Title: Redemption
Author: Whenpigsfly84
Disclaimer: I own nothing, all story plots, characters, etc are fictional and any resemblance to anyone or thing is coincidental.
Pairings: Jay/Carlos, Mal/Ben, Evie/Doug
Rating: T, some graphic violence & swearing
Genre: Drama
Notes: To my readers who've been following along I just want to let you know this has gone through some edits and revamps as far as chapter length and layout. I've chopped the chapter lengths in several of these making them more managable but the content has stayed the same. For instance, chapter 1 & 2 used to be all chapter 1 before but it was incredibly long, hence the edit. Thanks everyone! If you notice any mistakes along the way please give me aheads up.
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He was not going to panic, he was not going to freak out, he was going to stay calm and think logically about the situation. There had to be a solution, it might be harrowing for a while but good always triumphed over evil, therefore everything would be fine; eventually.
Glancing down the hall, however, told another story, terrified students raced from room to room, or huddled in wide eyed groups whispering in hushed tones nervously. Carlos felt his hand start to shake slightly and he clenched the strap of his backpack tighter and gritted his teeth, he wasn't going to panic, he was older and stronger now, he had nothing to be afraid of. He could fight them if he needed to, that is unless they had their magic back. Carlos could hear his mother's cackle, head thrown back in hysterics as he waved a Tourney stick at her in defense. The frantic thudding of his heart was starting to drown out the voices around him.
"Do you think they'll come here first?"
"Will we be safe?"
"Are they going to kill us all?"
Carlos ducked his head as he hurried past the scared students and made a beeline for his dorm room. Chucking his backpack near his bed, he began to pace the length of the room, nearly tripping over Jay's Tourney equipment. He began gathering up all the pieces, desperately ignoring the shaking that had spread to both hands now. Once the room was completely spotless, he settled down at his desk determined to calm his nerves with the mountains of mindless homework he had.
One hour earlier
Jay craned his neck, looking around the auditorium, it was packed with every student and faculty member in the entire school but he couldn't find Mal, Evie or Carlos in the crowd. Classes had been interrupted for an emergency announcement, but instead of Fairy Godmother standing on the stage, it was King Adam who quickly hushed everyone.
"I apologize for the suddenness of this meeting but I fear something of grave importance has come to my attention and I must start making preparations. A few days ago Fairy Godmother started to become ill, and since then has steadily worsened. We do not know the cause of the illness or if it can be cured, at this time experts are being called in for consultation. However, with her illness progressing we've discovered that her magic is weakening, and as such so are all the spells she has cast. Our biggest concern at the moment is obviously the barrier that is surrounding The Isle. We don't know if it's weakened to a worrisome level yet or if it will continue to hold if Fairy Godmother does not get better. So for the meantime, I am going to alert all of your parents and if they feel the need for you to return home we will escort every student from the school. Classes, of course, will be put on hold, I am increasing security around the school, there will be no more excursions into town and a mandatory curfew of 10 pm will be put into place immediately. If anyone has any questions or concerns please feel free to address them to me or Queen Belle, we will both be staying on campus until Fairy Godmother is back on her feet."
The crowd burst into excited titters of conversation as everyone filed out of the auditorium. Jay was swept along with the crowd, his mind a haze as he slowly processed the information that the king had given them. Without even realizing it Jay automatically walked into his next classroom and sat at his desk, several minutes went by and the room remained empty. Jay groaned remembering King Adam had canceled classes, and he headed back to his dorm room, hoping to catch one of his friends in the hallway.
Jay's cell phone buzzed just as he reached for his doorknob, a text message from Mal lit up his screen.
M Meeting-our room asap!
Jay quickly opened his door and flung his backpack in without looking before hurrying down the hall to Mal and Evie's room.
Carlos' head snapped up from his chemistry homework as the door cracked open, a familiar backpack was suddenly being launched into the room, landing with a thud and skidding to a halt near by. "Jay?"
The door snapped shut without a response and Carlos stared in confusion at the closed door, with a shrug Carlos decided to ignore his friend's weird behavior and focus back on the notes in front of him.
Jay gave a quick knock on Mal and Evie's door before slipping inside, seeing the girls, Ben, Doug, and Lonnie all spread around the room, he flopped down on the floor beside the door.
"So?" Jay asked.
Everyone exchanged glances, not really knowing or wanting to start this heavy conversation off.
"I guess I should start by saying, what my father said is true. Fairy Godmother is very sick, she's so weak she can't even get out of bed anymore. She has no idea what caused it and we don't know how much longer she has left," Ben said, his eyes falling into his lap where Mal was holding his hand.
"Do we have any defenses against the villains on the Isle?" Lonnie asked worriedly.
"My father is asking for help from any of the surrounding areas, tripling the guards for the school but honestly I don't really know," Ben replied, his voice tapering off in defeat.
"If they leave the Isle, they can get their magic back, right?" Doug asked. "I mean we're talking about The Evil Queen, Jafar, Ursula, the Queen of Hearts, Hook, Cruella."
Every name caused the group to wince until the last name when Evie finally piped up. "Where's Carlos?"
Every head started swinging back and forth but sure enough, the young boy was nowhere to be found.
"Mal you sent him a text didn't you?" Ben asked, as Jay lept to his feet and left the room.
"Carlos? Dude didn't you get Mal's text, we were supposed to be meeting up in the girls' room," Jay asked.
"Nah, I haven't checked my phone since I got back; trying to work on my Chemistry homework," Carlos replied, barely looking up from his book.
Jay moved further into the bedroom, shutting the door behind him. "Carlos, classes have been canceled, you don't need to do that right now. Mal and Ben wanted to talk to us about what's going on."
"Well I don't, okay? There's nothing we can do about helping Fairy Godmother, and everyone else is going home which means we're stuck here, or maybe they'll send us back to the Isle," Carlos snapped.
Jay sighed, he should have figured that Carlos would have already thought about the entire situation and every possible outcome and was predictably freaking out. "Carlos they're not going to send us back, we'll be safe here."
Carlos just gave him a baleful glare before slamming his books shut, grabbing Dude off his bed and stalking out the door.
Jay slunk back into Mal and Evie's room.
"Where's Carlos?" Mal asked, everyone, staring at him.
"He's busy."
"Doing what? It can't be more important than this," Lonnie insisted.
Jay shot her a hard look. "He doesn't want to talk about this, he knows what'll happen if that barrier comes down. All of you have entire kingdoms to protect you, do you have any idea what's going to happen to us when our parents get set free?"
Lonnie sat back hard as the thought kicked in. Ben wrapped his arm around Mal's shoulder as she slumped against him, Doug and Evie exchanged sad looks.
"You can come with me, stay at my castle. It was my idea to bring you from the Isle, it's my job as King to make sure you're all protected like anyone else in Auradon," Ben said, earning a small smile from Mal.
"I'm sure my parents will agree to help as well, you'll have the entire Chinese army at your command," Lonnie said.
"Maybe your parents won't even notice the barrier weakening. We may have more time than we think," Ben added hopefully.
Jay frowned, he hated the idea of hiding away in some fancy castle while hundreds of villains swarmed over Auradon, destroying everything in their path. It was cowardly, it was weak, and it made him sick. They were sitting ducks here, and Carlos knew it, their parents would find them, would trap them and make their lives a living hell for betraying them.
Leaping to his feet again, Jay stomped out of the room, ignoring his friend's protests and questions. He couldn't go back to his dorm room, he felt like he needed to punch something, run a hundred wind sprints, or scream at the top of his lungs with the amount of anger that that flooding his system. Grabbing up his Tourney gear again, he made his way out to the practice field where he started weaving and bobbing around the grass until he was within distance of the goal before lobbing the ball into the net.
Carlos yawned, as he led Dude out of the forest along the well-worn path they took nearly every night before bed, it was clearly time to head back to his room, though he dreaded the thought of confronting Jay again. He shouldn't have yelled at him earlier, he knew his friends meant well but every time he started thinking about his mother descending down on Auradon, it gave him the chills.
Nearing the castle, a movement to his right caught his attention, there was someone on the Tourney practice field. Detouring slightly, Carlos led Dude closer until he could make out who it was. Sighing as a familiar red beanie came into view, tan muscular arms heaving the stick as hard as he could, Carlos slid onto the bleachers to watch Jay play.
Jay bent over, hands resting on his thighs as he gasped for breath, his head swam slightly as sweat ran from his temples down the sides of his face. He'd completely forgotten to bring anything to drink, or a towel to wipe off with, and his beanie was a wet, heavy weight on his head. Deciding it wasn't worth passing out on the way back, Jay collapsed backward onto the cool grass as his chest continued to heave for breath, his arms and legs splayed out limply.
Carlos jumped up from his seat as Jay stopped and then fell over backward, he dropped Dude's leash and dashed towards his friend. "Jay!"
Jay's head whipped to the side as his name was yelled, Carlos racing towards him looking panicked. He clamored up, getting to his knees before everything spun sickeningly around him and he fell back on his ass. Carlos skidded to a stop on his knees next to Jay, his hands coming up to cradle his friend's face in his hands.
"Jay are you alright? What happened?" Carlos asked, looking his friend over frantically.
"Stood up too fast, what's wrong?" Jay replied.
"What's wrong? One minute you're running around like a super hero and the next you're falling over dead," Carlos said.
Jay huffed out an amused laugh. "You can stop worrying, I was just hot and tired. Guess two practices in one day are a bit much."
Carlos rolled his eyes and sighed, leave it to Jay to give him a heart attack over literally nothing.
"I just need a few minutes to catch my breath," Jay added, flopping back down onto the grass with his eyes closed.
Carlos sighed, he had been trying to avoid everyone since that fateful school assembly this afternoon but he was still slightly concerned over Jay's collapse so he sucked it up and sat down.
Jay cracked an eye open, seeing Carlos sitting, biting his bottom lip, one arm wrapped around his bent knee looking like he was waiting for an excuse to flee again. "Hey, relax will you? We're gonna be fine."
Carlos looked down at him like he was barely keeping his tongue in check. "Fine? Seriously Jay? They're gonna kill us when they get here."
Jay grabbed Carlos' arm and tugged him down onto the grass next to him, the paler boy gave a squawk of surprise before falling backward. Jay grabbed Carlos' hand in a tight grip, "She's not going to hurt you. I promised you before and I'm standing by my word.
"No matter what happens Carlos, I've got your back."
Carlos swallowed the lump of fear in his throat seeing Jay's solid confident look like he'd take on Cruella single handed and fully expect to win. Taking a deep breath, he tried to steady his voice, his nerves frayed to the breaking point. "What about my front?"
Jay cracked a grin and squeezed Carlos' hand, "That too buddy. We're gonna get through this, I promise."