This story was written because I feel like there's not enough stories with Gyro Gearloose and his family. Besides, ever since I've read oonce again The Life and Times of Scroofe McDuck, I realized how great Ratchet Gearloose is and there are things about him that wasn't clear. That's why I decided to write Gyro's fanfiction about his grandfather, Ratchet.

The portrait on the wall

The door opened and Gyro Gearloose smiled a bit nervously.

"Ah, mister McDuck! You've come for the Beagle Boy Detector." He said and let his guest in.

"Well, yes. Why else would I come here?" Scrooge replied, entering the inventor's workshop. "Now," he added, looking around the placed. "where is it?"

"I will go fetch it, mister McDuck." Gyro turned toward the storeroom and called after his employer: "Please, wait here."

Scrooge wanted to tell him that Gyro should know his longtime employer will come for the machine he ordered, so it should be already in the main part of the workshop. But alas, the rich duck always knew that Gyro Gearloose is odd and sometimes very unreasonable. Nevertheless, he was also brilliant and useful.

Scrooge heard the commotion in the storeroom, indicating that Gyro was shuffling his inventions around, looking for the one mister McDuck ordered. The duck himself gave a sigh. His eyes started to wander around the workshop. As always there were various devices Gyro was currently working on – some of them were original inventions of Duckburg's most well-known inventor, others were just home appliances people brought him to fix.

Gyro's Little Helper was sitting on one of the benches and even though he had no eyes, Scrooge couldn't shake the feeling that he was staring at him. So the rich duck avoided his gaze, looking at the front wall. There was a "Shh, genius at work" sign… but Scrooge's eyes quickly caught a different object hanging there.

Right beside the front door was a portrait of a chicken. The chicken resembled Gyro Gearloose in almost every way – he had his nest hair, his beak, and sense of fashion… but he was wearing a top hat.

Sometimes, when Scrooge had to wait for Gyro to bring him his newest invention, he was staring at this picture. He knew the person portrayed there. It was Gyro's grandfather, Ratchet Gearloose. And every time when Scrooge was looking at him, he was remembering his youth.

Ratchet was one of the first things thirteen year old Scrooge McDuck saw in the New World – a weird, young man standing on the box next to a wagon, trying to sell a capsules that could clear a muddy water. He was working alongside Scrooge with boy's uncle Angus "Pothole" McDuck on Pothole's steamboat "Dilly Dollar", and later, when Angus retired and sold the boat to Scrooge, Ratchet was his mechanic.

Scrooge was always smiling, while remembering the good times on "Dilly Dollar". There was a sense of camaraderie between him and Ratchet. During long days on the steamboat, when uncle Angus was ordering him around (and teaching him everything he would need to know about steamboats), it was nice to go to the boiling room from time to time and simply talk with Ratchet, when the mechanic was repairing something. Ratchet could also make wonderful pastry and sometimes he was baking something in one of the boilers on the slow days.

Both when they were just two guys working under uncle Angus, and when Scrooge was the captain of "Dilly Dollar", Ratchet proved, many times, to be all they needed to win. Whenever it was Blackheart Beagle or some other scum, trying to get to "Dilly Dollar's" cargo, Ratchet's quick thinking was making the boat go faster and saving him and Scrooge from certain death.

Then when "Dilly Dollar" was destroyed during their final encounter with Blackheart Beagle and his sons, Scrooge and Ratchet's ways parted and, for the long time, Scrooge didn't know what was happening with his old friend. He suspected that Ratchet became a piemaker or something. After all, he wanted a peaceful job.

So what a surprise it was to see him in Java (near volcano, nonetheless!). It was wonderful to see an old friend so far and his latest invention proved to be useful (if not a bit out of control, since it didn't have brakes). Thanks to Ratchet's prototype car, Scrooge was able to get out of the jungle and find a way to Batvia, where the sultan and his men were holding Scrooge's two bulls (without paying for them!). There, on Java, Ratchet saved Scrooge once again, when volcano erupted. The noise could have destroyed their eardrums, if it wasn't for Ratchet telling Scrooge, captain Morgan and the whole crew of Cutty Salk to put cotton wool into their ears.

Then there was that time they were looking for gold in the hills around Pizen Bluff. And that was the last time they were together. It was kind of sad that Scrooge had never met Ratchet again after that. And he sometimes wished he could see Ratchet again; that he could talk with him, remember old times, ask how he's doing.

The funny thing was that Scrooge was 100% certain that Ratchet was in Duckburg. The proof was that Scrooge met Fulton Gearloose and his two Junior Woodchucks friends in Fort Duckburg. The rich duck learned about Fulton being Ratchet's son a bit later, but once he realized it, he started to wonder if his old friend will ever visit him. During his early life in Duckburg, in moments when Scrooge wasn't occupied by any investment, he was thinking about coming to Gearloose household and visit Ratchet himself. But soon the he found himself fully occupied by becoming the richest duck in the world.

And so he never got around to meet with Ratchet, and Ratchet never visited him.

This portrait on Gyro Gearloose's wall filled old Scrooge with mixture of sweet nostalgia and bitter regret. On this portrait Ratchet looked just like Scrooge had remembered him – young, friendly, full of hope . And here was Scrooge – old, rich and bitter – looking at his deceased companion and thinking about past that will never come back. There were so many things he wished to tell his former mechanic… so, so many things…

"Here it is, mister McDuck… Oh, I'm sorry." Gyro's voice took Scrooge back to present.

The duck turned back to the inventor, who was holding a weird looking contraption. In many ways, Gyro was reminding him of his grandfather… but he just wasn't him.

"With free three-days test run, as we established?" Scrooge looked at Gyro with raised eyebrows.

"Yes, of course, mister McDuck." Gyro replied, visibly uncomfortable with this arrangement. Little Helper was even more displeased.

The best thing about Gyro was that the guy knew nothing about business. He was happy to do inventions just for the sake of inventing. It worked perfectly in Scrooge's advantage, because he was able to get pretty useful stuff for only mere cents.

They took the Beagle Boy Detector to Scrooge's limo to install it in one of the smaller bins.

It didn't go well.

Scrooge had set the Beagle Boy Detector on the highest possible frequency (that – according to Gyro – was suspicious to everybody going through the main gate). Back then it seemed to be a good idea and Scrooge still felt fully justified with his decision. After all, you can't be too careful with money, and his money were always in danger.

Long story short, when he tried to get to his Money Bin number 15, he discovered that Beagle Boy Detector considered him a Beagle Boy in disguise and quickly restrained him. Him! The owner of this money bin, half of Duckburg's industry and this stupid contraption Gyro Gearloose spawned from his crazy mind! What a mess!

It took Donald, nephews and Gyro himself to finally disable and dismantle this blasted thing, and when they did, Scrooge was angry. No, not angry – he was enraged! And his rage was directed towards only one person.

"You!" He yelled, pointing at the inventor. "You and your hellish contraptions! There is always something wrong with them! They either malfunction or have some designed flaw! Either way, it always bites me in the feathers!"

"I-I'm sorry, mister McDuck, but…" Gyro tried to defend himself, however, Scrooge didn't let him.

"No 'buts'!" Scrooge cut him. "No excuses! I don't even know why I keep employing you! You're a disgrace to this town and to your whole family! You're nothing more than just good-for-nothing lunatic!"

Something visibly snapped in Gyro. He frowned, took a step forward and yelled back:

"Well, maybe if you acted according to instructions I give you, sir, you would avoid half of disasters my inventions caused!" He took another step towards Scrooge, who stayed in his place. "And maybe if you'd respected me enough to listen to me, whenever I ask you to not do something, you wouldn't find yourself in all those dire situations! But no! You always have to temper with my inventions, because apparently you know better than me, their own creator!"

He leaned closer to Scrooge's face. Now they were facing each other, like they were engaged in intense staring contest.

"You're fired, Gearloose." Scrooge finally hissed.

Gyro, on the other hand straightened himself and raised his arms.

"Fine by me! From now on my workshop is always closed to you, sir!"

"Wait, wait, wait." Donald decided to jump into action. He turned to his relative: "Uncle Scrooge, not all inventors are as cooperative with tightfisted rich ducks as Gyro."

"Yeah." Huey agreed.

"And it's not like Gyro's inventions are always so bad…" Dewey added.

"You could always count on Gyro's help." Louie concluded.

But Scrooge was still filled with anger and he wasn't going to let common sense change his mind.

"You're wasting your time, nephews." He said and added: "Also you're wrong. I could always count on Ratchet. He was a competent mechanic and inventor. I guess, expecting the same from his good-for-nothing grandson was too much." He said.

He turned his back on all five of them and started to walk towards his limo. But then he heard the inventor calling after him:

"Grandpa Ratchet used to be your mechanic… but you also used to be nicer."

Scrooge stopped and looked back. Gyro's angry expression changed into more sad one.

"And let me tell you one thing, mister McDuck: there was a reason he never visited you."

"Oh, yeah? And what was it?" Scrooge asked.

For a moment Gyro wasn't responding. It was obvious it was making him uncomfortable for some reason. Scrooge, on the other hand, was waiting for an answer.

"It's not for me to tell." He said finally.

"Well then, goodbye, Gyro."

It was too late for any business and, frankly he was very, very tired, so Scrooge told Jeevers to take him home. From the limo's window, he could see that his nephews and Gyro were going to their places too.

All the way to the McDuck Mansion Scrooge was wondering what Gyro meant by his last words.

Gyro entered his house and hanged his coat on the mechanical rake that came to his aid. The inventor's eyes landed on the portrait on the wall – a portrait of gentle chicken whose stories shaped Gyro into the person he was now. His grandfather was wonderful, kind and ingenious. Gyro always liked spending time with him.

Gyro sighed.

He really wished grandpa Ratchet was here.

Little Helper came in and immediately sensed Gyro's mood.

"It seems that mister McDuck won't be looking for our services, anymore." The inventor explained.

He told Little Helper about the whole incident and it made him angry again. He was too angry to focus on inventions, so he decided to just go to sleep earlier. He tried to not think about the squabble with mister McDuck, and Little Helper was trying to distract his friend one way to another, but for a long time it didn't work. Gyro's mind was coming back to the events of Beagle Boy Detector and all the harsh words spoken by Scrooge McDuck.

In the end Gyro and Little Helper settled for reading book Gyro got for his last birthday. It finally worked and soon the inventor was enveloped in peaceful slumber.

Around three in the morning Gyro was awoken by Helper's little hands, pushing him lightly. Before he could even open his eyes, the inventor smelled a sweet, familiar scent. This make him abruptly sit up.

Then he saw the light coming from the kitchen. Gyro didn't remember leaving lights on. To be fair, he didn't remember going to the kitchen either. This could mean that someone managed to enter his house without activating his alarms. Likely someone who was after Gyro's inventions.

So Gyro put Helper on his shoulder and took the remote control for his anti-burglar devices and carefully, as quiet as he was able to, he went to the kitchen. Once he peeked through the door, he noticed it was eerie quiet and there was no one to be seen. For a moment he thought that maybe he just forgot to turn the lights off… but then he realized that the sweet scent from the kitchen was stronger. Finally Gyro opened the door widely and entered the room to find out what was happening. What he saw, astonished him.

On his kitchen table was standing custard pie. Judging by the sweet smell hanging in the room, it was the cherry custard pie.

Gyro came closer and sat at the table, observing the pie in front of him. This was his favorite pastry from when he was little and he used to come to grandpa's place. Many of Gyro's fond memories were about grandpa Ratchet's cherry custard pie waiting for him whenever the boy felt down.

And now it was just there, on Gyro's kitchen table. How it got there? Who baked it? And how did they know that this was his favorite pie?

Suddenly Little Helper slide down Gyro's left arm and then tagged his friend's sleeve to get his attention. The inventor looked at him and quickly saw piece of paper next to the pie. He took it, unfold it and started to read the text written there in a familiar handwriting. When he was done, he didn't know if he should be happy or scared.

Scrooge McDuck didn't know what exactly made him awake in four in the morning, but he just felt uncomfortable in his own bedroom. Once he opened his eyes, he realized he wasn't alone and quickly jumped into sitting position. For a moment he was just staring at the sight before him, not believing his own eyes.

In front of him, leaning his hands on rich duck's bed frame was standing none other than Ratchet Gearloose. He was half-transparent and glowing a green light, but other than that he looked just like Scrooge remembered him.

And he seemed to be displeased with him.

"Hello, Scrooge."