"Miss Talon to see you, sir."

Duckworth let Ava into the study after he had made her presence known to Scrooge McDuck. He was sitting at his desk, writing. He looked up when Ava came in and seemed confused when he discovered she was alone. "Good afternoon, Ava. What are you doing here by yourself?"

Ava tried to steady her nerves. She wanted to run out of the mansion and go home, but she couldn't back out now. Besides, this was too important. Taking a deep breath and clenching both of her fists, she stated, "Mr. McDuck...you need to give my dad a break!"

He raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"He works all day and is gone all the time! I barely get to see him! Why do you need one accountant for the entire day?!"

Scrooge was perplexed, then he came upon a realization. "Lass, you don't know the whole story."

"He works so hard to take care of me and my grandma. Why won't you give him a raise so he doesn't have to be gone all the time?"

"A raise?" He looked offended.

"He's barely making ends meet because you're so cheap, while he's slaving away for you!"

Ava kept telling herself that she couldn't cry. Her whole body was tense, expecting Scrooge to retaliate in some way.

Instead, Scrooge just sighed. "Go home, Ava. I'll talk to your father when I get a chance." He didn't sound angry, rather, simply exasperated.

"He didn't tell me to come, so don't blame him."

"I figured. Go, now." He waved his hand, shooing her.

Ava turned on her heel and marched out of the mansion.

Later that same day, Scrooge called Gizmoduck over from the Money Bin. The superhero showed up right away. "Yes, Mr. McDuck?"

Scrooge locked the door and closed the curtains. "Fenton, we need to talk. Take off the Gizmosuit."

Confused, the other did as he was told. Speaking in his normal voice, Fenton asked, "What's going on?"

Scrooge sat down at his desk. "Fenton, Ava came by today to see me."

"She did?" Fenton asked, surprised.

"She marched right into my office and started scolding me about how I was overworking you." Scrooge told him.

"She did? Oh, no," Fenton groaned, running his hands down his face in guilt.

"Fenton, I'm assuming you haven't told her you're Gizmoduck."

"I CAN'T tell her, Mr. McDuck. She just found out I'm her father. If I tell her I'm a superhero, I...I don't know how she'll take it."

"Fenton, she's your child. She needs to find out sometime. It would be best if she found out from you."

"What if the news breaks her? I can't risk making her crack. She's been through enough already!" Fenton put his head in his hands.

"But how long are you going to keep this a secret from her?"

"Until she goes to college, probably."

Scrooge gave him a withering look.

"Oh, Mr. McDuck, I just want to be a good father!" Fenton lamented. "Our relationship has been shaky ever since we met! If I tell her I'm Gizmoduck, she might stop talking to me! It's bad enough I'm practically a stranger to her. I've tried everything I can to make her feel loved, but in the end, I'm just an ordinary duck. There's only so much I can do!"

"Fenton," Scrooge gently told him, "I highly doubt Ava would stop talking to you. Children are stronger than we think. It's obvious she cares about you; you just need to give her more time to get to know you. Everything will be alright."

Fenton nodded, slowly. "Maybe you're right. She is a pretty strong duckling."

"With a bad temper. I wonder who she gets that from."

"Probably her mother."

"Anyway," Scrooge stated, "anyone who can stand up to Scrooge McDuck can handle hearing news like that. Now, we need to discuss your wages and hours..."