Mal rarely felt fear. She was strong and vicious and people knew better than to go against her unless they wanted to lose a limb or two. Maybe it was the lack of control or the fact that they were going into the unknown, but she couldn't help the fear blaring across her mind, and judging by the heavy silence in the car, neither could her friends.

Jay had his arms around Evie and Carlos, pulling them into his sides, as though it would protect them from what they were about to face. His tense muscles revealed the worry he was hiding as he attempted to calm Carlos with Evie's help. Evie didn't seem too worried, which wasn't too big of a surprise, given that she had never faced a doctor before. (Mal had, once and it had given her one of the worst scars she had, a thick line on her side where he had tried to study her organs. She may have left with another scar, but she left with her life, unlike him). Carlos was surprisingly calm, given that he wasn't attempting to jump out of the moving vehicle or having a panic attack. She was pretty sure that was from his resignation to the fact that they were all about to suffer horrible deaths, but it was better than nothing, given she couldn't be sure they weren't.

She couldn't help but think about jumping out herself, dragging them out with her. They could make it, she was sure, they were fast and sneaky and had far more to lose than anyone in persuit of them. They could find somewhere to live, steal whatever they needed and live out their lives in far more comfort than they had ever expected. She knew they wouldn't do it though. Evie was so hopeful, so determined to be a part of Auradon, to live her happily ever after. Jay wanted everyone to be safe and happy, and if living in Auradon was what they needed for that, then he would do his best to make it happen. Carlos simply wanted some degree of safety, somewhere safe from his mother, and the Isle could never give him that. Mal herself was conflicted. She wanted power, she was her mothers daughter after all, but her friends mattered too much to her to discount their wishes.

She turned her attention back to them when she realized Evie had spoken. "It can't be as bad as you think, can it? After all, this is Auradon, not the Isle, how bad can it be?" Her face was optimistic, and as much as Mal wanted to preserve that innocence, someday it would get Evie in trouble she couldn't get away from with a simple smile and bat of her lashes. (People are people, no matter where they live or were born. Everyone is capable of horrific things, and she knew that the bright, happy people of Auradon must be hiding some dark secrets underneath the facade of perfection they hold so closely to themselves.)

"We plan for the worst." She speaks confidently, turning slightly to face them. "If it's what we think, then we run together, and once we're somewhere safe we can plan from there. If it is actually as innocent as they're telling us, then play along and hide as much as possible. Split knuckles and broken ribs might paint a closer picture of us than we want, so if something comes up, have an excuse for it. Something innocent, like falling or an accident, or however Auradon kids get injuries." If they think they are violent kids, they may be sent back before they could do any damage, and if she wants to get anything from Auradon, then she had to be there to take it from them.

The others quickly agree, given she was the leader, and sit back to plan any excuses they might need. Thankfully, it seems giving them a task to focus on has calmed them all a bit. She thought about her mothers plan. It appealed to her in many ways, the complete power she would gain, the struggle to succeed and the opportunities she could give her friends. The more she thought of it though, the less it sounded like a good idea. Ben, the soon-to-be King, had almost more power than anyone, but wasn't aggressive in using it. His people didn't agree with or follow him because of fear, they wanted to do what he said because they liked him. His kindness and calm were an asset here, whereas on the Isle they would have been a glaring weakness.

Perhaps she had to rethink any plans. A hostile takeover would inevitably lead to rebellion and disobedience, both of which were rather annoying to deal with. If they liked her however, they would do what she asked willingly, simply because she asked. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar, she mused.

Eventually, the car slowed, signalling they had reached their destination. Her friends looked to her for guidance just before they stopped, and she reminded them, "Keep your heads on straight and we'll be okay." The simple reassurance seemed to give them some confidence, and she watched in amusement the way their backs straightened and heads rose. Ruling with kindness may not be as hard as she thought.

The door was opened and they climbed out, shielding their eyes once more. Two women approached them, wearing matching light blue uniforms and bright smiles that almost hurt more to look at than the sun. She put a smile on, the muscles in her cheeks protesting, an stepped forward to greet them.

"Hi, you must be the kids from the Isle. Today you're here for a basic checkup, nothing to be worried about. We are going to be your nurses for today, so ask if you have any questions." The womans voice was probably meant to be soothing, but it seemed more mocking to Mal's ears. The womans coworker had already began bustling them into the large building looming ahead.

The inside of the building was a lot nicer than she was expecting. Clean floors and walls, seats lining walls and numbered doors throughout each hall they passed. She had noticed a lack of people outside, which she though was a rather normal reaction to a building full of psychopaths, but once inside she saw a few people calmly waiting around, some even with kids which was rather horrifying. It still wasn't enough to lessen her unease, since she knew there were adults that were more than willing to do terrible things to kids. (She knew many of them were on the Isle, had seen their work before, but that can't be all of them, can it?)

She had been carefully blanking out the two women as they introduced themselves, since it wasn't like they really mattered in the long run. There was no need to go out of her way for two nobodies she would likely never see again. Mal had, however, been taking notice of the halls they passed through and the way the two nurses kept a careful eye on them. They weren't the only ones. Many of the people waiting in the halls reacted quite negatively to them passing by, and she doubted it was because of the nurses. There were glares tossed their way, nasty whispers passed around and a few flinches from anyone who noticed they had her attention. The further in they walked, the more she got the sense that she had been far more correct in her belief in Auradons hatred for them than Prince Ben might have her believe.

The stopped in an empty hallway, with seats lining the light blue wall opposite a door that one of the nurses quickly entered, leaving nurse number two to watch them. She seemed wary, her eyes flickering between them and the door for the minute they were left alone with her. Finally, after standing around in awkward silence, the door was opened again. This time two people came out, and her dread began building. She paid no notice to the nurse, her focus on the new woman.

She was wearing a white coat, over what looked like a clean and comfortable set of clothes. Her blond hair was pulled neatly out of her face with a bun, and the smile on her face reminded her of Prince Bens, far too genuine to be real. Her eyes flickered over the gathered group before settling on Mal, who had placed herself in front of the others as the obvious leader.

"My name is Doctor Samantha Jones, and I will be performing a basic check up on you today. If you guys have any questions feel free to ask." She stood in silence for a few seconds, looking at each of them, before moving on. "Great. Well then, we may as well get started. Just so you know, if at any point you feel uncomfortable, just tell me to stop."

That seemed unrealistic, Mal thought to herself, thoughts flashing back to her own experience with a doctor. Jones looked at the files she had in her arms, all four of them practically empty. "If you're okay with it, I'll do Mal first." She looked up and flashed a smile at Mal, which unsurprisingly was not helping the terror running through her veins. She needed to stay strong for her friends though, and she clenched her fists and began walking towards the door, reassured by the presence of her friends at her back.


Sorry for the delay! Anyway, in this chapter you can see just how terrifying the idea of a doctor is on the Isle. I'm having Mal exaggerate it, since there aren't many of them and not all of them are necessarily that bad or insane. She is affected by terrible rumors and her own experiences though. The problem is that even the ones that want to help and know what they are doing, can hurt people because of lack of proper equipment and medicine and general bad hygiene.

Not everyone on the Isle is a terrible person. Even people who committed crimes that weren't horrific were sent to the Isle, including average people. This will be brought up later. They also sent people like Cruella de Ville, insane and violent people who hurt others because they can and they want to. These are the types Mal pictures when thinking of doctors.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, especially FlatFox for your continuing comments. I'm really glad you enjoyed my writing, and I will definitely consider writing a one-shot with Carlos!