A/N: This is purely fiction. Any resemblance to actual events, people or other works is merely a coincidence.

I don't own Descendants, Disney does.

Around their usual table, at the far end of the cafeteria, the Troublemakers sat with a tray of food each. Most of them had much food, Vicky was eating an orange, Harley was drawing in her plate with cherries and blueberries and Francis was chewing a croissant. Billy, however, looked like he hadn't eaten in days. His breakfast consisted of a bowl of cereal, two chocolate croissants, a plate with eggs and bacon and a glass of juice.

"You eat like a pig" Vicky said playfully while leaning back against her chair and propping her feet on the table. Billy put a hand over his heart.

"Oh, thank you. That means a lot coming from ya." He replied sarcastically, causing his friends to laugh.

But their relaxed moment was cut short when Harley spotted someone coming towards them and pulled Vicky's sleeve.

"What is it?" The young witch asked. Harley pointed to Ben, who was now standing nervously a couple of feet from them, his hands behind his back.

"Hum… h-hi guys." Ben greeted them nervously. The four kids stopped what they were doing and looked at him in surprise.

"Why, if it isn't King Benjamin himself." Vicky mocked while removing her feet from the table and sitting up straight. This made her friends laugh so she continued: "To what do we owe the honor of your presence in our humble table?"

Ben scratched the back of his neck, visibly nervous and embarrassed. But then, he looked back at the table where his friends were still eating and saw Mal looking over him, smiling. That reassured him a bit.

"Hey I'm just kidding your highness." Vicky laughed, making the young king turn his attention back to her. The young witch cleared her throat and calmed her laughter before crossing her arms and spoke: "But seriously now, what do you want?" Her tone wasn't aggressive, that was a start. Ben thought

"I wanted to talk to you about your... hobbies" The young king replied a bit unsure.

Vicky let out a bored sigh and Ben was almost sure she was going to refuse until the girl shrugged and kicked the empty chair across from her.

"Well then have a seat." She offered. Ben nodded and sat in front of her, between Billy and Francis.

He felt uncomfortable again for various things: Billy's strong smell, Francis' look of contempt upon him or Vicky's intimidating presence and Ben had to remind himself that he was their king (although, they probably didn't care). Besides, he just had to convince Vicky, the others would follow.

"C'mon, we ain't got all day. Spill it." The young witch prompted him impatiently.

"Oh yeah, sorry." Ben quickly organized his thoughts and cleaned his throat. "First of all, the pranks you use to..." But they didn't let him finish as Billy and Harley started laughing.

"Pretty good, aren't they?" Vicky asked with a genuine smile. She truly was proud of her pranks, Ben could tell because he had never seen her smile genuinely. But then her expression turned serious as she remembered something. "But I guess people here don't appreciate that kind of fun, hum?"

"Well…" Ben wasn't sure of what to say. He saw the look of scorn in Vicky's face and didn't want to make things worse. "They're not… all bad." It wasn't completely a lie, he had to admit some were harmless and, actually, somewhat funny like his father's mummified statue "But you're starting to give people, especially Fairy Godmother, a headache."

"So what?" Vicky asked while boringly examining her finger nails. But what Ben said next caught her attention.

"You could be expelled for bad behavior." The islanders' looks, which until then had been of boredom and dislike, widened with awareness.

Vicky closed her eyes. They couldn't be expelled, not now. Billy and Francis tensed up and looked worriedly at the young witch, as if waiting for an explosion to happen and that made Ben very nervous. Mal had told him about Vicky's temper and he'd seen some of her out bursts. That had been enough for him to fear them.

However, to everyone's surprise, the girl took a deep breath before opening her eyes.

"Noted." Vicky said calmly after that period of silence. "Calm down boys, I'm cool here." And with that, the tense atmosphere around them was gone. Ben quietly sighed in relief, as did the two islanders by his sides.

But it wasn't over yet.

"So, what do you suggest we do with our free time?" Francis asked, speaking for the first time.

"While I believe doing your homework could do you good…" Ben started. The troublemakers flinched at that, as expected. "What about clubs or specific classes to keep you distracted?" He looked around the table to see their reactions. Billy and Francis shared a look while Vicky's eyes never left the young King as she leaned back in her chair. Only Harley remained focused on something else and ignored their conversation.

The young witch tapped her chin with her fingers thoughtfully, which was good, at least she was considering it.

"And what do you have in mind?" Vicky asked. Ben smiled to himself. This was progress.

"First you have to tell me a little more about yourselves and what you like to do. Aside for, you know, pranking and magic." The young king explained. "But, for instances, we have Tourney for the boys and maybe you…"

"Hold on." Billy interrupted with a confused look. "You're thinking about splitting us up?"

Instantly, Francis glared at him and Vicky kicked him on the knee under the table, causing the boy to let out a painful cry. The kick startle Ben, who wondered what Billy might had said to deserve that. But looking at each of them again, he got his answer.

The young pirate was still rubbing his knee when a look of realization and guilt fell upon his features.

Harley, who until then had been ignoring the conversation to focus on her food, was paller than usual. She had smashed a hand full of blueberries and was gripping, her knuckles turning white, her eyes were wide and fixed on the plate and her breathing was getting faster. It was a panic attack.

"Harley…" Vicky carefully placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, trying to calm her down.

"I don't…" The blond whispered, shaking her head. "I don't want to… Are you going to separate us?" Harley looked up at Ben and he saw real terror in her eyes. "I don't want to be alone anymore! I don't!" She was now shouting and shaking, which caused several heads to turn in their direction.

The young pirate looked nervously around the cafeteria as people started to mumble and whispering, but before anything else could happen, Vicky stood up, gesturing for Billy to do the same, and they grabbed both Harley's arms and dragged her to the hallway, away from curious looks.

To say Ben was confused was an understatement. He was shocked and didn't know what to make of this. Surely, he had already noticed how Harley was… different. But to what extent? The young king looked at Francis who was calmly chewing on his croissant, relaxed, like nothing had happened, and felt even more puzzled. Vicky and Billy seemed terrified by Harley's reaction so why wasn't he?

"Hum, does this happen often?" Ben dared to ask. Francis took a side glance at him.

"It depends." Was his answer. Ben waited for the boy to say something else but Francis was done talking.

"On what?" The young king prompted. He needed answers if he was to understand them better, plus he was concerned now.

Francis sighed, not interested in continuing this conversation, but answered nonetheless: "On a lot of variables. Usually she's completely fine until something, anything, triggers a reaction like this. It's very hard to know how to behave or what you can say around her." The dark skinned boy finished his explanation and resumed eating while Ben though about what he had just heard.

"Must be stressful." The young king said after a moment.

"It is." Francis replied through a mouth full of croissant. "But we manage. Can't leave a sister behind just 'cause she's different, right?"

Ben nodded. He wasn't surprised by their sense of loyalty and friendship, he'd seemed them like a unit ever since they arrived. What surprised him though, was how such values could survive among a whole island full of villains. Not even Mal and her friend had them so clearly when they first came to Auradon.

As if on cue, Vicky and Billy appeared from the hallway, made their way to the table and took their previous seats.

"Harley's happily picking up flowers in the garden." The young witch answered the question no one had asked out loud. Francis lifted his eyebrows questioningly and Vicky sighed angrily, but other than that, she seemed calm.

"Na, she didn't." Billy said before Vicky could answer and Francis nodded.

"Did what?" Ben asked confused. The young witch glared dangerously at him.

"Aren't you the curious, little bug?" She said with contempt.

Ben was surprised by her change of mood, and a little startled too. He was about to say sorry but Francis spoke first:

"People here tend to ask too many questions, I've noticed." He shrugged calmly. "Not a reason to get angry though."

Vicky looked from Ben to her dark skinned friend, as if evaluating what he had said. Finally, she closed her eyes and breathed slowly. Ben let out a breath he didn't know had been holding. This conversation was getting stressful and he wanted it over as soon as possible.

"Yeah, you're right." Vicky said after a moment of silence, her anger gone. She turned to Ben and placed her hands on the table. "Now, let's talk business."

A wave of relief washed over him and Ben couldn't help a small smile. Finally they were getting somewhere.

"Yes, of course." The young king cleaned his throat. "So, what do you like to do?"

He looked around the table, but Francis seemed to be ignoring him while Billy gave him an annoyed glare. Ben was staring to lose his patience with them, but it didn't matter as long as Vicky was collaborating.

"Billy here," She pointed to Billy who looked away with his arms crossed. "Likes to run around, jump, climb trees… You know, that kind of stuff."

It made sense. The boy wasn't very tall but he was well built so he was probably used to physical exercise. Besides, Ben recalled the last report from their teachers and remembered seeing Billy's performance in P.E. was surprisingly as good as his. Or it could be if the young pirate listened to half of what the teacher said.

"Then maybe he would like to be in the tourney team." Ben said.

"What'ta hell is that?" Billy asked with contempt.

Ben turned to him to explain but Vicky spoke before he could: "It's a game you'll like. Let's move on." her tone was authoritarian, leaving no room for discussion. Billy rolled his eyes and sank in his seat.

"Ok." Ben turned to the dark skinned boy. "What about you Francis?"

Francis thought for a moment before he answered: "I'll manage something, it's not me you should worry about." He didn't need to say it because it was obvious.

"Harley." Now, Ben knew he had to be very careful. He had already understood that whatever topic related to Harley was dangerous ground. "Does she need…? I mean, I get she's…" The young king was trying to choose well his words but his hesitation was making Vicky lose her patience.

"Just say it." She prompted, her voice rising again. "Just say she's different. We've heard all kinds of names already".

"Actually, I was going to say she's special." Ben said. If Vicky was taken aback, she didn't immediately show it. However, Billy and Francis chuckled and shared a knowing look.

Vicky looked down at the table for a split second. "That she is." She said calmly. "Well, Harley likes to do things. Small things that can make her feel useful." Ben nodded and opened his mouth to ask something but the young witch beat him to it: "And no, she doesn't need more assistance."

Now this was a surprise, not to Ben, but also to Francis and Billy who widened their eyes in confusion and sat straight in their seats. The young king wondered if they had talked about Harley's possible treatment because, judging by the boys' reaction, Vicky had just gave them new information.

"Wha…?" Muttered Billy but Vicky remained impassive and ignored them both.

"Hum…Ok…" Ben needed to move on from that topic in order to avoid more conflict. "And what about you?"

"I like to perform magic tricks, you know, take rabbits out of hats and stuff." The young witch said with sarcasm. "But since that's not an option, I like to read."

Ben's jaw dropped a bit. He had never imagine Vicky, or any of them, like the reading type.

"Well, don't judge a book by its cover right?" He laughed a bit, mocking his surprise on purpose.

Vicky smiled. "Exactly."

"Then, Will reading club work for you?" The young king asked, glad this conversation was almost over. "The only thing you'll have to do is read a book a week and discuss it with the other members on Fridays."

Vicky made a disgusted face for a moment, but then shrugged. "I'm not a fan of people telling what to read but I think I can bend that rule if it starts bothering me, right?"

Ben was about to say otherwise but then he thought again. It wasn't worth the effort, Vicky would do it anyway so maybe it was for the best to not waste any more of their time. Besides, what harm could come from letting Vicky break this one rule?

"Yes, of course." The young king smiled.

"Alright then." Vicky stood up, followed by her friends, so Ben stood too. "I think we're done here. It was nice negotiating with you." She reach out her hand and Ben shook it.

"Likewise." He answered.

Then, the three troublemakers left. The young king sighed heavily, a huge weight lifting from his chest. Finally he got this done, and although he couldn't get anything about Francis, he was almost sure the boy wouldn't be a problem. As for Harley, Ben would find something with the help of his friends.

Ben walked back to his friends, who were just finishing their breakfast, and sat in his place next to Mal.

"How did it go?" She asked, grabbing his hand. Ben looked around the table and notice they were all looking at him expectantly, even Audrey and Chad seemed curious.

He then focused on Mal again and laughed. "Don't you ever leave me alone with them again."

Hello there!

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who still reads this story, even though my updates have become very slow. Seriously guys, it means a lot to me.

Second of all, I'd like to know what you all think about the where the story is going, what you think about the chapters and what your theories are. Ok, maybe it's too early to have theories but I'll leave some clues here and there. They might be difficult to pin point but they're there and I believe you'll notice them in further chapters (if I don't give up on this story, but I'll try not to).

With that being said,

Have a good day!