Author's Note: This was the original ending for the series. I had run up against a wall and didn't know where to go. I might actually end this particular fic here and start the next fic on a new note. What do you guys think?
Webby returned to the manor with a large bag full of books in one hand, Lena's hand in hers in her right. Lena had grown protective over her, which was cute; as if the older girl could really protect her against the horrors Webby possessed in her mind. She appreciated the thought. Before they reached the gate, she turned and nuzzled Lena's beak with her own. Louie huffed behind them, but more because they were blocking the entrance than because he was that annoyed.
Smiling at her girlfriend (girlfriend!), Webby rang the buzzer and they all slipped inside. They found the adults all seated around the dining room table, including an additional woman Webby didn't recognize. Her picture matched the one on Mrs. Beakley's phone. That must be her mother. Webby stopped dead in the doorway and the boys looked over and around her. Lena's hand on hers was tight now, constricting blood flow.
"Webbigail?" Wren said, jumping out of her seat and dashing to her. Webby tensed and Wren halted, frowning at her daughter.
"I'm sorry, Webby," Scrooge said. "This wasn't my idea."
Judging by the looks the others wore, it wasn't theirs either. Donald, in particular, was scrutinizing Wren. Webby found herself looking for her grandmother and then it dawned on her again, painfully, that her grandmother would never sit at that table again. Or stand there, dictating house rules. She dropped her gaze.
"So, what's she doing here?" Louie asked.
"She insists that she wants to be in her daughter's life," Scrooge said in a tone that indicated he doubted it. He scoffed.
"Why now?" Huey asked.
"I heard about Magica's attack on the manor," Wren answered. Webby moved aside so that the others could enter, though Lena's hand on hers was tight. Wren could hardly fail to notice the older girl positioning herself defensively in front of her daughter.
As everyone was staring at her, Wren cleared her throat and continued.
"I decided that Webby needed me," she said and then flushed. "I know I should've been from the beginning, but I was afraid."
"Of what?" Dewey asked. Della's gaze hardened and Webby wondered whether that same thought had run through Della's mind prior to stealing the Spear of Selene.
"Her father," Wren said and hugged herself. All eyes went to Webby, whose gaze flitted between her mother and then Lena. Lena was cutting off circulation in her hand, but she didn't want to ask her to release her. She was afraid if she did, she'd come undone.
"Who is my father?" Webby asked quietly and realized she was being impertinent. She didn't know how to cushion the blow, though, or ask it another way, now that her mother had broached the subject.
"I...I don't really want to go into that right now," Wren said, shooting Scrooge a sidelong glance Webby couldn't interpret. Webby was again aware of how empty the table seemed without her grandmother.
"But he was intimidating?" Huey asked.
"He was a member of FOWL," Scrooge said and Wren shot him a venomous look. "What? He was. Beakley told me about him before she passed, in case the situation ever arose where he might make a claim on Webbigail."
"Thankfully," Wren said, still glaring, "Steelbeak has no idea you exist."
"Steelbeak?" Webby said. "I don't remember Agent 22 going up against him…"
"She didn't," Wren answered, her expression pained. "I did."
Webby's stomach knotted. There was more to this than she was saying, but perhaps this wasn't the best forum for it right now. Lena's hand was tight on hers, almost enough to hurt. Webby knew Lena considered her precious and valued what was left of her innocence, which prompted her to want to protect her.
"I'm sorry," Wren said, looking at Webby. "I'm sorry I left you. I thought my mother would do a better job raising you than I ever could. I'm horrible with kids. But...I'm your only family. Your only family worth a damn, anyway. And I thought maybe you and I could, you know...be a family together."
Scrooge folded his arms across his chest. Nearby, Donald was mirroring him.
"I guess we can try it…" Webby said, uncertain. She looked back at Lena and then the boys. "I mean, if we're already going to have one reunion, why not another?"
"Good," Wren said and then smiled weakly. "I sounded like my mother just then. I hope that won't be too disconcerting to you, Webby. I'll do my best."
Scrooge eyed Wren and then looked back at Della, who looked guiltily back at him.
"We'll see how things go, shall we?" he said. "Now that Magica de Spell is out of the picture, as well as the Bloodhound Gang, and everyone's back here, well...we might be able to return to some semblance of normal."
"Nothing is ever normal with this family," Louie groused.
Scrooge smiled gently at him. "As normal we get, lad."
"At least your normal family is better than mine," Lena whispered to Webby. "My normal family is 'psychotic' on default mode."
"Don't worry," Webby reassured her. "You'll enjoy being a McDuck."
Lena glanced over at Scrooge. "Maybe."
She hugged Webby to her. "I'll enjoy being your girlfriend more. But we can work on the McDuck family dynamic stuff. I'm not going anywhere, after all."
"And neither am I," she confirmed, though she didn't know where she'd go if she could. She hugged Lena back.
Whatever they had to face, they would face it together. As a family. And friends. And girlfriend. Webby smiled, one of the few genuine smiles she'd had in the last few months, and for the first time in a while, had hope for the future.