"Is that what I think it is?" Carlos asked as the outline came into view.
"Mhmm" Ben hummed.
Sprawled out before them was a play ground, but it looked for all the world like a junk yard.
"You made it!" Mal nearly knocked Ben over hugging him. The Descendants couldn't believe their eyes, everyone's favorite safe spot was sitting in front of them.
"It's made of safer materials, but all the stuff is there" Ben said. Some of the kids tore off, unable to help themselves.
"How did you manage this?" Jay couldn't believe it.
"Mal drew it, every last detail. She worked on it for days. I wanted a normal playground, but this made more sense. It gives everyone some tiny part of home." Ben said
Suddenly a small girl with ice blue hair pulled on Ben's shirt.
"Yes?" Ben asked trying to sound kind.
"Can we sleep out here?"
"Sure you can!" Jay said before anyone else could, the young girl raced off.
"Whose kid was that?" Ben wondered
"Hades, she has a twin brother, which was probably the 'we' she meant" Carlos said.
"Some of them will be way happier out here."
Mal did her bird like whistle again, heads peeked out of various places, Mal waited then yelled "Rattcliffes' that includes you!" three more kids peeked out and looked at her. "You guys can sleep here or in the warehouse, please let Diego or his group know if you will be out here. Bring a blanket, the area is heated but it will get cold" Mal said once she had every ones attention. This area was heavy with magic, but it was the best way to keep the kids safe and comfortable. "It will not get fully dark here, or in the warehouse. All the paths are lit. Unless you are back in a hole or under a blanket, the whole area has a gentle light at all times." She saw a few kids look grateful. "We will leave you to it" she said while turning away.
Jay, Ben, Evie, Ash and Diego immediately turned to follow her.
"I'm gonna go explore for a bit" Carlos said.
"Want me to tag along?" Jay asked.
"Nah I'm fine" Carlos took off at a jog.
As curfew approached Ben left while Mal, Evie and Jay helped the other kids settle in for the night. They piled nearly on top of each other in one corner of the room, the youngest in the corner, the older fanned out around them.
They may be in a new place, but everything was still the same.
"I gotta go track down Han's brat, he decided he didn't need to check in with me." Diego said, exasperation clearly written on his face.
"If you see C, let him know curfew was like ten minutes ago" Jay said. He was a bit worried Carlos hadn't come back yet, but knew the boy was safe here.
Mal and Evie both looked surprised, they hadn't noticed it was that late.
Ben laughed, "We have special permission to be out as needed when it comes to the Descendants Project. As long as we keep our grades up."
He saw the relief on Evies face as she helped a small girl change from the animal hide pants she had form the Isle into a pair of soft sweat pants.
Diego found Hans' boy with no trouble, he may or may not have threatened him with being sent back to the Isle before setting off to find Carlos. He had a feeling he knew where he was, if Mal had remembered it. He set off for the far end of the lot, he smiled as the silhouette of the vehicle came into view. The car had been a pet project of Dr. Facilier at one point, but it had long been left abandon in the junk yard. Carlos loved the thing, he was always trying to make it work to no avail, gasoline wasn't available on the Isle. He walked up to the car, being careful to make some noise, he didn't want to scare the boy. As he peeked in the window he sighed, the inside of the car wasn't identical but it had the seats and a steering wheel. Mal probably hadn't been there enough to really remember it. Carlos was currently laying on the backseat sound asleep, by the soft glow of the junkyard Diego could see he'd been crying.
He slipped in through the driver side window and knelt on the seat so he could reach Carlos, he hated to wake the kid up. Even though he looked healthier than ever he still had dark circles under his eyes, indicating sleep and him were not friends. Diego reached out and shook his shoulder, "hey C, time to wake up" he said softly. In a split second Carlos was awake, he curled up on the opposite side of the car as far from Diego as he could. Diego watched him look around and saw the panic set in, his eyes so wide it would have been comical in any other situation.
"It, it can't be. We made it out, we were safe." Carlos wrapped his arms around his legs and sobbed.
"C, man, your safe, chill. It's a replica Mal made. Look, no gauges!" He tried to reason with him. Carlos didn't even seem to hear him. With a sigh he slid into the back seat, he'd been happy when Carlos got sent to Auradon, it meant he never had to sit in this fucking car with him again, yet here they sat. Same as always, Carlos broken and Diego trying to calm him down.
"I hate this fucking car" Diego muttered as he pulled Carlos into a hug, "shit you actually weigh something now."
"Carlos, look at me" he waited until the younger boy did. "Look at the dashboard, it's not right. We're in Auradon. Mal made a replica of the junk yard, it's not the real thing. All the kids are safe, you and Jay are disgustingly adorable and all of us have a future. You need to get a grip so you can head back to school and I can go back to the descendants." Diego told him, the new name for their group felt weird, but right.
It felt like it took hours, but Diego was used to Carlos and his panic attacks, slowly he watched the light come back to his eyes. Finally he looked up at the dashboard, then back at Diego.
"I did it again didn't I?"
"Yeah, has it happened a lot since you've been here?"
"Only one other time." Carlos said.
"Then don't complain. That one summer they were damn near daily."
"I know, I know. Lets get back before they send out a search party."
"Sounds good, I'm hoping I can convince Ash back to visit." Diego grinned.
Carlos laughed, "She'll be around, she's my sister."
Diego stopped in his tracks. "You found your mom, your family?"
"Yeah, did I forget that part?"
"Just a little!" Diego shoved his shoulder in mock anger
"Ehh, they are family, but you're still my cousin." Carlos told him.
"I better be, now what are my chances with your sister?"
Carlos laughed, "Ben thought that, Mal, Jay, Evie and I were a fucked up family, he should hear this."
"I didn't hear chances in that." Diego teased him.
"Ask her yourself, ya big wuss." Carlos grinned while shoving the warehouse door open.
"Miss me?" He asked while putting his arm around Jay.
"A bit, what took so long?"
"Fell asleep in the car, Diego woke me up and I had a bit of a panic attack, all good now. Except for us blowing curfew."
"Mal remembered your car?" Jay was surprised she really had gotten every detail. "No curfew for us, King Adam gave us a break as long as we don't hurt our grades we can be out all night to help Project Descendants."
"Yep, she remembered the car, I have no idea how she remembered so much." Carlos said
"We should probably leave the descendants for the night, I'll be back tomorrow to check on you all. If tonight was any indication I don't think it will take long for me to back out of this project. There really isn't much I can do beyond helping the kids get adopted here." Anita told Ashlyn who promptly pouted from her spot next to Diego. Anita hid a laugh, she looked just like her daughter when her and Rodger met, granted Ash hadn't swam in a pond.
"I know that face" Anita laughed, then shook her head Ash would figure it out on her own. "Come on, you can come back tomorrow." Ash continued to pout but followed her mother.
With that everyone left for the night, Carlos gave Diego one last look, "are you sure you guys are good alone?"
"Carlos; look around you, most of them are already asleep. For the first time ever we really are good."
Carlos looked around, Diego was right. They were good, in every sense of the word.
"I can't believe kids already took the apartments over!" Evie exclaimed. It was Wednesday night, the kids had gotten to Auradon that Saturday. On Sunday Anita and Ash came back with Pongo the third. They tied his leash to a post of the fence and let the kids meet him when they were ready. He just laid there while two hundred little hands slowly patted his head. On Monday many of the teenagers moved their blankets into the apartment of their choice. The houses were barren, but offered a bedroom, living room, bathroom and kitchen to each kid. On Tuesday Lonnie and a her friends had come to visit, everyone had spend hours running around the village playing tag.
"It is remarkable progress. I think it might be time to give them some currency, maybe a garden they can sell from." Ben said, their fund had money but he wanted to see the village of descendants thrive, not just exist.
"Isn't it soon for that?" Mal asked, surprise in her voice.
"I would have said so, but Diego asked me last night if there was anyplace he could work around the school to earn some money. They want to be like everyone else, Diego wants to take Ash on a date and one of his friends wants to buy furniture."
"That is amazing. Isle of Evil my ass." Mal said.
"I was sure we'd have at least some fights, but there has been nothing. Anita agrees we can let things progress, there is no reason to delay it. We might even let some adults come in to meet the littles and work on adoptions in the next couple weeks." Ben said.
"Wow." Mal was shocked, she hadn't even adjusted that quickly.
"I thought we'd end up with Descendant Village, but at this rate it will just be another tiny part of Auradon as the kids are really trying to mesh with us." Ben said
Carlos grinned, "I'm sure some of us will live here, after all I don't have anywhere else to go."
"me either" Mal, Evie and Jay said.
Ben stared at them, they fit into Auradon so well he often forgot they were descendants too.
"Okay, so someone will be here, but not enough for a village."
"Look at it this way, every one here will need a house, that takes land, you have land. So while it won't be exclusively descendants but mostly us" Evie said.
"At this point I don't care how it goes, you guys are out of the Isle and not psychotic murders." Ben said, that made them all smile.
Jay and Carlos walked through the junk yard, Jay was marveling at just how much detail there was, every last discarded tire was in place. He walked over piles of junk with practiced ease, it was easier here since everything was stationary there was no risk of junk sliding out from under you.
"Lets go over by that stupid car of yours." Jay said
"It's not mine." Carlos said, while redirecting towards it.
"May as well be." Jay said.
Carlos jogged over to the car and jumped up to sit on the tailgate.
(A/N for those wondering I'm picturing an El Camino, car and truck all at once)
Jay wasn't in a hurry, he looked at Carlos sitting on the tailgate and smiled. It was an old sight, he always sat on, in and around that car. Jay suddenly had the same old urge to pull Carlos off the tailgate and kiss him senseless. He grinned, this time he didn't need to hide a damn thing, he walked the last few steps and leaned down to kiss his boyfriend. When he pulled back he was still smiling, "I can't even tell you how many times I've wanted to do that." Jay said.
"Probably about as many times as I've wished you would. I remember the night we laid out in this thing to watch the lanterns burn out over the forest. You had to bright idea to lay in our boxers because it was so hot. I used up every ounce of self control I had that night." Carlos admitted with a grin before letting go of Jay and flipping over the tailgate to lay in the bed of his odd little car. Jay scampered over the gate to join him
"See this would have happened years ago if we both weren't so stupid."
"Not stupid, scared. Love isn't a thing over there, sexual arrangements maybe, but not what we have."
Jay smirked and moved his hand down Carlos' back to grab his ass.
"We have a sexual arrangement" Carlos grinned, "I look sexual and you arrange to kiss me."
"That was a bad joke." Jay said before kissing Carlos again. This time they didn't break apart. Carlos moved so he was straddling Jays hips, their lips never detaching. Jay bit down on Carlos neck, earning him a soft moan from the boy on top of him. Carlos hips pressed forward, practically on their own, both boys groaned as their erections rubbed together through their jeans.
"If you keep doing that we'll both need showers tonight." Jay said, his breathing ragged.
Carlos moved to kiss behind Jay's ear and whispered to him, "I need one anyway, may as well have a damn. Good. Reason." he punctuated the last three words with a grind of his hips. He yelped when Jay grabbed his ass and thrust back against him. The next moments passed in a blur of hips and lips, all too soon Carlos felt the familiar tightening in his stomach.
"Ugh, I'm so close." He murmured between kisses.
"Me too." Jay said, his hands roaming over the smallers back. He lightly dug his nails in and grinned when Carlos sucked in a breath.
"Like that?" Jay smirked.
"Mhmm"
Jay dug his nails in again, just below the scars on Carlos' shoulders and dragged his hands towards his ass. Carlos moaned and thrust his hips forward as an orgasm ripped through him, Jay quickly followed at the sight of Carlos coming undone.
Both laid there recovering, "That as a fucking brilliant idea." Jay said as his breathing returned to normal.
"Mhmm. Next time no pants" Carlos grinned.
"What are you doing with no pants?"
Carlos froze when he heard Ash's voice, a second later she came into view with Diego who leaned on the back of the car.
"Aww, is my wee baby cousin finally playing well with others?" Diego teased.
"I play fine with others, I just prefer to play with Jay." Carlos shot back.
"Mhmm, Jay is a lucky bastard, you're a hell of a kisser."
"What!" Jay said at the same time Ash exclaimed, "he's you cousin!"
"Not really related, remember?" Carlos said
"Skinny ass there thought he might be gay, ended up making out with me in the back seat of this hoopty to prove it to himself." Diego said with a smirk.
"Damn, wish I'd been in the audience for that one." Jay lamented.
"Me too!" Ash agreed
"Hey, I am related to you!" Carlos whined.
"I met you what, two weeks ago? Besides you are good looking, it runs in the family."Ash grinned.
"If I kiss him again what do I get?" Diego asked with a grin.
"A blow job" Ash said without thinking.
Carlos felt his jaw drop open. Diego looked to Jay, "Don't look at me! I can't match or beat that offer."
"you're right nothing beats a blow job" Diego said, everyone laughed.
"Whaddya think C, shall we indulge these two perverts?"
His answer was Carlos launching over the edge of the car to stand next to him. "They're perverts, but they're our perverts. Besides if someone over there gets horny enough I might finally get laid." Carlos smirked.
Diego leaned down and gave him a quick peck.
"Oh come on." Ash whined
Carlos was hiding a laugh, he knew Diego had more in mind or he wouldn't have asked first. A moment later he felt Diego lip ring again and smiled. He felt his tongue sweep his bottom lip and gave him entrance.
"Holy fucking hell!" Ash said.
"That's hotter than I was expecting, and that's saying quite a lot." Jay agreed.
A moment later they pulled away from each other, Diego dropped a kiss to Carlos' forehead. "Welcome to Auradon, where we never do that again, but get to live happily ever after." Carlos grinned up at his cousin.
"Never say never, I'll do almost anything for a piece of ass." Diego laughed while he tangled his fingers with Ash's. Jay got out of the car and pulled Carlos into a hug, the younger smirked "Are you stealing lamps again, or are you that happy to see me."
"Very happy to see you. Of course I'd had a bit of a crush on Diego over there a few years back, didn't know he had any connection to you."
"Aww, I'd kiss you too, but I think Ash'd kill me."
"Not on your life, but I've already had my father walk in on me with someone, I'd hate to think of who could walk up if I fucked you here." Ash said, Carlos blushed to his roots.
"You don't get to be shy now!" Jay said.
"Like hell I don't!" Carlos said. "I'm dragging you back to our room, Ash can go do what she will."
"I'm hoping she'll do a lot!" Diego exclaimed as Ash dragged him off.
"So you and Diego fooled around on the Isle?" Jay asked.
"Not really, he'd found out I'd never kissed anyone, then I admitted I might be gay. He decided I should test that theory and we had a bit of a make out session in the back seat." Carlos admitted.
Jay felt words leave him, then he decided to see how red Carlos could get, "If he's ever single again we should have a threesome."
"What?" Carlos yelped, he was practically glowing red his blush was so deep.
"I wanted to see how red you'd get. Don't worry, I don't intend to share you." Jay assured his boyfriend before linking their hands together while they walked back to their dorm.