Disclaimer: I do not own DuckTales

Chapter 7: A Complicated Family

A hot shower was just what Diane needed. After scrubbing off three days worth of grime off her body and giving her hair a good shampooing - Diane felt reinvigorated. And she didn't much mind when the shirt she was lent had a grumpy yellow face on it, with two x-ed out eyes and a frown.

"Not the most cheerful of shirts…" Diane said to herself. Then she shrugged. Who was she to complain? This was a shirt she was borrowing until her own clothes were done washing. Or until she could get herself some new clothes. I mean, she only had a shirt and a jacket with her.

"Note to self: Go shopping later this week." She said, grabbing her backpack and heading for the bathroom door. She stopped when her foot sent up a pang of pain. "Oh. Forgot about that."

Sitting on the edge of the bathtub, Diane dug into her backpack, pulling out a miniature first aid kit. With expert ease, she cleaned up the little wound on her foot, and put a bandaid on it. This wasn't such a bad scrape - she'd gotten worse playing baseball.

That being done, Diane got up and went to the bathroom door. Opening it, she was faced with a still semi-hyper Webby and a stoic Mrs. Beakley.

"How was your shower? Did you try out the bubble bath?" Webby asked, only to go silent when Mrs. B gave her granddaughter a stern look. "Sorry…"

"I didn't know Mr. McDuck had bubble bath," Diane said, glancing back at the tub. Mrs. B cleared her throat, gaining the attention of both girls.

"What Mr. McDuck does or does not have regarding toiletries is no concern of either of yours," She said, and both girls nodded their understanding. "That being said...it never hurt to use a little bubble bath once in a while…"

"Would you believe I've never had a bubble bath," Diane told Webby. The younger duck gasped and shook her head, as if that were the most horrible thing imaginable.

"What!? Never had a bubble bath!?"

"Girls," Mrs. Beakley said, putting a hand on both girls' shoulders. "There's time enough for gossip later."

Diane opened her mouth to say that this was not gossip, merely girl talk, but then thought better of it. Closing her beak, she nodded obediently and made another mental note: Mrs. Beakley is very down to Earth and no-nonsense. She could work with that.

"Can I show Diane her room?" Webby asked, changing the subject. Mrs. B let go of them and gave them both a curious look.

"I thought you said Diane had an injured foot."

"Oh, I took care of that," Diane said, lifting up the back of her foot and showing it off to them. "It was only a flesh wound - just a scrape, really. Not very deep, it just bled a lot."

"Ah," Mrs. Beakley said, nodding in approval at the band aid. She gave Webby a nod. "Well in that case, Webby, you may take Diane to her room.

With a shriek of joy, Webby grabbed Diane's hand and pulled her down the hallway, not only leading her to her room, but giving her a short history about McDuck Manor along the way. Mostly about it's occupants.

When she mentioned the three grandnephews of Mr. McDuck, Diane remembered the ducklings whom she assumed to be her brothers...only now that she thought about it, they hadn't acted like Donald was their dad. None of them had called him "dad"...the green one had called him "Donald".

"Hey Webby," Diane said, pulling out of Webby's grasp. "You know a lot about the McDuck family, right?"

"More than anyone in the world!" Webby exclaimed, and then added belatedly. "Well, other than Fergus and Downy McDuck."

"Okay," Diane said, deciding not to mention she didn't know who those two were. "So...those three boys, Dewey, Louie - and who's the red one?"

"Huey."

"Okay, so Dewey, Louie and Huey…" Diane said, wondering how to pose her question. Should she ask straight out if they were her brothers? She decided not to...because if she was wrong the results could be embarrassing. "How, um, how are they related to me?"

"Oh, don't you know?" Webby asked, and Diane felt her stomach clench. Maybe they were her brothers after all… "Donald raised them since they were eggs when their mom disappeared."

"And their mom is…?" Diane prodded, not willing to let this mystery go. She would know if these three were her brothers. Webby glanced around the hallway before she grabbed Diane's hand and pulled her into a dark, empty room.

"Their mom is…Della Duck," Webby said, pulling a light switch from somewhere. Suddenly the room wasn't so dark anymore - and the older duck could see a conspiracy theory board that had been meticulously put together. One one string, a picture of Dewey, Louie, and Huey was connected with various other names, Donald, Della, Quackmore, Scrooge, Dirty Dingus… "Twin sister to Donald Duck, daughter of Quackmore and Hortense Duck, granddaughter to Fergus McDuck, niece to Scrooge McDuck, great granddaughter of -"

"Wait, did you say twin sister?" Diane interrupted, staring at the conspiracy board. "Those three," She pointed to the picture of the triplets, "They're my-my cousins?"

"Unless another dark family secret reveals otherwise," Webby said with a shrug. Diane felt a weight lift from her shoulders, and her stomach muscles untightened. So her dad hadn't remarried after all - he hadn't forgotten about Daisy.

"Well that's a relief," Diane murmured, letting out a sigh. Webby gave her a questioning look, but Diane waved it off. "Nothing...Hey, this isn't my room, is it?"

"Oh, no - this is my conspiracy/interrogation/training room!" Webby told her, turning off the light and leading Diane back out into the hallway again. "Don't go in there without me - I'm the only one who knows how to avoid the traps."

"Traps…?"

"Well of course - every room in McDuck Manor has some sort of trap," Webby said, pulling Diane along a hallway. "I mean, Mr. McDuck is the richest duck in the world - his list of enemies is endless!"

"Oh, great," Diane muttered. "Richest duck in the world is my great uncle, and he has a boat load of enemies."

"An endless boat load of enemies!" Webby proudly proclaimed while Diane let out a sigh. Hopefully she wouldn't meet any of his enemies...but if what Webby said was true, then more likely than not she would meet at least one of his enemies. Before Diane could ask who was on the "endless boat load" of enemies, Webby stopped in front of a room. "Here's your room! It used to be your dad's and his sister Della's."

"Cool," Diane said, pushing open the door without evening bothering to knock. To her surprise, when she entered the room, someone was already there. Her dad...and he was crying. Donald was sitting on his Della's old bed, holding one of her scarves in his hands, crying his eyes out. But when Diane opened the door, he froze. He still had tears coming down his face as he put the scarf down and tried to wipe away the tears. "Dad? Are you okay - was it something I said -"

"No." Donald said, a bit sharply. Diane blinked and glanced back at Webby - only to discover that Webby was no longer behind her. The pink clad duck had disappeared...it was if she was a ninja or something.

"Okay," Diane said, looking back at her dad. She was really unsure what she should do. Maybe she had the wrong room? But she doubted that. For the short time she'd known Webby - she saw that Webby knew a scary amount of stuff about the McDuck family. And someone who knew that much about the McDucks would surely know enough about the McDuck home not to give Diane the wrong room. "Was I...interrupting something?"

"No," Donald said, a bit softer this time. He wiped away his tears as best as he could. He should have known Uncle Scrooge would give Diane this room...I mean, it was the only other empty room that was (relatively) child proof. Every other room that was unoccupied had piles of cursed objects. "I was just...remembering someone I lost…"

"Was it your sister?"

"How did you know?" Donald asked, surprised. How could Diane know about his sister? If Daisy didn't talk about him, it was very unlikely she talked about Della. Especially since Della and Daisy didn't get along most of the time. Diane shrugged as she closed the door.

"Well, I mean I asked Webby about Dewey, Louie, and Huey and how they were related to me, and then she explained that you had a twin sister, and since…." Diane cleared her throat here and rubbed the back of her head. "Well I mean I assume you're the one raising them cause of how you delegated the argument. And if you're raising them...then I figured something must have happened to their mom."

"Oh." Donald said, blinking. He got up from the bed, and then sat down again, really unsure of what to do. He was not ready to talk about Della. Not by a long shot. Looking around for literally anything else to talk about - his eyes landed on the shirt Diane was wearing. "Is that my shirt?"

"This?" Diane asked, looking down at her shirt. She could tell Donald was changing the subject...but she knew that she shouldn't push things. Eventually, she would ask about her Aunt Della again...but not now. "Mrs. Beakley gave it to me...she didn't tell me where she got it, though."

In response, Donald went to one of his bureaus and opened a drawer. Looking inside, he found that one of his shirts was missing. Suddenly Donald felt a twinge of anger at Scrooge. Scratch that - it was a surge of anger. Della was gone because of him, and Donald had not really forgiven Scrooge for that. Not yet. Today they had agreed about getting off of Ithaquack - but then Storkuleus brought up Della, and now Donald couldn't stop thinking about his missing sister.

"It is my shirt." Donald said, slamming the drawer shut. "Stupid old duck - 'ask before you give away what isn't yours' he says, 'everything will be fine', he says - Well guess what Uncle Scrooge - SHE WAS MY SISTER AND EVERYTHING IS NOT FINE!"

"Um…" Diane said, taking a few steps back. Donald's face had grown red, and he literally had steam coming out of his ears. At least I know where I get my temper from… she thought, debating if she should leave the room or stay. "Maybe I should go - it seems like you need some time to cool -"

Donald turned around before she could finish her sentence, and suddenly she wondered if she should just leave. The anger and pain on his face was so raw and, honestly, kind of scary. Never in her life had Diane seen anyone get that mad - I mean, sure sometimes her mom got upset sometimes. Mostly it was when someone splashed a puddle of water on her dress while she walked by the sidewalk, or when she talked to Diane's baseball coach. But this? This was...like nothing she'd ever seen.

"I'm gonna go now." Diane said, slipping out of the room and running a hand through her hair. That...had been scary.

"Let me guess," a voice said, and Diane nearly jumped out of her skin. Turning, she saw Huey standing a few doors down from the room. "Uncle Donald's upset."

"Upset?" Diane whispered, stepping slowly away from the door. She went to stand next to Huey, glancing at the door as she did. "He wasn't upset - he was angry. His face was all red, and he had steam, literally, coming out of his ears and - the eyes -"

"He wouldn't hurt you." Huey said, glancing at the door and putting a hand comfortingly on her shoulder. Diane closed her beak and took a breathe. For some reason Huey had known what she was thinking...but he didn't' know all of it. Another reason Donald's anger had scared her was because Diane herself had a bit of a temper...and seeing her dad so angry, she wondered if that would ever happen to her. Being that angry scared her.

"Thanks...Huey, right?" Diane said, adjusting her backpack straps to giver her hands something to do. "But I wasn't worried that he would hurt me - I mean, yeah, he looked angry but the anger wasn't directed at me…actually I think it was addressed at Uncle Scrooge?"

"Yeah, that's normal," Dewey said, poking his head out of the door. Huey glanced at him and folded his arms.

"I thought you were sleeping."

"Wellll, I was but then you guys started talking..." Dewey said, opening up the door and gesturing the two into the room. Diane hesitated before she went into their room. A few minutes ago she'd thought they were her brothers - and now she knew they weren't. It was…a little awkward for her. I mean, how do you act around people you thought were you siblings, and then found out they were your cousins instead? "So, Uncle Donald's upset about something again?"

"Yep." Huey stated, like this was totally normal. Diane looked between them and then back at the door. Apparently outbursts of anger were normal. Great. The outlook for Diane was not looking good so far… "Hey Diane, are you okay?"

"What?" She asked, turning back to her cousins. They were both looking at her with concern. "Oh - oh yeah I'm...I'm fine."

"No seriously," Dewey said, hopping up onto the middle bunk on the triple bunk bed. Huey had put something on his desk, but now he was sitting in a chair and watching Diane. "What's wrong? You look...really worried about something. If it's Uncle Donald - he won't hurt you. He just gets really angry sometimes and breaks stuff...that sounded better in my head."

"I'm not worried about him hurting me," Diane said, feeling a little annoyed. It felt like she was being told twice - and given that Dewey had listened in on their conversation - he should know that wasn't what she was afraid of.

"Okay, so what are you worried about?" Huey asked.

"Nothing," Diane said, rolling her eyes. These guys were worse than her mom. Which meant, unless she came up with a convincing lie or changed the subject - they would keep hounding her until she told them what was up. "It's just...With dad angry as heck over there - I don't know where I'm supposed to sleep."

"You could always ask Uncle Scrooge," Huey said with a shrug. He pulled his Junior Woodchuck book out of his hat and placed it on his desk, and then pulled a schedule out from under his hat, and on his desk.

"Would that be okay?" Diane asked, who was still a little uncertain about Scrooge McDuck being her great uncle. It just seemed so - so strange to think that they were related. And that made Diane a little nervous. She'd prepared herself for seeing her dad, but not three cousins raised by her dad, a very rich and very famous great uncle, a housekeeper who looked more like a bodyguard than anything else, and a girl who knew everything there was to know about the McDucks.

"Why wouldn't it be okay?" Dewey asked, rolling so his head was hanging upside down. "We ask Uncle Scrooge for stuff all the time!"

"But you guys know him," Diane said, plopping into a nearby beanbag chair. "I literally just found out Scrooge McDuck is my Great Uncle today."

"We found out a few months ago," Dewey said, putting his hands behind his head. "And you know what? It did not stop us from asking him for stuff."

"Actually," Huey broke in, turning to his brother. "She has a point. When we first arrived Uncle Scrooge locked us in an empty storage room with three marbles...it was only after our first adventure, when we discovered Atlantis and escaped with our lives, that he really started treating us like family."

"True," Dewey said shifting his weight and accidentally falling off his bunk and onto the floor. "But we're not supposed to go adventuring this week. Uncle Scrooge has a bunch of 'work he has to do."

"Wait a minute," Diane said, taking off her backpack and putting it in her lap. "Did you just say Mr. McDuck locked you in a room and then you discovered the Lost City of Atlantis?"

"Technically we escaped from the storage room, and then we wreaked havoc in his garage first -" Huey started to explain. But Dewey had to jump in.

"And we woke up this money dragon and it went for Uncle Scrooge's money bin! So then I had to -"

"We all worked together to save Uncle Scrooge and his money...his money bin wasn't so great for wear after we turned the money dragon into stone."

"Yeah, okay, fine - we all helped stop the money dragon," Dewey said as he folded his arms. "But it was me who found all the traps when we went to Atlantis, and I was the one who figured out how the jewel at the ceiling floor was the real Jewel of Atlantis and not that one Glomgold stole."

"I am really, really confused…" Diane muttered, putting a hand to her head. All this talk about money dragons, locking people in storage rooms, and finding Atlantis sounded like it was out of an Indiana Bones movie.

"Here," Huey said, handing her a notebook. "I wrote down all of our adventures so far in my notebook."

"You keep a diary?" Dewey asked, jumping up off the floor and lunging for the notebook. Diane took it from Huey before Dewey could grab it.

"No," Huey said, folding his arms and glaring at Dewey. "It's not a diary, or a journal - it's a notebook filled with our adventures. I figured I could publish them one day...I would call it - DuckTales: Race Cars, Lasers, and Aeroplanes."

"Lame." Dewey said, going and hopping on the back of Huey's chair. "You should call it - The Grand Adventures of Dewey Duck!"

"That wouldn't make any sense."

"Why not? I am in your diary, right?"

"It's not a diary - and yes, you're in it. But it's not all about you." Huey explained as if to a child. "It's about what we found on that adventure - the knowledge gained, the friends we made, how we grew together as a family -"

"And includes lots of facts and history." Diane added from the bean bag. She had started reading Huey's notebook from the beginning, where he'd titled it: "McDuck and Family - The First Adventure". So far she as she'd read there were a lot of facts about sea shanties and how people used to travel before submarines were invented.

"Wait - so you made a story that has history in it?" Dewey asked his brother. Huey proudly nodded, and Dewey stuck out his tongue. "Blegh, who wants to read something with history in it?"

"I do," Diane said, raising her hand. Huey smirked as he looked at Dewey.

"She doesn't count," Dewey said, frowning and going back to his middle bunk. Huey shook his head and went back to his schedule, Dewey stared at the ceiling of his bunk, and Diane read the notebook.

Hello! Winter Break has finally arrived, and I don't have school until next year! Thank you Everyday Average Sane Psycho for the luck! I'm glad you all like the story so far - and I hope you all liked this chapter. It's a bit long, I know, but...well I couldn't help it. My characters all wanted it to keep going so I kept writing.

I know there wasn't a lot of Donald and Diane interaction this chapter, but it is coming. Because someone forgot to eat on the bus ride to Duckburg -and who better to cook a meal than Donald Duck? But that's for next chapter. Also, Daisy is going to make an appearance soon, but I keep pushing her back because the time doesn't seem right yet...but she is coming.

Anyways, I hope you all have a Happy Holiday, and stay safe!