If I had known what now I know maybe I

Would have taken a moment

Maybe looked over my shoulder

Maybe shed a tear

Now I'm here

Seeing you (Groundhog Day: The Musical)


Melinda turned her head to Ben and Mal, who were standing and staring. The frown on her face disappeared and she managed a weak smile, turning her attention to Mal.

"This is not what it looks like," she said. Mal folded her arms.

"What are you doing here?" Mal asked. One chance. Melinda had been given one chance, to tell the truth, and to not screw this up for herself. The Bear of Dunbroch did not have to think twice about giving an answer, though.

"I'm here to help you out," Melinda said. Mal raised an eyebrow.

"Funny way of showing it." Ben nodded in agreement, his brow furrowed. Breaking in wasn't usually the way to show that you wanted to help. If they needed it, she should have just asked instead of breaking in. Otherwise, it would create trust issues beyond the ones Mal already has with the girl.

Melinda sighed deeply, letting her shoulders hang. The weak smile disappeared. "It's not easy, okay? Uma's keeping an eye on everyone and it's not easy to get out. I was lucky they didn't see me sneak out."

"You got out," Mal said.

"Sure did," Melinda nodded, trying too hard not to stare too long at either one of them. "Not many have succeeded. You're fair game when you're out."

"Game?" Ben asked her. "As in, to hunt?"

Melinda nodded. "Yep. If anyone of them sees me when I get out of the door, I'm probably gonna be dead. They don't give up or forget so easily." She glanced at them with big eyes, as if to make them feel sorry for her with this sob story. Mal had no idea whether to trust her or not, but Ben already seemed to have made up his mind.

Ben looked at the guards. "Let her go." Mal sharply turned her head to Ben, eyes widened and a disappointed look on her face. It wasn't something that she could not have seen coming, but it did surprise her, still.

Melinda glared at the guards as she snatched her bow from the ground, and then she extended her hand. The youngest guard handed her the quiver he'd picked up and he and the captain of the guard left the scene. Only Mal, Ben and Melinda remained.

"Are you sure about this?" Mal asked him and he nodded, avoiding her gaze.

"I believe her."

"But is that enough to trust her?"

"You do realize I can hear you, right?" Melinda said, taking a step closer in their direction. Ben did not flinch away, but Mal glanced at the weapons with a suspicious look in her eyes. Melinda sighed and looked at Mal. "I don't want your trust. I only need you to believe me. I didn't come here if I didn't at least know I had a chance, and you're the only ones who know how to properly dispose of a rising threat like Uma."

"Why should we?" Mal then asked her, folding her arms. Ben glanced at her but did not interrupt her. "Yesterday, you seemed more than happy to do her bidding." Melinda may have expected the question to come up sooner or later, but that didn't make it less hurtful or true.

"I'm not proud of it," Melinda said, using a softer and more fragile voice than before. "Once I was Melinda, a Bear of Dunbroch. A myth, a good person. Uma reduced me to my worst self. I would have left sooner if I had found a way out sooner."

"How did you end up with Uma?" Mal asked her. Hopefully, it would provide some much-needed insight into her personality and possibly, her motivations. It may also lead to some way of identifying how Uma recruited her people so that they would at least gain some useful information out of this conversation.

Melinda tensed up. She took a deep breath before speaking quickly, her voice filled with contempt and hate. There was no way of telling whom it was directed to, herself or Uma.

"I was out hunting near the Great Wall. Uma came to town and made an offer I could impossibly refuse. Either I joined, or everyone in town would be killed, including my brother. The blackmail later shifted to 'stay with us or die'. I cooperated, but I took every opportunity that would get me closer to my escape. When I saw you in the marketplace…" Melinda looked directly at Mal, "You're kind of hard to miss. The alliance is here, couldn't find a better time to break away and hopefully find some allies. I hiked all the way here without resting." She briefly paused and turned her attention to Ben. "I thought you'd at least understand."

If Ben had wanted to say anything at all, he wasn't fast enough.

"What's Uma planning?" Mal asked her, noting there was something off about the words she chose to use. Melinda had left out how long she was working for Uma, and whether any other chances of escaping were presented to her.

"She's looking for a powerful magical object," Melinda said truthfully.

"The Fairy Godmother's wand," Mal said, realization dawning upon her. Melinda nodded.

"Or something similar," the Bear responded. "I don't know a lot of what's going on, Uma doesn't tell us much. But I know she's been sending us on a wild goose chase around the country chasing some magical object that may or may not be somewhere in Auradon. She does talk about breaking a curse, though I don't know which curse she is referring to."

Mal's mind wandered to the Godmother's wand. If any magical object can break a curse, it's the wand. Then there also was her mother's staff, but if Uma was smart, she wouldn't pursue it or even think about trying to take it for herself.

"How did Uma get her legs?" Mal then asked. Melinda shook her head.

"She won't tell. Only Harry knows what's up and he won't tell, either if Uma tells him not to."

That was all Mal could think off to ask her with Ben around. Ben had no further questions, either, but he did have something to tell Melinda.

"I'm grateful you're cooperating," he said politely. "And I understand you can't have had it easy. Though I wonder, did you come to us so that we would do something about the situation?"

"I don't expect you to," Melinda answered, shrugging. "It'd be welcome. But I just wanted you to know. There's no telling which curse they want to break and whether they want to cast one themselves. Maybe they'll try something different. Either way, they're a threat and might well go after the alliance."

"What do you think she's capable of?" Ben asked her.

"Honestly, she's capable of anything once she puts her mind to it." She paused. "She's dangerous. And if you don't want to help, I'll go back myself and put an arrow in her chest."

Ben was taken aback by the bluntness of her comment, slightly leaning backward. "W-what?"

"Someone has to take care of her," Melinda said, a cold look in her eyes. "With or without your help, I will go back to put her six feet under. With your help, there's going to be a higher chance that I'll make it out alive."

"We are going to discuss this in private," Ben said, 'we' referring to himself and Mal. Melinda nodded and walked away to the end of the hallway, allowing for Mal and Ben to continue their conversation in hushed voices. As soon as Melinda was out of hearing range, they looked at each other.

"What do you think about this?" Mal asked him. He thought about it and then merely shrugged.

"We can't let her go by herself."

Mal nodded in agreement. "She's right. If she goes alone, she could die."

"We should help," Ben said.

"But it's too risky to send out anyone else."

Ben frowned. "Why?"

"Because Uma's no threat to us at this point. Maybe she's doing it for her mother, but she could just as easily be doing it for herself, too. There's no way she's going to take us down."

"You're, right," Ben said, "she's not a threat right now. But in the future, she could be, and then what? We have a chance to take her out, we should take it."

"And let her be killed?" Mal said. Ben didn't immediately respond. He opened his mouth but soon closed it again.

"I didn't say-"

"You didn't have to," Mal said, folding her arms. "I love you and I know you, but sometimes I just wonder what's happened to you."

Ben sighed, his shoulders resting. He placed a hand on Mal's cheek and smiled widely.

"I'm still me," he responded. "It's just that there are thousands of people looking at me right now, waiting for me to either fall or lead them to salvation. There's a lot of pressure and..." he took a deep breath. "I don't want Uma dead. I want her back in the ocean, safe in our dungeon, far beyond the Great Wall, anywhere but here. But if she doesn't budge, if she somehow can't be stopped by doing these things, she may have to die."

There was some silence. Mal weighed her words, Ben hoped Mal would understand his point of view.

"Ursula won't like that," Mal said eventually. "She'll try to retaliate. Luckily, we don't live near the ocean. If we do take down Uma, the ocean might just come a little closer so the Sea-Witch can reach us. Or not, and then someone on her payroll will do the job just as easily."

"So what do you say?" Ben said. He had already made up his mind about the whole situation, now it was Mal's time to do the same.

"I don't like it," she said. "I don't trust it. But Melinda can't go in alone."

Ben nodded, a smile coming back on his face. Mal continued: "Good. Then we can-"

"I'm going with her." Mal swallowed the words he'd speak if Ben hadn't interrupted her. Shock came upon her face.

"What?"

"If we're going to take down Uma, I want to be there. Make sure nothing bad happens to her unless it's absolutely necessary."

"If you're going, so am I," Mal responded.

"Why does every conversation we have always end with the two of us going on a dangerous adventure together?" Ben said. Mal merely shrugged. If Ben was going, fine, but she was joining to keep him safe. It was stupid, but at least she'd know where he was and how he was doing. She'd know he'd be in safe hands for the rest of the journey. Ben shrugged.

"I don't know," Mal said, "and I don't like it. But at least we're sticking together."

Mal would rather he stayed behind and that she went in alone. Every time they faced a challenge like this one in the last six months, she'd always insist on going with the person requesting aid to make sure all would go well. Every time, Ben would insist to come as well, claiming that he wouldn't be a good leader if he didn't supervise how things were going. But those challenges never included taking out an active VK with possible retribution from the mother. This time, though, he was putting himself on the front line. This time, they were both out to do something risky.

"Don't you wish Lonnie would be back?" Mal said. Ben nodded.

"If she was, I wouldn't be coming along," Ben said. Lonnie was out in East Riding, trying to find Philip and Merlin, in the hopes that one of them could help. They'd heard reports that she was returning, but she hadn't arrived yet. If she'd been back, she probably would gladly join Melinda's quest. Since she wasn't, Mal was coming along and thus Ben was tagging along, too.

Together, they walked back to Melinda. She seemed more than ready to leave as soon as possible. She turned her head when they came back.

"We're coming with you," Ben said. before Melinda could say anything, he continued, "but we're leaving in the morning. We need to rest, too."

Melinda seemed disappointed, but not surprised. "I'm leaving at the crack of dawn. Be there." She turned around and walked away, prompting Mal and Ben to look at one another.

"That was weird," Mal said quietly.

"She's quite excited to take out an enemy," Ben said. He turned to his girlfriend. "I know you don't want to hear it, but I just hope you understand why I—"

"I do," Mal said, "and that's the scary part. You're starting to think like… like me." She hesitated a little at the end, the word she first wanted to use still on her lips. Think like a villain. Ben stepped a bit closer and smiled reassuringly at her.

"That doesn't have to be so bad," Ben said. "Let's go to bed. We've got a lot to do tomorrow."

Mal agreed, but she still couldn't shake the feeling that Ben was changing for the worst.