Disclaimer: I don't own Ducktales!
Title: Counting Cards
Summary: Goldie and Scrooge have known each other a long time now, and that's given them a special kind of closeness. Goldie can't say the same for the children he's dragging around with him now, but if she wants to continue the way they have she's going to have to learn. Too bad Goldie's never been good at being good.
...
The fact of the matter was that Goldie, through no real fault of her own, had the attention span of a gnat. It had served her well in a lifetime of crime, quick getaways, and quiet rendezvous at cheap restaurants. That same sense of fulfillment wasn't easily found at a big mansion; and, sure, Goldie had had all the time in the world to replenish herself after the last few heists, re-color her hair (Beakley's bottle ended up producing a bright strawberry blonde Goldie wasn't entirely certain was an honest mistake or the housekeeper's way of getting to her, but it was a simple enough fix), lounge around and catch up on her soap operas and just generally be a slob.
But she's more than that. She's Goldie O'Gilt, damnit, and she shouldn't be eating a lame cheese platter at three a.m. and watching some R-rated film like a randy teenager trying to slip something naughty while the parents were sleeping, but house arrest and Beakley had degraded her to this point. At least Duckworth would've been kind enough to leave her some whisky.
"Oh, honey," she said, wincing sympathetically as the main lady undressed. "You're still red from de-plucking. Get some lotion and chocolate and call it a night."
A rattling in the distance made her hit the mute button on her remote, head cocked slightly. Beakley had retired earlier, and Goldie knew that Donald was far too stubborn to come in asking for anything regardless of the hour. Something glass hit the floor with a guttural noise that was probably a curse. Goldie grabbed the butter knife she'd brought out with the cheese platter and tested its sharpness. It wasn't anything fancy, but she's done more with less. She turned the TV off and set the remote on the table, waiting until her eyes adjusted to the darkness before moving out.
The noises led her to the kitchen. The door was cracked, spilling light into the hallway. Dumb move, Goldie thought, pressing her back against the wall. She twirled the knife around and waited without blinking.
The door creaked further open, and Goldie lashed out. A flash of brown and her butter knife was embedded in what looked vaguely like beaver furs.
"Goddamnit, Goldie!" A familiar voice growled. Scrooge dropped the hunk of furs from his shoulder to glare at her proper. "There's a pricey chupacabra skin in there!"
She straightened, smiling in spite of herself. "Then maybe you shouldn't sneak into your own house next time, you big baby."
"Yew've done somethin' to yer hair," he observed.
"Blame Beakley for that one."
"Join me fer a cuppa tea 'fore bed?"
Goldie hefted the fur off the ground. "If you insist."
Scrooge gazed at her a second, smiling, before something caught his eye over her shoulder and it fell. "Huey? What're yew doin' up this early?"
"Are you serious?" Huey asked, scoffing. Goldie politely moved out of the line of sight as the triplet came closer. "You just left! There wasn't even a note! How was anyone supposed to sleep with you gone like that?"
"Oh." Scrooge looked ashamed. "Well, I'm home now, so yew can rest easy."
He took a step closer. "You don't just leave like that, Uncle Scrooge. Even if you can't tell us where you're going, you usually leave us a note or something." Huey waved a hand in her direction. "Instead you left us to this criminal- who, I might add, threatened to toss Louie over the banister!"
"I didn't threaten to throw him over the banister," Goldie interjected. "I specifically said that that one downside to this babysitting business was that I couldn't toss children over the banister."
"Ye have a point," Scrooge conceded. "This wasn't my most thought out plan."
"Just call somebody next time, okay? I don't care who."
Goldie watched with no real surprise as the feathers on Scrooge's neck rose defensively, fluffing the short duck up in hopes of making a more intimidating figure out of him. "Lad, I'm an adult. I donnane need a curfew and I certainly don't require check-ins."
"This isn't about you!" Huey spat bitterly. "We're just kids. We need you. If nothing else, we at least need to know you're not dead in a ditch somewhere!"
The fight left Scrooge in a millisecond. His face softened. "Huey, I didn't mean-"
Huey turned away. "I'm going to bed." They watched without speaking as the boy trailed back into the shadows, calling a distant good night over his shoulder. For a boy wearing a cap at three in the morning, he's good at cutting deep.
"So," Goldie prompted. "Tea?"
Scrooge took the bundle from her arms with a sigh, shaking his head. "No, thanks. I think I'll be heading off to bed meself."
"I'll join you."
"I'd rather ye didn't."
She blinked at him, surprised, as he left her to her cheeses and bland pornography. "Oh. Okay."
Author's Note: This one was all sorts of changes lol. First it was gonna be Goldie, randomly taking the kids on an adventure (and basically half-neglecting them) and coming home to find Scrooge back and he displeased with Goldie taking His Kids. Then it was gonna be Lena instead of Huey, but I realized that I needed some Huey stuff.
Also there might be some capitalizing errors. I just got my nails done, and they're super pretty and I love them but the shift key is being a bit of a pain.
-Mandaree1