Disclaimer: I do not own Descendants.

Ben stood alone in his study, his hands in the pockets of his royal blue slacks. Fire flickered in the grate in the wall adjacent to where his desk sat. The sputtering flames cast dim dancing shadows across the walls and the king's back. He could not face the empty room. It was too quiet and too large. He would have preferred his office be in one of the smaller rooms on a lower floor of the palace, but it was tradition that this was the reigning monarch's office and study. And, frankly, he had been too depressed to order the staff to move everything and cram all the furniture into a smaller space. So, he was making the room work by keeping it dimly lit so that it gave the illusion of being smaller than it really was.

In the month following his royal cotillion, he had considered taking all of his official documents and orders he had to sign to his room. It was a much cozier place to work, and sometimes, he did do that. In fact, most of the time that he spent in his study was used to stare out the large window that took up most of the wall behind his desk. From his room on the other side of the palace, he could not see it. But, here in his office, the window gave a perfect view of the Isle of the Lost.

After Uma's retreat at the cotillion, Ben had thought everything would be perfect. Mal had said she loved him. But, it had not lasted. In the next few days, the media had flooded Mal with questions and photographs. Then one night, almost a week after the cotillion, Mal had come to Ben and said she would be returning to the Isle. For good this time. While she had said she loved him, she had also said she couldn't accept the responsibility of being queen and leading a life with so many rules and expectations. She had initially left for this reason, and it had driven her away once again. And this time, Ben believed her. He had believed her because there had been no tears. Her eyes had been red and puffy as if she had spent the last few hours crying before coming to him. But the fact that no tears came when she told him she was leaving made him believe she had truly made up her mind this time.

So he had let her go without a fight.

He didn't show his emotions until afterward when he had smashed the stain-glass window that he had commissioned. In a beast-like rage, he had hammered his fists on it until it broke. He had stood there, punching every last piece of glass out of the frame until nothing remained. Colored glass had surrounded his feet while tears coated his cheeks and blood ran down his hands.

Ben clenched his hands into fists in his pockets, remembering the cuts that had taken almost two weeks to heal. He had injured his hands so badly that it had been impossible for him to hold a pen, tourney stick, or fencing metal until just a few days ago.

"I knew I'd find you here."

Ben didn't look away from the Isle. He had heard the soft click as the door opened. It was easy to hear everything in such a silent room at such a silent time. Besides, a part of him had expected her to come. For the past few nights, she had come and sat beside the fire. But, usually, neither one of them talked. He knew one of them would break the silence eventually. Sometimes, heartbreak needed another heartbreak to mend. "Couldn't sleep?" he asked.

Evie stepped into his line of sight at his shoulder, standing beside him and gazing out into the heavy haze of rain as well. It was starting to obscure the Isle as the rain came harder. This forceful cutoff from watching the Isle annoyed Ben, but he still watched even though the Isle was now just a blur. It had already been hard to see it through the darkness of the night, but the lights from the harbor and some parts of the Isle itself had helped a bit with that obstacle.

"No," Evie answered. "Hard to. The room's empty without..." She glanced at him quickly.

"Without Mal," he finished for her. "It's alright to say her name around me, Evie. I'll move on. I've started to."

"Is that why you're standing here watching the Isle as if it might disappear if you look away for a second?"

"I'm just worried for her," he said stiffly.

"You still care about her."

"Of course, I still care about her." Ben sighed. His voice had risen, and he hated the way it sounded in the empty room. He lowered his voice back to a regular volume as he spoke again. "I still care about her, Evie. Of course, I do. I will recover. Everyone recovers from heartbreak eventually. But, I can't help but worry. What if Uma and her gang attack her?"

"She'll be okay," Evie said. "We grew up there."

"But is that enough now?" Ben asked.

Evie shrugged a shoulder. "I have to believe she'll be okay. We both have to believe that. Or we'll go crazy."

Ben was silent for a moment, and he finally tore his gaze away from the window. It was too hard to see the Isle through the deluge now anyhow. He focused on Evie instead. She looked exhausted and as if she had been crying recently. "How are you holding up?"

Evie crossed her arms over her abdomen and gave a noncommittal shrug. Then she sniffled and looked away as fresh tears began rolling down her cheeks.

Ben hesitated a moment. He was normally good with comforting people, but given his current state of mind, he wasn't necessarily the best company. He couldn't make jokes as easily or laugh and smile to try to cheer someone up. His traditional go-to of taking someone for frozen yogurt to cheer them up wouldn't work at this hour either. So, he stepped forward and carefully drew her into his arms. If he had learned anything in the past few weeks without Mal, it was the importance of human touch. His mother typically gave him a hug whenever she saw him, and it was amazing how quickly this would cause him to drop his guard.

As he hugged her close, pressing her to him, she began crying harder. "H-how are you d-doing it?" she sobbed, clinging to the front of his blazer.

"Because I only see her face in my mind," Ben answered immediately. "I don't have to see her in class every day like you do with Doug." He rubbed her back, his hand passing smoothly over the silk of her blue pajamas.

"I-I know it was b-best, but it st-still hurts." Evie's body heaved with sobs, and Ben could feel her tears sliding down under the collar of his shirt from where she had buried her face against his chest at his throat and sternum.

Ben didn't have any good comforting words that he could immediately call to mind. Any that did sounded hollow and cliche. So he just squeezed her tighter, one hand pressed into the small of her back while the other stroked her hair. He could feel his newly healed skin pull taut as his palm pressed flat into her spine, but it didn't cause him to wince like it would have a week ago when the stitches had still been in place.

She seemed content to just be held while she cried, so that's what Ben did. He held her even when he thought it might be time to let go. That was another thing he had learned about wanting to be comforted himself the past few weeks. It was that people always let go too soon. It was best to let the person who needed the comforting break the hug. They could decide when was the time to stop.

And Ben knew Evie deserved all the comforting she wanted. It had been just over a week ago, maybe ten or eleven days at most, since her breakup with Doug. By now, Ben had heard both sides of the story and had worked out how it all fit together. Basically, Doug had begun to be suffocating to Evie. He was insecure about their relationship, and Ben guessed this was because Evie was by far the most beautiful and popular girl in school. Evie had been bothered by his constant need of reassurance. In response, she had started to become liable to lash out at him. Claiming this was not healthy and was starting to make her draw on her villain roots again, Evie had ended it. When Ben had asked Doug about it, Doug had confirmed that Evie had been unmovable in her decision. She had been crying while telling him it was over, but she had stayed certain of her decision. Now, Ben could see how Mal and Evie had both made the difficult choice to do what they thought was best for themselves and their sanity. No one deserved to stay in a relationship that boxed them in even if they were in love. Sometimes, love just wasn't enough.

Evie finally shifted to pull away, and Ben released her. His hands dropped to his sides as he watched her closely. Then, he reached across his desk and slid the tissue box over to her. "Are you going to be alright? Maybe you should try to get some sleep."

"Thanks. Are you going to try to sleep?" Evie asked, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue she had grabbed from the box.

"I doubt it," Ben said.

"Then do you mind if I just stay here for a while?" Evie asked. "There's no one else to talk to right now. Even if it was daytime, Jay and Carlos don't really understand. And Lonnie and Jane are friends with Doug. I mean, you are too, but..." She trailed off as if she had just realized how awkward she might be making this for Ben.

But Ben shook his head. "It's alright. I know what you mean. I understand. You can stay. If you like, we can go down to the kitchen and make some tea or hot chocolate."

Evie tossed her used tissue into the trash bin beside Ben's desk. "I'd like that, thanks."

A fork of lightning and a following crash of thunder made them both turn back to the window. A moment passed, and another bolt of lightning struck across the sky, illuminating the Isle briefly.

"Do you think she's okay?" Evie asked.

"You said she will be," Ben said, but he wondered if Evie had just said that to comfort him. In reality, she was probably just as scared for Mal as he was.

Uma's fist connected with Mal's jaw and sent her sprawling into the mud. Mal could taste blood from where one of Uma's large rings had cut her lip. "Do you see who's top dog now?" Uma shouted, and her crew laughed. For inhabiting such a small ship, there sure were a lot of them. They had formed a circle around Uma and Mal as soon as the fight had begun.

Mal hadn't gone looking for a fight when she left her loft that night. She had just planned on visiting some of the night merchants for some food and other supplies that she had noticed were in low stock in her mother's loft. But as soon as she had stepped foot into the market square, Uma's crew had seemed to pour from every alley and crevice that could hold even the slimmest cockroach of a villain. She had so far avoided Uma, or maybe Uma had been watching and left her alone till now. Either way, Mal hadn't been expecting a fight. Especially not in the rain.

The rainwater dripped from Uma's dreadlocks as she loomed over Mal. She was leaning over, her hands on her knees as she sneered down at Mal. "Aw, look at the little princess. All that pampering in Auradon really did soften you."

Mal growled and swiped at Uma's legs with one of hers, but Uma stepped out of the way with a laugh. The mud was slowing Mal down considerably. They had been fighting long enough that Mal had gotten in a few punches, but Uma was quicker in the mud. The thickening mud sucked at Mal's boots, and the rain made her shiver. She had only dressed for a quick sprint into the market, and it had only been drizzling then. Now, the rain felt like pellets against her skin, and she could already feel the cold in her bones. It made her stiff and slow regardless of how much she desired to pin Uma down in the mud and show her that she was still capable of taking care of herself just fine.

Uma straightened and swiped her long hair back over her shoulder. She held her hand out to the side, her eyes still trained on Mal's face. Harry Hook stepped forward and placed a long object in Uma's open hand. For one wild moment, Mal thought it was a sword and that Uma was about to strike the final blow. But then Uma stepped forward and dangled the object over Mal's nose.

It was Fairy Godmother's wand.

"I don't understand," Mal said, and made to push herself up. But Uma pressed a muddy boot to Mal's chest and shoved her back down, forcing all the air from Mal's lungs.

"Oh, she doesn't understand," Uma cooed, and her crew laughed as if on cue. "This is the real wand. I was outside the barrier when you foolishly let me go at the cotillion. I saw the opportunity, and I took it. I waited in the waters just outside the barrier for the rest of the night. I knew that Fairy Godmother would return the wand to the museum shortly after the party, so I watched the party until it ended. An hour before dawn, I knew no one would be awake. No one but the silly little guard at the museum would notice if I just walked right in and stole the wand. Luckily, I had memorized an invisibility spell from your spell book. And so-" Uma snapped her fingers, "like that, I simply walked in and walked out with the most powerful weapon in Auradon."

Mal struggled under the weight of Uma's foot, trying to push it off. "Oh yeah? If you've had it for a month, then why haven't you used it by now? Can't figure out how to work it?"

Uma scowled and pressed her foot harder into Mal's chest, causing Mal to gasp. The heel of the boot was digging into Mal's sternum. "Because, I've been biding my time. And they haven't even noticed it was missing. You really shouldn't have showed me that trick of duplicating the wand. Now they just have a fake on display." She laughed. "I've been gathering troops, rallying the villains in my name. And now, the time has almost come to bring down the barrier and take Auradon for myself."

Harry cleared his throat, and Uma shot a dark, yet flirtatious look his way. "Of course, I meant us, darling."

Harry frowned but didn't say anything.

Uma turned back to Mal, still holding the wand aloft. "Soon, your pretty boy Ben won't know what hit him. Because, guess what? We're gonna kill him."

This time, the air left Mal's lungs without the extra push from Uma. Mal growled and drew up her strength suddenly to shove Uma's knee hard to the side, which caused her boot to finally dislodge from Mal's sternum. Uma stumbled, coming down to her knee in the mud. Mal seized the lapels of Uma's jacket and tugged her down into the mud. "Don't you lay a hand on him," Mal growled, attempting to move to get on top of Uma and grab the wand out of her hand.

But Uma kept her arm with the wand fully outstretched. With a flick of her wrist, she cast it away into the mud at Harry's feet. He picked it up, wiped it on his pants, and pocketed it.

Mal growled and made to get up, but Uma tugged her back down and moved to straddle her chest.

"Your time is up, princess," Uma hissed. She closed her hands around Mal's neck.

"No," Mal choked. She tried to pry Uma's hands away from her throat where they had closed in a vice grip and were cutting off her airway. Spots started to dance before her eyes. Between that, the rain, and the mud, Mal could barely see Uma above her. All she could discern was the maniacal grin on Um'a face, the feel of her hands squeezing the life out of her, and the laughs and cheers of the surrounding onlookers.

Mal's vision blurred, and she bucked her hips wildly, trying to throw Uma off. Uma's grip loosened enough that Mal was able to break her grip entirely. She reached up and seized Uma's throat now. She didn't have a good grip as her hand was slick with mud and water, but it was enough to catch Uma off guard and wipe the smirk from her face. "You won't win, Uma," Mal said with difficulty. Her throat felt sore already, which seemed to fit in with the rest of her aches that made her too stiff to move.

Uma knocked her hands away and stood. "We'll see, princess. But I've got the upper hand. And you won't be running to tip Ben off either. I think I've made my point." She turned and motioned for her crew to head out. But then she stopped. "Oh, wait." She turned back to Mal, smiling broadly as she approached. She crouched beside Mal. "I forgot something." As Mal was about to retort, Uma raised her arm and brought her elbow down hard against Mal's face.

Bright pain shot through Mal's head. And then she dropped unconscious.

As Uma left with her party arm-in-arm with Harry Hook, laughing and holding the wand aloft triumphantly like a baton, one of the crew hung back. He waited until his comrades were out of sight and then walked over to Mal. She looked so harmless lying there unconscious in the mud. He couldn't believe that he had ever been afraid of her.

Gil bent to pull her limp form out of the sticky mud. With a few maneuvers of her limbs and his own, he scooped her up into his arms. He started off in the opposite direction Uma had taken, holding Mal to his chest like a child as he headed for her loft on the other side of the block.

Hey, guys! After a few months' hiatus from fanfiction after finishing all my chapter fics, I've finally returned with what I hope will be my longest and most in-depth story yet. As my last semester of college starts up, I can't guarantee when updates will come. My goal is to keep this story as fun to write for myself as possible, so I don't want to place unnecessary pressure on myself to crank out updates. But I hope to still strive for regular updates. Please, remember that reviews encourage me to write. They remind me that you guys actually enjoy what I do here and that I'm not just shouting into some void of the internet. Thanks for reading. Fave, follow, and review.

Foarrin