Author's Note: This entire series was written prior to the season finale. As you might expect, the season finale rendered this entire series horribly AU instead of what I'd been hoping for, which was close to canon but not. As you might expect, the season finale, although thoroughly awesome, means that I need to redefine who Lena is.
In this universe, Lena is biologically a duck, not a shadow construct of Magica de Spell. She grows, she ages, and she's not bound magically to anyone (anymore). She grew up on the streets after losing her father (her father's still alive, but he's a raven) at an early age. She can wield magic as a result of her heritage.
Also, in how I'd envisioned the season finale AU, there was a big showdown in the McDuck Manor and Magica attacked everyone there, blasting people with her staff and hitting Mrs. Beakley. That didn't happen in the show, obviously.
Sorry for the spoilers, but I'm assuming you've seen the season finale. If you haven't, oops. And sorry for the long author's note. This is longer than I've done since The Other Saga, JFC.
Chapter Two: Immortals
If the boys were concerned about Webby before, they were far worse now. They refused to let Webby out of their sight, no matter how irritating Lena found their presence. She wanted to draw Webby off and talk to her privately about what had happened (if the younger girl was willing to speak), but with the triplets' lingering, she couldn't broach the subject. It was clear the triplets had lived a sheltered life. Lena hadn't been so lucky.
Webby clung to Lena; the boys had allowed Webby to change, albeit reluctantly, and after a long shower in which Lena thought the younger girl was trying to drown herself, she'd emerged.
"Webs, what happened out there?" Huey asked insistently.
"I understand you're concerned," Lena said, struggling to keep a lid on her temper, "but give her some space."
"You give her space," Huey retorted, sullen. Great, they were feeling possessive about her too. Webby flinched in Lena's arms; Lena had been reluctant to release Webby for very long. Now would've been a good time to admit her true feelings about her, but she wasn't about to unburden herself in front of an audience.
"You're not helping," Lena retorted.
Webby shivered, beset by a preternatural chill. Lena sympathized.
Dewey inched forward and held Webby's hand. He squeezed it and Webby squeezed back.
"We're not leaving you alone," Dewey said, looking her in the eyes. "Okay?"
Webby nodded and Lena hated the blank, glassy look in her eyes.
Someone knocked on the door and the five of them jumped. Scrooge entered and Webby jerked her gaze away from the door. That was a curious and uneasy movement and Lena gave Scrooge a dirty look that he ignored.
"Lena, I need to talk to you," he said.
"Don't go," Webby said hoarsely, her first few words since they'd found her. Gizmoduck had swept the area but hadn't found a trace of the villains. Of the group, only Lena stood a chance of identifying them.
Scrooge frowned. Clearly, this was a delicate proposition and he didn't want the others to hear it. Just as clearly, Webby grabbed Lena's wrists to try to force her to stay put. Lena smiled weakly.
"I'll do it," she said quietly.
"I haven't even asked you anything," Scrooge objected.
"No, but I know what you want," she said. "And I'll find them for you."
Her eyes blazed and she could feel the vestiges of magic within her stir. She might have gotten rid of Magica, but she had power on her own. Scrooge didn't need to know that. He might not trust her if he did.
"All right," Scrooge said after a minute. He moved into the room and cupped Webby's chin. "Chin up, lassie. They won't get away with this."
Webby didn't say anything and he sighed, releasing her. Her lower lip trembled.
"Uncle Scrooge?" she said when he was at the door. He turned back toward her. "They called themselves the Bloodhound Gang."
"Good to know," he said and his gaze sharpened, colder and harsher. "I'll be looking for them."
When she finally fell asleep, her dreams were vicious, cruel things. They shifted from scenes of her grandmother's demise to Webby's battering and attack by the Bloodhound Gang. She could feel them pinning her down with the guns cocked at her head, could feel them moving against her, and though she struggled, it only seemed to entertain them. A scream built up in Webby's throat and she startled awake, sobbing and yelping.
"Webby!" Huey said. "Shoosh, you were having a nightmare."
"Don't be so sure that was all it was," Lena said cryptically. Webby rubbed her eyes to see the older girl perched at the foot of her bed. The triplets had assumed positions either on her bed or on the floor nearby. When she was younger, Webby would've run for her grandmother and had her soothe away her tears. Granny was gone.
Fresh tears slipped down her cheeks and Huey wrapped his arms around her.
"Hey, we're here," he soothed. "You're gonna be okay. We're not going to let anything happen to you."
An odd expression flitted across Lena's face, though it might've been the lighting from the moon and the single lamp Dewey had clicked on. It almost looked like Lena resented Huey for consoling Webby, but nah, that was ridiculous. Webby shuddered and Louie moved to rub her back while Dewey took her hands.
Webby couldn't speak. Her throat was too tight and she pressed her face into Huey's shoulder. She felt rather than saw Lena approach, sitting in front of her.
"Scrooge wants me to help hunt down the Bloodhound Gang," Lena said quietly and Webby's heart seized in her chest. She lifted her head from Huey's shoulder.
"I wanted to wait until you were awake to go," she continued. She seemed to be debating something and then, with a shrug, decided to throw all caution to the wind. She leaned forward and kissed Webby on the cheek. Stunned, Webby removed a hand from Dewey's to touch her cheek.
"I'll be back," Lena promised without giving Webby a chance to react. Stunned, she watched the older girl leave the room and her heart ached, but she wasn't sure why.
Lips trembling, she called, "Wait!"
Lena turned, frowning as she came back. Uncertain what else to do, she handed her the friendship bracelet she'd never taken off. Lena no longer had hers, for reasons Lena had made clear to her, but Webby didn't want Lena to go down into the underground without feeling like Webby had her back in some way.
She couldn't speak beyond what she'd already said, so she held out the bracelet wordlessly and Lena took it, strapping it to her wrist. Webby was relieved, though, once she'd taken it and left.
"Dude," Louie said once Lena was out of earshot. "She kissed you."
Webby felt like she ought to have appreciated it more or responded better, but she was at a loss. Louie kept rubbing her back, although it was distracted, and Dewey and Huey were looking at the doorway that Lena had vacated.
"Webs?" Louie pressed. "You're not gonna say anything?"
Webby turned beet red and buried her face in her hands. She'd stopped crying and was flushing hard enough to cook an egg. Oh god. Lena had kissedher. Okay, it was a delayed reaction, but considering she'd woken up from a nightmare, she thought she was entitled.
"Think that's why she kept trying to get us to leave earlier?" Huey remarked in an undertone to Louie.
"It's weird as hell..." Louie said.
Without Louie propping her up, as he'd moved to Huey's side, she flopped back onto the bed. She wanted to bask in the moment. To be certain, that had eradicated all lingering thoughts of the nightmare. It was the first time she'd ever been kissed by a non-relative. And by Lena of all people!
"Crap, she's broken again," Louie said and poked at her.
Webby squealed and then dashed for the door only for the three boys to tackle her to the floor.
"You're not going anywhere," Huey said sternly. "Not again."
"Lena will come back," Louie added.
"How did I end up getting crushed?" Dewey muttered.
It was odd, but being in a dogpile with the boys also stirred her emotions. She didn't feel them as strongly as she might've before the incidents, but she felt more like herself than she had all week. She smiled and it didn't feel forced.
"You know, I could go for food," she said conversationally.
"So, all we needed to do to get her to eat was kiss her?" Dewey mused.
"I have no idea," Huey said and the boys uncovered her and helped her to her feet. "But I'll take it as a good sign."
Webby's heart clenched. Lena had better get back soon. She needed to talk to her about that kiss. Mmm...kissing...
She smiled wider.
Lena's heart was in her throat as she slipped into the underground. Scrooge had promised back-up if she needed it and Gizmoduck would be keyed to a button on her hip. She wished she could say she didn't need support, but she might be getting in over her head. Yes, she still had magic, but that didn't mean she knew how to use it.
The subway underground crackled with firelight and she heard glass bottles being thrown around. She'd have to walk a mile or so before encountering someone and while she walked, her anxiety soared. She bit the inside of her cheek. This was for Webby. She was returning to the horrifying world of the underground for Webby. Unconsciously, she rubbed the friendship bracelet Webby had given her.
She half expected Magica to be trailing her as her shadow and whispering invectives. It wasn't like she'd had anywhere else to live, not that Magica understood that. Her father was a raven, damn it. She didn't have a lot of options.
It was weird. Without Magica, Lena still felt like she was being trailed. Was she? A shadow flitted around the corner, but that might've been her paranoia. She placed a hand on her hip, where she carried a dagger in a sheath. She normally didn't carry a weapon, but Scrooge had insisted. He'd started to say that he would've sent someone like Mrs. Beakley with her...and then they both had had a moment. Yes, if Webby's grandmother had survived, none of this would've happened.
Lena didn't want to seem desperate and start running. Besides, running toward danger was never a great idea. She could feel her pulse pounding. This was the first time she'd been alone, completely alone, without Magica, in a dangerous place, in a very long time. Most of Lena's earliest memories included Magica in some form or another.
She told herself she could handle this. She knew what she was on about and she had a goal in mind. And Scrooge had insisted she not engage with the Bloodhound Gang. Lena unconsciously groped where the amulet had been and remembered, again, that she didn't have it. But Webby had given her the friendship bracelet. She stroked it and tried to feel braver than she was.
Swallowing past a lump in her throat, she willed herself to put one foot in front of the other. The last time she'd been down here, only Magica's influence had prevented her from getting jumped. As much as she loathed her aunt (and her hatred of her had only escalated, seeing Webby's condition), she wouldn't have minded her company. For once.
She halted and ducked around a corner when she heard people talking around a campfire. The smell of pot and booze was prevalent and she wrinkled her beak. Was it possible to get a contact high standing five feet away? Yeah, probably. But this could be the gang Webby was talking about. They looked villainous enough.
And they were bragging about something.
The four dogs were seated around the campfire and passing around what smelled to Lena like rotgut. Her stomach curdled.
"So, the little bitch was wriggling beneath my knife, see?" one of the bulldogs said and Lena took a deep breath, this time to keep herself from tearing in there and punching him in the face. She assessed her weapons, pitiful though they were, and decided she might as well make an impression. Yes, Scrooge had told her not to engage, but Lena's rage had simmered to the surface and she couldn't control herself.
Rocking back and forth on her heels innocently, Lena plopped down near their fire. They glowered at her and she smiled innocently.
"I couldn't help but overhear," she said. "I was just wondering who you pulled one over on."
"Not that it's any of your business," the bulldog said, voice slurred, "but..."
"It's none of your business," the leader growled. "Who are you?"
"If you're not going to be friendly..." Lena said and casually played with her knife. "I just thought you guys wanted to brag, but I guess I was wrong. I guess whatever you did wasn't good enough to tell someone else about."
"Fuck you, of course it was," the bravo who had spoken before growled. "And I don't know who it was. Just some little duckling I screwed five ways from Saturday."
It took all of Lena's self-control not to stab the bulldog in the heart. She could feel her blood pressure mounting and her hands trembled with rage. He spoke of abusing Webby so casually, like destroying her innocence meant so little to him. Lena's eyelid twitched. She was sick with hatred.
"She put up a hell of a fight, though," the leader mused, taking a large swallow of rotgut. "Damn near took me out. And Derek here, he couldn't even finish because she kicked him so hard in the balls that I swear they curled up inside of him."
Lena worked on controlling her breathing. She could almost hear Magica exhorting her to kill them. She might be outnumbered, but they were drunk and their guns and knives were too far away to be of much use in a fight. But if she killed them, no matter how tempting it was, Scrooge would never let her near Webby again. But, oh, did she want them dead. Somehow, she thought perhaps Scrooge might want them dead too.
Webby...
"You want a drink?" the leader asked and shook the bottle at her. She grabbed it from him and rather than taking a long pull, she smashed it over his head. The three others turned, stunned, and too inebriated to process what she'd done. By that time, she'd whirled around and pinned the leader against the wall with the glass shards digging into his neck.
"You made a big mistake," Lena growled. She kept the corners of her eyes on the other three in case they made any sudden moves. They were staggering and so drunk they fell over on attempting to stand. It would've been amusing if she weren't near apoplectic with rage.
"Is she your sister or something?" the leader asked, looking alarmed.
"Close enough," she spat. She kicked him in the groin and then before the others had the sense to give chase, she bolted away. She couldn't help but feel she was fleeing from a fight, but she had promised Scrooge she wouldn't engage. She'd already partially broken that promise.
And if she stayed any longer, she would murder them. The mile that she traveled down didn't seem so long coming back up, perhaps because she was running to get the aggression out. She didn't want to return to McDuck Manor in a homicidal rage.
Magica would've been proud of her for wanting to kill someone. She would've loved that her niece had such rage within her. That she could emulate Magica sickened Lena and competed with the fury surging through her. She thought she might be nauseous.
The worst part was that she could have killed them. They were vulnerable, weaponless, and drunk to boot. It would have been easy. Her hands trembled and she balled them into her shirt. Or, rather, she tried, only to discover she was still holding the broken bottle in her right hand.
She wasn't sure if she was crying or screaming. It was possible it was both. So easy...so easy to draw that little red line across the leader's throat...and what kind of person would she be if she did that? How would Webby regard her, never mind Scrooge? Webby was an innocent...or had been, before the Bloodhound Gang had sunk their claws into her.
She threw away the bottle and worked on calming herself down before she lost control. There was a thin line between sanity and madness. She feared if she crossed it, she'd never be able to come back. Webby's face, tear-streaked and despondent, flashed through her head and she ground her teeth. She touched the bracelet around her wrist. Webby loved her. Webby loved her and would never approve of Lena's homicidal leanings. She needed to get herself under control before she broke something. Or someone.
Webby almost felt like her old self. She was teasing the boys and although there was a hollowness in her chest, she could almost ignore it. Scrooge happened upon them attempting to make a cake at two in the morning and although Webby was more tired than she'd ever been in her life, she'd smiled at her uncle.
"Uh, hi, Uncle Scrooge," she said and smiled innocently. "We'll clean that up."
"I'm glad to see you smiling, lass," he said. He stroked her hair and she smiled back.
"It'll take a while," Dewey said and she looked at him. "To come to terms with it. But we're not leaving you. We're not going anywhere."
"And neither is Lena," she said fiercely and looked at Scrooge. "Right?"
"She'll be fine," he said, but she frowned at his brisk tone. "She will."
Webby would've felt better if she'd been able to go after her, but considering what had happened the last time she'd ventured out on her own, she didn't raise the subject. Her teeth chattered and Huey hugged her from behind. If she hadn't been aware that it was him, she would've thrown him over her shoulder.
"But will you be?" Scrooge asked in an undertone.
Webby's smile faltered. She didn't know, to be honest. Caught up in the moment, she'd almost forgotten Granny's death and her own abuse. Now that Scrooge had asked her, however, her skin prickled and she had to exercise restraint in not attacking Huey because she suddenly didn't want to be touched.
"I don't know," she said honestly. She offered Huey a weak smile. "Could you step back a little? I feel crowded."
"Okay...whatever you say," he said, though he looked confused and a little hurt.
"Thanks," she said. "Sorry."
"Just don't alienate the people who love you," Scrooge cautioned. Considering what he'd done right after the truth regarding the triplets' mother had come out, he ought to have firsthand knowledge of what happened when you pushed aside everyone who loved you and cared about you.
"I can't imagine what you're going through. I just want you to know we're all here for you."
She nodded and, to give herself something to do, took a bite out of the now cold omelet Huey had prepared. It had turned to sawdust in her mouth, but she chewed and forced a bigger smile anyway. She wasn't sure she was convincing anyone, though.
"It's getting late," Scrooge said. "Or is late at any rate. You should all go back to bed. You can clean up this mess later."
"I'm not tired," Louie lied and then concealed a yawn. Scrooge raised his eyebrows at him.
"All right, so I'm a little tired," he amended. "C'mon, let's go."
"Do you think you'll sleep all right by yourself?" Scrooge asked Webby earnestly.
Webby shrugged. "About as well as I did before."
That was to say, not very well at all. She was not relishing a return to the nightmares.
"We should stay with her," Huey protested.
She didn't know how to tell them 'no'. She wanted them there, yes, but she didn't want the reminder, either. They meant well. They loved her. And she loved them. And she trusted them not to hurt her-bearing in mind that she could easily hurt them, even without meaning to.
Her heart ached.
"I...I'll be okay if they don't want to," she said.
The triplets exchanged glances.
"We'll be right down the hall if you need us," Huey said after a minute of silent conferring. Sometimes, she thought that the triplets had telepathy and just didn't talk about it. That would be cool if she felt like investigating it. Suddenly, the rest of her good mood popped like a bubble and she was depressed again.
They headed back to sleep, Webby forcing a smile on her face though she wanted to shuffle her feet and hang her head. She even bade them good night in. a falsely jovial tone, though she doubted she'd sleep. Between the nightmares, she'd had before and Lena's disappearance on her behalf, not to mention everything that had happened recently hanging over her head, she wasn't sure she'd be able to sleep for a long time.
