i'm sleeping alone and i'm starting to freeze

Summary: Goldie comes out of hiding.

Word count: 3621

Warnings: None

2018; Dawson -> Duckburg

When the alien ships started to arrive, Goldie instinctively knew where she needed to go. She had a bunker she’d invested in near Juneau - a fallout shelter she could hide in for a few weeks or even a few months if necessary. There was plenty of food and drink down there for her, though she’d probably go insane from boredom if she was stuck down there for too long.

It wasn’t until she was halfway to Juneau when Goldie realized something that should’ve been immediately obvious to her: Dickie was still in Duckburg.

Duckburg was the very first spot the aliens invaded - because of Scrooge, of course, why wouldn’t it be because of Scrooge? - and she was hours and hours away by car or flight. She’d have to use one of her little mystical artifacts for quick travel that she hid in her apartment.

Goldie turned around and rushed back to Dawson City, ashamed of her slip-up but more determined than ever to protect her not-really-granddaughter.

—

Moonvasion! Part 1: 01:50 - 03:40ish

—

Thanks to the Korolnor Sceptor, Goldie was able to teleport herself right onto Duckburg University’s campus without wasting any time at all. After steadying herself, Goldie looked around and saw aliens were already attacking people in the area. She knew with their weapons they’d have no problem getting past all the security measures of the DU dormitories, so Goldie rushed towards Dickie’s building.

Her apartment building’s front doors were broken down, so Goldie knew she needed to move quickly.

—

Dickie and her roommate Mindy had been paying close attention to the news for the last few hours. How could they not, with what was happening? Mindy had been trying to get in touch with her parents and brother, hoping that her hometown of Spoonerville hadn’t been hit by the aliens yet.

She hadn’t gotten a response and Dickie had the same problem when she tried to call her grandma. But Grandma Goldie had a bad habit of leaving her phone on silent after a caper, so Dickie decided not to worry just yet.

At 9:13 in the morning, the two girls heard their building’s alarms start to go off and they knew that the invaders had made their way inside. It was nerve-wracking, but they’d spent the past hour and a half getting ready for the possibility. They’d piled up their pillows and furniture around the only door to their room, strapped books to their chests and backs as shields, and grabbed pans and knives to hold as weapons.

“Normally I’m against violence, but this seems like the right time to do it, right?” Dickie had asked as she picked up their biggest knife.

“Yeah no shit,” Mindy had mumbled, putting on her favorite cleats.

They stood together in the middle of the kitchen, not bothering with idle chit-chat so they could hear any noises out in the hallway. The silence was killing Dickie, who usually talked nonstop, but even someone as carefree and silly as her could see the seriousness of their situation.

It was only ten minutes or so after the alarms started going off that they heard a lot of noise out in the hallway. At first it just sounded like stomping, but then they heard muffled yells, more stomping, the sound of what they assumed were lasers being fired, and then more yelling.

The girls glanced at each other nervously. One of their neighbors must’ve decided to jump into the fight. It was probably Biff and his roommates Will and Alex - they were always willing to throw themselves into dangerous situations. Dickie and Mindy, however, were not.

The noises in the hallway started to die down, and the roommates let out a calming exhale as they assumed the danger had passed.

A few seconds later and someone started aggressively knocking on their door, making both of them jump three feet in the air.

“Dickie! Kiddo!! Are you there?!”

Dickie and Mindy stared at each other for a moment before Dickie rushed towards the door and started pulling back the furniture they’d put in front of it. “Granny! Is that you?”

“I can’t get your door open! Are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah!” Dickie shouted, moving their couch far enough that Goldie could sneak through. “What are you doing here?”

Goldie came in and shut the door behind her, taking note of the redecoration. “This isn’t a half-bad job for two teens with no alien-fighting experience.”

Mindy mumbled out a confused thanks while Dickie wrapped her arms around her grandma’s neck in a tight hug. When she pulled back, she was pouting. “Why didn’t you answer your phone?! I was trying to get a hold of you!”

Goldie raised an eyebrow curiously. “I didn’t hear anything…” She reached towards her pocket and realized it was empty. She reached towards her other pocket and…empty. All of her pockets were empty, it seemed. She shrugged at the two girls and gave them a toothy, guilty smile. “I guess I left it at home?”

Dickie shook Goldie while holding her by the shoulders. “How do you travel three-thousand miles and not bring your phone with you?! Are you insane?!”

Goldie removed Dickie’s hands and shook off her dizziness. “I was just worried about getting here in time.”

“Aw…that’s so sweet,” Dickie said with a smile. “Oh! Have you met Mindy yet?” She tugged her grandmother over to her roommate, who was staring at them with some confusion.

Goldie gave the roommate a once-over. “Hello.”

“I promise I don’t normally dress like this,” Mindy said casually. “You’re Dickie’s grandma? You look…young. Like, not as young as my parents but not that much older.”

Dickie laughed. “She just dyes her hair and takes really good care of her feathers!”

“What she said,” Goldie agreed.

“I’m really happy to see you, Granny,” Dickie said suddenly. “What happened in the hallway?”

Goldie shrugged. “Beat up some aliens. Broke their little guns. Don’t worry about it.”

“So does that mean we’re…safe?”

“For now. You two should stay in your apartment, though. Got enough food for a few days just in case?”

Mindy and Dickie looked at each other. They looked over at their fridge. They looked back at each other again.

“Is that a no?”

“So…normally today is grocery day, so…” Dickie said awkwardly. “...we’ve got some granola bars and soda?”

Goldie sighed and walked over to a window so she could look outside and see how many people she’d have to fight her way through to get some food. They could be trapped for days and she didn’t want anyone to starve. She rolled up her sleeves and took a deep breath.

“Alright. I’ll be back in twenty minutes or so.”

“Granny you can’t be serious -”

Goldie glared at her granddaughter, who promptly shut her mouth. “Any requests?”

Dickie just frowned, but Mindy spoke up. “Can you, uh…get some cheese doodles?”

“Sure.”

They watched as Goldie headed towards the door. It made sense that she’d go now when the invasion was just starting - if they waited, things could calm down…or they could get much, much worse.

“Hey!” Dickie shouted as she watched her only family start to slip through the door.

Goldie poked her head back into the room.

“Be careful.”

“I always am.”

Dickie pushed the couch back in front of their door and Mindy just stood there and watched, confused and curious and completely baffled.

“How and why and what? Your grandma is a total badass.”

Dickie plopped herself onto the couch and laughed. “Yeah, I know. I really didn’t expect her to show up, though!”

Mindy sat down next to her. “You mean ‘cause she hasn’t visited at all this entire semester?”

“Yeah. When I lived in Brazil she used to visit me all the time and then it just got less and less and then…now. I feel like she doesn’t like Duckburg much.”

“No?”

“She seemed annoyed when I got accepted here. But sometimes she just seems annoyed for no reason!” Dickie laughed again, unstrapping the textbook from her chest. “This thing is sooooo heavy!”

Mindy rolled her eyes. “Yeah, we’re definitely gonna need her to protect us.”

—

The rest of Moonvasion! Part 1 and Moonvasion! Part 2: 00:00 - 21:34

—

Goldie snuck away from the University to find Scrooge as soon as the aliens started backing off. Apparently they hadn’t realized they were being terrible. Go figure.

She’d heard the alien-head-honcho call for Scrooge’s head several times, so she just wanted to check on him. He was Scrooge McDuck, so obviously he was fine and victorious and all that good stuff, but it’d certainly taken him a few days to figure things out. She hadn’t expected to be cooped up with two teens for that long.

(Spending all that time with Dickie was nice, but also very, very tiring.)

When Goldie found everyone celebrating their victory, there was a large group shouting Glomgold’s name happily. She had absolutely no idea what that was about, but it certainly couldn’t have been good.

Finally she was able to spot Scrooge himself after slipping through some aliens in the crowd. He was with his family and hugging Bentina’s granddaughter and it looked like they were all really happy to be together and alive. Despite feeling out of place, Goldie was elated just seeing him there. After their recent adventure in White Agony, she’d been a teensy bit worried that he couldn’t handle himself like he used to.

The family dispersed to continue chatting and celebrating amongst the crowd and Goldie found herself unsure, standing there too close to run away and too far to be noticed. Of course she wanted to talk to Scrooge more than ever, but she also really didn’t want to be noticed by Bentina or her granddaughter since their last meeting didn’t go so well.

With a sigh, Goldie opted to leave. She could come by another time if she really wanted. And now that she knew Scrooge was safe, why should she stay?

She pivoted around to head back towards the University campus when a voice stopped her in place.

“Goldie?”

She turned her head, surprised to see Scrooge looking right at her.

His family wasn’t paying attention as he walked closer, making it much easier for them to chat. “What’re ye doin’ here?”

Goldie tugged on her ponytail. “Stealing stuff, as usual,” she said casually, knowing there was a good chance she would start stealing stuff when they were done. “I heard the rocket ships are made of gold.”

Scrooge chuckled. “So are their outfits ‘n helmets ‘n weapons, apparently.”

“Who knew the moon had so much gold on it? I would’ve tried to get up there sooner.”

He smiled at her in a way that made Goldie’s heart feel like mush and she looked away from his stare to collect herself. Then Scrooge closed the distance between them and grabbed one of her hands with his own.

“I’m glad you’re here.”

Goldie couldn’t stop herself from making eye contact with him, and she felt a tinge of pink come to her cheeks thanks to the way he was staring at her. She almost wanted to yell at him for making her feel this way, but…well. She didn’t need to leave just yet.

“Don’t flatter yourself too much, sourdough,” she said with a smirk. “You’re not the only person I wanted to check up on.”

She turned to look at one Little Mister Louie Duck, just a few yards away talking to someone, and Scrooge followed her gaze curiously. He was obviously aware that she and his nephew had spent a day together, and she had a feeling he was also aware that she’d betrayed the kid and broke his little heart (and her own, just a bit, but that was beside the point).

Neither of them said anything as Louie turned towards them suddenly, obviously aware of the eyes looking his way. He looked at Goldie and after a second of confusion…

…he frowned.

Goldie frowned back, surprised by that reaction. He didn’t seem particularly happy to see her. Though she supposed he had no reason to, she was kind of hoping for more than that.

Then Louie turned around and snuggled himself into the arms of his mother, who also glared and frowned when Goldie made eye contact with her. They both turned away from Goldie and Scrooge and started walking towards someone else.

Goldie felt…bad. She always felt a little bad, deep down. But at that very moment, she felt very bad. Her mouth felt dry and her forehead ached and if she didn’t do something about it, she genuinely felt like tears might spring to her eyes. And she couldn’t do that in front of Scrooge, not again. And not over such a little thing. So Scrooge’s family hated her. So what? She’d made the effort to make that happen. How could she complain about something that she orchestrated in the first place?

She was brought out of her stupor by Scrooge putting a hand against her cheek and forcing her to look at him.

“He just needs some time,” Scrooge said softly. “He knows ye care for him, but the first betrayal is always the worst.”

Goldie shook her head and held up her hand in front of her face, making Scrooge take a step back. “I don’t, um…I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t care about that.”

Scrooge rolled his eyes. “Alright, fine. Ye dinnae care. But…” He twisted his hands around his cane, suddenly a little nervous. “...would ye want to come not care back at the manor?”

She definitely didn’t expect that, and Goldie looked up at Scrooge’s face to find him blushing and smiling and she couldn’t stop herself from smiling back. Sure, Scrooge’s family might hate her. But at this moment, Scrooge certainly did not. “You looking for someone to celebrate your victory with, old man?”

He closed the space between them again, feeling a little more confident due to her response. “Only with you, O’Gilt.”

Unable to stop herself, Goldie gave him a quick peck on his beak, not caring who saw or heard or said anything about it. Though she’d often felt like his dirty little secret, if he was going to put his arms around her in public, then she could kiss him all she wanted! It was only fair.

Scrooge smiled brightly and Goldie wondered how long he’d be able to celebrate considering how exhausted he looked. She supposed it wouldn’t hurt her to find out.

Goldie let herself relax - her head laying in the nook between Scrooge’s chest and arm. She felt comfortable and safe and as always, that scared her. But she wanted to enjoy it for the time being. Plus she hadn’t had sex in Scrooge’s bed in ages.

He got a new mattress. She could tell. It was very comfy.

His chest also seemed more comfortable than it used to be. His feathers were fluffier. When she’d joked that he was getting soft, she certainly didn’t think it was literal.

“Ye came all the way to Duckburg just to steal some gold, hm?”

Goldie glanced up to see Scrooge looking off in the distance, though she knew he was referencing their conversation from earlier. “Is that such a surprise?”

“I know a few rockets landed between Dawson and here, so unless ye were already in town…just seems odd.”

She rolled her eyes and snuggled into his side. “Why would I already be here, sourdough? It’s not like I joined you in the fight. It was much safer up north.”

“That’s true,” he mumbled back. He was thinking about the truth in her statements, but the lack of definitive answers. That was often how they spoke when one of them was holding back a secret. “Ye know, um…” Scrooge gently rubbed her arm. “...Louie told me ye saved his life. I should probably thank ye for that.”

Goldie puffed out a bit of air, surprised that this was being brought up so suddenly. “Did he also mention the sixty million dollars I stole from him?”

“Eventually, yes.”

“You wanna thank me for that, too?”

Scrooge chuckled a little, and Goldie felt some inexplicable feelings about the vibrations of his laughter shaking against her cheek.

“I know he’s mad at ye now, but…if ye just reach out enough, he’ll reach back,” Scrooge mused. “He’s a tough kid. Took him a bit to come to terms with Della comin’ back. Ye just need to keep tryin’.”

Goldie hummed softly into his feathers. She didn’t want to talk about this with Scrooge, but who else could she talk about it with? She didn’t really want to talk about it at all. Her attachment to Louie was a weakness that could be exploited.

Though he wasn’t the first kid she’d gotten attached to, he was the first kid she’d gotten attached to by accident. And so quickly, too.

She had to put effort into her relationship with Dickie. Caring for a young kid was a lot of work. With Louie, she didn’t have to take care of him like that…she just needed to let him know that she cared about him. She was (sort of) dating his uncle, it wasn’t like they’d never run into each other. And she meant what she said at that creepy kid’s birthday party…she thought they should team up again.

Having a cute kid around meant she could get into a whole new variety of schemes and cons and wouldn’t that be fun? And she wouldn’t have to do everything by herself anymore. That sounded pretty nice.

So Goldie knew she needed to reach out. She knew that! She just…hadn’t done it yet. It’d be simple to just send a text like ‘are you alright?’ or ‘I hear you were the richest duck in the world for a week, how was that?’ but she hadn’t been able to make her thumbs type it out.

“Why were ye really in Duckburg?” Scrooge asked suddenly.

Goldie sighed and rolled away from his chest, onto her back. He imitated her and rolled so he’d face her, leaning on his elbow and staring down at her while she tried to think of a good lie.

He couldn’t always tell when she was lying, but she’d gotten worse at it lately. Maybe he wasn’t the only one going soft.

“I told you already.”

Scrooge dismissed that response with a peh! and leaned his face closer to her’s. “But why were you really here? Did ye come to help fight the aliens with me?”

She glared into his eyes for a second, then broke eye contact when she couldn’t take his stare any longer. She didn’t want to tell him about Dickie, especially not after his reaction to the orphans. He’d probably want to insert himself into Dickie’s life and Goldie didn’t want her grandkid to be involved in all his craziness. She deserved a normal, happy life that didn’t include any McDuck bullshit.

“Alright, yeah, sure. Maybe I wanted to be around in case you needed some help. Is that a bad thing?” Goldie spit out, confident that Scrooge would believe her. Not that it was entirely untrue…it wasn’t that she didn’t want to help, but she knew he’d have it covered. He was Scrooge McDuck and he had his army of family and friends fighting by his side. He didn’t need her.

Scrooge smiled brightly in response and leaned down to kiss her. It was a longer and more passionate kiss than Goldie expected, especially when he grabbed her waist and pulled her towards him again.

She brought her hands up to his whiskers and started to tug him closer, feeling very turned on by how excited he was.

He pulled away for just a second, his beak lingering less than an inch from her own. “How long are ye stayin’ in town for?”

Goldie kept her eyes closed and rubbed her thumbs against his feathers. “Mmm, don’t know. No plans.”

Scrooge kissed her again, briefly this time. “Stay for dinner?”

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up, sourdough.”

He rolled his eyes and kissed her once more, though this time neither pulled away for a while.

—

Scrooge had only fallen asleep for a few minutes (or at least it felt like a few minutes…), but when he opened his eyes again, Goldie was gone.

It hurt, he couldn’t pretend otherwise. He would’ve liked Goldie to stay and talk to Louie and maybe even join in on their celebratory family dinner. But he’d known Goldie for a long, long time and he knew that she almost never bothered with goodbyes. If she wanted to leave, she’d leave.

He got out of bed and quickly got dressed with a sigh, quietly heading out into the hallway to check on his family. Scrooge knew he was in the worst shape of all of them after everything that’d happened, but they were all dealing in their own ways. He would probably deal by skipping work and sleeping for the next two days. His body might want to rest for longer, but his brain wouldn’t be able to stay away from work any longer than that.

Louie walked past Scrooge staring at his phone and barely acknowledged his uncle with more than a wave. Though Scrooge didn’t know a lot about texting or cell phones, he could see his nephew was very invested in whatever conversation he was having. Briefly, he wondered who could be on the other end.

Maybe it was a new friend.

REAL HISTORY FACTS:
- I think I ripped the Korolnor Sceptor from something DND related. It's fine I can't always be original lol
- Biff, Will, and Alex = Buffy, Willow, and Xander from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer lol

DUCK FRANCHISE REFERENCES:
- This chapter references my series "Dickie In Duckburg" (which obviously does not share any canon with this fic) which you can check out on my tumblr or on Tapas:
https://lettheladylead.tumblr.com/tagged/dickie+in+duckburg/chrono
https://tapas.io/series/Dickie-in-Duckburg/info
- Mindy is the only recurring college friend/roommate of Dickie's in the Italian Topolino comics. She's got a million one-issue-appearance friends, but Mindy's appeared twice! She's fun
- "Stealin' stuff" is exactly what Frank Angones (creator of DuckTales 2017) said Goldie was doing at the end of Moonvasion! on his tumblr back when the show was still airing.