93. "Don't make me tape your mouth shut." Scrooge and Beakley

"What happened then Uncle Scrooge?" the girl with a bow on her hair stopped jumping for a moment "Oh, I love to call you 'Uncle Scrooge' Uncle Scrooge!"

Scrooge giggled. How could he have been all this time without trying to know better Webby? She was an amazing child! Very energetic, optimistic, and – something that scared Scrooge a little – plenty of knowledge about him.

The old duck smiled proudly.

"Bless my bagpipes, I'm glad to hear ye calling me like that, lass."

Webbygail seemed to be plenty of joy after those words. Suddenly the lass cleared her throat.

"Aww… okay so… what happened then?"

Oh, of course, the story…

"Agent 22 found a clue that seemed to lead to F.O.W.L.'s base, and of course, S.H.U.S.H.'s director Von Drake asked me to go with her on a recognition mission-"

"Oh! Did you find F.O.W.L.'s base?" interrupted Webby.

Curse me kilts… she's truly energic! Scrooge cleared his throat.

"Unfortunately, no lass, the place was empty. We just found one of their targets and-"

"And what?" Webby jumped and jumped "What else was there? An agent ready to fight until death? A mortal trap prepared to kill you both that obviously failed on its purpose?"

Scrooge laughed kindly, this lass had an incredible imagination, how many scenarios could have been running on her mind?

"Actually no, what we found was a coffee maker." The old that admitted.

"Just that?"

Webbygail seemed a little disappointed to hear that, but what else could say Scrooge? That was the truth…

"Yes lass, just that."

Scrooge had to admit he was… enjoying a little Webby's deception. Suddenly, the young girl's attitude changed drastically and excitement returned to her face.

"Oh, I see! This coffee maker was actually a secret weapon camouflaged as if it was something completely not harmful!"

Scrooge eyes opened wide. Where did those ideas come from?

"Well, actually-"

Before he could continue talking, the door opened suddenly and Beakley appeared behind it.

"Webby?"

"Yes… Granny?"

The lass probably knew what came next, and it was clear she didn't want this to happen.

"It's time to go to bed darling, you'll continue talking with Mr. McDuck tomorrow."

"Awww… but Granny it isn't too late… couldn't I be here a little longer?" the lass asked with pleading eyes. Scrooge smiled, Beakley wasn't easy to convince. It was very unlikely Webby would succeed.

"No darling, you know the rules."

Totally expectable with Agent 22.

"Rules can be changed if they aren't fair." Webby tried to argue, but it was useless.

"Nice try Webby, but not with this one. This is a fair rule, now go to bed."

"Yes Granny."

Webby lowered her head totally defeated, she knew it was absurd to argue, her Granny was very inflexible with those issues. Her only and best course of action was to obey.

Scrooge saw how the girl left the room and closed the door behind her.

"Mr. McDuck?"

Oh! Curse me kilts!

"Yes Beakley?" asked Scrooge smiling awkwardly .

"It would be a pleasure if you stop telling my granddaughter about our secret missions."

Beakley sounded angry, and to be fair, she had some kind of reason to be angry. But in Scrooge's opinion, he did nothing wrong, oh curse his bagpipes, he took Donald and Della on a mission once. It was the twins first adventure! And both did it amazingly well! Why was Beakley now acting like this with Webby?

"Oh, come on Beakley, the lass is just curious. What could happen to know more about your past and about mine? She admires ye, do ye know that?"

Beakley narrowed her eyes. Okay, that couldn't be good. It was never good when Beakley narrowed her eyes like this.

"That doesn't matter! I'm trying to protect her, and one of the ways to do that is to keep her in the dark about my life as a spy."

Beakley's point of view, fair, but Scrooge's point of view wasn't the same as Agent 22. She should have learned this!

"Ye may think like that Beakley, but I think differently than you, I don't think I'm doing something wrong just to explain the lass some of our adventures."

Hands on her hips, that was getting worse…

"That weren't adventures, they were missions, those are different things!"

Scrooge smiled awkwardly again.

"Technically, I've never been a spy, so those weren't missions for me." He hoped this would sound as a convincing excuse to his housekeeper. Unfortunately, he wasn't so lucky.

"Mr. McDuck?"

"Yes Beakley?"

"Don't make me tape your mouth shut."

What?

"Ye wouldn't do that!" he felt a mixture of anger and fear… fear specially.

Now was Beakley who smiled and looked at him with a proud smile.

"Of course, I would, and you know that. And I'd use that special tape that can't be taken off so easily, I think you know what I 'm talking about."

Of course, he did! That tape was one of Von Drake's inventions. Apparently inoffensive but more useful than the handcuffs of a policeman. Oh, bless his bagpipes… Von Drake was a genius…

"That look in your face makes me think you know what I am talking about." She turned her back to him and walked towards the window "Here's the deal, you can explain Webby all the adventures you want, but you can't tell her anything about any of our missions. Understood?"

She looked at him with a look that suggested only one option, accept, and Scrooge knew perfectly well the consequences of refusing Beakley's offer. Even the great Scrooge McDuck had his weaknesses… nobody needs to know that of course.

"Okay Beakley, you win."

Beakley nodded.

"Fine."

That seemed enough to her. She turned to face Scrooge. The old duck saw a thoughtful expression on her face. What-

"Now one last question, what happened with that coffee maker?"

The old duck opened his eyes wide. Why was Beakley now talking about that?

"The machine? I brought it here, actually ye can see it here."

He pointed to a place where in fact was placed the coffee maker. Beakley seemed surprised upon seeing it.

"It's the same machine?"

"Of course! I made it be cleaned since the maker was fully operative, and it makes good coffees. It would be a pity to leave it there."

"Yeah… I guess…"

Scrooge was confused, why was Beakley acting so… out of her character?

"Oh, come on Beakley, what's going on?"

Beakley looked away. Scrooge saw her frown… what was she thinking about? What was upsetting her?

"There was nobody there… but we don't know for sure if that place was related to F.O.W.L. or not. What if this machine is more than it appears?"

"Oh Beakley, don't be paranoic, it's just a coffee maker!"

Scrooge couldn't blame her, to finish F.O.W.L. had been the mission of her life until she left S.H.U.S.H. maybe to know F.O.W.L. was still out there making her suffer. His housekeeper sighed.

"You may be right, Mr. McDuck. Now, if you excuse me, I'll say goodnight to my granddaughter."

Scrooge smiled. Who was he to stop his housekeeper from doing that? Beakley moved to the door and opened it.

"Goodnight Bentina."

Beakley looked at him surprised and then smiled back.

"Goodnight, Scrooge."

Unnoticed from any of both, the camera hidden inside the coffee maker recorded all their interaction and remotely sent it to F.O.W.L.'s base.