Notes:

Posted early because I want to wake up to reviews.

Also, didn't want to update on Saturday when the new ep airs.

Gladstone was markedly less excited to see her than she was to see him. She'd entered McDuck Manor and found him easily; he was attempting to contact the space station, which confused her. As far as she knew, Della Duck was gone for good. It left her conflicted because she hadn't hated her the way she loathed Scrooge. She even had what passed for a soft spot for Della.

"What?" Magica said and glanced around her. "Do I have something on my cape?"

"I was working with Lena to track down the Bloodhound Gang," he said quietly. "I can't help but notice that you're alone."

"Did you really think I was going to save her?" Magica sniffed. "She's a blood traitor. And she even fell for that Webster to boot. She's no kin of mine."

"She's your niece," he objected. "Lena thinks you're a monster."

"Oh, does she?" Magica affected a disinterested tone. "I suppose it takes one to know one. Only a monster would betray her own blood."

"She said you raised her and I can't help but notice that she flinches when I move a certain way, almost like she was hit."

"Don't be ridiculous," she scoffed. "I couldn't possibly have struck her as a shadow."

Yet she must've had some corporeal form because otherwise, Lena's behavior didn't add up. Magica waved her hand, dismissing this, and plopped onto the couch near Gladstone. She patted the seat beside her.

"You're acting like we're old friends. We're not."

"Oh?" She feigned indifference, but she was actually wounded by his comment. What the hell had Lena said to him? She was starting to regret her rash decision to have Lena released and then fed. Then again...she grinned to herself. Lena wouldn't be feeding herself any time soon with two dislocated arms.

"I thought we grew up together. Perhaps I'm mistaken," she said. He still hadn't sat down and it irked her. It had been more than fifteen years since she'd touched him and the yearning was so strong as to be almost undeniable. She smoothed her dress out to keep from grabbing him and yanking him down beside her.

"Magica…" he said and sat down beside her finally. Her heart thudded.

"If you say one more thing about Lena," she warned, "then this conversation is over."

Gladstone sighed, folding his arms across his chest. She couldn't stop herself. She unfolded them and her hands lingered on his arms. This time, her heart rate had kicked into overdrive. Just kiss me already, damn you…

"Why are you associating with people like the Bloodhound Gang. I know you pride yourself on your maliciousness and malevolence, but...you're too good for them," he said and leaned into her. Their knees bumped and she brought herself closer. She was barely breathing, holding her breath for their beaks to touch.

Magica smiled at him. "You're the only person who can get away with saying something like that."

"I'm serious, Magica," he said. "Your associating with them is only making you look worse by comparison, even though you don't engage in that sort of behavior. I get that you're upset about being a shadow for fifteen years, but this isn't a good way to make a comeback."

"Oh?" she asked, arching her eyebrows. "And what would you do instead?"

He smiled disarmingly. "I would've had the luck not to be captured in the first place."

She scoffed. "Not all of us have all the luck in the universe, Gladstone."

He tensed as if knowing he would have to broach a subject she wouldn't like. "Magica, we have to talk about Lena."

"Why?" she snapped. "We were having such a good time."

"You can't keep abusing her like that. She's a good kid," he said.

"And you know that how?" she asked, folding her arms across her chest. "She and her bratty 'best friend' tried to kill me, along with their friends. What makes you think I'd even consider lenience with her?"

She glowered at him. "Don't tell me it was my fault. I don't want to hear it. I came here because I haven't seen you in fifteen years and I've missed you. I'm not here for a lecture on my behavior."

"I should've known this wouldn't work," he said, shaking his head, and she bristled.

"You've known her a couple days and you're already taking her side over mine?" she snapped. "What happened to loyalty? You don't even know how I came to be her shadow, nor why I behaved as I did. How dare you side with her."

Gladstone frowned and she frowned back. Did he really expect her to change her tune?

"You're right," he said after a minute. "I don't. And we have more history than I do with Lena."

"Exactly," she said and shifted on the couch so that she was half in his lap. Damn it, it'd been fifteen years and she'd been touch starved. And she was an adult and she had needs too. She shifted fully onto his lap, though she wasn't straddling him, despite her yearning to do so.

She was being remarkably patient, she thought, for being ensnared in a fucking dime for fifteen years. After all, she could've shoved him against the couch and had her way with him already. And wasn't that tempting.

"If I promise to do something about Lena, will you stop bringing it up and kiss me already?" she huffed.

He smiled. "Yes."

She kissed him soundly and he kissed her back. As she did, she noted his interest rising. This was promising. And besides, she said she'd do something about Lena. She'd never specified what that "something" was. Ha.

What a fool.

After their third coupling, Gladstone was too drained to do anything. She'd planned on that, although she hadn't expected how much she'd craved him. Even after three times, she still wanted more. Well, she could imbue him with magic and restore him or she could check on her pet project. Decisions, decisions.

Of course, if she kept at it, she'd probably end up walking strangely for a while. He was half asleep against her and she stroked his head feathers absently. Despite his arrogance or perhaps because of it, he was quite good at what he did. Had anyone else been in the manor, they would've heard her response. It was almost a pity that Scrooge and the brats were out. They could've had quite a show.

She smirked at the couch. No one was going to be sitting on it again after what they'd done. Running her fingers through her hair, she contemplated the problem of Lena. Regardless of how Lena had betrayed her, she didn't hate her enough to want her dead. And she was suffering from two dislocated arms. So it wasn't like Lena was walking around with a smile on her face.

Magica stretched and smiled at the tingling sensation she had. Part of Gladstone's luck was how good he was at certain acts and she'd orgasmed multiple times. Oh, to hell with it.

She snuggled back against him. Lena could wait. When Gladstone woke up, they could continue.

Lena de Spell was not enjoying herself, not remotely. Although the gang did keep their hands to themselves, they scanned her up and down with their eyes and made lewd gestures at her. They'd also gagged her and then propped her up in a chair. Her shoulders and arms were on fire and she was having a hard time holding back tears. She should've known better than to trust the word of someone who had a fling with Magica. For all she knew, she'd be here until Webby and the others came back.

If they ever found her. Lena felt laughter burning her throat. They might not find her until Magica willed it. Then where would she be? Probably raped in a heap somewhere.

How long could they hold out with Magica's threat? They'd behaved for the last few hours, but that didn't mean anything. You couldn't trust the word of assholes like these. They'd bound her legs to the chair and the two conscious members of the gang were pacing around her and licking their lips.

Lena jumped in the chair and then hissed when it jostled her arms. The resulting trauma brought her to tears again. This was, bar none, the worst experience she'd had in recent history. She was letting Webby down, she'd been abandoned by someone who claimed to care about her, and these hounds were circling her like vultures. One of them touched her thigh and she swung out, but her kick didn't connect.

Lecherous bastards. So much for Magica's command.

Terror settled in. They might actually do it. Webby had fought off the rest of them and convinced them she wasn't worth the trouble. Lena had no defense. Everything within her went cold.

On the table, the plates began to float.

"Her eyes are glowing," Mr. Gruff said nervously.

Was she doing that? She knew she had a modicum of magic left over from Magica, but she'd never been able to channel it. They hadn't bothered to bind her arms behind her back, so if she could heal herself, she could untie her legs and flee. Or at least signal help.

They'd stolen the button from her waist but hadn't destroyed it. Lena glanced at the plates and focused on hitting the button, which was lying temptingly on the table too. The first plate missed, but the second one struck square. Sweat beaded on her forehead and she felt ill, nauseous and about to collapse.

Mr, Gruff scowled. "Did she just fucking call Gizmoduck?"

"Did she?" Mr. Scar countered and scowled at Lena. "She's more trouble than she's worth. Just like that little bitch 'Webby'."

Stop saying her name...it sounds wrong in your mouth...you're fouling it up…

"But she's the bait," Mr. Gruff protested.

"Then knock her the fuck out and see if Magica comes back," Mr. Scar snapped. "We can't have her conscious."

"Then can we…?"

"If she doesn't come back within the next day, then yes," he said and smirked. "We'll play with our new toy."

Lena snarled, fighting against her bindings and sending pain skyrocketing through her. Her vision blacked out again and she slumped in the chair. All the fight was gone from her and she whimpered. Her safety depended on Magica and her whims. And whether Gladstone could convince Magica to shape up.

Gizmoduck hadn't appeared the last two times he'd been summoned-well, he had, but too late, which Lena was counting against him. She wasn't holding her breath for him to show now and she eyed Mr. Scar warily. He flexed his hands like he wanted to strangle her. She was about to stammer out an excuse for why they couldn't kill her, but the gag in her mouth prevented conversation. With her arms dislocated, they were as good as bound anyway.

Something crashed overhead and she flinched, gritting her teeth against the pain that followed. Mr. Scar and Mr. Gruff assumed defensive positions as the cavern wall crashed down. She could taste her heartbeat in her mouth.

Here and improbably on time. She wouldn't have to wait to see if Gladstone ever changed his tune. She was so relieved she almost passed out again.

"That fucking bitch!" Mr. Gruff snarled and that was about all he had time to say before Gizmoduck slammed him into the wall and knocked him out.

"Are you okay?" Gizmoduck asked her and she shook her head. She couldn't really speak, not with the gag in her mouth, and it wasn't like she could shrug.

Mr. Scar pulled out a knife and rushed to Lena's side, presumably to hold her at knifepoint. He didn't reach her before Gizmoduck likewise knocked him out. This time, Lena did black out for a few seconds and when she came to, she found herself in Gizmoduck's mechanical arms.

"I don't know how to reset your shoulders," Gizmoduck said apologetically. "I'm going to have to take you to the hospital."

He'd removed her gag and she groaned, clenching her eyes shut against the nascent stabbing and burning that ran through her whenever he inadvertently jostled her.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he said at her gasps. "I'm getting you there as fast as possible, I promise."

Lena clamped her beak shut against more involuntary cries. Gizmoduck meant well. Plus, with him doing his job, perhaps he'd be able to tell Scrooge where the Bloodhound Gang was and he could apprehend them. Lena wasn't sure it'd work out that way, but she hoped it did.

The pain was lulling her toward unconsciousness and she hung on. She lapsed into semi-consciousness instead and ignored Gizmoduck's rambling. Her thoughts were fragmented and mostly consisted of worrying about Webby and whether the Bloodhound Gang would scramble now that she'd been rescued from them.

She also spared a few seconds for Gladstone and Magica.

Gizmoduck rushed her through the ER and got her seen quickly, perhaps because of their mutual ties to Scrooge McDuck. Money spoke in Duckberg. Resetting her shoulders definitely stirred her out of semi-consciousness, though, because bar none, that was the worst pain she'd ever been in. Any other thoughts were a fallacy.

They gave her a sedative to help her sleep and she drifted off not long after. When she closed her eyes, she saw the Bloodhound Gang and Webby...and she reached out impotently toward the latter. She was the darkness to Webby's light and she was oddly okay with that for the time being.

Webby noticed that although Donald had had a calming influence on his youngest nephew, Louie still seemed discontent with the situation. As for herself, she had a difficult time concentrating on anything. She knew she ought to be over the moon (literally and figuratively) that Della Duck had returned. In the past, she would've been brimming over with questions and probably bother Della half to death. Now her mind ran blank and she spent most of her time huddled in her cabin when she wasn't forced to socialize.

"I'm worried about you," Dewey said, sticking his head in her room. She suppressed a sigh. Sometimes it felt like he and Louie were competing to show here which one of them cared more. Huey was concerned too, but he was torn between that and his mother. Dewey was too, to a greater extent, which was why she ought to be surprised he'd ventured in here. She wasn't. She wasn't anything right now.

Webby should produce a bright smile and send him on his way. After all, his mother's reappearance was more important than anything she could offer him. She ought to, but she couldn't. Drained to the dregs between her fretting over Lena, wondering if she'd been abandoned again, the nightmares, and the real life events that had created them, Webby had nothing left to pretend with.

"Can I come in?" he asked and she shrugged. He sat beside her.

"Hey," he said softly and placed his hand near hers without touching it. She wanted Lena so badly in that instant that her chest ached. She wanted to be with someone without pressure, without feeling she was disappointing someone by not responding the way they wanted. Louie, Dewey, and Lena were pulling her in three different directions.

"I thought you'd be all over this," he said. "You're like a fangirl with the McDuck lore."

"Maybe I would've been…" she muttered and hugged her knees. Dewey draped an arm around her shoulders. She hated this. She wasn't sure whether he genuinely cared or whether he was trying to "score points" in his battle with Louie. Was Dewey really here because he wanted to be? Or to lord it over his brother?

"I mean it," he said. "The fangirl thing and that I'm worried about you. You're not like this."

Maybe she was now. Maybe this was what happened when someone destroyed her light. She hung her head.

"You have to talk about it," he pressed. "You can't keep holding it in."

"Your mom just came back," she mumbled, lifting her head and ignoring the tears burning the corners of her eyes. "She's more important than me."

"But she's been missing for ten years…" he started, uncertain.

"Exactly," she said. She didn't know why she was pushing him away. It was like before with Lena, where she'd tried to chase her out of her bedroom. She wanted Dewey nearby, but she didn't think she deserved him. Besides, she'd meant what she'd said. Their mother took precedence over her.

"Your mom's been missing for so long and you finally have a chance to get to know her," she said. "You should do it. You were desperate to find out about her and now you can."

"What I meant is that I've known you for longer than her, technically," he said. "And we're friends, aren't we? You tell friends things."

"You got back the person you lost," she burst out. "Granny's never coming back. My parents abandoned me when I was barely hatched. You should enjoy the time with the family you have. I'm not family."

"Yes, you are," he said, his voice rising. The door opened again and Louie and Huey were the other side. The room wasn't large enough to accommodate all four of them, so the other two boys stood outside.

"I'm not your sister," she snapped. "I'm a Vanderquack, not a Duck. Or a McDuck."

"You shouldn't be by yourself," Huey said. "You're hurting yourself."

Webby had no reply for that. After a few terse moments, she regarded the triplets.

"Why are you here and not with your mom?" she asked quietly.

"Because we love you," Dewey said. "Like I said, we love you and we're worried about you. You have to talk to us. You didn't want to talk to us when Mrs. Beakley died and that's okay, we get that. But it's been one thing after another with you and you haven't told us about any of it. You didn't even tell us what the Bloodhound Gang did. We had to find out secondhand."

She didn't even know where to start. It felt like she was a coil wound up so tightly she couldn't tell where she began and ended. Tears streaked her cheeks and Dewey hugged her. Louie and Huey tried to enter the cabin anyway and got stuck in the doorway. Eventually, Huey came in and Louie did too. The cabin was too cramped and Huey wound up in the doorway again. Louie grabbed her hand and Dewey wrapped his arms around her.

"Let it out, Webs," Dewey said.

She looked up when she heard the sound of stumbling, a cane clattering, and then Huey and Scrooge yelping. Confused, she swiped at her eyes.

"You know, it'd be easier if you came out of there, lass," Scrooge said. "This spaceship isn't big enough for all of you in one cabin."

"Okay, I know we're all here because we're worried about Webby, but why are you here?" Louie asked.

"I got a ping from Gizmoduck," Scrooge said. "We're close enough to Earth's atmosphere to send and receive messages, if they're short enough. He didn't say very much because of the time constraint, but he did mention Lena."

Webby bolted upright. "Lena?"

"Aye, lass, he has her. And she's in the hospital," he said.

"What? Why?" she exclaimed.

"That I don't know," he answered. "We couldn't send more than a few seconds worth of message back and forth."

"Can't you call him back?" she begged. "I need to talk to him. I need to see her."

"It's late in Duckberg," he said. "You'll have to wait a few hours."

"I can't wait!" she protested. "What if she's seriously hurt? What was she doing that she needed Gizmoduck to rescue her?"

Scrooge's expression darkened. "I have suspicions about that."

"You don't think she went after the Gang by herself, do you?" Huey asked.

"I do," he said. "And I think she was in over her head."

He scowled. "There's one more thing. I contacted McDuck Manor and Gladstone answered. With Magica."

"What?!" the four children exclaimed.

"What is Magica's doing over our house?" Dewey said.

"Magica and Gladstone had an affair years back," Scrooge said. His eyes flashed. "They must've rekindled the spark."

"Wait, our Uncle Gladstone had a fling with Magica?" Dewey said. "Your sworn enemy."

"There are times when other body parts dictate relationships," Scrooge said, gripping his cane tightly. "I am going to have to have a talk with Gladstone when we get back. Lena too for a different reason."

"She could've been killed…" Webby said, whose mind had latched onto Lena and would not be budged from her.

"She could've been," Scrooge agreed. "She was very lucky, which makes me wonder, along with Gladstone being at the Manor, what exactly is going on here."

"Man, that's too gross to even joke about," Louie said. "Anyone else it'd be funny. But Magica?"

"I know," Scrooge said. "A long conversation with Gladstone."

He pushed past his grand-nephews to stroke Webby's hair and head feathers. "You should probably talk to Lena too when we get back. Convince her not to go running off into danger because she thinks she's helping."

"How is getting captured helping?" Huey asked.

"I suspect she didn't anticipate being captured," Scrooge said. "Or else she thought that she could find them and bring them to my attention regardless of what happened to her."

"That's...suicidal," Webby said quietly. "Why would Lena do that?"

"You just answered your own question," Scrooge said and shook his head. "I'd ask Launchpad if we can get there any faster, but I don't want to crash into Duckberg."