#I just love Louie duck raised by Goldie so bad

[dollarstoreartsupplies]

i have been rotating a fem losers wicked au for weeks,,,, i have two hatchetfield wips im actively writing,,, ive reread three charlie bone books over the course of a week and really wanna finalize my designs for all of the characters,,, there’s so many pre-established fandom endeavors for me to pursue and yet,,,, here comes fucking ducktales with the steel chair

[lettheladylead]

If ducktales was still on going what would you like to see in season 4? Main theme of it? What path would you choose for Goldie, cause I'm assuming we all want more of Goldie

of course there'd be more Goldie! Allison Janney finished up with Mom and has more time for voice acting so Goldie can appear more often, lets do it

so obv my ideal scenario would be to take what we had of s3 and stretch it out into two seasons, BUT since thats not an option lets say we're starting right from where we left off. season 3 would need to do some fun stuff like:

awkwardly address Webby and Scrooge’s relationship (& Beakley's of course)

bring back Goldie and Louie's relationship and give us some good content

continue with the Darkwing Duck/Negaduck storyline

soooooo. okay. new big bad for season 4: Shere Khan (from Talespin)! he's a super corrupt business rival of Scrooge's. they dont work together often 'cause they're from very different parts of the world, but they've crossed paths a few times. Khan has decided that McDuck Enterprises has gotten in the way of his own business too many times and he's going to try and destroy Scrooge and ruin his business

he'd recruit some villains from other seasons who managed to escape to help him with his plans. people will do anything for money and he has a Lot of money

the big character arc would focus on Scrooge (with some Webby and Huey to make up for last season) and Scrooge learning to accept the flaws in the people he loves and just because their decisions don’t always make him happy doesn’t mean they don’t love him. or whatever something like that.

ok here ive put together every episode because i felt like it and i’m a completionist. i tried to make it seem like regular DuckTales except with a little bit more Goldie for my own joy and pleasure

CLICK HERE FOR A SPREADSHEET WITH CHARACTER APPEARANCES

4x01 - No, Wait, There’s More!: 

(Plot A:) Scrooge and Webby and Beakley content. They just talk about things mostly (beakley apologizes for lying to webby and for not telling scrooge that webby was made by fowl. ‘you didnae know she was mine?’ ‘no, i had no idea, i just knew she shouldnt be raised by those criminals’) and they go on a tiny little adventure together. Ends with Webby deciding to continue to call Scrooge ‘Uncle Scrooge’ because ‘Dad’ feels weird for her (scrooge feels uncomfortable with her decision but doesnt bring it up cuz beakley tells him to leave it be).

(Plot B:) The villains who escaped from FOWL and are trying to get their shit back together 

Ep ends with quick scene of Shere Khan being annoyed while watching the news

4x02 - School of Ducks:** 

(Plot A:) School episode! Lena and Webby both learn about the joys of public school. Violet and BOYD are there, too. A cute ep with little school shenanigans. Maybe they all get detention or something. Also there's like short clips of all the adults doing boring adult things (cleaning, taxes, Della @ therapy with jones) while the kids are like "this is so boring I wish I was a grownup doing whatever I want!" and it'd be funny

(no Plot B)

4x03 - On the Open Sea: 

(Plot A:) Donald and Daisy & May and June on the open seas and they see the Mervanans and have fun boat adventures!

(Plot B:) Della & Penumbra get into some shenanigans in Duckburg and fight the Beagle Boys together and it’s kind of a double parallel to the Don/Daisy stuff and also referencing the Webby/Lena stuff from S1.

4x04 - First Contact With Khan:

(Plot A:) Scrooge is looking for a new money manager storyline ft Webby with a brief mention/appearance of Goldie (scrooge makes some reference to being webbys dad just to see how she reacts, she does not). Shere Khan contacts Scrooge about them merging or collaborating on something blah blah.

(Plot B:) Huey & Della travel to Grandma Duck’s farm to help Huey learn better ways to express himself? or maybe Huey wants to earn a farming badge lol

4x05 - Depends On Who You Ask:

(Plot A:) Fenton & M’ma are interviewing all of the captured F.O.W.L. agents about their roles in what happened, all of them tell wildly different stories about how innocent they are (captured people...Steelbeak, Rockerduck/Jeeves, Don Karnage).

(Plot B:) Webby goes camping with the Sabrewings!

Ep ends with Shere Khan paying Don Karnage’s bail. (Rockerduck also gets out of jail because of his own money, but Steelbeak is stuck for now)

4x06 - The Sounds of St. Canard:

(Plot A:) Launchpad and Dewey visit St Canard and there’s an adventure with Gosalyn and Drake where Negaduck/Jim shows up and goes cwazy (several dwd villain appearances, including morgana!).

(Plot B:) Muddlefoots being completely average normal citizens but they’re funny

Ep ends with the plots colliding when Honker and Gosalyn and Dewey meet and they all become buds

4x07 - The Duck Cousins:

(Plot A:) Huey Dewey Louie and Webby are getting into some shenanigans which reminds Scrooge of Della Donald Gladstone and Fethry. Cue an entire flashback episode about Della Donald Gladstone and Fethry as older teens! This episode includes: Duckworth, Quackfaster, the Caballeros, Goldie, & if you squnt there’s a brief appearance of Daisy. 

(no Plot B)

4x08 - Another Tale to Spin:**

(Plot A:) Kit and Della have kept in contact since the end of S3 and he and Molly come to visit. They have some kind of crazy adventure involving flying or whatevs I’m sure it’s exciting also Beakley and Launchpad are there! 

(Plot B:) Baloo and Rebecca are on vacation and they’re staying at a hotel up in the Dawson area. Fun fact this is Goldie’s hotel and we get to learn a little bit about how Goldie lives her life away from Scrooge. 

Ep ends with Kit and Molly overhearing Scrooge talk about Shere Khan and they’re both like UHHH....

4x09 - The Midas Touch:

(Plot A:) Magica is attacking Scrooge, trying to get her hands on his dime. The episode involves a lot of standard characters and feels like it jumped right out of the comics/the 87 series (but with Della instead of Donald). The boys and Webby and Della are trying to help in the fight against Magica, but the Beagle Boys are making their way towards the Money Bin! The ep ends with Scrooge’s victory, and then Ludwig Von Drake closes a book and talks to the audience like ‘vell zat’s how I remember it!’ 

(no Plot B)

4x10 - It’s a Hard Knock Life:

(Plot A:) Glomgold and Gibbous try to recruit all the Moonlanders to work for Glomgold Industries and its a mess because obviously Penumbra knows about Glomgold thanks to Della. Also I think it’d be funny if one of the Moonlanders had a baby with an earthling. 

(Plot B:) Fenton and Gandra are showing Huey how to fight and they talk about being a little crime fighting team. 

Plots converge when Penumbra shoots a laser at Glomgold and accidentally sets a building on fire, so FGH show up to help.

4x11 - A Tale of Two Kitties:

(Plot A:) After the warnings from Kit and Molly, Scrooge feels weird about business with Shere Khan. Against his better judgement he reaches out to Goldie, who has also dealt with Khan before, and Goldie shows up and they tell a story about Shere Khan to Louie & Webby. 

(Plot B:) Shere Khan is telling the same story to his assistant & Don Karnage, but obviously it’s a very different version where he’s justified in everything he does. In his story, he breaks Splatter Phoenix out of prison (takes place in the 60s, Splatter Phoenix is old now).

4x12 - Just Another Day:**

(Plot A:) Takes place on the same day at 4x13. Huey, Violet & BOYD are having a giant multi-step relay race/battle/I don’t know/brains vs brawn thing against Dewey, Gosalyn, & Louie (Louie shouldn’t be brawn but he really doesn’t think HVB can win). It ends when Launchpad and Drake crash land in the middle of the field and announce that it’s time for Gosalyn to go home. 

(Plot B:)   A day in the life of Gyro Gearloose. From the perspective of Lil Bulb! Also the Rangers live in Gyro's lab currently so they show up too

4x13 - Just Another Day, The Musical!:

(Plot A:) Takes place on the same day as 4x12. Scrooge, Webby & Lena were on an adventure in some magical Crystal Cavern, meanwhile Fenton & Gandra are also at the Crystal Cavern but as a date. Also Goldie is at the Crystal Cavern because she heard Scrooge was going. Shenanigans happen and they all get split up: Goldie, Gandra & Lena on one side, Scrooge, Fenton & Webby on the other. Also it’s a musical episode where everyone sings except maybe Gandra, I think she’d be the character that refuses to sing until the end. 

(no Plot B)

4x14 - Ladies On the Town:

(Plot A:) Matilda McDuck comes to town! Scrooge is busy so he asks Beakley and Quackfaster to show her a good time. It’s an old ladies episode. Hortense is brought up in detail. There’s some plot with bank robbery or guns or something really intense and funny and violent. 

(Plot B:) Scrooge publicly announces that McDuck Enterprises will no longer be working with Khan Industries. Khan saw this coming and takes it in stride, but also we find out that he’s broken Akita out of prison and is recruiting him for his own nefarious purposes.

4x15 - Homesick Seasick:

(Plot A:) Donald getting homesick, they get to south America and meet daisys sister Donna and her daughter April. they're hitting it off but Donald can't stop thinking about HDL when he watches the girls hanging out. 

(Plot B:) Gandra visits Steelbeak in prison. it's just an awkward time but we get some context for their relationship when they were in F.O.W.L. and Gandra says when he gets out maybe he could try being a good guy and he's like meh

4x16 - The McQuacks in St. Canard:

(Plot A:) Darkwing stuff with Negaduck. Drake finally adopts Gosalyn after they realize with full certainty that they're never getting her grandpa back. Some background St Canardians and DWD villains...Splatter Phoenix perhaps 

(Plot B:) Launchpad’s family is also there? Mcquack shenanigans in St Canard

4x17 - The Magic Man:

(Plot A:) Magica, Lena, Gene, Gladstone, Duckworth, & Djinn are all taken somewhere by Merlock. Gene has bad emotions about it because Merlock was one of his old terrible masters. Lots of magical emotions and Lena being a magical badass. 

(Plot B:) Phantom Blot and Pepper content but idk what they're doing. Probably wanting to plot but having no money so they have to get regular jobs. That’d be funny actually it’s all about them trying to hold down normal retail/office jobs

4x18 - Not Just the Klondike:

(Plot A:) Valentine’s Day ep!!! Lena and Violet come over and Violet’s like “I promised Hubert we’d hang out” but she’s lying actually she’s just trying to give Webby and Lena some alone time. She joins HDL and finds Huey begging Scrooge to tell the story of how he and Goldie first met. She’s interested, Dewey’s interested, Louie’s pretending not to be interested but he’s listening in. 

(Plot B:) Lena has something to tell Webby but then they see Beakley sneaking out and obv Webby thinks it’s a date so they follow her! Along the way they pass by lots of couples like Fenton/Gandra and Launchpad/Drake and Della/Penumbra and then in the end they find Beakley visiting a grave. Beakley’s like ‘my daughter, the woman who i told you was your mother, was born on feb 14 so this is where i always go’ and then Webby and Lena and Beakley just kind of sit together and it’s somber, very different from the Scrooge n Goldie shenanigans

4x19 - Good to Have You Back:

(Plot A:) Donald and Daisy return from their boat trip! May and June aren’t with them, they talk about how they really hit it off with Daisy’s sister so they’re going to stay with her for a bit and try going to school where no one knows who Scrooge McDuck is, then they can come back to Duckburg for the summer. Flashes over to Donna and May and June and Donna’s daughter April hanging out. 

(Plot B:) Akita is working in his brand new lab financed by Shere Khan. His lab assistant is...Sara Bellum? But she’s not a villain! Or is she? What’s going on? Le gaaaassspppp, we just don’t know! But she’s definitely acting a little off. Very cooperative. Shere Khan comes in to observe a few times. He blasts Don Karnage at some point who starts acting like a monkey and being generally weird

4x20 - Dewey’s Day Off:     

(Plot A:) Dewey gets in trouble and can’t go with the rest of the family on some trip, but somehow ends up spending the entire day with Boyd. They have a lot of fun and bond over literally everything and his punishment ends up not being much punishment at all lol  

(Plot B:) Magica uses Bradford-bird and a lot of resources and blahblah using time travel she ends up finding Poe and brings him to the future. She tries to change him back to a duck but he only gains the ability to talk, not to do magic or anything. Now Magica has two cool birds

Plots don’t converge but there’s some visual parallels

4x21 - Sharp Luck:

(Plot A:) Goldie and Louie and Gladstone. I'm thinking Goldie needed Louies help for something and either she tells a story about getting Gladstones help in the past or Gladstone runs into them and they all work together. And Goldie wears green! 

(Plot B:) Fethry and Gyro and Gandra and Fenton are doing sciencey things together. 

Ep ends where Gyro finds out Akita is no longer in prison and then the screen fades over to Akita’s lab where we see him doing bad shit

4x22 - Musings of a Bengal Tiger: 

(Plot A:) All about Shere Khan, how he became who he is. Some of his history with Scrooge and Baloo and Rebecca and the previous Don Karnage, but mostly focused on Shere. 

(no Plot B)

4x23 - Of Ducks, Dimes, and Destinies:

(Plot A:) Beginning on the end. Shere and Akita use mind control ray to gradually make all the people in Scrooge’s life go absolutely bonkers. They’re all acting in ways they should not. Scrooge’s stockholders start pulling out of the company and Scrooge is losing money FAST. They did not use the mind control ray on Scrooge ‘cause they want to make sure he’s fully aware of whats happening. Glomgold is super excited about becoming the richest duck in the world but then Shere Khan comes into Duckburg and Glomgold realizes Shere Khan is richer than him. Shere Khan references their bet from S2 and says he didn’t care about it nor is he a duck so....”go away, worm” and Glomgold slinks away angrily

4x24 - Of Ducks, Dimes, and Destinies: 

(Plot A:) Scrooge and Huey and Webby work together to find out how to fix everyone. Gyro becomes the Mad Ducktor. Goldie is like NegaGoldie. Donald is Paperinik/Duck Avenger. Della thinks shes a successful astronaut. Then suddenly Huey is the Duke of Making a Mess. There’s a whole bunch of these, you get it. They cant fix everyone til Akita’s device is destroyed. The device did not work on Boyd so hes helping too and there’s some Boyd and Gyro emotions

4x25 - Of Ducks, Dimes, and Destinies:** 

(Plot A:) Talespin cast help out (also Steelbeak because he should come back around). How does the end go??? Uhhh everything goes back to normal and Shere Khan is outed for cruelty and villainy and hurting children maybe. Something about loving and accepting people as they are. This becomes a big Scroldie thing but also ties to Scrooge being a little put off by Webby not wanting to call him Dad in the first episode 

Season ends with a lot of hugs and talking and then Goldie introduces Scrooge to Dickie this kind of goes into the honesty/accepting people thing lol Goldie’s like “if you want something to accept then boy do i have a treat for you”

** - Dickie appears in this ep

CLICK HERE FOR A SPREADSHEET WITH CHARACTER APPEARANCES

[frustratedpker]

My Ducktales knowledge

I finally admit that I have never watched Ducktales (I know, shame on me) so I ‘ll try to recap the show solely based on memes and posts I see on tumblr

Let’s do this!

It’s the duckverse but they have square heads

They all live together at Scrooge’s gigantic mansion, idk where he keeps his money and there’s a super ripped housekeeper lady

Everyone is afraid of said lady

Donald is a tired, underpaid millenial and a mood who gets dragged around by his hyperactive uncle

There was a point where he got jinxed to speak coherently and the fandom freaked out so I guess that for the rest of the show he has his usual pwaphwaphawahpwapha speech

He raises his three nephews by himself because Della pulled a Dreamworks mascot and somehow accidentally ended up on the moon

There’s also a fourth kid whose name I think is Webby

WHERE. DID. SHE. COME. FROM?? Whose is this kid? Where are her parents? Is she Donald’s illegitimate daughter? Is she another niece? I have no idea! I think they just  f o u n d  her and decided to keep her. Is she’s kinda of a stray taggalong?

She looks cute but there’s a spark in her eye that says she could kill me

Della while on the moon gets adopted by an alien robot lady goddess and has a cool prosthetic. She’s not very mature for an adult but she’s badass

At some point there is a granite ripped centaur with Scrooge’s head? WHAT IS THIS THING? I ‘ve never seen it talk so I guess it’s some kind of supernatural entity who stalks the gang

Goldie is also there! But she is an ex-partner of Scrooge from Klondike and now lives with them in the mansion? For some reason whoever they encounter ends up living with them

They live together and are practically married but they still won’t admit their feelings

In the Klondike days they danced a tango in a lava cave and she may have been or may have been not trying to mug him at the same time

BuT LeT tHe LaDY LeAD

and then she knocked him out with a shovel and disappeared from his life

Goldie has big dick energy

Goldie and Louie are the bad bitches squad built on their mutual love for exploitation

I stopped seeing Hewey and Dewey after some while so I guess that they were suffocated by Louie’s distinct personality

Scrooge is like 200+ years old but looks 80, I wanna know his secret

There’s an ancient god, Beak-Hercules, who falls in love with Donald because he finds his grumpiness and tiny physique adorable. He wants to keep him with him forever to worship at his altar but Donald gets away

Speaking of relationships WHERE IS DAISY? Is she ok? Is she dead?? Is this the reason why Doanld looks so sad all the time? Boy, I don’t trust this series! Give the boy back his fiancee!

Gyro is a hipster and probably a coffee addict but his fashion sense is cool

Magica is also there with a killer eyeshadow and shadow voodoo powers kinda like Dr Facilier from Princess and the Frog. She went a little bit too hard for that No 1 dime

There’s an edgy teenager who does black magic? WHERE DO ALL THESE KIDS COME FROM? Don’t they have parents? Duckburg social services better explain themselves

There are also characters named Launchpad and Drake (?), I know them from another series, they’re a pilot and vigilante respectively

They’re also husbants and have a daughter

But I have no idea how they ‘re related with the gang. I ‘ll take a guess and I’ll say Donald’s pals from the pub he once ended up to at 4am after a Duck Avenger mission

In the latest episodes Donald became a merman and the main guru of an underwater hippie gang

He ran away because his past life was to much but his family like the selfish beings they are go to fetch him because they don’t respect his voyage of self discovery

[sleaveheralone]

Now guys,I know this will shock you but...the old Ducktales wasn't perfect too

Let's really think about it : you guys constantly complain about how Scrooge having to raise Della and Donald would be out of character...yet you guys are totally fine with Scrooge raising Huey,Dewey and Louie in the old Ducktales and being a perfect parent to them,exept for the first episode: he wanted to see their grades,he told them not to get into fights（yeah,because HE never ever got into fights,not even once...）, he wanted them to be polite etc...guys...that is COMPLITELY out of character for him! Remember what Don Rosa Scrooge told the triplets when he first met them? "You'll excuse me...I'm not used to children! I never had time to be one myself!" Scrooge,aside from being a person that alone most of his life has always had a hard time adapting and doesn't know how some things changed since he was young! There is NO way that he instantly adapted perfectly to having three kids in so little time! Reboot Scrooge had the advantage of having had a little experience with Donald and Della but he still needs to adapt and we saw it several times! It makes sense! Donald was extremely dumbed down in the old Ducktales: he only did things right by accident,he never seemed to take offense when Scrooge insulted him,made SCROOGE look like the voice of reason every time they were together...yeah,that totally seems in character. Also Scrooge living in a mension instead of the money bin it's extremely weird yet again none of you complained. What about the fact that in the episode "Send in the clones" the Beagle Boys told Magica that they got life sentence,yet we see them free running around in several episodes,which makes no sense since it's impossible for criminal like them to be absolved. Since you guys always like to point out every logical flaws in the new Ducktales,it seems only fair for me to talk about the flaws of the old one as well,especially since there are so many that are waaaay too bitter towards the reboot. Let's talk about Magica: now, they changed the reason why she wanted the number one dime...at least at first. In the earlier episodes she wanted it to rule the world（no idea how the dime would allow her to do that） and needed to put it inside an amulet but since the episode with Gladstone she wanted it to get rich...yeah they retconned it which I'm sure it left several fans confused on what she wanted. Also,this is something that I have always wondered even while reading the comics: why isn't Magica considered a global threat both in the old show or the comics?! She either wants to take over the world or gain the Mida's touch,that would make her destroy the world economy...yet no one,aside of Scrooge is afraid of her. In fact...she doesn't seem to care that she would destroy the whole economy and therefore she wouldn't be rich anymore（she literally tells Scrooge that she doesn't care if the economy falls apart in one comic）. And what about Poe De Spell? Magica's brother: in the orinal Ducktales her crow Ratface was called Poe and was actually Magica's brother who got turned into a crow. Now THAT would have been an interesting story...if they did anything with it! But no: after the episode "Send in the clones" they never talk about this again. Even in the episode "Duck to the future" , where Magica sent Scrooge in the future and she finally gets the dime we never see Poe's true form. Heck,we don't even know he was turn back to normal because I think that the writers retconned Poe being her brother as well,since she always treated him like he was simply her pet. Or what about the episode "Return to the Klondike" where we learn that the triplets hate romantic mushy stuff...yet at the beginning of the episode we see them happy as they help Webby and Beakley preparing cards for Valentine's Day...wait...what? They don't even look like they don't like it but they have been forced to do it: they look like they are having fun. Or when Goldie told Scrooge that she didn't want to go with him in Duckburg because White Agony Creek was her home? In the episode "Ducky Mountain High" she says that as soon as her claim ran out of gold she left and got another job...way to be consistent. And rember in the episode "Till Nephews do us apart" how Scrooge instantly fell in love with a woman he just met to the point of trusting her more than his own family? And how the episode made it seem like he would allow her to fire Beakley and Duckworth and send the triplets away? Yeah,totally in character,especially on how long it took him to realize that she only wanted his money...even AFTER she told him that to his face😑 And how he never even for one second thought about Goldie before marrying another woman but when she shows up at the end he says "Goldie! My true love!" Yeah right... And how about some of the morals that often resetted in later episodes? In the episode "Home Sweet Homer" the moral was that kids grow up to be themselves and it was Scrooge who told it to the triplets...yet in the episode " Working for Scales" hegets mad at them for messing up,saying that he hoped that they would grow up to be like him. Or what about in the episode "Duck to the future" where he told the kids that it's wrong to make money at other's expence...I repeat it again...a billionare...a capitalist with his own company just said that is wrong to make money at other's expence...which is exactly what he does for living...look I know it's a kids show but really? And in the episode with Gladstone? At the end Scrooge agrees with Gladstone on how important luck is to the point of accepting Gladstone's charm,which is an awful lesson for kids: "Remember kids,never actually try anything in your life,you just have to have good luck and constantly depend on a lucky charm"...yeah... Again,you guys point out every flaw in the new Ducktales but ignore the ones in the old Ducktales. And the old Ducktales has several animation errors as well: in the episode "Send in the clones" in some shots Scrooge is tall as the triplets,while in others he is taller than them; in the episode "A whale of a bad time" Donald ,while pressing random buttons,accidently burns Scrooge's top hat but few scene later,while they were still in the submarine with no way of changing clothes...his hat gets fixed; and what about the several times where some duck's bill would disappear? Or when they miscolored the triplets' hats? Or when in the episode "Ducky Mountain High" where,while Glomgold and Scrooge were throwing each other out of Goldie's house and they colored Scrooge's sideburns brown? Yeah,funny how you guys constantly look for every single frame in the new Ducktales to find animation errors but you ignore the ones in the old one. In short: both shows have flaws,none of the two is perfect and it's complitely fine to like either just one of them or both. But stop calling the one you hate shit or saying that it ruined your childhood（for people who constantly complain about Scrooge not being mature enough for his age,you guys need some growing up yourselves）and let others like it.

[lorewytch]

Make a Move Scene..

Authors Note: Hello everyone! ^^ My writing mojo is all over the place at the moment. So sorry I haven’t really posted anything in a few days. I have another finished scene for you from Make a Move. This may be the last scene I post on here until I start writing the full stories so be prepared for more angst, more ducks and more adventure!! This scene is a light and fluffy party scene...and since Scrooge is hosting it, it’s sure to be quite the affair! It might have slight hints (very very slight) of shipping but keep in mind the ages of the kids here is 16. Besides this story will mostly be focusing on Webby’s relationship with her father anyways. Anyway, I love this scene and found it fun to write the banter between them all XDDD Funny story about this scene too: When I first wrote it out, a power outage happened at my house and unfortunately I didn’t save what I had written so one part of the scene had to be rewritten, basically Dewey’s scene with Webby was redone from scratch. I lamented about the lost writing for a couple days before I finally got over it and started to write it again. Man....now if only that was the ONLY time I lost writing due to my computer losing power and/or restarting during the night. ;_;....

Anyways, enjoy!

Glancing at her mirror, Webby brushed a hand through her short hair nervously. Biting her beak she once more gazed down at the purple dress that fit her body almost perfectly. It was slightly loose with a clasp on her right shoulder seemingly holding the entire thing on her body. The glitter on it was almost blinding which is why she chose it. The same with the pink rose hairclip which had replaced her bow. Slowly she looked back at the bow resting on her night stand. Her mind was in chaos, how could she be doing this while her deranged father was on the loose? Granted, she had never spoken to the duck himself. But still, everything she heard seemed to point to him as the bad guy.

Gripping her dress, she tried to erase those thoughts. She needed to enjoy tonight. This was her birthday after all. The triplets had taken two months to wear Scrooge down to give her this. This was a reason to celebrate. She was turning 16 today. She was officially a mid teen and a step closer to womanhood.

A knock on her door caused her to look up and see her Granny. “Webby? Are you ready darling?”

Webby gave her Grandmother a bright smile. “Yes! How do I look?” Using her index finger and thumb, she picked up a lower piece of her dress and brought her arm up slightly. Spinning around, she felt like her hair was floating as well as her dress as she stopped before her grandmother once again.

Beakley gave her a somewhat sad smile. “You look absolutely beautiful darling.” Finding a tear slide down her face, Webby blushed a bit and grinned.

“Thanks Granny���” Blinking, she became surprised as her grandmother wrapped her within a warm hug and she returned it with everything she had.

“Well then, lets go and show you off..” Beakley smirked and took her hand. But as they walked towards the staircase she list off several ways to keep herself and others safe should the worst happen.

“And finally..” Beakley took her daughters shoulders in each hand and lowered herself to her height, staring deeply within her eyes. “If anyone asks you to dance…..you know what to do.”

“Right!” Grinning, Webby clenched her hand into a fist. Giving her a kiss on the top of her head, Beakley let go and watched from the side as Webby made her way to the top of the stairs.

Glancing down the stairs as she began to walk, she saw the triplets near the bottom of the staircase. All three were chatting to each other and Dewey laughed as Louie smirked. Huey rolled his eyes and smirked at his younger brother. Scrooge was by the punch bowl with Goldie of all ducks. Launchpad, dressed to the nines was chatting with Duckworth who was standing near the front door with a raised eyebrow and seemed to only be half hearing the rambling.

A few other guests including Gyro, Fenton, Selene and Storkules also seemed flitter about the room.

Finally, she reached the top of the stairs and the triplets instantly looked up. She couldn’t help it, she let out a giggle as Dewey’s lower beak hit the floor. Huey looked almost equally shocked, blinking three times before his face returned to normal. Louie, to his credit had a hand covering his bill to stifle his own slight gasp before he sent a smirk and elbow jab to the middle child. Now he was smiling slightly and nodded to Webby as she slowly walked down the staircase. Now it seemed as if everyones eyes were on her and she had to admit, it made her feel extremely nervous.

But as she reached the last step, a hand was waiting to take hers.

It was Scrooge McDuck with a warm smile.

Feeling excited, she took it and let him lead her through the parting crowd towards the dance floor.

“Webbigail, you look absolutely breathtaking.” Scrooge commented and once again she felt her cheeks warm.

“Thanks so much Uncle Scrooge.” She said a bit shyly, but was almost skipping with him.

“Would ye like to dance? Aye know I’m a little rusty but..” Scrooge hummed and bowed.

Squealing a little in excitement, Webby nodded and took his hand. Scrooge swept them both across the floor to the dance floor and Webby looked up at her mentor with pure happiness. All those years locked within the mansion, finally her wishes were coming true. Scrooge was finally acknowledging her and even wanting her to call him her uncle. She finally had a family she could be happy and proud of. She could finally find something worth protecting just like her mother had. They danced for a few minutes with Scrooge gracefully guiding her.

Spinning her a bit, Scrooge leaned in and winked. “And just between ye and me….Aye got ye more than one gift this year.” He felt proud of himself to see her smile suddenly brighten to the max. She broke away a bit and hugged him around the neck. “Thank you so much!” She pulled away and glanced around. “But…really this is the best present I could ever have…just being here with all my family.” She glanced back at him, rubbing her hands together nervously. “You have no idea how long I have wanted this.”

Scrooge looked at his niece with a soft smile and pat her head gently as to not mess up her hair.

“Lass, don’t yet worry. This will never go away.” He said firmly. “We will always be there for ye.” He glanced up and then looked down with an amused expression. “Aye better go comfort O’Gilt the girl gets jealous so easily.” He chuckled. Webby rolled her eyes. “And it seems ye have a line forming of yer own.” Tilting his head a bit to one side, Webby glanced over to see the triplets.

While at first they all had been staring, suddenly with her eyes on them all three glanced away. Louie was whistling and looking at his hands. Dewey was adjusting his tie looking ten times more nervous. Huey had pulled out his JWG from somewhere and was staring into it, every once in a while glancing up to see if Webby was still looking.

She giggled a bit again and started to walk towards the boys with a smirk. She couldn’t help it, they all looked adorably awkward especially in their suit and ties. Once she got close enough, she held out her hand to all three of them.

“Does anyone want to dance?” She asked with a slight tilt of her head.

All three shared a glance and their nervousness turned into determination. All three nodded and Huey glanced at her. “Yes, I do.” Taking her hand, Huey ran to the dance floor. Blinking, she let the oldest duck triplet drag her behind him.

Yet when they got to the dance floor, suddenly Huey looked a little nervous. He cleared his throat.

Holding his hand out, she took it and he placed his other hand on her waist. They began to dance a little and she could see Huey’s slight stiffness. Still, he was pretty good and she couldn’t help but ask. “Huey you are surprisingly good dancer, where did you learn to dance?”

“Oh, Junior Woodchucks of course!”

“They teach that?”

“I won the expert patches for tap, jazz, ballet, clogdancing and ballroom.” He grinned slightly. “Dewey got Ballroom too, Louie….just did his own thing. Well, you’ll see in a bit.” He chuckled.

“Clog dancing? Cool! You’ll have to show me that sometime!” Webby looked excited about that.

Huey rolled his eyes a bit, but he was smiling. “Only you’d be excited about clog dancing..” chuckling a little, he spun her around and dipped her a bit before bringing her back up and showing off some of his fancy moves. Webby herself was up for the challenge and narrowed her eyes with a smirk. Trying to control the situation, she soon took the lead from the surprised Huey and finished their dancing twirling him and dipping him.

“Woah..” he was breathless and Webby brought him back up with a shrug. They parted as the song ended. Suddenly Louie was there, tapping his brother and Huey stepped back. Waving to her and grinning he let Louie take her hand this time.

“Bye Huey!” She waved with her free hand and then turned her attention to the youngest triplet. “Louie! How are you liking the party?” she asked excited as they began to dance.

Both of their hands were clasped together as they danced. It seemed Louie knew less about ballroom dancing than his brothers.

“Oh, y’know its cool.” He shrugged. “A bit boring but I think it’s getting better.” He eyed her dress and smirked. “You certainly clean up well.”

Blushing a bit, she spun them both around in a circle before looking a bit to the side, annoyed. “Louie!”

He laughed a bit. “Sorry Webs I couldn’t resist.” Grinning he spun her around and into his chest. Her back pressed firmly against his chest she looked up at him.

Sticking her tongue at him she smirked and spun out, extending her free hand out and bringing herself back, taking his hand. They swung their arms in time with the song and she looked around a bit before looking back to her dance partner. “Hey…Louie..”

“Mmmph?” The youngest asked, his relaxed gaze upon only her. She looked like she was struggling to say something. Then sighed and shook her head.

“Nothing, nevermind..” She gave him another small smile and soon their song was over. As she slipped her hands from his, Louie tilted his head and gave her a worried look.

“Look Webs, whatever is bothering you. You know you can come to any of us. Sometimes it just helps to talk stuff out y’know?” He smiled and waved a bit. The next song was coming on and she nodded. Louie soon vanished and she was watching all the others dancing around her. Thoughts of what had been going on were invading her mind. She couldn’t stop thinking about her father. It was so annoying. She was supposed to be only thinking about tonight.

Ugh, maybe some punch would help her scattered mind.

Quickly she walked to the punch bowl. She downed two cups before Dewey approached her from the side.

“Milady, may I have this dance?” Dewey grinned, bowing. Glancing over, Webby was glad to see him. “Of course!!” She was so happy her best friend wanted to dance with her.

Slipping her hand within his, he slowly led her to the dance floor. Just to show off he spun her a bit as the high tempo music started. It sounded like a classic song from the 80s, but both teens seemed to enjoy it. Laughing, Dewey’s dramatic moves always kept Webby on the edge of her seat. He spun her and released her only for him to appear behind her and grab her hand again. His dancing was a mixture of tango and ballroom. With of course some Dewey flare mixed in.

If anyone could give her a run for her money with dancing, it certainly was Dewey Duck. Smirking and leveling her gaze with his own she opted for her own moves. She was so happy she could feel herself be lost within the music. She caught him off guard and took his hand and wrapped her own arm around his waist, dipping him low and winking. Then bringing him up. Not giving him time to reorient himself, she spun him and expertly placed her foot behind the other. He ended up tripping over it and she caught him, their beaks very close to one another as she once again held him in a low dip.

“Aww Dewey are you falling for me?” She joked and his wide eyes were lost within her own.

“Um…I..” was his intelligent response before he shook himself free from her spell. Smirking he leaned up, a comeback burning his tongue.

“What? you mean you haven’t noticed?”

Surprised by that comment, she didn’t notice as she was bringing him up once more that his own hands were assuming domination over the dancing again. It seemed as if this would go on for a while yet.

Both ducks were so dizzy by the end of the song that they were leaning against each other, catching their breath. Unaware they had several sets of eyes upon them.

“Oh wow…that was great Dewey.”

“You haven’t seen anything yet..” he replied a bit breathless.

Chuckling, she pulled herself up and together the duo made their way off the dance floor. But as she walked, a flash of black and white slid past her peripheral vision. Finding herself distracted, she turned to where she saw that flash. But saw only a small group of people talking and eating. Still, the slight pause caused Dewey to stop as well and glance where she was looking.

“Webs? What’s wrong?” tilting his head curiously, once she brought her head back she gave him a weak smile.

“Oh, no worries. I just thought I saw something…” Her gaze slightly drifted back, as if wanting to will what she saw back within her sight.

Dewey’s grasp on her hand tightened a fraction, once more bringing back her attention.

“C’mon Webs. Take a break from Spy Webby and enjoy the party.” Smiling, he dragged her over by the food table. “Besides, no one is going to break into this party..” laughing, he pointed to Duckworth who was standing guard at the front doors. “After all, we have the best security around.”

Once her eyes met food Webby instantly grabbed a few things. “You’re right.” She laughed a bit and glanced back at the front door as well. “There’s no way he would show up here anyways..”

“He?” Dewey frowned. But Webby didn’t answer.

Instead her mind seemed to be everywhere at once, her eyes drifted to the barrage of guests at the party. She was so distracted she didn’t notice the flurry of emotions flittering across Dewey’s face. Instead her eyes were focused straight ahead.

She scanned the room, trying to see someone that she knew couldn’t be there. But the pounding of her heart, the electric pulsing of the air. Everything seemed to indicate that something was very wrong.

Suddenly she saw it.

A man wearing a cape and his eyes covered with a black mask. Even with his face covered the hairstyle was unmistakable.

Briefly she heard Dewey yell out her name. But she was already on her feet, running through the group of people.

She saw Selene glance at her, saw the startled expression of Scrooge and Goldie on the dance floor. She even saw her Granny near the refreshment stand.

But then her focus was to the masked man before her sliding through the guests until he reached the middle of the room. As Webby stopped and reached out, he lifted one arm up, fingers splayed out.

He snapped his middle and thumb.

A click echoed within the now silent room.

Darkness enveloped the room.

Chaos reigned.

“Someone turn on the blasted lights!” Scrooge raged.

The sounds of people stumbling over each other and frantic yelling echoed within the room. Selene held out a orb of light and after a few more tense minutes finally the lights blared back on momentarily blinding everyone in the room.

“What in blazes what that?” Scrooge hissed.

A sudden yell directed his attention to the middle of the room.

Huey, Dewey and Louie were frantically looking around and reached the middle of the ballroom at the same time Scrooge did.

Webby was no where in sight.

Webby had vanished.

[monkey-li]

This story is set after the Don Rosa Comic of the same name. Of Ducks, Dimes and Destinies. It's easier if you know the story but everything important is explained in the story.

Warning: Scrooge and Magica make love. Not too explicit and I deepen as always more on the feelings than on the act. So it should be save for all audience. Rating just to be safe.

You can read it right here aswell under the cut! ^^

Scrooge stretched out full and content on the soft armchair. "Thank you Daisy-lass, it was sweet of you to invite me over for dinner. You've outdone yourself as always." Daisy smiled cheerfully. "Gladly Uncle Scrooge, if you're not lured with free food, you've hardly been seen lately. You're always just working." Gentle blame swung in her voice.

"I must have missed that this is something bad..." Donald marbled quietly, but basically he didn't mean it badly. He liked his uncle...  mostly... when he didn't get one of his moods or had to work for him...

Daisy gave him a scolding look and Donald sunk fearfully back into his chair. "Will you tell us another story, Uncle Scrooge?" Now the triplets asked in chorus. Donald was tempted to roll his eyes until he caught Daisy's gaze and suppressed the urge.

Scrooge laughed good-naturedly. "If you want lads, do you have a special wish?" While the three were still thinking, Daisy suddenly intervened. "Was your first love really Goldie, or was there someone else?"

Now not only Donald but also his three nephews moaned, but Scrooge suddenly turned red. "Well... I don't know if that counts, but as a child I met a woman for a short time whom... had fascinated me. Although the meeting was nothing special..." He fell silent embarrassed as he thought back to the time…

 Far away in her hut on Vesuvius, Magica watched the conversation through her crystal ball. For some reason, she was angry when she heard his words. "Another one?" Escaped her and she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "For someone who should only be interested in money he gets around quite a bit..." Ratface looked at his mistress shaking his head.

"But... there are only two, and he said he was just a kid..." He tried to calm her down carefully. The problem was that she didn't even want to admit why she reacted so indecisively. But Ratface had known his mistress for so long now, he had already understood a long time ago...

"Two is more than enough!" She answered angrily. "He should not have eyes for anyone else than..."

She fell silent when she realized what she was about to say.

Ratface landed on her shoulder and rubbed his little head lovingly on her cheek "...I know..." he only meant understanding, without forcing her to state it. Gratefully Magica stroked his head. Together they observed the conversation of the Ducks further.

 Daisy got all excited. "What kind of woman? Keep telling Uncle Scrooge!" She sat down with him on the armrest of the chair. Her cheeks glowed with anticipation. She liked nothing more than love stories. Scrooge laughed embarrassedly. "No reason to be so excited lassie. It was really nothing special. It happened strangely the same day I earned my first dime. She had caught my eye because, unlike the other ladies, she did not walk along the sidewalk in a distinguished and reserved manner. She was especially happy about something. She laughed and danced on the street and wasn't interested in the other people's looks at all".

As he told, a gentle smile spread across his face. "It was really fun seeing her carefree cheer." Daisy couldn't resist a delighted squeak. The story was already simply sweet. Even Donald and the triplets had to laugh as they imagined a distinguished Scottish lady dancing in the street.

 Fortunately not as cheesy as they feared. Apparently the lady had been much older than Scrooge.

"I couldn't help but watch her. "Scrooge continued. "Then I suddenly saw something fall out of her hand. A coin, it rolled the walkway long in my direction and directly towards a gutter. The lady ran after it as if her life depended on it. What impressed me as a McDuck heavily. Dad had always told me: "Pence make shillings and shilling make pounds."

He raised his index finger as he spoke and the rest of his family rolled their eyes. The lyre was really not new to them. "Of course I wanted to help her and managed to catch the coin before it disappeared forever in the sewer."

His cheeks turned a little red as he thought back to the time. "I tried awkwardly to start a conversation, but she seemed pretty distracted and sent me away. I hadn't expected anything else, what did an adult woman want from a ten-year-old boy? But then she called me back and even addressed me by name as if it had suddenly occurred to her."

His cheeks turned even redder and Daisy lovingly nudged him with her finger.  Her cheeks were also glowing, she was thrilled by the story. "You can imagine that I was very excited that she knew me but I still couldn't talk to her. She said a few things that were incomprehensible to me and when I asked if I could clean her shoes for the coin, she politely refused." Embarrassed, he scratched the back of his head.

"I had no choice but to continue with my work, after all I had to earn money for my family. I saw however that the lady took place in a Cafe where I could observe her further. Of course I was very keen to show myself from my best side. Loudly I praised my services. By which I finally attracted the customer to whom I owe this dime."

Smiling contentedly, he held the dime in his hands and looked at it, indulging in beautiful memories. Daisy had put her hands in front of her mouth and looked at him, gushing. "What happened then? Have you ever seen her again?"

She asked eagerly. But Scrooge just shook his head sadly, "No, as you know the work had exhausted me so much that I had lost consciousness for a moment. When I regained it, she was gone. For many days I looked out for her on the streets and asked everyone if they knew her. But I never saw her again... well, what good would it have done? She had well and gladly the age which I have now. Maybe a little younger. But she was as beautiful as no other..."

Excited Daisy gasped for air. "Even more beautiful than Goldie? What did she look like?" Scrooge laughed good-natured and put his arm around his niece. "It's been a long time but yes, for me she was. I remember mainly that her eyes were as black as bare onyx and her hair resembled the silky feathers of a raven..."

Suddenly he stopped.

Since that day there had been only one woman in his life who had triggered the same fascination in him…

Sure, when he met Goldie he could have imagined that they could become something. Which quickly became superfluous, for which he was grateful. Because from this encounter an everlasting friendship had developed which he did not want to miss. Goldie had also been beautiful, truly the star of the north but...

Years later another woman appeared in his life. Suddenly she stood in his office...

His face now turned really red when he thought of her. Onyx black eyes and raven black, lustrous hair... apparently he had a type.

Suddenly Donald laughed out loud, "Sounds to me like you're describing Magica de Spell." It was clear that he wanted to tease his uncle with it and he looked at him with a mischievous grin. But Scrooge only sat there with his eyes wide open and his cheeks deep red. Now everyone stared at him.

"Uncle Scrooge...?" Daisy asked quietly. "You're not serious..." Donald added admonishingly. "You're not really in love with that witch!"

Scrooge jumped from his chair so he almost threw Daisy off. "Hold your tongue nephew!" Even Huey, Dewey and Louie stared at him in disbelief. Daisy timidly stretched out her hand to him. "That... that doesn't matter. I mean, you can't choose who you fall in lo..."

But Donald interrupted her. "Of course that matters! Is that the reason why you let her run again and again instead of locking her up or punishing her? The reason you're so eager to measure yourself against her even though she might be a danger for your family?"

Uncle and nephew stood opposite each other like two squabbling cocks. But suddenly the anger disappeared from Scrooge's face and tears gathered in his eyes.

"Just leave me alone...". Without another word he turned around and left Daisy's house to flee to his mansion. He just wanted to be alone. Nobody understood him anyway.

 Donald made an embarrassed face. He had not wanted to be so harsh, his temperament had gone through with him as usual. "I'm sorry!" He called after his uncle, but he was long out of earshot. Daisy embraced him from behind and nestled her head on his shoulder. "I feel sorry for him... this love will never come true." Donald felt really bad.

Honest tears in the eyes of his uncle were rare. He himself knew how hopeless his feelings for this... this...  woman were and Donald had just sprinkled salt on the wound…

 On the Vesuvius in her hut Magica had become very quiet. Unbelievingly she stared at the crystal ball which didn't show anything anymore, she had cut the connection to Duckburg to be able to think.

Ratface pushed her impatiently with his beak " What are you waiting for, boss lady? Didn't you hear what they just said? Scrooge is in love with you! Go to him!" But Magica didn't react to him at all. Her face was crimson red and she was trembling. Her mind was simply not used to such surprisingly positive messages.

Moreover, it went much further than Ratface could have guessed. Then, very slowly, she turned her face to the raven. "This is not all Ratface... I... I was the woman from his childhood..." Now it was the raven's turn to look bewildered.

"Is that really still bothering you? You don't have to talk yourself into something like that, because we both know it's impossible. It doesn't matter who he was once in love with. Now he is in love with you!" Why was the story with the elder woman from his childhood more important to her than the fact that her most secret wish could come true?

Suddenly Magica grabbed her friend. "I don't make this up! It's true! Do you remember how I travelled to the past with the time candle? I never told you exactly what happened, because as always it was a slaying defeat. But the woman he told about, that was me!" Meanwhile her eyes were shining and her face was even a bit reder. "I... I am his first love. But he doesn't know it any more than that I gave him his dime..."

Ratface's eyes widened in amazement and joy. Nothing he loved more than to see his mistress so happy. "Then I repeat my question: What are you waiting for? Tell him! Tell him everything!"

Now Magica made an insecure face "What if he doesn't want that at all? Scrooge puts his family above everything, and they were clearly against his feelings... what if he wants to forget me? Maybe he don’t even wanna see me anymore…" She sank into a chair, very meekly.

Ratface looked at her with a dry face, if he had the ability to slap her in the face, he would now use it that it rang. "Are you telling me that you want to give up now, that you have a real chance of success for the first time? Did you blow a fuse when you heard about his feelings? Force him to his luck damn it! Magica de Spell won't let something like that stop her!" Ratface landed on her shoulder and nestled his little head to her cheek.

"For so many years I have watched you falling in love with this old charismatic miser every day a little more..."

Lovingly, he nudged her. "I think it's time you talk about it. You belong together. That will be as clear to him as it is to you. Be brave!"

Magica looked at him and smiled gratefully. "Ok." She answered plainly.

 Hours had passed since he left Daisy's house. Hours in which he sat in the library on an armchair near the chimney and stared into the fire. He didn't know what to do, didn't even know what he wanted to do. Actually his family should never have known that he had feelings for this woman. No one should have known.

Because it was pronounced, it had become. He was no longer able to suppress the longing in his heart. He took the dime out of his pocket and looked at it. Everything had begun with this coin. The day Magica decided she needed it. Was he grateful or did he curse the day she entered his office?

"I love you, Magica..."

He whispered quietly. It was the first time he really admitted this out loud. Old fool, he scolded himself and laughed grimly.

 "There is something about your first dime that you don't know..." Suddenly a calm, and very familiar voice sounded behind him. Startled, he turned around. There in front of the window, framed by moonlight, she stood: Magica de Spell.

As always, her timing was unbeatable…

Did she hear him? Quickly he let the dime disappear in his pocket and stood up to face her. Maybe a fight could distract him from his feelings for her. But she didn't seem to be in a fighting mood. She seemed unusually shy as she slowly stepped towards him.

Only then he noticed that she had said something. "What do you mean, there is something I don't know?“ Why did his heart have to beat so fast now? He wished for nothing more than to finally be able to tell her how he felt, was so tired of pretending to hate her.

Magica was so nervous. Although she knew about his feelings, she imagined the worst things. What if everything was planned by him? He knew she was watching him most of the time. Did she play into his hands to make fun of her endlessly? She closed her eyes for a moment and thought of Ratfaces words: Be brave!

She was now standing right in front of him. So close that she could feel his pleasant warmth. Her hands twitched a little as if she wanted to touch him, but she held back. He would only suspect an attack anyway and fend her off.

"By an intricate entanglement of circumstances I was the one who gave you your first dime..." She explained without further ado.

"What?" Scrooge just brought out confused. How did she come up with that now? Magica sighed and continued. "Once I had travelled to your childhood with the help of a spell to steal your dime before you gained the ability to defeat me..."

She looked up and straight into his eyes. A pleasant tingling sensation spread in her stomach as she sank into them. She just wanted to be close to him. Wished he would hug and kiss her. With these thoughts her cheeks turned red. Quickly she continued to talk to distract herself.

"... But I travelled too far and arrived in the past before you earned the dime. What I only realized in the last moment and so I have given you the coin when you were unconscious of exhaustion. Then I was catapulted back to the present...“

She continued to look at him unmoved. Scrooge was smart, one of the personalities she loved so much about him, his brilliant mind. Would he be able to draw the conclusion?

 He was…

 A surrendered smile on his lips, he let his head hang. "Of course... you overheard us tonight...“

But suddenly he looked up and in his eyes it flashed dangerously. Quick as a cat of prey he grabbed Magica by the arms. "So what are you waiting for? Didn't you come here to laugh in my face? To humiliate me because I was so stupid to..." He had to swallow a moment.

"...to fall in love with you..?" Beaten he pushed her away and turned around. "Come on, everything you will do makes it easier for me to forget these pointless feelings. Be as cruel as you want. I exceptionally have earned it for my stupidity..."

It hurt her to see him turn away from her. Look at me! She screamed inside. "I was the woman you met back then..."

She couldn't take it anymore. She had to touch him. Gently she laid her hands on his back and nestled her head to him.

"Please Scrooge..." Her voice was just a whisper. "...I didn't come here to hurt you..." Tears began to gather in her eyes and she sobbed quietly. She was so afraid of what would happen if she kept talking. Would he even believe her? When he expected nothing but betrayal?

Confused, Scrooge turned back to her. What was she trying to do with her behavior? Surprised, he found that she had real tears in her eyes and trembled with nervousness all over her body.

Very carefully he raised his hand and touched her face to get her to look him in the eyes. "Why are you here, Magica?"

That she let him touch her even though she knew what was going on in him.

She looked at him with big eyes. "Because I wanted you to finally know the truth. Because I'm tired of fooling myself..." She timidly raised her hands and stroked her fingers through the soft feathers of his sideburns. Scrooge closed his eyes for a moment to enjoy the feeling. "...I know your family is against it and maybe you just want to forget what was said today but..." She sobbed again

"...For me it was the most wonderful moment of my life. To hear that you... that you have feelings for me. That I was the first woman who ever interested you..." Courageously she put her arms around his neck and nestled her head to his chest. She was exhausted. Please hold me tight, she kept thinking like a mantra. "You are the only one for me, Scrooge. There never was another and there never will be..."

She overcame herself and looked back into his eyes which were still dilated in amazement.

 "I love you..."

 Scrooge couldn't say anything at first. He continued to look at the woman before him in disbelief, waiting inwardly for everything to turn out to be a hoax and a nasty plan from her.

Meanwhile, his arms lay themselves around her slender figure as if by themselves. She said nothing but looked at him with hopeful eyes. When Scrooge still didn't react after a long moment except that his cheeks turned red, she smiled mildly. Gently she pulled his head towards her and caught his lips in a brief, tender kiss.

Insecure, she looked at him, "Say something, Scrooge... at least tell me to disappear if you don't want this..."

Sadly she looked down as no further answer came "I understand..." She whispered and wanted to turn away from him.

But his arms just closed tighter around her, wandered up her back and pressed her firmly to his chest. He was still afraid that all this could be a trick from her. That he made a fool of himself but... it felt so right to feel her lips on his, could that really be wrong?

Still bare of all words he lifted her chin and placed his lips back on hers. At first only very briefly and he pulled back a moment as if he wanted to wait. But Magicas face was adorned with such a happy smile that he couldn't help himself. Stormily he kissed her and his heart jumped with joy as he felt her eagerly return his tenderness.

For minutes they held each other in their arms and kissed as if there was no tomorrow.

  Donald and Daisy's concern had grown as their uncle really made no effort to come back. Together they went after him to his estate. "There's light in the library!" Daisy noticed. They entered the building and tentatively opend the door to the library, they knew how angry Scrooge could be when he was sad but wouldn't admit it. But to their great astonishment, he was not alone.

"Oh no, the witch, of all days!" Scolded Donald and wanted to attack her, but Daisy held him back. "Wait!" She whispered, they hadn't been noticed yet. "Don't you think the mood is strange between the two? They don't fight at all. If only one could understand what they say..."

There suddenly Magica pulled Scrooge into a kiss. Daisys mouth remained open in the middle of the word and Donald made a choking sound. Unable to turn their eyes away, they watched as the two kissed again and again and the touch became more intense each time.

As Scrooge finally lowered his lips to Magica's neck and she put her head aside with pleasure and groaned ecstatically, Daisy hastily pulled her fiancé through the door back into the hallway. "Ok, I think whatever's going on right now. It gets too private for spectators..."

Donald just stared at the floor in front of him. "These are also things I never really wanted to see..." But then he looked anxiously at his fiancée. "Do you think we can leave Uncle Scrooge alone with her? What if she overheard us and everything is just a trick?"

 The thought had already come to Daisy but finally she shook her head. "No, I don't think we need to worry about that. Maybe she overheard us, she's watching Uncle Scrooge all the time like he watches her, but did you just see the look on her face? She seemed so infinitely happy! Besides, why would she go so far as to kiss him? She was already close enough to him that she could have stolen the dime. No, I rather think she's here because she heard Uncle Scrooge's words and finally dared to admit her own feelings..."

Donald smiled at his fiancée, he liked how she could empathize with others. Nevertheless he was still worried. "What if Uncle Scrooge really wants to be with her? Even if she loves him, she's still a witch. His environment will not like that... I'm not even sure if I do..."

But Daisy only looked at him lovingly. "You know the answer, love. You are only unsure because you care about your uncle. Otherwise there is only one thing for us to do: To be happy for him and to support him wherever we can."

Now Donald also had to admit defeat. Laughing quietly, he led her back to her own home. Uncle Scrooge was certainly fully satisfied with the company he already had...

 Every kiss between them felt like the first. An electrifying feeling of crackling tension. Her lips so warm and soft on his felt so good, so right. He wanted more of it. Hesitantly his lips wandered to her neck and ruffled the velvet feathers at this spot. He could perceive her pleasant scent of incense that almost fogged him. A pleasant shiver ran down his back as Magica crooked her head and moaned softly. This sound let his blood shoot straight into his loins and his cheeks turned red with shame.

He wasn't an animal and Magica wasn't his prey. Ashamed he wanted to retreat but Magica pulled him back with light pressure. She also began to cover his neck with kisses and bit lightly into the tender skin. Scrooge flinched a little at the slight pain, but it felt strangely good.

When Magica looked him in the eyes again, hers were all dark. He wondered if his gaze was just as lustful. She said only one word, but it was enough to make his heart beat with joyful expectation.

"More..."  She breathed.

Scrooge was torn back and forth. On the one hand, it felt like he was doing something terribly forbidden. On the other hand, nothing had ever felt so good. Yes, she was a witch, yes, they had always been rivals. But did that mean that it always had to stay that way? Was it really important to him what the rest of the world thought about him? When Magica was lying in his arms looking for his closeness? No!

For a moment, he just pulled her into his arms and held her tight. Buried his beak in her silky hair. "Magica..." He began hesitantly. "... I want to be with you, to be close to you but..." He paused and closed his eyes, tried to calm his wildly beating heart. "... but I am also scared. Everything will change..." He fell silent. Scrooge McDuck was never afraid, that was so unusual for him that he could not handle the feeling at all.

But Magica just gently stroked through his feathers and looked into his eyes. "I am also scared Scrooge... very much... I don't even know how the council of elders will react..." She also had to pause. She cuddled closer to him in search of protection.

"But... if you promise to stay with me, I have the feeling we can overcome everything. I... I want to try..." Her gaze showed so much inner strength that Scrooge's heart beat proudly at this strong woman. Again her lips lay down on his, more intimate, deeper.

"And right now I want nothing more than to be close to you. As close as two persons can be..."

Where did she get that courage from? This unshakeable self-confidence in spite of fear and doubt to seek direct confrontation again and again? Even if he himself was not exactly a coward, her direct nature always surprised him. Perhaps she was simply superior to him on this subject, where he lacked any experience. But didn't she say he was the only one for her?

He was embarrassed and confused, but he knew one thing for sure: "I want to try it too! Whether witches coven or snobbied society, I am convinced we can overcome everything as long as we are together..."

Without warning he lifted her suddenly on his arms and gave her a long kiss. "I want to experience everything together with you, Magica and I desire you for so long... you have no idea."

Magica laughed in surprise as she suddenly found herself in his strong arms. She clearly felt his muscles stretching in his chest and arms as he held her.

„If you desire me even half as much as I desire you, I have a pretty accurate idea...“

He had to smile at her words, this openness felt so good. "Naughty witch..." He meant in a soft voice. Without further ado he carried her out of the library and brought her into his bedroom. "If it's all right with the lady here?" He purred playfully.

Magica felt light and a happy giggle bubbled out of her. "It seems to me that the gentleman himself is quite indecent..." Pure satisfaction sounded in her voice and she pulled his head towards her to kiss him. "What are you waiting for?" She whispered seductively.

"Undress me, darling... "

Scrooge's eyes were quite dark as he set her down on the floor and gazed hungrily at her.

He leaned forward and kissed her neck again. His hand wandered up her back and slowly pulled down the zipper of her dress. He devoutly grazed the fabric from her shoulders until it slipped completely from her body. He swallowed hard. A little hesitantly his hands also found the closure of her bra. He looked into her eyes to make sure he could really go on. But Magica just smiled and grazed the straps off her shoulders.

"Don't be afraid, Scrooge. If you really do something I don't want, I'll tell you. Otherwise..." Her gaze was deep and penetrating. All the desires of the past years were reflected in her eyes. "...do not hold back..." With these words also the last piece of clothing slipped from her body and Scrooge pulled in the air sharply. She was so beautiful that her sight made him pause for a moment.

 Magica took the opportunity and stroked his chest with her hands. She loved the feeling of his strong muscles under her fingers and was eager to get more of it. Resolutely she began to open the buttons of his jacket. "I want to see more of you too!" She declared as she removed the disturbing garment. He only wore a thin shirt underneath in which his muscles were clearly visible. Unconsciously she licked her lips.

Scrooge could not suppress a smug smile. He liked the way Magica looked at him and he wasn't stupid, he knew he was attractive and well built. But her hungry looks made his heart beat faster. That she of all people wanted him, he would never have dreamed. With a quick movement he took off his shirt, he wanted to see her reaction.

Now it was Magica's turn to pause.  Devoutly she stroked her fingers across his now naked chest. Leaned forward and began to cover the hard muscles with kisses. Then she looked up at him again, her gaze covered with lust.

"You have no idea... how many times I've pleasured myself at the thought of you..."

Without turning her eyes away from him, she retreated to the bed and stretched out on her back. Come here to me, her gaze said unmistakably as she lolled herself on the comfortable mattress.

Wordlessly Scrooge went up on her, crawled on the bed and lay down gently on her.

Her body was so wonderfully soft and warm. He kissed her intimately. His mind was still having trouble grasping that this was all really happening. He looked deep into her eyes as he broke the kiss "Almost every night..." he finally whispered.

Her eyes widened in surprise but then she pulled his head back towards her with a soft smile. "We were so stupid..." she regretted.

"Please touch me more, Scrooge. Kiss me... all over my body. I want to feel your lips everywhere..."

Scrooge didn't take long to ask. Hesitantly, then with growing confidence he began to cover her body with kisses. He devoted himself pleasurably to her soft breasts and the tender nipples that reared up under his tongue. He could hardly get enough of the warm softness of her flesh and feathers.

Magicas body stretched towards him and she lifted her hip slightly as he slid down her body with his caresses. Invitingly she spread her legs a little to give him better access to her most sensitive spot. Scrooge's cheeks turned red with embarrassment and uncertainty, but the temptation was more luring than the fear.

Not knowing what to do to give her pleasure, he followed his instincts. Just tried what he had imagined hundreds of times alone in his bed. He timidly kissed the previously untouched spot and finally penetrated gently with his tongue. His efforts were rewarded as Magica groaned lustfully and her body began to tremble. Her hands cramped next to her in the blanket.

She breathed heavily, she had never imagined this feeling so intensely. Even though he had hardly touched her so far.

But everything about Scrooge aroused her. Each of his movements, his sight, his scent. Never had she been interested in men and dismissed physical desires as unimportant. Until this man had appeared in her life and changed everything. The cunning businessman had crept fully into her heart until her life was filled with almost nothing but thoughts of him.

All the more her body now reacted to finally being allowed to be close to him. It was overwhelming. Although Scrooge was apparently as inexperienced as she was, he showed a true skill as for almost everything he started. This talented old penny pincher. It was almost unfair how easy it was for him to put her in ecstasy.

Finally, she had to put a hold on him, "Please, Scrooge stop..."

Alarmed, he let go of her immediately and looked worriedly into her eyes. "I' m sorry, have I done something wrong?"

Quickly she shook her head to calm him down and smiled tenderly at him. Her hands stroked his face soothingly. "No darling, on the contrary...“

Embarrassed, her cheeks turned red. "I just don't want to... well..."

She took a deep breath once before she shyly continued. "I... I want to feel you in me when...when I…" She faltered embarrassed. Even to her, who was normally so harsh and open, it was difficult to pronounce these words. While everything was so new to her.

For a moment he looked at her without understanding but then it dawned on him what she meant and his face glowed with embarrassment but also expectation.

"Are you really sure you want to go this far? We are not prepared at all so... what if..." Now it was his turn to stumble. He really could not have guessed that suddenly the love of his life would show up and wanted to sleep with him.

Magica laughed tenderly at his embarrassed stammer and pulled him into her arms. He immediately returned the gesture. She loved the sense of security and comfort he gave her when they were so intimate. She wanted to be so much closer to him.

"Don't worry, don't forget that I am a witch. I am protected, always. Unless I want it different."

She caught his lips again in a tender kiss and opened her mouth slightly. Scrooge followed the invitation straightaway and let his tongue play with hers.

Every touch between them felt so right. He could not deny that he also wanted more of it. Wanted to be closer to her.

He deepened the kiss before letting go, to look her in the eye. Tenderly he stroked her cheek. "Is it ok for you if we stay in this position? At least this time? I don't want to give you the feeling of being inferior to me..." His voice sounded embarrassed. "I only fear I am a little old-fashioned..."

Magica stretched out her hand to touch his cheek as well. "Scrooge, you have never given me the feeling of being less than your equal. You have always fought with all your might against me because you consider me worthy.

We both know it is like that, and I don't have a problem giving myself up to you. I like it when you bend over me and look at me with those soft eyes. I love your tenderness but you don't have to hold back either". She wrapped her well shaped legs around his hip to guide him to herself. "Take me Scrooge. I want you just like that, right now!"

 With each word from her, he became more aware of why he had fallen in love with her. This determination, this trust in herself and in him. He willingly let her lead him. The feeling of entering her for the first time almost robbed him of his senses. He was the first and only person who could be so close to her, it was intoxicating.

Magica hissed and sucked in the air as she felt him so deep inside. Of course it didn't escape him that it hurt her despite all the beautiful words.  Carefully he remained still and tenderly kissed her lips. Stroke through her silky hair until her facial expression showed that she had got used to the feeling. Gratefully she looked into his eyes. With a mischievous smile she then began to move her hips slightly towards him.

"Move inside me Scrooge, it's okay. Of course it hurts, but..." She pulled him closer with her legs to underline her words. "... I've dreamed about this for so long, it's exactly what I want." Tears stood in her eyes. But not with pain, but because she was so infinitely happy.

"I love you, Scrooge. It feels so good to be with you." As an answer he kissed her tenderly. She took the words out of his mouth. "To be in you is the most beautiful feeling I have ever felt, Magica."

Another deep kiss as he carefully began to move faster in her. "I love you..." He repeated contentedly and Magica put her arms around his neck so that they could be completely close to each other.

Quickly they found a common rhythm. It felt so natural to be so perfectly united.

None of them was accustomed to indulging in pleasure like that, their feelings quickly became overwhelming and their voices carelessly loud. But in this perfect moment nothing played a role except the person in their arms.

They tried to kiss each other despite the fast movement and laughed in harmony when it was only modestly possible. Even more beautiful than the feeling of pleasure was this perfect contentment and unity. Especially for Magica these feelings of happiness were completely new. Her body reacted more and more violently to the fulfilment of her desires.

"Faster Scrooge, I want to feel you even more!" She gasped, although the heat in her body was hardly bearable now, she wanted more.

Scrooge pursued a slight fear of perhaps hurting her, but he could not possibly resist this request. "My God, Magica..." He moaned loudly. The room was filled with sounds that had never echoed in these walls before.

Finally they reached their limits almost simultaneously, the name of the other on their lips.

Breathing quickly, they looked into each other's eyes, snuggled their heads together and smiled peacefully. For a moment they still enjoyed the feeling of being connected until Scrooge carefully released himself from her.

 At that moment there was a sudden knock on the door.

"Mr McDuck, sir? Are you all right? I thought I heard a scream." Sounded the concerned voice of Butler Quackmore. For a moment Scrooge and Magica looked at each other in amazement. Then both began to giggle heartily and suddenly seemed much younger than they actually were.

Scrooge cleared his throat. "No, everything's fine Babtist! I..."  He looked Magica gently in the eyes and gave her a tender little kiss on the lips. "... I have a lady visitor ..." His tone of voice made clear what he meant by that exactly.

Astonished Magica opened her eyes, but said nothing.

In front of the door it remained silent for a long moment. Then the flustered voice of Quackmore sounded again. "Oh... I... forgive me sir, I had no idea..." One could literally hear how his face must have turned red and then hasty footsteps moving away from the room.

Scrooge laughed further into himself. But Magica's gaze seemed worried.

"Hey... what's the matter, beloved?" Asked Scrooge gently as he noticed that her gloomy expression. He gently stroked her face and hair as he sank deep into her eyes. "Do you regret what we have done...?" His voice was calm but still the fear was clear to hear from it.

But Magica stormily slung her arms around him and together they rolled to the side so that she could cuddle close into his arms. "No, never Scrooge! I just wonder..." She unconsciously stroked gentle lines on his chest as she spoke. "...if it wouldn't be better if I disappeared before morning. So that you can prepare your staff and family with whom... with whom you have shared the bed... or can keep it secret in case of need..."

It was clear to hear that just the idea of disappearing from his bed displeased her greatly, but also that she was willing to make this sacrifice if it helped him. Scrooge shook his head with a light scolding. He leaned forward and kissed her tenderly. Immediately she greedily drew his head closer to her and deepened the kiss. She knew that she was addicted to him, obsessed, only she didn't care. Because Scrooge was as devoted to her as she was to him!

"What are you talking about?" Scrooge finally asked when they separated. "I have no intention of denying my feelings for you. We decided to go through everything together. Of course there will be people who won't understand it, maybe even from my family. But I don't live for others. I love you, Magica. And now that it has been said between us, I want to show it too".

He pulled her a little tighter into his arms, a promise to always be there for her, to protect her if necessary. "It's not that I'm not afraid of what awaits us, but you proved to me that it's worth standing courageously by his feelings! Be brave!“

Magica laughed quietly and smiled blissfully at him. Satisfied, she snuggled into his strong arms. "Why do you trust me? How do you know that all this is not just a scheme to get your dime?" While she spoke, she distributed gentle kisses on his chest and neck.

Scrooge gently stroked her back and grinned mischievously. "Well, for one, you literally tore the jacket the dime is in off my body and threw it carelessly on the floor..." His grin became even wider as he looked at her and her face ran red with embarrassment.

"On the other hand, I always knew when to rely on you. We've known each other too long and I've decided to trust you." He lifted her chin to catch her lips in a deep kiss. "Besides, you trust me just as much. I too could only be interested in your body, but yet you have given yourself to me without hesitation."

She looked into his eyes. "You are right... but I also know from experience when I can trust you. I have also decided to do it... Seach gu bheil mi gad ghràdhachadh..."

Scrooge's eyes widened in surprise at her last words. "You speak Gaelic?" He couldn't banish the joy from his voice and his face glowed with excitement. Magica smiled contentedly. "I learned it because I knew that you spoke it and that the old language meant a lot to you... because I love you..."  She repeated this time in English.

A few tears of joy stood in Scrooge's eyes as he closed his arms tightly around her. He buried his beak in her soft hair and could barely speak of happiness. "I don't even know what to say...  Thank you. Thank you so much for that..."

 He could feel that she too chuckled happily as her arms closed tightly around him. Ready never to let him go again.

For years he had been sure but this gesture from her only confirmed him in his knowledge. She was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

Only for the moment he kept this thought to himself. The day had already been overwhelming.

Slowly they both slipped into a peaceful slumber. With his last thought Scrooge thanked Dime and Destiny for this wonderful gift he was allowed to hold in his arms…

[lettheladylead]

Title: Witness

Summary: Scrooge is on trial and he needs a character witness, but he's not sure how helpful she'll be. Ship: Scrooge/Goldie Word count: ~3080 Notes: I needed to write something after seeing the summary for the upcoming episode, The Life and Crimes of Scrooge McDuck. ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29510085

-

“This trial is a sham!” Scrooge shouted, slamming his shackled fists onto the desk in front of him. “You havenae allowed me a proper lawyer or allowed anyone to testify on my behalf!”

The giant mystical judge scoffed and held the gavel in his hand, ready to use it if the duck continued yelling. Holding him in contempt of court would be an easy way to end this trial early, but he wanted to make sure Mr. McDuck paid properly for his crimes.

The prosecutor rolled his eyes and walked in front of the desk. “And whom would you have testify for you? In the High Mystical Court of Good Versus Evil, family members aren’t allowed.”

Scrooge gaped. “Not even as a character witness? I spend all my time with my family!”

The smug, suited creature shrugged at him with a smile. “Too bad, then. Looks like we’ll just have to continue listing how you’ve corrupted these fine men and women and forced them into lives of villainhood.”

The old duck seethed, grinding his teeth and considering his options. If he let the trial continue this way, his poor family up in the spectator’s seats was about to watch him get destroyed and they had yet to even discuss punishment, but Scrooge was sure it would be worse than anything he could get on Earth.

As he glanced up at his family - Donald, Della, and the boys in particular - he wondered if Webby or Twenty-Two would’ve been allowed to defend him had they been zapped here along with the rest of them. They just happened to be in the kitchen at the time of abduction and were probably losing their minds with worry. Hopefully one of the boys was able to send some sort of textual message to let them know what was going on.

At that thought, Scrooge’s eyes lingered on Louie and his phone, and a thought suddenly came to mind. It was something he wasn’t sure about...perhaps it’d be a bad idea...but he had no other options.

“I know someone!” he shouted. “I have a character witness who’s not in my family!”

The judge and prosecutor stared down with their many, many eyes - giving Scrooge an expression he could only describe as terrifying and suspicious.

“You still want to try this?” the prosecutor asked. “Alright, fine. Who is it?”

“Goldie O’Gilt.” Scrooge ignored the reactions from his family - particularly Della and Donald’s resounding ‘oh, please no’ - and hoped this would be a good choice.

The prosecutor looked up at the judge, who nodded his head and slammed his gavel down three times before snapping his fingers. “Alright.”

A few seconds passed without anything happening or anyone saying a word. Scrooge glanced from side to side. “Should you...call a recess so I can contact her?”

“That would be a waste of time,” the prosecutor said as there was suddenly a poof of purple smoke at the witness stand.

Everyone stared as the smoke dissipated to reveal one Goldie O’Gilt - currently wearing a bathrobe and her hair was down and wet and as soon as she opened her eyes she was immediately very unhappy.

“Oh, what the hell is this?” Goldie shouted, choosing to stay seated but glaring around the room. “What am I on trial for this time?”

Scrooge felt himself getting sweaty. Maybe this was a terrible idea.

“Nothing, Miss O’Gilt,” the judge said as he leaned down to look at her. “Mr. Scrooge McDuck is on trial for crimes of harassment, manipulation, and corruption against multiple innocent victims.”

Goldie blinked up at him and then turned her head to look at Scrooge.

He gave her a toothy grin and a small, nervous wave.

“So what does that have to do with me?” Goldie asked as she grabbed her hair and wrung it out onto the floor.

The prosecutor stared at the puddle of water and then glared up at their new witness. “You’ve been called as a character witness for Mr. McDuck. Now do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?”

The blonde rolled her eyes. “Sure.”

Scrooge dropped his head to the desk while the prosecutor and judge glanced at one another.

The bailiff walked over with a large brown book that had a giant lock around the side and was shaking a bit and making snarling sounds. Goldie raised an eyebrow as he held it towards her.

“Put your hand on this.”

Goldie grimaced. “Must I?”

“If you don’t want to testify, we can’t force you,” the prosecutor said with a pretentious glance up and down her body. “Clearly you were in the middle of something, after all.”

Goldie glared at him and in that moment decided she hated him more than she enjoyed inconveniencing Scrooge. She slapped her hand down on top of the book. “I swear to tell the truth.”

The bailiff mumbled something under his breath and then the book lit up and shone a bright light onto Goldie for a few seconds before fading away. He walked away as Goldie rubbed at her eyes.

“What was that?”

“That was a Light of Honestly,” the prosecutor said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Which means that so long as you’re at the witness stand, you’re physically incapable of lying or excluding relevant information from your statements.”

“What?!” both Goldie and Scrooge shouted at the same time. They immediately locked eyes with one another and could feel their shared nervousness almost psychically.

“Since when do you use something like that?”

“It was specifically requested and provided by one of the accusers in this case. Now, could you state your name and occupation to the court, please?”

Goldie’s left eye twitched as she squeezed the sleeves of her robes into her hands. “Goldie Kathleen O’Gilt. I…” She paused as if considering her words - or, Scrooge suspected, trying to find a way to word her lie so that it was still true. “...I own and operate a hotel.”

Scrooge’s eyes widened. She did what? He attempted to make eye contact with her so he could let her know how confusing what she just said was to him, but she was purposefully avoiding his stare.

“And how do you know Scrooge McDuck, Miss O’Gilt?”

Goldie frowned and glanced up at Scrooge before glaring at the lawyer. “He’s my…” She seemed to struggle with the words again. “...boy...friend?”

A collective groan could be heard from the duck boys in the peanut gallery while Scrooge couldn’t help the small smile that came to his face.

“Are you asking?” the judge asked sternly, leaning towards her again.

She grunted and angrily waved her hands around. “We’ve never really talked about it, alright? He’s the love of my life and we’ve been seeing each other on and off since 1897. How’s that for you?”

Scrooge was surprised not to hear another groan, and looked back to see the boys and Della looking quite touched by Goldie’s confession. They weren’t the only ones - even after their little Florida adventure, he never expected to hear those words come out of her mouth. Now he had ten times as much reason not to die right then and there.

“That’s descriptive enough, I suppose,” the prosecutor responded, clearly not recognizing or not caring about the emotional turmoil Goldie was going through after blurting that out so carelessly. “In the one hundred and twenty years you’ve known Scrooge McDuck, have you found him to be cruel?”

Scrooge stared at her pleadingly, despite knowing she physically couldn’t lie he still hoped she’d find a way to make him sound good.

Goldie brushed her fingers through her damp hair. “On occasion. But usually I was cruel to him first.”

“Usually, but not always?” the prosecutor asked, taking a look at the jury who were watching with gradually increasing interest. “So he has been cruel without provocation.”

“The first night we met involved me drugging his coffee and then him kidnapping me,” Goldie said nonchalantly, clearly starting to realize there was no fighting the Light of Honesty. “At the time I thought he was cruel, but looking back on it, I don’t mind that it happened.”

Scrooge closed his eyes and wondered what his family was thinking at that moment. He was thinking about all the different painful, mystical punishments he was going to face after Goldie destroyed his already limited chances of surviving this trial.

“Interesting. And over the years, have you witnessed Scrooge McDuck inflicting such cruelties on anyone else?”

Goldie rolled her eyes. “No. I like to think our relationship is special,” she added with a wink.

The prosecutor scoffed, annoyed by her response. “Can I assume this means your time spent with Scrooge McDuck is usually just the two of you, making you less than an expert on how he treats people he’s not having sex with?”

“Objection!” Scrooge yelled, standing up. “Curse me kilts, there are kids here!”

The judge shrugged. “He’s got a point.”

“Fine,” the prosecutor responded, putting up his hands in mock surrender. “But my question still stands.”

Goldie huffed. “Unfortunately for me, I have spent plenty of time with Scrooge’s other associates. I can’t confirm whether or not I’ve seen him around your particular accusers, but I’ve interacted with most of his enemies at one point or another.”

“...good to know,” the prosecutor said and brushed invisible dust off of his lapel. “Have you ever known Scrooge McDuck to harass others?”

“Only when they owe him money.”

“Oh? And does that happen often?”

Goldie let out a short laugh. “No one would be dumb enough to borrow from Scrooge! He adds interest even when you borrow five bucks for lunch.”

Scrooge pouted and ignored the temptation to argue that he had every right to do so.

“Have you known Scrooge McDuck to be manipulative?”

There was a pause at that question, one that filled the space between Scrooge and Goldie with a modicum of tension. “Yes.”

“...can you elaborate on that?”

Goldie sighed. “Well, he’s the richest duck in the world, a businessman, and an adventurer. You can’t be successful in any of those categories without being at least somewhat manipulative. Though he’s certainly not the most manipulative man I’ve dealt with, he’s not exactly a saint.”

Scrooge groaned and slammed his head against the desk multiple times in a row.

The blonde pouted angrily and tried to think of a way to save face. “That being said...if the accusers in question aren’t ex-business partners or fellow adventurers, I question the relevance of anything I’ve said.”

The jury seemed to find that statement interesting and the prosecutor glared angrily at Goldie for causing a stir. Scrooge lifted his head and smiled at her - now he was sure she was fighting to help him.

“I think we can allow the jury to decide the relevance of this information for themselves,” the prosecutor said with a snarl. “We don’t need any unfair extrapolation from our witnesses, Miss O’Gilt. Stick to the facts.”

Goldie let out a short, low hum and grabbed her hair to wring it out once again, getting water all over the attorney’s shoes. He gasped and stepped away from her.

“Oops!” Goldie put a hand to her beak, but offered no apology. No one needed to think twice to realize it was because she was incapable of doing so at that moment.

“Corruption is the biggest charge,” the prosecutor said matter-of-factly. “The accusers all claim that their villainy is a direct result of damages done to them, their property, or their livelihoods by Scrooge McDuck. Have you known Scrooge McDuck to be a corrupting person?”

Scrooge wondered about that charge against him in particular. He couldn’t deny that a lot of his enemies were a direct result of something he did - but it wasn’t purposeful nor was he the only person capable of causing these problems for them. If Scrooge hadn’t indirectly negatively impacted their lives, some other billionaire would’ve done it instead. It’s not like he was the only businessman-adventurer in the world.

“...yes.”

Scrooge sucked in a breath. He didn’t know what Goldie was going to say, but it couldn’t be good.

“Could you elaborate on that?”

“Not in any way that’s appropriate for the audience,” she answered with a smirk. “Wouldn’t want to corrupt the kids, too, after all.”

Scrooge exhaled loudly and blushed. Alright.

The prosecutor slapped a hand against his forehead. “Not that kind of corruption!” he shouted, pointing a finger into her face and getting much too close for anyone’s comfort. “Have you witnessed Scrooge McDuck influence the life of an innocent person in a way that led to them falling down a path of villainy?”

The jury reacted more than expected to the prosecutor’s anger, whispering among themselves briefly. Scrooge and the prosecutor both looked over at the Jury Box, but Goldie kept her eyes forward.

“...not purposefully, but yes.”

The prosecutor smiled. “Ahh, well naturally, if it wasn’t on purpose, then it doesn’t matter! Is that what you’re saying?”

Goldie’s left eye twitched again. “You asked me to state facts. I stated a fact. Do you have any other dumb questions?”

He glared at her and glanced up at the judge, who was leaning on his hand and watching their discussion closely. “I want to summarize what you’ve told us so far, Miss O’Gilt.”

“According to you, Scrooge McDuck may not be prone to harassment, but he is often cruel, fairly manipulative, and has been known to corrupt innocent people to villainy. Is that all correct?”

She frowned and tapped her fingers against her leg. “That’s all accurate to what I’ve said here, yes.”

The prosecutor turned back to look at Scrooge, whose expression could only be described as defeated. “Some character witness you’ve found yourself, Mr. McDuck.”

“Stick to the witness, Prosecutor,” the judge said quickly, holding up his gavel.

“Yes, Your Honor,” the prosecutor responded, moving back towards Goldie again. “Now, Miss O’Gilt, based on what you’ve told us here, Scrooge McDuck is not a nice man nor is he a noble man. Yet you referred to him as the, quote, love of your life, unquote. This leads me to believe that you, yourself, may not be a nice or noble person, either.”

She raised an eyebrow. “What’s your point?”

“If anyone has any doubts as to whether or not Scrooge McDuck is a cruel, manipulative person capable of horrible deeds, we need look no further than the fact that his girlfriend here is similarly cruel, manipulative, and as many of us here are already aware - a criminal.”

There were gasps among the crowd and the jury - the prosecutor turned his head towards them as he continued. “Yes, everyone, Miss O’Gilt here is actually quite familiar with the inside of this courtroom. She’s been on trial dozens of times over the past one hundred years for theft of mystical artifacts from every dimension and realm you can think of.”

Scrooge closed his eyes again and started counting. Perhaps if he did this long enough, he’d wake up from this nightmare he found himself trapped in.

Goldie, on the other hand, was unperturbed. “Been on trial, but never been convicted. Who’s the one bringing up irrelevant information now?”

“I simply thought it was important for our jury to be aware of the witness’ extracurricular activities.”

“The activities you have no evidence of,” Goldie said sternly. She glanced up at the judge. “I believe your prosecutor is harassing me when all I’ve done is comply with every question I’ve been asked both here and at previous trials.”

The judge considered this for a moment and looked down at the prosecutor. “She has a point. Was she convicted of any of the crimes you’re accusing her of?”

The prosecutor frowned. “No, but-”

“But nothing,” the judge said as he slammed down his gavel again. “You will move on from this statement of irrelevant accusations or I will have you replaced with another attorney.”

“...yes, Your Honor,” the prosecutor said with a bow, glaring at Goldie.

She smiled back at him, then glanced at Scrooge and blew him a kiss.

======

After court was adjourned and Scrooge’s handcuffs were finally removed after all those hours of magical metal chafing against his feathers, he spent an enjoyable few minutes being congratulated by his family before Goldie stepped out of the courtroom and stared at them.

“Um...Uncle Scrooge?” Louie said, tugging at his uncle’s sleeve.

“Yes, lad?”

“I think Aunt Goldie wants to talk to you.”

Scrooge considered taking a moment to discuss that nickname with his nephew, but Goldie’s presence distracted him enough that he simply turned around and walked towards her.

“You really saved me in there, O’Gilt,” Scrooge said softly as he reached down and grabbed one of her hands.

Goldie shrugged and squeezed his hand back. “Well it wasn’t like I could let them throw you in interdimensional prison. They don’t have conjugal visits, you know.”

He blushed and pulled his hand away. “Must you always be so inappropriate?!”

“Not always,” Goldie said as she took a step closer to him. “Just with you.”

Scrooge felt his heart racing and couldn’t help the nervous smile that came back to his face. “...I would’ve thought you’d run out of here as fast as possible after what you said.”

She played with her hair for a bit, roughly running her fingers through the knots that had formed since the judge had summoned her from her bathroom before she’d had a chance to brush. “It’s not like I said anything you didn’t already know.”

He smiled brighter and leaned forward to press a quick kiss against her beak; a disgusted groan sounded from behind him that he was pretty sure was Louie’s. “Is the judge sendin’ you back home?”

“After I’m done with you, yes.”

Scrooge grabbed her hands again. “How about you come to the mansion instead, dear?”

Goldie breathed out a laugh. “As much as I appreciate the offer, I’m not wearing anything under this robe and I’d kind of like to do something with my hair before it knots into a nest.”

“I’ve got some of your clothes,” Scrooge said quickly. “And showers. Towels. Hair brushes. Anythin’ you need.”

She raised an eyebrow and glanced back at Scrooge’s family who were all pretending not to pay attention to them. “Well...I suppose it wouldn’t hurt.”

[lettheladylead]

avoid the unhappy ending (ch4)

ships/characters: Goldie, Webby, Dewey, Scooge/Goldie, Webby/Lena words (ch4): ~1900  summary: Goldie comes to town to see Scrooge. Instead, she somehow manages to run into literally everyone else. ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27108943/chapters/66282616

Chapter 4 below the cut:

That was not someone she’d anticipated speaking to anytime soon. Or, well, ever.

When Duckworth died, Goldie found out almost right away. Scrooge was already in his deep My-Niece-Is-Missing depression at the time, during which she tried to reach out every other year just to make sure he was still alive. He didn’t always pick up the phone, but that time he did, and he’d simply said, “What do you need? I don’t have the energy for games. Duckworth is dead.”

In what she considered probably not her finest moment, Goldie responded with, “You can’t stuff everyone in an immortal magic castle, Scroogey.”

After he hung up on her, they didn’t discuss it any other time. No one had mentioned his ghost hanging around. Now she almost felt bad about what she said.

Goldie stepped through the hallway and looked at the stairs. She sighed and sat on the second-to-top stair, leaning against the top with her head back. She looked up at the ceiling. This day was turning out to be very...conversational. It wasn’t what she’d planned on - usually Scrooge was much easier to find.

She closed her eyes and took a moment just for herself. She’d check downstairs for Scrooge, and then he wouldn’t be there because why would he be? That’d be too simple. He was apparently not going to make this easy for her.

A moment later, there were some small footsteps behind her that suddenly came to a stop. Goldie opened one eye to see a familiar tiny face staring down.

“Hey, Kiddo.”

“What are you doing on the stairs?” Webby asked with a tilt of her head.

“...thinking.” She closed her eyes again, hoping the kid would take the hint and go away.

Instead, Webby kneeled down and plopped herself next to the much older woman.

Goldie turned her head and opened her eyes again. “Can I help you with something?”

There was a good chunk of silence before Webby finally spoke.

“You’re a con artist and a thief.”

“True.”

“My granny says no one should ever trust you.”

“True.”

“Uncle Scrooge says you’re always looking for angles.”

“True.”

“But Louie says you’re just a softie trying to look tough.”

“Tru-wait, what?” Goldie sat up and stared at her. “I’m sure he must’ve been talking about someone else.”

“No.” Webby shook her head. “He was talking about you. He said you saved him when you didn’t have to.”

Goldie rolled her eyes. “Not wanting to watch a child die isn’t the emotional triumph he thinks it is.”

Webby looked down the hallway and then back at Goldie. “Maybe not. But it shows you care.”

“If you say so.”

“And you care about Uncle Scrooge.”

Goldie simply hummed as a response - she looked at the feathers at the tips of her fingers and played with them a bit.

Webby felt awkward for a moment and tapped her hands against her legs. Goldie could tell this line of seemingly unrelated statements was leading up to some sort of personal question, and she was not excited for it.

“...how do you know when you’re in love with someone?”

That wasn’t the question she’d anticipated. Something personal, sure, but not like that. Goldie looked back at the preteen with a raised eyebrow. “What makes you think I’ve been in love?”

Webby looked like she was about to laugh. After a pause, her smile faded to pure confusion. “Wait, are you serious?”

Goldie just frowned.

“Okay…” Webby turned away from Goldie’s eyes uncomfortably. “...have you ever had a crush on a girl?”

A single, surprised blink. “Ah...when I was younger, sure. I’m a bit too old for crushes nowadays.”

“So how did you know?”

Goldie exhaled loudly and adjusted her sitting position again, lifting her butt up to sit on the top stair with the tiny duck. “What are you really asking me, Kid? You think you’re in love with one of your friends?”

Webby looked down at her knees with a bright blush on her face. “I...yeah. Maybe.”

This wasn’t a conversation she was prepped to have. She could give advice on fighting, on pilfering, on adventuring, on gently teasing while casually avoiding real feelings getting in the way. But...there was something about this kid that struck a chord. Maybe it was her tenacity or the way she didn’t take any of Goldie’s crap the last time they’d met. Maybe Goldie just really was going soft.

“...what do you feel when you’re around her?”

Webby let out a short laugh. “Oh...I don’t know...happy?” She started playing with the ends of her hair. “My chest gets warm and I wanna support her in everything she does and I just wanna hug her all the time!”

Goldie ran her fingers through her ponytail. “Alright. Do you want to kiss her?”

“Um-!” Webby’s face turned somehow even redder. “I don’t know. I think I do.”

“I’d say that’s pretty definitive,” Goldie shrugged. “Kissing and love usually go together.”

“Usually,” Webby repeated. “But not always? Or always except for when it’s you and Uncle Scrooge?”

Goldie scoffed and adjusted her position again so she was leaning against the wall and staring directly at the talkative little girl. “You’re very nosy.”

“I just like to have my facts straight.”

“I’m sure you do.” Another eye roll. “Any chance you know where he is?”

Webby didn’t react to the change in topic. “Nope! But speaking of Uncle Scrooge…”

“As everyone is doing.”

“...I have some questions for you!” A notebook was pulled out of who-knows-where and Webby pointed to the first sentence at the top. “What brought you to Dawson? How did you and Uncle Scrooge meet? Did you really poison him? Why did you go to his claim? He’s written down the details before, but scribbled them all out or ripped up the pages.”

“Nope, nope,” Goldie stood up - her bones creaking a bit as she did. “We’re not doing this.”

“But I didn’t get to ask you before!” Webby waved her notebook around. “I have so many questions! Do you still own the saloon? I heard it’s a hotel now!!”

Goldie jumped past the girl and rushed off in another direction. If Scrooge didn’t answer these questions, it definitely wasn’t her place to answer them. Especially not questions about...that particular time. And she certainly wasn’t going to answer questions about her current life.

She saw an unfamiliar door and quickly popped it open before Webby could follow after her. Running away from a small child? Yeah, that’s just where her day was at. It wasn’t a problem. Scrooge should thank her for it, though. Spilling his secrets to his ward would’ve been a fun way to ruin his reputation. She quietly closed the door in front of her.

“Oooh! Now here’s a surprise guest, everyone!”

Shocked by the sound, Goldie turned around to find the blue triplet sitting at a talk show desk while some balloons with drawn-on faces were strapped to the chair next to him. She didn’t have any idea how to react to the scene in front of her.

“What the h…”

“Glittering Goldie O’Gilt!!” Dewey got up from his desk and pressed a sound effect button behind his back, mimicking the sound of a large audience clapping. He motioned for Goldie to walk up to him and for reasons unknown, she did exactly that.

Dewey shook her hand excitedly and led her towards the seat - tearing the balloon people off and ignoring them as they floated off to the ceiling. She sat down and didn’t say anything as he danced his way back to his own seat behind the desk.

“So, Glittering Goldie - is it alright if I call you that?”

“No -”

“What brings you to our humble studio today?”

She looked around. “What is this? A fake talk show? Is this what kids do nowadays instead of playing outside?”

Dewey laughed and looked straight at the camera, making an exaggerated shrugging motion and shaking his head slowly. “And they say old people can’t be funny!”

“Hey-!”

“So is it true you’re like a million years old?” Dewey asked, clasping his hands in front of him and leaning over the desk eagerly.

Goldie was thrown off by the speed of which topics changed and the fact that he didn’t seem to be even the least bit intimidated by her. “No.”

Dewey looked at the camera, wiggled his eyebrows, then looked back at Goldie. “So how old are you, then?”

“Didn’t anyone teach you not to ask a lady that?” Goldie crossed her arms over her chest.

“Oh, they absolutely did,” Dewey said with a big smile. “But our audience wants to knooow!”

“...audience?” Goldie squinted at the cameras. “Don’t tell me people are actually watching this.”

He jumped up on the desk. “You know it! My fans are plentiful and thirsty for knowledge! So let’s Dew this surprise interview!!”

She stood up out of the chair and shoved the nearest camera so it was angling away from her. “Nope.”

“Oh, c’mon! I haven’t had a real interview in forever!” Dewey stomped his foot on the desk. “And you’re so mysterious!”

“It’ll only stay that way if I stay off camera.” She put a hand on her hip and glared at him. “I’m not like Scrooge. I don’t feel the need to brag about how long I’ve been around.”

“But weren’t you, like, a showgirl or something? Back in prospector times?” Dewey flung his hands around in the air, hoping one of the cameras was still on them.

“What?”

“Y’know...big stage! Bright lights! Skimpy sparkly outfits!” He posed for dramatic effect. “That’s what Uncle Scrooge said, anyway.”

Goldie tapped one foot repeatedly as she considered how to respond without sounding too angry. “He is an aggravating man. I was the proprietor of the most successful saloon Dawson has ever seen!”

Dewey smiled brightly, feeling a little bit like Louie in that moment. He was sure Scrooge could handle being thrown under the bus. “Oh? So you didn’t dance?”

“Of course I danced,” she said while pointing an angry finger in his chest. “I did everything! I danced, I sang, I bartended, I did whatever needed to get done. Scrooge loves to act like all I did was swing my hips and drug handsy sourdoughs when he - !!! ”

She froze at the embarrassing realization that this kid had gotten her to say a lot more than she’d planned to.

“...when he what?” Dewey asked, genuinely interested and also hoping his viewership would go up thanks to the unbridled tension.

“When he...nothing.” Goldie threw her hands up in the air. “Where is he, anyway? I’ve run into everyone else in this stupid house, but have yet to see the actual reason I’m here.”

Dewey shrugged and turned around, attempting a cartwheel from the desk back to his chair. He fell with a loud clatter and held a hand up to stop Goldie from helping him as he climbed back to a seated position (she wasn’t going to help him anyway, but the gesture added to the drama of the scene). He smiled at his camera again before turning to face the blonde. “Came here to see Uncle Scrooge, eh? You guys have a smooch session planned?” He laughed and finger gunned at the camera. “That is so gross!”

“Nothing’s planned,” she answered with a smirk. “But who knows where the night will go?”

“Oh, wait, what? EW!” Dewey scowled and ran his hands down his face. “That was supposed to be a joke and you just RUINED it!! Ewww, I don’t know where he is!! Just leave! Ewwwwww!!! Nooo! What?!”

She chuckled and headed out the door she came in through, happy to see that Webby hadn’t followed. Frustrating as Scrooge’s little disappearing act was, mentally torturing a child with the reminder that his ancient Uncle had a love life was always fun.

[lettheladylead]

avoid the unhappy ending (ch7)

ships/characters: Goldie, Della, Scrooge/Goldie words (ch7): ~2100 summary: Goldie comes to town to see Scrooge. Instead, she somehow manages to run into literally everyone else. ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27108943/

[1 & 2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Chapter 7 under the cut:

Avoiding Beakley was a little more difficult than anticipated when they were on the same floor of the same house. In retrospect, Goldie realized that Bentina probably knew she was there. How could she not? The red triplet knew a lot of things he couldn’t have known unless the kids were texting each other all afternoon and surely she was on some kind of text chain.

Eh. If she knew, Goldie would probably be the hunt of the day. Instead she was able to wander about freely, making her way towards the garage where Scrooge kept a lot of his treasures. Everytime she was there it seemed to be missing things that were there before. But at least there were always new trinkets to look at!

She looked around as she stepped down the hallway, taking in all the photos and paintings lining the walls. Scrooge was so narcissistic. How many times could someone commission their own face before getting tired? And did he pose for all of them? Absolutely ridiculous.

A certain painting caught her eye and Goldie paused in her walk to really take a look at it. She stepped closer and brought a hand up to the image, feeling a nostalgic warmth in her chest as she rubbed her finger along the edge of his face.

It was Scrooge back in the Klondike - probably only a few years after they’d first met. Not too different from the photo she kept in her wallet.

He was very handsome back then. She hated to admit how much it struck her, that underneath all that dirt and grime and sour roughness he had the cutest face she’d ever seen - but Goldie was taken the first moment she saw him. It didn’t stop her from drugging and robbing him, sure, but he was the only sourdough that made her hesitate.

It’d been a few minutes before Goldie realized she was just standing there, staring at this painting and reminiscing like an old fool. She blushed, glad no one was around to see, and continued on her journey down the hall.

This house had so many distractions. No wonder Scrooge just wandered around, lost in his memories all the time. Her place was kept much neater - things she wanted to remember were kept in a box or her wallet so she would have to seek them out if she wanted to reminisce. Just another in a long list of reasons why she didn’t like being here for too long.

The door ahead of her was open wide and Goldie could clearly hear the sound of someone struggling with...something. It didn’t sound like Scrooge, but she wasn’t sure who it was.

A few steps forward, a turn around the corner, and three steps down the stairs and Goldie was inside the cramped little room. There weren’t as many treasures in it as last time - maybe Scrooge moved them somewhere else? - but directly in her line of sight was a duck she hadn’t seen in a long time trying to move a heavy-looking box by pushing it with her back.

Goldie smirked, feeling a sparkle to her eyes that she was very embarrassed about. Before Louie, she’d never gotten attached to any of Scrooge’s kids. He specifically asked her not to, several times, because he didn’t want her hurting them. A painful insinuation, but he was right. She would’ve treated them just the same as him, and kids can’t handle that kind of drama.

That being said, she always liked Donald and Della. They were funny, they were different, and they were very annoying. But in a good way! Donald was whiny and loved to complain about his family. Della was crazy and high-flying and always took her jokes too far. Goldie didn’t imagine they thought very highly of her, considering the way she treated their uncle. But despite their lack of closeness, Della confided in Goldie when she first realized she was pregnant.

“You’ve known Uncle Scrooge longer than anyone,” she’d said quietly. “...do you think he’ll be mad? Disappointed?”

Goldie had barely known what to say to her then, mostly feeling bad that her mother wasn’t around to help in this kind of situation (or any other adult women, really). She knew what she would’ve done herself and what she would’ve said to the girls she used to work with back at the saloon. But this was different. This girl wasn’t her friend and wasn’t scared of motherhood - she was just entering unfamiliar territory.

“He’ll be more excited than you’ve ever seen him, trust me.”

Shaking off another spell of nostalgia, Goldie hurried over to help the younger duck with the big box in her hands, tugging at it while she pushed. Her shoulder stung at the pressure, but she wanted to make a fun entrance.

“Hey, thanks!” Della said, without looking back.

Goldie wondered who she thought was helping her. “No problem, Fly Girl.”

“Heh,” Della stopped for a second. “No one’s called me that since -”

She stopped and finally turned, taking in the smirking face staring right at her. Her fingers gripped at the top of the box tightly and her eyes started to sparkle. And then they stopped sparkling and she glared. And then they sparkled again.

Goldie raised an eyebrow. Internal dilemma?

“Aunt Goldie!” Della yelped, lifting herself over the box and slamming into Goldie - knocking them both to the ground.

Goldie took the brunt of the impact, letting out a loud OOF! as Della squeezed her tight and made her poor shoulder flare up. She didn’t get a chance to hug back before the younger duck pulled away and stood back up, her metal leg clanging on the hard floor.

“Sorry, sorry,” Della said softly, standing back up. “What’s up? What’re you doing here? What are you stealing?”

Goldie sat up straight, taking a moment to stare at Della’s leg. She knew she’d returned, but no one had really shared any details. This seemed like one of those big details that deserved to be shared, but maybe everyone was just used to it already. She started to push herself up when Della leaned over and helped her stand.

“Hey, hey,” Goldie brushed her hands off. “I’m not that old just yet.”

Della laughed and pulled her hands back. “Oh no, of course not! You’re a million years old, but somehow younger looking than you were before I disappeared.”

“Hilarious.” She crossed her arms over her chest, not really offended. “You sound exactly like one of your kids.”

That immediately brought a sparkle to Della’s eyes. “Yeah? That’s what Donald says, too!” She leaned on the box and smiled. “And Uncle Scrooge.”

Goldie smiled despite herself and Della felt a warm nostalgia brush over her. “So are you here to see Scrooge? I’m kind of glad you guys are still doing this whatever-it-is-you’re-doing thing. So many things changed while I was gone, it's nice to have some consistency!”

Ignoring the question, Goldie leaned against the shelf behind her. “I didn’t come around too much while you were away. Scrooge was always so depressed, it wasn’t any fun to tease him.”

Della grimaced and sighed, turning away. “...yeah. So I’ve heard.”

There was an awkward silence for a few moments that Goldie fully acknowledged was her own fault. She bit the inside of her cheek and cleared her throat. “Well, um. Yes, I guess we’re still doing whatever this is.”

“No labels, yet?” Della’s mood did a 180. “But you didn’t object when I called you Aunt Goldie this time! What’s that about?”

Goldie scoffed. “I was a little distracted by you plowing me into the ground.”

Della just smiled bigger. “Still not objecting!”

Goldie didn’t look at her and opted to focus on playing with her hair. She hummed. “...I’ve never really minded it that much. It’s cute.”

“Do the kids call you Aunt?” She lifted herself up, sitting fully on top of the box. “You said I sound like them. You’ve spent time with them, then?”

“Don’t get too excited.” Goldie pushed herself off the shelf, standing up straight and stretching her arms. “I spent a day with Sharp-, er, with...ah, Louie. But not the others.” The name felt foreign on her tongue.

Della excitedly tapped the box lid. “Were you going to call him Sharpie?” She laughed. “You’ve gotten a lot less creative with nicknames over the years.”

“I don’t know if Fly Girl is all that creative, either,” Goldie said with a smirk and walked closer to the box, leaning against the side of it.

There was a light clang as Della swung her legs back and forth. “No one appreciates my great names,” she said proudly. “The boys were supposed to have much cooler names! And they’re calling my Cloudslayer the Sunchaser? Like, what’s up with that?”

“What were those names?”

“Jet, Turbo, and Rebel!”

Goldie silently blinked at her. “Um…yeah. Fantastic names.”

“Thanks!” Della smiled brightly, still not accustomed to sarcasm after being alone for so long. “Donald’s picks are just so old-fashioned.”

“Personally, I’m a fan of old fashioned.”

“Yeah, well, when you live through it, it makes sense to get attached!” Della laughed and swung her legs again.

The metal sound caught Goldie’s eye and she glanced down again, though this time Della took notice.

“You haven’t asked me about my leg yet.”

“I was trying to be polite,” Goldie said with a frown. “What happened?”

“Lost it on the moon,” she responded, looking off at nothing while she spoke. “It was the second most painful experience of my life, and I’m lucky I knew enough about robotics to build myself this sucker in only a few months. I don’t know how well I would’ve done if I wasn’t able to move around, y’know?” Della reached down and twisted off her prosthetic, holding it in front of her to point at different parts while she spoke. “This joint was the worst, took me almost two straight weeks to figure out what I was doing wrong. And now that I’m back, Gyro’s been offering to tweak the design, and he kind of owes me for the stupid licorice gum, but I like how I made it! And, of course, according to Junior Woodchuck Rule #42, something made right doesn’t need any tweaking. Though some upgrades might be cool.”

Goldie stared down at the metal limb and hummed. “I’m impressed. In all my years adventuring, I’ve never lost a limb, but I don’t know if I’d bounce back from that the way you did.”

“Yeah, well, I had to get back to my boys!” She twisted her leg back on and stretched it out. “You know how it is.”

“I really don’t,” Goldie said with an eye roll.

“Hmmm.” Della adjusted herself, moving her legs on top of the box and sitting on them. “Don’t you have anyone in particular you think about during life or death situations? That’s the feeling I had. That I couldn’t die ‘cause I had to get back to them no matter what.”

The blonde stared down, looking at the gray concrete of the floor and thinking. Of course there was a person - one particular person - who her mind drifted to when she thought about survival. But it wasn’t just about seeing him again...she was inspired by him and his ability to make it through anything thrown his way. He survived so much on his own and she struggled to accept when he started needing help. Della’s lovey dovey family monologue was just reminding her of how long it took her to adjust to Scrooge’s family suddenly being a part of his life.

She stood up straight and put a hand on her hips. “I don’t know if everyone can identify with that. But I’m glad it helped you come back in one piece.”

Della smiled, completely aware of the long pause Goldie took before answering. She always liked Goldie - didn’t trust her, would never fully trust her - but she liked her a lot. Even when she showed up just to ruin things or piss Scrooge off, there was always a little spark of warmth at the knowledge that she’d be back eventually.

“So…” Della tapped her hands against her thighs. “You never said why you’re here.”

“Right,” Goldie sighed and brushed some hair out of her face. “Looking for your uncle. Have you seen him?”

“As expected,” the younger duck responded with another bright smile. “Did you check his study?”

“His study?” Goldie frowned and thought about the path of her day. “Of course I...er…” Did she check his study? The most obvious place he could possibly be? “...right. Thanks.”

Della laughed again, patting Goldie on the back. “Don’t sweat it! And hey, let us know if you’re staying for dinner! I’m sure Mrs. Beakley will be happy to make you a plate!”

Goldie grimaced as she headed back out the door. “Oh, sure. She’d love nothing more.”

“Okay, great!” Della waved as the door closed again.