A REWRITTEN FAMILY HISTORY
I've been a bit blocked on my present update (plus KathStone from my other piece 'Clovers and Coffee' are living it up in my head rent free at the moment) so I'm truly sorry for the delay... anyway welcome to the 'Lets Get Dangerous' arch. I've always intended before the actual episode aired and the canon Dewey/Goss relationship in said episode that the two of them would be childhood friends. I envision Goss to be a year or two older but due to Dewey beginning school at an earlier age then the norm they were in the same grade.
Dewey was still wrapping his head around the events that had transpired in Florida with his aunt, uncle, and cousins. De-aging, ageing...and back again he couldn't wait to tell his father and foster sister all about his adventure. Sure, to most families something like this would be unbelievable but not for his family, and besides he did have some photographic evidence to back things up.
Making his way down the pier he noticed that the Unchained Melody had been parked in it's slip causing him to make a split second detour to see if his dad was on board.
"HELLO," Dewey called out counting to ten in his head waiting for a response when he soon saw Lena make his way toward her from the deck waving him to come aboard.
"Is that my shirt?" Dewey asked as he made his way on to deck, noting the blue and grey flannel that was tied around the girls waist despite the summer heat.
"I didn't think you'd mind."
Dewey shook his head.
"I don't...plus I'm sure it looks better on you anyway."
He listened as the girl let out a little chuckle as it was clear she'd been agreeing with him.
"Anyway, Lena, you missed out on an adventure of a lifetime!"
"You said that after going off the last time."
"Well it was up until that point technically." Dewey spoke thinking that the best part of summer vacation was the lack of restraint on adventure and sometimes one blurred into another. "Anyway, where is dad...what happened in Florida was too intense to have to retell twice."
"D…" Lena spoke pausing just after the first letter sound clearly not knowing if she was ready to call her guardian of the past two months dad just yet, "..onald is at the bait shop...he should be back soon. In the meantime you have a visitor."
Dewey raised his brow as the pink haired girl stated this. A visitor? Who would be visiting him? Sure, he had made a few mild acquaintances in his past two years of attending Duckburg Junior High but none that he could think of that would drop by his dad's boat in the middle of summer vacation and so he was definitely intrigued as he watched Lena motion for this mystery person to come up on deck.
His heart began to race and his palms got a bit as sweaty as he watched a young duck about a year or two older than him step out of the shadows, her dark feathered hands nervously placed in her pockets.
"Hey Shakespeare," she spoke with a half smile.
March 2016:
"Yes, I am sure I don't need your services this weekend...," an eight year old Dewey spoke in a pitch perfect imitation of his father's unique voice, "...he's staying with a friend….yes next week is still on the books...no you have a nice day."
Hanging up the phone he looked over toward his best friend Gosalyn Waddlemeyer who sat cross legged on the floor, a shocked expression on her bill.
"So, how would you rate my performance?" Dewey asked as he sat down beside her.
"It was scary good, if I closed my eyes I couldn't tell the difference."
"Why thank you red," Dewey replied with a slight smirk as he slipped back into his Donald voice before breaking and letting out a slight chuckle, the young red head doing the same.
"But seriously will you get in trouble?"
"Probably," he admitted, "Though it's not as if I'm canceling the sitter to throw some kind of rager and I'm leaving a note telling him that I'll be at your place so maybe it will soften the blow."
Sure, Dewey could have easily called his father up at the marina to ask him in person for permission to spend the night at his friends however he knew that deep down Donald didn't like him spending too much time at Doctor Waddlemeyer's place. It wasn't as if his father disliked Thaddaeus, quite the opposite. He just thought that the more time that Dewey had spent with him in his house and lab, that he would come to resent the fact that he didn't grow up with his biological father who had been a renowned scientist in his own right.
"Well, you do have a way with words Shakespeare," Gosalyn said as she tossed Dewey a notebook and pen.
"Reading my journal again red?"
"Well, I figure if it was so private you'd put a lock on it," she spoke with a shrug.
She was right, though he supposed that if the time ever came and he reached the cliché point of falling in love with his best friend he'd keep things away from her eyes however stream of conscious thoughts on the stars and the moon and wondering what his mother was like now that was fair game.
He was taken back to the present still taking in the fact that the redhead whom he hadn't seen in just over two years was standing here on his father's boat on the other side of the Audubon Bay.
"Red!" He said breaking his silence as he placed his duffle bag on the ground and ran up to her wrapping his arms around her in a friendly embrace however by the way her body language was reacting to the gesture the young boy soon realized that perhaps his friend wasn't just there for a casual visit.
"Is everything okay?" Dewey asked as he took a step back taking in the crestfallen expression that had crossed his friends face as she shook her head. "Is it you? Thaddaeus?"
At the mention of her grandfather's name, Dewey could see a tear drip down Gosalyn's cheek as he reached up to delicately wipe it away with his thumb.
"Is he?" Dewey asked his breath catching in his throat as he thought of the worst case scenario.
Gosalyn shook her head.
"I don't know," she whispered before looking toward Lena with a raised brow before turning back toward Dewey. "Anyway it seems as if you replaced me anyway."
Looking from Gosalyn to Lena and back again, Dewey couldn't help but let out a slight chuckle.
"Never, you're irreplaceable...this is Lena my foster sister."
It was now Gosalyn's turn as she shifted her gaze from her friend to the pink haired teen and back once more.
"Donald Duck raising two teenager, I'd pay to still be living biking distance to be a spectator to that."
For a brief moment her facial expression shifted to that of amused however it was still clear that there was something bothering her and that something had to do with her grandfather.
"I can leave if you want?" Lena said as Gosalyn simply shrugged back her shoulders thinking that any family of Dewey's was of value to her which had been the reason for her hopping on a bus and heading to Duckburg in the first place.
"Your call," Gosalyn spoke with a shrug as Lena made her way below deck leaving the two friends alone.
After another lingering moment of silence, Dewey turned to his friend with a rare serious gaze.
"So, what happened?"
"My grandfather had been working on a project with his partner Tarus Bulba."
Dewey nodded thinking about his biological father's reaction to a recent write up on Bulba in one of his newest scientific publications and the rant Gyro had gone on about how offended he'd been that Scrooge had offered up the labs of his St. Canard facility for the scientist to work out of.
"So...my grandfather was running some specs and realized a fatal flaw in the mechanism and proceeded to head to the lab to warn his partner...after three days of no contact I began to worry. I called his cell, and called, and called until his inbox was full. I then wondered if I should get the police involved but honestly who would they believe… a renowned scientist or a teenage girl?"
"A renowned scientist?" Dewey replied though his voice was inflicted to make it sound like a question as he was unsure of himself.
"Exactly...and that's why I bought a bus ticket to Duckburg and wandered the marina until I found your dad's boat."
"Does he know you're here?"
Gosalyn shook her head.
"Only Lena did, and she only just found me hiding out this morning...I've been stowed away for two days."
"And you didn't think to call me?"
"In my haste I forgot to bring a cell charger….anyway, I was hoping that you could get me in contact with Doctor Gearloose to see if he could get to Bulba and find out what happened to my Grandpa."
There was another moment of silence as Dewey began to process what the other girl had been saying.
"And what makes you think that sending another scientist to challenge Bulba won't yield the same results? My mom and dad just reunited after over a decade and they are in a good place...they don't deserve the anguish of possibly being separated again.
Gosalyn simply nodded her head.
"I heard that your mom was back, was she everything you imagined."
Dewey nodded his head as he thought about Della for a moment, a smile crossing his bill.
"Everything and more….I think she'd really like you."
"But not if I caused her husband…."
"Fiancé, their marriage was nullified thanks to the whole being declared dead thing."
"Fiancé," Gosalyn spoke amending her words, "To mysteriously vanish."
And with that the redhead shrugged back her shoulders with a sigh as she'd been back to square one. In the meantime Dewey gently bit his bill pensive as thoughts began to swirl in his mind before he had an idea.
"Bulba is working at one of my Uncle Scrooge's facilities….what if Scrooge where to 'check in on his investment ' and what if Scrooge were to bring Huey who can be inquisitive to a fault when it comes to subjects of interest and I'm sure whatever project that Bulba and your Grandfather was working on would be a subject of interest."
"I'd say...I think you're on to something….so where do I come in?"
"Well, I think for now you stay the night then take a bus back to St. Canard in the morning and then lay low until you hear from me."
"I don't like the idea of laying low, but I trust you."
"I promise, we won't back down until we find out what happened to your grandfather."
