Mending the Proverbial Fence

Gladstone whistled a tune as he flipped his car keys into his jacket pocket. He took a good look around at the McDuck Manor's exterior, trying to remember the last time he had set foot here. In truth, he was surprised he was here now, but Donald had absolutely insisted that he show up. Donald never asked Gladstone of anything, and that alone was reason to come. The other reason was that Gladstone did owe Donald a favor for saving him last weekend.

He raised his hand to knock on the front door, but stopped when he heard "PSSST" coming from his left. He turned his head only to see Donald a few yards ahead of him, waving at him to follow him. Gladstone shrugged indifferently, putting his hands in his pocket as he followed his cousin around the side of the mansion.

"Why aren't we going insi-"

"Will you be quiet?" Donald snapped at him in a hushed tone, not even turning his head to look at him.

Gladstone shot him a funny look that Donald didn't see.

"I need to talk to you in private," Donald explained as they came upon the pool area.

Gladstone blinked at the sight of the houseboat floating there. "What the heck happened to-" Donald turned his head to give him one of his famous glares. "Right, right, SHHH, I know, I know."

They entered the houseboat, Donald going first. Gladstone could still smell the fire that had taken place at some point. "Well that explains why you're living with Uncle-"

"We aren't here to talk about me," Donald told him, now speaking at his normal volume. His patented glare never left his face."The only reason I called you here is because Louie-"

"Aww does green bean miss his favorite uncle? That's touching, you know, if you need me to take him out of the house for a while, I'll-"

Donald smacked his fist against one of the cupboard doors, which instantly fell off its hinges. "Oh for the love of..." he mumbled. "Will you just shut up and listen to me! I don't know what happened between you two in Macaw, but you better fix it, or I swear I will never ever have anything to do with you again! And I'll make sure everybody else in the family doesn't either!"

"Whoa whoa, time out, cuz!" Donald was really scaring him now. "Back up, I have no idea what you are-"

"You hurt Louie's feelings!"

Gladstone just stared at him for a second. He replayed the events of that day in his head but nothing registered. "I...did?"

Donald threw his arms up. "Seriously?! You don't even remember!"

"W-well, I mean, I was under a lot of pressure last time I saw you guys, so-"

He shut up when Donald got right in his face, his angry eyes boring into his. "Gladstone Gander, Louie has worshiped the ground you walk on since he was a baby, and even though I absolutely hate it, you better go in there and apologize to him and fix this mess you made," he growled at him. "I am not bailing you out of this one."

Gladstone felt his throat go dry. Oh boy, he was not the best at this sort of thing. His luck was how he got around life's problems, problems that he never had to deal with, and patching relationships was most definitely not something that luck ever handled for him.

"You sure he's really mad at me, I mean, maybe he's just mistaken or-"

"He told me this morning when his brothers left with Uncle Scrooge that you-" Donald emphasized by poking Gladstone in the chest. "-said something ugly to him. He's been upset about something all week and it took this long for me to pry it out of him."

Gladstone rubbed the back of his neck. "That day's kind of a blur, Don, I don't remember every little detail-"

"I don't care. I really don't. Just go up there and apologize to him so he'll quit sulking."

"You sure? I mean, if he doesn't like me anymore, that means he'll like you better, and-"

"Really, Gladstone, really?!" Donald screamed at him. "You can't even do this one little thing for me? You can't say you're sorry to a little kid, one that likes you? He was so excited to spend the day with you, and then he comes home acting like it was the worst day of his life!"

"Well to be fair, it wasn't that great of a day..."

"Ya think? You tricked me into trying to swap places with you!"

Now it was Gladstone's turn to be upset. "Whoa, hold on now, I did not do that. Toad was the one who came up with that idea, not me."

"You called me there because you thought I'd lose and take your place!"

He was appalled that Donald even thought such a thing. "Donald, I swear to you, that was not my intention! I was hoping your bad luck would destroy the casino from the inside out and then I'd maybe just, I dunno, walk out! I didn't think you'd be in any real danger!"

Donald crossed his arms and glared at the floor. "Well you thought wrong. As usual."

"You really think I'd sell out my own family like that? Geez, that would've been low, even for me."

"Oh don't you try to play innocent, you even said you weren't that sorry during the race."

"Okay, maybe that was a bit uncalled for-"

"A bit?!"

"Okay, it was uncalled for, and I do apologize for that, but I never really thought there'd be a chance you'd really lose! Sometimes my luck has an umbrella effect, depending on the situation, and I thought maybe that was one of those times, and that we'd all be okay regardless of the outcome. So, no, I wasn't really concerned about your fate at the time because I didn't think I needed to be."

Donald rubbed between his eyes. "I do not understand your way of thinking, I really don't."

"Well hey, lucky for you, I stopped to pick up that twenty dollars right at the finish line, so you won, so all this is a moot point right?"

Something about that statement made Donald dwell on it for a moment. "Yeah...funny how that worked out in my benefit and not yours. Where did that twenty come from?"

Gladstone made a face that said that he had perhaps said too much already. "O-oh, well, you know me! Random things like that just happen around me."

Donald crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently. Oh boy.

"Okay, okay, so...maybe right before I got imprisoned, I found a twenty on the ground. Maybe I put it in my pocket. Maybe I forgot about it after the whole getting chained up thing. Maybe during one of the times I was flipping around or flying around during the race, it fell out of my pocket. Maybe it just happened to land there right at the finish line. And maybe, I purposely stopped to pick it up to give you a chance to-"

"No, absolutely not, you did not sabotage yourself to do me any favors," Donald interrupted him with a bitter growl.

"I'm not saying I did, I said 'maybe'," Gladstone growled back at him. "I mean, maybe for once the universe shifted to your favor and you should be grateful for that. But just sayin', you know how everything that came from the casino disappeared once its magic was gone? That twenty never disappeared."

Donald stared at him for a moment before he turned his gaze away.

"Regardless, you won fair and square because you're that good at that sort of thing. I'm not. I would've been a cooked goose in five seconds flat without my luck. So between that and my hoping that Lady Luck would cover all of us for once, no, I wasn't worried about you."

Donald didn't say anything for a while. When he did, he said, "Louie's in the den where the big television is."

Gladstone sighed. "See ya, Don."

He shut the door to the houseboat on his way out. Donald sat down, resting his head in his hands.

The fact that Gladstone hadn't visited the mansion in a while didn't stop him from finding the den immediately. Luck, ya know. Gladstone let out a breath he had been holding. Well that was one tough conversation down, now he had to get through a second one. Definitely not how he planned his day.

Some cartoon that Gladstone didn't recognize was being broadcast, the rest of the room dark. Gladstone peeked over the back of the couch to see Louie sitting there, his hood up over his head, and his arms crossed. He wasn't reacting to the show or even eating any snacks while watching it. Geez.

"Hey, green bean," Gladstone said as he plopped himself down on the couch. "Hey nice, got the TV all to yourself, that's what I'm talking about! Put 'er there!" He held up a hand to do a high-five.

Louie had jerked when Gladstone first announced himself, but he didn't look over at him. He pulled his legs up to his chest, staring at the back of his knees.

Gladstone put his hand down, rubbing it self-consciously with his other one. "Or not...hey listen, so after you guys left, get this, a lady showed up with a golden yacht and practically gave-"

"Why are you here?"

Gladstone's words died in his throat. "Why am I here? Well to spend quality time with my favorite little cousin, of course, I mean I barely saw any of you last weekend and-"

"Uncle Donald told you to come, didn't he?"

This kid wasn't a dummy, that was for sure. "Uh...maybe?"

Louie got up off the couch, his hands stuffed inside his hoodie pouch, and began to walk off. Gladstone went into panic mode, scrambling his way over the couch cushions and tossing throw pillows out of his way.

"Whoa whoa, hold the phone!" He begged the boy, rushing to get in front of him. "Just listen!"

"No, you listen!" Louie shouted up at him, his big eyes already starting to well up with tears. "You don't even want to be friends with me so just go!" He pushed Gladstone against his stomach to shove him out of his way.

He didn't get far. Gladstone grabbed him by the hood of his sweatshirt, pulling him back into the room. "Let go of me!" Louie screamed at him, trying to swing his arms at his cousin.

Gladstone didn't even need luck to avoid the punches; Louie's arms were too short to reach him at the distance that Gladstone was holding him back at. "Calm down, little cuz!"

"No!"

"You're gonna wear yourself out doing that."

Gladstone eventually loosened his grip once the duckling had relaxed his arms down. Louie ripped himself free of his grasp, glaring at him. "Just say what you came to say and then leave."

"I...came to apologize." He gave him an unconvincing grin.

Louie raised a brow. "Apologize for what?"

"Well...uh...for, you know...being a jerk?"

Louie glowered at him, his fists still at his sides. "Uncle Donald called you out here and you don't even know why, do you? You really are the worst."

Gladstone had no idea a kid could conjure up that much venom in his words. He rubbed one of his arms. "Look, kid, that was a really bad day for me, and I honestly don't remember what I did, so if you could kinda help me out?"

Louie was so mad, he was shaking. "You told me that you didn't need me!" he screamed at him with such intensity that it made Gladstone flinch. "You turned your back on me and-and just dissed me! I thought we were friends! But you were just using me to keep Uncle Donald around so you could use him!"

Louie turned his back on Gladstone, crossing his arms in front of him. The sound of stifled sniffling came from him. Gladstone rubbed his face with his hand. Right. He remembered that now. It had blurted out of his mouth before he could even think about the consequences it would serve.

"Yeah...I guess I did say that," he mumbled. "Hoo boy, look, kid, I did not mean that."

"You didn't even remember saying it..."

"I know. I know, and I'm really sorry. It was a heat of the moment thing, I was panicking, I thought I was gonna be stuck there forever, and your uncle was my one ticket out of there and-"

"I don't care!" Louie interrupted him, turning around to give him a tearful scowl. "I thought you liked me and you were faking it! All those times I thought you were the coolest, and it was all an act!"

Gladstone let his breath seep out slowly. He knew how it felt to have people pretend to like him, thinking his luck would rub off on them. It felt like crap. And here he was dishing out the same treatment that he loathed in other people onto his adoring little cousin who genuinely liked him. Looking down at this hurt little duckling was like looking at himself. Different scenario, sure, but the feeling was the same.

"Listen, green bean-"

"Don't call me that."

"...okay...Louie...you don't have to believe me, but I am sorry. I screwed up. I'm not always as cool and perfect as I present myself to be. Your Uncle Donald is a much better person to look up to. But I do like spending time with you kids, I always have. But...if you don't want to be around me anymore, I understand that too."

Louie sniffed, not budging. Gladstone sighed to himself. It was probably best to leave things alone. He didn't want to push the kid anymore than he had. "Okay, well...take it easy, kid."

He left the room, hands in his pockets. Things went as well as he'd expected, which wasn't well at all. No surprise there, he was never good with people, even his own family. Just another page to add to the book.

He went outside to the patio, looked over at the houseboat. Donald was inside, probably doing some cleaning. Before he knew what he was doing, he walked up the door, opened it. Donald looked up from his sweeping, just staring at him.

"I...well, I talked to him. Don't think it worked but..."

"Thank you," Donald said in a tense tone.

Gladstone hung around the door for a moment. "And I just wanted to say I'm...I'm sorry I used you, Donnie," Gladstone said before he backed out of the house again. Short and sweet.

The walk to his car seemed further than it had been when he first got there. He reached into his pocket, his fingers feeling for the keys. Out of his peripheral vision, a blur of green whizzed towards him like a torpedo, crashing into him. He threw his hands up, not sure what was happening to him, before it dawned on him that he was the recipient of a crushing hug. He looked down to see Louie having wrapped his arms around him. He was taller than most in their family thanks to the goose genes, so Louie had to stand on his tip-toes in order to rest his head against his stomach.

Gladstone relaxed only a little; it wasn't every day he got a hug, especially by a kid, so it was kind of an awkward position to be in. He picked Louie up under his arms and hugged him properly, Louie's arms going around his neck.

"I forgive you, Uncle Gladstone."

He fought back the urge to tear up. "Thanks...you're a good kid, Lou. I'll make the next visit extra special, okay?" He gave him a last squeeze before he put him back down on the ground, ruffling the top of his head. "Hey and take it easy on your Uncle Donald, 'kay? He's a pretty cool guy too."

"I know he is," Louie smiled up at him. "See ya later."

Gladstone watched the kid run back over to where the houseboat was, Donald standing outside of it now. Louie gave Donald a big hug, staying there for a while. Donald glanced up at his cousin, giving him a thankful smile. Gladstone simply nodded once at him, gave him a little wave good-bye, then he was on his way. Things weren't completely patched up between them, but it was a good start.

And for once, luck had nothing to do with it.