The second he entered the board room, he knew it wouldn't be pretty. But what he didn't expect was when he opened the door and saw Heron laying across the table, looking straight at him with a crooked smile, one of her legs slightly raised up on the table. She fluttered her eyelids flirtatiously. Bradford lost the feeling in his beak as it slightly fell open, and his face became a deeper shade of pink. He violently shook his head and covered his face unsuccessfully with his folders.

"H-Heron, this-this isn't at all professional!"

"'Professional'? Oh, Bradford, I thought this was going to be a casual meeting," she purred, running a finger down her hips.

Bradford felt as though angry bees were buzzing inside his skull, and he gnashed his teeth. He slammed the folder down on the desk in front of the villainess.

"Heron! Enough of these useless games-"

With a quick move, she grabbed for his necktie and jerked his long neck down to her eye level, causing him to gasp. Bradford struggled in her grip as she held him close to her face, stumbling over his words through his coughs.

"Aww," Heron mockingly tsked. "Is the little, old bird losing his tongue? Don't worry, I can tighten it up for you." She held the tie down as her metal claw knitted over his collar and pulled it higher up his neck, making Bradford choke harder. His hands flailed as they attempted to grip around his throat, trying to loosen himself fruitlessly.

"Let…go…of-"

"Or what?" she growled. "You'd put me in timeout? Ground me in my room? Throw me in the river? The time for threats is over, you over-stuffed vulture."

Her grip around Bradford's neck tightened, and he grimaced in pain as he struggled to breathe.

Heron sneered. "I've been waiting for years to come to this point in my villainous career, and what do I get? Nothing but the second banana! Childcare services? Really? Now, give me one good reason why I don't snap your disfigured neck into several pieces right this moment?"

Bradford forcibly inhaled through his narrowed windpipe as he cracked his voice open. "We…are…equal…"

Heron looked at him skeptically, then she let him go. Bradford fell back on the floor and caught himself on the table, massaging his throat and trying to regain his breath, coughing loudly. Heron sat up straight and crossed her legs and arms, watching Bradford with a bored expression, waiting for him to continue.

As he caught up with his breath, he continued coughed with some strain, wheezing, "We are equal. I've always seen you as my equal, ever since we started. We are partners in this, and I know I can't continue without you by my side. None of what I've done would've been possible without you."

Heron scoffed and inspected her metal claws. "I'll believe it when I see it."

Bradford coughed some more, then he testily opened the folder on the desk to read from. "Then believe it," he croaked. "Because we'll have an equal share of the responsibilities, and all the benefits of it. I could easily foresee the child working for us at FOWL, trained under you, perhaps as a spy sent to infiltrate the McDuck family or to help us with any international work. It's all still many years ahead of us, but-"

"You're doing it again," Heron growled.

"Hmm?" Bradford looked up. "Doing- doing what?"

"That ," she said accusingly, pointing at him. "That 'Oh I don't know what you're talking about, I have all the answers' schtick," she mocked. "It's not fooling anyone!"

She rose from the table and stood in front of him, leering over his head.

"Just admit it, Bradford. Admit it to me, your supposed equal. Tell me what everyone in the whole facility knows about you that you can't admit to yourself. Just say it: you love that kid."

"What?!" he cried out, flustered, his eyes frantically going around the room. "No, no, I don't love that child, I don't! I- I am just… ensuring the child's proper growth and development." He sheepishly chuckled and smiled. "Yeah. That's it."

"Uh huh," she deadpanned. "With spending more time than you need to with it. Look at yourself, Bradford. You take entire days off, you bring it toys and whatever, and now you're getting bedraggled because of that clone!"

"It's not just a clone, Heron," he droned. "It is a developing child like any other, even if it is Scrooge's clone. I am only treating it like I would any child I'd have under my care. And besides, if we're going to be utilizing it for our goals, the least I could do is to make sure it develops properly towards that goal."

Heron crossed her arms, unconvinced. "Uh huh, right right, like any child under your care. As if you ever cared for children before."

He shrugged nervously. "Well I mean…not particularly, but I did have some experience as a child caring for young ones." What he didn't want to admit was the time he gained a level 3 Babysitting Badge for taking care of a small baby chicken by himself for a few evenings while the child's parents were out. Out of all the badges, it was actually one of the few more enjoyable, peaceful ones he earned.

"Alright then, admit it."

The old vulture shook his head slightly, trying to get back to the present. "Admit? Admit what?"

"Admit it. Say the words, Bradford. Say those vile, saccharine words."

"I'm not saying any words, Heron," he grumbled, turning around from her glare so she doesn't see his burning face. "I don't know what you mean."

"You know what I perfectly mean! Come on, say it. Let it soar free, Bradford, so the whole world can hear it! You…you…," she started for him. He tried to sidestep away from her, but she was more agile as she blocked his way to escape.

"Ah, ah, ah, not so fast! You aren't leaving until you admit how you really feel," she said with a sneer. "Come on, now. You…you lo…you loooo-"

Bradford sneered and groaned, trying to get around her. "Heron- Heron that's enough-"

"No!" she cried admonishingly. "Not until you know! Not until you realize what you're doing! Say what you're hiding from yourself! Say it so I don't sound like a lunatic!" she screamed, making Bradford grimace.

He opened his eyes and scowled. "FINE!" he yelled. "I CARE! Is that what you wanted to hear? I care for the child as if it were my own! THERE, are you happy?! Now, can we get back to what we're actually here for: planning?!"

The two glared at each other ruthlessly, trying to catch their breaths. Bradford felt a trickle of sweat run down his brow.

"Fine," she whispered. "You care about the kid. But you loving it is also pretty obv-"

"That's enough. Do you want a part of this or not?" he bluntly asked, all courtesies forgotten. "Offer still stands. We'll rule the world together, everything you can ever want. All you need to do is just help me raise it as one of ours. That's all I'm asking."

Heron blankly watched him for a few moments, then asked, "And the papyrus? How are we going to get it?"

"The child doesn't need to be under Scrooge's care exclusively for this to work. It's still his descendant. All the child would need in the future is the right push to desire it, to know where it came from. The details of how we get there will show itself to us in due time."

She stood in silence, then chuckled softly. "You really are getting better at this. But you do know…you do know how getting too close to it would jeopardize the entire plan. If we raise it, making it believe we're its parents, and then it learns the truth-"

"So, will you help me or not?" he interrupted. He felt something clench painfully inside him, and he didn't want to hear the rest of her sentence. It was too much. "This is your final offer."

She rubbed her chin in thought, looking at Bradford calculatingly. Then, an evil grin came to her, and she brought out a metal claw. "Well, babysitting it is then."

Bradford tightly smiled and returned the handshake. "Pleasure doing business with you as usual, Black Heron."