9 A.M. Daylight. Just another average day patrolling the streets of Duckburg for a more than average duck. Gizmoduck was ever vigilant as he went about his duties; always having an ear out for trouble, even as he did the more mundane of activities- like helping old ladies cross the street, and getting poor stuck kittens out of trees. No job was too big or too small for the robotic wonder of justice.

Gizmoduck had just finished helping the local grocer stock his assortments of citrus, when he spotted the likes of McDuck's nephews turning a corner on the other end of the road. They were all laughs and giggles as they raced each other on their bikes- young Louie in the lead. Aww, youth. To be young and enjoy one's summers again. Fenton could recall the thrill he used to get waking up early every summer morning so he could go outside and play another game of kick the can with his old trailer park chums. Or how they would be lucky if a fire hydrant burst open and they would have a way to cool down from the summer heat- running around in circles as the water gushed down on them.

His nostalgia was cut short, however, just as the kids were in the middle of crossing the street- being good Junior Woodchucks and checking both ways before crossing- when Gizmoduck nearly jumped out of his suit from fright when a car of reckless teenagers speed around the corner.

And aimed right for Huey, Duey, and Louie.

"Sweet mother of justice!" Gizmoduck yelped, taking off so quickly his tire left a skid mark. Cars and buildings whizzed by as he made a beeline after the speeding car, giving it his all to beat the clock. Once in range, instinct taking over any form of coherent thought, he aimed and shot a grappling hook from the suit's right arm. It hit home, hooking onto the car's back bumper and holding tight.

"Gotcha!"

Immediately, Gizmoduck was yanked, quite forcefully, down the road behind the vehicle. It took him a few moments to regain his traction and put on the brakes. His tire squealed and smoked, Fenton's heart was thumping a mile a minute inside his robotic suit.

He didn't start to breathe again until he heard the car's tires squealing, as well. Luckily, his efforts had slowed the car down enough to give the driver time enough to see the kids in the road and react- slamming on his own brakes.

"Phew!"

Gizmoduck slumped and relaxed some, but not for long. He made haste to retrieve his grappling hook, and then sped around the front of the car to give its occupants an angry glare, ready and willing to deliver a stern talking to (and maybe a ticket and fine or twelve).

By this time, the kids had made it safely to the other side of the street, but now they dropped their bikes where they stood, and ran back out into the street and crowd around the hero (and friend!). Huey, Duey, and Louie's voices mixed into a sea of sound to the point Gizmoduck couldn't tell who said what or which.

"Wowwie wow!"

"That was so cool!"

"Can you do another neat trick?!"

Gizmoduck, spinning in circles as he tried to hear them equally- nearly toppled over from the sudden case of vertigo. Wobbling, and holding his helmet to help his head stop spinning, the middle aged duck addressed the children.

"N-now now, Gizmobuddies, not all at once! I can only take so much of a head trip." The hero shook his head, clearing his wooziness, before clearing his throat. "Ahem, that's better. Are you all okay? Nobody hurt? In need of first aid? Booboos that need healing kisses?"

While the duck had been very serious about the last offer, the children giggled as they assumed he was joking with them.

"Aww, c'mon Gizmoduck," Duey said inbetween his mirth, " no need for that mushy kid stuff with us. We're fine!"

Gizmoduck smiled sheepishly, realizing how silly and strange it would have been to have their buddy- and not super close member of the family: Fenton Crackshell- give them an affectionate smooch. Right, he was their hero and nothing more.

"... Er, right then. If that's the case, please escort yourselves out of the road- this is no place for children to lolligag or socialize! Even if they are members of the fan club. " He started to roll with them some, before stopping and throwing another stern look over his shoulder- the teenagers in the car gulping

"I'll be with you boys in a moment; first I have to have a word about the safeties of driving with our chums here."

The idea of waiting wasn't a very favorable one, especially not for three little boys. But they did as they were told, returning to their bikes and murmuring to each other about what had just happened, while Gizmoduck put the fear of justice into the hearts of the speeding car's passengers.

When he was through, they watched him roll out of the way, and the car take off- slowly and obediently. Satisfied, and not wishing to hold traffic up any more than he already had, he waved to the rest of the passing cars, before joining the kids on the sidewalk.

"Sorry about the wait, boys! I might have gotten a tiny bit carried away with my safety speech back there."

"Aw, it's fine. We don't mind!" smiled Huey.

"It's not like we have anything better to do." replied Louie.

Gizmoduck frowned, wondering if he was being sarcastic or not, when Duey answered that question with his addition to the conversation.

"Yeah, I wish our lives were as cool and exciting as yours is!"

This surprised Gizmoduck, as he knew otherwise.

"Oh? I could have sworn hearing something about you three boys going on a ton of exciting adventures with your Uncle Scrooge!"

"Not lately..." Louie replied, forlornly. "We've been so bored!"

The heroic wonder contemplated over this, as frowns began to form on the rest of the children's bills. Oh no, he was not having that. There was only one thing he could possibly do in a situation such as this.

"Then say no more, Louie. How would my favorite group of Gizmobuddies like to help me patrol? I can't promise anything too exciting," he said with a pause of concern, " sometimes us heroes just have our slow crime free days. It's what we strive for, after all. BUT! What do ya say. care to be deputized?"

As if the triplets needed to be asked twice. And so, to make it special for the three he made them salute as he 'swore them in' as an honorary member of team Gizmoduck. The hero momentarily considered calling them 'Justice Ducks'; but figured it might ruffle some feathers, scales and gills for doing so. No matter, just being a Gizmobuddy was enough for Huey, Duey, and Louie.

Impromptu ceremony over with, the children got on their bikes as they, in single file, followed Gizmoduck down the street and onto the next stop on his route.


While their adventure as temporary cops wasn't exciting, it was definitely tiring. Gizmoduck led them all through the city, and boy were their pedalling legs sore! But, at the moment, none of them seemed to mind. Their disappointment over such an uneventful day didn't matter so much when they were sitting on a bench and waiting for Gizmoduck to return with ice cream.

"Here you are! Chocolate chip mint for Huey, chocolate vanilla swirl for Duey, and strawberry chunk for Louie!"

The kids swiped the cones, happily, and began to chow down.

"Wow! A cone for each of us?" Huey asked in surprised delight. It was far more than what they were used to!

"Nothing's too good for my Gizmobuddies! Don't eat that too fast, now; you'll freeze your brains."

The robopal sat on the bench on the other side of the table- as best he could, anyhow. When he tired of the sound of slurping, he decided to make smalltalk.

"Sooo uh... anything new and exciting in your lives?" he tried. Huey and Louie shook their heads, but Duey paused his slurping and smirked and cast a sly glance at Louie.

"Oh, Louie has some exciting news. Lora Pigstien from class has a huge crush on 'im!"

"What! Ew, nuh-uh! She does not!" Louie retorted, as his brothers laughed at his expense.

"Oh, hey now!" Gizmoduck quickly interjected, noting how embarrassed the teased sibling was getting. "Young love is nothing to laugh about!" He replied, defiantly.

The boys exchanged glances.

"What about old love?" Duey asked. Huey and Louie burst into giggles.

Gizmoduck blinked slowly behind his visor, his confusion gone unnoticed by the children. Scratching under his helmet- it jiggling a bit in place- the middle aged duck voiced his puzzlement.

"Uh, say again?"

The boys' mirth turned serious, as the lads threw each other a glance- a silent conversation happen right before Gizmoduck's eyes. It didn't take long for the kids to come to an agreement, the three of them nodding in unison, before they leaned onto the table, covering their mouths as they whispered to the hero across from them.

"Well," Huey began, " We're not sure if we're supposed to tell anybody."

"But, "Duey quickly interjected, " you're a friend of the family and stuff, so it might be alright and not get us in any trouble."

"Yeah, but only if you promise to keep it a secret!" Louie finished, the three glowering as they waited for Gizmoduck's response- and reminding the mallard inside the suit of the many glares he had received from their great uncle.

He chuckled fondly.

"You kidding me? Part of my job is discretion. But, yes- I can do you boys one better; would a pinky promise satisfy?"

He watched as they grouped together in a huddle, whispered to one another, nodded in unison, and turned back to him, three pinky fingers extended in his direction. He gladly extended his own hand out to comply- then frowned as he realized his gizmohands didn't actually have pinkies.

"Oh, uhhh..." he fumbled, embarrassed. The boys frowned back, at a loss as to what to do in this particular situation.

"Let's see here, I'm sure this thing has something we can- ah!"

Gizmoduck pressed a button on his chest, and out popped a handy mechanical hand, with which he used to seal the pinkie promise pact.

"Alright, now that that's out of the way..." the robo hero leaned over the table and whispered. "What's this big secret all about?"

The boys leaned in, themselves.

"Well," began Louie, "Uncle Scrooge is... yeck... dating."

All three made a yuck face, and suddenly Fenton was horrified, heartbroken, and seriously freaking out! Did they not like him? Did they find him too clingy? Annoying? Gross? Was their school work suffering because of it? It took him a while to realize he had been leaning over the table in silence with his bill open for a little bit too long. They were looking at him funny, and Duey was waving a hand in front of his visor.

"Hello, Earth to Gizmoduck? You okay?"

"What? Er, yes! Just a bit surprised by the news, I suppose."

"Yeah," Huey sighed, " So were we. We thought Uncle Scrooge was over all that mushy stuff. Then Fenton came around and started acting all weird-"

"Well, weirder than usual anyhow." Duey snickered some as he put in his two cents. His brothers glared at him before Huey continued.

""And now they're going on dates, and hanging out more, and stuff!"

The robotic wonder of justice, who had been listening quietly as Fenton did everything in his power to hold back his hurt feelings, found his voice cracking as he tried to continue pretending he knew nothing of the situation.

"Ah, I… I see." He cleared his throat, sounding more like his heroic persona. " Well, that's good news, right? I thought you guys liked that Fenton fellow. Has he did anything to upset you guys? The few times I've met him he seemed nice."

The children gasped in surprise, as if Gizmoduck had just told them something horribly offensive.

"What, of course we like him!"

"Yeah, Fenton's great! Weird, but great!"

"He's even been spending a whole bunch of time hanging out with us lately. Boy, don't think we coulda got our last Junior Woodchuck's badge without 'im!"

The middle aged duck found himself smiling, his worry melting from the warm fuzzy feelings that overcame him from the triplet's words. Aww, they did care after all! However, the fondness evaporated just as quickly as bewilderment struck Gizmoduck just as hard.

"Wait, if you like him… then what seems to be the problem?"

The children were back to slurping on the ice creams, which had already begun to melt in the heat. Duey shrugged.

"It's just weird. Different and weird."

"We're not saying we're afraid of change..." added Louie.

"We just don't like it very much." finished Huey.

Gizmoduck chuckled, and waved off the notion with his hand.

"Nonsense! Change can be a good thing! Why, take this ice cream stand, for instance; just a few short months ago, it was nothing more than an empty lot! Now you sit here, enjoying nice ice creams. Not a bad change, is it?"

The boys shrugged, obviously more interested in finishing their treats before they melted into their laps. Okay, maybe that example was too unrelated.

"Er, besides! It could be nice having a second father figure around, huh? It might take some getting used to, but..."

"Like we said, it's been pretty nice havin' Fenton around. He'll actually play with us!" replied Louie.

"Yeah…" Duey agreed before making another face. "I just wish he and Uncle Scrooge would stop actin' all mushy when we're around."

Fenton felt himself blush under his helmet.

"Eh heh heh. I'll uh, pass on that little tidbit of information to Fenton, next time I see 'im. In the meantime, you boys finish up those cones, and we can get back to patrolling! Whaddya say, Gizmobuddies?"

"Aye aye, Gizmoduck!" the kids cried, saluting with their free hands.

The warm fuzzies came back to the middle aged duck again, it taking every resolve not to just swoop them all up in hugs. One for each of triplet. However, the hero supposed that wasn't something their adult friend- the one they idolized- was supposed to do. That was more of a family thing. And yet..

He truly did love those boys.


Next day, Scrooge McDuck's money-bin. Fenton Crackshell had been busy half the morning going through his boss' ledgers- going over the net worth of the different businesses and calculating the expenses and profits. The duck smiled as he clutched the green books to his chest as he walked into McDuck's office. Fenton liked to prefer thinking of himself as humble- even if others disagreed at times- but even his own self esteem couldn't deny the fact the mallard had a way with numbers. A natural savant, if you would… If Fenton knew what the word meant, anyhow.

"Ah, Fenton," Scrooge said, looking up from shining some of his coins as his accountant turned paramore strolled into his office. "Finish already?"

"You betcha!" Fenton beamed. "Every expense and profit calculated and accounted for. Thrice over, even!"

By then he had made it to Scrooge's desk, where he laid the stack of books. Scrooge picked them up and leafed through them, mostly for show; he trusted Fenton to not mess up when it came to these things. He tended to make up for it in just about everything else he did in life.

When he saw his accountant turn to leave from the corner of his eye, he looked back up and cleared his throat.

"So. Three little birdies told me they had a little run in with Gizmoduck yesterday." Scrooge said, a hint of a smile on his bill. Fenton stopped, and turned back around.

"Oh, yeah? A good run in, I hope!" Fenton teased. Scrooge set down the ledger, and nodded.

"Aye, I'd say so; they couldn't stop talking about it! Those boys really look up to you. Er, both of you, I suppose."

The middle aged mallard beamed proudly.

"Well, gee, and I'm just crazy about 'em too! I mean, I'm sure you'll always be their favorite- no replacing here! But…" Fenton paused, his voice growing soft as he twiddled his fingers. " I just figured it didn't hurt to have all the fatherly-type figures they could get. I imagine it's hard not having their own pa around- I know it was for me at their age."

Scrooge was surprised into silence from the other's admission. It's true he had noticed Fenton spending more time with the children… But he had thought, supposedly rather selfishly, that it had all been to please the old billionaire. Scrooge had never really put too much thought into Fenton's upbringing; while he had obviously noticed the lack of a father, he had assumed that maybe the lad had lost his a few years before knowing him- around the same age the old mallard's own mother had passed away,now that McDuck thought about it.

But for Fenton not to have a father, even as a wee little one… tread lightly, Scrooge told himself. This was tender territory.

"Well... you make a fine father, Fenton." was what he settled on, holding eye contact with the accountant briefly as he said it.

He didn't need to be looking at the lad to hear him whimper. Oh boy, don't let him cry, Scrooge thought. The old mallard quickly grabbed the partial newspaper on his desk, and busied himself with pretending to read it. He cringed when there was a sniffle.

"Gee, Scroogey, I... thanks a bunch! It means a lot to hear you say that..." Fenton finished by blowing his nose loudly on an old handkerchief he pulled from his vest pocket.

"...Hey, Scroogey?" Fenton asked, after a short pause. His tone had Scrooge lowering the paper he wasn't reading to look at him.

"Go on."

"It's uh. It's my lunch break! I don't suppose you'd be up for joining me, would ya?"

Scrooge McDuck looked at the clock on the wall to the left of him- it, indeed, confirming it was 10:30. Time for lunch. The old duck pondered on this, before throwing a glance back towards the pleading accountant.

"Hmm, I suppose there's no harm in it." And maybe the thought actually sounded appealing, in its own way. " Alright then- I'll go. But-"

"Ah ah, no need to say it." Fenton teased, as Scrooge was getting up from his seat- unread newspaper already forgotten. "Don't worry, it'll be my treat! I've been wantin' to take ya to this nice lil' cafe I found not too far from here, anyhow."

So the two went off, no doubt in their mind that they would just have a quiet little luncheon. However, once the door was slammed shut- perhaps a little too violently by the eager member of the couple- the unfolded newspaper on the billionaire's desk slid to the floor, folding itself in the process. The headline on the front page, in ominous bold, declaring to the world:

SCROOGE MCDUCK: The Secret Gay Life of Duckburg