- A Note From the Author -

     This was the first fanfic that I ever completed. Judging by the
positive responses I have recieved since I completed it around 1996 it
was worth something to some people and probably still is even now.
So I've decided to post it on my website in its original edit.

     Note that the authors notes at the end of the story are a little
more recent than 1996, so I am going to call that part the D.A.F.T.
(Disney Afternoon File Time) edit because this is a copy of the file
that I submitted to that mailing list.

Enjoy!

= = = = = = = = = =

"Memories"
A Gadget Hackwrench mini-novella.

- A story by... -

Robert N Hollingshead (robonerd@cottagesoft.com)

- Partly edited by... -

John A Kazos Jr. (jkazos@rvgs.k12.va.us? [lost contact])

----- Chapters -----

The Dream . . . . . . . . . . I
Born  . . . . . . . . . . . . II
Decision  . . . . . . . . . . III
First Day . . . . . . . . . . IV
Emptiness . . . . . . . . . . V
Stroke of Genius  . . . . . . VI
The Morning of Change . . . . VII
A Birthday to Remember  . . . VIII
The Doctor is In  . . . . . . IX
Was She My Mother?  . . . . . X
The Figure In The Mirror  . . XI
Childhood Prodigy . . . . . . XII
A Change of Attitude  . . . . XIII
Death Bed . . . . . . . . . . XIV
The Turning Point . . . . . . XV
Chip  . . . . . . . . . . . . XVI
Saying Goodbye  . . . . . . . XVII
Closing . . . . . . . . . . . -
-----------------------------

And now...
We begin...

I- The Dream -I

    "Ladies and gentlemen!" the loudspeaker exclaimed. "Welcome to our
tenth annual cross-country air race!" The crowd cheered as the pilots
began to step into their aircraft. "We are proud to introduce, going for a
fifth victory in this fabulous air race, Gadget Hackwrench!"

    Gadget climbed into her specially-designed racing plane and waved to the
crowd in the stands, who cheered even louder. She closed the canopy of the
plane and cranked the engine.

    The planes started and got louder and louder as the pilots increased
the throttle, leaving the wheel brakes on. Farther ahead along the runway,
a mouse was standing in a tower, getting ready to wave the starting flag
for takeoff. Gadget lowered her goggles and gave a ground crewman the
thumbs-up to remove the two pieces of wood from the front of her wheels.

    When the pilots saw the mouse in the tower wave the flag, they took the
wheel brakes off and began to move forward in a mad rush of speed. Farther
down, the first row began to lift off the ground. Gadget, in the middle of
the second row, started to feel the stick move, and then was airborne. But
before she could even blink her eyes, she saw the plane in front of her hit
her prop. Seconds later, her plane hit the ground, skidding in a shower of
sparks, producing a fire in the engine compartment. Before she knew it, she
was encased in a burning aircraft, gasping for breath through the acrid
smoke.

*-*-*

    "Nooooooooooo!" Gadget shrieked as she suddenly jolted up in bed,
sweating profusely and breathing rapidly. After a short moment she had
regained her breath, but not her composure, and put her paws in her lap and
looked down at them, sobbing.

    Chip bolted in the door moments later, followed by Dale, Monty, and
Zipper. "Gadget, we heard you scream! Are..." They all looked at Gadget who
was still gazing at her paws. Chip walked up to her bed and sat down beside
her, with dale on her other side. Monty and Zipper looked on.

    "Gadget, what's wrong?" Dale asked.

    Gadget looked up at him, then at Chip, then back at Dale, tears
streaming down her cheeks. "It happened again," she said weakly.

    Dale looked at Chip. "Gadget, do you want to be alone right now?"

    "I think...I'd like to talk to Chip alone for a moment." she whispered.

    Dale took Monty and Zipper in tow and left the room, closing the door
behind them.

    Chip watched them leave. "You've been having this dream for five days
now. Maybe you need to, well, talk to someone about it. Besides us, I mean.
Someone who could possibly help you."

    "It should have been me in that plane, Chip!" she answered, trembling.
"I *knew* he shouldn't have gone! I always worried about him in those air
races, Chip." She took his paws and clasped them in hers. He could tell by
her watering eyes how serious she was.

*-*-*

    Like a book that had closed too early, her father Geegaw had died when
Gadget was still a child. There was so much that he had wanted to tell her
about her mother, and about his experiences, the joyous occasions he had
shared with those he loved and the mistakes he had made that he did not
want her to have to go through. She had always wanted to know these things,
and much more, when he died, leaving her no one else to turn to for
answers. She had become so wrapped up in Rescue Ranger work that she had
forgotten about it, but now the memories of her father had come back to
haunt her, in her mind, and in her dreams...

II- Born -II

    It was a warm spring day with only a few lingering clouds in the sky.
The sun was shining like a beacon in the air, high above the people, and
animals, that lived above it.

    In a part of a run-down New York hospital was a small building not
known to the humans: a *real* animal hospital. The delivery ward waiting
room was quiet, with a few mice lounging around. One was sitting on the
couch, deep in nervous thought.

    A doctor entered the waiting room. "Mr. Hackwrench, would you come
with me, please?"

    Geegaw stood up and followed the doctor down the hall, into an office.

    The doctor walked over to his desk and moved behind his chair.
"Maybe...you should sit down. I have something to tell you."

    Geegaw found another chair and sat down carefully.

    "So, Doctor, are they all right?" he asked.

    The doctor looked at the window. "It's not a question of they anymore,
more a question of which one."

    Geegaw looked down at the floor in shock and agony. "No, no, please..."

    The doctor's face seemed to grow old and weary. He had seen too many
deaths, too many horrors to make up for the successes; he could not feel
glad about the death of one making the life of another possible. He nodded
his head sadly. "Complications from the birth were too severe. She died,
soon after the baby was born." He stood up and walked over to Geegaw and
placed his paw on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. We did all we could. I wish we
could have done more."

    "Doc, I'd...I'd like to see the baby," Geegaw mumbled, trying to sound
coherent. He walked to the door, stumbling, as the doctor opened it and
steadied him.

    "We'd like to keep the baby here for a few days for close
observations," he said. "By the way: it's a girl."

    When they walked up to the hall window and looked into the nursery,
Geegaw could almost pick out the baby. "Is that her?" he asked, pointing to
one in the far back.

    The doctor paused, then answered, "Yes, that's the one." He motioned to
the nurse in the room to bring the baby closer to the window. Carrying the
baby in her arms, the nurse walked up to the window.

    Geegaw looked up for a second, then spoke. "She looks so much like her
mother."

    The doctor looked at Geegaw. "So, what are you going to name her?"

    Geegaw looked back, then turned around to the baby. "Her name will be
Gadget. Her mother picked the name."

    Geegaw knelt down closer to the window. "Hello, Gadget."

III- Decision -III

    A month had passed. The golden sun disappeared into the horizon, out of
sight of Rescue Ranger Headquarters. IN the front room four Rangers sat,
all talking about the case they had just finished. Chip was just sitting
down on the couch.

    "Well, another day, another case."

    Dale turned to Chip. "Yeah, we sure taught ol' furball a lesson!"

    Chip grinned. "We sure did. I don't think he's going to be a problem
for a while."

    Dale glanced around, then turned to Monterey. "Hey Monty, where's Gadget?"

    Monty looked at the ground. "She's still outside. Poor lass, she's been
so depressed lately."

    Chip got up and resolutely headed for the door. "Let's go see if we can
cheer her up."

    "Uh, Chip," Monty interjected, "you might want t' leave 'er be. If this
is th' day that..."

    Chip turned around. "That what?"

    Monty looked toward the ground again, this time walking toward the
couch. "Well, today, is th' day..."

    Dale blocked his path. "Stop keeping us in suspense, Monty! What is it?"

    Monty walked around Dale and sat down. "Poor 'ol Geegaw. Gadget's so
depressed today, that's because today is th' day that Geegaw died in th'
plane crash." Chip and dale exchanged a look of chagrin and sympathy.

    Out front Gadget sat, still in the pilot's seat of the Ranger Wing. In
her mind she was reliving that day, again and again. She just couldn't rid
herself of the vision of two planes, one holding her only family and best
friend, hurtling violently into the unforgiving ground in a shower of
sparks and flame. Oh, how she wanted to go back in time and change it all!
But, she knew, in her heart, that was not possible. But that couldn't stop
her from wishing.

    Chip's head popped up on the passenger side. "Mind if I join you?"

    Gadget didn't reply; she remained a mournful statue, the lump in her
heart as hard as marble.

    "Well, if it makes you feel any better, we understand."

    Gadget sighed deeply, closed her eyes, and laid her head against the
steering wheel, her right ear flapping loosely in the wind. "Chip, how
could you possibly know what it's like to have your only blood relative
taken from you so violently?"

    Chip answered as best he could. "You're right."

    Gadget opened her eyes and gazed at him. "Then you don't really know
what it's like, waking up to an empty house, not knowing how you'll survive
anymore. The pain of questions unanswered. Have youever had a question that
you wanted, *needed* an answer for, but never got one?" She closed her eyes
again. "Why did he leave me? Why did he die when I needed him the most?
Why?"

    ::Will I ever find the answers?:: she asked herself. ::And will they be
more painful than losing him was?::

    Gadget sat up, then reached to a switch on the dash and flipped it. The
motors instantly started spinning, making Chip jump.

    He looked at her in surprise. "Gadget, what are you going to do?" he
shouted over the din.

    She glanced at him with no expression. "If you don't want to come with
me, then get off now." Without another word, he buckled in, and the Ranger
Wing began moving upward.

*-*-*

    New York international is always busy close to 8pm; with all it's
planes arriving and departing, you'd think the noise pollution would bother
people, and the animals. Not Gadget. For as long as she could remember
before meeting the Rangers, this was forever the place she called home. She
set the Ranger Wing down with her trademark style beside the remains of
the old World War II Flying Fortress, Gadget's old house.

    She got out and ran to the entrance, followed by Chip. The way they
entered reminded him of the first time he had came and first viewed her
sweet, beautiful face, or her ugly, relentless Anti-Salesman equipment, to
be exact.

    After fighting cobwebs, which were the only noticeable difference, they
stood staring at the cockpit area of the plane. Chip remembered first
finding out ust how dangerous Monty's cheese attacks were. Gadget looked at
Chip, then started walking through the trap complex. "Don't worry," she
said, "they're all deactivated." Chip wiped his forehead with a sigh of
relief, then started following Gadget again.

    He watched Gadget, and realized she was searching for an answer to
something, perhaps some evidence, something her father left behind. When
Gadget turned around, all Chip could see of her was a silhouette made by
the moon coming through the cockpit glass, a vision hauntingly familiar to
the first time he had seen her. But he could feel more for her now than he
did then, because now he knew her. Love, sympathy, sadness, hopeful
understanding.

    Gadget walked toward the glass of the cockpit and looked out over the
ground. "Me, and Dad, used to work on modifying the Screaming Eagle in this
room. That was his favorite plane." Chip looked at the empty space,
remembering that pieces of the Screaming Eagle were now strewn all over
Glacier Bay.

    The area was musty, dusty, damp, dark, rusty, partly due to the
explosion of dynamite used to launch the plane that day. She walked over to
a large box and opened it up. It was a rodent-sized breaker box, an
ingenious combination of high-voltage rocker switches from hair dryers and
fuses from appliances. She flipped one of the large rocker switches,
evidently the master breaker, and the entire interior of the house was
illuminated. "Good! They all still work." Chip had no doubt in his mind
that the electrical system was completely out of her genius.

    She led Chip to a rusted door and opened it, revealing some stairs that
led down to a hallway. The destructive moisture hadn't gotten past the
door. The stairs were, to his amazement, made up of welded metal, unlike
the dominoes at RRHQ that they were forever having to restack. No one ever
had come in for the years Gadget had been with the Rangers. The hallway was
bare; Gadget had stored everything away at her workshop in RRHQ, so there
were no pictures on the walls, or anything else for that matter.

    They could hear the wind outside whistling through cracks in the
plane's cockpit and the open door in the glass that the Screaming Eagle had
made its last takeoff through. He now realized that some of the thin walls
were covering up and serving as patches for those cracks. They were the
reasons the wind seemed so loud.

    Gadget started walking down the hallway, then stopped and turned
around. "Follow me." She lead him to a door.

    "What's in there?" Chip asked, whispering, as if he didn't want to wake
someone up.

    "This was my father's room," she responded. "I never was able to open
it after he died. I felt, if I opened it, I would unlock a secret I didn't
want revealed." She looked at the ground and let out a weak sigh. "But,
now, I feel it's time I unlocked those secrets."

    The heating in the house was off, but it didn't phase Gadget; her mind
was on one thing, and one thing only: opening a door never opened since it
was last closed by her father. She reached for the knob, but stopped. She
leaned against the wall and sobbed tearlessly. "I just can't! You have to,
Chip. Please?"

    He looked at the knob, just as she had, but he couldn't touch it for a
moment either; the situation was just too spooky. Then he opened it, eyes
closed.

    He opened his eyes slowly onto a wondrous sight. Expecting to see a
dead body or something else so melodramatic, he instead finds a perfectly
tidy, but dusty room. They both entered and looked around. Everything was
perfectly tidy, except that the walls were bare, *everything* was bare of
coverings, and except for the bed (without sheets), and a dresser, there
was nothing else in the room.

IV- First Day -IV

    "Geegaw, have you ever considered...remarrying? I mean, I know, it's
been a week since Helen died, but, don't you think Gadget could benefit
from having someone to call Mom?"

    Geegaw turned to answer the doctor. He could understand the doctor's
concern, but he couldn't even think about marrying again. He could not
break his vows to Helen; he loved her truly. He looked at Gadget, then
smiled and looked at the doctor again. "Doc, I think the two of us will get
along just fine. How much longer do you want to keep her under
observations?"

    The doctor looked at Gadget. "We just wanted to make sure that she
didn't have any problems from the complications during the delivery. But,
if you'll wait a second, I think I can get her out today. She looks
healthy, and all other indications of health are present. I don't think we
need to keep her any longer." Geegaw looked at Gadget. She smiled at him.
"If you'll just sign here, you can take her home right now."

    Geegaw looked up at the doctor. "No catches, no people knocking on my
door to check up on her?"

    The doctor laughed. "No, Mr. Hackwrench, no visitors. All we ask is
that you bring her in for a checkup every other week for a while, just to
be sure."

    Geegaw signed it, then accepted Gadget from the nurse. "Thanks, Doc.
I'll never forget how kind you were to us." The doctor smiled again, and
Geegaw left.

    The doctor's smile melted, leaving a ponderous and sad look on his
face. "Nurse, file this somewhere save. I have the feeling we'll be needing
it again."

*-*-*

    As Geegaw got into his small motor skate, made by him, he suddenly
realized that, since he was taking a new baby home, he'd have to drive much
more slowly than usual. "Better keep you save. I wouldn't want anything to
happen to my little princess." He grinned. "Look at me...I sound just like
your mother." She smiled again, and gurgled. He tickled her nose; she cooed
contentedly. Geegaw strapped her in, started the motor, and began to drive
down the sidewalk.

V- Emptiness -V

    Both Gadget and Chip stood for a minute with their mouths open. The
bare room was definitely not what they had expected. Gadget was shocked.

    When she tried to speak normally, all that came out were squeaks, so
she let her desperation soak her tone. "What happened?!? Why isn't there
anything here?" She turned to Chip. "I'm sure no one has been in here! What
happened?" She walked into the middle of the room. Where were the answers?
Where was *anything*?

    Her stomach had dropped into her legs; her heart felt ready to explode.
All the color was gone from her face, and the cool dryness of the air
served to worsen the effect of desperation. She closed her eyes, but
couldn't shut out the horrible sadness she was feeling at the memory of the
empty room.

    Chip put a paw on her shoulder. He realized that, like the destruction
of the Screaming Eagle, this room served only to increase her grief. He
could feel her trembling. "Take the Ranger Wing and leave. I'm going to
stay here for the night."

    "But where will you sleep?" Chip objected.

    "Golly, Chip, there's a mattress here; I'll think of something." She
sat down on it. "I always do." She looked up again. "Tell the others I'm
just trying to get in touch with part of myself that's missing. That's all
I can give them."

    Chip looked at her in askance, but she just shrugged. He adjusted his
hat and jacket, hugged her, and left. As she continued to look around the
room, she noticed the emptiness more and more. "Well, Dad, you got me here.
What now?" She knew there could be no answer.

    She laid down and clacked her teeth in frustration. "It's no use."  She
sighed one last time. "Good night, Dad." She sneezed and cried herself to
sleep.

VI- Stroke of Genius -VI

    Every parent faces this one day, but Geegaw had trouble preparing
himself to meet the school principal. But to have it happen in
kindergarten! He couldn't even imagine what happened. She was walking
beside him, and was having trouble reaching his paw with hers.

    "Mr. Hackwrench, good. Please, sit down." The principal offered Geegaw
a seat in front of her noticeably large desk.

    "Kind of reminds me of my High School principal's desk, what with the
diplomas and all." He chuckled.

    So did she. "That isn't a coincidence Mr. Hackwrench." Her smile
softened into a grin, and he began to relax. She pulled the top file from
her cabinet and held it out to Geegaw. "Your daughter, Gadget, is the
brightest student in her kindergarten class. Her grades have remained A's,
A's, and once again, A's. I'm not talking, ninety-five percent on
everything. I'm talking one-hundred percent, absolutely perfect scores. She
even *adds* to the assignments." Geegaw looked stunned. "But that's only
half of the reason that I've called you here. When I asked her teacher to
fill out a form to immediately promote her one grade, the teacher refused.
She said that Gadget has been having peer problems, the most noticeable
being that she has been teased by her lack of a mother. The teacher
believes it would be more psychologically damaging to have the same thing
said in a new situation than in the old one."

    He looked at Gadget. "You said, 'most noticeable.' What are the others?"

    "I'm afraid so. She is ostracized by her peers: no one sits by her at
lunch; at recess, she sits on the ground, gazing at the airport and the
planes, alone; no one will speak to her, and she will speak to no one, but
the teachers."

    Gadget piped up. "They pick on me, Daddy, 'cause I don't have a Mommy."

    Geegaw realized what was happening. Because she had no mother, she was
different from the other children, and therefore they treated her as
strange. ::But what am I to do?:: he pondered. ::No one else is worthy to
be her mother than Helen!::

    He couldn't think of anything to do, but he would try. "Gadget, Mrs.
MacNeille here wants you to go to First Grade, with the bigger kids. Would
you like that?"

    "Really?!? Wow! Yeah! Oh, please Daddy, please!" The principal felt
trapped, and so she agreed. But she made sure, with a single look, that
Geegaw knew that he had to do something. Soon.

VII- The Morning of Change -VII

    The sun started to peek through the viewport that makes up the window
of Geegaw's room. Gadget was still laying on the dust-covered bed, and she
had picked up enough of it to make her wildly messed up hair look a little
like an old orange featherduster. She began to awaken, her eyes still a
little tight from crying. She rolled over, and when she did, her arm fell
off the side of the bed and brushed up against the frame.

    "Yeeeeooooooowwww!" She looked down and saw that she was bleeding
heavily. She ran to the bathroom and, heaving a sigh of relief, tied a
washcloth around the wound, stemming the flow. She looked into the mirror,
an odd feeling crossing her mind. Gently, she traced the curves of her face
with her paw; the feel of her face, the expression on her reflection,
nothing about her seemed like herself. It was as if the person before her
was *not* her, but just someone she met in passing, but who is haunting
her. She slowly stepped back, followed by the stranger, and turned away.
She returned to the bed.

    She had not seen the envelope stuck in the corner of the all-white bed,
but now it was blood-stained and she found it. "My birth certificate?" She
gasped, and read further. Date of Birth, May 20, 1970. Time of Birth,
11:16pm. Excited, skipped to the middle. "Guardians." She thought she would
see Geegaw first, but instead..."Helen Hackwrench? Mom?"  The signature
below it, not her mother's, was instead Geegaw's handwriting. "Why would he
sign for Mom?"

    She saw something else in the envelope, and pulled it out. She had seen
Monty's baby pictures, Zipper hadn't any, and Chip and Dale were apparently
embarrassed, so they didn't show them. Now, she held her own.
    It had faded with time, but it was of a baby, female mouse with pretty 
orange hair and a sweet little pink cherry-shaped nose, sleeping peacefully 
in a hospital nursery crib. With tears coming to her eyes, she held the 
picture to her breast, hugging it. She had found a piece of her past, and 
she looked at it for what seemed like forever.

    She turned the picture around to see if there was anything written on
it. "'Dr. Stones, MD, head of Maternity Ward, May 20, 1970, New York
Central Hospital, Animal Division.'" She thought for a moment. "I know
where that is!" She sprinted toward the door, with a last glance back to
see if she had missed anything else. She didn't even look to see how much
of a mess she was; frankly, she didn't care.

VIII- A Birthday to Remember -VIII

    Gadget had waited a whole year for another one; she was practically
bursting by May! This was going to be a special birthday: her tenth! Her
dad had said that, once she was ten, he would let her ride in his plane,
and maybe he'd teach her how to fly it!

    A nice, bright, clear day was ahead of them. The air was fine and the
wind was cooperating nicely for a rookie flight. Instead of taking her
home, Geegaw took her to his hangar, and showed her the Ultra Flite. The
advanced two-prop mouse-sized airplane sat, charged and ready for takeoff.
She was always amazed at the size of it.

    Taking a moment to admire the machine, she turned to greet her dad who
had quietly walked up behind her. "Golly, Dad! You tried that once before,
last week."

    He gave her an innocent smile. "Oh, yeah, I did." He kept smiling. "So,
is my little princess ready for her first flight?"

    Her eyes grew wide, then she blushed. "Yes, Dad."

*-*-*

    Taxiing down the runway was as exciting as the actual flight; she
watched Geegaw intently, remembering what he pressed, when he did it, and
what he told her when she asked why. She was bursting with questions, but
wisely waited until they were up in the air. Suddenly, the world dropped
from underneath her, and they were flying. They were flying!

    Geegaw's insides were in as much turmoil as their trailing wind. How
could he let her fly the plane? She could die! She was all he had left of
Helen. If he lost her, he would have no reason to live. ::But how can I
keep the joys of flight, of soaring faster than the wind, from her?:: So he
began to tell Gadget how to fly.

    He was astonished at how quickly she was picking it up. The complex
instruments and numerous displays didn't even phase her. "Golly, Dad, this
is great!" she said in a completely confident tone.

    Gadget felt connected to the plane; it obeyed her every command, and
she felt as free as if all that was flying was herself. "Daddy, I saw you
take off, and I think I can land. Can I try?"

    His first sense of danger melted with her confident voice. "Sure, go
ahead. Can you see the runway?" Ten minutes later, they landed, more
smoothly than the ride began. "Okay, now turn off the engines."

    Geegaw had to help after she had managed to turn on the windshield
wipers and turn off the wheel brakes. When everything was straight, they
heard a voice calling. "Geegaw, ol' pal, 'ow'd th' ride go? Still alive, I
see. 'Ow many times you going t' fly that rusty bucket o' bolts?"

    "Monterey!" "Uncle Monty!"

    Geegaw jumped out of the plane. "Well, if it isn't old Cheezebread
Cheddarhead! Stepped on any Brie lately?"

    Monty mumbled something incoherent, but probably not flattering. Then
he said, "Geegaw, could I talk t' you for a minute?"

    He sent Gadget home with some money for take-out for dinner. "What is
it, Monty?"

    "Well, do you remember that air race you signed up for?" "Yeah, why?"
"Well, do you remember the old mouse behind you?" "Sure, we talked about
his plane." "Well, he just crashed yesterday. He's *DEAD*, Geegaw! I'm
worried about you. Who's going to take care of Gadget if you go to the big
mousehole in the sky?"

    Geegaw laughed. "Monty, Monty, Monty! Air racing is my greatest dream.
I can't give it up! Besides, that was just a coincidence. I'm not going to
let Gadget fly until she's at least twenty, anyway. Don't worry about us."

IX- The Doctor is In -IX

    Gadget hurriedly walked to the Ward of the New York Animals' Hospital.
After trampling two other mice in her haste, she made it to the front desk,
almost braining the nurse on duty when she slipped on the rug made of
National Geographics from 1963. "Nurse, I'm here to see Dr. Stones. Is he
in?"

    After she recovered, she said, "You're lucky; he's just about to end
his shift. Do you want to wait while I fetch him? Okay." She left, and
returned five minutes later. "Miss, the doctor is in his office." She led
Gadget down three hallways, around a corner, and finally to an open door.

    "Dr. Stones?" she hesitatingly asked, afraid that she had the wrong one
after all.

    "Yes, may I help you?"

    "Yes, um, my name is Gadget, and..."

    "Gadget? Your name is Gadget? Gadget Hackwrench?" His face lost all
expression. "Miss Hackwrench, yes, I remember you. I...I delivered you many
years ago, twenty perhaps? No, it was twenty-seven. Yes, twenty-seven years. 
I have your file right here. I've kept it up-to-date as much as I could...I 
just knew you would be special, so I kept your file available. One moment...
we really do have an excellent system here. One moment..." He fumbled the 
latch on the drawer and leaned down to it to hide his face; he couldn't keep 
the sadness off of it anymore. "One moment...great system, bad cabinets. 
They really need to fix these things...Ah." He pulled out her file. "Here 
you are, literally." Now composed, he turned toward her.

    He looked at her with a look of sympathy as he flipped through the
pages, coming to the one dated May 20, 1970. When she saw his face, she
knew he knew. She began to feel light-headed. "Gadget, do you know what
happened to your mother?"

    She tried to respond, but she couldn't do anything but squeak.
::Funny,:: she thought, ::I seem to be doing that a lot lately.::

    The doctor responded to his own question. "I'm going to tell you the
whole truth; you'll have to hear it some time anyway. One week before your
birth was expected, your mother contracted a disease that weakened her
immune system and muscles. Her condition worsened steadily, and we were
worried about you, and so we attempted a Cesarean, but her body wouldn't
take it. We induced labor chemically, and gave birth to you. However, she
used so much energy saving your life that she had none left for herself.
She went into cardiac arrest, and died, three minutes and twelve seconds
after you entered the world. But she had seen you, and had heard you cry.
She took her last breath with a smile on her face."

    By now, she was sobbing uncontrollably, and the doctor moved to hug
her. "Your father left an envelope here for you, if you ever happened to come
back. Here." He handed her the envelope. "Take it home. Take your file too;
we have a backup copy we'll keep." He hesitated. "Your father loved you
very much, Gadget. More than his plane, more than himself, more than his
very life. Your mother died, but you lived. Your father died, but you
became a success, and have helped countless people *and* animals. You have
led a life with more goodness and accomplishment in it than any man, beast,
or God could ask. You have become a very special person, my dear. Just
remember that." He squeezed her one last time, then released her. She stood
up, shook his hand, and found her way out, thanking him as she closed the
door.

    He listened to her footsteps as they faded with distance. He buzzed the
nurse. "Take messages for my calls, and don't bother me until I start my
shift tomorrow, please. I have some things to do."

    "Yes, Doctor," said her voice, sounding tinny through the tiny box on his
desk.  "Have a good evening."

    "I'll be leaving shortly; I have a few things to tidy up here. Good
night, Mrs. Flanagan."

    "Good night, Doctor."

    He plopped down onto his chair, spent. All the emotions he had been
holding in now broke out. ::Why did it have to be this way? I'm a Doctor!
I'm sworn to protect and preserve life, not death and sadness. Dammit, I
couldn't save her! WHY!::

    He cried himself to his car, and sobbed his way home.

*-*-*

    Gadget began making her way back to headquarters. She had found her
father's room. She had found her birth certificate. She had found the
doctor that delivered her. She had found the truth about her mother.
But she still had not found the answer to her question. She knew how, and
when, and what, and who, and where. She knew the facts. But...

    Why?

IX- Was She My Mother? -IX

    The roaring of a huge jet plane overhead woke up Gadget instantly.
She was normally used to it but this one was particularly low, add to that
the rain outside.  She made her way out of her bed and walked lazily over to 
the viewport-window of her room.  She could not see out because of the rain  
hitting the window.  Occasionally, lightning would strike outside, and she
would see a sillouhette of some object she just happened to be focused on.

    Her ears perked up when she heard something stirring down the hall.  The
door was pulled to, so she assumed that her father must have awoke to check
up on her, and couldn't go back to sleep.  She made her way to the door and
opened it up.  Lightning struck outside and she could see her shadow on the
other wall.  She started to make her way down the hall to the kitchen.

    She stopped and peered around the corner.  Her dad was sitting in a chair
next to the kitchen table, reading something small.  A little red book with 
a brass border that almost looked like a diary. She had never seen it before,
and she doubted her father kept a diary.  All he was interested in keeping  
was a pilot's log so he could qualify for his upcoming air race.  She tried 
her best not to make a sound as she watched her father tenderly turning the 
pages as if something delicate was on them.  "Oh, Helen"  He slowly 
closed the book and and turned it over.  "Why did you have to leave so soon?"

    Gadget could not keep from talking any longer.  "Daddy?"  Geegaw wasn't
startled by her young voice, since he was very used to it.  He slowly turned 
around in his chair.  "What princess?"  She walked in and sat on the other 
side of the table.  "Who's, Helen?"  Geegaw couldn't think of anything to 
say.  He was too afraid that, if he told her, Gadget would think her mother's 
death was her falt.  "Well..."  Geegaw paused for a slight moment to think
about how to word what he was about to say next.  "Princess.  Helen was a
woman who was very close to me."  

    "Where is she now?"  Gadget could tell that her father was very upset,
but she had to ask.  Geegaw looked at the diary.  "She's, gone, and she'll
never be back."  Geegaw was expecting another barage of questions, but he
noticed how tired she was, she was yawning every minute and having trouble
keeping her eyes open.  "You need to get back to sleep princess.  Wouldn't
wan't to start your first day of the sixth grade without some shuteye now 
would you."  She tried to nod her head in agreement, but she was too tired.
She slowly stood up and started walking to her room, almost hitting the wall
in the process.  Geegaw stood up and followed her into her room to tuck her
in.  

    Geegaw took the sheets and laid them gently over her body.  She was so
tired she had her eyes closed and didn't open them.  Geegaw was just
about to get up to walk out when Gadget asked a question that made him stop
dead in his tracks.  "Daddy, was Helen, " she yawned weakly ", my, mom?" 
Geegaw turned around.  Gadget had just made it easy for him to answer.  Now
would never be a better time.  Though, he was still afraid that she would ask
more questions.  But he didn't have to make a decision because Gadget had
already fallen asleep.

    He slowly made his way out of her room and turned around.  Just then,
after a flash of lightning once more and a crack of thunder, the rain stopped.
Geegaw grinned a little.  "Princess, you'll find out soon enough."  He slowly
closed the door.  

X- The Figure In The Mirror -X

    After a she had hitched a ride on a bus that took her near central park
and a little bit of a walk thereafter, Gadget stood looking at RRHQ.  The
big Oak tree's shadow stood directly beneath it, the hot sun being blocked
by the leaves.  "Funny, that's why Chip never said we needed an Air 
Conditioner," she thought to herself and grinned. 

    She was trying to hide the emotions that were causing her to be sick to
her stomach.  Her mother died because of her.  How could she forget that,
how could she live with herself?  She slowly made her way to the foot of
the massive tree, then opened the door at the root and made it in.  Chip and
Dale had no problem climbing trees but Monty and Gadget didn't have tough
enough claws to attempt the feat.  She could remember Monty trying once
but only making it a foot up before falling on his back.  So they spent a
month tunneling out a spiral staircase and a Garage for the Rangers land
vehicles that Gadget had made.  She slowly walked up the staircase and opened
the door.

    "Hiya Gadget."  Dale stood up from the couch and walked over to her.
"Hi Dale," Gadget said this with such a low tone that even Dale could 
tell she was depressed.  Gadget looked down and walked around him with
a frown on her face.  "Where are the others?"  Dale answered, "They're 
gone, they said something about getting a surprise for you for when you got 
back.  Are you okay?"

    Gadget paused for a second then answered.  "Yes Dale, I just have alot
on my mind that's all."  Dale thought for a moment and then had an idea to 
cheer her up.  "How could you have alot on your mind when all I see on your
head is your goggles?"  Gadget looked up at him with sort of a semi-sarcastic
look on her face.  She patted him on the shoulder with her paw.  "Good try,
but it didn't work.  Thanks for trying though."  She quietly got up and left.

*-*-*

    Taking the washcloth off of the wound on her arm, Gadget stepped into
the shower.  The warm water hitting her skin was refreshing.  She closed her
eyes and let the sensation of the water temporarily saok the agony she was
feeling inside.

    After turning off the shower she reached out for a towl on the rack.
Putting it on, she walked out of the shower.  The water in her hair, and on
her arms and face, suddenly cooled off and she lightly shivered.  She walked  
over to the sink and looked at herself in the mirror.  She picked up the
comb beside the sink and started brushing her long hair.  

    She could hear shouting in one of the other rooms.  It sounded like the
two chipmunks were at it again.  She grinned a little and continued brushing  
her hair.  It was not until she noticed her face in the mirror that she 
stopped.  She slowly put down the brush and looked at herself in the mirror.  
There it was again.  That face in the mirror.  Like before, Gadget gently
moved her paw against the damp curves of her face.  Again, it didn't feel
or look like it was her face.  Who was it, or, who was she.  She slowly
stepped back to look at her whole towl covered figure in the mirror.  Sure
enough, even her figure looked unfamaliar.  She turned to look at herself
from the side.  Still, again, not even her tail looked familiar.  

    "What's going on?" She spoke to herself.  The ghostly image, which she
knew was her own, but did not seem to be, was staring at her.  Her expression
changed, so did the expression of the figure in the mirror.  "Am I going 
crazy?"  The cold water had dried by now and her shivers went.  She noticed
this in the figure on the mirror as well.  She shook her head and went to her
closet.  She opened it.  "What to wear?"  She smiled a little bit, she always
had worn coveralls.  But this time she felt like wearing something different.
She had other clothes that she had barely worn so she decided to try them on
one by one, until she found one that she liked.

XII- Childhood Prodigy -XII
    
    Unknown to humans, out of the New York city limits, was a clearing in
a wooded area known as the New York Aerospace Complex.  An animal sized
airport cleverly hidden by it's owner, the Ultra-Flite labs.

    "Mr. Hackwrench?!"  Geegaw looked up from the open engine compartment of
his plane to see an unknown mouse walking into his hangar.  

    "Over here!"  The mouse finally saw Geegaw and walked towards him.

    "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Mr. Cullen."  Geegaw
thought a minute about where he heard that name before.

    "Oh yes, your that 9th grade Phsysics teacher Gadget's been talking
about, it's great to finally have a face to go with all those lab experiment
gone bad stories she's told me."  Mr. Cullen didn't give a suprised look,
evidently they were true.  Geegaw extended his paw.  "Pleasure to meet you."
Mr. Cullen shook his hand.  "And welcome to Nayak."  

    "Beg your pardon."  Mr. Cullen flashed a puzzled expression across his
face.

    "Ultra-Flite laboratories has these strange ways of naming their
facilities.  Nayak stands for New York Aerospace Complex.  And to get even
stranger, they named their New Mexico facility Wenocimex.

    Mr. Cullen grinned for a moment and continued his introduction.  "The
reason I have come down here today is to tell you something amazing.  It 
seems that Gadget has just about made me think about letting her teach 
class."  Geegaw looked suprised.

    "My Gadget, are you sure?"

    "Does, correctly figuring out the amount of time it would take for the
Earth to come to a standstill while at a slow one foot-per-second 
deceleration given the factors of gravitatial influence from the Moon and the 
Sun sound impressive enough for you Mr. Hackwrench?"

    Geegaw suddenly looked stunned.  "Coul, could, you repeat that again,
this time, a little slower?"

    "Basically, Gadgets a child genius Mr. Hackwrench.  She is, what I would
call, a female pre-einstein at a gradeschool level."  Geegaw still looked 
stunned.  

    "How could that happen, I never did that well in school?"  Geegaw asked.

    "I have absolutely no Earthly idea."  Mr. Cullen responded.  "In fact,
I'm thinking of putting her into an excelerated learning program at a school
in downtown New York city called the Gifted Childrens Learning Program.  

    "What will that require?"  Geegaw was still suprised but it was melting
from his face.

    "I'm going to need the concent of both guardians, and I'm going to need
to interview both parents."  Geegaws heart suddenly sunk.  His face lost all
it's expression.  The vision of Dr. Stones telling him his wife was dead 
suddenly shot through his mind like a hollowpoint bullet.  

    "Mr. Hackrench?"  Mr. Cullen asked, concerned at the saddened expression
in Geegaws face.

    "Well."  Geegaw struggled to continue.  "I'm afraid I have no choice to
to decline.   You see, her mother is," Geegaw turned around to walk to the 
open engine compartment, " she, died when Gadget was born."   He slumped 
against the plane.

    "I, see." Mr. Cullen responded with a very low saddened tone.

    Geegaw glanced over at the hangar door just in time to see Gadget
entering.  Mr. Cullen, noticing the direction Geegaw was looking, turned 
around.  Gadget instantly knew who who it was.  "Mr. Cullen?"  She asked,
"Why are you here?"

    Mr. Cullen tried to look a little happier than he was.  "I was just
informing your father of your exeptional grades in my class.  He's very 
proud of you.", Mr. Cullen took a slow breath then looked back at Geegaw,
"Mr. Hackwrench, once more, It's been a pleasure talking with you," he turned
to Gadget, "keep up the good work Gadget and I'll see you next Monday."

    Gadget smiled and waved.  "Bye Mr. Cullen."  After a little more waving
she turned around and finally saw the expression on her Dad's face.  "Dad,
whats wrong?"  She asked.

    Geegaw looked at her, trying his best to keep his composure.  "Nothing
to worry about princess.  Just, well, I'm so proud of you I don't know what
to say or do."

    "What's wrong with the engine?"  She asked, feeling for some strange
reason like she should change the subject.  Geegaw got up and looked around 
at the engine.  

    "Well, maybe you could help me."

XIII- A Change of Attitude -XIII

    The sun was once again going down behind RRHQ, it's glow sillouhetting 
the massive tree.  Monty was in the kitchen.  The smell of cheddar in the 
air served as evidence as to what ingredient he was using the most in cooking
dinner.  Chip, Dale, and Zipper where sitting down at the dinner table.  Chip
was busy reading a notepad with some possible cases on it.  Zipper was 
perched over his shoulder reading it too.  Dale was sitting on the other side
of the table, reading a small rodent sized book with the strange title, 
"ID4" in front of it.  

    Chip had finished reading the notebook when Gadget walked in from the
hallway, instantly his gaze became affixed, Zippers too.  Dale noticed his
gaze and turned around.  "Hi guys."  Gadget said in a low tone as she walked
in and sat down at the table with a light frown on her already depressed
looking face.

    Chip broke the silence that the two Chipmunks had put themselves in.

    "Gadget, your wearing something..."

    "Different."  Gadget was indeed wearing something different.  She was
wearing blue jeans and a matching blue shirt.  She was still wearing goggles
in her hair.  

    Monty shouted from the kitchen.  "Dinners almost done lads, be out in a
couple 'o minutes."

    Once again, the chipmunks fell silent.  Dale looked at his book, but
closed it and sat it aside.  Chip folded his notebook and slid it into the 
inside pocket of his jacket.  

    Monty emerged from the kitchen.  "Well lads, dinner is served."  Monty
was about to speak again, but as soon as he saw Gadget, he closed his mouth. 
No one spoke as Monty dished out his strange new creation.  He thought to
himself.  ::Well Monterey, you picked a fine time to try out something new.::
His mind almost responded to his own question.

    Dinner went off without anyone speaking.  Everyone occasionally glanced
at Gadget, who was quietly stabbing Monty's new creation with her fork. 
After everyone was finished, except Gadget, Monty got up and started taking
the plates.  When he reached Gadgets, he slowly bent over.  "Gadget luv, are
you going to eat anymore of this?"

    Gadget paused then responded.  "Sorry Monty, I'm just not hungry for some
reason."  Monty slowly picked up Gadget's plate and stacked on top of the 
others.  

    Monty soon came back with five clean plates and forks.  "Well Gadget,
if that dinner didn't cheer you up, this might.  It was my idea."  He walked
back into the kitchen and return once again with a pan in his paws.  

    The smell of what was in the pan cought Gadget's attention.  "What is
it?"  Monty sat the pan down.  It was a cake with a red icing on top.

    "It's a strawberry cake with strawberry icing?"  Gadget started smiling a
little.

    She started talking a little faster.  "With little strawberry pieces
inside?"

    Monty nodded.  "The same.  Your favorite I believe."

    Gadget was finally smiling.  Her change of attitude stunned Chip, Dale,
and Zipper.  Monty had said that this stuff would make Gadget feel better, 
but he never said it would  cheer her up this much.  "Almost like one of 
your cheese attacks Monty."  Dale stated. 

    "Her father showed me this one time."  Monty responded.

    After the Rangers had finished their cake, Gadget finishing first.  They
adjourned to the living room.

*-*-*
    
    Chip patted monty on the back, "Monty, you need to make that cake again 
sometime."  

    Monty sat down on the couch.  "Can do Chip."

    Gadget was the last into the living room.  She sat down beside Monty.

    Dale spoke up, "so, what should we watch?  I know, how about another
one of those Godzilla movies."  

    Zipper and Chip looked at Monty who looked at them in return.  They all
then looked at Gadget who then looked at Dale.  "No!"  They all shouted.  

    "Okay, okay.  Just a suggestion."  Dale thought for a second then
changed his suggestion.  "How about King Kong then."  

    Chip thought for a second then broke the sudden silence.  "How about we
watch nothing."  Monty looked at Chip.

    "Good idea Chipper.  Let's think of something else to do.  Gadget?"

    "Well," Gadget responded, "I think I'm going to go outside and sit."
She got up, walked to the door, opened the door, walked out, and shut it 
behind her.

    Monty watched Gadget leave, then turned around again.  "Well, looks like
we're back to 'ol square one."  

    Chip spoke up after a short period of more silence.  "I think I'm going
to go join Gadget."  He got up and left.

*-*-*
    
    Gadget sat with her legs crossed, her paws folded in her lap.  She looked
up at the stars, slightly obscured by the glow in the sky from the lights
in New York City.  A plane flying high overhead caught her attention.  She
let out a small sigh, and started thinking about the day.

    Monty had cheered her up, but it was starting to fade fast.  She had
been an emotional rollercoaster lately, and she was afraid the rollercoaster
wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

    Monty was correct, he had gotten the recipe from her Dad.  She could
recall the many times her dad had brought a strawberry home to cut up and 
make a cake.  He couldn't cook very well.  But when it came to making a 
strawberry cake with strawberry icing, he did it gracefully almost like he 
was flying his plane.  But what she wanted to know was how he came to cook 
that particular cake just right.  And why she loved strawberries so much.
She was a mouse.  Mice where supposed to like cheese.  Her father even 
admitted that his favorite food was macaroni and cheese, but for her, it was
strawberries.

    "Mind if I join you, again?"  Gadget looked up to see chip.  He had a
concerned look on his face.  

    "Shure Chip."  She scooted over to her right a little bit to allow him
to sit down.  After a few minutes.  Chip finally spoke up.

    "What did you find out today?"  He looked at Gadget as she dropped her
head towards her legs.  

    "You don't want to know."  She responded.

    "Well, what if I wanted to know?"  He put a paw on her shoulder.  She
looked up at him, with a saddened expression on her face.  

    "I just, I, don't want to tell you."  She looked back down.  And
resumed talking.  "I'm, sorry, I've been acting like this lately, it really
isn't like me to be this emotional."  

    Chip responded, "well, sometimes you need to be."

    Gadget again looked back up at him.  "Why?"

    "It isn't healthy to keep all your emotions bottled up all the time."

    She sighed again and looked up at the stars.  "Why did he have to die,
why?"  She put her face in her paws.  

    Chip put his arm around her to try to confort her.  This was indeed not
like Gadget.  She never was this emotional.  And never for this long.  "I
wish I could do more to help you Gadget.  But, I'm stumped, I don't know what
to say."  Gadget stood up and Chip joined her.  

    She reached into the back pocket of her jeans and pulled out her baby
picture.  "I found this under my Dad's bed."  She handed the picture to Chip.
No sooner he looked at the picture of a small baby girl mouse in a nursery
crib wrapped in a pink blanket, he instantly knew who it was. 

    "Why, Gadget, it's a baby picture.  Your baby picture."  Tears where
coming to Gadgets eyes.  

    "And thats not all."  Gadget paused for a moment then spoke again.  "I
also found my."  She stopped.  A strange cold feeling rushed through her.

    Chip noticed her face go blank.  "What?"  He asked.

    "My," she continued, "birth certificate."  Gadget turned around and
started walking towards the Ranger Wing.  She climbed into the back and
sat down.

    "Isn't that a good thing?"  Chip responded as he walked to the Ranger
Wing with her, climbed into the back, and sat down beside her.  He put his
left arm around her and hugged her, trying his best to comfort her.
Gadget didn't respond to his question.  For a few moments, they sat and
said nothing.  

    He sat there watching Gadget sob, he didnt wan't to say or do anything.
She would eventually stop.  ::What about Monty, Dale, and Zipper.  When will 
they find out.  Would she tell them, or will she want me to keep this a 
secret.  She will just continue being her normal self.::  But he knew that
last thought might never be possible again.  He looked up at the stars and
the now present moon.

XIV- Death Bed -XIV

    Gadget slowly krept into bed.  She felt better now that Chip knew of her
problems.  She trusted Chip with that knowledge and he promised her he would
not tell a single soul about this.  She was eventually going to tell the 
others herself, but later.  But what she was trying to keep from Chip and
the others was her Mothers death to bring her into the world.

    The only thing that went through her mind now was sleep.  She slowly
drifted off.  Her eyes closed gently.  The warm sheets welcomed her.  The
window of her mind closed on the outside world and slowly entered an eternal
world we all know as dreaming.

    Gadget could see a door.  Not just any door, but a familiar
door.  She couldn't remember where she saw that door if she had ever before 
seen it, but her mind was telling her she'd been there previously.  
Gadget slowly placed a paw on the knob of the door and quietly twisted it.  

    Gently pushing on the door proved to be a problem, the door wouldn't
budge.  :: There's got to be a way to open this door quietly.  That's funny
, why do I wan't to open it quetly? ::  Her mind was once again telling her
something unfamilliar yet familliar, that she knew what was on the other side 
of the door.  Finally, she got enough nerve up, gave it all she had and 
pushed the door open.  

    The other side of the door made it's presence known to her.  There were
several mice, huddled around what looked to be a hospital bed.  There was a
monitor off to the side with a solid green line on it's screen, and a solid
tone that faded out as soon as she looked away from the monitor.  She stepped
forward.  The mice looked totally unfamiliar.  They turned around to greet
her.  "What a terrible loss this is.  Are you sure you'll be okay?"  It
struck her that they all said this together.

    Gadget looked down at the body in the bed.  It was a female mouse who
looked like she was in her late twenties, dressed in a wedding gown.  As 
soon as Gadget saw the face of the body, she got cold.  :: Oh my Gosh!  She 
looks like me! ::  The face did indeed look like her.  Gadget turned around 
to see the other mice still in the room.  "Helen Hackwrench will be missed."  
Then after Gadget blinked once, they where gone, replaced with a cloak of 
unfathomable darkness.

    Gadget slowly turned around.  The woman had her previously closed eyes
open, and was staring at her.  Gadget looked back up at the monitor.  The
solid tone once again faded in, and faded out as Gadget looked back down at
the mouse in the bed.  "Hi Gadget.  Did you miss me?"  

    Gadget had her mouth open.  But her brain silently kicked her into
responding.  "Are you?  But you couldn't be..."

    "Your mother."  Gadget sat down on the side of the bed.  The mouse
took Gadgets paw in hers.  Gadget noticed that her paws where ice cold to the
touch.  "Gadget, my child.  Don't forget me.  You hear.  Don't forget me."

    "Mom, why did you have to die?"

    The woman opened her mouth to speak, but she only whispered.  And at such
a weak breath that not even a mouse could hear..  Gadget blinked her eyes, 
and suddenly she herself was in the bed in place of the woman.  She tried to
Glance at the heart monitor, but she couldn't even move.  Her eyes were 
closed but she could still see.  

    She could see her father on the bed beside her, sobbing.  "Helen."  He
took a deep breath.  "Just wanted you to know, It's a girl.  I named her 
Gadget just like you wanted."  He took Gadget's hand in his.  Gadget 
suddenly realized, she was experiencing something her mother had never 
experienced.  But she was in her mothers body.  "I don't know what I'm going 
to do Helen.  We had so many plans.  But now we will never get to live our
dreams together.  As I promised, I was there for you.  I guess things just
don't go our way sometimes."

    Then suddenly, Gadget lost all sense of anything around her.  A dark
black enshrouded her.  She could hear her mother speak again.  "Gadget, my 
child.  Don't forget me.  You hear.  Don't forget me."  
    
*-*-*
    
    With a sudden jolt, Gadget sprang up.  It was in the morning and she
was in her own bed.  She slowly removed the sheets after sitting in them 
a litttle while, and stumbled into her bathroom.  She turned on the light 
and looked back into the mirror.  That face was back.  But this time she 
recognized it.  :: Mother! ::  Gadget now knew who it was staring back at 
her.  It was her mother.  

    She once again traced the curves of her face.  The gentle curves were
now very familiar.

XV- The Turning Point -XV

    Gadget had summoned up enough courage to feel enthusiastic by the time
breakfast rolled around.  This time however, everyone was still in bed.  
She thought this strange enough, but she didn't want to investigate.  The 
only thing she could think about was opening that envelope.  So there Gadget 
sat at the dining room table, thumbing the opening on the envelope.

    She felt butterflys in her stomach.  Like she was opening a door to a
long forgotten room in a vast hallway.  She was able to keep from being too  
nervous.  The time had come to open the envelope.

    The envelope had definately been in storage a long time.  It's yellow
paper evident to it's age.  The adhesive on the seal had failed, and all
she had to do was gently pull it open.  She carefully looked inside the
envelope.  The first thing she pulled out was a piece of paper.  She unfolded
it and read it.  "Inside this envelope is the life of Helen Hackwrench.  May
she rest in piece."  

    Gadget put the paper down and pulled out several photographs.  She
looked at the first one.  It was of a young female mouse sleeping in a crib.
It looked like Gadget but there was an unknown man on the side looking up
at the camera.  It didn't take long for Gadget to realize that the man in
the picture was probably her Grandfather, and the baby in the crib her 
mother.

    She put the picture down and looked at the next picture.  This picture
was definatly her mother.  From the picture it looked like it was her first
birthday.  The cake surprised Gadget, the picture was slightly faded but she
could make out pieces of strawberry on top.  Gadget grinned a little and
went for the next picture.

    This one was of Helen in a Halloween costume.  The Mice that lived
just outside of town in a small suburban area where known for actually
dressing up for Halloween.  The next picture was of Helen in her costume
again.  This time the picture had several other small mice in it, all
dressed up too.

    She put that picture away and looked at yet another picture.  This one
was just a tad puzzling.  It was a class photo.  Not very many mice schools
actually took class photos, but some did and appearantly her mother went to
one.  Gadget could easily pick out Helen because she looked so much like 
Gadget.  

    Gadget had seen half of her mothers life, on pictures, tucked away
gently in a yellowing envelope.  But nothing prepared her for the next 
picture.  A wedding photo.  There it was.  Helen Hackwrench, dressed in a
stunning wedding gown.  And Geegaw Hackwrench, not dressed in avaiater attire
as usual, but a good looking formal tuxedo.  The next few pictures where
the same.  One also had the wedding cake.  The picture was in color and
she could actually see the strawberries and the red icing.

    The next picture was fairly general in appearance.  The happy couple
was standing in front of the old plane they, and eventually Gadget called
home.  A tear was coming to Gadget's eyes.  The next picture was of inside
the newly made house, various new furnishings were on the floor in what 
Gadget knew to be the living room.  

    A couple more pictures had about the same generality as the previous,
but as Gadget went to look at the next, she stopped.  She put the pictures
down for moment and sat there.  All the joyous emotions coming to her were
really masking another emotion that was surfacing.  It was tearing her up
inside.

    Summoning up enough emotional strength, she slowly lifted up the
pictures and pulled out the last one.  It was of Helen in a hospital bed.
From what Gadget could tell, she was pregnant, and was smiling at the
camera.  From what Gadget could tell, she looked to be in some pain, but she
was actually smiling at the camera, why?

    When people look into the lense of a camera, they are looking at you
in a sense.  But Gadget felt Helen was looking at her, and Helen knew who
she was looking at.  The hidden emotion finally got her.  Gadget laid her 
head down on the table, sobbing, 

*-*-*

    Gadget ran once again to the mirror in her room.  She once again traced
the curves of her face with her paw, a small tear emerging from an eye. 
All Gadget could see was a ghost from the past.  She backed up and looked
at her entire night gowned figure, she could still see that ghost.

    She walked over to her bed and sat down on it.  Then she let herself
fall back, her hair fanning out in all directions as it lay on the bed behind
her head.  :: What does all this mean? ::  She thought to herself.  Memories
were coming back to her, memories that she had long forgotten.  They were
flooding in like a river whose tributaries had already filled to capacity.  

    She was reminding herself of old times with her dad, the good times,
the bad times.  Her dad was always there for her.  When she needed a shoulder
to cry on, her dad was there.  Geegaw was Gadget's only blood relative, he
didn't abandon her when she was in need.  He nurtured her and urged her
to pursue her interests.  Where did her mother factor in?  Somewhere?  
She was her mother.  But Helen had no influence on Gadget's childhood.
Or did she?

    Gadget remembered the time in kindergarten when the principal
decided to skip her up to the first grade.  All she wanted to do was look
towards the airport and watch all the airplanes take off.  All the kids
were so mean towards her.  They knew she didn't have a mother, and being
of that age, didn't know they could hurt anyone by poking fun at that
fact.

    This was the primary cause of Gadget's shyness.  She simply didn't
know how people would react, so she didn't really talk all that much.
The only time she would talk would be whenever someone started talking
technical, or when someone tried to get to know her.

    She remembered the time her dad took her up for the first time in
the Screaming Eagle.  The emotions she felt.  Being free as a bird.  Almost
feeling connected somehow to the plane.  That same day was the last time
she saw Monty for quite a while, almost as if he had dissappeared off
the face of the earth.  Her dad never really had gotten over Zanzibar.

    Then Gadget could remember a stormy night.  She had been awakened by
a particularly loud bolt of lightning, and had heard some stirring
in the living room.  She remembered walking in and seeing her dad reading
a small red book, almost like a diary.  When she spoke up, he closed the
book and asked her why she was up, it was the night before she was to start
the sixth grade.  Then she suddenly rememberd.  She was so close to finding
out wether Helen was her mother.  In a way, she had known her mothers name
for a long time.  She just never gave it much thought.

    Then the next memory went through her mind.  Gadget was in a college
class when her professor approached her with a note that was handed to
him.  The note said.  "Come to the air race, ASAP.  There's been an
accadent."  She rememberd running as fast as her young heart could beat
to the air race where her father was to take off for his tenth air race.

    She remembered seeing two burning planes.  One of the twisted wrecks was
her fathers racing plane, the Eagle 2.  Gadget then remembered being taken
to the emergency room, where in a back room, a doctor gave her the sad news.
The exact words that the doctor said still echoed through her mind.  "I'm
sorry, there's nothing we could do to save him."

    After that moment, she became detached from the world.  Disconnected,
antisocial, as well as antisalesman.  She only went out to test an invention
or to get food.  She stayed in her home.  The only place that brought
her happy memories.  She focused all her thoughts on her inventions, trying
to forget her life.

    Then there was that one day.  When Gadget was greeted by four visitors.
One of which was Monty, then Zipper.  And two chipmunks who seemed to
snap and daydream when they first laid their eyes upon her face.  From
that moment on.  Her life had changed.  She was then a Rescue Ranger.  She
found something else to loose herself in.  To forget her troubles.
Occasionally she would let her true self surface, but it would then fade
away with rambling, inventing, and Rescue Ranger work.

    Up to this time, she had neglected her past.  And it came to greet her,
like a rejected friend that she had forgotten about.  Something she just
assumed she could live without.  She knew her father had loved her very much.
She knew her father's sudden death was an accadent.  But she never got to
say goodbye to her only blood relative, her own father.  And this tore her
up so bad that she shut down when she thought of it.

    Where did her mother play in to all of this.  Her father never told
her about Helen, and Gadget had no memories of her.  She slowly pieced
together the facts.  The doctors words to Gadget, "But she had seen you, and
had heard you cry.  She took her last breath with a smile on her face,"
echoed loudly.  Helen gave her life to bring Gadget into the world.  It
didn't influence Gadget's childhood.  But it was now with her, to confort
her in present.  Her mental blanket, that she was ignoring.  Her mother
loved her unborn child very much.  She wen't through the amplified pain of
labor to bring Gadget into the world.  Then died.

    It hit Gadget at about that time that the strawberry cake in Helen's
wedding photo, was no coincidense, it was passed down from Mother to
Daughter, from parent to child.  A gift in a way.

    The ghost in the mirror was know coincidense either.  Gadget looked
just like her mother, as evident in the pictures of Helen.  :: This
must have been a gift, :: Gadget thought slowly to herself.  :: Mothers
gift to me. ::  Gadget took a deep breath then sighed, still looking up
at the wall.  
    
XVI- Chip -XVI

    Gadget looked down from her stare at the ceiling to see Chip standing
in the doorway.  "Feeling okay," asked Chip.

    Gadget looked back up towards the ceiling.  "I guess you can say that.
I don't really know how I feel.  I'm trying to figure it out."

    Chip walked on in and sat down on the bed beside her.  He looked towards
the floor.  "I saw the pictures on the table.  Your mother looks alot
like you.  It's almost an uncanny resembelence."

    Gadget looked down towards Chip, she sat up.  "You think so.  I guess you
can say I do.  I may look like her, but I don't know her."

    Chip looked at Gadget.  "What do you mean, did you know your mother?"

    "No!," she jumped up and sqeaked out "I can't think of it anymore, it's
tearing me apart inside!  I know, I'll just go to my workshop!  I'll go in
there and work on something.  I'll forget about it.  I'll be myself again."
Gadget was frantic, she looked around then hurridly walked towards the door,
still dressed in her night gown.  She almost pushed the door down, but then
realized she was supposed to pull on it.  She pulled on the door without
turning the knob first, then met the same resistance.  Finally, giving up
she turned around.  With tears coming to her eyes in full force, and with
her hands on her forehead, she slowly slid down the door until she was
sitting on the floor.

    She spoke in a desperate tone.  "It's no use.  How can I live with it?
What should I do.  How can I live anymore?  Why?"

    Chip walked over to her and put a paw on her right shoulder.  "What
happened?  Please tell me.  As a true friend," he paused a moment, "as
someone who cares for you very much."

    Gadget looked up at Chip, he was frowning.  She could tell he was
pained to see her like this.  It was true, Chip had never seen Gadget
this fragile before.  "I never told you about my Mom, Chip.  Let me tell
you."  She took a deep breath.  Chip sat down next to her.

    "Go on," Chip said softly.

    "When my Mom, Helen, was pregnant with me.  She got ill.  The doctor,
whome I met yesterday said it was a rare disease that weakened her immune
system and muscles.  It made her so weak that she was bedridden.  Because of
her illness, labor meant almost certain death.  I really can't continue.  I
can't bear the thought anymore."

    Chip gently moved his paw down her arm to her paw.  He clasped it in
between both of his.  "You have to tell me Gadget.  You need too."  Chip
looked into Gadget's teary sparkling-baby-blue eyes.  She could tell he was
sincere by his gaze.

    "They attempted a cessarian.  But they soon found out that she was too
weak, and if she died in the operating room, I would have died by not being
able to breathe on my own.  My mom decided to have me normally."

    "Did she see you?" Chip asked.

    "For," she paused, "three minutes and twelve seconds.  The doctor said
she died with a smile on her face.  She died to bring me into the world Chip.
She sacrificed herself for me, and I didn't even know her."

    Chip could hardly believe what Gadget just said.  The poor girl didn't
get a chance to see her own mother.

    "And that's not all.  She appeared to me last night in a dream Chip.
She told me not to forget her, and she sounded like me.  What does that
mean."

    "Maybe it means your mother is inside of you Gadget."

    "Whaddyoua mean Chip?"

    "You have those pictures.  You saw how you look so much like your
mother.  And it looks like she liked Strawberries.  Theres probably other
stuff too."

    Gadget stood up and Chip stood up with her.  "Like what Chip?"

    "Your mother sighned her own death sentence to bring you into the world
she gave a part of herself to the world and died for it.  She sacrificed
herself for you.  You're part of her, and she's part of you Gadget.  You
gained your mothers touch.  Maybe her compassion.  You are her gift to the
world.  You've saved countless lives almost facing your own possible death.
I'm afraid you don't see that Gadget, and I'm troubled to see you like this.
Your memory of your mother is with you in that mirror everyday, your memory
of her is her ultimate sacrifice and her gift to the world, you, Gadget."

    :: That's it! :: Gadget's heart skipped a beat.  She'd found the answer
to the questions.  Her dad didn't die in vain.  Maybe his death made her
stronger.  She had faced a death of a loved one and this made her understand
her mothers death more, her mothers love of her unborn child.

    "Do you understand Gadget?"  Chip gazed once more into Gadget's
beautiful eyes.

    Gadget returned the gaze.  "You care for me alot, don't you Chip?  You
seem to have been there.  You seem to be very concerned."

    Chip closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again.  "Yes, I care
for you alot.  I love your mothers gift to the world, and I don't want to
lose it while I am looking in it's eyes right now.  I love you Gadget."
Gadget blushed a little.  She put her arms around Chip.

    "Really."  She inched her head closer to his, and closed her eyes.

    "Yes, very much.  Very..."  Chip couldn't complete his sentence, for
at that moment, he and Gadget were embraced in each others arms, mouths
together, in a deep kiss.
    
XVII- Saying Goodbye -XVII

    The rest of the morning, after Gadget had gotten dressed and ready for
the day, she made the decision to spend it with Chip.  Both as a new love
that she had been unintentionally ignoring and now acknoledged, and as the
only person who could fully understand her next task.

    Her predictions were right.  One of the pieces of paper in the file
the doctor had handed her was a death certificate for her mom.  In it was
the burial location.  Which to her surprise, was right next to her fathers.

    "I can't believe it," she told Chip as they walked towards the
Cemetary, Chips arm around Gadget's waist and her arm around his.  "All that
time visiting my fathers grave and my mother was right next to his.  It's
amazing how I never really noticed it."

    After that short walk, the two close friends, hands intertwined, stood
staring at the graves of Gadget's parents.  One that she had known throughout
her childhood, and one who she never saw alive, but knew in her heart.  She
turned to Chip.  "Chip, let me introduce to you my parents, Geegaw and Helen,
Hackwrench."

    Chip looked down at the two headstones.  "Hi!"

    Gadget politely let go of Chip's arm and walked towards the Graves, she
kneeled down in between them.  For the next couple of minutes.  She didn't
say a thing.  She let the silence overtake her.  The whispering wind in the
trees were the only thing, as her new found love stood in the background,
looking on.

    She remembered what the doctor had said.  What Chip had said.  Gadget
herself was her mothers gift to the world.  Even as a mouse, she was a
big gift.  She was now a Rescue Ranger, she had made a difference on
countless lives.  She had no-doubtedly met her parents' expectations, true
she was the only surviving Hackwrench left, but she was quite convinced
her legacy would live on.  At least too her it would, and the countless
lives she had touched.

    Gadget's life had changed tremendously.  Once, she was a budding youth,
then she had become a recluse, then, a Ranger.  And now, a new point in her
life.  Love, an emotion she tried feverishly to kill, had come back to her
with Chip.  She sighed.  Then looked down towards the ground and whispered,
"thanks Mom."

THE END

-- Closing -- (The nifty little closing as typed by Robert Hollingshead.)

    There.  It's finished.  I estimate that it has taken me probably a year 
to complete this little story.  In fact, I think I have probably suffered 
more writers block than ever because of it.  I have poured my mind and my
heart into this story to make it as poetic as possible and have high hopes
that it will become a unique story in the universe of RR and Gadget
fanfiction forever.  I hope you enjoy this story as much as I did making it.

    This story was started completely on accadent.  I was working on a story
involving the Rangers and an unlucky encounter with a Tornado, but I
forgot to back the story up on a floppy, and when I was writing down my 
thoughts about a possible story involving Gadget's past, I overwrote the 
only copy I had.  Like an idiot, I forgot to make a backup.  Instead of 
hitting myself over the head, I accepted the loss and started work on this 
story.  Now, 1.n years later, my creation is completed.    

*-*-* 

    As a Gadget Hackwrench fan, or Gadgephile, I have listened closely to
every line of her dialogue on Rescue Rangers, made observations about them,
analized them, and commented about them.  I have watched TTR #3 time and time
again slowly trying to piece together a mental image of what her Dad probably
was like, solely for the purpose of attempting to create a past for our
most treasured mouse.

    I have attempted to create a work beautiful in it's own right.  Although
the audience is a little limited, the true RR fan and especially the
Gadgephile should appreciate it.

    Being a futurist and a techologist, I have strong faith that the
Internet, and all it's future evolutions, will keep Gadget alive in peoples
minds.  So what if Disney killed off one of their most powerful characters,
it's really their loss.  The true fans, who for the most part are all
connected, will keep her alive in fanfiction, fanart, and other fan works of
all types, if they can't they'll urge other people on, and voice their own
opinions, and will be the audience.  Maybe someday someone at Disney with a
particularly high rank in it's employee base, will stumble upon the Internet
Gadget Archive, or ERR, or even TAOGH, and will suddenly find a powerful
character that they have nearly killed off, bring her back, and who knows.

    But for right now, let's keep RRs and Gadget's own web presense
up, and not let it die.  We will complain though if they decide to tear
down the Go-Coaster, I haven't ridden it yet. >8^)