Della stabbed a finger into Launchpad's chest. "You can crash my plane. You can shove your half-chewed chewing gum in her intakes. But don't you dare take my son up and there and teach him your bad habits without my permission!"

They stood toe to toe in the Cloudslasher's hanger, the plane itself sitting on a barely perceptible lean but with a very perceptible scuff mark marring her side.

Launchpad frowned. "I thought you wanted Dewey to learn to fly?"

"Yeah. Fly. Not crash. I want him to learn how to fly a plane well. You can't even land!"

"Mom…" Dewey tugged at her sleeve. "I've had worse crashes learning with you…"

Della didn't look at her son as she put a hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him back. "Not now, sweetheart."

Launchpad's scowl deepened and his gaze hardened. There was that look, the one he'd been resorting to over the past week. The usually happy-go-lucky Launchpad had slowly been replaced by an irritated and passive-aggressive one. Della knew they clashed over the maintenance of the plane, and they'd been arguing more than usual lately. But damn it, she'd tried. She'd tried to let Launchpad do things his way, she'd recognised that was sometimes going to be different to hers, and that he did have the more recent experience. They'd managed to work out a system.

That system was avoidance. They didn't need to fly the Cloudslasher at the same time. Della took her out on adventures with her family. LP took her out on other errands. He took care of most of the maintenance, which seemed fair as the majority of the damage was his fault. They only interacted when Launchpad showed Della any modifications he'd made to the plane and she wanted to understand what it was so she didn't mess with it and break something that could've been avoided. They managed to keep that interaction to a minimum.

Della glared back at him and her fists bunched at her sides. "What is it, huh? You've been snappy all week!"

"I've been snappy! You're the one who's yelling at me just for trying to help Dewey…"

"Guys…" said Dewey.

"You're not helping, LP. Just… just stick to flying errands!"

Launchpad flung his arms wide. "That's all I ever do! That and put this plane back together all the time. That last adventure you took her on, the repairs took me days. And I've hardly taken her up properly in weeks!"

"So, what, you thought you'd get my attention by goofing around with my son?"

"He's my best friend! I was trying to teach him, and you know what, forget it. You expect me to do almost all the maintenance. And the stuff you do you just undo what I've done…"

"Only when you mess with the Cloudslasher!"

"It's just a stupid aeroplane!" Launchpad exploded.

Beside her, Dewey drew in a sharp breath.

Launchpad blinked, then turned to the plane. "Sorry, girl, I didn't mean it."

Della put a hand to her face. "And you're apologising to the plane."

"The Sunchaser…"

"That's not her name! She's not yours, LP."

"You know," Launchpad said coldly. "Technically she's not yours either. She belongs to Mr McDee."

"How dare you…"

"Speaking of whom, 'Mr McDee' is wondering why his plane is still grounded. And why you two haven't left yet." Scrooge stood in the door to the hanger. He leaned on his cane, a scowl creasing his beak.

Della flung a hand at the Cloudslasher. "Someone hasn't finished repairing her after his little stunt with my son."

Scrooge eyed the scuff on the side of the plane, then raised an eyebrow. "She looks airworthy to me."

Launchpad folded his arms. "Hah."

"Though it remains a mystery how she remains so after what you put her through, Launchpad."

Della smirked.

"Seriously!" Scrooge exploded. "I'm not paying you by the hour."

"You're not paying me at all," said Della. "Come to think of it…" And as the thought hit her she knew she shouldn't. Whatever Scrooge wanted Launchpad to do, it was probably just the mail run or something and she should let Launchpad have it, even just to stop him whining. But she'd had enough of him messing with both the plane and her son. Scrooge could've hired some courier service to do whatever it was, but he'd likely worked out using his own plane and pilot was cheaper. "… that's why you should let me take her on this one."

Scrooge raised an eyebrow. "You want to fly all the way to Australia, by yourself, to pick up a bunch of sheep's wool from my station in the middle of nowhere?"

Della winced. "Um… yes?"

"Well tough luck. You'll just end up falling asleep, crashing, and losing all my wool!"

"You don't want the plane to crash but you want me to bring Launchpad? If we need a second pilot I'll bring Dewey. I can teach him a few things. You know, from a real pilot."

Launchpad had been watching the exchange between her and Scrooge, arms tightly folded. He swallowed hard and looked away.

Scrooge jabbed his cane at them both. "I asked why you two haven't left yet. You're both going."

"What?" said Della. "Since when?"

"Since I just went over my maintenance costs for the Sunchaser…"

"Cloudslasher!"

"… the bucket of bolts that does not need a bloomin' name! The maintenance costs have nearly doubled since you two have been fighting over it. I'm sick of it. It's a twenty-hour flight, one way. You share the flying. Della lands the plane. Make sure they don't overcharge you for fuel when you refuel. And learn to work together! Or at least stop bickering like a pair of children that want to play with the same toy!"

"That's not fair, I don't need to learn to fly with him. We've already worked out doing it separately. And he's been the one messing with your maintenance and costing you money…"

"You hardly let me take her up and…" Launchpad butted in.

Dewey thrust himself between them both. "Alright, that's enough! Uncle Scrooge is right! You both like aeroplanes, you're both pilots… you should be friends, and helping each other, and not fighting the whole time!"

"Dewey, I was just worried that…"

"No, Mom. I… you're my mom. And LP, you're my best friend. I want to be a pilot like both of you and I want you two to just get along. I don't want to have to worry about whether hanging out with one of you in the… the aeroplane is going to upset you."

Launchpad looked at Della sheepishly and then dropped his gaze. "Aw, Dewey, I'm sorry. I don't know we were making you feel bad."

"I'm sorry too," said Della, fighting down the part of herself that was annoyed Launchpad got his apology in first.

Scrooge glanced between the two of them as they awkwardly stared at the floor. "Well. That sounds like an even better reason for you two to sort yourselves out, now doesn't it?"

A/n: I thought Launchpad and Della should have had more interaction in the series, and that there would've been more conflict over not just the Sunchaser, but also more than one pilot and not enough adventures between them. Hence, this fanfic. Enjoy and please leave me a review. :)