Ch 12 (Still 2015; 5 months to D2)

Gabby glanced up almost frantically when she heard a loud thump. Seeing that it was only a couple goblins down the dock, she quickly grabbed a couple more things she thought might be useful, stuffed them into her bag, and hurriedly snuck back off the barge and slunk back up the docks to safety.

Since leaving Jafar's, Gabby left the hideout as rarely as she could possibly get away with. When she did, she made sure to make the best of it, collecting as much food and materials as she could to last her a while. She made it a point to do so on the days the Auradon barges came in for fresher and more abundant pickings.

After the docks were behind her, Gabby ducked through alleys to avoid bumping into anyone she didn't want to. It wasn't long before the familiar hair salon came into view, the scissor-shaped sign above the set of beaten up double doors with a crooked CLOSED sign.

Gabby pushed the heavy double doors open just enough to slip inside. She was about to then push through the clear, plastic flaps that were stained with paint splatters when she paused. She could hear loud laughs and crashes coming from the other side of the clear flaps. She hesitated for a moment before moving just to the side of the doorway and peaking between the flaps into the room.

The room on the other side was the main room of Curl Up & Dye. Dizzy was standing behind the till on the front counter, which was the reused front of an old car, with a forlorn expression as she watched Harry Hook and a couple of his pirates practically trash the place.

After knocking over one of the chairs, Harry approached where Dizzy stood at the till. He stopped on the other side of the counter and looked down at her, almost looking like a normal, respectful, paying customer. Gabby tensed, wondering if he was going to hurt the little girl. She was so used to connecting Harry Hook with violence and pain that she was surprised when he simply tapped the tip of his hook to the metal surface of the car-turned-counter.

"Cough it up, twerp." he ordered lightly.

Dizzy hurriedly opened the till and pulled out a handful of items, probably the whole day's earnings, and dropped them into Harry's empty hand.

"Pleasure doing business with you." Harry mocked with a bow before turning toward the entrance.

Where Gabby was still hiding.

Gabby's breath caught in her throat as she frantically backed away from the plastic flaps. She whipped around in a frantic search of cover and luckily found an old, off-white refrigerator several feet down the short hall next to the door. She leapt toward it and slammed into the wall on it's other side just as the flaps swished open. She held her breath as multiple sets of footsteps exited the building, the double doors slamming shut after them.

Silence fell, but Gabby didn't move for at least five seconds before she felt safe releasing her breath. She hesitantly stepped away from the fridge, keeping her eye on the front door as she slowly approached the flaps. Not hearing anyone, she peaked through the flaps before finally slipping through them into the main room of the salon.

Dizzy was pulling a heavy glass container upright from where it'd been knocked over, blue hair dye pooled on the ground around it. Dizzy heaved a sigh that made her shoulders lift. As she approached the front desk, she finally looked up and saw Gabby standing in the doorway. She instantly smiled, but not quite as big as usual.

"Hi, Gabby. You just missed Harry Hook and his crew." Dizzy told her, ducking down behind the counter for a moment before straightening up with a bucket. "They…picked up their payment." she explained quietly as she walked back to the puddle on the floor.

Mal's gang had also collected from the salon, but they never roughed Dizzy or the others up or trashed the place. If anything, Dizzy was usually pleased to hand money over to them just so they could come around and hang out with her, as it was usually Evie and Gabby, sometimes Mal.

Gabby sighed. "Yeah. I saw." she admitted quietly, moving toward the front counter. She dropped her bag behind it and grabbed a broom to start sweeping up the shattered glass and debris on the floor. Dizzy knelt on the ground by the puddle of hair dye that was already drying. She pulled a brush from the bucket and began scrubbing at the mess.

They cleaned in silence for a few minutes before Gabby spoke. "So, aside from that lovely visit," she started sarcastically, "how has your day been?"

Dizzy hummed with a small shrug. "It's been okay. I gave a witch a haircut and touched up her roots."

"That's good. So, your grandma's starting to give you real customers?" Gabby asked with a small smile.

"Not really, just that one. Granny didn't consider her a 'real customer'. I actually think she was hoping I'd screw it up. She doesn't like that particular customer." Dizzy admitted, not sounding the least bit disappointed.

"You must have done a great job." Gabby guessed. "You always do." she added playfully, tossing a smile over her shoulder. Dizzy beamed at her.

"She didn't say it out loud, but I could tell she was pleased. Granny not so much, though, because it means the witch will probably be a return customer." Dizzy admitted.

Gabby snorted, going back to sweeping glass into a pile.

"Oh!" Dizzy suddenly popped up and scurried across the room. Gabby paused, her eyes wide with surprise as she watched the young girl. Dizzy snatched her sketchbook off a back table and hurried back to Gabby, flipping through the pages rapidly.

"Look what I finished last night! Evie designed something similar, but I designed this for you!" Dizzy explained excitedly, holding the sketchbook out for Gabby to hold. She almost dropped the broom in taking the book from the excited girl. She looked down at the outfit sketched out in colored pencil on the off-white paper.

"It looks like a dress, but it's not." Dizzy explained, stepping forward and pointing at the picture. "It's a matching leather skirt and jacket that are connected. Probably with a zipper or something. And if you only want to wear the skirt or jacket separately, you can take them apart."

Gabby smiled as she looked over the multiple detailed sketches on the page. It was clear Dizzy had been taking pointers from Evie, even without the blue-haired teen being around.

"Dizzy, these are amazing! As soon as I get enough material, I'll definitely get started making this. If you want, I can make one each for both of us." she offered, looking down at the young girl.

Dizzy shrugged. "Sure, if you have time and the materials."

They spent the next couple hours cleaning and talking, and when Gabby eventually left Dizzy insisted she take the design with her so she could start it as soon as she could. Gabby vowed she would use the design to make something special for the young girl.

And when, the next morning, Dizzy found a small bag of money on the front counter, Gabby pretended to know nothing about it.

*~0~*

About a week later, Gabby ducked into an alley with a slight skip in her step. She'd gotten pretty lucky at the barges. She not only found some halfway decent food that was now in the bottom of her bag, she also found some fabric that would be perfect for Dizzy's leather jacket. She'd already started on her own with some red leather she had leftover, but she hadn't known how to make one for Dizzy that was both similar and unique. Now her brain was full of ideas.

Her happy mood, however, deflated when she turned into yet another back alley and she saw Harry Hook messing with a younger boy. She froze just around the corner, her eyes fixed on him. She slowly took a step back when another pirate, one of Harry and Uma's crew, saw her and pointed her out. As soon as Harry's ice blue eyes landed on her, Gabby saw the young boy take off.

Gabby swallowed and spun around, bolting back up the alley. She heard them shout, but she just picked up her pace. Unfortunately, another pirate appeared at the entrance to the alley. Gabby skidded to a stop on the wet blacktop, looking anxiously over her shoulder. Harry and who Gabby now recognized as Jonas were slowly approaching her from one direction while a girl pirate blocked the other end of the alley. Gabby slowly backed toward one wall of the alley. She knew she shouldn't back herself into a corner, but she also needed to protect her back with these people.

"Well, well, look who we have here." Harry sneered at her. "Leaving so soon, Gabrielle? You know, you're a slippery little thing. My crew's been trying to get their hands on you the past couple weeks, but you're hard to find."

Gabby lifted her chin, trying to stifle her fear. "Your crew? I thought you were Uma's little sidekick."

Harry's smirk fell as he glared at her. Meanwhile, his two companions snickered behind their hands.

"We're going to make you regret being on our bad side." Harry threatened lowly, pulling his sword out of his belt. The other two quickly did the same.

Gingersnap, perched on Gabby's shoulder, fluffed up her feathers and growled. Gabby noticed Jonas flinch, and she couldn't help the satisfaction when she noticed the scar on his left cheek, a mark from his last encounter with Gabby's loyal bird.

Harry twirled his sword and Gabby quickly stepped back, only to bump into the wall. Her boot bumped something and she quickly looked down, instantly snatching up the old wooden broom leaning against the wall. She held it up defensively, the end pointed at Harry. Him and his companions laughed at her, which made her already frayed nerves snap and she swung the broom at Harry's sword. It almost knocked Harry's sword from his hand and he had to fumble to keep hold of it. The other two instantly hurried forward in his defense.

Gingersnap flew at Jonas's face, which made him scream. Gabby swung her broom at the girl, managing to hit her in the face with the brush end. She backed off and Harry came at Gabby with his own sword swinging. She jabbed the other end of her broom into his stomach, knocking some air from his lungs.

Hearing a scream, Gabby glanced past Harry to see Jonas running out of the alley, Gingersnap flying at the end of his cornrow hair in pursuit. Gabby only watched for a second before needing to defend herself again as both Harry and the girl pirate swung their swords at her.

Gabby swung the handle end of the broom at Harry, managing to catch his cheekbone. Her focus on Harry cost her as the other pirate slashed her sword out and caught Gabby in the arm. Gabby instinctively swung the broom at her sword, managing to knock the wood of the brush end into the girl's hand. She yelped and dropped her sword, backing away from Gabby.

Harry lifted his sword and swung it down toward Gabby's head. She lifted her broom up, parallel from the ground, and felt it shake on impact. She peaked open her eyes, which she'd closed instinctively, and saw that Harry's blade was caught in the wood of the broom. He yanked at it, but Gabby pulled and twisted the broom, yanking the sword from Harry's hand while smacking him in the face with the brush of the broom.

She stepped forward so that she stood over both swords, continuing to swing the broom at both Harry and his female companion to keep them a safe distance from her.

A familiar screech caught Gabby's attention as Gingersnap flew back into the alley. Knowing that was her way of warning Gabby that more people were coming, Gabby gave one more powerful swing with her broom, knocking Harry in the head and making him stumble into the girl. Gabby then took off down the alley with a sharp whistle to tell Gingersnap to follow her. She could barely hear the flap of wings over the wind blowing in her ears.

She turned a corner and ditched her broom, running down another back alley. Her eyes frantically searched for a place to hide as she ran, but the only one she could see that would completely hide her from view was a beat-up, green dumpster. She ran to the open dumpster and clambered inside, climbing over piles of garbage to huddle in the dark corner. Gingersnap dove in after her, nestling into Gabby's chest. Gabby held her breath and put her hand over Gingersnap's beak in a sign to be quiet.

Several seconds later, multiple sets of rushed footsteps passed the dumpster. The sound faded in the distance, but Gabby waited until it was absolutely silent before she released her breath and looked down at Gingersnap.

"Well, I think that went well." she whispered. "But I should probably work on my getaways." she added, looking around even though she couldn't see much in the dark dumpster. Then, she wrinkled her nose both at the smell and the fact that she was sitting on something squishy. Shifting to one side, she reached under her to pull the mystery item up into the minimal light. It fit in her palm and was squishy and smelled a bit like-

It's a dirty diaper.

"Ugh!"

*~0~*

Gabby sighed, sitting back and stretching her arms over her head until her back cracked. She'd been working on her and Dizzy's jackets for the past few days off and on and she was making good progress. All the parts for her outfit had been cut and she was starting to attach them so they resembled clothes.

Standing up, Gabby left the fabric in a pile on the desk to cross the hideout and stretch out on Jay's couch. After being hunched over the desk for most of the day, her back desperately needed to be straightened out. After stretching out, she reached over and grabbed a big, worn book off the chest-made-coffee table. It was a book she'd found and "borrowed" from The Facilier's Shop. It wasn't opened as often as it used to be since Freddie, Dr. Facilier's daughter, had recently vanished and hadn't been seen in a few weeks.

Gabby had frequently been considering getting some kind of weapon to use to protect herself from anyone who might attack her. The only problem was she wasn't sure what kind of weapon would be best for her. She thought she did pretty good using that broom, probably because it kept her attackers at a distance. So, she'd searched for something that could give her more information about kinds of weapons. That's where this book came in. She'd been searching through Facilier's Shop and found a book full of all kinds of weapons from all over the world and different time periods.

Flipping through the book, Grabby grabbed a piece of paper and pencil to write down any possible ideas, as well as the page number they were on so she could look back at any details.

"Ooh." Gabby whispered nearly an hour into her search. She'd written down almost a dozen weapons she'd found, putting a star next to a couple that held the most promise, like a longbow, sword, or sling. Her current interest was on a weapon she'd found on page 91. The Naginata originated from Japan, and was basically a long pole or staff with a blade on the end. Reading about it, Gabby figured she could use it similarly to how she fought with the broom a few days before.

There were a couple problems Gabby could see in using this weapon, though. For one, they were an average of about eight or nine feet. Carrying that around would make Gabby stick out more than she normally does and would make fleeing and hiding difficult. The broom had worked as a weapon, but she'd been able to ditch it when she ran away.

Gabby sighed, putting her pencil down and rubbing her tired eyes. Gingersnap landed on her shoulder and nibbled at her wavy, black hair.

"Well, I think that was a fairly productive day. Wouldn't you?" Gabby asked quietly, scratching at Gingersnap's head.

"Apple. Apple." Gingersnap squawked.

"Oh, alright. Bossy featherbrain." Gabby sighed, pulling herself off the couch and setting the book and paper on the coffee table. She entered the room where she kept any food she brought in and approached the small pile of fruit she had. She grabbed the apple that was the least bruised and rotten and used a nearby knife to cut it into pieces. She'd barely got the first piece cut off when Gingersnap was on the table and eating it.

Gabby smiled at her parrot as she cut up the apple, eating one piece as she did so.

While she'd been productive during the day, she couldn't help thinking her life had become a fairly boring routine. She'd originally had a very busy routine with Jay and Jafar; cooking, cleaning, taking care of the shop, and stealing things to keep Jafar happy. She rarely had any time to herself. Now, however, she only left the hideout, which had become her sanctuary, once or twice a week. She didn't have to cook as often, though she sometimes did just to give herself something to do. Otherwise, she didn't often have anything to do. Obviously, she would work on clothes like she'd been doing most of the day. She also tried to practice some self-defense moves on her mannequin and worked with Gingersnap. After seeing her faithful parrot frequently come to her aide and rescue, Gabby figured she could try to train her to do so on command.

After cutting up the apple, Gabby ate one more piece before leaving the rest to her feathered companion. Gingersnap was making weird piggy noises as she gobbled down her favorite fruit. Gabby, meanwhile, returned to Jay's couch and curled up under one of the sleeping bags. She grabbed a fresh sheet of paper and began writing yet another letter to Jay. She knew he'd never read them, but she found it therapeutic.

It was a small, mildly delusional connection to Auradon.

*~0~*

Gabby exchanged a handful of gold coins for a few apples and a peach, feeling a warm rush in her stomach that she was actually buying something, and she hadn't even stolen the gold she was using, either! She'd managed to find a few coins on the floor of one of the Auradon barges that morning, and she was putting them to good use.

She turned to leave and accidentally bumped into someone. She could easily tell without even looking that this person was big, more so in width than height, so she ducked her head, backed off, and turned to go another way.

"Hey, you're Gabrielle, right?"

Gabby paused and looked back in confusion. The guy she'd bumped into was a teenager like her, and obviously a pirate, which made her even more cautious. He was about the same height as her, but really big. He had an eye patch over one eye, a red bandana over his forehead, and was wearing a faded yellow vest over a stained t-shirt.

"Um…"

"The girl who lived with Jay and Jafar?" the guy urged when Gabby made no move to answer him. He took a step toward her so they were several feet away from each other, and while that should have made her more nervous, he didn't seem threatening at all. Most pirates had an arrogant, sinister aura about them, which this guy seemed to lack.

"Uh, yeah. Gabby." she finally answered.

"Did Jay ever track you down?" he asked.

Gabby blinked. "What? 'Track me down'?" she repeated, completely confused.

The guy winced. "Guess that's a 'no'." he decided. Glancing around, he turned and headed toward a nearby alley. When he looked back to see that Gabby hadn't followed, he gestured for her to do so. When she merely gave him a distrustful look, because did he really expect her to follow him into an alley, he rolled his eyes and grabbed a nearby broom.

"Here. You can have this, if you want." his remaining eye twinkled mischievously. "The whole Isle heard how you beat up Harry Hook with a broom."

Gabby's lips twitched and she slowly followed him. She took the broom and stood facing him in the alley.

"I'm Big Murph." the pirate introduced himself.

"Gabby, though you already knew that. So, what's this about?" she asked.

"Well,…I suppose you didn't hear that Mal, Jay, Evie, and Carlos were on the Isle a couple weeks back?"

Gabby's jaw fell open. "What?" she breathed in shock. "They-they were here?" she repeated.

Big Murph nodded. "Yeah. I ran into Jay at the Junk Shop. In his defense, he was looking for you. He asked me where you and Jafar were. I barely even knew who you were, so I obviously had no clue where you were."

Gabby struggled to swallow as she nodded her head. "O-okay. Why were they here?"

"Well, their parents were planning to escape the Isle." Big Murph explained slowly. "So they came back to make sure that didn't happen."

Gabby nodded slowly, still trying to process what was being said. "And…none of them tried to find me? I mean, they knew where I would probably be since I wasn't at the Junk Shop." Jay would know better than anyone that Gabby spent almost all of her free time at their hideout; so why wouldn't he have at least checked there?

Big Murph looked slightly uncomfortable. "Well, I can't speak for them, but it happened really fast. Like, they probably weren't even here for 24 hours. We needed to stop Jafar, Cruella, and Evil Queen."

Gabby nodded quickly. "Right. That makes sense. I understand." At least, she was trying to. Then, something Big Murph said registered in her mind. "Wait, 'we'. You helped them?" she checked. "But…you're a villain."

Big Murph scratched the back of his neck, glancing around as if to check no one was listening in. "Weeeell…you're not really a villain, either, are you?"

Gabby narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Responding to that would be a stupid mistake on my part." she pointed out warily.

Big Murph nodded. "True. But the same can be said about assuming that everyone on the Isle is a villain."

Gabby was slowly catching on, but she didn't want to make any abrupt assumptions. She'd just met this guy a few minutes ago. "You're telling me you're not a villain?"

He smirked slightly. "Maybe. I don't suppose you've ever heard of the Anti-Heroes Club?"

Gabby blinked, holding the broomstick in one hand as she contemplated the answer. "No, but I'm not exactly popular around here. No one talks to me. But isn't an antihero, like…a hero who lacks the typical 'hero' qualities? Like, they're not villains, but they're not goody-goodies. Right?"

Big Murph shrugged. "I guess. Yen Sid said something like that. The name is sneaky, because to most villains it sounds like we're against heroes, but Yen Sid said something similar to what you just said. That antiheroes are good guys, but they sometimes act like villains to do so. Like Robin Hood."

Gabby nodded, impressed by his example. She was impressed by this whole conversation, actually. She hadn't had a conversation like this since before Jay and the others left.

"I thought you were part of Harriet's crew? Surely she wouldn't be okay with you not wanting to be evil." she guessed.

"You got that right." he laughed. "She'd make me walk the plank, for sure. I'm still in her gang, but more so for appearances. I've gotten pretty good at playing the part. Don't blow my cover, though." he added, partially teasing.

"I won't if you won't." she countered, a small grin tugging at her lips. "So,…there are actually other people on the Isle that want to be good?" she asked, still finding that hard to believe. She'd felt like a freak for the longest time because she didn't want to let her resentment and anger fester into hatred and evil. And seeing Mal of all people stand up to her mom and choose to be good just made her want that even more.

"Oh, yeah. A bunch of us started wanting to change after seeing Mal and the others stand up to Maleficent." he assured her. "You should come to one of our meetings."

Gabby shifted anxiously on her feet. "Meetings?" she repeated uncertainly.

He nodded. "Yeah. We used to have them in the Evil Queen's basement when she was missing, but since she's back, we had to find a new place. So, Yen Sid decided for us all to meet at his cottage near Dragon Hall. We meet up, and he kinda gives us lessons on manners and stuff, and we all just kinda hang out. It's pretty chill. I bet you'd get along with some of the members."

Gabby chewed her bottom lip in deliberation. On the one hand, how did she know she could trust these people? She wouldn't put it past most villains to make this all up just to lure her to some abandoned, distant cottage to beat her up. But on the other hand, this guy didn't seem evil at all. And it would be nice to be able to meet and talk with people who wouldn't judge or mock her for wanting to be good.

"When's the next meeting?"