Pirates Versus Privates, 14

The weekend was over and most women in the N.A.V.Y. were expected to pick up the slack and dive right into their week once Monday arrived. Daisy, however, saw it as just another day and saw no reason to work harder than she usually did. On particularly slow days, she would sneak back into her and Minnie's room to arrange another date with her multiple side boyfriends. But as she communicated with Gladstone Gander over the radio that day, she was mostly agreeing to everything he was saying without listening to the words.  Her mind was elsewhere.

Once again, Donald had canceled a date of theirs, and when Daisy asked Ducksworth about it, once again he said Donald was going to see Donna. Ducksworth hadn't given any whys or explanations behind it so Daisy was left to her own destructive imagination.  Was Donald actually cheating on her? She never thought he had the gall, so her blame went to Donna. Obviously Donna was seducing Donald and trying to steal him away. Donald was just too weak to resist her advances.

"Daisy?" Gladstone spoke louder to try and get her attention back to him. "I said do you want the diamond necklace, or the emerald choker?" He thought she was being awfully quiet which was unlike her.

"Huh?" Daisy looked at the radio as she was readdressed. "Oh…  either one is fine, honey. You're such a sweetheart." She tried to sound enthused about the gift prospect but it was clear her heart wasn't into it. Despite all the men she had on her arms, the thought of Donald being with anyone beside her was enough to occupy her mind and leave room for little else. It just wasn't right, it just wasn't fair. Donald was hers and hers alone, what was so difficult to understand about that?

"Is everything okay, sugar plum?" Gladstone didn't actually care for her problems and found her sadness quite boring. She needed to get back to praising him and his fabulous wealth like a good woman was supposed to do. "You seem out of sorts today."

Daisy strummed her fingers on her arm, and looked at her bed. Slowly a decision was being made, and she reached out toward the radio. "I'm sorry, Gladstone dear. I'm not feeling too well. I'll try and call you later." She clicked off her end without a goodbye. She figured Gladstone would be irked but would also easily get over it. The relationships she had with these boys were of sheer fun and pleasure. Emotions and bonds were never even considered. As for now, Daisy was about to bend the bonds that were precious to her.

Taking a breath, she made sure the door was locked, covered the only window in the room, dimmed the lights, and then stood in front of their bunk bed. Figaro was nestling cozily on Minnie's pillow, not making a sound. Daisy had welcomed the newest roommate and the girls agreed to keep his presence a secret since pets were not allowed in their rooms. Daisy was still puzzled as to where and why Minnie got the kitten but there were more pressing matters to take care of. Ever so quietly, she slid her hand under her mattress, and pulled out a fake silver compact mirror case. It had fake jewelry twisted in but looked like it could have blended in amongst Daisy's other elaborate gifts.

During Prince Edward's wedding, Daisy had noticed the compact falling out of Goofy's clothes when he made his entrance. It was the very same compact Goofy had tried to give to Minnie by his captain's orders, and he had held onto it ever since the rejection. Daisy had managed to pick up during the wedding fiasco and the night after leaving Horace at the hospital she opened it. She was deeply surprised to see Mickey's quarters in the mirror, and had shut it closed at once. She knew she should hand it over to her superiors, but temptation had made her keep it. Perhaps someday it could come in handy.

Someday had come. Exhaling deeply, she opened the compact and looked at the video screen. The other compact was on Mickey's desk lazily left open. She could see he was half asleep in his chair with a bottle of rum in one hand. Daisy cleared her throat, but he didn't hear her and instead he took another swig. She cleared it again, but still nothing. Agitated, Daisy hissed directly to the screen. "Captain Mickey!"

Mickey fell out of his chair as the voice appeared to come out of nowhere. The bottle was now partially stuck in his mouth, and it only popped out when he shook his head hard. He stood up and rubbed his sore sides before looking around for the source of the noise. "Who's there? What's goin' on?"

"Over here, stupid." Daisy grumbled, making sure to keep her voice low so that no one outside of the room could hear her. "The compact! The compact!"

Mickey's eyes darted around until they finally hit the compact. He carefully walked over and then took the compact into his hands, inspecting the video. "… Hey, yer Minnie's friend." He recognized her but couldn't quite put the face to a name. It had something to do with flowers. "Uh… Rose, or Sunflower?"

"Who would name their kid Sunflower?" Daisy rolled her eyes, but then realized insulting his intelligence was the last thing she needed to do right now. "My name is Daisy.  I… I need your help."

Mickey raised an eyebrow. "Where did ye get this? We're the only ones with this technology." Or so he had been told by his benefactor. "Don't tell me Goofy gave it ta the wrong lass!"

"It's not important how I got it." Daisy tried to avoid any unnecessary questions and instead went for the point again. "What's important is, I want your help, and if you do it for me, I can give you something you want."

Mickey faked a yawn to show his dissatisfaction. "Help out a N.A.V.Y. lass? Ye girls don't think much a me at all. Sounds like a trap ta me." He moved his hand and appeared ready to close the compact and end the conversation.

Daisy believed the only thing she could do was dig this grave deeper for herself. "I-It's about Minnie!" Mickey's hand stopped and Daisy's guilt increased tenfold. She didn't want to involve her best friend in this deal, but surely Minnie would understand. This was a precautionary measure and had to be done. "If you help me out, I promise you something big towards her! Something you'll really want about her! If we meet up, I can give you a preview!"

Mickey licked rum off of his lips. Though he was still inclined to believe this was some kind of trap, his insatiable drive for Minnie could not let him refuse this deal. He remembered from his time on the Hawkins how Minnie would talk of Daisy and the two were almost like sisters. If anyone knew Minnie well, it had to be Daisy. He didn't see this as any kind of betrayal, and slowly nodded. "… Suppose I got some free time. Tell ye what, Marigold-"

"Daisy."

"-Lily, remember that nice lil' bar ye girls were assigned ta look over the other day?" Wearing a confident smile, he held up two fingers.  "Let's ye and I meet up there in two days.  Bring me the goods, and we'll see what I can do fer ye. Got a deal?"

Daisy nodded in agreement. It wouldn't be too hard to convince her superiors that she should go back to the bar for a follow up investigation. "We have a deal." The video then abruptly went black, and Daisy understood that Mickey had closed the compact and had hung up on her. She pouted and closed her own compact. "He didn't even say goodbye! How rude." Ignoring her glaring hypocrisy once more, she stuck the compact under her mattress and began to slide out another hidden treasure. This was what she intended to trade for help and knew only Mickey would want it. As long as no one found out what she was going to do with it, no one would get hurt.  Minnie would forgive her, as would Donald.

As she went over which of her 'treasures' to take for the bar deal, she twisted her engagement ring on her finger without meaning to do so. She twisted it over, and over, and over.

~*~

The afternoon that Daisy was making her ill fated decisions was a particularly sunny one. It was lovely weather to bask in and many people chose to eat outside that day. Morgana was one of them but thanks to the topic of the conversation she was having, her appetite was dwindling. With her head being supported by one hand, she was using a free finger to move the ice in her glass, listening to the faint clink it made. She only stopped when the head of the table was staring right at her. Morgana calmly sat up straight and flicked some water off of her finger. "I'm sorry, Auntie, could you say that again?"

Magica had her hands folded on the table, looking annoyed but still dignified. "Is something the matter with your food, Morgana? You've barely touched it. We can always send it back and get you something else." She then looked to her left at the third guest at the table. "How is your meal, Doctor Bushroot?"

Doctor Reginald Bushroot paused in eating his salad, causing a sliver of lettuce to stick out of his beak. He was a balding duck with many years behind him, and he sheepishly took the sliver out of his mouth to answer the question. 'Oh, it's, uh, really good, Miss De Spell! Simply scrumptious. I've never eaten in the air before!" He gestured with his fork to their surroundings. The trio was eating on one of Magica's personal air ships, a cruise ship that was filled to the brim with people working for the De Spell group. The trio was eating their lunch outside on a white table, letting the occasional gust of air go through their hair and feathers.

Magica smiled at the compliment. "Sometimes I can't imagine eating any other way. And I always think a meeting should be more than just talking." Her hard look was on Morgana again, a silent way of telling her to pay attention and give Magica the information she was asking for. "How is that dreadful business with the Justice Ducks going? We still haven't gotten any donations from Drake Mallard."

Morgana's hesitation was more embarrassing than Reginald's lettuce mishap. Her cheeks went tomato red and her eyes avoided contact with Magica. "… It's complicated, Auntie." She forced herself to speak, knowing there was no way Magica could understand the emotional problems Morgana was facing. "None of our research told me that he had a daughter."

"A daughter!" Bushroot repeated in disbelief, twirling his fork around the remaining vegetables. "Geez, the guy is fighting crime and raising a family… where is his free time? I'd go nuts in his shoes… or his cape." He smiled but the joke didn't fly and if Magica's intensified glare said anything, this wasn't his debate to intrude on.

"I fail to see what's so complicated about it." Magica's eyes contained anger but her face was kind and smiling wide. "If anything, it gives us another advantage. We know his true identity and his finances, and know we know he has family. If he continues to try and investigate my company and the notebook, we know exactly where to put the pressure on. I should hope you made that perfectly clear to him. I'd hate to think all of those dates I paid for resulted in nothing."

Morgana squirmed in her seat and grabbed her glass to drink, hoping to stall for answers by drinking. She knew about the illegal side jobs of the De Spell group but she didn't think Magica would go so far as to threaten a child's life. Morgana was raised by her father since her mother had died in childbirth, and so she had admired the single father aspect she had seen in Drake. She had become fond of him during their dates and now this devotion to his daughter had sealed the deal. She liked him, perhaps even loved him, but if Magica got a whiff of that, nobody was safe. She emptied her glass and managed to create a suitable answer. "He understood full well why I was there and what I knew. He shouldn't be bothering us anymore."

Magica clapped her hands once in approval. "Splendid! Once Darkwing gives up on the investigation, his followers will do the same. It'll save us a lot of work." With that matter resolved, she faced Bushroot. "And when we're sure he's no longer a thorn in our side, your team can move forward. I'm already greatly impressed by what you and your coworkers have been able to accomplish."

Bushroot sighed in relief, glad that the awkward family chatter was over for now. "We all really appreciate your financial efforts, Miss De Spell. Thanks to you and your finds, we're entering brand new fields of science! We're not just advancing history, but also technology and psychology! If our theories are right, the world will never be the same again!" His voice rose as he became more excited, his fists wrapped tightly around his utensils. "Your findings… they're like nothing I've ever seen before! With a few more experiments, and that last excavation, we'll have attained a power source that defies every book and every genius! And when we announce what we know, those fools who kicked me out of the university will understand how wrong they were!" He triumphantly rose out of his seat and also knocked it over. "They called me insane! They called me mad! They said I was balding! Well, who's balding now?! Who's balding now?!" What followed was laughter that could only be described as maniacal.

Magica waited until he was finished to speak. "Would you care for a refill?" She pointed to his empty of glass of water.

Bushroot looked down, and set his seat up right. "Oh, that would be just lovely, thank you." He sat back down while Magica waved to a servant to have his glass refilled.

Magica leaned back into her chair as the water was served. "I do feel lucky that I was able to find your group. I also feel it was just awful how they kicked the four of you out of the university just for a few minor mishaps." Morgana quietly wondered when experimenting on your fellow colleagues became minor mishaps. "Our corporation has had so many advancements thanks to all of your hard work. It's just a shame we can't let people know it's you four coming up with our technology… perhaps when that 'Fearsome Four' nickname dies down."

Reginald sipped his new water. "It's all right, we can wait. It's those gosh darn newspaper that gave us that nickname when we got booted out… We were renowned in our field, and the smartest people in the university, but you try to do one live brain replacement surgery, and suddenly you're 'Fearsome'." He shrugged in misunderstanding. "But maybe it was a blessing in disguise. The four of us working under you in secrecy has helped advance our research way more than we did in public. It almost makes me glad I was kicked out." With the word 'almost', he put down his glass. "…Almost… I actually wanted to talk about our deal, Miss De Spell…. About Rhoda?"

Magica began to stand up. "What a coincidence, Doctor. I asked you here to talk about the very same matter." She picked up her golden staff, and the purple crystal that adorned the top of it shined in the sunlight. "If you would come with me for just a moment…" She began to walk towards the railings of the ship and Bushroot eagerly followed, which puzzled Morgana. They weren't so far away that Morgana couldn't hear them, so why did Magica feel the need to move? Morgana felt something twist in her stomach as they approached the railings. Magica's attachments to her staff nearly boarded on unhealthy levels and something bad always seemed to happen whenever she was holding it. Morgana kept quiet as she watched the two talk.

Bushroot gulped as he looked over the edge of the railing. "I-it's a good thing I don't have a fear of heights, or I'd be terrified right about now." He could just barely see the top of the tallest towers in the city. He pulled his head back and spoke to Magica, a little nervous about what he wanted to discuss. "With Rhoda… it's all a big misunderstanding. If I could just talk to her, I'm sure she'd understand. And… when we were offered to join up with your group, you said you'd make the restraining order she has against me disappear."

"My memory is clear." Magica ran her hand back and forth over the purple crystal. "It's adorable how attached you are to her. Why, the others in your group have told me sometimes you'll abandon work to see how she's doing. I bet if she knew about your level of devotion, she wouldn't find it creepy about it all." She raised her eyes toward Bushroot and sighed in mock sadness. "Why, sometimes I think you devote yourself more to her than to your work."

Bushroot blushed and scratched the back of my head. "Well, what can I say? That's love! I'd do anything for her… yeah, you're right. I am more devoted to her." He chuckled, feeling warmhearted that someone understood how true his love for Rhoda was.

Magica tenderly pet Bushroot on the shoulder, and he ducked his head in humility. "The problem with that, dear Doctor… is that I can't have anyone devoting themselves to something other than their work. Especially for something as trivial as love." Bushroot then felt both of Magica's hands on his shoulders,  and then a shove, and then…

… And then he was gone. It wasn't long before his screams fell down with him and the boat was silent. Magica smoothed down her dress, and headed right back to the table, cheerfully pointing a question to her horrified niece. "Do you feel like having desert? I'm in such a mood for devil's food cake."

~*~

When Jane had taken over Amelia's place, Minnie had wondered if now she had a chance to prove herself by being given more 'real' assignments instead of kitchen duty. Her hopes had gone high with the undercover bar assignment, but it turned out Minnie was only trusted with it because she was paired with capable privates. It turned out that Amelia had warned Jane heavily of Minnie's past failures and so Minnie was given her lackluster kitchen duties again. The same day as Daisy's deceit and Morgana's mortification, Minnie was supposed to scrub the kitchen floors until they were sparkling clean despite having scrubbed them the entire weekend already. That Monday, Minnie decided to give herself an assignment since not a speck of dirt could be found in that kitchen.

Many superior privates were given patrol duty, in which they would walk around town and handle any problems they saw. How hard could that be? That was why Minnie strutted confidently around the city, figuring that she couldn't possibly get in any trouble. Jane had thought taking care of the kitchen was an all day job and so hadn't given Minnie any assignments to do when it was finished. Thus Minnie's logic said giving herself a patrol assignment was valid. She held her head high as she walked around the town, and was a little disappointed to find that the city was peaceful. There was no trouble in sight.

She would have given her left arm for trouble, because peace meant she could think, and if she could think then her thoughts would gravitate to Mickey. That terrible jerk had been terribly romantic and it was driving her crazy. Every time she recalled his words about her smile, she had to stop in place and smack her cheeks to stop her fervent blushing. He couldn't have meant any of that. It had to be all head games. Heart-throbbing, dashing, charming, incredibly romantic head games.

She also kept wondering what would have happened if Ortensia hadn't barged in, and found herself still angry at the cat. It wasn't that Ortensia was Minnie's rival or anything so stupid as that, but that Ortensia was being so annoying hopeless with her desires. Mickey was never going to see Ortensia as nothing more than a sister. Mickey only had feelings for Minnie, and, well, it wasn't that Minnie liked that, but what could she do about it? Ortensia would just have to get over it. Mickey was – well Mickey wasn't Minnie's, per se, but he wasn't Ortensia's either, and he'd never be Ortensia's.

Minnie stopped in place again, but this time not to attack her cheeks. Instead she delicately traced her lips with her fingers. Was her smile really beautiful? No one had ever complimented it before. People had called her pretty and cute, usually childish terms, and Mortimer's eyes usually went uncomfortably downward when he talked to her. Minnie didn't know smiles could be considered beautiful. Mickey's smile wasn't too bad. It suited him to smile.

Thinking of that made her smile honestly. She traced and retraced her lips as she thought of his smile. Yet as she continued to think on it, he had more than just one kind of smile. There was his playful smile, his happy smile, a smirk of deviousness, a gold toothed grin of glee… and they all tended to happen when the two of them were together. She tried to reason with herself, that of course he would smile when she wasn't around. There were other things that made him happy. Still, despite it all, she really did love that smile of this.

"What?!" She yelled out loud, oblivious to the startled people around her. "No I don't! No I don't!" She slapped her cheeks so hard that they were reddened more by her attack than actually blushing. Did she actually use that dreadful l-word about him? "No I didn't!" She began to run without any destination in mind. She didn't l-word anything about him! He was terrible! His smile was hideous! It didn't create butterflies in her stomach – those were maggots! Nothing was going to happen if Ortensia didn't barge in! Let Ortensia have him! "I hate him, I hate him, I hate him!"

Running while having crazy emotional spouts of denial is not a healthy exercise, and this proved itself when she tripped on the sidewalk and fell face first on the stairs of an old porch.  Groaning, she slowly sat on her knees and rubbed her sore nose. This is what she got for wishing for a distraction. She was about to stand and leave when she saw blue smoke coming out from under the front door of the house whose porch she fell on. The weirdness escalated when she heard a woman within the home scream, and a male voice announce himself. "I am the terror that flaps in the night!"

It sounded like the strangest home burglary Minnie had ever heard of, but it was also her chance to prove herself. Removing her pistol from her belt, she ran up the porch steps and swung the door open, aiming for whatever danger she would find within. "Freeze! You're under arrest for trespassing, home invasion, and burglary!"

The woman who had screamed was backed into a corner in fright. She was a very tall duck with tiny spectacles resting on her beak, though she was probably no older than Clarabelle. Her long blonde hair was curled up behind her back, and her light pink dress echoed her light pink home. As for the man, he was notably shorter than the miss, perhaps only a few inches taller than Minnie. He was dressed rather ridiculously in purple and black, sporting a fedora, cape, and jacket, and looking very irritated at Minnie. "You interrupted my introduction speech! Do you have any idea how hard it is to come up with my quips?"

Minnie didn't move from her spot and kept her aim on the masked weirdo. "Put your hands behind your back! Ma'am, are you all right?"

The woman nodded quickly and tried to get out of her corner. "He just… came out of nowhere, babbling some nonsense!"

Darkwing's ego was taking a beating, but he knew he had to calm these women down before trying to repair his narcissism. "I'm not home invading, trespassing, or stealing anything! I'm here strictly for investigation purposes, for the disappearance of Scrooge McDuck!" To prove it, he waved to the blonde woman. "You are Miss Fiona Rapson, a newspaper reporter who got promoted when Nancy Tremaine left the business to marry Prince Edward, and one of Scrooge McDuck's former lovers!"

Minnie looked at Fiona and lowered her pistol in shock. "… Lovers? But, he's ancient! She's got to be less than half his age!"

"Yeah yeah, we've established that already." Darkwing rubbed his temples in remembering what he longed to forget.

Fiona's fear began to turn into anger and she cast a quick look to the door to see if any more people would invade her home. "What Mister McDuck and I did was nobody's business but ours! You can't honestly think I had anything to do with his disappearance!"

"I'm just trying to clear all possible suspects." Darkwing eyed Minnie out of the corner of his mask. He could have sworn he'd seen her somewhere before, but where? It was going to nag at him until he found out. He never could leave a mystery unturned. "While you were working with Miss Tremaine, you were conducting interviews with Scrooge, and had plans to publish a tell-all expose book when you found the dirt. Is that right?" Minnie knew she should still be arresting the purple creep, but the line of questioning was interesting. She had also been wondering what had happened to Scrooge McDuck, as Daisy had been visibly upset when her future uncle-in-law had vanished.

Fiona sat down in a big red chair with her arms crossed. "Maybe I was, but obviously it didn't go anywhere. Once I got to know Scrooge, I couldn't possibly publish that book." With a faint and wistful sigh, she put a hand on her heart and her eyes became distant. "He even let me in the museum before the official opening. He's such a prince charming."

Darkwing raised a hand to interrupt her romance novel. "There's really no need for intimate details, Miss Rapson. Really no need." Who the N.A.V.Y. girl was continued to tug at his mind, and he felt he almost had it. "I just want to know where you were the night he disappeared, and if during your interviews you learned anything, like if he had any enemies or if someone would want him out of the way."

Fiona looked somewhat disappointed that she couldn't go on about her and Scrooge's passionate affair. "Are you kidding? Him and Magica were constantly at each other's throats, and he's got more business competitors than there are clouds in the sky. He was nasty to strangers and never donated to any charities. I'll give you the notes on the interviews, if it will get you out of my house." She stood up and retreated to  the next room to get them.

Darkwing then snapped his fingers as the pieces came together in his mind. "Now I remember!" he turned around to directly talk to Minnie. "You're that rookie who bungled the museum opening and caused Captain Mickey to escape from the Hawkins! Private Miniature!"

Minnie's pistol pointed straight at his beak with her anger already firing at him. "I am not a rookie! And those things weren't my fault!... Weren't mostly my fault! My name is Private Minerva, and who are you? I should still arrest you for entering this woman's home without permission!"

Darkwing wasn't intimidated by the weapon, and instead chose to take the opportunity to redo his introduction speech. "I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the one who tells actors 'good luck' instead of break a leg! I am… Darkwing Duck!" He flapped his cape and expected wonder and astonishment from the little girl. What he got was the pistol shoved further in his face. "Hey! Don't tell me you've never heard of the Justice Ducks? I'm their leader!"

Minnie pulled back her pistol only a little. "The Justice Ducks? They're that vigilante group that's always in the newspapers. Captain Amelia told us all about you… you and your men need to keep yourselves out of criminal investigations, and leave it to the professionals! People like you put civilians in danger."

Darkwing snorted and leaned in, going so far as to push the pistol down with his hand. "And people like you forget to reenter security codes, so pirates can ransack museums. Not that I'm surprised… the N.A.V.Y. doesn't do any good. Crime fighting should be left to the men."

Minnie would have gladly given him a kick to a certain area and made him half a man but Fiona came back to the room before revenge could be taken. In her hands was a heavy folder filled to the brim with typed notes. "Here are all of my interviews. I don't need them anymore. The last one should be when we were talking about Doctor Thatch's notebook, the one in the McDuck Museum."

The sexist squabble was dropped when Fiona spoke of the notebook, for she unknowingly said volumes to both crime fighters. "That's just what I need!" Darkwing took the folder into his hands, tempted to try and start reading it right there. "I just know that notebook is the cause behind everything!"

"That's the notebook that Captain Mickey was trying to steal during the museum robbery!" Minnie put her pistol back in her belt, far more interested in uncovering this mystery than attacking anyone. "He specifically had to have it, and the rest of the robbery was a distraction. Mister Duck, if you know anything about that notebook and why Mickey was paid to take it, you have to tell me!" If she could follow the bread crumbs and reveal the real reason why the pirates attacked the museum that night, that maybe her reputation could heal.

Darkwing held his arms out in an attempt to keep it as far away from Minnie as possible. "I don't have to tell you anything, rookie. The Justice Ducks can handle this case just fine on their own. Why don't you go back and help rob a bank?"

"Actually," Fiona stepped in closer to the two. "I'd like you to help out Private Minnie." She then yanked back her folder, holding it high above Darkwing in a mocking fashion, considering his height. "Or else I'm not going to let you have my interviews."

"What!" Darkwing kept his eyes solely on the folder as he tried to think of harmless ways to snatch it back.  He could feel Minnie's smirk boring right into his back. "Why not?"

"I heard what you said about women when I was in the other room." Fiona smiled stiffly down at him and teasingly dangled the folder above him. "And with Nancy gone, I can write fully fledged articles now. I can already think of a good headline now…Justice Ducks Just Invaded Civilian Home!"

Darkwing mentally debated how to win this battle, and then he noticed Minnie had started leaning in closer. "You know," Minnie couldn't resist adding. "You remind me of someone else who couldn't fight women. You don't seem the type to be able to hit a girl." Minnie never thought she would be grateful for misogyny, especially not twice.

Darkwing was between a rock and a hard place, and felt smashed in between them. He put a hand over his eyes in defeat, lamenting the final blow to his precious ego. "Ho-ooookay, fine. And I thought Magica was crooked…"

~*~

Fiona wasn't the only woman that day who was concerned with Scrooge's disappearance. Far off in the Kingdom of America, Goldie O'Glit was going over her mail and throwing most of it away in her fireplace in frustration. What had that fool Scrooge gotten himself into now? Maybe he was just doing this to spite her and the whole wedding idea. She knew that idea couldn't possibly be true, but she was more comfortable believing that than with the idea of Scrooge being in danger. It had to be his stubborn fault somehow.

The final mail item was a small brown package. She didn't care who it was from or what was in it and was ready to heave it into the fireplace as well. She needed something to do to vent her worry, and that usually came out in destructive ways. She lifted her arm to hurl it, when a demanding beeping reached her. She grumbled as she lowered her arm, knowing it meant someone was calling her via video. Someone had been trying to call her day, but she had been refusing calls since Scrooge's disappearance, as she was in no mood to speak to anyone.

Fed up with whoever this persistent person was, she decided she could use this as another way to vent. Whoever was on the other side had better be ready to have their ears blasted off! She marched to her video screen placed up on the wall, and pressed the button to open her line. "Who in tarnation do you think you are - " Her rant was instantly stopped when the screen showed who was on the other line.

Scrooge McDuck stood there, without a feather out of place. The area he was in had been lighted so that while it was clear to see him, it was impossible to tell where he was. He was well dressed and wasn't harmed, but there was something unnatural about his eyes. They seemed faded and distorted, like there was no life to them. Goldie reached out to touch the screen, unable to believe what she was seeing. "Scrooge…? Is that you? Where are you?"

"You have gotten my package." Scrooge's voice was as flat and dull as his eyes. They contained no trace of emotion. Not even anger, or a type of disdain. He was just speaking. That was it. "Open it."

"Where have you been, you darn fool!" Goldie banged her fist to the screen, and then quickly checked her outfit. If she had known he was calling, she would have dressed in something much nicer, and maybe done something with her hair. "Everyone's been worried! I ought to come over there and hog tie you to my carriage!" While it sounded like a threat, it was her way of caring, and she knew Scrooge understood it. Magica and Scrooge's fights were tame compared to the way she and Scrooge would harass each other. She expected Scrooge to snap back at her and compare her to a hog.

Scrooge only said "Open it," with the same lack of inflection. She wondered if he was even blinking.

Though she was unnerved by his of lack of emotion, she tried not to show it, and began opening the package. "Fine, but whatever you got me won't make up for what you've done. You can't win me over with fits. Why heck, for this, you ought to get me the most expensive wedding dress that even the king can't afford!" Inside the package was a small blue felt box, and in that box was a gold wedding bang. "What's this?" She already had her engagement ring firmly on her finger and had never taken it off. She lifted her head to the screen, and saw Scrooge had raised his hand to show how bare it was. What was in the box was his engagement ring.

"I'm canceling the wedding." Scrooge said, and only said, he did nothing else. "I'm on a personal vacation. I'll be back soon. Don't tell anyone about our engagement. It never happened." His screen went black, and he was gone.

Goldie dropped the package, and the ring rolled on the floor. "Scrooge?" She asked helplessly, despite knowing he had hung up. "Scrooge?! Scrooge!" She began to bang both fists against the screen, banging them over and over, even as the screen began to crack and her hands began to bleed. "Scrooge! Scrooge! Scrooge!"

~*~
The day was over and the night had brought unforgiving cold. Millie thought it was appropriate for the place she was visiting. She had also ended her duties early that day on purpose, as there was a place she wanted to go on this special day. She hadn't told anyone about this day's significance, not even Goofy. She bought a fresh bouquet at the closest flower shop she could find before going to the docks and gazing over the ocean waters.  The tears had started the moment she left the shop and she felt no need to brush them away now.

She knelt down, and gently placed the bouquet on the water. "I love you, daddy." She whispered to the water as it began to drift the bouquet away. This was the anniversary of her father's death by the pirate Devil Eyes, the same legendary scoundrel who had kidnapped the princess of America thirty years ago. He had been buried at sea, and Millie hadn't wanted to bother her friends by telling them what she was doing that night. She thought it was better to burden the pain all alone. So invested in her sadness was she, that she never realized someone had followed her from the flower shop.

Nor had she noticed when that same person approached her from behind. What happened next couldn't be ignored. A white cloth came over her face, and Millie shrieked in shocked fright. A slim arm came around her body to try and hold her, and Millie fought in the attacker's grip. The cloth was soaked in chloroform, and in Millie's panic, she inhaled the right amount to make her lose her senses. It wasn't long before she slumped over in her attacker's arms, unconscious.

The attacked picked her up and began to carry her off. The moon reflected off of the attacker's golden armband.

End Of Chapter Fourteen.