of their beloved’s relatives.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine!” Panchito encouraged while opening the gate and heading for the front door. “He hasn’t checked on the place in years. Besides, we’re just spending a night or two- it’s not like there’s any food for us to eat or bills to pay!”

“I suppose you are correct..” José conceded with a shrug, following the other bird to the front door just as he started to feel the air pressure shift- a sure sign of a heavy storm soon to follow.

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

Thankfully the lock only stuck a little when Panchito tried the key, allowing them easy enough access via the creaky, unused doors. They were momentarily distracted by the dust their arrival stirred up, and proceeded to open up a few windows to air the building out, forgetting to lock the door behind themselves due to their need for fresh air.

After the air was cleared and they stopped sneezing, the two birds took their time exploring the old mansion. It gave them a sense of nostalgia to finally set foot in such a familiar place after so long- it was almost like coming home after a trip, but with a sense of melancholy and longing that hung in the air.

Each hall they passed contained pictures of the Duck/McDuck family. Every smiling face from various people, most of which they hadn’t seen in years, left the duo with a growing pit in their chests.

A familiar emptiness that had not yet been filled…

José noticed that the unpleasant trip down memory lane was starting to make the rooster’s ever-present smile slip. To distract him, he placed a hand on his companheiro’s shoulder, startling the other out of his thoughts and making him look at the parrot with a curious tilt of his head.

“How about I prepare us some dinner, meu bem? I managed to get a bag of those tamarind candies you like so much.” The green bird asked with a soft smile.

That instantly brought a bright, excited smile to the other’s face, his hands clenching into fists in front of him as he practically buzzed with anticipation. “¡¿Chaca chaca?!” At a nod from his novio, Panchito let out an excited grito and scooped the smaller bird into his arms in an eager hug. “AAAAIIYYHAAA! Gracias, cariño!” He gave José’s face several kisses to show the depths of his gratitude.

José laughed merrily at his partner’s restored cheer and patted him on the shoulders, signaling he wanted to be placed safely back on the ground again. “You can have them AFTER we finish a proper meal first.”

Panchito set him down with a nod, his smile so big it practically split his face. “Okay!” He gave his boyfriend one last kiss on the forehead before finally letting him go.

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

José was pleasantly surprised to discover both the plumbing and electricity to still be functional in the old mansion (granted, he had to run the tap in the kitchen for a few seconds before the water came out clear, but at least it was working). He spent about an hour preparing an easy but filling recipe of galinhada, deciding he needed a taste of his own home after sampling so many of Panchito’s local favorites. He felt like he was technically cheating a little bit by using freeze-dried vegetables and meat-substitutes, but there wasn’t much else he could do- they traveled better than fresh ingredients, lasted longer between meals, and they didn’t have the money to get anything fresher at the moment. Then again, given that he’d seen Panchito eat a bowl of mud and snails before, he doubted the other bird would notice much.

After spooning the rice dish into two bowls, storing the leftovers in containers, and leaving the pot he’d cooked everything in soaking in the sink (he always made sure to bring some camping-style collapsible cookware and dishes with them, as it made preparing meals easier while they were away from the boat), José carried the bowls back to one of the upstairs guest rooms where he knew Panchito would be waiting.

He prepared to open the door and walk in with the food, but, hearing the other’s voice caught his attention and he stopped to peek in through where the door remained ajar. Inside, he saw Panchito sitting cross legged on the bare mattress (they’d taken the dirty covers off and tossed them in another room already, the smell was unbearable) with his back to the door. Over the rooster’s shoulder, José could make out something familiar that made his heart clench painfully.

It was an old picture of himself, Panchito, and Donald- a photo taken on their first official date to a nice pizza restaurant/arcade shortly after their second defeat of Felldrake. Many of their closer friends joked that the trio had already been dating long before that point, but that was the day they actually talked it over and decided to try going out. They had a fun day eating junk food, playing games, winning prizes, and just enjoying each other’s company. It had been a wonderful experience and a great way to mark the beginning of their romantic relationship. They capped off the evening with a walk to the park where they laid on the grass and looked at the stars. To commemorate the occasion, Donald had decided to take a group picture and, as he held his new cell phone as far out above them as he could reach to fit them all in the frame, Panchito and José decided to surprise him by planting a matching pair of kisses on his cheeks right as he pressed the button. The resulting image involved a rather red-faced duck with his beak hanging open, a grinning rooster, and a pleased parrot all looking at the camera.

José had a copy of the picture as well, framed safely and nailed to the wall in the houseboat. He wanted to preserve the memory as neatly as possible.

Panchito’s copy, on the other hand, was extremely worn and weathered. He often kept it tucked away in one of his holsters so he could pull it out whenever he pleased. This resulted in the once-glossy paper losing its shine, a large crease forming down the middle, the edges crinkling, and blurred patches to appear on the paper from the way the normally happy bird would gently caress the image of his beloved with his thumb, much as he was now.

“What do you think, mi patito?” Panchito asked the photo with a voice trying just a little too hard to sound genuinely happy. “It’s been a while since we had a nice vacation, huh? Don’t worry, though, we’re only staying a day or two, then we’ll be right back to looking for you, mi amor.” There was a pause for a moment, the normally high-levels of energy the rooster gave off draining from him as his shoulders slumped. “…We miss you, Donald…”

José frowned as he listened to the one-sided conversation. This was not an unusual occurrence, sadly. He’d walked in on such moments many times over the past decade. Every time he’d enter the room, Panchito would be startled, quickly scrambling to hide the picture and pretend he was doing something else. It was the one thing he refused to talk about and tried to keep a secret from his partner. José could not fault him for such a thing- it was likely his way of dealing with the constant stress and let-downs they endured as the years wore on.

To avoid startling the melancholy man, José walked back the way he came quietly before turning back towards the room and calling from further down the hall. “Panchi? Could you get the door, meu bem? My hands are full.” He waited a couple of seconds before walking towards the room again.

“Sure thing, Zé!” Panchito called back with his usual enthusiasm. He soon opened the door and greeted the green bird with a bright smile, sniffing the air with a delighted hum. “Mhhh, that smells great.” His stomach gave a loud growl and he laughed before taking his bowl and heading back to the bed. “Looks like my stomach agrees!”

José chuckled a bit as well, taking a seat next to Panchito on the bed. “I am glad to hear it. Your stomach will also be happy to know that there are plenty of leftovers waiting downstairs if it is still unsatisfied after your meal.”

They grinned at each other and ate their meal in relative silence, enjoying the peace and quiet as well as the taste of a good home-cooked meal. When they were done, they spread their spare blanket and pillows out over the bed and cuddled together while watching the rain fall through the window and eating Panchito’s favorite candies. It was a nice, calming way to spend the evening.

That is, until the deafening sound of something being knocked over downstairs echoed through the otherwise quiet house.

“?!!!” Both birds were startled by the loud noise and instantly shot up out of the bed and onto their feet.

“Did you lock the door?” José asked while grabbing his umbrella from where it rested by their packs.

“I thought you did..” Panchito admitted with a slight frown as he drew one of his pistols.

They shared a look that communicated their thoughts to each other perfectly: It was likely some burglar that wanted to ransack the old building thinking it was abandoned. Nothing they couldn’t handle, really- the crook would probably run off the moment he saw Panchito’s gun. If not, the poor fool would be taught a lesson they wouldn’t soon forget…

Armed and ready for a fight if necessary, the pair made their way back down the stairs as quietly as possible. They followed the sounds of things banging against each other and crashing to one of the downstairs master-suites.

They froze momentarily when they noticed which room the noises were coming from: Donald’s old room. At all of the vacation houses Scrooge owned, there were special rooms set aside for himself, Donald, Della, and one or two other close family members they would take trips with on a regular basis such as Gladstone or Fethry.

Righteous fury burned through the two caballeros at the thought of some petty thief rifling through their beloved’s belongings. With his gun raised in warning, Panchito kicked open the door.

“¡No se mueva!” He shouted first in Spanish, then repeated it again in English to cover any language gap. “Don’t move!”

They saw a white feathered duck on the other side of the room, standing in front of a large framed portrait of Donald with his uncle and his sister. The intruder had his back to them and had apparently been in the middle of picking up some fallen knick-knacks and miniature diecast boat figurines from the dresser nearby. He was dressed in a dripping-wet green jacket and a black cap that was sitting askew on his head.

José got an odd feeling looking at the intruder. Something about him felt..different..

“Turn around.” He said firmly, keeping his umbrella tight in his fist and preparing to lash out if need-be.

The intruder slowly turned around to face them, raising his hands above his shoulders to show he was unarmed. Once he was facing them fully, they could see two things.

The first was the rest of his outfit, which consisted of a simple but dirty (and equally soaked) yellow-brown sweater under the coat and a golden necklace with a purple glass center.

The second was that he seemed completely and utterly terrified. His eyes were screwed shut and his whole body was trembling.

Panchito’s previous harshness faded slightly at seeing how scared the duck looked. “Abre tus ojos.” He commanded while keeping an eye on the duck. “Come on, look at us.”

The duck hesitantly complied, opening one eye nervously just a sliver. “……” Unfortunately, that only seemed to frighten him more when he saw Panchito still holding his gun. “!!” He moved as if he was about to try ducking or running away, but he stepped on one of the small boats still littering the floor and slipped, his back and head hitting the wall and his hat slipping down over his face.

José relaxed slightly after witnessing the clumsy display. This intruder was clearly not a threat. He reached over with his umbrella and lightly pressed down so Panchito would lower his pistol. “I think it is safe to assume this one is not dangerous.”

“Yeah.” Panchito agreed while holstering his gun. “The only one he’s hurting is himself.” He looked at the duck across the room again and called over. “It’s okay! We won’t hurt you! Estás a salvo aquí! Can you…stand…uhh…”

Panchito’s concerned questioned died on his tongue as the intruder did just that.

As the duck stood up, his hat fell off to reveal the messy little tuft of feathers on the top of his head. He rubbed at the spot on the back of his head that had hit the wall and opened his eyes in the process. Once he was standing up straight again, he looked at the other birds across the room from him with a raised eyebrow, likely confused over why they were both staring at him with such wide eyes.

They couldn’t help but stare, though. Not with how, when looking at the duck in front of them and the photo directly behind him, they were looking at the EXACT SAME FACE.

“D..Donald..?” José’s voice shook as it left his beak, the grip on his umbrella going slack and causing it to fall to the floor at his feet.

It was impossible…

It couldn’t be…!

It was-!

“Donald!” Panchito shouted with tears already forming in his eyes. “¡Mi amigo!” Unlike José, who was still frozen in place from the shock, Panchito was already running across the room to scoop the duck up into his arms and hold onto him tightly. “AAAAAAH!” He pulled back just enough to look into the confused duck’s eyes, words firing out of his mouth a mile-a-minute. “Where have you been?! We’ve been looking everywhere for you! We got Xandra and the girls to help, and your uncle sent submarines, and me and Zé traveled all over and-!”

Then, with a confused frown and a voice that was so very different from the one they associated with that face- one that sounded deeper and far more “normal” and with a slight Spanish accent- the duck Panchito had been hugging so enthusiastically asked one simple question that caused their raised spirits to plummet once again:

“Who’s Donald?”

<-Previous Chapter Next Chapter->

End Notes: Just wanted to put in a quick description of the food here for those who’ve never had any of it before: Chaca chaca is a spicy tamarind candy- when I was little, my friends from Mexico would try to dare/trick me and my sister to eat it because they thought we would find it too spicy (my sister did, but I loved spicy food, so the joke was on them xD). Galinhada, on the other hand, is a Brazilian chicken and rice dish that you can mix in with vegetables like peas, peppers, or whatever you really want as long as it’s got chicken and rice- it’s a really tasty and filling meal that my Brazilian friend’s mom used to make pretty often and share with us as thanks for giving her some fresh saffron and turmeric (my grandfather’s sister’s husband was from India, so they would bring us some spices whenever they stopped by- saved us SO much money because that stuff’s expensive XP).

Translation Notes:

“Você está certo.” - "You're right."

mi patito - my duckling (I just love the trend I see of them calling Donald duckling x3)

“¡No se mueva!” - “Don’t move!”

“Abre tus ojos.” - "Open your eyes."

Estás a salvo aquí! - You are safe here!

#the three gay caballeros #three gay caballeros #the three caballeros #legend of the three caballeros #ducktales #ducktales 2017 #dt 2017 #panchito pistoles #jose carioca #panjose #The Third Caballero #Anastasia!AU

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