Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

1. Growing pains (Starts in D1 and leads up to D2) [Just edited spacing]

 2. VK's Hoarding (D1) [Just edited spacing & grammar] 

 3. Weapons (D1) [Just edited spacing & grammar] 
 
4. Doctor? (D1) [Edited spacing, grammar with minor story changes]
 
5. Food (D1) [Just edited spacing & grammar] 

 6. VK's get IDs (D1)

 7. Detention (D1) [Just edited spacing & grammar]

 8. Never Have I Ever (D1)

 9. Back on the Isle (D1) [Just edited spacing & grammar
 
10. Languages (D1) [Just edited spacing & grammar] 
 
11. They Need Food (Between D1 & D2) [Just edited spacing & grammar] 
 
12. The Breakup (Soon after D1) [Just edited spacing & grammar] 
 
13. Threats (Between D1 & D2) [Just edited spacing & grammar] 
 
14. If you're in trouble you want an Isle kid (Between D1 & D2) [Just edited spacing & grammar] 

15. Am I the villain? [Just edited spacing & grammar] 
 
16. Numb (Right after D2) [Just edited spacing & grammar] 
 
17. Scars [Just edited spacing & grammar] 

Chapter Text

No one from Auradon understood how difficult the transition from the Isle to Auradon truly was. Every shout, sudden movement, sound, or slammed door made them all jump ready to fight anything. But then everyone would look at them weird and they realized people are different here. Of course they were, they had limitless food Three Whole Meals a day. You don’t have to stab someone over moldy bread when there is a fresh loaf just waiting for you.

They quickly realized they were out of their depth when Mal got in trouble for punching a kid. But the punishments here were laughable compared to the Isle. The only threat that held any real power over them was being sent back to the Isle.

When they first arrived and discovered they’d be separated Mal nearly lost her mind. She can’t have her boys be that far away! What if something happens? Evie, always the most collected out of the four of them, put a hand on her arm and reminded her that they had to blend in if they wanted the wand. Mal ground her teeth in an effort to not start screaming.

No one seemed to notice the way Mal and Jay twitched at every unguarded pocket, locker, and room. Lots of people started to report missing belongings ranging from watches and cash to whole TVs and gaming systems. Of course, Mal and Jay knew how to get rid of the stolen goods before they could be traced back to them, but after a while, it was truly an accident when they got to their room pocket filled with stolen treasures.

Evie struggled with eating food when it was a rarity, much less when it was unlimited. At first, she ate just as much as the others, but once she realized the food would always be there and never withheld, she decided she needed to take charge. Her mother’s voice reminded her “No one wants a fat princess” She knew her mother had good intentions, but now Evie couldn’t stop and maybe she was too thin, but that wasn’t possible.

She was never enough. No one noticed how she would push the food around her plate only taking bites when her gang glared at her. Even then sometimes she’d feign ignorance. No one realized that she continued to keep her skeletal frame even as the others moved towards healthier weights. At least no one from Auradon. Her crew would beg her to eat some days and she’d indulge them just to make them feel better, but she didn’t push it too far.

Carlos jumped at any shout, slam, or thud. His eyes would skitter around as he looked for ‘Her’ and would only relax once he realized his mother wasn’t there. He was suddenly being praised for the brains he always had and it freaked him out. He was a runt, a waste of space. He was lucky to be alive. But his teachers didn’t seem to understand why their praise caused him distress.

He constantly waited for the other shoe to drop. For a teacher to smack him into tomorrow or send him away to receive worse. It never came. It never came, but Carlos kept waiting and waiting. When a teacher accidently broke a beaker only Mal noticed the boy disappear. She had to convince him to come out of his hiding spot and come back to class. Mal received a detention for that. Carlos was terrified, but Mal insisted Auradon detention was a vacation compared to the Isle version. Still, no one noticed the way his eyes would glaze over when he smelled cigarettes or heard a metallic sound. Not the people who needed to anyway.

Jay almost immediately got in trouble for violence. It was a miracle Mal got there first. But when a boy playfully startled Jay by jumping out at him, what did they expect him to do? The kid is lucky the only injury he got was a broken nose. Seriously, who thought it was a good idea to sneak up on an Isle kid?

At first, he intentionally stole as much as he could in hopes of bringing it to his father, but after they chose good he got increasingly frustrated with the stolen items he’d find in his pockets. He would flirt to distract and he’d punch to punish if need be, but that didn’t work here. He had to use his words here, but not many people used the word he used best. So he had to settle for English. No one seemed to notice the way he struggled to read the books or the way he couldn’t quite get the spelling right. Except his teacher of course, but he just wrote Jay off as lazy and incompetent (Whatever that meant) If he wasn’t ready to fight all the time someone could die. He had to be ready, he had to protect his crew.

Mal was hurting the most. On the Isle, she had almost absolute power. Between her lineage and her own actions, she ruled half the Isle. She was cutthroat and savage. In Auradon those things were wrong, especially with a girl. She wasn’t supposed to be a vicious animal ready to slaughter anyone who dared defy her. Here she was supposed to be kind and use her words rather than brute force. It was tedious, to say the least.

No one noticed the way she had crescent-shaped cuts on her palms from her trying to keep herself contained. Not only did she have to keep herself contained, but now she had her magic rushing through her at all times. Being half fae and half god made her Very powerful and no one seems to sense just how much she is holding back. She shakes at times when she has to keep herself from burning down the school or cursing half the staff.

The people of Auradon don’t care that Mal has to sneak away at night so she can scream and rage away from others or she’d kill everyone around her. They don’t care that sometimes she is one step away from killing a classmate without them even noticing. Her body hums with power all the time and she has to contain it or she might lose everything. It didn’t help that Jay turns out to be a Djinn because he is half human and half-genie, but it also turns out that Evie turns out to have inherited some magical abilities from her mother. So now she has to help them contain their magic as well.

No one noticed at first how much the Isle kids were struggling, but slowly some of them began to realize something wasn’t right. They helped when they could but the four Isle kids were very reluctant to accept help from anyone.

They watched and they waited, so when Audrey walked into the bathroom to find Mal in hysterics she didn’t hesitate to aid the girl. Mal was on the floor of the girls' bathroom pressed as far into a corner as she could get when Audrey walked in. Tears were streaming down the fae’s face and the whimpers nearly drove Audrey to tears. What happened to bring the shorter girl into this state she had no idea, but she slowly approached and sat a few feet away from the girl. A whine from the crying girl let her know that Mal was aware she was there.

Looking closer Audrey noticed that the girl's skin was glowing green, almost pulsing just under the surface. A desperate gasp brought her gaze back to Mal’s face. Audrey spoke softly and asked Mal to breathe in deep and release the air slowly. The fae’s face was filled with fear and her eyes seemed uncharacteristically desperate.

Slowly but surely Mal began to control her breathing and her body began to shake. Another whine left the trembling girl and Audrey had no idea what to do. She wasn’t good at this stuff, feelings were always Ben’s thing. Tilting her head and keeping her palms open she asked if it was okay to touch the shaking girl.

Mal launched herself into the princess's arms and continued to struggle for breath as Audrey rubbed circles into the girl's back. Soon after the sobs stopped, Evie burst into the bathroom and stopped short at the sight of Mal, practically asleep from exhaustion, curled into Audrey’s arms. Audrey shrugged and helped Evie return Mal to their room. After making sure Mal was asleep, Evie stepped out into the hall with Audrey.

“I won’t tell anyone,” Audrey spoke before Evie even turned around.

“I wasn’t worried about that.” Evie sighed. “Did she say anything to you?”

Audrey shook her head. “Not in a language I understood.” Audrey paused. “Is she okay? I know this transition is hard on all of you especially since you won’t be going back now.” Evie’s face hardened and suddenly Audrey felt she had crossed a line. Evie’s face was always soft and kind, but now it scowled and was pinched with stress.

“It’s hard to tell how any of us are doing. You have no idea how difficult the transition has been, still is, honestly.” Evie’s face dropped and Audrey could tell how tired she was. “The Isle is very different from here and we had to adapt. We are still learning to adapt. I think all of us would appreciate your continued patience.” Audrey nodded and watched as Evie disappeared into the room.

Chapter Text

The Auradon kids didn’t notice the hoarding for a while, but once they noticed they saw it everywhere. Whether it was Carlos stuffing extra fruit into his bag, or Evie taking every pen she could touch. It was everywhere and it didn’t stop. They had no idea where the VK’s were putting this stuff because their rooms were always tidy. They didn’t say anything, but anytime someone needed something a VK was handing it to them before they could see where it had come from.

“Man, I wish I had some super glue.” Doug was trying to fix a model castle that had broken the day before.

“Here ya go!” Evie shoved a small tube of glue into his hands.

“Oh uh, where did you even get that?”

Evie rolled her eyes. “Here and there.”

Doug shrugged and went back to his castle.

Lonnie had been focused on a game when her controller went out. “UGH! It’s dead and I don't even have a screwdriver to replace the batteries!”

Suddenly a small screwdriver and a pack of batteries appeared in front of her. Jay and Carlos not even glancing at her as they turned back to their own games. “Oh, thanks guys.”

“No problem.” They responded in unison keeping their attention on the game.

Mal was walking the halls as she heard a shriek. Smirking, she walked over to see what it was. Blood drained as she realized it was Jane getting harassed by some boys.

“Get away from her.” Her voice was low, a warning laced in each word. The boys scrambled away (If it was from her tone or her glowing eyes she couldn’t tell). “Hey are you okay?”

Jane nodded, obviously disheveled. Mal took her hand and dragged her into the nearest bathroom. “Do you need anything?”

“Um, I could use a hair pin, I can’t find mine.” Jane gasped as Mal pulled out a variety of pins from seemingly nowhere.

“Oh! Thank you.” Jane put her hair back up and when she was ready to leave Mal followed her until she got to class, glaring at anyone who dare looked at her. Jane waved goodbye and Mal just nodded and walked away.

It was dinner and the VK’s hadn’t arrived at their table yet. “Have you guys noticed that Evie seems to have anything you could possibly need all the time?” Doug spoke up voice soft with worry.

“It's the same with Jay and Carlos!”

“Mal too! Where do they even put it all? I can't imagine there's a lot of hiding space in their clothes, but their rooms are always clean.” Jane wondered

“ I have no idea, but they seem to take anything they can get their hands on.”

Ben joined the table with a huff. “I just mentioned out loud that it'd be nice if I had some socks to change into so my feet wouldn't be as gross and Mal just pulled out a pair of my socks out of nowhere. I’m not sure if that’s a girlfriend thing.”

Lonnie’s eyes are wide with exasperation. “It's an all of them thing Ben! they all have anything you could possibly need. It's like magic!”

They changed the subject as the four villain kids approached the table. They all talked about their day and laughed at Doug telling them about how he almost ran into the same person 3 times throughout the day. “Ah I forgot a spoon!” before he could even move all four VKs had a spoon out. “How do you do that?!”

Evie tilted her head. “Do what?”

Lonnie spoke up. “Always having anything we need? Where do you get this stuff?”

“Here and there.” Jay said, putting his spoon….somewhere.

“Someone needs to make sure we have the things we need, especially since you are all so ill prepared.” Mal said it as serious as death.

“We just go get the things we need or ask our parents for it.” Lonnie said.

The Villian Kids looked at them as if they grew a second head. It was then it clicked for the Auradon kids. They asked their parents for stuff and the Vks couldn’t.

Carlos broke the silence. “That’s not how it works on the isle.”

Ben leaned forward. “How does it work on the isle?”

The four of them frowned. Evie, Jay, and Carlos looked at Mal, who nodded after a moment. “Well first of all, we only had the barges to get stuff from.” Mal looked at them with a stern gaze. “You didn’t know if you’d ever see that item ever again in your whole life. So you take it and quickly.”

Evie nodded. “You always wanted extra when you could get it, for trading or if you ran out.”

Voice shaking Carlos spoke up. “Your parents usually took from you. They rarely feed you, or give you things.”

“Not without a price anyway.” Jay’s eyes were dark.

Mal stood holding Evie’s hand. “You take what you can when you can or you risked everything.” With that the VK’s left the table.

Silence sat over them as they processed the information they just received. “Fuck they’ve been through so much more than we thought huh.” Doug said softly. They all nodded and moved to go to their respective rooms.

Chapter Text

It became clear that anything could be a weapon in the hands of a villain kid. It didn’t surprise the Auradon kids, but it still caught them off guard. For some of them, it was obvious, but Evie and Carlos proved that they shouldn’t be underestimated.

Mal had fallen asleep on the couch of Ben’s office against her wishes. Ben thought it was cute and wanted to leave her for as long as he could. It was late in the afternoon when he had finally finished his work and had to wake Mal. Without thinking he did what could only be described as a “Dumbass move” and shook Mal awake.

There was a kick, a crash and suddenly he was on his back with Mal’s glazed-over eyes staring into his. But arguably more important was the pen (previously in his hand) that was pressed into his neck with a threatening amount of pressure. “Morning Mal” he managed to rasp out.

Realizing who he was she jumped back with a gasp. “Oh my gods Ben! Shit, you scared me! Are you okay??”

He sat up and rubbed his neck. “Yeah, I think I’m okay, luckily you didn’t do anything crazy.” He chuckled as he stood.

Mal shook her head and tossed the pen down. “You can’t wake me up like that. I could’ve hurt you.” She looked down at the floor.

Ben came over and took her hand. “I’ll be more careful in the future, I promise.”

Mal nodded and followed him out of the room.

Carlos was in a grumpy mood. No one knew what was wrong but the gang all closed ranks around him. It seemed like they were trying to keep everyone away from him, glaring at anyone who tried to talk to him. Evie was the one taking the lead and she was fiercely protective of him. They were on the way to one of their remedial goodness class.

Chad decided to be an asshole at the absolute worst time. “Hey princess, are you guarding your dog? It’s usually the other way around!” Evie, to her credit, only sent him a glare and kept moving. This was not the reaction Chad wanted however and after a few failed attempts he managed to grab Carlos from the side. “Hey Mutt say something or are you-” A thud interrupted his sentence.

Evie was suddenly in front of him. “Don’t touch him!” she hissed at him. Mal and Jay move to keep Carlos away from Chad.

He scoffed, “Or what princess?” No one saw it happen, but one second Chad was leaning condescendingly towards Evie and the next Evie had his tie around his neck and his knees were on the ground. Chad smacked her arms silently begging for release.
Evie leaned into his ear. “You’re welcome to find out. Though I don’t recommend it. Not everyone is as nice as me.”

With that, she released him and walked away. He fell to the ground and scrambled away. No one knew what Fairy Godmother was talking about when she came asking about an ‘incident’ later that day.

“Get the Mutt!” Dude was running towards Carlos at full speed and jumped into his arms, face covered in a suspicious amount of crumbs. Carlos turned just in time to see a group of boys charging towards him, stopping inches away. “That rat ate our lunch!”

“I’m sorry, he is still learning his manners.” Carlos stood there waiting for more.

“Well, your dog needs to learn them fast or he’s gonna get what's coming to him.”

Carlos took a deep breath in. “Well, he does deserve lots of love and treats, so I guess he’s gonna get it either way.”

One of the boys steps forward. “Do we need to teach you and your mutt a lesson?”

Carlos tried to channel his inner Mal. “I’ve seen your grades, no thanks.” He turned to leave before it got more dangerous. “Too late,” he thought as Dude was ripped from his arms. Two of the guys grabbed him so he couldn’t reach out for the dog. “Stop! Give him back! I’m warning you!”

The one holding Dude laughed. “What are you gonna do? You’re a runt.” With that, he tightened his grip on Dude’s throat.

Carlos felt rage fill his veins. The sounds of Dude’s whimpers drove him to fight. He pulled all his weight onto one of the boys holding him and bit his arm. With a shout, the boy let go and Carlos ripped his arm out of the grasp of the other. He lunged for Dude but one of the boys caught him. “Fuck he’s feral!”

Carlos started scratching at his capture’s skin. Then he found something he could use. He pulled the chain necklace backwards, choked the boy into letting go of him and lunged back for Dude.

At this point, Dude was on the ground growling and the lead guy was pissed. “You are a freak!” Where the knife came from Carlos had no idea, but it wouldn’t be the first time he had been stabbed and it wouldn’t stop him from getting his dog. Carlos told Dude to run and get help and the dog sprinted away.

The knife guy had stepped closer violence in his eyes. Carlos dodged the first few swings but got caught a couple of times after that. Stumbling back, he fell into a bush. He found a stick and heartbeat in his ears he swung. “Shit!” Carlos heard knife guys stumble back. Emerging from the bush he swung again and hit the knife guy in the head, and he fell to the ground. Carlos ran to find his dog and told Mal, Evie, and Jay what had happened as they patched them up. If those boys disappeared no one commented on it.

Lonnie was walking towards the practice room when she heard muffled shouting. Jay stormed out of the room huffing and angry. That didn’t seem right, but she couldn’t think of a word to better describe him. She didn’t think he saw her, so she snuck into the locker room to change and give him space. Going into the training room she saw him hitting a punching bag. She started her training and after a little while went to check on Jay.

He was still at the punching bag and his hand wraps were red. “Jay!” No response. “JAY!” Nothing. With a huff, she got a towel and gently smacked him with it.

Suddenly she was on the ground choked by the same towel she was just holding. Smacking him she tried to get him to let go. Running out of air she dropped her body weight and rolled back forcing Jay to roll forward and let go of the towel.

He got back to his feet quickly and froze. Lonnie didn’t notice at first, just trying to catch her breath as she held a handout to keep some distance. Once she got air into her lungs, she looked up to find Jay staring at her tears streaming down his face.

She took a step towards him. “Jay? Are you okay?” Jay’s face stays still but his eyes go through so many emotions before settling on rage (?).

“Am I okay? Who fucking cares if I’m okay? Are you okay?? I-I’m so sorry.” He stays rigid right where he is, not even daring to breathe.

Lonnie takes another step closer and tilts her head. “I’ll be okay Jay. But I’m worried about you. Please tell me what’s wrong.” Jay stayed still. Lonnie slowly put her hand on his arm, meeting his eyes the whole time. She led them both to the floor. “I’m okay. I’m not upset, I promise.”

Jay pulled away. “You should be! I hurt you!”

Lonnie resisted the urge to grab his hand. “You didn’t mean to. I shouldn’t have hit you with the towel.”

“It’s not your fault.” Jay looked her in the eyes. She felt the urgency of the statement as he said it.

She shook her head. “That’s not what I’m saying, but you weren’t here were you? It wasn’t me you were fighting.”

Jay looked down and shook his head. They sat like that for a while and Lonnie thought he wasn’t going to say anything but then he grabbed her hand. “I got in a fight with Ben. It was stupid but he made me so upset. It stressed me out and I was shaking, so I decided to punch out my anxiety. I’m not sure what happened but I wasn’t here, but I was at the same time. I was floating and then all of a sudden someone attacked me, but it was just you. I didn’t know it was you. I’m so sorry. I can’t-can’t ever apologize enough to tell you how sorry I am.”

Lonnie squeezed his hand back. “I forgive you. It might bruise a little, but I’ll be okay, I promise. Next time you feel like that will you call someone you trust? It might help to have someone with you even if they just keep other people away?” Jay nodded and they sat for a few more minutes and then parted for the night.

Chapter Text

Carlos was flighty most of the time, but the Auradon kids noticed that he was clinging to the other VK’s more than usual. They were concerned but they all knew if they asked it would be brushed aside and the isle kids would draw away until the situation was resolved.

It wasn’t until Carlos raised his sleeves one day to wash his hands that they found out why he had been so shy. Lonnie gasped as the bruises on his arm were revealed. They were dark and gnarly. It looked like it was broken, but Lonnie couldn’t get a good look because Carlos had quickly shoved his sleeves down. Before she could ask him anything he had disappeared and she was left alone.

Quickly she ran to find Ben and shoved open the door to his office. He looked up from his desk and gave her a questioning look. “It’s Carlos.” She was gasping trying to get air in her lungs. “His” huff huff “Arm it’s” huff “broken.” Ben had stood up and guided her to his couch. He sat across from her in an armchair and took some breaths.

“Try again please” Ben looked tired and Lonnie felt bad bothering him.

“I’m sorry, I know you’re busy, but I didn’t know who to go to.” Ben shook his head and gestured for her to continue. “I was in the locker room with Carlos and he rolled his sleeves up to wash his hands and his arm.” She trailed off. Her eyes were burning but she held off the tears. “Ben, his arm was blue. The worst bruising I have ever seen. If it’s not broken it is severely injured. I don’t know how he isn’t bedridden.” Tears were now streaming down her face, but she refused to acknowledge them. “I tried to tell him we could treat it, but he ran away before I could get a word out.”

Ben looked pensive. He was clearly trying to devise a way to convince the Isle kids to go to the hospital. Lonnie didn’t think they even knew what a hospital was. She just wanted to get the villain kids to understand that they didn’t want to hurt them. Ben stood up and pulled on his jacket. “I have an idea, but it may backfire, so if you don’t want to come I understand.” Lonnie followed the king down the hall and made sure he knew she was there no matter what.

Mal was practically buzzing with anxiety. Ben had just texted her and said he needed to speak with all of them and Carlos was hiding curled into Jay’s side cradling his arm. His arm was getting worse and none of them knew what to do. Bruises usually fade after a while but it just keeps getting worse this time.

Evie is looking at her worriedly and Jay looks like he is going to kill someone if they try to move Carlos. Just as she thought her chest couldn’t get tighter a knock on the door proved her wrong. She took a deep breath and opened the door. Ben stood at the door and Lonnie at his side. “May we come in?” Ben sounded tired, his voice was rougher than normal. She let the door swing open in a silent welcome. Ben walked in and sat in a desk chair and Lonnie stood awkwardly nearby. Ben looked towards Jay. “Carlos I know you hurt your arm. It’s okay, I can help you.”

Jay sat up taller and tightened his grip on the smaller boy. His eyes flit to Mal then back to Ben. “What are you talking about?”

Ben kept his voice calm and his gaze even. “I mean we can take him to a doctor so he can get better.”

Evie gasped. “Why would we take him to a doctor?” Mal took a step towards Ben putting herself between him and Carlos. “He didn’t do anything wrong! He was just playing around with Dude!”

Lonnie looked confused at that statement. “What do you think a doctor does?” She felt out of place in the room. Like an intruder in an intimate moment.

Mal narrowed her eyes. Her stance is tense and ready as if she was planning to fight her way out of the room. “Everyone knows what a doctor does.” Her eyes glowed green as she dared either of the Auradonians to take a step towards her crew.

Ben reached out and grabbed Lonnie’s hand. With a shake of his head, he adjusted in his seat. “Mal I really need you to explain to me what a doctor does as if I am a child.” Lonnie wanted to point out that they were all children, but she stood in place and waited for Mal to answer.

Mal looked at Ben as if it could be a trick question. She glanced at Evie and she nodded. With a boost from her gang, she slowly worked her mouth. “The Doctor is where you get sent if you get to-” Mal paused as she searched for the right words. “If you were too much for your parents to tolerate you went to see the Doctor. Everyone who goes there either don’t come back or comes back ... different.”

Mal looked at her crew and they nodded agreeing with her explanation. She turned back to Lonnie and Ben and was shocked to find the former in tears. Mal’s face scrunched in frustration. “This is one of those things that’s different here isn’t it.” She didn’t move from her spot but her heart sank when Ben nodded.

“In Auradon, doctors heal people. They help them get better if they are sick or hurt. And if you don’t like one doctor you can get a different one. Even if you don’t have a specific reason.” Ben slowly stood and gestured to Carlos. “I’d really like it if you’d let me take you all to see a doctor, just so we can get his arm fixed.” Mal looked at Carlos.

The boy had been really struggling with his arm and they had tried everything they knew. She looked up to Jay who nodded and Evie shrugged. Keeping an eye on Ben and Lonnie she went over and asked Carlos if he would come to see a healer. He nodded his head not all there. She turned and said they’d go.

Ben had a car waiting for them and asked Lonnie to stay behind and fill everyone in on where they were going. She hesitated but agreed when he assured her that he’d keep her updated. Evie sat next to Mal who sat next to Carlos and Jay was on the other side. They pulled next to a building bigger than any of them had ever seen. Ben got out and led the group into the “Hospital” he called it.

They went up to a desk where Mal and Ben did their best to answer questions and then they were led into an examination room. Mal thought that name sucked, but what did she know?

They helped Carlos change into the gown they gave him and Jay got into the bed with Carlos despite the nurse's instructions to the opposite. Evie sat on the other side of the bed in a chair guarding Carlos’s weak side and Mal sat next to the door. They always were on guard and they always knew where to be. Ben sat beside Mal and waited for the doctor to come in. With a gentle knock, the doctor entered the room. She was taller than Evie, but not by much. Her dark hair was curly and neatly in a bun. She wore round glasses and had a binder in her hands.

“Hello, I’m Doctor Sweet.” She gave a small wave and a small bow to the king. Ben waved her off and allowed her to continue. “I understand that Mr. De Vil here has hurt his arm?” Evie nodded and leaned closer to Carlos. “Would you mind telling me how that happened?” Evie was wide-eyed as she looked at Mal. Mal glanced at Ben who nodded and in turn, she nodded to Evie.

“He was playing with the school dog, Dude, and he tripped and fell. He caught himself though and we didn’t think anything was wrong!” Evie was getting firmer as she spoke. The doctor wrote some notes and asked a couple more questions.

“Okay, so a nurse will come in to take vitals and give him some pain medication. Then I will take him to get an X-ray so we can see if it is broken.” The doctor looked up from her notes to find Evie fully standing and defensive.

“He doesn’t go anywhere without us.” Evie’s eyes flash dangerously.

To her credit, Dr. Sweet doesn’t fight back. She tilts her head and thinks for a moment. “The room is quite small, so I could probably take one of you with me if that’d be okay.”

Evie looked like she was going to continue fighting, but Mal stepped in. “One is fine. Evie and I will stay here. Jay will go with Carlos.” Evie opened her mouth, but Mal cut her off. “Jay can lift Carlos easily if necessary.” Understanding washed over her and she nodded. The doctor nodded and left them to wait for the nurse.

Mal turned to Ben. “What is an X-ray?”

Ben looked up at her and chuckled. “It’s like a picture doctors can take so they can see your bones.” The isle kids had expressions mixed with horror and awe.

After that, everything went smoothly. Carlos had broken his arm and needed a cast. He chose the color red of course and agreed to take the medications the doctor told him to take. He was still pretty out of it so Mal assured the doctor that he would take the medicine. The gang had finished getting ready to leave when Dr. Sweets asked to talk to Ben. Mal looked at him and he reassured them that he was right behind them. Once they had left the doctor started to ask him a million questions.

“Whoa whoa whoa, hold on I’m not sure I know the answers to all those at the moment. What is your current concern?” Ben rubbed his temple and wanted to go to bed desperately.

“Apologies, your Highness, I was looking at Mr. De Vil’s x-ray and this is not the first time he has broken his arm. His other breaks didn’t all heal correctly and probably caused this break.” The doctor’s face was filled with concern. “Have these children been properly examined?”

Ben shook his head. “You have no idea what it took just to get them here this time. I don’t know how I’ll get them to see another doctor if it isn’t emergent.”

Dr. Sweet scribbled some information on a slip of paper and handed it to him. “Have them come back and see me. You can call or email me anytime and I’ll try to clear my schedule. You can say it’s to check on Mr. De Vil’s arm. Even if I only get some surface-level information it would be better than nothing.” Ben took the paper and nodded. He thanked the doctor and left to find the car.

A few weeks after Carlos got his cast Ben said they needed to go back for a check-up and it would take all day. Mal didn’t question it and told the gang to get ready. When they arrived Dr. Sweet was ready for them and had taken Carlos and Jay for an x-ray. Ben explained that while they were here the rest of them would get checkups too, just to make sure they were in good health.

Mal practically ripped his throat out and only stopped when Ben explained that the information was confidential and only they could say who could see it. Not even he could look at it unless they broke several serious laws. Still fuming, Mal waited for the boy's return.

Upon their return, the doctor declared that Carlos was making a wonderful recovery and that in a few more weeks they could remove the cast. Then they talked about the checkups and how anyone could be in the room with them, but it was ultimately up to them. They all agreed that Mal would be present for all the gang's checkups and Jay would be there for her’s.

First up was Jay. Mal and Jay were led to a different exam room. Jay quickly changed into a gown and sat on the table. Dr. Sweet explained everything she was doing and always asked if it was okay before she poked and prodded at Jay. She said words out loud and wrote things down for a while and let Mal and Jay read what she had written when they asked.

“What is family history for?” Mal asked suspicious of the doctor. Dr. Sweet snapped out of her thoughts and turned to face Mal.

“Some diseases have a genetic factor so knowing about family members' medical problems can help us know what to look for.” She paused for a moment. “My mother’s family has a lot of skin cancer on her side so I look for those symptoms and always wear sunscreen.” She held Mal’s gaze as the gears turned.

“So if my mother had an amputation you should know?” Mal asked cautiously.

Dr. Sweet nodded. “It’s a good thing to note, but the reason for the amputation would be more important.”

“I don’t know that.”

“That’s okay, it’s not necessary.” The doctor turned to Jay. “We are almost done! I just need to ask a bit about your medical history.”

Jay looked uncomfortable but nodded. Mal moved to sit beside him.

“Do you have any allergies?” Jay looked panicked at Mal, who shrugged.

“What are allergies?”

The doctor kicked herself. “Of course, my apologies. Allergies are when your body has an intolerance to a particular thing and reacts when exposed to it. Like does anything you eat cause your mouth to tingle, throat to itch, or rashes to appear?” Jay shook his head. “Okay good, does anything you touch cause similar symptoms or make you feel sick?” Jay shook again. “Excellent! If anything does start to cause symptoms please let me know and we can run a test.”

The doctor sits on her chair and looks much less confident. “Now I need a medical history from you. I’ve been made aware that healthcare growing up was non-existent.” She paused and glanced at Mal. “So I need you to tell me about any major injuries or illnesses you had. I mean it took you out for at least a day and you had to treat it with something.” She looked at Jay who seemed very overwhelmed. “There is no rush and I just need the facts, not how you got them.”

Jay nodded and looked at Mal. The doctor watched as they had a silent conversation, she could practically hear them deciding what to tell her and what to not. Eventually, Jay took a deep breath and straightened his back.

“I’ve eaten food that made me sick multiple times. Food gets scarce sometimes, and I really can’t tell you how often it happened.” The doctor gave him a small smile and scribbled down the information. “I’ve had several injuries. My d- I’ve received dozens of lashes and had to treat them.” He turned so she could see the scars.

“I’ve been stabbed and slashed at least four times. Once I had a fish hook in my leg for two days before I realized.” Jay continued for a while and Dr. Sweet didn’t interrupt once. Once he was finished she took a moment to write everything down and gave them a chance to go to the bathroom before she moved on to Mal.

Mal’s was quick as well until they got to the medical history. It took several minutes for her to collect herself to tell the doctor anything. She almost made Jay leave the room, but she knew she’d lose it if she was alone. Dr. Sweet never once tried to rush her and sat as she listened to Mal tell her things she’d never admitted out loud.

“I used to have wings, but my mother took them when I was very small. I was beaten until I couldn’t breathe several times and left to rot. I broke my arm once. Been stabbed at least seven times?” She looked to Jay for confirmation. He nodded standing close by for support. “Iron burns fairies, and it was a frequent tool to teach me a lesson.”

“I’ve gone hungry for weeks at a time. Lashed twice. Oh, I fell off a roof a couple of times.” A chuckle left both the isle kids as they reminisced. “I’m not sure there is much more that falls into the category you gave me.” Jay bumped her shoulder. She frowned trying to remember what he was referring to. “The fever! Yes, there was a time I got so sick for weeks. I thought I’d never get better, I begged Jay to kill me.” Jay rolled his eyes.

“Not letting you off that easy.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah” Mal waved him off. Dr. Sweet had a visible shimmer in her eyes. Oh Shit, they’d said too much didn’t they? But to her surprise, the doctor just asked for them to bring Evie in ten minutes. They walked down the hall and talked to Carlos for a bit before Mal and Evie walked into the room.

“Hello, Miss Grimhilde” Evie scrunched her nose.

“Please call me Evie.”

Dr. Sweet smiled. “Of course, Evie, could you change for me please?” Evie nodded, changed and the doctor continued her examination. Explaining everything as she went just as before. Writing down notes as she went, she didn’t stop until Evie gasped.

“Is something wrong?” Dr. Sweet looked up from her notes.

“Your scale must be broken!” Evie looked ill as she pointed at the numbers.

The doctor’s heart dropped. She knew Evie must’ve had a harder time finding food since she had classic signs of childhood malnourishment, but now she dreaded another reason. “It’s not broken dear. I can assure you.” Evie looked as if she wanted to disappear. She nodded and hopped onto the examination table. Mal’s face was hard as she held Evie’s hand.

“Alright, all I need is a medical history now. No rush, just do your best.”

Evie whispered to Mal asking what she should tell. She kept glancing at Dr. Sweet as if she had a weapon hidden somewhere. Eventually, they parted, though Evie still clutched at Mal’s hand. “I was sick similarly to Mal. Twice, once when I was nine I think. Then when I was fourteen.” Mal squeezed her hand. “I’ve never been hurt like the others, so I don’t have many scars. I have been-” Evie looked at Mal with pleading eyes. Mal tilted her head in question and Evie nodded.

“Evie’s mother would sell her to barge workers to get things she wanted. I’m sure you can guess why that might be unpleasant.” The doctor nodded.

Evie took a few deep breaths, but her eyes had a glaze over them. “I have also been hungry for longer than any of them. I don’t know exactly how long but-”

“Weeks at least. No food, only water for weeks.” Mal cut her off and looked at the doctor with a threatening gaze. Dr. Sweet nodded as they finished telling her about Evie and her mother. Then she dismissed them and finished the forms.

A gentle knock echoed as the doctor entered the room. She gave the villains a small smile as she explained what they had done today and how she’d like to run some blood tests if they were willing. And with Ben’s help explaining what each test would tell them she got permission to draw blood.

After they finished that they went to leave the hospital and they’d return in a week to receive their results. Mal turned before they were out of view and gave the doctor a small nod, and with that left. Dr. Sweet stood there letting the small gesture of trust sink in.

When they got the results it was not surprising to learn they were deficient in many vitamins and enzymes. They all had prescribed medication to take and in three months they’d get tested again to see if they still needed the meds. Notes were made in each of their charts for the various mental and physical illnesses they showed symptoms for and each of them was encouraged to seek medical advice for them.

In return for a personal copy of their records, Mal gave Dr. Sweet a pin and a painted playing card. When She looked confused, Evie whispered that the pin meant she was under their protection and the card could be called in for a favor.

Eyes wide she thanked the crew and said she’d always be there if they needed anything. Carlos got his cast removed and they all left the hospital. Dr. Sweet put her new pin on her ID lanyard and put the playing card somewhere safe.

Chapter Text

The villain kids were extremely distrustful when they arrived at Auradon. It made sense they were all in a new place with strange rules and no clue what was happening. They always sat together and moved as a group. It was intimidating, to say the least. They always seemed to be in some kind of formation and they always moved with a purpose.

When they first walked into the cafeteria they were bewildered. They went through the line as instructed and were amazed that there was enough for them and the others behind them. It wasn’t just that there was enough. The food was clean. The food was clean and good. It didn’t smell of mold or rot. It couldn’t be real. This had to be a trick. They hadn’t seen this much food before in their lives.

They took as much as they could physically fit on their trays and stuffed extra in their pockets. The group moved to a table as far in the back as they could and devoured their food. Mal and Jay constantly poked their heads up to make sure no one would take their stash.

The Auradon kids looked at them as if they were animals. The VKs didn’t notice looks as they were distracted by the food. When the VKs learned they were fed three times a day and there were snacks if they got hungry in between they didn’t believe them. Mal laughed at them and Carlos looked shocked.

“As if anyone could even eat that much every day,” Evie spoke from across the room. Ben looked at them horrified and sputtered as they laughed. He allowed the conversation to move on, deciding to let them discover the truth. They realized very quickly that Ben had spoken the truth.

They couldn’t wrap their minds around it. Where did all this food even come from? What was the point of it? All you really needed was one meal a day, maybe two, if you were active like Jay and Mal, were. The villain kids soon found themselves in a new predicament. They couldn’t eat all the food they got.

At first, they started to stash the food in their rooms, but then Ben and Audrey explained that they ‘didn’t eat rotten food in Auradon’. Carlos muttered about how wasteful it was, and Audrey's face had a pained expression. However, They found out that the garbage from the school went to the barges that feed the Isle and they started to throw away the food they couldn’t eat hoping someone like Dizzy or Gil would get some of the good food.

One day the villain kids went to help Lonnie with something that her parents were working on. Jay was the first to convince the rest of the gang that Lonnie’s parents were okay. He claimed to have heard them over the phone once and Lonnie always said they were at least fair. He told them that Lonnie couldn’t sneak up on them either and that made the gang relax just a bit.

Lonnie was the last to pile into the car that was going to take them to where her parents were staying in town. It was a cottage near the school that was rented out to the parents of the students so that they could visit for longer periods of time. It was a nice little place, and when they arrived Lonnie could tell the others were nervous.

She led the way to the door and barely remembered to explain the assortment of targets and weapons scattered about the yard. Saying something about her parents' constant training. With a quick knock, she opened the door and announced she and her friends were there. She heard her parents call her from the kitchen. She turned to the Villain kids to explain that her parents and she usually spoke in Chinese and was surprised to find Jay translating for the gang. She looked at him quizzically and he just shrugged.

They made their way into the kitchen and the villain kids all stood by the door and kept distance between the adults as Lonnie hugged her parents. Clearing her throat she introduced her friends and her parents gave them kind greetings and Evie returned in proper manners for the rest of her crew.

Thankfully Mulan and Shang got straight to the point and explained what they planned to do that day. Turns out they were renting out the cottage to stay close to Lonnie for the rest of her time in Auradon and just wanted help making the place more like home. They were going to garden, redecorate, move things, and just needed extra hands.

Mal asked why they didn’t have servants do it and Mulan laughed and said they didn’t have any. “We aren't royals, We were soldiers and now we are advisors to other royals.” All the core four seemed to relax just a little at that statement. They started to go over the game plan and it was decided that Jay and Evie would go with Shang to start redecorating the house and Mulan, Mal, and Carlos would go out and start with the garden and other outdoor stuff. Lonnie said she’d float between the two groups offering extra help when needed and making sure everyone had water. With that, the group split and they started their work.

“So what is a garden? Mal asked as she and Carlos followed Mulan.

Mulan grinned. “It’s where I grow food that is harder to buy here in Auradon.”

Carlos and Mal stare at her. There is no way that is true. They carried what Mulan handed them and watched carefully as she showed them how to prepare the ground for plants. “How does food come from the ground?” Carlos had spoken up his curiosity getting the better of him. Mulan gave them both an odd look.

“Well, I like to use buds.” With the added confusion on their faces, she decided to elaborate as she worked the dirt. “Buds are like baby plants, and I put them in the ground and they use the nutrients in the soil to grow and eventually you can eat them.” She continued to work as Mal and Carlos pondered what she had said.

Mal paused for a moment and tilted her head. “You can eat the plants in Auradon?” She held Mulan’s gaze as she waited for an answer.

“Not all of them. You have to be careful because some of them will make you extremely sick. But I don’t put those plants in my garden.” Mal nodded and got back to work and listened intently on how to plant the buds she pulled from the shed.

Shang led Jay and Evie into a large container in the front yard. It held all the belongings he and Mulan had brought with them from China. Several of them were traditional items and he instructed the children on how to carry them and where to bring them. Evie’s eyes glowed with curiosity, she wanted to ask about everything she saw but bit her tongue so as not to be impolite. A princess was better seen not heard.

Thankfully Shang was quite generous with explaining the meaning behind certain items and why they put them in certain spots. They had lots of silk tapestries that depicted lots of Chinese history. There was one that Shang said depicted one of Mulan's first victories burying the Huns in the snow on a mountain top. Evie looked at it in awe trying to picture the woman she just met doing what was depicted. They both had shuddered at the mention of the Huns, but if Shang noticed he didn’t say anything.

Evie curled her pinkie around Jays for a moment when they were walking back out to bring more things inside. They had moved into the living room and Shang announced they could start to open boxes. Opening the box closest to her she pulled out a surprisingly heavy stone statuette of a man sitting with his palms pressed against each other. His head was covered in strange bumps and his eyes were closed. She turned to Shang and showed him in question.

“Ah, you found our Buddha.” He smiled as he took it from her grasp. “He will go onto the table over here so we can set up a proper shrine.”

Evie couldn’t help but blurt out her next question. “What is a shrine?” Lonnie had assured them that it was okay to ask her parents any questions while they were there, but it didn’t mean that they weren’t still cautious. Evie clamped her hand over her mouth and apologized.

Shang shook his head. “No need to apologize!” He smiled at her and turned to the table he set the statue on. “A shrine is a place that is designated for holy worship, or honoring one's beliefs.” He had placed some other objects onto the table as Evie looked at him in horror.

“I’m so sorry! I had no idea that it was a holy statue! I shouldn’t have touched it! I’m so sorry.” Evie shook as she apologized profusely. Jay moved to her side and put an arm around her.

Shang gave her a soft look and gently smiled. “It’s okay Evie. You did nothing wrong. I have a box of items I’d prefer only family touch over by the shrine and it’s labeled. That is the only box that has things you shouldn’t touch.” He carefully took a step closer and crouched. “Even if you had touched those objects no one would be upset with you. We know that it would be an accident and we have ceremonies for when things like that happen. I promise you are not in any trouble.”
Evie looked at him with wide eyes but nodded slowly. She glanced at Jay who gave her a squeeze and she gave a careful smile to Shang. With that Shang grinned and stood. Moving on with the decorations and telling stories of Lonnie’s youth or explaining the significance of an object.

Lonnie watched the villain kids help her parents move into the cottage. She was so happy that her parents let her bring them to help. To be fair Lonnie was shocked the gang had agreed to come. Jay mentioned something about Isle kids always helping their allies and she smiled at the admission. She knew her parents were awesome but it was nice to see them being so patient and kind to her friends.

She watched as Mulan taught Mal and Carlos some bo staff moves with the gardening tools and smiled as Evie was enamored by her father’s stories. Jay appeared interested but seemed a bit on guard.

She took a deep breath as she brought water to the gardeners turned warriors. “Hey, mom! Time for a water break!” She carried out a tray with a water pitcher, glasses, and an assortment of lychee fruit, pomelo slices, and strawberries. Her mom grinned and thanked her for the treats. Mal and Carlos grabbed some strawberries and drank the water greedily. Carlos bit into a pomelo and immediately spit it out.

He looked up with fear written on his face. “I’m sorry! I thought it’d taste like the oranges at school! I didn’t expect the taste! It doesn’t taste bad!” Mal stood near the shaking boy and her face hardened as her glare dared either of the women to be angry at him. Lonnie worked her mouth trying to decide what to say but her mother beat her to it.

“Carlos, it's okay. I would spit out pomelo too if I was expecting it to taste like an orange.” She crouched down and kept her hands palms up where he could see them. He looked at her quizzically.

“Pomelo?”

Her mom grinned. “It’s a fruit from China. It looks like an orange but tastes much different. It’s okay if you don’t like it. I love them, but a lot of people don’t. We have plenty of other food that you can have if you’d like something else.” Carlos looked at her as if she was crazy. Mal’s face was filled with suspicion. Mulan simply stood still keeping her hands in view and ate a few pomelo slices. She hummed with delight as she savored the taste.

“I won’t deplete your stash like that.” Carlos had managed to find his voice. “I can eat whatever you give.” He stood as tall as he could. (Which was still concerningly small) Mulan tilted her head and glanced at Lonnie who shrugged.

“I assure you that giving you something you enjoy eating will not deplete our ‘stash’. We may not be royal, but we have more than enough.” She gave a look to Mal that she hoped would be received as sincerity. Mal gave her a nod and reached for a lychee fruit. She popped it in her mouth and hummed. She stepped from behind Carlos and gave him one explaining what it tasted like. The boy tried it and his eyes went wide as he shoved a few more in his mouth and thanked Mulan and Lonnie.

Lonnie stayed with them as they started working again and left to refill the tray to give a break to the others. She filled the tray up again and moved into the living room. The scene was so normal she almost didn’t recognize the other kids. Shang was explaining the legend behind the tapestry he and Jay were hanging up as Evie gave them hand signals to let them know which way to straighten the artwork. She made sure to make her footsteps heavy as she approached and set the tray down on a nearby table.

“Hey guys, break time!” Lonnie watched as Jay and her father finished with the tapestry and poured a glass of water for everyone. “How is it going?” Her father already had a handful of lychee fruit in his mouth and Jay did as well.

Evie grinned at her. “It is so amazing! I didn’t know there were so many different things in Auradon!” She sipped at the water in her glass but politely declined the food. Jay gave her a look but let her continue with the water. Lonnie smiled at her father and gave him a knowing look.

“It is really cool to see this stuff. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Jay managed the sentence in between mouthfuls of food. He thanked Lonnie for the food and moved to get back to work. Evie followed suit and Shang gave his daughter a shrug and thanked her for the break and joined the other kids.

They all continued to work until the garden was finished and most of the decorations were displayed in the living room. Shang and Mulan asked Lonnie to show the villain kids around the house and the property around the house. Lonnie grinned and hurried to show them the rooms throughout the cottage.

There was a living room, kitchen, and small dining room downstairs, and three bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. She showed them her room, the guest, and the master. The four of them were in awe of all the stuff even if half was still unpacked. She showed them the downstairs bathroom and the do to the cellar.

“The light doesn’t work down there yet otherwise I’d show you.” That received a nod from both Mal and Jay. She showed them the yard and then gestured to the gate at the back of the yard. “That’s the woods, we can go in if you want. It’s not a huge area, but it’s still fun and they back up to the farm where mom keeps the horses!”

Evie perked up. “Horses?”

Lonnie nodded. “Mom brought our riding horses and Khan. That’s her first horse, he’s too old to ride though so we just give him treats and play with him.” Evie looked at the others with wide eyes. Mal nodded and Evie practically squealed.

“Can we see them?!” Evie was beaming. Lonnie nodded and opened the gate and led them on a short walk to the farm. She walked into the barn and asked one of the hands where her family’s horses were. The groom gave an odd look at the others with her but told Lonnie which lot they were in. Lonnie walked over to a pasture and stopped in front of the gate. She turned and gave the four a serious look.

“Have any of you seen horses in person?”

“Only the carriage horses,” Mal spoke for all of them. She looked completely out of her element and she clearly wanted to leave.

Lonnie looked over the group and knew she should keep them outside the pasture. “Alright, I’m going to call them over. Evie go over to that bin and bring me the first bag you see. It’ll have some treats. Our horses are pretty big because they are war horses. They're really nice, but if you don’t know how horses work, you could accidentally get hurt so we are going to stay on this side of the fence. Okay?” They all nodded and Evie got the bag of treats.

Lonnie explains how to feed them safely and turns to call the horses. She can see Khan grazing on the hill and she whistles for him. He lifts his head and starts to run over, he is quickly joined by three other horses and they all stop in front of her. She grins and gives them pats and words of praise.

Turning she sees that Mal and Carlos have gone pale. Evie and Jay are smiling broadly and eagerly start to pet and feed the horses. Lonnie steps next to the two still in the same spot. “It’s okay. I know they can be scary.” Mal releases the breath she was holding a scowl etching onto her face. She takes a treat and claims she isn’t scared of anything. Lonnie can see the hesitation as Mal feeds the horses though. She turns back to Carlos and gets him breathing again. “It’s okay if you don’t like them. They won’t mind.”

Carlos keeps his eyes on Khan who is staring back. “He’s so big.” Lonnie realizes this must be the biggest animal that Carlos has ever seen. She takes a treat and feeds it to the big horse.

“Yeah, he is a big boy. He’s really nice though. Going soft in old age.” The horse snorts at that and Carlos jumps. Soon she gets a text from her parents saying that dinner will be done soon. She announces to the group that they should head back for dinner. They head back to the house and she can smell dinner from the yard.

“Race you!” She takes off for the house and yells as Carlos shoots past her getting to the house first. They all clamber into the house pushing and laughing. Settling down they sit at the dining room table and immediately the villain kids are out of their depth.
The table is set with dishes and utensils they’ve never seen and the food is different from anything they’ve eaten. It smelled amazing and they were hungry from the afternoon’s work. Mulan and Shang joined them as they set the final food item on the table. It was noodles and veggies from what they could see.

They watched as Lonnie, Shang, and Mulan served themselves. Slowly they put some of everything on their plates and watched as Lonnie used the sticks next to her plate to eat her food. They all stared at the sticks, contemplating how to use them. Evie was the first to pick them up and attempt to use them. She dropped the noodles immediately.

Lonnie almost choked on her food. “Oh! I’m sorry I forgot y’all don’t know how to use chopsticks! I can get you forks.” She moved to stand and Mal grabbed her arm.

“Teach us.”

Lonnie looked at her strangely but instructed the others on how to use the chopsticks and pretty soon they had picked it up. They struggled for the entire meal, but by the time it was over they were holding onto more food than they dropped.

She noticed that Jay stashed a few spring rolls into his pockets and now that she was looking Mal and Carlos's pockets looked awfully full as well. She looked to her parents and they gave her a knowing look. Evie pushed her food around more than she ate it. Only put it in her mouth when someone was looking. Lonnie felt her chest get tight. Even though they had been in Auradon for a few months now they were all really skinny. When they first got here it was looking at living skeletons. The only thing other than bones was the muscle they had from fighting on the Isle.

She looked pleadingly to her parents, who thankfully got the hint. “So it seems you enjoyed the meal?” Mulan gave a smile as she spoke. The four nodded as they continued to clean off their plates. “Would you like to take the leftovers to school with you?” They all froze. Slowly three of them looked to Mal who was trying to figure out if it was a trick question.

“We have our stash. We don’t need yours.” Her words were careful and calculated. Her gaze was unreadable. Mulan however was unfazed.

“I insist, like I said earlier we have more than enough and it’s the least we can do after all the help you gave us today.” Mulan stood and went into the kitchen. The VKs looked at each other in shock and looked at Mulan suspiciously when she returned.

They watched as she filled the small containers with the leftover food and put them into a small bag. “Here! Now you can carry it easier.” Mal moved slowly keeping an eye on Mulan as she took the bag, still not convinced it wasn’t a trap. She opened the bag, glanced inside and glared at Mulan.

“What’s the catch?” Mal’s body was tense. She was far from the relaxed and smirking girl from a few hours prior.

Shang spoke up this time. “To be honest? She just doesn’t want it to wind up going bad in the fridge. We have a bad habit of forgetting leftovers until they aren't good to eat anymore.” They looked to Lonnie who nodded confirming what her father had said.

Jay looked at them incredulously. “How do you forget about the food you have?” Shang gave Jay a serious look.

“We don’t need to keep track here. We always have enough to eat. We always have more than we need. Just in case we need more.” Shang paused and turned to Mulan who gave him an encouraging squeeze. “When I was younger and fighting in the war, we would frequently run out of food. Fighting in the mountains made it hard for supplies to get to us. I like to have extra food stored nearby just in case something happens. I don’t want my family to go hungry.” All the villain kids looked at him with understanding. Evie stood and rested a hand on his arm.

“I understand. Thank you for the ‘leftovers’” It sounded like it was the first time she had said the word. Honestly, it probably was judging by the looks on the other kids' faces. They had all nodded in agreement and then helped clean up the kitchen.

They started joking around again as they cleaned the dishes. When the group piled into the car again Lonnie was glad to see they were smiling and gave her parents a huge hug thanking them before she left.

Later the group confronted her about a note her mother had left them. She explained that her mom liked spending time with them and the note said. “Thank you for your help! You are all welcome to come back anytime.” Was not a trap of some kind.

Her mother didn’t just invite anyone over to their house and she insisted that Mulan had meant it. Mal nodded and tucked the note away. She quietly gave Lonnie the bag of containers (Now empty and clean) and disappeared before she could say anything else.

Chapter Text

They were all lead into a room and sat at tables. They were each handed a several forms and instructed to fill them out. Filled with dread they each took a pen and started to fill in the blanks the best they can.

A snort comes from Mal. “What’s the address for the Isle?”

“What if you don’t know who your mom is?” Jay’s voice fills the room.

“Or your dad?” Evie and Carlos chimed in unison.

The clerk looked up, eyes glazed over. “Just fill out what you do know.” With a shrug, they all went back to their forms. Eventually, sometime later they announced they were all finished. The clerk came, collected the forms, and instructed them to wait until their name was called.

“Mal Fae?”

Groaning she stood and followed the man into a room with a desk and two chairs. The man sat and gestured at the other chair.

“Now I’m going to ask you to verify some of the information on the forms so we can get you an ID.”

With a nod, Mal leaned back and put her feet on the desk. “Shoot”

“What is your full name?”

“Mal Fae”

The man pursed his lips. “Ma’am I need your full name.”

Mal scoffed. “You do realize I’m a Fae right? You’re not getting my full name.”

The man nodded. “Yes ma’am but all Fairies here must report their full name for identification purposes.”

“What’s to stop me from lying?”

“In your case nothing I suppose.”

A hum filled the room. “Maleficent Bertha Fae”

Another nod and a scribble on a sheet. “Thank you. Now date of birth?”

“December 31st.”
“Excellent, How old are you?”

“16, wise guy”

“Okie doke, You clearly have green eyes and how tall are you?”

Mal stood up. “5’2 asshole.”

The man stood and opened the door. “After you ma’am.”

“Jay?”

“That’s me!” he hops up and strides toward the door.

“Take a seat, sir, I just need to verify some information.” They both took a seat. “What is your full name?”

“Um..Jay”

“You don’t possess a middle or surname?”

“Not that I’m aware of.”

“Interesting..” The man rubs his forehead. “Would you like to pick one now?”

Jay lit up. “I can do that?!”

“Yes, sir you need a middle and last name but choose wisely it won’t be easy to change after this.”

Jay sat there for a bit considering his options. “Middle name “Danger” of course.” His grin was wide across his face. “Last name “Sekur”.

The man groaned running both hands down his face. “Sir, are you sure you want your name to be Jay Danger Sekur?”

Jay nodded enthusiastically.

“Good grief, alright. When is your birthdate?”
Jay’s face sank. “I don’t know sir.”

“That’s alright you can choose that as well.”

“Oh cool, um June 6th?”

“Sounds good, I trust you are unaware of your age then?”

“Yes sir.”

The man nods “We’ll worry about that later. How tall are you?”

“5’8”

“Excellent and brown eyes. We are done here, sir.” The man stood and held the door open. With a nod, Jay had left.

“Evie Grimhilde?”

Evie looked up with a grin on her face and walked into the room. Gracefully she sat in the chair and waited for the man to sit. Glancing at her he sits down and takes out his papers. “Good afternoon ma’am, I just need to verify some information please.”

“Of course sir!”

With a nod, he starts his line of questions. “What is your full name?”

“Evelyn Grimhilde”

“No middle name?” Evie shakes her head.

“Thank you, what is your date of birth?”

“Um April 2nd I believe, but I don’t know the year.”

The man sighs and scribbles on his paper. “We’ll worry about that later. How tall are you?”

“5’4 sir”

Nodding he finishes his scribbles. “Okay 5’4, brown eyes, and that’s all I need from you today ma’am.”

Once again the man holds open the door and calls for the next person.

“Carlos?”

Carlos gets up and looks warily at the others. Evie gives him a reassuring squeeze, Jay nods, and Mal gives him a look that says “Don’t be weak”. He goes into the room. “Okay so you can sit in the chair and we will get started.”

“Yes sir.” Carlos hastily sat in the open chair.

The man looked at him head tilted. “What is your full name?”

“Carlos DeVil, sir.”

The man nodded “Okay and what is your birthdate?”

Carlos’s eyes shot open. “Um I don’t know sir, the clerk said to just fill in what we knew. I promise I’m not lying!”

The man put his papers on the desk. “Relax kid, you’re not in trouble, we just have to ask twice to make sure we get the right information. Would you like to pick a birthday?”

Carlos nodded. “Sorry, can it be May 28th?”

“You’re good, and yes it can. We’ll worry about how old you are later. How tall are you?”

Carlos looked down at his hands. “5’6, 5’7 sir?”

“The man grinned. “We’ll give you 5’7 just to be safe then huh? I’ve got all the information I need, You may go.”

Carlos rushed out of the room with a “Thank you sir.” thrown over his shoulder.

The man watched as the four kids left and wondered what the hell they had gone through to not even know their birthdays.

Chapter Text

Mal was already in the classroom when Fairy Godmother arrived. Instead of her normal position of feet on her desk Mal sat with a tenseness that hurt Godmother’s chest. The girl still didn’t believe she was safe. She may never feel safe. “Hello Mal, are you ready to begin?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Mal rolled her eyes and leaned back in her seat, arms crossed.

Fairy Godmother began with a quick refresher on the rules against violence at school and in Auradon. Immediately Mal had questions. “What happens if someone hits me first? Or one of my gang?” The Fairy Godmother stated that if you were defending yourself or others the harm might be excused, but it had to be clear that the other person had hit first. (Without antagonization she added after a moment)

Mal nodded thoughtfully and gestured for her to continue. The older Fairy continued to explain methods of conflict resolution that didn’t involve physical violence and could help the villain kids build a better reputation. Mall scoffed and said she didn’t want one. After an hour Mal was dismissed and they continued this pattern for the rest of the week. Mal still made rude comments and rolled her eyes, but she seemed to really be paying attention to the lessons. On the last day she had a lot of questions about life in Auradon.

“What if someone tries to take my stuff?” “What if the person doesn’t care about authority and continues the behavior after I did all the steps?” “If I hit someone on accident does that count?”

The questions continued until the hour was up and they went their separate ways. The villain kids still got plenty of detentions, but they were sent for noticeably less violent reasons. With a smile the Fairy Godmother overheard Mal sharing some of the conflict resolution strategies with the other VKs. Her chest was heavy whenever she thought of the children still on the Isle, but she was doing what she could with the four here now. The first time a villain kid got detention nearly made Fairy Godmother faint. Mal was in her English class and had started bickering with her teacher.

Mal claimed that the book they were reading was unrealistic with its heroes and that the wounds they suffered should've killed them. She also argued that the heroes were the real villains for taking the natives' land. She argues that if someone came into her home and tried to take it from her she’d fight back too. Then another kid said that was because she was a villain and Mal flashed a grin and said “You wanna find out?”

The teacher had them settle down but when class was over the kid cornered Mal and started to berate her, saying that she was a villain and hoped that she got sent back to the Isle soon. The next thing anyone knew the boy had flown across the hall and Mal had skinned knuckles. A teacher quickly came over to assess and sent Mal to the office to be dealt with.

The fae walked into Fairy Godmother's office and she was pale (well more pale than usual). She refused to meet the older woman's eyes as she explained her side of the story and said that she warned him to back off first. Fairy Godmother promised the boy’s parents that Mal would receive proper discipline and additional remedial goodness classes. The young fairy was still in her seat looking at the floor. She wasn’t ashamed, no she was afraid. Fairy Godmother’s heart squeezed at the sight of the normally stoic girl barely keeping herself from shaking. With a soft voice she explained that Mal would go to detention for a week and that they would use that time to work on her anger management. The girl looked up in shock. Quickly her eyes narrowed and she tilted her head. “What’s the catch?” A frown pulled at the older fairy’s face.

“There is no catch dear.”

Mal scoffed. “That’s nothing and you told his parents I would be ‘disciplined properly’. So what else is there? No food for a week? Needles under my nails? What is my punishment?”

The Fairy Godmother felt ill. Her face paled as she processed what Mal had said. “Mal there is no ‘punishment’ your consequences are to learn how to control your impulses.” She took a deep breath to keep the tears stinging her eyes from falling. “You are dismissed, and please meet me in the usual classroom after your last class.”

Mal eyed her suspiciously, but nodded before leaving the room. The older woman felt her face get wet with falling tears. What happened to those children on the Isle? She knew they needed to get as many children out of there as quickly as possible. Returning to her paperwork her thoughts wandered to what else might have happened on the Isle.

Chapter Text

The VKs had been invited to a party at Lonnie’s and accepted with haste. The gang loved it at the Li household and were excited to spend more time there. Along with Lonnie and them, Ben, Doug, Jane, and Audrey were all there. The party had been going on for a while, with lots of board games, video games, and food. It started to wind down and Jane loudly said they should play ‘Never Have I Ever’. The Isle kids looked lost but everyone else agreed excitedly and Lonnie explained the rules so everyone would be on the same page.

“Okay, you hold up ten fingers. One person will say something they’ve never done and if you’ve done it you put your finger down. Once you're out of fingers you lose.” Lonnie checked to see if her parents were nearby. “Usually this is a drinking game, but we can’t do that right now.” She further explained in a hushed tone. The VK’s nodded their understanding and dutifully held up ten fingers. Jane was the first to start.

“Never have I ever flown in a plane.” Nearly all the other Auradon kids groaned as they lowered a finger. All the VKs looked at everyone and nodded. They continued for a bit and then it came to Doug.

“Never have I ever broken a bone.” Audrey, Lonnie, and Jane all lowered a finger and Jay looked at Doug with a curious glance.

“Someone else's bone or my own?” The other VKs murmured in agreement behind him. Doug with wide eyes clarified their own bones. Carlos spoke up and asked if he had to break it himself or if someone else doing it counted. Again horrified Doug said broken a bone in an accident and not from someone else. With this knowledge, Mal and Jay lowered a finger While Evie and Carlos did not. As if nothing wrong had happened Jay went next.

“Never have I ever ridden a horse.” His grin was wide as all the Auradon kids lowered a finger with a groan.

“Never have I ever eaten fish eggs.” Carlos laughed as all the royals lowered a finger. “This is too easy!”

“My turn!” Evie lit up at the thought. “Never have I ever been to a grand ball!” She gave a look of innocence when accused of cheating. “It’s not my fault the Isle never had one.”

Mal grinned as she prepared to take her turn. “Never have I ever seen a real tiger.” Lonnie, Audrey, and Ben all grumbled as they lowered a finger. After Mal, it was Lonnie and then Audrey.

“Never have I ever broken another person’s bone.” Every villain kid put a finger down.

“Look who’s targeting now!” Mal sneered. Everyone turned when Lonnie and Ben also lowered a finger. Evie raised an eyebrow at them.

Ben looked sheepish as he explained. “I broke my mom’s tailbone on the way out.” Lonnie shrugged and said she’d broken a few people’s bones by accident playing her various sports.

“What about you four?” Audrey wanted to see what information she could pry out.

“I’ve broken too many to count at this point. It’s not hard on the Isle and it’s often when fighting for territory or food.” Jay shrugged as if it was a completely normal thing to say. Mal hummed in agreement and the group looked to Carlos and Evie. They looked down as they told the others it was from self-defense. Luckily everyone moved on without pushing and they kept playing until almost everyone had one left. It was Jay’s turn and he was out for the kill.

“Never have I ever known who both my parents were.” He was eager to see everyone from Auradon put a finger down, but to his surprise, Jane didn’t and to the AK’s surprise Mal did. Before anyone could ask Mal practically snarled that it was none of their business. They finished out the game and then they all headed back to school. Lonnie had stayed home and talked to her parents about what the VKs had said and they both nodded as if they already knew. They said you can usually tell when another person has had to fight for their life before and they all had. Lonnie felt a heavy weight fall over her as she remembered all the kids still stuck on the Isle.

Chapter Text

Life back on the Isle was hard. The Auradon kids knew that making life hard was the whole point of the Isle. They didn’t realize how hard it was until they saw the results walking the same halls as them, learning in the same classes, or eating in the same cafeteria.

At first, it started with all the stuff they didn’t know. Like how Carlos didn’t know that not all dogs were rabid pack animals, or how Jay didn’t know that the coach wasn’t angry at him when he yelled. Mal was clearly out of her depths when her usual threats didn’t intimidate the others as she wanted. Evie was a bit harder to tell, but she quickly stuck out when she tried to use traditional manners on teenagers.

Then it was bigger things, like the way Carlos would freeze if someone yelled near him. Or that Jay flinched when the coach patted his back. Mal would get furious with authority figures and try to fight them constantly. Evie didn’t seem to gain the weight that the others in her gang did. It was the way they walked, always with purpose and as a group. They went everywhere together, and everyone learned quickly that if you messed with one of them you got all four. It was also the way they’d snarl at you that they were NOT friends and that they were gang.

That was another thing. They always said,”Gang is life”. As if any of the Auradon kids would know what that meant. All they gathered was that the VKs would do absolutely anything for each other. It was the habits they noticed here and there for the longest time, but slowly the Isle kids would mention how life was back home, and with every tidbit the bigger the horror everyone at the school felt. Lonnie dropped the ‘Villains don’t make their kids' cookies’ bomb on them and everyone would agree that was less than ideal, but not horrible. It just got worse from there.

Doug was studying with Evie one day and he offered her a candy bar he’d gotten from the vending machine. With a smile she politely declined it, stating it was too sweet for her taste. She felt his eyes on her so she rushed to explain. “Oh, it’s just everything here is so sweet and I’m really not used to that stuff.”

She paused and for a moment her eyes looked distant. “It was rare to get sweet stuff on the Isle in the first place, and my mother would never let me have anything that could make me gain weight.” A cold laugh came out of the princess. “No one wants a fat princess.” She went back to studying as if she had said the most normal thing in the world and Doug was too stunned to challenge her.

Later he slipped her a bag of dark chocolate with a note that explained it wasn’t overly sweet and was actually good for you. Evie gave him a tight hug and thanked him for the wonderful treat.

Ben was with Jay when they heard the scream from across the tourney field. Right away he knew it was Carlos and before he knew it Jay was on the other side of the field and ripping into another player. Carlos was shaking and pale, his eyes wide as he pressed his back to a nearby wall. Ben and a few others pulled Jay off the other player. Ben stayed with Jay as the other checked on the guy on the ground. Jay’s breath was heaving like he had run a marathon. His eyes were dark as they darted around searching. As his eyes locked onto Carlos he was in front of the small boy.

It all happened so fast that Ben didn’t even have time to ask what was going on. The coach was with them now and started yelling at Jay for jumping on his teammate. Jay growled at the coach to stay back. The coach stepped back and started to talk to Ben, but the king’s focus was on the trembling boy.

Jay was gentle with Carlos, hushed reassurances told Carlos that he was safe, and no one would hurt him. Carlos seemed to realize where he was, but couldn’t control his breathing, and to Ben’s amazement, Jay led Carlos in calming his breath and getting control of himself.

Once Carlos gave Jay a nod letting him know he was fine, Jay stood and turned to face the coach. Coach opened his mouth but Jay beat him to it. “I know I’m in trouble, but please let me get Carlos somewhere safe first.” Coach grunted that he had fifteen minutes to get to his office or he would call Fairy Godmother. With a nod, Jay disappeared with the smaller boy and Coach turned to Ben.

“Your Majesty, I'd like to hear your recounting of what happened.” The coach led him to his office and by the time Ben was done Jay was slinking into the office. Jay stood tall, his eyes fierce. He sat in the chair next to Ben and before the coach could dismiss him Ben insisted he stay.

Coach shrugged and turned to Jay. “Now Jay I like you, and you are a real asset to this team, but you absolutely can NOT attack another player! Ever!” He pinched the bridge of his nose as he continued. “What on earth caused you to react that way? They were just running a drill.”

Jay cast his eyes downward but kept his shoulders square. “It was Carlos screaming, sir. I-” Jay crossed his arms. “I just blacked out sir.” The coach nodded but otherwise kept silent. Jay looked up at him pleadingly. “I know I shouldn’t have done it, but when I heard that scream I thought I was back on the Isle. If Carlos screamed like that it meant he was in BIG trouble, so I just came in swinging.”

Jay’s breathing picked up. “I heard him and I lost it. Last time he screamed like that I was-” Jay gulped. “I found him beaten to a pulp with a knife stuck in his arm, Evie is the only reason he lived.” Ben and the coach looked horrified, pale with grief, and glanced at each other before the coach addressed Jay.

“I understand, son. I won’t take this to the headmistress. I have to report it of course, but your teammate already said he wasn't hurt badly and didn’t want you to get in trouble. I’ll tell the bigwigs it was dealt with by me and you’ll spend an hour with me after practice, just helping clean up and stuff, for two weeks so that they think you're being punished.” The coach gave Jay a stern look. “If this happens again I can’t guarantee anything. You need to learn how to not react that way, Do you understand?” Jay nodded. “Okay, you can go. Your detention starts tomorrow.” Jay mutters a thank you and slips out of the office.
The coach turns to the King. “You gotta get those kids out of there your Majesty.” Ben nodded and left to find someone who could help.

Audrey and Mal were partnered together for a science project. They had a mutual distrust of each other, though that was slowly thawing as they realized the other wasn’t as stuck up as presumed.

They had gathered the necessary supplies and were sitting in an empty classroom, Doug and Evie studying quietly nearby. Sorting the materials they were soon ready to start. They had to make a fire burner hot enough to melt aluminum using chemicals.

They were in the process of testing some of the chemicals when Audrey asked Mal to pass her the tongs. Without thinking Mal grabbed the tongs and immediately dropped them hissing as she brought her hand to her chest. A strangled cry left her lips as she stumbled back, her eyes glazed over.

Within seconds Evie was by Mal’s side. Taking her hand she gave Audrey a vicious glance. “You’re using iron tongs?” Audrey stood speechless as she watched Mal gasp for breath, speaking desperate words in a language she didn’t understand.

Evie lowered Mal to the ground and hushed her, as she looked at Audrey and Doug telling them to get her purse. Doug quickly brought it to her side and Evie pulled out some burn cream. “Here Mal this will help. You’re okay, you’re safe.” Mal barely flinched as Evie applied the cream and continued to reassure her.

“She’s going to kill me.” Mal’s voice shook with fear that Audrey and Doug didn’t know Mal could feel. Evie reassured her that her mother was not able to reach her and that she was safe. They were in Auradon, the villains couldn’t get them. Audrey nearly suffocated on the wave of nausea she felt at the words. Not all the kids were safe. Most of them were still stuck on the Isle.

“I don’t want to die again.” Mal was slightly calmer as she clung to Evie. Though it was clear she was not aware there were others in the room. Audrey and Doug looked at each other in confusion. Evie hushed Mal and helped guide her breathing. She turned to the other two in the room.

“She’s coming back, so I would get out of here if I was you. Mal doesn’t like when other people know she can get like this.” The Auradon kids nodded and quickly gathered their stuff and left the room. With one last glance, Audrey left the room and swore to get to the bottom of the horrors of the Isle.

The People of Auradon knew the Isle was bad, but they were just starting to realize how horrible it truly was.

Chapter Text

The kids from the Isle seemed to know more than they let on. That was obvious, but it never failed to surprise the other students when a VK would switch languages mid-conversation. Apparently, it was common to be multilingual on the Isle, not all the villains knew English so it was beneficial to learn as much as possible. Between the four of them, it seemed like every language in the USA was at least understood. Now the VKs would be the first to admit they didn’t know how to read in all the languages they spoke, but they could speak them well.

It wasn’t until someone overheard them talking to each other the first time that they realized something was off. Ben was approaching the group at lunch when he realized he had no idea what the four of them were saying. Clearing his throat he greeted them and joined them for the meal, none of them slipped up and none of them let on that they knew more than one language. Later it was Doug that caught them talking to each other in a seemingly unknowable language.

No one spoke of it until some students were making fun of the VKs in German and Evie politely notified them that she spoke the language. The students' faces paled as they retreated from the gang. Of course, the Villain kids thought this was hilarious and were cackling as they fled. So when Audrey was talking to Ben in French about her concerns about the new students, Mal flashed a big smile and reassured her that she wasn’t planning on using magic to harm anyone. In French of course, leaving both Ben and Audrey speechless as she walked away.

One day the gang sat with Ben, Doug, Audrey, and Lonnie as they chatted and studied together. Mal was recounting the story of her telling Audrey off in French when Doug piped up.

“What languages do you all speak?” His eyes were filled with curiosity. The gang all looked to Mal who shrugged. Carlos was the first to speak up.

“I know French, Spanish, Russian, and English.” He paused for a moment. “Oh and of course I know Ilsen, but that’s obvious.” The Auradon kids looked at him confused. “The language of the Isle?” They all stared at him in shock.

“You have your own language?” Ben looked genuinely surprised.

Mal rolled her eyes. “Of course we do, you put a bunch of people from across the world on one tiny Isle and expect them to speak the same language?” Ben bit back his questions as Audrey pushed to know what languages the others knew. Jay spoke up next.

“Um, I know Arabic, English, Chinese, Spanish, and Ilsen.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Though my Spanish is a little rough. I haven’t practiced much.” Glancing at Evie he prompted her to go next. With a soft sigh, she listed off all the languages she knew.

“German, French, Italian, Spanish, English, Greek, Fae, and Ilsen.” Evie counted on her fingers to double-check. “Yeah that should be right, I suppose I’ll find out.” The AKs all stared wide-eyed, with mouths agape.

“How the hell did you learn all those?” Doug was barely able to contain his shock.

Evie shifted in her seat. “My mother didn’t want a language barrier to get in the way of me and a prince to marry.” She shrugged. “Plus I just have a knack for it, I picked up Fae from Mal.” The others turned towards the final VK.

Mal rolled her eyes as she listed off. “Fae, Greek, English, French, and Ilsen.” She huffed as she leaned against Jay. “I didn’t have to learn as much since everyone spoke my preference when they dared to speak to me,” Audrey asked which language she preferred. “Depends on who I was dealing with. If it was someone I tolerated then Ilsen was fine, but if not I’d only speak in French or Greek.”

Lonnie cut in with another question. “How did you learn all these languages?” Jay shrugged, “My dad only spoke Arabic when customers weren’t around, I picked up the other stuff from around the Island.” Carlos explained that Cruella’s henchmen spoke Russian, Cruella spoke English and he picked up the rest from the others. Mal said her story was similar, learning Fae and French from her mother and picking up the rest from other people.

Evie took a deep breath before explaining her reasons. “My mother was obsessed with me finding a prince and ensured I spoke a plethora of different languages. She spoke German most of the time, but she knew Italian, so that’s what I learned next and so on. I learned Fae from Mal and Ilsen from the others. I did start to learn a bit of Chinese from the Huns, but I didn’t have much time before coming here.” Lonnie lit up and invited her to learn from her and her parents if she wanted to. Evie quickly agreed, excited to add another language to her repertoire.

“I thought the Huns spoke Hunnic?” Audrey asked puzzled.

Jay snorted. “They do, but only amongst themselves. They think we are too beneath them to learn their language, so they speak in Chinese.”

They continued to speak to one another in different languages and excitedly offered to teach each other new ones. Eventually, it ended in them planning a massive sleepover soon and they went to their respective rooms. Lonnie excitedly let her parents know to expect company soon.

Chapter Text

Ben burst into the room the villain kids were studying in. They all jumped and looked ready to fight. Evie was the first to relax and she addressed the king. “Ben, what’s wrong?” Ben realized he must look like a mess. His official garb was disheveled and he was gasping from how fast he tried to get here. He held up a finger as he caught his breath and the rest of the VKs relaxed into their chairs.

“I need you to testify to the council about the food on the Isle so I can convince the other kingdoms to agree to send better food to the Isle.” The group paled. Mal stood and put herself between her crew and Ben.

“Can’t you just make a proclamation?” Ben sighed.

“No, when it comes to the Isle it’s more difficult.” He sat in a nearby chair. Aches sprang from his bones and his head pounded. “I was able to get you here because it was my first proclamation. It sets the tone of my rule and has the ability to do things otherwise not possible.” He pinched his nose. “Besides I need the other kingdoms to agree because I need their food. If everyone gives some then the burden will be lessened on everyone.” Evie nodded in understanding, but the others were still confused.

“What does that have to do with us?” Jay spoke up first.

Ben looked at the four of them. They were so much healthier and had adjusted to the food in Auradon. Carlos has even gained a few inches since first arriving. “It’ll be harder for them to say no if you’re in the room. If they hear you say that the food can literally kill you, then maybe they'll be driven to action.” They all looked thoughtful at his words. Evie lit up as she put the pieces together.

“You want to guilt trip them!” She grinned as if she solved a new equation. Ben nodded and gave Evie a small smile.

“Who is on the council?” Mal asked, hesitation clear in her voice.

Ben opened and closed his mouth. He wasn’t sure how to explain that they’d be telling dozens of people (and technically anyone who requested to see the court recording) from every kingdom in the union. Since it was known they’d be discussing the Isle several rulers may take the place of their typical representative. His head felt like it might explode. “A representative from every kingdom is typical, however since it is not a secret that we are discussing the Isle, many royals will probably.” He tried to give a sympathetic look, but he was not sure it would work.

Every expression was different. Mal had wide eyes, Evie looked anxious, but determined, Jay looked angry and Carlos didn’t meet his eyes. Polite as ever Evie asked that they have time alone to discuss the matter and said they’d tell him the following day. He nodded and let them know that the council session was on the following Monday. He left the VKs and went to his room as soon as his head touched the pillow.

Once Ben left Evie was the first to speak. “We have to do it,” Mal growled and sat.

“I’m not standing there and telling a bunch of prissy shitheads about how I almost died from food poisoning.” She glared at the others.

“Mal it’s for everyone back home! We have to help them any way we can.” Evie was firm in her stance. Mal stood and stepped to Evie. “I-”

Jay cut her off. “She’s right Mal.” Jay stood arms crossed and held the fae’s gaze. She snarled as she glared at Carlos.

“What about you?” Carlos didn’t look at anyone, but his voice was firm as he spoke.

“I hate it too, but Evie is right.” He met Mal’s gaze and spoke almost angrily. “We have to do whatever we can to help the others. I have to help Diego and the others.” He stood his ground as Mal threw a book across the room. She fumed and ranted for a good while before Evie put a hand on her shoulder. Mal was no longer angry and now she was exhausted. She nodded at Evie’s questioning look.

“You are right. I’ll say whatever they need me to.” She gave an apologetic look to her crew, and they all nodded their acceptance. They all piled together that night ignoring the curfew rules and when they woke the next day they prepared to tell Ben they would do it. They entered the office and Mal nearly interrogated him as she pestered him with every question Evie told her to ask. Once they had their answers they confirmed that they’d testify and prepared for the day approaching.

They all were ready to go in formal clothing. Evie had made them all new outfits to help relieve her stress. Ben had the car pick them up and he smiled wearily as they pulled into the private entrance of the council building. They followed Ben to his office and he explained that while they were in session he had to be king and couldn’t help them. They would be in the witness booth with guards outside the door. (He explained it was for their protection as some people disliked them greatly.)

They would be addressed as a group with questions unless one of them was asked by name. Dr. Sweet would also be there towards the end in a separate booth to share the results of their blood tests. Mal tensed at that news, still barely able to allow the sharing of such information. Evie squeezed the girl’s hand and it helped the fae relax a bit. The time came and Ben gave them all a hug and reassured them that everything would be okay.

The gang entered the witness booth and they all felt exposed. The council room was circular and had tons of tables (booths? They couldn’t tell) that all faced towards them. Next to them was a big stand where Ben sat looking regal and firm. On the other side was a matching booth and in front of that was a woman typing on a typewriter-looking thing. Most of the other kingdoms were here and the four of them realized almost all of the nations opted to have their true rulers present. They all huddled together as attendance was taken and their hearts pounded as Ben spoke. His voice was smooth and commanding in a way they never heard before.

“Today as you all know is to be dedicated to the discussion of a proposed bill to give additional surprise to the inhabitants of the Isle of the Lost.” He paused and took a deep breath. “Today we have several witnesses willing to testify to the quality of food and other necessities on the Isle.” Ben had explained that some of the questions would go into the realm of water and medicine, but should never cross into personal questions regarding their parents. “I understand today will be difficult for everyone, but I ask that everyone treat the witnesses and other council members with respect and patience today.” With that, he opened the floor to the procession.

The first part was really boring as they dissected what the bill said and what that would mean for the kingdoms. Then they took a recess to allow everyone time to think of questions to ask and take a break. Evie had followed along with a certain amount of expertise Mal was grateful for. Evie was raised to be a queen someday and it was showing as she explained what certain things meant to the others. Now the floor was open to questioning and the four of them had to vow to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. (Or be sent back to the Isle was the silent message)

Mal shuddered as she said the words, her fae blood boiled at the promise. She looked out at all the people fighting to ask the first question. It was eventually decided that the questions would be asked in an order that was randomly selected, and Ben had a list of orders from the drawing of names. The first to ask questions was Queen Elsa from Arendelle, though her sister Anna was by her side. Elsa exuded power from her intricate gown made of ice and snow. She stood tall and proud. But there was something in her eyes that the gang couldn’t place.

“Do all who live on the Isle have reasonable access to clean water?” Her voice was chilling as she spoke. Her eyes never left them as they responded.

Jay laughed. Like true hysterical laughing, as if he thought the question was the funniest thing in the world. Mal and Carlos tried to get him to shut up as Evie spoke into the microphone. Her voice was sickeningly sweet, a smile never wavering as she spoke. “There is no water on the Isle like there is in Auradon. We had never seen completely clear water until we were brought here.” She paused for a moment and looked to the others as Jay settled down. Mal spoke up next, her voice rough and threatening.

“No, your Majesty, we didn't have clean water. We had filthy water, murky water, and alcohol.” The Queen thanked them for their answer and the next few questions asked them where they acquired water, what defined water as ‘filthy’, and ‘murky’, and what alcohol they were able to produce. There were also some questions about the illnesses that followed consuming dirty water. The four of them answered the best they could and soon there was a short recess. Evie proceeded to explain to the others what was happening and soon they started to piece together the politics of the whole situation. She also helped them with the way they answered questions and gave them more powerful words to use rather than their usual nonchalant response to questions of this nature. Too quickly they resumed the questioning. The next in the order was the kingdom of Charmington. Queen Snow White asked the question, her face betraying nothing as she spoke.

“Are you able to grow food on the Isle?” Mal grimaced. The boys scowled and Evie paled. Technically some plants could be grown on the Isle, but never anything to feed someone. Evie had a small garden near her castle and in the window of their hideout, but it never could grow food. She always grew herbs that helped prevent infections or had other medicinal purposes. The sun rarely was out long enough to grow anything big. Even if it did, there wasn’t enough water to keep people and plants alive. So no they couldn’t grow food on the Isle, but they could grow a handful of herbs. The four of them looked to Evie to answer. Swallowing her fear the princess plastered a kind smile and spoke into the microphone.

“We are unable to grow anything reliably due to the lack of consistent sunshine, and the frequent storms. I have been able to grow a few herbs, but it often took several attempts.” Evie held the gaze from the Queen until the next question was asked. They focused on the prospect of food growth until it was deemed a futile solution. The questioning was surprisingly tame and on topic. The kingdoms asked questions that related to the changes proposed by the bill.

“What do the children of the Isle do to deserve the supplies currently sent to the Isle to be withheld by their parents?” The question echoed throughout the chamber as a silence was ushered as the words were spoken. King Triton was unaffected by the deafening silence. Mal’s eyes glowed with rage. Jay puffed out his chest and stood in front of Carlos blocking him from view. Evie froze with glazed-over eyes. Before Mal was able to rip into the son of Poseidon, Ben spoke over the council.

“King Triton, that question is inappropriate and not relevant to the conversation.” Ben’s voice had an edge to it. The merman seemed not to notice as he pressed on.

“Why is it not relevant? Clearly these children are exaggerating their circumstances. No one on the Isle would be alive if what they said was true. They must have done something to deserve such treatment!” The king was red in the face by the time he finished. His gaze was hard and assured. He opened his mouth to continue but was cut off by Carlos’s voice carrying throughout the room.

“We do die.” Carlos stood at the microphone. His glare dared anyone to challenge him. “I have died.”

King Triton scoffed. “What are you talking about, child? You stand here before us.”

Evie stepped forward and spoke before Ben could. “Dying doesn’t work the same on the Isle as it does here.” She paused and looked at the others. Mal gave her a nod to continue. “When you die on the Isle you fall into a darkness that is all-consuming and endless. Then after what always feels like eternity you wake up.” Evie took a shuddering breath. “You wake up often feeling better than when you died. Your wounds heal and the only scar you get is from what killed you. You don’t stay dead on the Isle.”

The crowd was silent. King Triton looked at her with horror on his face. Crying could be heard just before all hell broke loose. Everyone was shouting and asking new questions. People were accusing each other of treating the children of the Isle with a heartless disregard. Ben roared above the crowd and announced a recess would be taken and everyone should return in an hour. The chaos followed the crowd as they left. Ben sent the Isle kids an apologetic look before leaving the room himself. Alone in the room, the gang was startled as the door opened behind them. Mal recognized Mrs. Potts immediately and told Jay to stand down. The kind-looking woman had a tray of food and water. She smiled as she set it down.

“I wish I could stay children, but I cannot due to witness rules. Is there anything I can fetch for you?” She looked genuinely remorseful and gave them all a soft look. Mal, Jay, and Carlos all shook their heads, but Evie requested a notepad and pencil. Mrs. Potts nodded and soon enough a guard slipped in a small notepad and a pencil (with a sharpener). Mal tilted her head.

“What’s that for E?” Evie was writing furiously on the paper and sighed.

“I need to keep track of what is being asked and who is asking it. This is taking forever and my brain can’t keep it all in order.” Sure enough, Mal could see a list of the kingdoms present and their rulers. A list of topics and questions quickly followed.

“Evie you’re a genius.” Carlos piped up. Evie smiled and gave a small laugh, all without ceasing her writing.

“My mother taught me everything she knew about politics and how to manipulate them to your advantage. We need to remember who seems the most sympathetic to our cause if we are going to get the kids off the Isle.” Her gang nodded and started to share what they thought of certain rulers and filled in the spots Evie left blank. After they had finished they heard people start to return to the room. Soon it was time to resume the questioning, at this point, they had talked about the water, the ability to grow food, the quality of the food, and how sparse it was to come by. Now there was a small amount of time before Dr. Sweet arrived to ask any remaining questions to the Villain kids. Queen Elsa asked the next question and it was a shock to the gang that anyone would ask them this.

“How would you suggest we ensure children of the Isle get the necessities they require?” The queen’s face had softened since the last time they asked a question and she even gave them a small simile. The four of them were speechless and it took a moment for them to gather themselves. With just a look they all choose Evie to speak for them. She was the most passionate about the kids back on the Isle after all.

“Ideally we would want all the kids removed from the Isle.” This wasn't strictly true as some of the spawn on the Isle were adults and truly evil people, but they didn’t want to give the royals anything to use against them. “But in the meantime sending real supplies instead of garbage would help a lot. Even if only the food and water were clean and fresh. To kids on the Isle used items and clothing that haven’t sat in the sun with rotting food would be life-changing.” A murmur rushed throughout the room and only quieted when the queen thanked Evie for her response. The next question was asked by Queen Kida of Atlantis.

“How often does one go through the death of the Isle?” Her face was full of pain and sadness. She looked remorseful as she spoke the words. Mal stepped forward not needing to check with her crew to know she was the one to take point on this question. She hesitated once she opened her mouth, however unsure of how to explain the Isle and the violence.

“It depends on who your parents are. If you have a gang, or how desperate you are for something.” She paused her face screwing up as she recalled her time on the Isle. “If you were useful your parents would probably not kill you themselves. But if you had food and someone hasn’t eaten for weeks, they could jump you for the food.” Mal released a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. “Some of the unclaimed kids would die, wake up and die again. No one would protect or help them. We couldn’t afford to without dying or worse angering our parents.”

Looking up at the queen she steadied her voice and spoke with a deadly calm voice. “It was at least weekly for the weakest and once or twice a year for the strongest.” She had once gone two years without dying, but that was mostly due to the fact her mother didn’t kill her, not her survival skills. Gasps of disgust and horror flooded the room as she spoke the truth. The leaders of the kingdoms weren’t ready to face the consequences of their actions and Mal didn’t think they ever would be. She just hoped they’d try to fix the problem.

Ben quieted the crowd as Dr. Sweet arrived in the other witness booth. He announced a short break so that the doctor would be able to prepare. A screen was brought into the room and the doctor had binders filled with notes to reference ready to answer any questions from the council. The four sat silently as questioning resumed and watched fearfully as they prepared to learn just how broken they were.

“Doctor, can you tell us about the initial state of the children when they arrived?” Queen Ariel asked with a serious voice. The doctor asked that slide 4 be shown on the screen and it held the general problems of the Isle kids when she had examined them.

“Now I saw them about three weeks after they originally arrived, which is important to remember for the weight aspect. They were still an unhealthy weight and showing severe symptoms of malnutrition. With additional testing, it was determined they were deficient in several vital vitamins and had stunted growth. Additionally, they had worms and other signs of inadequate water sources.” Dr. Sweet paused and pursed her lips. “Some of them have bones that have healed incorrectly and other internal damage to their bodies. Your Majesty, I’ve never seen anything like it in my entire career. Their test revealed that they are attuned to live in an environment of constant stress and violence. They score higher than any veteran my colleagues have ever seen.” With that, the doctor sat down signaling that she was finished. Everyone was stunned. Mal and Jay looked at each other with shock.

“Worse than soldiers?” Evie whispered. Carlos nodded and clung to the princess. The questions continued and they learned that they were all nothing like the Auradon kids. They already knew this but learned that they were all stunted and that they’d never be ‘normal’ no matter how hard they tried because their brains were fried from their life on the Isle. By the time they were dismissed, they felt a weight settle over them like a curse. How would they ever make a life in Auradon if they were incapable of fully adjusting to life here?

Exhausted from the day they fell asleep as soon as the door shut to Mal and Evie’s room. They only found out the result of the vote after they woke up. Ben himself informs them that the Isle would now receive only good food and water. However, some kingdoms insisted that the rest of the supplies would be sent from what the kingdoms disregarded. A team of medical professionals would be sent to the Isle with armed guards to assess the medical needs of the Isle. Then it would be decided what to do next. The discussion of bringing any more children over has been tabled until the doctor reports. They all celebrated and when they came down to the commons outside they found that their friends waited with a celebration ready for them. Lonnie, Audrey, Jane, Doug, and Ben stood there with all their favorite foods and games. The core four didn’t know how to react but settled on enjoying the moment. Mal ate nearly all the strawberries and Jay played with Lonnie and Ben tackling them. Evie discussed various things with Doug and Jane, and Carlos lay beside Mal with Dude curled into his side.

This was worth betraying their parents. This was worth the Isle. Gang is life, but maybe they could protect a few more.

Chapter Text

Mal has tried to break up with Ben three times. She just couldn’t bring herself to say the words. Ben and she had been trying to make it work after the coronation, but it felt off. Mal couldn’t understand the intense politics of Auradon royalty and Ben couldn’t understand the mindset of people from the Isle. They cared about each other of course!

That’s why it was so hard. Secretly Mal wished that Ben hated her for spelling him, but he said that he forgave her and he knew her mother forced her to. She was grateful for his forgiveness, but she wished he had pushed back at least a little. She was used to a fight. Ben was soft and kind, and she was hard and mean. She knew they wouldn’t work when Ben couldn’t understand why she was so close to her crew.

“How could you tell them but not me?” Ben paced the room and ran his hands threw his hands. Mal had been having nightmares that continued to grow worse, as time passed. “I could’ve helped you, I’m supposed to help you?” He looked sad, and that made her feel even worse. She didn’t even think to tell him. Her crew was handling it and that's all she needed. She tried to explain their bond, but Ben could not understand no matter how she described it. Gang is life and she would never betray that. She couldn’t, they were her life and she was theirs.

The first time she tried to break up with Ben they were interrupted by an emergency Ben had to deal with right away. So she sat there and cried until Evie came and found her. She tried again getting Ben alone in the hedge maze and sitting him on the benches in the middle. But as she tried to say the words her mouth wouldn’t say them. It was like she was cursed. Unable to say the words out loud Ben assured her it was okay and that he’d listen when she could say the words. She had cried that time too, and of course, sweet Ben held her and told her everything would be okay.

Then determined to break up with the king she wrote her words in a letter and planned to give it to the king when they were alone, but that took so long that she lost the letter and only found it after the breakup. It wasn’t expected or planned by either side, but somehow they were glad for it. Mal was sitting on the sofa in Ben’s office sketching and the king was trudging through his piles of paperwork. Ben looked weary as he signed countless papers and read over new proposals. Slowly he approached the sofa and scooped Mal into his arms.

A moment passed before he spoke. “This isn’t working is it?” His voice was soft and sad. Mal tensed in his arms and that was all the answer he needed. “I knew it would be different after everything went down, but-” He took a deep breath and gratefully accepted the hand squeeze Mal gave him. “I can’t help you like I should.” Tears fell from his eyes as he spoke. Mal couldn’t look at him, but she turned and held him tight.

“I’m so sorry Ben.” She felt her own retched tears soak into his shirt. He tightened the embrace, whispering his apologies. They stayed like that for a long time neither wanting to part. They knew it’d never be the same after this. She pulled away first and brushed the hair from his eyes. “I still care about you so much, I wanted it to work so bad.” Ben nodded and closed his eyes as he took deep breaths.

“I did too. You’ll always be someone I want by my side, Mal.” He turned to meet her gaze. “I just don’t think it can be like this.” Nodding she embraced the king again. They held each other whispering what they’d miss and that it wasn’t the other’s fault. Eventually, Mal pulled away and stood. She gathered her things and turned to face the king. His face was damp and his eyes were red and puffy, she knew she was no better. Leaning forward their lips met for the final time, it was soft and caring. Ben’s lips pulled away too soon and Mal held his gaze for just a second before slipping out the door.

It was safe to assume that the core four slept in a big pile that night and Mal was in the center. She cried more than she would ever admit and clung to any of her crew that was in reach. Evie and Doug silently exchanged the two’s belongings and helped keep them separated for a few weeks while the pain eased. After about a month Ben and Mal could interact without at least one of them crying afterwards.

Slowly they began to build a new relationship and by the time three months passed, they were fast friends. They sat and talked for long stretches and were able to joke around with each other, and they both felt so comfortable around each other now that they weren’t trying to be the perfect person for the other. When Ben started talking about how he and Audrey had started to hang out again, Mal was the one to push him to ask her out. It probably helped that Mal had apologized to the princess for spelling her boyfriend and told her that she was much too busy with her crew to try and steal Ben a second time.

Chapter Text

Isle kids didn’t take threats lightly. Ever. If anyone threatened to do something to them or worse their gang, that person was corrected right away. If a person threatened someone the gang had claimed they had to send a message so no one would repeat the mistake. This continued into Auradon and after Jay had picked a kid up off the ground and Mal had made another student take a trip to the hospital for a broken arm everyone knew not to mess with the core four. It took a bit longer to learn with the people the gang claimed.

At first, people didn’t know what the pin meant. Jay had found Lonnie being bullied by some of the boys on the Tourney team and he crashed them into the lockers and literally snarled at them. It was terrifying. Lonnie told him off, but Jay insisted that he had to send a message. There were a few other incidents, but nothing was more terrifying than when a new student pushed his luck a bit too far.

It was common knowledge that Ben was under the protection of the Isle kids. No one dared push that boundary. After Evie threw a knife that perfectly cut a kid’s tie off everyone finally got the message to leave pinned people alone. Unfortunately, a new student had joined the school and seemed to think the rules didn’t apply to him. Everyone tried to tell him not to piss off the VKs.

At first, it was minor offenses, like calling Ben names and telling him he was a bad king. The boy got warned several times by the gang to “Fuck off before you fuck up” Ben made a deal that the Isle kids could only retaliate if it was a physical threat and they had to have evidence that it could happen. That of course meant that Carlos and Jay tripping the new student in the hall was strictly unrelated. It was a hobby of theirs! Definitely not because he had called the king a puppet. When Ben began getting anonymous notes in his locker threatening him and his parents, he asked the Isle kids to get to the bottom of it. Soon no one was safe from the snooping VKs, but as soon as they were deemed not suspicious they received a promise that they’d make up for the inconvenience.

Finally, they narrowed it down to the new student and Ben told them that they couldn’t do anything else and that he’d get the proper authorities involved. An investigation was launched, but it seemed that someone tipped off the kid because they didn’t find anything linking the anonymous notes to him. Mal growled when Ben told them. The king warned them not to do anything and Evie turned to him and smiled at him sweeter than sugar. “Of course your Majesty. We’d never do anything without evidence.” The blood drained from Ben’s face as the isle gang left the room. He wasn’t sure what he should do, but he decided he trusted them to not do anything drastic.

Three days later the new kid was hog-tied and tossed onto the king’s desk. Gently set next to him was a series of photos confirming that the new kid was in fact the one leaving anonymous notes. Wide-eyed Ben looked up at the gang before him. Jay flashed him a grin, Mal smirked at him, Evie gave a small smile and Carlos held a neutral expression. “Thank you, I guess this matter is settled now.” With a nod, the gang filed out of the room as guards came in to retrieve the treasonous student. The report from the guard investigating said that he confessed right away and begged for him to keep “those psychopaths away”. Allegedly the core four had messed him up quite a bit, but upon a doctor’s evaluation, there were no signs of physical abuse. The king filed that under things to ask the villain kids about in the distant future.

Ben went to thank them later, but the only response was from Mal as she sketched. “Anytime Benny Boo.” The half-fae met his eyes. “You’ve been claimed.” Ben swallowed as the true weight of that statement settled over him. From then on the King was sure to handle any disturbances as quickly as possible for the sake of the person causing them more than himself.

Chapter Text

If you're in trouble you want an Isle kid by your side. Ben was startled when Evie knocked a cup out of his hand one day. He started to ask why the hell she did that. She held a hand up and took a sip from his pitcher and her eyes widened. The others in the room were also shocked except the VKs, who looked at the witch expectantly. “Hemlock.” She turned to Ben. “Someone is trying to poison you.” Everyone gasped and the core four jumped into action. They secured all the doors and Evie tested the rest of the food and drink on the table confirming only the king’s drink was poisoned. They were deciding if they should take Ben to a more secure location when Audrey sputtered an interruption.

“I’m sorry, but if Ben’s drink is poisoned how is Evie still alive?”

Mal rolled her eyes as if that was the dumbest question in the world. “Evie’s been micro-dosing poison since she could eat.” The Auradonians looked horrified. “Did you think the Evil Queen would allow her daughter to be poisoned?” The expressions stayed the same and the VKs ignored them as they continued planning. They took attendance of everyone in the room. They were at Beast Castle and eating in an informal dining room. It was the four of them, Ben, Audrey and two staff. King Beast and Belle hadn’t arrived yet so they could be in danger as well.

It was agreed that Jay and Evie would go get Ben’s parents and bring them back and Mal and Carlos would stay in case something happened. Once the two slipped out of the doors Carlos and Mal moved a buffet in front of the door and closed the curtains. They told the others to stay on the side of the room and Audrey and Ben needed to stay in the far corner so Mal and Carlos could keep them safe. The royals began to protest but quickly cowered when Mal’s eyes glowed green and Carlos growled at them.

There was a knock at the door and the door was unblocked and blocked as the scout group entered the room. Beast and Belle looked shocked as they were pushed to join their son and Audrey. There was a hushed conversation going on by the door and then Mal turned to the royals. “Is this Ben’s first assassination attempt since taking the crown?” Belle, still pale, nodded her head. Mal hummed and the group began talking again. They broke apart and walked over to the royals. “Your guards have been alerted to the situation and once we get the all-clear we will be able to leave the room.” She spoke with an expertise which had Ben guessing this was not the first time she had to deal with something like this. “Then we will stay with the king until the day after tomorrow just in case and one of us will be nearby until the end of the week at least. It depends on what your guards figure out. Ben nodded, but his father did not seem pleased to be subject to the whims of an Isle kid.

“Why should we listen to you? For we all know one of you poisoned his drink!” Beast stared the group down and puffed his chest in an attempt to intimidate the teens. Mal rolled her eyes, Jay stood in front of the beast man and the other two scoffed at him.

“I wouldn’t have told Ben about the poison if it was one of us.” If looks could kill Evie would’ve killed the king’s father. “Also how many of you can identify poison in foods and drinks?” She hissed at the former king. “Can you consume hemlock and live unharmed?” The king shook his head but stood firm.

Jay crossed his arms and rested his weight on his left leg. “Your guards seemed to agree with our plan for you to stay in here until they gave the all-clear.” Beast narrowed his gaze and stepped away from the group.

“Let’s see if they were right.”

Mal snarled, but otherwise, they ignored the remark. Ben gave them an apologetic look and the group tilted their heads in acknowledgement. Soon the guards came and let them out and the gang slept in Ben’s room with one of them near an entry point. Jay was next to the door. Evie was in the window seat. Mal is next to the staff entrance, and Carlos is next to the far window. Audrey was also with them and slept in the bed with Ben, and the same happened the next day.

All the staff were instructed not to enter the King’s room so when someone tried to enter the room in the night the four were out the door before Ben could even wake up. Except for Evie, she stayed behind in case someone tried to come in and hurt Ben. Her eyes darted to all the possible entry points and had a knife in her hand, ready to attack at a moment's notice. There was a knock at the door before it burst open. Evie pulled a chair to the center of the room as Jay put a tied and gagged man onto the seat. Mal smirked as she rested her elbow on the attempted murderer’s head. “Got 'em!”

Guards took the criminal away and it was revealed the man was an angry citizen who thought the King was being manipulated by the villains. Beast congratulated the gang on their success and they all ignored him instead making sure Ben knew to keep his windows locked and alerted his security to all the possible breaches in the King's bedroom. Suddenly Ben had new locks on his windows and doors and a guard at each end of his hallway. A grin spread across his face at the changes knowing his friends were showing affection in the best way they knew. Protection.

Audrey knew dating the king came with risk, but she never expected to have Carlos push her with an inappropriate amount of strength for his size so that she wouldn’t be hit by a falling crate. It was even more odd when the core four insisted on staying with her until they could determine whether the crate was an accident or not. She managed to talk them down to only one of them following her around. Jay and Mal said they’d take turns as the brains (Evie and Carlos) investigated the incident.

The princess went about her day and Jay followed along with a gaze suspicious of anything and everything. Anyone who approached Audrey was met with Jay’s hand until he deemed them safe. It was very tedious, but after the time with Ben, she indulged them. Mal and Jay switched out, so they wouldn’t have to deal with the whole ‘boy alone in her room at night’ debacle. Mal triple-checked that all the windows and doors were locked. She then propped a chair in front of all the doors, including the closet oddly enough, and settled in her window seat to sleep. The next day Audrey was crossing the street and Mal suddenly charged and tackled the princess. As they rolled on the sidewalk a car screeched by the tires mere inches away from Mal’s body.

Quickly Mal pulled Audrey up and rushed her into a nearby building and hid them in the back hallway. Mal had Audrey backed into a corner and was facing down the hall as she described the vehicle to Evie and then called Audrey’s security and told them to “Do their damn job.” The princess noticed that Mal had some pretty nasty scrapes from the road, but the fae didn’t seem affected at all. Soon two guards joined them, but Mal refused to leave the princess alone. “They’ll find who did this.”

Audrey cleared her schedule for the day and went to her parent’s castle which was logistically the safest place for her to be, for Mal however that depended on how grateful her grandmother was to the fae. Aurora and Phillip rushed to greet their daughter and Mal immediately filled the guards on what her crew had found out and listened intently when they explained the security measures to her so she'd know if there was something off. It struck Audrey odd that her security was working with someone they at one time had been assigned to protect Audrey from.

Mal turned to the princess and gave the royal parents a small bow. Aurora threw her arms around the girl and thanked her for protecting her daughter, and Mal stiffened in the embrace, relaxing partially after a moment. It was clear to Audrey that the fae was on high alert and was not prepared for physical affection. Philip shook her hand and added to the Queen's thanks. Thankfully the high king and queen were in another kingdom on a diplomatic visit and would not be a problem for the moment. The group moved to the library and entered a room using a hidden entrance triggered by pulling a certain book.

Inside was a cozy study and it was slightly crowded with the group of royals, fae, and the one guard. Mal kept her front facing the only entrance but otherwise relaxed as she interacted with the royal family. After a few hours, they were notified that the investigators found the person responsible with the help of the Isle kids. Carlos had figured out the missing piece and an hour later the culprit was captured. Just like Ben, Audrey found her room had new locks and guard positions. The villain kids were sending a message to those who tried to hurt the people they claimed.

When the Isle kids said they’d join Ben, Doug, and Lonnie on a hike they didn’t expect to be led up the literal side of the mountain. Still, they were fairing the beat out of the group which they found amusing. The Auradon kids pointed out the animals and plants they knew along the path and when they got to their destination the Isle kids were stunned. They had never seen anything like this. The group stood over a mountain lake with the tallest pine trees they’d ever seen along either side. Just beyond the lake, they could see an endless forest that led to a beautiful valley.

The group ate lunch and played around the lake. Evie wandered nearby, filing away the plants she’d never seen before and Carlos kept hiding in the trees climbing as high as he could. (Which made Mal extremely nervous.) Jay and Ben dunked each other in the lake and Lonnie joined her as she relaxed along the shoreline. Too soon Ben announced it was time to head back. They started the trek back and about halfway through Ben, Doug, Carlos and Evie slid on a patch of loose rocks and fell down a good twenty feet of mountainside.

Jay, Mal, and Lonnie ran down the trail careful not to fall themselves. They heard muffled cries as they approached and Lonnie’s paled as she saw what had happened. Ben had a very dislocated shoulder and was bleeding from multiple places. But when she saw Doug she gagged. His arm was broken, his head was bleeding profusely and there was a gash on his leg. Carlos was bleeding out of his leg and Evie had some scrapes and she limped when she moved.

Ben and Doug both had fabric stuffed into their mouths. Mal and Jay rushed over assessing the situation. Evie was ripping her shirt into strips that Carlos used to apply pressure to Ben’s wound. Doug had a makeshift sling that kept his arm from moving too much and a hastily applied tourniquet over his leg wound. Jay immediately pulled off his shirt and gave it to Evie to tear and Mal followed suit. Then Mal went to help Carlos and Jay helped Doug. Mal cleaned around Carlos’s leg the best she could and spoke to Evie in a language Lonnie couldn’t understand. Evie tossed over a bag and Mal pulled out a butterfly bandage and applied it to Carlos’s leg wound.

Then she turned to Lonnie and shouted. “Can you help?” It wasn’t aggressive, but it was enough to snap Lonnie out of her daze. Not trusting her voice she nodded. Mal had her hold rags to Ben’s wounds and explained to apply more if it bled through. The fae pulled out her phone and swore. Everyone checked their phones and Doug’s had a single bar. Mal took the phone and called emergency services and told them everything they needed. Evie helped Jay do a second and better tourniquet on Doug. Then Evie bandaged the wound on his head and whispered apologies as she cleaned his minor cuts and scrapes.

As they got the bleeding to stop they heard a helicopter approach and Mal waved up for them to see where to land. When it was clear they weren’t visible Mal started to mumble to herself until she suddenly looked up at the sky and said several words Lonnie couldn’t understand. Suddenly light shot out from Mal’s fingertips and the helicopter turned back towards them. The light faded and the helicopter got as close as it could and lowered a basket. Jay grabbed the backboard at Evie’s request and he and Mal moved the king into the basket, then it lowered again and Doug went inside.

A speaker told them to stay put and that search and rescue were on their way. Mal began to gather their belongings and barked at Carlos and Evie to sit down or she’d kill them herself. Soon the officers found them and they were all taken to the same hospital the boys went to. Thankfully it was the hospital they’d been to before, Dr. Sweet took care of them and sent them to the waiting room. Evie had serious abrasions, and stress fractures in her right leg so she had crutches to move around. Carlos had a minor concussion and had to get four stitches to close his wound.

Doug was stable, but he needed surgery to fix his arm and they managed to close his leg wound without surgery. He also had a concussion though it was more severe. Ben would be okay, he had to get his shoulder put back in and had a total of fifteen stitches around his body that kept his various wounds closed. His ribs were also cracked, but they would heal fine. As worried parents arrived Mal took charge of filling them in on their kids' conditions and making sure they had everything they needed. Mulan and Shang arrived after the boy’s parents went to see their son. They ran and squeezed Lonnie into an embrace. Mulan looked over at the four kids she had grown to love and sat next to them.

“How are you holding up?” Mal and Jay shrugged. Evie gestured with her crutches and Carlos seemed unfazed.

“This is nothing.” He rubbed his temple and squinted at the lights, but otherwise seemed fine. Mulan felt her heart squeeze.

“Do you want to talk about it?” They all shook their heads, clearly coming down from their adrenaline rush. Mal’s head rested on Jay’s shoulder as the boy kept a lazy gaze on what was happening around them. Evie massaged Carlos’s head and let him rest against her chest. The gang shivered as they were all in tank tops (Or in Mal’s case a t-shirt the hospital staff gave her to cover up her bra) Mulan sighed as she waited for permission to take everyone home for the night. Once she got the all-clear she announced it was time to go.

“No, we can’t leave!” Evie’s eyes were wide as she scanned the room. A frown pulled at Mulan’s face.

“Why not Evie?”

“Because we have to make sure the king and Doug are safe,” Jay spoke as if it was a fact. Mulan glanced at Shang who just shrugged. Struggling to find the right words she sat down beside the VKs.

Lonnie spoke up after a few moments. “They are safe here ya know. Like they have their parents, plus the nurses and doctors won’t let anything happen to them.” The core four stiffened. They hadn’t known that. They still didn’t know that, their distrust of others was always an issue in Auradon, but when things went wrong it tended to get much worse. None of them indicated that they were going to leave. Shang set his hand on Mulan’s arm as he stood to let her know he had an idea.

“What if two of you stayed here and the other two went to rest?” Mal’s gaze was suspicious, but she didn’t say anything. “If all four of you are exhausted then can you protect them?” Shang stood there as he waited for the group to mull it over. After a short discussion, the crew all turned to him.

“Okay, Carlos and I will stay and Evie and Jay can go to sleep.” Her arms were crossed, but Mal showed no other signs of disapproval.

“But you have to promise you’ll bring us back in the morning.” Evie held Shang’s gaze until he nodded and assured her that they would be back in the morning. With that, the isle kids began to pack up and soon Evie and Jay were ready to go. Mulan announced that she would be taking the night group to sleep and Shang would stay with Mal and Carlos to help keep everyone safe. After a difficult departure (that involved Lonnie promising to help keep watch during the day as well) the group left with Mulan and went to sleep.

Carlos and Mal had taken a position in a corner of the waiting room. They’d be able to see everyone who came in and out of the room. Mal pulled Carlos into her lap and let the boy rest his head on her chest. Shang made his way over and sat in the seat next to Mal. He couldn’t miss the way Mal shivered from the cold, but she made no move to remedy the situation. After a while her teeth began to chatter against her will, but she continued to sit and glare at everyone in the room. Shang got up and said he had to use the restroom, with a nod of approval he left and went to the nurses’ station. After a hushed conversation, the nurse returned with two warm blankets, and after thanking the nurse he went to their corner. Immediately the fae’s eyes narrowed in the bundles in his arms. Saying nothing he draped a blanket over Carlos and Mal’s lower half and set the other around her shoulders. She opened her mouth to protest, but a finger to Shang’s lips stopped her as he pointed out the sleeping boy in her lap. The glare she sent was ignored, and soon it was morning.

By the time Evie came into view both Mal and Carlos were awake. The princess rushed to Mal’s side and they quietly conversed in a language Shang didn’t know. Jay, Lonnie, and Mulan joined them shortly after. Jay smiled when he saw Carlos curled in Mal’s arms and only acknowledged Shang when he offered him some of the food they brought. Moving to give the kids room to reunite, he stood next to his wife. “So how did it go?”

“They were on edge but after some food, they were out like a light.” Her eyebrows knitted together as she figured out how to say the next part. “They-” Turning to look at Shang, he could see her eyes misting. “They both had nightmares.” She wiped her eyes. “Bad ones Shang.” Nodding he pulled her in for a hug and placed a kiss on top of her head. To anyone else, they looked to be a normal couple in the room, but he knew the gesture meant the world to his wife. Promising to discuss it more later they joined the chatty group of teenagers.

“Alright, we should probably go to sleep now huh?” As predicted the group (minus Lonnie) was very against the idea. They had plenty of sleep with the blankets. No one needed to leave! A smile graced his lips. “How about we go take a nap and eat lunch and if you still don’t need sleep we can come back.” Evie poked at Mal and Jay did the same for Carlos. After a heated discussion, the two (desperately tired) agreed to go with Shang.

The ride back was silent and they both were asleep the moment their heads hit the pillow. The general didn’t miss the way Mal had wrapped her entire body around the boy’s but didn’t think much of it. After a short nap for himself, he started to heat some leftovers in the kitchen and Carlos was the first to join him. The ever-present eye circles looked a shade or two lighter and the boy was rested. He sat at the counter and Shang slid a plate over to him. “How are ya feeling?” Carlos nodded as he shoved the food in his face. It was slower than the last time they all ate at the house, but it was still much faster than most. Soon they both finished eating and sat in the kitchen waiting for Mal.

“She’ll be asleep for a while if I had to guess.” Carlos shrugged when Shang asked. “She was really tired last night.” The boy went back to tinkering with the gadget he was working on for the house. Shang wasn’t sure what it was for, but Mulan assured him she’d explain it when it was finished. “She always gets worked up when one of us gets hurt.” A comfortable silence settled over the two of them and for a while that’s all there was.

“Do you need any painkillers? We have some over-the-counter stuff.” Shang called out from the kitchen where he was getting some meds for himself. After receiving a negative response he returned to the living room. “Are you sure? Your leg looks painful.” Carlos glanced down at his leg as if he had forgotten the gash even existed. He just shrugged and returned to his work. Another hour passed before Mal made it down the stairs.

A thud caused them both to look towards the stairs. The fae rushed down the stairs and rushed to Carlos’s side. Both hands on either side of the boy’s head she inspected him. A flurry of words Shang didn’t understand rushing out of her. She looked disheveled. Her clothes were twisted the wrong way, her eyes wide, her hair messy and a layer of sweat was evident on her face. She must’ve had a nightmare. A few moments passed before the girl acknowledged Shang. He smiled and offered to heat some food for her and headed into the kitchen.

He could hear hushed voices and soft crying, but he dutifully stayed in the kitchen long after the food was done cooking. The pair came into the kitchen and he could see Mal’s eyes were a bit red, but he just smiled as he passed her a plate of food. With a series of nods and comments from Carlos, it was agreed that they would both shower and then return to the hospital. With the presence of the royal guard and a promise from Audrey that Doug would be safe and she would call them if anything happened, the four returned to Auradon Prep with Lonnie.

Hugging Lonnie Mulan and Shang waved to the other four as they headed back to the school. Much to their surprise Evie and Carlos gave them hugs as well! It was quick and they had rushed toward the school, but it was there. Jay and Mal gave them a friendly punch, but the parents knew how big of a deal that was. With the shock on Lonnie’s face confirming it. Running to the school the group called out a goodbye and disappeared into the school.

Most of the school was still wary of them, but it was a known fact that you wanted to be on the good side of the Isle kids. You never knew when an emergency would happen and the core four were always prepared no matter what happened. Even with little things they were ready to spring into action. So no matter what you could count on an Isle kid.

Chapter Text

Ben wasn’t sure what he expected to happen when his parents joined the group for dinner. It was him, Audrey, and the core four. They were trying to have a chill hang-out time over the weekend but as soon as his parents entered the room tension filled the room. Mal in particular always hated Ben’s father. He couldn’t blame her and he was just grateful she kept it civil with him.

As always his father was oblivious to what his presence had done and started talking about boring political things. Queen Belle shot Ben a worried look when the isle kids started eating faster and quietly stuffing food in their pockets. (Evie of course was ever polite and discreetly stored food in napkins before stashing it) He shook his head at her and thankfully she got the memo to not mention anything. However, his father, the ever belligerent beast did not get the message and set his cup down with a thud. The isle kids flinched and Audrey placed a hand on Ben’s knee. “You are safe here, you don’t have to take things.”

Evie froze, Carlos paled, Jay crossed his arms, and Mal glared with a fury Ben had not seen in a long time. To their credit, they didn’t say anything in response other than a quiet. “Old habits, die hard.” Ben hoped it would be left at this, the former king had his own ideas. “You’ve been here for months now. Yet you still act like you are on that cursed isle!” A low growl filled the room. “You are in Auradon now and you need to act like it!” Belle set her hand on his arm and stopped him from continuing his rant. The Isle kids looked like a mixture of fear and rage. This was not going to end well. Ben opened his mouth to defend his friends, but Mal cut him off.

“You are the dumbest person I’ve ever been forced to meet.” Her voice was deathly calm and carried the message of barely contained anger.

“How dare y-”

Mal’s hands slammed into the table as she stood leaning over her plate. “How dare YOU!” She glared at him and shook as she tried to keep herself in check. “We aren’t acting like we are on the isle.” Eyes glowing she practically hissed as she continued. “The fact that you think we are speaks volumes of your ignorance.” Beast did not take kindly to the insults to his intelligence and stood as he began to shout at the girl. He accused her of stealing, violence, and other ‘criminal behavior’. He shouted at Ben when the boy tried to speak up for his friends. Not even Belle could calm his rage. He continued to berate the four kids before him until his voice was sore. Much to his surprise (and Ben’s fear), Mal was smiling by the end. The infuriated man asked what was so amusing to the fae.

“You wouldn’t survive one day on the isle.” Mal started to laugh. It rang throughout the room as it nearly grew hysterical. The other four nervously chuckled in agreement, but Mal had to sit to collect herself. Before the beast could defend himself Mal smiled as she stood. “You wouldn’t last an hour.”

Tilting her head she looked at Belle. “Do you think we would let you catch us doing something we didn’t want you to?” The queen’s eyes widened. “Do you think we can’t steal whatever we damn please?” The fae’s gaze narrowed as it returned to the beast. “You don’t scare me.” She stood as tall as she could. “You can’t send me back, and you can’t do a damn thing to me that hasn’t already been done.” Belle paled next to the beast and Ben felt nausea overtake him as he recalled some of the horrors they’d shared with him. The beast for one sputtered and floundered for a response. He growled as his words failed him. Stepping over to the fae he towered over her. His eyes were dark as his hands gripped her arms iron-tight. Mal held his gaze unafraid as the man in front of her fumed.

“I could kill you.” His voice is low and rough.

Mal didn’t flinch at the threat. “I’d like to see you try.” Eyes glowing green, she mocked his roar. The Beast tightened his grip and growled as he moved to lift her.

“Your MAJESTY!” Audrey’s voice startled everyone out of their frozen state. “Put her down! This is highly inappropriate.” Mal stumbled as the man dropped her. He stepped back and looked at his hands as if he wasn’t sure they were his own. Belle quickly apologized to Mal as she led her husband out of the room. As the door shut Ben and Audrey rushed the group of villain kids. “Oh gods Mal are you okay?” Carefully the princess grazed Mal’s arms where bruises started to form.

Mal brushed her off. “Yeah, I’m fine. You ruined it right before the fun part!” Jay groaned behind her. Evie fussed over Mal’s arms, and Mal grinned at Ben and Audrey’s faces. “I’m not scared of him. Sure he could hurt me, but like I said, it can't be any worse than what’s already been done.” Evie muttered something about not baiting fights and Carlos punched Mal.

Audrey sat in a nearby chair and held her head in her hands. She quietly cried as the others reprimanded Mal for riling the beast up. Audrey knew the isle was bad. She knew it was unspeakably awful, and she gave her full support to Ben trying to improve the lives of those there while he figured out how to bring more kids over. But the way Mal had bruises forming on her arm and the fear that filled Audrey when the beast towered over her overwhelmed her.

She couldn’t quite get enough air in her lungs. It felt like her chest was stuck and she couldn’t get it to cooperate. She was going to die and she knew it was her own fault. Fuck how could she ever have been cruel to the isle kids? They have been through so much that she probably didn’t bother them. She could get her brain to stop imagining the horrible things they went through. She gasped as someone grabbed her hands. Looking up, her eyes met green. Mal was here. When did she get here?

“Breathe princess, you're okay.” Couldn’t Mal see she was not okay? She shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. She felt her hand move and rest on the fae’s chest. Feeling the rise and fall of her breaths helped her focus. “Follow my breaths. I know you can do it.” She couldn’t. Audrey felt as if her lungs were on fire. How could anyone ask her to breathe right now?

Slowly she felt her lungs open up and allow for more air. Exhaustion settles over her as she breathes deep for the first time. “See I told you. You got this princess.” Looking up, she sees Mal crouched in front of her. A smile greets her as she leans against the back of the chair. “Are you okay?” A nod. “I’m sure you’re tired huh?” Another nod. Sleepily she watched as Mal waved someone over and soon Ben appeared in front of her. Grinning, she leaned into his touch and breathed in his scent as she was lifted into the air. “Take care of her won’t ya?” A scoff left her boyfriend's mouth as he agreed to get her to bed. Soon she was in her room and fighting sleep as Ben tucked her in. He pressed a kiss onto her forehead and promised to be here when she woke. Her eyes fluttered as she lost the battle against the sleep overtaking her.

She heard pages turn as she woke. Eyes blinking open she found Mal sitting in Ben’s usual seat. The girl was flipping through a book and spinning in the chair. Sitting up the princess gave her a quizzical look. “Oh, you’re awake!.” Mal stopped the chair. “Ben was called away by his dad, and he didn’t want to leave you alone.” The fae rolled her eyes at Audrey’s smile. “I don’t know why he asked me. Probably just wanted to keep me away from Beastie.” Memories of dinner flooded Audrey’s mind and she grimaced.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

Audrey took a deep breath. “For everything I did when you first got here.”

Mal scoffed. “Don’t worry about it princess. I literally stole your boyfriend. I’m lucky he still wants to be friends.” Audrey huffed and crossed her arms.

“I’m sorry for what you went through on the Isle.”

Mal stilled. She flipped through the book some more. “It’s not your fault. I don’t blame you.” She looked up at the princess. Audrey could see that Mal wasn’t lying. “It sucks, and it w-” The fae swallowed. “They say it will stick with me forever. With all of us forever.” Shrinking in on herself she continued. “I get angry about it sometimes, and I want to hit someone or pick a fight.” She let the statement hang in front of them. An understanding passes between them.

“Okay, well I’ll always be on your side.”

“Good to know princess.”

And with that, a true alliance was born where the unlikely pair always defended each other no matter what. A shock to Audrey’s grandmother for sure, especially when Mal came by to see her throughout the summer.

Chapter Text

Mal’s skin hummed with fury. Standing in front of her was Chad talking down to her as if she couldn’t possibly understand the struggles of royalty. The more he belittled her and her crew the more she had to fight to restrain herself. She could hear her therapist's voice in her head telling her to breathe. Taking in a deep breath she let it out and warned Chad to walk away.

Laughing, the prince continued to push and push. She began to shake as her instincts roared for her to Shut Him Up. Evie and Jay were telling Chad off and to get back before they made him. Thankfully the prince took the hint and walked away, but Mal wasn’t even paying attention to him anymore. Her vision blurred and a sharp pain shot from her hands. She was vaguely aware of someone talking near her, but she watched herself take in shaky breaths.

They were out in the courtyard, her skin pricked as the autumn breeze rushed past. She had to hold it together. She had to be good. A good Auradon citizen. How could she do that as the magic of her heritage writhed under her skin and in her bones? Screaming that she was weak for letting someone beneath her berate her and her gang. Shouting that she could curse him and his bloodline because royals loved to flaunt their full names to anyone who’d listen. She knew how to cripple everyone here and the fact that they continued to doubt her power gave her a distinct advantage. She was the daughter of Maleficent and Hades, she was half fae and half god.

She wasn’t even human, and yet the people around her insisted that she needed to adhere to their human standards. Distantly she wonders if Jay struggles with his magic. Drudging through the fog of her mind she watches as her gang leads her into the school and her room. Soon she could hear Evie talking to her, but it was as if she was underwater. Everything seemed so far away and unreal. The beautiful blue-haired princess filled her fuzzy vision and after a few moments, she could blink away the blur. Mal looked down to see Evie squeezing her hands and murmuring only kind things to her.

She heard the whine before she even realized it was coming from her. She curled in on herself and tried to fight the tears burning behind her eyes. She felt arms and legs tangled around her. Squeezing her as she released the pain, fear, and frustration she so desperately wanted to lash out with. If this was the isle she would’ve raged. Screamed, fought, broke things. All of her overwhelming emotions and pent-up feelings would’ve been on display for everyone to see. But that wasn’t allowed here, she was a bad person for just thinking about it, much less doing it.

Everything she knew was wrong and bad. She was wrong and bad. She never should’ve been here. Broken beyond repair and undeserving of fixing. How is she going to help any of the other kids on the isle if she can’t even help herself? The citizens of Auradon would never accept them, definitely the ones rougher around the edges. The kids who are forced to fight and protect and kill. Killing didn’t have permanent consequences on the isle, but everyone knew the drowning sensation of ever-growing darkness before you woke. Some said it was worse than death. Eventually, she tired herself out and fell asleep surrounded by the only people who ever felt safe.

Three weeks passed before there was another incident. It was a weekend and Mal was with Audrey and Evie shopping for some event she didn’t care about. The fae didn’t care what she looked like for school events, but her princess cared very much. She would do anything for Evie and that included joining her for a shopping spree. They wandered into several different stores and they were pursuing jewelry when she heard his voice. Chad was laughing as he chatted with some older folks and Mal could guess they were relatives. She recognized King Charming, but from what she could see Cinderella wasn’t around. Tugging Evie’s arm she told them it was time to go. She turned to lead them away and Chad was right in front of her.

“Oh watch out folks, it’s our resident villain!” He chuckled, but the others were hesitant. Mal steeled herself for his rain of insults. “We have the disgraced princess with us as well!” The fae practically growled as she warned Chad to leave them alone. “Or what? You have no power here.” Chad laughed as Mal’s eyes glowed, she clenched her fist and fought her magic. Evie put a hand on Mal’s shoulder and gave her a concerned look.

“She has more than you, Chad.” Audrey moved in front of the isle girls. She stood tall and held all the grace and power expected from a future queen. “I suggest you watch your tongue around such high esteemed friends of the crown.” She looked at King Charming. “I suggest you give your son a refresher on royal conduct, Your Majesty.” The king sputtered an apology as he dragged his son out of the store.

Audrey turned to the girls and sighed. “Are you two okay?” Her brows were pushed together in concern. Mal nodded numbly and leaned on Evie more than she’d like to admit. Evie shot Audrey a concerned glance and shook her head. Slowly Audrey led them to the car and she asked the driver to take them to the school. Mal knew something was wrong, but she couldn’t quite place it. It was hard to focus her vision and her hands shook. She watched herself sit on her bed Audrey and Evie on either side of her. It didn’t take as long for Evie’s words to reach her and even less for her vision to clear. She was just as tired as before and leaned into Evie’s arms. Taking in her scent she let her eyes close and soon she fell asleep.

When a month had passed with no incident Mal naively hoped it was over and she was fine. But she felt herself slip when they were out with Lonnie and Doug. The gang was out with them at a nearby park to explore the woods. They were heading up the trail to an opening that Lonnie said was beautiful this time of the year. Most people didn’t even know who the isle kids were, so it wasn’t a worry to Mal when she saw other people ahead on the trail, but as they approached the group it was clear they did not like who they saw. The woman snatched her child into her arms and put herself between them and the kid.

Rolling her eyes the fae paid her no mind. “Keep away!” At first, Mal had no idea who the lady was talking to, and then her pain shot throughout her body. She hissed in pain as she scrambled away from the woman. Who was now holding up an Iron necklace and more importantly St. John’s Wart. Not all fairy deterrents worked on her as she was only half fae, but the blessed flower hurt both sides of her and was number one on her avoid list.

Rushing away she didn’t look back as her friends called out behind her. She ran until her skin no longer burned. She sat on a log and tried to remember which way the group was, but as she looked around her vision blurred on the edges. Fairy Godmother warned her of the humans' fear of fairies. Even the symbol of goodness received ridicule and hate over her lineage. Her blood boiled at the thought of humans torturing her kind, because they were afraid of their power. They should be afraid for all Mal cares. They did this, they made her into what she was. She didn’t trap herself on the isle.

She yelped when someone touched her hand. Her knuckles split as they made contact. She heard a voice cry out and she tried to run, but she stumbled back down as the world spun. Voices called out to her but she couldn’t place who they were from. Soon Carlos came into view as her vision cleared. He smiled at her and kept talking to her as if nothing was wrong. As if Mal wasn’t trembling and on the verge of tears. Her face was damp as the tears fell. Unable to stop them she shoved her face into his shoulder. Crying and apologizing she held tight as he whispered assurances and she didn’t fight when Jay lifted her to go home.

She kept a tight grip and kept her face hidden from the others. Doug, Evie, and Lonnie kept a few yards behind the boys and Mal. They made it to the cottage where Lonnie’s parents lived and Jay bee lined it to the guest room. Laying Mal on the bed he slowly removed her shoes and outer layers. Helping her into sleeping clothes, he pressed a kiss to her forehead and covered her with a blanket. Mal’s hand shot out as he pulled away. He chuckled and raised the covers as he slid in beside her and when he wrapped his arms around her the fae’s breath evened out.

Mulan wasn’t sure what to expect when her daughter texted saying the usual group (plus Doug) were going to crash at their place that night. She certainly wasn’t expecting Jay to be carrying in Mal, only pausing to give them a nod. Soon the others joined them in the living room and Mulan rushed to Lonnie’s side. “What happened honey?” Lonnie waved her off but the mother pressed.

“It was my fault. Mal was out of it and I tried to grab her hand.” Mulan released a breath as her husband returned with ice. Setting the bag on the girl’s face, she took another deep breath.

“She didn’t mean to! Mal will be horrified to find out what she did when she wakes up!” Evie pleaded, eyes wide and shaken up.

“I’m not upset with Mal.” The girl visibly relaxed. “But I do need to know what happened.” The group of kids shuffled and seemed apprehensive to say anything. The parents just kept the silence and waited for an answer.

“A lady on the trail had St. John’s wart. It always makes Mal freak out.” Carlos looked past Mulan as he spoke. He couldn’t bring himself to look at her face.

Shang crouched down and rested a hand on Mulan’s shoulder. “And that caused her to lash out?”

Carlos tilted his head and scrunched his face in concentration. “Mal’s been having a hard time. We all have, but she’s been taking it the hardest.” He paused and looked at Evie, who nodded. “She gets overwhelmed when she’s angry. It’s like she’s not there anymore and we have to get her back.” Evie nodded as he spoke and held his hand when he stumbled over his words. Shang and Mulan shared a look and took a deep breath.

“It sounds like she is having a hard time coping with all the change.” The isle kids nodded. “Is she getting help?” They nod again.

“Ben helped her get a therapist.” Evie looked at them, a serious expression across her face. “We all have one now.”

Mulan smiled at the girl and moved from her daughter. “I’m so glad to hear that. Has it been going well?”

The two isle kids shrug. “It’s fine, but no one gets what it was like.” Carlos ducked his head as he spoke. “It’s helpful for skills to help when we get overwhelmed.” Mulan was beyond happy that they all had professional help, but it was a slow process if Lonnie’s face was any indicator. She wasn’t lying when she said she wasn’t mad at Mal, but part of her was afraid of what would happen if someone pushed her too far. But interrogating the children wouldn’t help now, so she led them into the kitchen for food while Shang spoke with Lonnie.

Mal fidgeted with her journal as she sat across from her therapist. She was a nice lady, she was even a fairy, but that didn’t mean she trusted her. Ben set it up so that Mal went to see her twice a week and when she felt she was ready they could reduce it. To be fair, the therapist “Dr. Hildegard " or "Ida " she insisted. Was true to her word and hadn’t said anything to anyone. Not even Ben, so that won her some brownie points right away. Over the following weeks, Ida had chipped away at Mal’s walls and gained her carefully distributed trust.

That didn’t stop Mal from feeling afraid when something new developed or became a problem. Thankfully Ida never pushed her to talk about anything. In fact, the first two sessions were spent in total silence as Mal drew. After that bored Mal, she figured she might as well try and learn some things to help the others. That’s why she was currently staring at the ever-irritating ‘emotion wheel’ trying to find the words to tell Ida about what had happened over the weekend. Several minutes passed as the younger fae gathered her thoughts.

“I’m not sure what is wrong.” Deep breath in deep breath out. “But something is wrong. Especially when I’m angry.” Ida nodded but didn’t say anything. “I can’t control it, but when I’m mad. No-” She stared at the picture. “When I feel furious and disrespected. I get overwhelmed. Like I shake and my head gets fuzzy. I can’t seem to focus and it feels like I’m not me.” Mal squeezed herself and took a deep breath. “I’m not sure what’s happening but I want it to stop.” Ida nodded and wrote something down. Letting out a deep breath she tapped her pencil against her chin.

“It sounds like you are dissociating.” She held Mal’s gaze as she spoke. “It’s a defense mechanism the brain uses when it feels in danger, but the body is unable to do anything.” She asked a few more questions to clarify what Mal was feeling and confirmed that she was experiencing dissociation episodes. “Do you eat sour candy?” Mal shrugged. “I think you should keep sour candy with you at all times. When you feel like you may dissociate you can eat one and focus on the sour flavor and it will help ground you.”

“What if it doesn’t work?” Mal tapped her fingers on the armrest. “What if I can’t ground myself?”

“That’s when you let your friends help you.” Ida gave her a small smile.

Mal frowned. “I don’t want to hurt them.”

“Okay so let's make an action plan and we can adjust it as needed. Would that help you?” Mal nodded and they spent the rest of the session working out what Mal may need during an episode and what not to do so that she doesn’t lash out. Mal does feel guilty, but she knows she didn’t punch Lonnie on purpose and the girl made it clear she didn’t blame Mal either. Taking her new tools she ran to find her crew.

Pushing open the door to Jay’s room she found Evie, Carlos, and Jay in an intense round of a racing game. She sat and watched as they yelled and sped across the screen. Soon the game was turned off and all attention was on the fae. Swallowing, she fielded the usual question about therapy. “I told her what happened on Saturday.” Evie grabbed her hand and squeezed it as Mal explained what the doctor told her about her episodes and the sour candy.

“But, just in case that doesn’t work we made a plan so that I don’t hurt anyone on accident.” She almost cried when the three people she cared about most, waited for her to continue. As if there was nowhere else in the world they’d rather be. “First is to make sure I’m somewhere safe, then try and get my attention without touching me. Once you have my attention then you can touch me, and then do our grounding exercises until I feel better.” She went on to explain other techniques that could be used to help her. It occurred to her how much she had changed since coming to Auradon. She’d rather die than admit weakness on the isle. But here she couldn’t punch out her problems on other people, and punching bags only helped so much. Here she had people that cared about her and wanted to help.

“Do you want to tell anyone else or just us?” Carlos had his head tilted and a look of concern on his face.

“We should tell Ben and Audrey.” Mal grimaced. “Lonnie and Doug too.”

“What about Shang and Mulan? They were worried about you.” Evie’s eyes never left Mal’s as she thought it over.

“I don’t think I can tell them, but one of you could, I trust them.” Evie kissed her forehead and promised to take care of it. “Fairy Godmother will know just in case it happens in class, but other than that no one else.” The group nodded and talk about homework and tourney slowly took over the conversation. Mal’s heart filled with joy as she watched her gang fight over a game controller or what game to play. She laughed as she pushed Jay over and plugged in the game she wanted to play earlier. A playful groan sounded behind her. If she noticed the others carrying sour candy wherever they went, she didn’t say anything.

Chapter Text

Carlos raised his hand in social studies. They were talking about the rise of social programs like the Labor Equality and Safety Department, law enforcement, and child protective services. The teacher had just talked about how the police and the child protective agents frequently worked together when the cases were dangerous. Nothing he heard the teacher talk about was out of the norm. He thought it was pretty mild himself, but he knew it was different for him.

“Yes, Carlos?”

“Why would the agent even come? That stuff is normal.” He knew he made a mistake when the teacher paled. Suddenly aware of all the eyes on him he shrunk down into his seat.

“Carlos, it is illegal to hit a child to the point it leaves a mark. Parents are not allowed to harm their children intentionally or not.” Her eyes were so pitiful. He hated pity and wished he could sink into the ground.

“Oh.” He nodded ignoring how that did not apply on the Isle of the Lost. “Thank you, That makes sense.” The teacher took the out and moved on in the curriculum.

He bolted out of the class before the teacher could flag him down. Ignoring everyone in his way he slammed open the door to his room and threw his bag on the ground. Peeling the many layers he was wearing he looked at all the scars littering his body. It was illegal to do this to a child? His eyes focused on the angry dots spread over his body. Cruella put her cigarettes out on his skin for as long as he could remember.

He didn’t know it wasn’t allowed. He knew it wasn’t normal with how perfect the Auradon kids' skin was, but those were princes and princesses. Not even the commoners had skin like his? He really was damaged goods wasn’t he? His eyes traced the angry scars along his torso and legs. The teeth of the bear traps wrapped around his leg and knife scars twisted among the dots his torso displayed. No wonder the others stared when he wore shorts. He never wore short sleeves, his arms were the worst out of everything. “Worthless” and “Runt” were carved messily into his forearms by his mother. She was hysterical with rage when he had forgotten to clean her furs. He was tossed into a cage and left to bleed out from his wounds. She wanted them to stay with the boy forever. The longer word was a bit harder to read but “Runt” still sung out loud and clear anytime he changed.

He had no idea how long he stood there, but he cowered when the door opened to reveal Jay in the doorway. Suddenly aware that he had nothing but boxers on he lunged for something to cover his horrid skin. Jay carefully set his bag down and approached the frantic boy. “Hey ‘los, you okay? I heard you skipped class?” He watched as the smaller boy rushed to clothe himself, tears streaming down his face as he nodded. “What happened Carlos?” Now fully covered Carlos stood frozen in place as Jay stood in front of him. A whimper filled the silence and the boy began to shake. Slowly the taller boy led him to the bed and pulled him into his arms. The freckled boy shook harder as he sobbed in the protective arms of Jay.

After his breathing calmed he took in the older boy’s scent and sighed. Jay always smelled like earth and a bit like trees now that they were in Auradon. He smelled safe, he smelled like home or at least a part of it. “I’m worthless, broken shit.” The whisper barely left his mouth, but he knew Jay heard it from the way he tensed. The taller boy’s arms tightened their embrace and Jay took a deep breath.

“Who told you that?”

Carlos knew what answer Jay wanted, but he couldn't help the words that escaped his mouth. “Mother”

“She’s full of shit and you know it ‘los” Silence filled the room as they sat and held each other. Carlos buried himself into the older boy's arms even further. He wanted to forget the whole world and just be in his safe place. “You are not worthless, not even close.” His breath caught as he took in the words. “I don’t think so and neither do the girls.” A whine left his throat, and he tucked his face into a strong shoulder. “Nadie podría convencernos de lo contrario.” They stayed like that for a while longer until the smaller boy began to squirm. He lifted his head and Jay smiled as their eyes met.

Neither of them mentioned the moment again, but soon Carlos found little notes in Ilsen among his belongings. The messy scrawl gave away their author and they were never long. Usually only one or a few words, but anytime he opened one his heart filled with joy and he kept every scrap in a small box hidden away. It didn’t fix him, but it gave him hope that maybe he didn’t need to be fixed, at least not as much as he thought anyway.

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Jay never thought about the scars littering his body before. Not until they arrived in Auradon and immediately noticed the way everyone stared at the scars on his arms. There weren’t that many since you had to die from something for scars to stick, but shit none of the other students had scars. He didn’t bother to cover his arms as often as the others since everyone already saw them, but he was sure to hide the rest of him. Especially his torso. It was covered in gnarly scars and he did not want anyone from Auradon to see them. For months no one ever saw him without a shirt on. Even when the others saw some of Carlos’s scars or shared some of their own he never budged.

He was changing in the stall after laughing off the usual round of teasing from the other tourney boys. Just as he pulled his shirt off a painful howl filled the air and Jay barged out of the stall. Eyes wide, chest heaving, he scanned the room and found Ben crumpled over with Chad and the others hovering near him. Jumping over the benches he was in front of the king and found him cradling his hand. Carefully Jay took the king’s hand and turned it over. A pained whine filled the room and Jay grimaced as he took in the broken fingers. Looking up his voice died as he took in the faces of his teammates. Some of them had tears running down their faces and others looked faint. He shivered as he realized his lack of a shirt. Pushing aside the dread and anxiety that filled his stomach he called out and ordered the others to get help and that the king needed to get to a doctor.

The medics arrived and took Ben away to the hospital where the rest of the gang was already waiting. Jay went back into his stall and walked out fully clothed. A handful of his teammates had hung around and he wished they hadn’t. He braced himself as one of the defenders opened his mouth. “Hey man, we’re sorry for staring.” The others nodded. “You don’t have to change in the stalls if that’s why. We won’t stare again.” The group murmured their agreements and most turned to leave. One of the goalies turned to face Jay again.

“If anyone gives you shit about them we’ll take care of them.” Once he received a nod from Jay he turned and left with the others.

Jay stood in the silence and let what they said wash over him. They didn’t ask where he got them. They didn’t make him feel bad for having them. They even apologized for staring at him. Above all they had his back. He thought it over as he shoved his dirty clothes into his bag. Maybe he could take a chance and change with the others. If he didn’t like it he could always go back to the stall.

After the next practice he didn’t go into the stall to change and when he took his shirt off the conversation didn’t stop. A couple of people stared, but quickly corrected it as their neighbor smacked them. Jay felt himself smile as he pulled a clean shirt over his head. Maybe he could really be a part of the team. They didn’t care about his scars and he didn’t care about theirs. (Not that they had many) If Chad tried to say something he never got more than a single word out before he was viciously cut off by the rest of the team. Jay never changed in the stalls again after that day and the team ended up better for it.
____________________________________________________________________________

Mal was furious that she had to wear a charm to hide her Fae features, but one thing it did help with was her scars. If she had her charm on they went away, so she didn’t have to worry about it when she went on dates with Ben or when she changed in the locker room for P.E.. However, when she stopped wearing it, she had a harder time hiding them. Ben and her were no longer dating, but they still hung out all the time. And even though she was usually quick when changing she refused to do so without Evie blocking the view of everyone around them.

Ben gasped when Mal took her leather jacket off, forgetting about her lack of charm. She slid it back on but the damage had been done. “Mal, what was that?” Pretending she didn’t hear him she continued to work on the puzzle game they were playing. “Mal I’m serious. What are the marks on your arms?” She froze as her hand hovered over the board. Her breath caught in her throat and she refused to meet his eyes. Slowly she removed the jacket and ignored the way Ben stopped breathing too. “I-” His hand hovered over the burned skin. “Who?”

An empty laugh filled the room. It didn’t sound like it came from her. Letting the jacket fall to the floor she curled into herself. “Who else?” A twisted grin appeared on her face. “She wanted me to be stronger. I was weak. I didn’t understand true pain.” Tears spilled from her eyes. She chuckled at Ben’s horrified expression. “Iron chains taught me. Iron chains taught me everything I know.” She let Ben wrap his arms around her as her laughter turned into sobs. He tightened the embrace as she gasped for breath, cursing her mother with every breath she got in. As she started to calm he whispered reassurances and apologies insisting that she was safe and that no one would hurt her while he was around. She had many more scars, but they all did.

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Evie had scars like the rest of them. Of course, she had a few from when she was first on the streets and made rookie mistakes. But she learned quickly and so she had the least out of the four of them. If you asked the gang who had the most scars you’d get the same response from all but one. Evie would say Carlos since he had the most physical scars and had similar issues when it came to mental health. But the other three would tell you Evie without an ounce of hesitation.

Scars aren’t always physical. Jay would say that Evie’s obsession over what she ate was her biggest scar. Begging her to eat a meal for the first time in days. Listening to her deny her hunger even though her stomach is louder than her words. Watching her slowly turn into a skeleton whenever anything went awry. But these days she seemed to eat more often than she didn’t and she was slowly gaining more curves. Even with the current improvements the threat of her skeletal frame always loomed over them whenever something out of their control accosted them.

Carlos always said it was her pursuit of perfection. She had to be the best at everything she did. Or at least among the best. When she passed that first chemistry test she poured over every scrap of information she could get her hands on. She practiced solving equations over and over until she got them all right. Ignoring anything outside of school she refused to stop until she was ‘princess perfect’. It got so bad that Jay had to steal all her notes to bribe her into taking a nap. The only thing as important as school was maintaining her looks at all costs.

Mal swore that Evie’s deepest cut was whatever her mother said to her. Countless times she watched the blue-haired princess stand in front of the mirror muttering all her “imperfections” to herself. When Evie smiled or laughed too much she whispered “Wrinkles!” before fixing her face. Her carefully calculated touches and words got people to adore her or ignore her as she desired them to. She was a master of deception that everyone underestimated. Even her crew were caught off guard on occasion. When she was forced to rely on instinct she would flirt with whoever was nearest to get what she needed. Her gut reaction when anything went wrong was to blame herself. And she ensured she’d never make the same mistake twice.

If you asked Evie what her worst scar was she put on her most practiced smile and spoke in a perfect princess voice. “Oh, I don’t have any! I was so lucky on the Isle.” A known lie, but you can’t help but think it might be true.

Chapter Text

Rage burned through her veins. Mal couldn’t keep doing this, she hated how the people in Auradon still didn’t understand how horrible it was on the isle. No matter how much they told them their stupid goodness tainted their imagination. 

Magic hummed just under her skin. All she wanted to do was explode and scare it into them. If she couldn’t tell them to understand she would scare them to understand. That’s how she learned after all. 

The fae growled at anyone who dared approach her. Hiking into the woods near campus she kept going until she found a familiar clearing. As much as she wanted to ruin everything she had built here she couldn’t do that to the others. So here she was in the woods by herself. 

The scream that left her throat would be enough to scare off anyone who was close enough to hear. Her eyes glowed green and magic shot out of her hands. Whizzes of green singed the trees and others set fire to the grass around her. She walked through the flames and felt them grow. 

The trees groaned at her command, but grew towards each other regardless. The bushes thickened with thorns prickling the air. The flames surrounding her grew and she savored the heat. Tree branches began to weave together making walls that contained her fury. 

She continued to let out her frustrations and manipulate the world around her. The earth trembled as she summoned the roots of nearby plants to shoot up. She fired off wisps of green at different lumps of roots. Letting out another scream she burned the surrounding area to ash. 

Slowly she began to untangle the trees and fix the bushes. Kneeling in the dirt she called the grass to return. Gently she greeted the young blades and encouraged their growth. She needed to get the place as close to normal as she could. She turned to help a tree correct its branches. 

“I suppose my grandmother was right to be afraid of you.” 

The fae jumped. “What the hell are you doing here?” 

Audrey chuckled. “Similar to you, though mine is pathetic in comparison.” 

“I’m not going to stop doing this. I can’t.” 

The princess tilted her head. “Why on earth would you stop, that was amazing.” 

Mal narrowed her eyes. “It’s illegal.” 

“Oh yeah, well I’m not gonna tell anybody.” 

Mal huffed, turning back to the tree she was fixing. “Good.” 

Mal continued to return the clearing to its original state, and Audrey watched in silence. Once the fae finished they walked back together. 

“So you could kill somebody if you needed to.” 

Mal stared at the princess. “I don’t need magic to do that.” 

The princess frowned. “Wait..” She stopped walking. “You’ve killed someone haven’t you.” 

Mal froze. If this was months ago she would’ve threatened her and stormed off, but this wasn’t then. Audrey may be a huge bitch, but she used that to help her crew instead of the opposite. “I did what I had to do.” 

“Fuck.” The princess folded to her knees. “Fuck, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Mal, you should have never had to do that.” 

The fae shrugged. “It sucks, but it’s something I had to do. It’s not like they stayed dead or anything.” 

“I can’t tell if that makes it better or worse.” 

“Depends on the person I guess.” 

Audrey gave a dry chuckle. “Gods, the isle sucks. I can’t even imagine what it was like to live there.” 

Mal kept her gaze ahead. “Whatever you’re thinking it’s worse.” 

“I know.” 

They walked a little quicker as not to get caught after curfew. Once they made it to the dorms the princess turned to the fae. “Listen, I know I’ll never get it, but if you ever want to talk I’m here. And if anyone gives you any shit for trying to ‘let off some steam’ let me know. I’ll set them straight.” 

Mal smirked. “Thank you princess, I’ll be sure to let you know.” 

Chapter Text

Mal had been vicious her whole life. Living on the Isle demanded violence and calloused knuckles. Her mother never let her forget what she was there for. She was Maleficent’s enforcer, and the worst nightmare that could be released on the Isle. A small part of her enjoyed the way people cowered as she walked. The other part was ignored, caring was a weakness and weakness got you killed. 

When they arrived in Auradon everything she had known was banned. Her language, appearance, mannerisms. Everything that made her Mal. It was all bad, evil, wrong . Nothing she thought was right. She wanted to put these stupid preppy royals in their place so fucking bad. One hit and they’d never taunt her again. 

But she didn’t have just herself to worry about. She had Evie, Jay, and Carlos. They needed her to keep it together so that they wouldn’t get sent back. One wrong move from any of them reflected on the group. It was pointless. She’d never be respected here the way she was back home. She gritted her teeth and endured insults and ridicule no child on the isle would dare spit. If only they knew what she could do, then they wouldn’t pull this shit. 

She walked the halls of Auradon prep to her next class when she was shoved into the wall by one of the older boys. She bit her lip to keep from cursing them. “Fucking isle trash thinking that she actually belongs here. It’s pathetic.” The tallest of the three towered over her. A menacing grin that would’ve done wonders on the isle taunted her. “I can’t believe that all these stupid saps think you’re anything but a stupid evil Fairy .” 

The other two grabbed her by the shoulders and pinned her to the wall. “Go fuck yourself.” A sharp inhale was the only thing that gave away her pain when his fist met her stomach. He grabbed her face and inspected her like she was an animal. 

“You know if we had it my way, all you runts would’ve been put down a long time ago.” He cried out when her teeth sunk into his hand. Blood poured from the wound, and Mal was certain that a chunk of it fell off when he yanked his hand back. “You stupid bitch !” A sting made its way across her face from his hand. The breath rushed from her lungs as his knee collided with her ribs. His hands wrapped around her throat and he squeezed . “I’ll fucking kill you.” His words were hushed and cruel. 

One of his hands ran down her body as she struggled against him. With the other two boys holding her arms in place there wasn’t much she could do. If she used magic she would get sent back for sure, or worse they’d all get sent back. How could she allow herself to get caught like this? Auradon had made her soft and this was the price she had to pay. 

She was ripped from her thoughts by the sensation of her pants unbuttoning. He was letting just enough air through but her lungs still screamed for more. Please, please not this, she didn’t want this. She tried to call out, tried to tell him to stop, but that just made him squeeze tighter. “Shut up, be a good girl for once and be quiet .” 

Her mind went blank when his hands reached beyond her waistband. Nothing but empty noise and a blur until suddenly she was released. Her legs gave out from under her and she couldn’t pinpoint where the pain came from just that it was . Shakily she rose and made her way back to her dorm. She had no idea how much time had passed but she had to get changed and get rid of her clothes before anyone found out.

She grabbed a few things before locking herself in the bathroom. Wincing as she peeled off the layers a sigh left her body when she felt the hot water. Her skin turned pink under the heat, but she couldn't handle it any cooler. Tears streamed down her face and quiet sobs wracked her frame. How could she let this happen, the pain from between her legs radiated, Auradon was supposed to be safe. She should’ve known better, she did know better. Gods, she would have to protect her crew better than she did herself. 

She was weak and this is what happened to people who were weak. Her stomach churned and her ribs throbbed. It wasn’t the physical pain that hurt the most. Her brain couldn’t shut up. The constant threat analysis had died down the past few months and had returned with a vengeance. Who could she really trust? How much food did they have stashed? Did they have a back up plan in case this one failed? Where were her people? She had to find them. Had to see that they were okay. 

She toweled dry and let out a breath when Evie still wasn’t in the room. Stuffing the old clothes in a bag she made sure to properly dispose of them before setting off to find her gang. Predictably the boys were at practice, so she went to find her princess. Eventually she found her with Doug in one of the courtyards studying. Upon seeing the dwarf her skin began to crawl. She strode over and stood over the bluenette. “Hey Mal! Where have you been? Jay said you weren’t in class.” 

She rolled her eyes. “I was bored.” 

Evie frowned. “Oh, well did you want to join us?” 

Mal glanced over at the dwarf who seemed nervous. Good, he should be. She was someone to fear. The sooner these pathetic heroes learned that the better. Shrugging, she sat down. “Sure, whatever.” her body was in between the pair, so they had to talk over her as they studied. Eventually she laid down coiled around Evie. Her dragon eyes almost never left the dwarf, only to glance around to make sure no one else was approaching. 

Soon enough the boys came running over shouting and pushing each other. Behind them were Ben and Chad. Mal practically seethed at the Charming’s presence. Just because he apologized and was trying to be nice doesn’t mean she trusted him. She didn’t want him anywhere near her gang. Her boys gave an odd look but plopped down without a word. Ben seemed oblivious, and Chad wisely kept his mouth shut. (For once) The group were all chatting about various social events and school assignments. While they talked Mal made their positions so that she was in between her crew and the rest of them. Evie ran her hand through her purple locks, but she stayed vigilant. No one would hurt her gang again. She refused to be caught off guard. 

A wave of laughter overtook the group and Chad reached out towards Jay. In a flash Mal had him pinned to the ground and practically snarled at him. “Whoa! Mal let him go!” Jay pulled Ben’s hand away before he could touch her. Evie carefully approached her like she would a wild animal. Chad whimpered beneath her, but said nothing. 

“Mal, it’s okay you can let go. It’s just Chad. We are in Auradon. We’re safe.” 

Safe. Didn’t they know that they were never safe. No where was safe, especially for people like them. No they weren’t safe and she needed to make sure no one would ever mess with her or her people again. 

A hiss slithered from her lips when hands touched her own. She looked up and found deep brown eyes. “Mal I need you to let go.” Evie. She of all people should understand. She was doing this for them. Yet when fingers pried at her own she let them. Her grip loosened and her frame followed the prompts given. Her princess held her close and whispered over and over that they were safe. They were here and they’d never let anything happen to her. 

Except they had . It wasn’t their fault, but something had happened. Something happened and it was all her fault. Auradon was supposed to be safe and yet the one thing that had never happened to her on the isle did here. Mal was never hurt like that until today. It was the one thing she had. It was all she had and it was ripped from her. Taken by a hero .

Fuck this place and it’s stupid superiority complex. Fuck these people and their lies . Mal whipped around and grabbed Ben. “ Fuck you. ” Her voice was low and dangerous. No one in Auradon had ever heard this voice. “You fucking liar. I hate you .” The king looked at her bewildered and shocked. His mouth moved but no sound came out. “You lied and I believed you . I believed you and it ruined everything .” She shoved him back and the action seemed to snap the rest of the group out of its stupor. 

Jay touched her shoulder and she growled at him. Eyes flashing green and teeth bared. He raised his hands and stood back. None of the others approached. Mal stalked forward. Her boots heavier with each step. She straddled the king and wrapped her hands around his throat. She didn’t squeeze, but she kept it there. Fear was shining in Ben’s eyes. “Mal. Mal, what are you talking about?” Her eyes closed and she took in a breath. It was rough, ragged and not nearly enough. “Mal I’m sorry, but I don’t understand.” 

He was being remarkably calm about her having her hands in such a dangerous place. She could kill him right now with just a sideways motion. She knew her crew had encircled them and they’d try to stop her, but they couldn’t. They couldn’t and they all knew it. He tried again. “Mal please. What happened? ” 

What happened? The words echoed in her brain. She knew what happened, but couldn’t remember it at the same time. Flashes with intense emotions that made her stomach turn were all that came to the surface when she tried to recall mere hours ago. “ You lied .” Her chest shuddered and her hands slipped. The grass tickled her hands, but all it did was remind her that she wasn’t safe even when the grass was soft and not harsh, spiky and twisted. “I believed you and now I’m ruined.” 

“ Ruined? Mal? What do you mean you’re ruined?” His voice was so soft. He was being so kind and she had almost killed him. 

How could she tell him something she doesn’t remember? It was impossible for her mouth to form the words. “I-” Sobs raged out. “He- I- I can’t.” 

Ben was sitting up now and his hands were open and palms towards her. His face was full of hurt and concern. How could she ever hurt him? He was so innocent and she put her hands around his throat . Slowly the soft hands came to her sides and he pulled her into a hug. Tears poured from her face and her body shook with them. Agony cried from her throat and the air seemed to cut her vocal cords. 

She heard his carefully whispered reassurances. Kind words that never could land where they should, but she appreciated them all the same. As they rocked in place words began to tumble out. She gasped and cried, but between them she tried to tell them. “It hurts.” 

Ben squeezed tighter. “What hurts?”

“ Everything. ” A hiccuping sob. “My legs hurt .” 

He froze. “ Mal, why do your legs hurt?” A shaking head and harsh whimpers were her only response. She yelped when she was hoisted in the air. A soothing voice soothed her right away, but she knew they were going to her dorm room. She wasn’t stupid, but she was tired . So she let the king carry her to her room. 

Soon she was carefully lowered to her bed and she immediately pulled him into her side. She curled into his arms and hid from the others. She knew they were there, but she couldn’t look them in the eyes. Not when this was all her fault. “Mal, can you show me where it hurts?” 

The whimpers left before she could stop them. She didn’t want to show him, she didn’t want to show anybody. She couldn’t move, she could barely breathe. Her hands moved of their own accord towards her pants. A hand stopped her when she moved to unbutton them. “Mal-” A choked sob that was not her own echoed in her brain. “ Mal , do you want any of us to leave before you do anything else?”  

She shook her head and continued to do what she needed to do. Once she had pulled down the garment several gasps were heard. She couldn’t look down, but she could guess what it looked like. “Wh- Who?” Ben’s voice was broken and dangerous. Nothing like she had heard before. 

How odd was it that she couldn’t remember his name? She could point him out in a photo, but for some reason she hadn’t the foggiest clue of his name. She tried, but nothing came up and so she just buried her face in his chest and shook her head. 

She felt his shaky sigh and relaxed when his arms wrapped around her. Her body ached and she desperately wanted her gang. She reached out a hand and after a moment Evie slipped her’s into it. The boys soon followed and they were all one massive pile. It was squished and quickly became hot, but she could finally breathe. With everyone there she could relax. Her family was here and she finally felt safe. Her eyes drooped with the weight of everything and when she felt Evie’s breath on her neck. Jay’s arm over hers and Ben’s, with Carlos curled up at her feet she knew she could give in. Maybe Auradon wasn’t safe but this was. 

This was safe, this was home .

Chapter Text

Evie knew something was off the second Mal came into view. When Jay told her that the fae had missed class she wasn’t overly worried. Sometimes Mal couldn’t shake the habit of skipping class and would go work on some art or something. She would ask at dinner if she didn’t turn up beforehand. 

Yet when she glanced to the side and saw the flash of purple she knew something was wrong. The look in Mal’s eyes was fearful and that made her dangerous. Her posture was off too. It was too casual, a front. She was pretending that she was indifferent, the flitting of her eyes to every possible danger gave her away. The princess knew she couldn’t ask in front of Doug and she couldn’t just send the boy away, but gods she wished she could. 

Instead she played along and invited Mal to sit. Unsurprisingly the fae put herself between her and Doug. But as time passed the fae curled up around her in a blatantly possessive move. Something like when they were on the isle and she wanted to send the message of who was hers . Alarm bells went off in her head and she was about to wrap up her study session with Doug when she heard the boys shouting in the distance. 

Good, it would be easier to handle Mal if they were all there. Her hopes were crushed when Ben and Chad followed behind the pair. Jay sent a questioning glance and she shook her head. Something was wrong and they needed to figure out what. They all sat down and Mal carefully guided the crew to where she was in a protective position. Protecting them from Ben, Doug and Chad. The alarm bells had evolved into sirens. Chad she could understand, Mal still hated him, but Doug? Ben? Evie would’ve never guessed that Mal would find Ben to be a real threat. At least not a physical one. But here they were Mal’s gaze practically predatory. She tried to calm the beast by running her fingers through purple locks, but it didn’t seem to do much. 

Jay and Carlos stayed on the edge of their group ready to intervene if necessary. When Chad reached out to playfully nudge Jay’s shoulder, Evie’s stomach dropped before the blur of motion even happened. 

It all went too quickly. Mal had Chad pinned to the ground, eyes glowing, and snarling like a dragon. Ben reached out and told her to release the prince, and she thanked all her lucky stars that Jay moved to intercept. Carlos moved to the side so that he could grapple Mal if necessary. It struck her in that moment that their gang was ready for anything and she would be eternally grateful for that. Even when their leader was clearly not okay they knew what needed to be done. 

Slowly she approached the fae. Summoning her softest voice, the one used in the dead of night, she reminded Mal that they were safe. They didn’t have to fight to survive here, she could let go. Nothing changed, if anything her grip on the prince tightened. Carefully she placed a hand on one of Mal’s and did her best not to flinch at the feral hiss that left her mouth. Again she tried to get the faerie to let go, but she didn’t move. Keeping her eye on Mal’s face she began to pry the fingers off one by one, and soon she was able to guide Mal away from her most recent victim. 

Holding her close she swayed and whispered over and over that they were safe. That no one would hurt them here. The boys were nearby and they’d look out for them. She thought for a moment that Mal was calming down, but instead the fae turned and grabbed Ben . “ Fuck you ” She froze. Evie hadn’t heard that tone since the isle. Hadn’t heard that voice since they had to fight for moldy bread. Ice ran through her veins and she could tell it was the same for Carlos and Jay. 

It wasn’t until the king was on the ground that any of them made a move. Jay was the first to approach and was met with a nasty growl. He jumped a bit at the sound and she didn’t blame him. The flashing of green only finalized what they knew. There was no stopping Mal, she couldn’t stop. 

Evie’s heart hammered as Mal walked towards Ben. Each movement is deliberate and deadly. Her breath caught when the girl’s hands wrapped around his throat. Her crew had surrounded the pair on the ground but with a quick glance she knew that if Mal wanted to she could kill him and there was nothing they could do. 

For his part Ben was incredibly level headed for someone who had a known killer's hands around his neck, but that was Ben. He tried to talk to the fae and figure out what was wrong, but the more he spoke the more her heart broke. Mal was trembling and the fear fell off her in waves. She could almost see it. Tears were streaming down her face by the time Mal had collapsed into the king’s arms. She couldn’t hear everything, but she heard enough to know her lover was in so much pain. 

Her heart shattered at the wretched sounds leaving the fae. It was horrible, she’d never heard Mal cry like this. Sure she had cried and screamed, but she never sounded so utterly destroyed. Her stomach churned when Mal let out a sharp sound when Ben lifted her. Quickly she rushed to sooth the fae and let her rest in his arms. She glanced at the boys and they nodded. 

Carlos ran ahead to clear the way, and Jay stayed back to scare away onlookers, but Evie couldn’t take her eyes off of the purple waves she had soothed minutes before. They made it to the room and the sounds that left Mal’s mouth when she was lowered to the bed made her freeze. She was petrified. Mal had never sounded like that before. Mal was always the strong one, the brave one, the one to keep them safe. Now she couldn’t seem to look them in the eye. What happened? What happened to her person? Her dragon? 

Ben’s voice was soft. “ Mal , do you want any of us to leave before you do anything else?” 

Her mind stopped. Everything stopped. No one else was in the room except her and Mal and when she saw the girl’s hands tremble with the hem of her jeans she knew . It couldn’t, this couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t be happening. This was Auradon , this shouldn’t happen here. They were meant to be safe here, and yet? 

A hand flew to her mouth when she saw the bruises. They were fresh and raw and there was blood. It was all too much, the room spun and she felt bile burn in her throat. 

No, no, no, not this, please not this. She never wanted Mal to feel what she felt. She didn't want Mal to know the never fading grip of a person's unwanted touch. The way no matter how much you shower and bathe you'll never feel clean. 

Carlos gripped her hands tight and that was the only thing that kept her present. His eyes gave away his anger, and Jay’s jaw looked as if he’d crack a tooth if he didn’t let up soon. They made a silent agreement to put an end to whoever did this. From the fury in Ben’s voice he seemed to agree.  

Evie’s entire body sagged in relief when Mal held out a hand. She almost cried all over again. Crawling onto the bed she took her hand and held on for dear life.

 Carlos shuffled over and curled up at the foot of the bed and Jay went to the other side and spooned both Ben and Mal. They all laid in silence, but it wasn’t tense. It was soft and loving and there. They were there, they were together and that was safe. Not a place or a set of rules. Their gang, their crew was their safety and Mal paid the price for their mistakes. Never again , she vowed. No one in her crew would be left defenseless as long as she lived. 

Surprisingly they all slept through the night. It wasn't until the late morning that they had to deal with the horrifying reality of the day. Evie was the first to wake up, but that was unsurprising. Mal creeping from the bed shortly after was a shock however. 

For a moment they just stared. Their eyes accessing, but soft. After a moment Mal stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the princess. 

Evie hugged back with all the strength she possessed. Tears began to trickle down her face, but she didn't care. Mal squeezed back. “I'm so sorry princess.” The air left her lungs. She tried to speak up. Reassure Mal that she didn't need to apologize, but nothing came out. “I'm so sorry I didn't stop your mother. I'm sorry I never killed those fucking bastards for so much as looking at you much less-” The sentence cut off by Evie pushing the fae away. 

The princess shook her head violently. “No, no stop.” She glanced over to the bed. As grateful as she was to the boys for pretending to be asleep she knew they weren't. She pulled the fae into the bathroom and locked the door. Once again she embraced the other girl and let out a weak sob. “It wasn't your fault.” Now Mal had let out a sob. “It wasn't your fault.” 

They both collapsed to the floor in each other's arms and cried. Tears fell until there were none left and their throats were raw. 

A knock at the door startled them. “It's just me.” Carlos's voice barely made it through the door. Mal nodded and Evie opened the door. The boy immediately scrambled in and curled up in Mal’s lap. “I'm sorry. We didn't think that happened here.” 

The fae ran her hands through his hair and nodded. “I didn't either.” Her voice was hoarse, but she kept it level. Her other hand began to scratch at her skin. 

Quickly Carlos grabbed her hand and squeezed. “That won't help.” Mal narrowed her eyes at him. Evie's heart thud inside her chest. Carlos had never told anyone besides her. “I know it feels like they're still there, but that won't help.” 

Mal’s eyes flashed and a growl grumbled in her chest. For a second Evie swore a puff of smoke exhaled from her nose. The pup squeezed again and that seemed to get the faerie's attention. “ Who. ” 

He shook his head. “It was a long time ago.” He shifted and stood before she could demand more information. “Come on, let me help.” 

Their dragon hesitated for a moment, but then stood next to Evie. Carlos turned the shower on and began to strip. The girls followed and soon they were crammed in under the warm spray. 

She watched as Carlos took a rag and rubbed in some soap. He looked at Mal who nodded and he began to scrub. He made sure to leave a kiss over every bruise and attempted to scrape the wretched sensation off of every inch. 

Evie on the other hand massaged shampoo and eventually conditioner into the purple locks. Whispering only the sweetest things as she did so. 

They toweled dry and redressed. Walking out of the bathroom Evie raised a brow at the missing king. Jay shrugged. “He said he had to ‘take care of something’ and left.” She had a feeling that something was someone. 

They piled onto the bed again, this time Mal and Carlos in the middle with her and Jay on either side. They stayed quiet for a while until the thief's voice filled the air. “I love you. I'm here.” The fae leaned over and kissed him on the cheek before relaxing back into the center. Soon they all fell victim to exhaustion's sweet embrace. Safe as they ever were and ever will be. In each other's arms.

Chapter Text

Audrey didn’t like the villain kids. She didn’t like them before Ben dumped her for Mal and she didn’t see herself liking them in the future. They were ill mannered, brutish and crass. Well most of them were. Evie was certainly an exception to the rules. 

The isle princess’s etiquette was old fashioned but still well within reason. She was even keeled and knew the way things worked. You couldn’t brute force your way through Auradon. So while she didn’t like her, she did respect the blunette. 

Audrey sore that the gods were against her when she and Evie were partnered for an English assignment. This would be torture to do with another Auradon kid, much less an isle kid. Though she did have to thank  her lucky stars that she was partnered with the most tolerable one of the bunch. 

The assignment was a notorious one. The pair would need to come up with an outline for a utopian setting. From the government to the core values of society they had to make a presentation to share with the class. If it was a solo assignment the crown princess might not dread it so much, but needless to say this would take a while. Luckily it wasn’t due until the end of the semester.

Once class was dismissed she wasn’t surprised to see the bluenette approach her. “Hey Audrey, when do you want to meet to work on the project? No rush, I just want to get it in the books since you probably have a full schedule already.” 

“Yes, being the heir to your kingdom does keep you busy.” Evie didn’t even flinch at the comment. Standing up she answered the question properly. “I should be free after school on Wednesday and Thursday. If we need, I can arrange for an occasional Saturday as well.”  

The blue haired princess nodded. “That should work for me, I will have to double check on Saturdays though.” 

What could she be doing on Saturday? Scheming? Regardless they finished the details and agreed to work in a tucked away section of the library. The rest of the week passed without a word between the two until they met at the table that sat away from the rest of the students. 

Evie was already there, a notebook and pens resting in front of her. Her bag sat under her chair. Mal was sitting on the ground a couple shelves over with a book in her hands, but Audrey would bet good money that she wasn’t reading. 

Pulling out a chair she sat down and began to get her own supplies. “Where do you want to start?” 

Evie’s face wrinkled in concentration, before she muttered to herself and smoothed her expression. “I’m not sure, probably values since that tends to shape a society.” 

“That makes sense. Do you have any ideas?” 

Evie nodded. “Loyalty for sure.” She paused. “And a good education.” 

Audrey had to hide her curiosity. She hadn’t known what to expect, but it wasn’t those answers. “Those are good, stability and honesty were some I would like to add.” The two went back and forth before they settled on six core values. 

1. Individual rights
2. Education
3. Justice
4. Safeguarding the vulnerable
5. Honesty
6. Integrity 

The crown princess finished her list and titled a new section with the first value. “Okay so for every person what should be some things we guarantee they always have?” 

“Water.” Evie’s voice startled her. The answer was out before she had even finished asking. “Food and medicine too.” 

Audrey wrote those down. “Yeah obviously, and the right accommodations as well. Housing and transportation should be a priority.” 

The isle princess looked like she wanted to say something, but glanced at Mal and wrote down what had been discussed. They continued like that until they were both happy with the rights guaranteed to each citizen. It was an exhaustive list that took ages to finalize. It didn’t help that Evie kept insisting they work through the basic stuff like medical, housing and food protections. It was tedious! Of course the people in their utopia would have those things; they were the most obvious human rights! Still they were able to finish it before it got too late. 

The next day they reconvened and discussed some of the education systems they wanted in place and then got side tracked on public transit the rest of their time. At least they got it done though. Audrey was not looking forward to having to deal with a VK’s sense of justice, but it would come sooner or later. Evie seemed the most reasonable of the bunch so she was hopeful. 

“You have no idea what you are talking about!” Evie’s voice wasn’t loud, but there was an edge . It made Audrey feel uneasy. “You keep saying that we should send people to prison when they commit crimes, but don’t actually put anything in place to help them!” 

Help them? “They’re criminals! They need to be punished, not coddled.” 

The isle princess froze. “You’re just like them .” 

“ Like who? ” Her chest puffed up as she crossed her arms. Where did a villain kid get off accusing her of being like anyone? 

“King Beast and the other pathetic royals.” The former ruler’s title was hurled like an insult. 

While she didn’t enjoy being compared to the older generations, she wasn’t sure why it was said with so much malice. “ Of course I am! They raised me, why is that so terrible?” 

Evie narrowed her eyes and for a moment Audrey would’ve sworn she heard a hiss . “I am not like the woman who raised me. Yet you all assume I am. You are all too willing to lock me away for a crime I didn’t commit. ” She leaned over the table, ignoring the scattered notes. “Tell me your highness , where is the justice in damning countless children to literal hell for the crimes of their parents. Where is the justice in sentencing former villains to eternal suffering because they messed up as teenagers ? Where is the justice in doing all of this without a single trial ?” 

The air rushed from her lungs. Her entire body couldn’t seem to move. Her mouth opened and nothing came out. She, she never really thought about it. They weren’t taught about all that. They were just told that the most vile and evil people to exist were sent to the Isle to live where they couldn’t hurt anyone. She knew that the Isle kids didn’t deserve to be there but Ben’s plans weren’t well thought out. He was impulsive, and that’s why she didn’t agree with his decree. 

It seemed Evie wasn’t finished. Her voice was low and dangerous. “You sit here on your high horse and forget to think about the people you’re trampling.” Mal started to make her way to the table. “Don’t talk to me until you realize the devastation you’re sense of safety has cost every person on that fucking island that doesn’t deserve to be there.” She started to say more but she fell silent when Mal put a hand on her shoulder. 

The fae shook her head and pointed toward the door. The isle princess walked out and Mal collected her things. Audrey was barely about to choke out the words. “I’m sorry.” 

Her eyes glowed for a second, but she shook her head. “I don’t think you know what you are apologizing for.” With that Audrey was left alone in the corner of the library. She was floundering and had no idea what to do. So she went to the only person she trusted to talk about this with. 

Ben. Immediately she regretted her decision when he answered her text with urgency and care. All she had said was, “I think I might’ve been wrong about the isle. If you’re okay with it could we chat?” She knew he was dating Mal and it was not something she wanted to talk about, but she really didn’t trust anyone else on this. Chad wasn’t the air head he seemed, but he was stubborn and not very open minded. 

They met at a secluded corner of campus and the tension was obvious from the moment they sat on the bench. “Mal knows I’m here and said it was okay.” It was as if he couldn’t help himself. He was always like that, so honest and innocent. His declaration of love for Mal had blindsided her in a way she never could have anticipated. 

She nodded. “Good, I don’t want to give her another reason to hate me.” 

He looked like he wanted to comment, but shook his head and relaxed his shoulders. “So what did you want to talk about?” 

Funny how she had this whole speech ready and as soon as he asked it left her body. She had no idea what she wanted to talk about and that was the problem. “What did we do to them?” Her voice cracked, but she refused to falter. 

Ben’s face hardened and suddenly she was afraid. Not of him, but of what they had done. Sweet innocent Ben looked like he wanted to burn the world down. It wasn’t something she had seen before. “I’m still finding out. It’s not good though. My dad really messed up and it is killing people. ” 

“Killing people? Isn’t that what he tried to stop?” Her heart thundered in her chest. This was the opposite of what she expected. 

He laughed, but it was bitter and hollow. This wasn’t her Ben, what happened to him? “I don’t know what he was trying to accomplish anymore, but the kids on the Isle.” He paused, his face was filled with grief. “They’re starving Audrey. Mal said that they didn’t know that water was clear before they got here.” A hand flew to her mouth. The things Evie was insisting on began to make more sense. “They won’t say much, but you can tell by how they eat that there isn’t much food on the Isle. They hoard it, Carlos said it was a waste to throw out mouldy fruit.”  

Her stomach twisted and suddenly she felt horrible. “Apparently when Mal got detention for the first time she was expecting to be tortured or starved. Like that was a normal thing to expect.” He paused. Hands trembling he rubbed at his face. “I have to get them all off that isle. It makes me sick to think about what it must be like over there.” 

Audrey had to bite her lip to keep the nausea at bay. No wonder they were so rough around the edges. It was a miracle that they hadn’t killed anyone yet. How did she not see it before? Looking back it was so obvious and yet she missed every sign. Every flashing neon sign. 

There were hints to the realities of the Isle. From the moment they emerged from that limo the signs were there. The chocolate smeared on the boys face and the way they all held themselves. It was obvious in hindsight that they were anticipating the worst, but in the moment no one noticed. 

Mal and Jay had calluses on their knuckles and always stood tall. They kept an eye out at all times and kept Evie and Carlos towards the middle. Jay’s muscles were toned and strong, he could make people move and did whenever Mal signaled. 

Mal snapped and used harsh words. Her nails were kept sharp and she was wrapped in leather. She growled and hissed and wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty. Every bit coiled and poised, maybe they should’ve known she was a dragon sooner. 

Carlos was wiry and skittish. He could take off at a moment's notice or bear his teeth and go feral in seconds. Sure he was the smallest, but he certainly shouldn’t be underestimated. Mal doesn’t accept less than the best after all. 

Then there was Evie. She was harder to spot. With her royal manners, and perfect princess poise. She was the one who most Auradonians were comfortable with. But little did they know just how vicious and cruel she could be. One wrong move and you suddenly had a knife held at your throat. Whiplash from the kind smile to a cruel grin. 

“We have to get them off the isle. I’ll do anything I can to help.” Her voice was rough and tears were still falling, but she didn’t care. Ben needed to know he had support from within Auradon. She would do anything to fix their mistakes and that started with helping Ben. Also apologizing to Evie, but that could wait until tomorrow. 

“Thank you. I’ll keep you in the loop.” With that he wiped his tears away and stood. “It was good to talk to you again. I’m sorry about the way things ended.” 

Anger ignited in her chest, but it was dampened by the conversation that just took place. “Me too Ben. Thank you for letting me help.” 

He nodded and then left. She stayed back and tried to breathe. Tears wouldn’t stop flowing until she ran out. Exhaustion pulled at her bones as she forced herself to her room. She did the bare minimum off her routine and fell into the bed. She would apologize tomorrow and then she would do everything she could to protect the vks. They didn’t need to suffer anymore.